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Location: Calos City, St. Mary's Catholic Church

Time: 7:52 PM

Weather: Super Storm Incoming, 75MPH Winds, Heavy Rain Imminent

The clear weather we had on the way to the church didn't last. About an hour or so after Allen was air lifted out, the clouds returned and the wind's picked up, the temperature dipped to 60 degrees with it, there was a Super Storm coming and everyone knew what that meant, Volatiles. Mother Angelica had us scrambling to strengthen the Church's defenses against the telekinetic zombies that were sure to come. Which meant boarding doors and windows, landmines out front, snipers in the bell tower and a few portable turrets that girl Alcatraz's age wearing a Stryker Combat Rig had with her. Alcatraz and a few other people in Exo suits were using burnt cars to block a few of the ground entrances, while Mike and Jacob helped the woman with the Stryker Rig with getting her Gravity Vortex gun to actually hold a charge, I had a feeling we'd need it. I stood out in the court yard, Steven and Ross had switched from artillery mode to direct combat mode and had moved the tank so it was much closer to the church. I was watching the clouds, which were dangerously close to blotting out the sun, sentencing anything with a heart beat to death until they decided to pass. I'd never been more scared in my life, and I'd been pants shitingly terrified before.

"You're jumpy as a cat brother", Mike said walking up beside me.

"Aren't you?", I asked, "Last time I fought these things I lost both arms. Not really wanting to face them again, because what happens if we, who by the way have more firepower than the rest of the church combined, fall to these things? That leaves one 14 year old with a few turrets and a Gravity Vortex gun to protect about 50 people who are so religious they won't touch an M16."

"Well if I die, I go down in a cloud of Sarah's nerve agent", Mike shrugged, "I'll be taking a few of them to hell with me."

I shot him a glare.

'What?", he asked.

"You're wearing a suicide vest?", I asked.

"A Dead Man's vest is more like it", Mike said, opening a pouch on his leg, "It's wired into my watch, which has a heart beat monitor in it, if it hit's zero, the can opens, that's a square mile that would get purged."

'How much of that shit did Sarah make?", I asked.

Mike grinned, "three table spoons, and the stuff is diluted, she told me at full power a spoon full of this stuff could sterilize New York City."

"Then maybe don't die", I said, "I'd rather not be exterminated by a chemical like your standard household roach", I sighed.

"What now?", Mike asked.

"I'm loathed to say this, because this goes against everything I stand for, but at this point I think Ania is beyond saving, we're on the surface of a doomed planet Mike, maybe it would just be best to set off Sarah's nerve agent and let every thing die."

Mike gave me a furious glance, "the fuck? That's not the Skyline that rescued me in the labs, since when are you an advocate for WMD's?"

"You questioning me saying maybe we should do this action, when you have a dead man's hand that would kill every survivor in the city?"

"What you just said would kill every survivor on the planet!", Mike shot back.

"Like what will happen if you die is any different from what I just suggested?", I returned

"I thought we were rescuing people?", Mike asked.

"We are", I said.

"Sure about that?", he asked, "I'm going to walk away if you say something like that again."

I turned to him, "I'm not stopping you. You and the others can walk away at any time. But I'm in this till the end."

"I don't rage quit", Mike said, "when I start a game I play it to the end, no matter how it will turn out. If I die and in the process save five or six people from getting eaten or joining the ranks of the undead, well that's just fine by me."

"Then in the name of the Lord, please disarm your Dead Man's Hand", Mother Angelica said stepping out of the church.

"How much of that did you hear Mother?", I asked.

"More than I wanted to", she answered, "however, I do not believe your friend Michael's weapon will be necessary tonight, the Lord God is on our side this day."

"Mother", I asked, "do you know a man named Ryu Ryoichi?"

She crossed her arms, "he's my brother."

Mike and I exchanged glances, "I take you aren't exactly on speaking terms?"

"Ryu is an evil man who has no vision of God", Mother Angelica said, "he care's not of others, but only for himself. We have not spoken in 20 years."

I sighed, "would you believe me if I told you, that he's changed?"

"I would not", she said, "not without seeing evidence first."

"You saw evidence this afternoon when his men airlifted our injured friend out of the city", Mike said, "those were Ryu's guys on the chopper and he has an entire survivor camp set up in the resort hotel, he's done nothing but help us since we met him."

"You must tell me more", Mother Angelica said as she turned around, "but let us head inside the safety of the church, for dangerous, restless souls lurk beyond the influence of our lights."

Mother Angelica returned to the church and Mike followed. With one last glance into the dark city as the rain began coming down, I returned as well, a few guys boarding up the front door behind me. I went to the rectory in the back of the church where I found the old Nun sitting behind a desk, Mike was already there.

"Sit Skyline", Mother Angelica said, "we have much to discuss."

I pulled up one of the chairs and sat down, Mike would have done the same, but his vest got in the way too much.

"You said Ryu was running a survivor camp?", she asked.

I nodded, "they've converted the entire hotel into a disaster relief center. Ryu's done nothing but help people since I met him, and if it wasn't for him I'd be a dual amputee right now."

I took off my glove and rolled up my sleeve, showing her the cybernetic replacement that was standing in for my arm, the skin slowly regrowing over it, before too long it would look mostly normal.

Mother Angelica leaned forward and inspected the metal appendage, "it's certainly one of his."

"Our friend Sarah told us that Ryu's guys searched the city for a week or so to find it", Mike said, "apparently Ryu didn't have any on hand."

"I suppose", Mother Angelica said leaning back in her chair, obviously curious as to if what we were telling her was true, "maybe he has changed after all, when you return to the hotel, convince him to speak with me."

I nodded. Mike and I were standing to leave when Alcatraz burst through the door, out of breath.

"There here", he said, "hundreds of them."

Alcatraz turned and bolted as the gunfire started. Mike checked the chamber of his M4 as we ran out to the front of the church, a few people with M16's were shooting burst after burst out the window and outside I could hear a few of the landmines go off followed by blood curdling shrieks. But the thoughts. The blood lust, the thirst for violence and an everlasting hunger for flesh, of any kind, it would have driven a lesser K-Class completely insane.

"All this noise won't be doing us any favors!", I said as I stuck my FAL's barrel through an empty window and dropping them once they came into view, the creatures seemed to be mainly focused on the tank, which they weren't able to damage, "we're gonna have every zombie in the city on our doorstep!"

"You think!?", Alcatraz asked as began reloading his shotgun, "we're gonna need extra support if we're gonna survive the night!"

"Ryu!", Mike said getting on the coms, "Ryu it's mike are you there!?"

"I am", Ryu replied, "I can hear much gunfire from the roof of the hotel, what has happened?"

"The Violates have come out in force!", Mike said, "there's hundreds of them and if we don't get reinforced soon we're gonna get eaten for sure!"

"I understand", Ryu said, "there is an air base under my control about a 10 minute fly from the city, I will contact them and see what is on station."

"Hurry up!", Mike said.

"There's no end to them", Steven said over the radio, "the horde stretches out of the range of the thermals, they must be coming from the surrounding area..."

"Does it matter where they are coming from!?", I yelped as I reloaded the FAL, "load some buck into the main gun and thin the heard a bit! Everyone!", I shouted over the gun fire,"COVER! YOUR! EARS!!"

'Why!?", the girl with the Stryker rig asked.

"Just do it you'll see!", Alcatraz replied.

Everyone in the church put their hands over their ears as Mike got back on the coms, "Warpig this is Stalker 2, you are cleared for fire."

"Rodger that", Steven said as the tank leveled it's main gun with the hill and let loose a cloud of buckshot. The pained shrieks of the zombies were insignificant compared to the cries for mercy that came from within as the injured and broken reanimated bodies continued their advance up the hill towards the church, some of them pulling by one arm, the other limbs having been sheered off by the tank shot.

"Strike successful", Steven said, "Skyline, use your DNA chip to paint targets for us and we'll support you as best we can, we're gonna start a patrol and see if we can take the heat off you."

"Rodger that!", I said as another transmission came over the radio.

"Overlord 1 this is Specter 2", a male's voice said, "please respond."

"Rodger Specter 2, what you got for me", a female's voice said.

"A group of survivors is being targeted by a massive group of zombies, permission to brake S&R protocol and reinforce."

"Umm....Rodger that Specter 2, permission granted."

"Acknowledged", the man said, "Attention, any station, any station, this is Specter Two of the Bespinite Air Force, is there anyone with a working radio in St. Mary's church? If so please respond."

"Specter 2!", I said opening my coms, "this is Prince Skyline Imese! I'm here with Staff Sargent Chy Klapylseo, do you copy!"

"Rodger that sir", the pilot said, "I'm bringing my Y35 in for a strafing run, best you all take cover."

"Everyone get down!", Mike shouted, "there's a Y35 Orbital gunship coming in for a strafe!"

"Inside an atmosphere!!?" the chick with the Stryker rig yelped, "are they fuckin crazy!? The heat from their energy cannons will fry the whole city!?"

"Just shut up and take cover!", Alcatraz shouted as the guttural hum of the Gunship's diesel turboprops came into ear shot, the sheer scale of the massive engines overshadowing the sounds of the super storm. Very soon all that could be seen was a giant black mass with flickering white lights on the tips of the wing as the massive aircraft descended from orbit, looking more menacing in the dark than anything I'd ever faced.

"That is a big ass plane", Mike said quietly as the strafing run began, quad 30mm cannons laid waste to everything that dared to step in their way and mounted .50 caliber machine guns quickly offed the Violates dumb enough to try to jump on the plane from some of the few building's where it was possible.

"Good kills Sargent", another female said, "lot's of little pieces down there."

"Strike effective", the Pilot said, "returning to orbit."

"Hey where you guys going so soon!?", I asked into the radio as people in the church began cheering.

"Yeah we love you guys!", Chy said.

The y35 TV operator laughed, "Army boys hate the air force till we save their asses."

"Isn't that how it goes?", the pilot asked as the plane left a blindingly bright display of flares in their path back up, "Prince Imese, we'll come back around as soon as we top off the Diesel for the turboprops, give us about five minutes and you'll have us for the next six hours."

"Do you have a base of operations in orbit?", I asked.

"Yes sir", the pilot said, "a C-175 Executioner Class Dreadnought, callsign HMS Retribution, I'll attempt to get them on the line now."

"Thank you!", I said, "Ryu, did you get that!?"

"I did", Ryu said, "advise them I have four F-16's escorting a B52 stealth bomber to your location, be advised Skyline, it is carrying Small Yield Atomic weapons."

"Rog", I said, turning to Tyler, "hey Tyler, you got a minute?"

"Sure", he said.

"How are we managing to punch a signal through this storm?", we couldn't do it from the top of the hotel when the weather was clear, but we can now? What gives."

"My guess is your Y35 has some kind of ranged signal amplifier, I know Y30's have it as standard equipment, so it's not a stretch to say that the newer 35's and 40's do too and that, combined with the amplifier we have here in the church would probably be enough to punch it through."

I exhaled loudly, "all right."

It was about five minutes, like the Pilot had said, before they were able to return to the surface of Ania and establish a support circle around the church, the plane audible over the storm.

"That must be a really big plane", the girl with the Stryker rig said aloud, I had now noticed that she was staying close to Alcatraz, and of them blushed whenever they looked at each other.

"Me thinks Alcatraz is in love", Jacob smiled.

"Looks like", I said as the pilot came over my radio.

"Prince Imese, I have the Retribution on the line."

"Put them through", I said.

"This has been a long time coming", a very familiar voice said, "never thought I'd see you again little brother, they told me you were dead, that the search was worthless, I always knew they were wrong."

I found myself near tears as I tried to answer, "good to hear your voice again Aegean."

"What kind of mess are you in this time?", Aegean asked, "problems with zombies huh?"

"You have no idea", I said, "also, a friend of mine wanted me to let you know that there's a B52 with atomic weapons inbound to our location, it's friendly, do not engage."

"I'll let the pilot of the 35 know", Aegean said, "now let's see about getting y'all off that rock."