The City XII
#12 of The City
"The sky was gray, overcast by the gray clouds that blotted out the sky. The empire's forces were in deep-heated battle with the local peoples, swords locked with swords, shields scarred with arrows, as they found the Matio forces formidable. One of the centurions looked up to a hill ridge from whence they charged, scanning, in a quiet plea to the gods, until-!
The wolf that led the armies crested the hill, staring down at the field, his eyes locking with the centurion's. His fur shone in copper, obsidian, and diamond white as he gave a nod to the centurion. The wolf unsheathed his sword, raising the silver extension of his arm to the sky and giving a loud cry and charging into the field, bringing morale to his troops and readying to rout the enemy troops. As the Emperor led the troops across the field in a final charge, the sun emerged from the clouds, shining rays illuminating the wolf's armor, dancing along the silver-and-gold story that decorated his chest..."
Khopesh looked up at the three badger children, giving a slight smirk as he noted their various states of awakeness. The youngest was asleep fully, while the middle one was struggling to keep his eyes open, and the eldest had focused her eyes at a wall with a local map on it. He shut the book quickly, waking the trio up fully as he nodded. "Well, I suppose that's enough for history for the day. Get your heads home, give your parents hugs, and I'll see you around."
He smiled as the children stood up, each rattling off a variation of, "Thank you, Mr. Aeterno", before closing the door behind them. He returned the history book to its shelf, pulling a different one and laying it on the table, flipping open to a picture of Imperius Augustus, regarding the first ruler of that ancient empire with a fondness, smirking at the white marble and mentally painting on the proper coloring. He sighed, closing the book and leaning back, looking up and remembering the Lupo emperors and their achievements. He yawned a bit, closing his eyes and drifting to a dull quietness.
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His emerald eyes scanned along the marble carvings, following the procession of senators and priests walking along the avenue, with the wolfish face of the emperor and his telltale hair peeking out from under his robes. He reached his paw out, letting his digits trace over the procession as he let out a soft sigh, the light of the setting sun dancing along the shadows. He made his way onto the street, walking down a few blocks and stopping at the rounded hill, the gaping archway signifying its status as a burial ground. He stared at it, the faint A barely visible on the keystone as he shook his head, feeling a faint nostalgia for a time two millennia prior. As the orange sky turned deep blue, he headed towards the Eye of the Gods, a temple located near the city center, as the nightlife came out, people spilling into the streets, singing songs of merriment. He sat on the edge of a fountain, looking at the imposing door as he felt the presence of two bodies walking up to him.
"Hey, Khope. Everything alright?" Khopesh looked up to Jak and Palla walking towards him, nodding slowly.
"Nice to see you two out here. You just get in, Palla?" The collie nodded happily, clinging to Jak with a grin. Khopesh nodded, pulling the small stick from his pocket and turning the vaporizer on. He watched the vapor spin off into the air as he sighed a bit, shaking his head. "Just can't handle this thing about Ire, you know?"
Jak and Palla sat next to the fox, staring off into the stars as they shifted around a bit before Palla spoke up. "You know, it wasn't your fault. You did want to try and save him but they... kept him there in a brutal manner, and he did tell you to get out of there. It really isn't your fault. Sometimes, we're just put in bad situations and we have to make the best of them, you know? It isn't about saving everyone sometimes, just who you can."
Khopesh stared off into the sky, slowly letting out a puff of vapor. "Why are you here, Palla? We're going back to Angel City soon enough."
Jak smirked a bit, holding Palla's hand. "Thought we'd get a vacation in while we still can, before... Well, you know. We want you there, of course. You're still in for that?"
Khopesh nodded, his eyes closing as he felt the world go silent around him. "Of course I am. I'm never going to let you two down. So... what's going to happen after?"
Jak nodded a bit, scratching along the back of Palla's neck. "We're thinking of requesting a transfer from Zotz. You know, the company has the dual headquarters model. One here, near where the physical fight is, and the other back home... I mean, you know, where we grew up, for training and politicking. All fun stuff."
Khopesh sighed a bit, turning his head down to stare at the pavement. "I should do that too. I should have done that in the first place, but when Zotz asks you if you'd like to be the face and muscles of the company, you know, you sign on for Apocalypse Unit. I'm... glad at least your relationship was able to survive that, you know?"
An awkward silence fell over the group as Khopesh leaned over, brushing his paws over one of the stones of the plaza. He smirked and motioned to it. "Look. Old city limit stone. Got the year and everything."
Jak chuckled deeply as Palla shook her head. "Khopesh, you've got all that knowledge, all that education in your head, and here you are, going and fighting when you could be teaching. Why?"
Khopesh winced at the bitter reminder of his situation before sighing and shaking his head. "Because I know the areas we fight in well. I can quickly identify when something can be targeted. Because I can quickly alter the geographic information system we use quickly, accurately, and on the fly. Because unlike many in my field, I'm not afraid to pick up a rifle and defend what should be protected, our history, the history of everyone on the planet. You have the Coalition blowing up temples for whatever reason, and a generation of archaeologists being taught that it's not worth being in the fight for. I'm here because I'm just the right fit."
Jak and Palla stared at Khopesh for a moment before Jak patted his shoulder. "And we all know it."
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He heard the knock on his door, stirring a bit and answering with, "Enter!" He turned his attention to the door, stretching slowly as he saw Jak enter the room, tossing a rifle at him. "Come on, Khope, we gotta get moving. There's been an incursion on the South side, out past the Coliseum. We need to go bolster their defenses."
Khopesh nodded, grabbing his grenade bag and strapping on the rifle. He holstered his revolver and followed Jak out, alarms ringing out in the Lapillus hallway as he saw Vir, Tek, Haka, Amber, Yena, Phel and Chuck poured from their rooms. Khopesh spun his fingers above his head, commanding, "Get your squads together and get to the vehicles. Vir, grab some medics and set up a triage area behind the line. Phel, coordinate with Copp and Sill and get an EMP set up in case we need it. Tek, coordinate an extraction plan. Everyone else, on me!"
The group left the building, climbing into the vehicles provided as the cars sped down the street. Khopesh shivered slightly, looking at the floor of the humvee and mentally counting the seconds. 15 seconds... 20... 30... 35..." _The humvee stopped as Khopesh looked up, seeing the doors open. _Less than half a kilometer out? Oh, no..."
He slid out of the vehicle into the pouring rain, chambering a round in his rifle as he moved to the command post, looking down at the map that Wilems and Premis were already looking at. They gave him a nod of greeting before they turned back, Wilems pointing at the map. "We need to fortify right here, the place over to our left. Stop the attack."
Khopesh felt the sounds of the world fall away: First, the gunshots silenced; then, the yelling and explosions; the two officers next to him fading into a mumble; all he could hear was the beating of his own heart as his eyes focused on a train tunnel behind them. He turned, looking at the tunnel moving from a subterranean track to an over-ground track and letting his jaw drop before turning back to the officers. "Excuse me. We need to collapse that tunnrl. I know you're trying to set up an explosive defense line, Wilems, but we need to get that tunnel collapsed now before-"
Wilems slammed his fist on the table with a growl. "Your ignorant plan last time ended up causing them to rip part of my force to shreds. This is just as ignorant. It's gonna damage the line. They'll break through and we will lose Eaglerock." The lion grabbed his LMG and made his way towards his line with a huff.
Khopesh turned back to the general, inhaling a bit. "I know what's happening here, this is a distraction. We're gonna lose Eaglerock if we don't blow that tunnel."
The white wolf sighed, head shaking a bit. "I know, but we have nothing we can do about it. I need you to get ready to pull everyone from Eaglerock. Take the Northern routes. If we push them back, we'll come find you. Otherwise, you'll have to lead them. I trust you, Khopesh."
The fox nodded, grabbing his gun and making a run back to his Humvee and his team, taking one last look back at the general as lightning flashed behind him.
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The convoy sped back into the compound, Humvees being switch for cargo trucks as they backed up to each living space, people loading on as quick as they could. Khopesh shivered a bit, his eyes closing and seeing flashes of photographs from the beginning of all of this, where indigenous groups were being displaced, as he shivered and opened them. He turned his head slightly, seeing Copp and Sill load a truck with footlockers of electronic equipment. He squinted a bit, seeing a different label on one.
"Yeah, it's your books, sir. We thought you would want them!" Copp waved at Khopesh, nearly dropping the footlocker as they hurried to load the truck. Khopesh dashed towards a side lot, finding Tek and Amber working on starting up a specialized command vehicle before stopping in his tracks. A large explosion occurred behind him, from where the command center had been. He inhaled and nodded towards the working pair before dashing back to Copp and Sill.
Copp threw a small cylinder at Khopesh. "Here! Beacon. We hacked one of the rod satellites. Got one good shot."
Khopesh shifted a bit before nodding, running towards Vir who was bringing in the last of the forces. Khopesh stopped him with a nod. "Copp just gave me a beacon for a rod. Who's gonna pull up the rear?"
Vir looked at the beacon, then Khopesh, then the refugees, before grabbing the beacon. "I have it."
Khopesh looked at Vir for a long moment before nodding. "Hide it well."
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Khopesh ran up and down the cargo trucks, checking each one and noting who was being loaded where. He saw Palla and Rhod being helped into a truck by Jak, who joined them shortly afterwards. Jak turned to Khopesh and offered him a nod as her truck rumbled to the front of the convoy. Jak's truck was joined shortly by the one commandeered by Copp and Sill.
Khopesh found Haka ordering the columns of spare troops into Humvees to act as escorts. Haka turned and caught Khopesh's eye before giving a wink and jumping into a dazzle camo painted vehicle, no doubt painted up for General Zor Premis' parade days and not meant to be used in the field. He sighed slightly, head shaking, as he noted that Haka had somehow managed to get a grenade machine gun jury-rigged onto the car.
Khopesh noted Strella assisting in the medical extraction. Strella still wasn't fully healed, but her tenacity was helping to keep the extraction of the makeshift hospital stable. Strella nodded to Khopesh before getting inside an ambulance - no doubt being used to transport the ICU patients - and shutting the door behind her. Chap, the priestly rat, was wandering and blessing the hoods of the vehicles he encountered - no doubt a procedure put in place by Zor, Khopesh thought.
Khopesh found his 'Eaglerock Lieuenants' - Chuck, Phel, and Yena - finishing up the extraction of the civilians. Yena and Chuck took the two last cargo trucks, climbing in and drivinginto place at the rear of the column. Khopesh shook his head in amazement. Somehow, in under 30 minutes, they had executed the extraction procedures for Eaglerock. He made a dash to join up with Vir at the gate to the community.
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As the cargo trucks got into a convoy and started towards the North gate, the ground started rumbling a bit. Khopesh turned his head to the command vehicle, a four-tracked information center on wheels that stopped in front of Khopesh, the door at the back opening up and Amber leaning out. "VIR! KHOPESH! COME ON!"
Khopesh crawled up the ramp and looked behind him, his jaw dropping, the world falling silent.
A column of tanks was forming behind Vir, approaching fast enough to be able to overrun them completely. Vir turned his face to Khopesh, their eyes locking one last time as the command vehicle sped forward, Vir turning and clicking the beacon on. Vir approached the column as Khopesh leaned out of the vehicle, being held back by Amber. As they sped away, the teal light on the beacon flashing as the world went quiet. Khopesh saw a black rod slam into the ground in the distance as the world went dark.