Chapter 72: Brink of Defeat

Ten large and fast objects could be seen flying around the city of New Birth Forth. The Armors relentlessly attacked and used advanced homing lasers that shot out of their shoulders. The violet rays would arc from their shoulder and plummet to the designated location. These attacks pierced through concrete and even if their target was behind a building, the laser blast would just pierce through the laser and hit the target.

But the opposing force which continued to flee from the barrage of laser shots was a simple convertible with three passengers.

"Take a left turn here" Arthur ordered as he continued to shoot out another barrage from his glass cannon.

The car swiftly turned. There was less than a second when Arthur ordered Alean to turn, but with Alean's Unlocking, it was more than enough to make the turn.

The laser attacks weren't the only things that would rain upon them. Accompanying these Armor's were Jet-Propelled Exoskeletons which hovered carefully behind the Armors.

Their last attack didn't go so well. A group of J.P.E's intended to use their fast speed to unload a barrage of bullets and surprise the convertible. But the entire group was easily annihilated by the man with the mini-gun on the convertible.

The chase continued with the Convertible being able to evade all the incoming attacks and zoomed across the city.

"Why aren't they using their big guns?" Alean couldn't help but ask.

"They are taking the better route. I wagered they would want to kill us with all the damage we've done. But it looks like Lowengren was right. Human greed is amazing. They are trying to capture us."

"Capture us?"

"They think we are the result of a Pangean human modification experiment."

"So what do we do?" Charles gave a satisfied smile at the news.

"We should charge back in the city and help my men!" Alean gave an angry reply.

"I'm sure you've noticed this a while back, why did you have us run around in circles?"

"To create order, Alean. If we charge back in, then we would be in danger of crossing their bottom line and will be forced to eliminate us. We continue in this safe route."

"My men are dying, Arthur!" Alean screamed in frustration.

Arthur stood quietly and continued to attack.

"Arthur!" Alean screamed once more.

"Fine. Turn right after three blocks."

Alean stomped on the acceleration faster and zoomed further.

At the sharp turn, a group of J.P.E was seen zoomed right in front of them and were already attacking.

Alean immediately turned the wheel to evade the barrage of bullets.

Arthur held up the shield to block most of the bullets while Charles shot at the J.P.E's.

Suddenly Arthur spotted a missile zooming in behind the group of J.P.E's. Arthur frowned and immediately and jumped forward avoiding several bullets and stood at the hood of the car shot at the missile.

BOOM!

The missile explosive force generated a powerful shockwave the shook everyone.

Alean gripped the steering wheel and turned once more to prevent any damage. Charles who stood at the backseat stumbled down while Arthur who didn't have any good footing was thrown off the car.

Arthur crashed on the floor and as he stood up and attempted to rush towards the convertible, another missile was rushing right in between Arthur and the convertible.

"Go!" Arthur ordered.

Without hesitating, Alean stomped the gas pedal and drove forward as Arthur jumped back and jumped to the window of a nearby building using his shield to break the hard glass.

The explosion separated Arthur from the two and Armor's immediately flew right on the burning fires of the explosion to make sure that the division remained.

Arthur gave one look at Alean and simply nodded.

Alean drove further away without hesitation while Arthur dropped the shield and ran.

Back at headquarters, the soldiers overseeing the command and flow of orders couldn't help but be shocked at Garland's smart and ruthless calls.

"Lowengren said his cannon is damaged. He needs to change the battery or something…" A man spoke as he listened attentively to the various devices connected to him. He had a large headset on and sat down with his eyes closed as if intensely listening to the audio generated from his headsets.

"Oh? What a fragile weapon. To break after such an impact? No wonder they gave it to Lowengren."

"His Comm device just received a response. It looks like they will use one of the cores at their base to replace Lowengren's cannon core. A team of soldiers just picked up the core and they are to rendezvous at somewhere called the 'First Salvo.'"

"Of course! What else could power a military base in our city without us detecting it? They brought with them their own power source." Garland realized.

"Shall we attack Lowengren?"

"No. That glass cannon's strong enough to kill a Dawn suit. We need that technology. If we manage to get that and Lowengren then this entire battle will make up for our losses."

"Roger." The officers saluted.

"Order the Armor's to continue the same intensity of attacks. It would be suspicious for Lowengren if he realizes this plan if we back off for just one second." Garland continued.

"Any news on our little rats?" Garland asked through a comm device.

"Sir! They're dead. We've confirmed that the intruder managed to infiltrate the base and kidnap the Alakaster sisters and Eric Douglas. We've confirmed their DNA and found an unidentified fourth body. We cannot confirm who the intruder is. He's not on our database."

"And the bright lights and deaths?"

"We've found traces of several Pangean Ever Bright bombs along with several Eradicating bombs. Video surveillance displays the attack which caused their deaths." A video appeared on the screen displayed in front of Garland.

A small, petite body entered the room and was surprised to see the room full of soldiers who immediately shot at the young teen.

The teen tried to back off and tossed an Ever Bright but the awkward toss caused it to hit a small hanging sign near the ceiling which caused the bomb to bounce back on the door's entrance where the teen appeared. The teen attempted to throw another bomb but did not notice that the Ever-Bright was directly below him. The flash appeared and brightened the screen and another explosion was heard.

"Pitiful. That soldier's stupidity led to the deaths of our traitor scientist." Garland laughed.

"To think they had such a spy of high positions among our ranks. Lander. Report."

"General, I've managed to track the communications relay all throughout the city. Each Comm relays acted as an amplifier which kept boosting the signals to reach all over the city. "

"That means destroying some comm relays and analyzing the strength of the signal should allow you to pinpoint the epicenter of the signal."

"Already did, Sir. But I can't seem to find any points of interest in the zone where their base should be at."

"Send me a map."

Immediately a map of the city was displayed showing the eagle-view of the entire city. Garland studied the mapped and switched to satellite view to see the city.

"Interesting. What a brilliant plan. No wonder no one noticed it." Garland smiled.

"Which point should I attack?"

"I'll lead the attack. I want to see this base personally."

"Lowengren ordered the convertible to rush to lead our forces away from the base." The man with various devices connected to him spoke out.

"Lander, destroy all the Comm Relays. I'm certain where the enemy hid their base now." Garland laughed.

"Sir, Yes sir."

"Team, keep Lowengren and that convertible apart. Launch missile attacks if you see any of them headed in the direction of the other.

"Good Job." Garland patted the Eavesdropper.

"Good job? With all due respect, General, I simply did what I was built for. Do you thank a screwdriver for its ability to screw?" The man joked.

Garland gave a good laugh. The soldiers were surprised at the rude response of the Eavesdropper.

"I know you're not a soldier, but be more respectful to your officers. I would penalize you but since you guys are may become heroes of this war then I'll let it slide."

Garland then started to walk out of the room.

"Prep my Armor. I'll handle this personally." Garland strode with a grinning expression.

Garland utilized several highly classified technologies for this battle and even brought out the Eavesdroppers.

The Eavesdroppers are modified humans which applied the same science which created the Dawn soldier's intensive hearing capabilities. This was the first time the Eavesdroppers were used in war. The Armor's body was equipped with an intensive audio pickup in order that the recorded sights and sounds that the Armor can transmit back to base if ever it met its demise could be used to pinpoint the location, cause and other information about the battle.

Using this powerful audio feed, Garland ordered to amplify the sounds and have the Eavesdropper listened and reported the very words spoken by any unfamiliar wavelengths in their database. Since all citizens have DNA records and audio files, isolating new sounds was easy. It was because of the Eavesdropper, that Garland learned of Arthur's conversations which allowed him to set up the ambush.

Slowly the surviving soldiers were killed one by one by the ambushes that were in store for them.

Golderon continued to move silently across the buildings. Their progression was quick but careful.

"It's time." Golderon suddenly ordered.

The soldiers gave a grim look to each other before giving a salute and then the squad divided into three groups each headed to a different area.

"Sargent. Please give this to my wife." A soldier passed on before turning to leave.

Golderon gave a simple nod and accepted the letter. To Golderon, it was a mission, but for the rest of them, it was a suicide mission.

Twenty minutes ago, Lowengren met with the troop in the underground base.

"Arthur needs his weapon. Based on what happened to him, we can assume that the enemy has hacked our comm devices. So we cannot use them. Golderon, Amber and Lawnford. Your mission is to protect and hold on to these three containers. Inside is the very same fragile power source of Arthur's cannon. We couldn't bring this out immediately since it's fragile. But now we can."

Golderon stood quietly. After defeating the Dawn soldier, they sprinted out and gathered as many survivors they could on their way back to base.

Amber and Lawnford were two soldiers from different platoons. Their entire platoons were wiped out but they managed to survive. Unlike Golderon who received help from Arthur, their survival was only due to one factor.

"You three have stepped in the very grounds that the Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Meryl and their bunch has. You are what they refer to as the Unlocked."

The soldiers gave a surprised exclamation. Amber couldn't help but smile at Lowengren's explanation.

"The medicine that you just took were packed nutrients developed by Doctor Lindmitt for the purpose of boosting your state now and providing the necessary nutrients to make it throughout the night. I have no time to explain how you reached that point but since you achieved that you will be assigned with protecting and carrying one of these boxes in case Arthur needs it if his weapon breaks again."

The three soldiers simply nodded.

"Golderon, divide your team into three groups. Move to these locations and gather as many survivors as you can." Lowengren then turned to the other soldiers standing by.

"To the rest of you soldiers, you have but one mission now. Make sure these three live. Die if you must. The enemy has weapons beyond our initial comprehension and we are on the brink of defeat. But we must not accept defeat. If you want this war to end in our victory, then these three have to live. Everyone's life, including those civilians we just rescued, is dependent on our victory."

The soldiers gave a grim look. Some were visibly shaken. They knew this was a suicide mission. But with everything they've seen and learned that the Australian's were doing and could do to their countrymen, they stood and gave Lowengren a salute.

"Sir, Yes sir!" Their brave chorus was determined and full of resolve.