Chapter 73: You've Lost, General

"The Convertible is about to pass here! Get ready to attack!" A soldier announced.

They have been trying to find a way to attack the convertible. Since the Armors went after Arthur in order to find him, the Convertible was able to do roam more freely facing Dawn soldiers aided with JPE and Exoskeletons.

But since the army couldn't blow the car up, they had to resort to wounding or incapacitating. The problem was, the car was too fast to hit, and the mini-gunner was always able to shoot first. Even JPE's would die at a prepared charge, what more for regular Exoskeletons and soldiers?

Several soldiers saw the zooming vehicle. They readied their sniper. This maneuver was quite hard. They had to set up several Dawn soldier blockades to lead this convertible here.

A muffled sound went out.

The snipper was shot dead.

Golderon paused and simply gazed at the passing car. He frowned.

Golderon did a series of sign languages.

"Colonel's not here. Let's move to the next position."

Along the way, they had ambushed and eliminated several soldiers which they found patrolling the area. Among their kills were two Dawn soldiers which they buried together on a building and killed them using the same method they did to kill the first. Sadly, no survivors from their team could be found.

The ambushes were fast and effective leaving none alive. Golderon could easily kill a flying Exoskeleton with his new skills. They were able to easily kill and escape without being detected because of the secret path Lowengren had created.

After the initial attack on the wall, the city was rocked with several explosions and planted bombs. This brought panic and immediately ushered a state of a city-wide evacuation. The Armors were deployed to aid in the evacuation as well as rescuing civilians which were trapped in burning buildings.

What the entire Australian army didn't know was the fact that several underground tunnels were also subject to the explosions. Underground train operations all halted due to the explosions and damages. Trains were stopping in between rails and the passengers evacuated. Outside the Fort, the citizens living nearby immediately fled to leave the city.

The army did not have time to round up the fleeing Pangean natives which escaped from the Fort as the attacks from every side of the Fort began. But what the Australian army didn't know that the Pangean natives didn't run amok with the other Australian citizens but escaped through an underground tunnel led by Cliff.

The subterranean explosions did more than just paralyze the train network. It created a new underground path from Gate Three of the New Birth Fort, all the way to a large building owned by a BOC. This created path was directly under the main highway where the most Pangean troops were deployed.

The cover of war and Arthur's Chaos Order gave the Pangean citizens the chance they had to escape without being detected.

Golderon's squad used this underground tunnel to easily reach the assigned locations.

Soon the squad finally arrived at the designated spot.

"Be on guard team. And remember, no one talks." Golderon signaled once more.

The soldiers nodded and went to different areas of the ruined building and remained on guard.

Minutes passed as they quietly held their position.

Golderon sat down quietly and observed his surroundings. He kept a close eye if any sign of movement would appear. To his dismay, it all belonged to several Australian soldiers moving about the area.

"We can't fight right now. Not until the Colonel gets the package!" Golderon thought.

He continued to observe the enemy and hoped for their Colonel to arrive.

The longer they observed, Golderon somehow got an uneasy feeling.

If he was a normal person, he wouldn't be able to notice it. But as someone in the Advent rank of the Unbecoming stage, it was obvious. The slowing down of time and his increased perception allowed Golderon to take a clearer look at the soldiers and Exoskeletons near their area.

The movements, the patterns expressions and even the attentiveness that stood out which the enemy soldier tried to hide by ignoring their location. But the unconscious glimpse that these passing soldiers would do, gave it all away.

"They know we're here." Golderon realized. Immediately, he fired a flare gun to the sky.

As if acting in full synchrony, Golderon noticed two other red flares reaching for the sky. Lawnford and Amber also faced similar circumstances.

Golderon's expression paled as he took his gun and started shooting at the enemy.

The three teams were all discovered.

On the industrial zone of the city, a large Armor finally reached its destination. A burndown buildings rubble was the only thing of interest in this location.

Due to this location being on the industrial side of the city, the battles didn't extend to this area as the flammable materials could cause fires and unnecessary explosions.

The Armor raised its arm and aimed for the rubble of the building.

"That won't be necessary." A voice shouted.

The Armor took a look at the source of the voice and it was from a teen exiting the piles of rubble. It looked like there was a path inside the rubble.

"Lowengren?" Garland gave a surprised cry.

"Then who was that man?" Lander asked immediately. He knew this wasn't the same person he confronted a while back."

"A soldier. The idea was to get you to believe that he was me."

Garland gave a laugh.

"Amazing. Even at the brink of defeat you still can surprise me. Regardless… We finally meet. Such an honor to meet a genius. I've faced several General's in my career but none- no one- could compare to you." Garland laughed.

"You must be General Garland. The eccentric War Hero of Australia. Quite an entourage. Even the Hero of Hellion's Tragedy is here. And of course, your new weapons. What do you call them?"

"Dawn."

"Oh. So they are going to be part of your actual army? This means, your nation already has the resources for making a new branch of the military?"

"Yes. Morning, Evening and the Dawn. And if we manage to catch your impostor and his two friends on that convertible, we might be able to form Twilight."

"Twilight? Sounds gay." Lowengren shrugged.

Garland laughed back.

"This was quite a good game you played Lowengren. Albeit this will be the last. You managed to make me use highly classified weapons of our government."

"Yes. I'm sure you'll have a lot of problems dealing with the aftermath of this battle."

"All that the world will know, is the usage of the Light Breaker. But I'm sure they'll let it slide considering we faced such a threatening opponent."

"You really believe that the world will take my involvement on this war so seriously?"

"Yes! You probably don't know that I'm not the only General who played against you."

"Is that why last year's game was so tough? So you did collude with other nations to defeat of me."

"Blame yourself. You played so well that several world-leaders got nervous at a potential general of Pangea and wanted to test your potential."

Lowengren gave a calm sigh.

"At least…I guess it's over now..."

"Don't worry. We won't kill you. Your three friends will die in this experiment, but I don't think we would let go of such a talent as yourself."

"I appreciate the offer…"

Garland laughed.

"… but I can't say we would give you the same treatment General." Lowengren gave his own laugh.

"How cute. Still in the mood to threaten me? Or are you doing that because you plan on killing yourself or are you confident that you can escape me with your fast movement and skills like your three friends? Too bad for you, the Armor I'm using is one of a kind. It's the only one equipped with yet another technology ready for use that can incapacitate you."

"Colonel told me of this… Is this the technology you developed imitating Richie's skill?" Lowengren guessed.

"WHAT?!" Garland reacted. How did he possibly know of that name?

"What did you call that technology? Our Colonel called it Peals of Thunder. Of course, it is named that way to keep it in continuity with the terms that would be used in the world that our leader intends to make."

Garland frowned but kept quiet.

"Whatever. I'll capture you and kill all the rats you've planted in our base! And once we capture you and take your little friends, it won't matter if other nosy nations will get involved after this battle, we'll have the technology- oh…" Garland then noticed three flares up on the sky.

"SIR!" The comm device Lowengren had started to transmit the cries of a panicking soldier.

"We are under heavy fire! The enemy knows of our locations! All of our teams are under heavy fire! It's a trap!" Golderon shouted.

"Impressive. Your soldiers seemed to have discovered our little trap. Those three teams should have people similar to your three soldiers on that convertible, right? Too bad. We're prepared now. You've lost, General Lowengren." Garland laughed.

"Kill them. It would be annoying if the kid with the cannon reaches them. Just don't blow them up." Garland ordered.

With that order, a torrent of bullets was fired into the three teams.

Golderon's metal case was securely attached on his back. He ensured it wasn't damaged from the recent attacks and then immediately sprinted out and managed to evade most of the sudden shots fired at them. He gazed at his surroundings and realized that his entire team was wiped out. The sudden rail-attacks must have been prepared to kill them all instantly.

"I must not let them meet Colonel!" Golderon thought. Without his weapon and the convertible, even the Colonel would be unable to survive.

Golderon got up and sprinted out evading the bullets. The wounds on his legs were opening up but Golderon bore the pain.

Suddenly, right in front of him, the wall crumbled as a Dawn soldier broke through. Instead of backing down, Golderon dashed forward and met the Dawn soldier.

He evaded the wide swings made by the Dawn soldier and used the large frame as a foothold to jump towards the nearby Exoskeleton.

The Exoskeleton flew higher in an attempt to evade Golderon but Golderon was quicker.

Golderon held the boosters of the Exoskeleton and disregarding the burning heat of the metal, Golderon forcefully altered the direction of the booster causing the Exoskeleton to spiral out of control in the air.

At the twirling fall of the Exoskeleton, Golderon jumped out and landed on a nearby building. Without missing a beat, Golderon ran and jumped from the edge of the building on to a small opened window on the other building.

Golderon fractured his burnt left arm at the fall but kept on running.

"Lawnford! Amber! Get out of there! Let's meet at the first salvo for real this time!" Golderon could do nothing but risk using the comm device. At the very least, this could also alert Arthur and know where to go.

He continued to sprint towards the underground path they just used.

"Amber! Lawnford!" Golderon called out again.

"I think Amber's dead." Lawnford gave a calm reply.

"Lawnford! Confirm if you are headed to First Salvo!"

"Negative, Sir. I can't move my legs. Damn... these Golem's look scary up close. Sorry, sir. But your all we've got left. Be sure to give the package to the Colonel."

BANG.

"LAWNFORD!" Golderon cried.

Golderon felt as if his stomach was twirling. They had failed. Arthur would not get his weapons and the amount of enemy surrounding him was too much.

Several rail-attacks pierced through once more. And although Golderon tried his best to evade, he was still hit.

Golderon could no longer stand. He tried his best to force his legs up but all he could do was kneel.

Several soldiers were walking in the building he was at.

"Sir. I'm sorry. I've failed." Golderon reported through the comm device.

"It's ok, Sargent," Lowengren responded directly.

Golderon was alarmed. Lowengren wasn't supposed to use this line otherwise his location would be revealed.

"You were never meant to succeed." Lowengren paused.

"Still, you've completed your mission. You have served your country bravely and with honor. Rest well."

Lowengren gazed back at Garland.

"You've lost, General Garland." Lowengren smirked.