WARRIORS

With hurried but calm steps, PT-01 crossed the corridor between cubicles and approached the lockers at the back wall.

Outside, the dogfight between the two helicopters continued without rest. The rumble of the rotors took repeated laps around the tower, and moved up and down on several flanks, accompanied by machine gun fire. Occasionally, projectiles passed close to the office he was in, even getting to shatter some of the windows.

None of it stopped him from remaining calm. He opened one of the lockers and grabbed a bulky case from within. He huddled among the cubicles to stay as covered as possible, and proceeded to retrieve its contents.

The military had gotten into one hell of a mess, it was too big for them from the very start. Any speck of order and security had crumbled apart, which was quite convenient. Nobody could afford the luxury of investigating that place and interrupting him.

He carefully placed the rifle components on the floor, and began the assembly process.

'You know, Nyx…? I should thank you. At least, the tip on Kurtis Tower was useful for something.'

Who did they intend to fool? ZEUS had power, resources and connections all over the place, but that didn't stop them from being a bunch of morons. Nyx was the last bullet in their magazine, a bullet they knew wouldn't hit its mark. Not with Dr. Marcus and Colonel Rowan working against it.

'I wonder how long ago they actually decided to get Hades ready for cleanup. Bah, doesn't matter…'

He had everything ready. He had used Nyx's information to infiltrate the tower and prepare the weapon before the military arrived in the area. He had followed orders until the very end, seeding chaos, triggering the Convergence. Everything so ZEUS would continue with the cleanup as agreed, everything so Hades showed up.

Everything to settle the score with those bastards.

'Hades…'

For how long had they been working together? They used to be more, the members of the group dropped like flies, and all of them knew their time could be up at any moment. They knew what they were getting into. Ares, Persephone, Hephaestus… And now, Prometheus was hanging by a thread. A dying pack of dirty dogs, which Hades intended to finish off for their own convenience.

'Fuck that.'

The rifle was ready. A modified Barrett M82, that beast was capable of perforating a pure praetorian all the way through. It'd do a nice job.

PT-01 crawled towards the outer wall. The battle taking place outside had left a hole under one of the windows. Keeping a low profile, he placed the rifle on the opening, and waited.

The military helicopter passed in the blink of an eye in front of the tower. A trail of smoke emerged from the tail rotor; they had taken some damage.

He kept his gaze fixated on the panorama. A couple of seconds later, there it was, the Hades helicopter, flying over the area some meters below his position.

A moving target, strong winds in the heights, interferences due to the spinning rotor blades… Not an easy shot. But he might not have another chance.

He breathed in, held his breath, and sunk all his senses into the rifle scope.

…

*Bang!!*

He couldn't spot the pilot through the dark glass to confirm the kill, but the aircraft's sudden change in direction was all the confirmation he needed. The vehicle destabilized and began spinning in circles, descending fast towards the ground.

Before it reached the rooftops of neighboring buildings, it seemed to stabilize. Had the copilot taken control? PT-01 prepared to take a second shot. It was unlikely that Hades was able to pinpoint his location.

He focused the scope on the helicopter cockpit, when a barrage of bullets fell onto the vehicle. He left the scope aside, and watched in great detail how the military helicopter took advantage of the situation, annihilating the enemy with everything at their disposal.

Surrounded by smoke and traces of fire, Hades plummeted into the void. PT-01 took shelter inside the office, closed his eyes, and calmly listened to the ensuing crash.

He sighed.

'That's it, then.'

In a way, he wondered about what drove him to make that choice. Honor? At that point? Spite, perhaps? He didn't know for sure, and he didn't give a damn. The score was settled.

He sat against the wall and waited. Waited for nothing in particular. He simply waited.

'A mangy old dog until the very end, huh? Maybe it's time for old dogs to stop pissing on the path others have to walk. I'm done here. Now figure it out yourselves.'

He was tired.

******

"This is Hawk-01! We're dry, I repeat, we're dry! We're returning to base!! Over!"

"This is Sparrow-03! Sector 17 is lost!"

"This is HQ. All units, hold the line!"

Hold the line? How? The wave was too fast in its advance. Kurtis Tower was already in sight. And with all units running out of ammo one after another, the resistance they could offer was minimal.

The pilot put the helicopter on a path towards the outer cells. They had no juice left, and fuel dropped at a dangerous pace. They had to leave.

Other members of the squadron joined him.

The more they distanced themselves from the Convergence epicenter, the denser the wave looked. They couldn't even see the asphalt of the road down there anymore, and the blue bioluminescence was almost blinding.

'My goodness… Where the fuck do they come from!? So many!'

Several long seconds passed. His ears were ringing, and his heartbeat was off the charts.

"This is Sparrow-07. We're detecting unusual activity down there." said someone on the radio.

The pilot looked ahead. Some members of the other squadrons had gone ahead of them, leading the formation. Sparrow-07 was one of them.

"This is Hawk-04. You mean the light patterns…?"

"Affirmative, Hawk."

He looked down. Scattered around the wave, there were spots whose brightness stood out among the rest, and they blinked frenetically.

"This is Sparrow-07. HQ, we're witnessing an unknown phenomenon. Requesting—"

The pilot detected movement. It was fast, exceedingly fast. Something emerged from the ground and launched towards the Sparrow-07 helicopter, crashing against it with devastating force. It happened again; this time headed for a different helicopter.

Something bright clung to them. Bright, bulky, and with wings similar to those of a cockroach.

'H-Holy fuck…! Warriors…!!?'

"T-This is Sparrow-07!! Shit…!! We're under attack!! W-Warrior caste!! They're coming from the wave!!!"

"This is Hawk-12!! I-It's inside…!! It broke in!!! Requesting—Aaaaarghhhh—!!!"

He saw one of the helicopters shaking violently under the wild onslaught of the warrior stinger, losing altitude until it crashed into the buildings.

"This is HQ! What's happening!? Sparrow! Do you copy!? Hawk!?"

"This is Hawk-01! The warrior caste is in the area! They're hiding within the main Convergence wave!!"

"Understood, Hawk! To all units! The enemy is employing unprecedented tactics! Fall back to the evacuation point! I repeat, fall back to—!"

The pilot stopped paying attention to the radio.

The Convergence wave had risen. At least, part of it. A mantle of blue luminosity had taken flight, covering the skies above the helicopters, overshadowing the sun, covering the horizon in all directions. Hundreds? Thousands? The exact number didn't matter. They were more than enough.

The squadron had no ammo to fight with, but the end result would've been the same.

The deluge of winged stingers fell on the helpless metal flies, clinging to them from all sides. The pilot didn't even attempt to perform evasive maneuvers. One of the warriors held onto the cockpit's windshield, and one of its claws, whose fingers rather looked like sharp blades, effortlessly pierced the reinforced glass and tore the copilot out of his seat.

He closed his eyes, and prayed for it to be quick.

"T-They're onto us!! Requesting reinforcements…!!"

"We're falling…!!! We can't—Aaaagh!!"

"W-We're losing control…!! Mayday, mayday—!!!"

******

It felt pain. Physical pain, but also psychological. Why was it fighting against its own flesh, against its own blood? Each blow splattered them by dozens, but more kept coming. They attempted to ignore it, but wouldn't hesitate to fight back when encountering resistance. Bit by bit, their teeth managed to reach it.

Its armor began falling apart, chunks of meat were missing, and the inevitable signs of fatigue numbed its limbs.

The queen's word was absolute. If he had to fight its own blood, it'd crush them without hesitation. If it had to protect her, it'd do it as long as it had the strength to keep standing, as long as blood coursed through its veins, as long as its muscles were bound to the bones, as long as its bones didn't shatter.

However, it was exhausted. Confused. Lost. Frightened.

The little ones didn't understand its confusion, they couldn't. They only had ears for the primordial call, which drove them into never-ending rage.

So exhausted. Its blood dripped without rest, covering the floor, dirtying its feet.

[Rest.]

Could it? Did it have permission to rest?

[You did lots. Sleep.]

…

Before the compassionate voice of its kind queen, the praetorian rested.

[Thank you, brother.]

******

"This is Colonel Rowan! Lucky-02! You still in the area!? The tower is secured! I repeat, the tower is secured! Over!"

Claire held Lilian's hand tightly as she observed the scene from the base of the stairs leading up to the helipad.

That man had rallied the few survivors left around the higher floors, and now shouted things on the radio. His uniform, earlier spotless and covered in awards, was torn and dirty.

Corpses decorated the entire rooftop. Only a few civilians remained alive. Miraculously, Stella and young Ethan had survived, along with a bunch of unknown faces. Almost all soldiers had died. Claire didn't know what to think. Would they make it? Would a new inconvenience happen, reaping even more lives?

She looked at the city, past the rooftop's edge. The horizon glittered with that sickening blue tone. Its meaning was unknown to her, but the phenomenon made her heart sink, as if she instinctively understood what a terrible omen it was.

A slight turmoil came from the stairwell, seconds before a group of soldiers stepped outside.

"Colonel…! You're okay!" exclaimed the one leading the group.

"Captain Isaac, I'm glad to see you! The rescue helicopter is on its way! Everyone take defensive positions, we merely need some additional minutes! Block that door!"

"Yes, sir!" Isaac noticed the bodies decorating the floor. "Hold on… What happened here!? Where's everyone!?" he began running all over the place, looking for vital signs. "No, no, no, no… Damn it, no…!"

"Captain…" said Rowan.

"Why is everyone dead, colonel!!?"

"Isaac! Focus, soldier!! Do you want to save those still alive and kicking, or do you want to put them at further risk!?"

"Fuck…! Fuck…!! Let's get to work, everybody!! Bring the other survivors up!! Come on, come on, come on!!"

More people poured out of the stairs, most of them military, although they brought with them some survivors. Claire's eyes moistened and opened wide as soon as she spotted Nora sprinting in her direction.

"N-Nora!!"

Nora dove straight into Lilian and hugged her. The girl cuddled in her arms and pinched her clothes.

"Lilian!! Lilian, sweetie…!!"

Claire gave them some seconds of respite before talking. "Are you okay, Nora!?"

Nora nodded at her, with teary eyes. Her entire body trembled, although Claire wasn't sure if it was out of excitement, or something else. A large dark-red mark decorated her neck, and she was covered in blood.

"I-I'm okay. Claire… you're hurt!"

Nora had noticed Claire's state. Colonel Rowan had applied first aid to her, stopping the hemorrhage and bandaging her amputated fingers, and putting her broken arm into an improvised cast. It hurt like hell, but the pain was bearable.

"D-Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

William emerged from the group of newcomers and approached them, also worn out, full of bruises. He didn't say anything, but his eyes seemed relieved to see them alive. The relief was mutual.

The tower was shaken up once again, and Claire felt the floor under her feet moving. The tilt, initially imperceptible, aggravated by the second. A myriad of shrieks and roars came up from the streets, and some of them sounded close. Way too close.

A small group of maddened shamblers rushed out of the stairwell, tripping and clumsily dropping to the floor, before springing back up and sprinting towards the survivors.

"Everyone to the helipad, hurry!!" shouted Isaac, while the soldiers took down the shamblers. "Alpha, take positions on the stairs!! Don't let them come up!!!"

The tremors throughout the building were now persistent. One of the soldiers approached the edge of the rooftop, looked down, then turned around with a horrified expression on his face.

"C-Captain!! The wave is here!!! They've reached the tower!!"

"Don't panic!" said Colonel Rowan. "There!"

The colonel pointed at something in the sky. A dark shadow stood out in the panorama, over the shining mantle covering the horizon. The sound of a helicopter hummed in the distance, getting closer.

"The rescue helicopter is here! Stand your ground, gentlemen!! We're going home!!"