Bombs Away

“Azure Squad, it’s time. All units, report your status.” Wilhelm checked all the readings on his cybersuit’s dashboard. The rumbling of the plane shook his suit and blurred them, but nothing looked out of order, to Wilhelm's eyes. “Azure-One, at the ready. Next?”

“Azure-Two, reporting. All systems functional.” Mayu’s voice rang out clearly and firmly, with a quiet confidence. Wilhelm was thankful for it: it would make the others less nervous.

“Azure-Three, reporting. I’m ready to fight, Lieutenant Frei!” Kane went next, as Mayu’s assistant in managing Azure Squadron. As a soldier, he reminded Wilhelm most of himself.

“Azure-Four, ready to roll.” Easygoing, as always. Rock slacked off the most during their brief training, but the man knew how to read an enemy formation like a book.

“Azure-Five, checking in. I-I don’t see any issues, sir!” Fleurre was the youngest, and the one Wilhelm needed to watch over the most. A weak link, but every squad has one.

“Azure-Six. All good, Lieutenant Frei.” Amelia responded quickly, as always. This trait showed in her trigger finger: the fastest in the squad.

“Azure-Seven, reporting. Nothing wrong with the suit’s metrics, sir.” Ever the analyzer, Geoffrey spent more time reading his combat data than making it. Gets results, though.

“Azure-Eight. I’m good.” Standoffish as usual, Kira’s report only had the essentials. Wilhelm had tried, and failed, to make them open up, but he hadn’t given up just yet.

“Azure-Nine, reporting. I… I think everything’s okay?” Perpetually unsure of herself, Morgan rarely ever answered in the affirmative. Well, that’s good enough, for me.

“Azure-Ten, coming in. Let’s do this!” Oliver was the most excitable among them, matched only by Kane. He, out of everyone, seemed the most likely to die.

Wilhelm moved closer to the source of the plane’s disturbance: the wide opening in its side, from where they were all supposed to dive down. The captain tasked Mathilde and Wilhelm with a surgical strike on one of New Moscow's missile defense system, much like in Warsaw. Down below, the base waited for them: and in all likelihood, preparing to strike at the moment they ventured below. Wilhelm changed channels on his voice comms.

“Mathilde, everyone ready on your end?”

“Yes, we’re all good to dive at the agreed time.” Wilhelm couldn’t hear even a tinge of fear in her voice. He felt his own courage welling up, though he’d had plenty to begin with.

“Sounds good to me. About a minute left, then.” Wilhelm switched back to his squadron. “Everyone’s good to go, so we’re diving at twelve hundred. Get by the opening, and get ready to use those rocket launchers. They’re not gonna sit and watch us dive down. Trust me on that.”

He readied his own, then counted down the seconds. Three… Two… One…

“Go, go, go!” He leaped down first. All around him, exosuits fell, Mathilde's being right next to him. Mechanical wings sprouted from the sea of metallic men. Much of their training over the last month had involved operating these: the gliders would allow them to land safely, along with the thrusters each exosuit had available and ready to go.

The drag produced by gliders slowed down the group's descent, and Wilhelm took the opportunity to take in the scenery. Just below the clouds, he could see everything in New Moscow. The streets had emptied out due to the conflict, and even with his suit’s enhanced vision, he could see almost no one on the ground below. Most of the Soviet soldiers occupied themselves with the western entrance. Rudolf, Levin, Storm, and Bowie led that group, along with the bulk of the EIF’s forces in New Moscow. It was where the fighting would be fiercest: Wilhelm had no envy for them. Somewhere else, Aurelia and her squad had undertaken a solo mission, the details of which even Wilhelm didn’t know. Well, I've got enough to worry about.

Suddenly, Amelia’s voice broke over the comms. “Lieutenant Frei, I see something!”

Wilhelm looked again. Objects from below grew closer and closer, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. “They finally opened fire, ha! Break out the rocket launchers and shoot ‘em down!”

He readied, fired, and the rest followed suit. Rocket after rocket flew below, hitting their targets rapidly and with ease. Explosive clouds erupted, again and again, indicating a job well done.

“D-Did you see that, sir? I really hit it!” Morgan would’ve leaped for joy, were she not in the sky. 

Wilhelm smiled despite the situation. “Good work, but don’t ease up. They might not be-” As he looked closer, he stopped. His heart sank: one had gotten through, one that Fleurre had missed. And now, it was headed right for her.

“Fleurre, get out of the way!”

“Huh? What-” Fleurre reacted too late… But Wilhelm had planned for that. Immediately, he turned right and boosted to the maximum capacity, pushing Fleurre out of its flight path. Instead, it flew harmlessly to the skies above.

“Oh god… I almost…”

“You’re alive, and that’s what matters,” Wilhelm said. “Get your head back in the game, Fleurre. Another round’s coming!”

He flew back to his position and readed his shot in one clean motion, knocking down another rocket. This time, Fleurre didn’t miss.

“Sir, we’re within two miles of the surface. At this rate, they only have one… maybe two more rounds in them before we land,” Geoffrey said. Doing math in this situation? 

“Thanks for the report, Geoffrey. Everyone, keep an eye out for that last one!”

As soon as he said it, the round came. Kira’s rocket nailed two of them, and Wilhelm whistled. “Good shot, Kira. Impressive work, as always.”

“Sure, boss.”

Suddenly, a popup showed up on all of their screens: a warning that the Earth laid less than a mile below, and that they would eat dirt if they didn’t slow down.

“Lieutenant Frei, permission to deploy enhanced glider functionality?” Kane asked.

“Of course. Everyone, enable increased drag! We’re almost there!” As Wilhelm and the rest did just that, the world slowed. The blur down below became visible. His squad, streaks in the wind, came into form. And below? The real last barrage of missiles came into focus. Wilhelm and Azure Squad opened fire once more, and again, the explosions obscured his vision.

He enabled heat vision, and then, his heart sunk. His target kept flying, flying towards them. Wilhelm had plenty of time to dodge, but too many people hovered around him. Someone would get hit, if that missile didn’t explode ahead of time. His rocket launcher wouldn’t reload. Why can’t things ever go smoothly?  With reluctance, Wilhelm grabbed the blade on his back and contemplated throwing it down. Then, it exploded in front of him, so close that he flew through the cloud before it dispersed. It rattled him, but nothing worse than that.

“Lieutenant, speak up next time. We’re all coming back alive… Got it?” Mayu asked. Wilhelm shook his head. Back in my old habits… I’m not alone.

“Got it. Thanks, Mayu… Seriously.” The group landed, right next to the missile defense systems that had been employed against them. Its stockpile looked low, from firing so many at them: Wilhelm and Mathilde’s squads destroyed them in short order. The NSR forces surrounding them dropped quickly, and neither group lost a single soldier in the assault.

Mathilde and her squad flew over to Wilhelm’s, and she nearly tackled him with a hug. Even enveloped in their machines, Wilhelm could feel a glimmer of warmth.

“That was way too close earlier, seriously… I’m glad you’re okay, Wil,” Mathilde said. Then, she hastily broke away, looking side to side at her squadmates then back. “Back to business, sorry. We’d better find Rudolf’s group and link up with them. The battle’s not over yet.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Squad Azure, follow me!” Wilhelm’s cybersuit revved, but he kept the speed low enough that the rest could follow. Mayu led the skirmishes on the way, shooting down stragglers in the many alleyways of New Moscow. Wilhelm’s eyes stayed on the tower close at hand. Spiraling high, the white tower served as a beacon, of sorts. At the moment, NSR soldiers occupied it entirely, infesting the building. Makes sense. When in doubt, get the high ground.

At its peak, only a small few, elite guards stood guard. And next to them was the man Wilhelm had been looking for: a towering, red suit of armor, operating a monstrously large railgun. A powerful shot erupted from it, flying down towards where Rudolf’s squad was. Wilhelm hastily looked at his indicators, then breathed a sigh of relief. No casualties, at least in his group.

Then, the captain’s voice came over his ear.

“Frei, Hubert, I’ve got a new job for you two. Can you handle it?”

Mathilde responded first. “That depends, captain. What’s the rundown?”

“The rest of the Cyberitters can’t make any headway. I think you can see why: that bastard at the tower’s peak. You two are in the best position to deal with it. Any objections?”

“You want us… to take out the Red Reaper?” Wilhelm asked.

“Incapacitate him, make his railgun nonfunctional, whatever it takes. Can I rely on you?”

Wilhelm’s smile grew deeper and deeper. “Of course, captain. I’ve been waiting for this!”

“I suppose we have no choice… If you think we can, captain, then we’ll try our best,” Mathilde said. Then, she opened up a channel for just her and Wilhelm.

“Wil, let’s slink around the back and use their focus on our allies against them. Do you have enough fuel left to make it up there?”

“Plenty!” Wilhelm said. He took off into the sky, far in front of the rest of the soldiers behind him. When he landed on the roof and saw his target, his grin turned grim. Today, it ends!