Midnight

“Lieutenant Colonel Izumi,” the radio buzzed.

Izumi grabbed the radio, confused. “Major Izumi speaking,” she said, driving towards the coordinates she’d seen the flare fall from. “Who is this?”

“You’re not a Major anymore, Izumi. This is Commander James. As of this moment, you’re promoted. We’ve received your message and are sending reinforcements via Dragonflies. We’re having a bit of trouble getting them off the ground, but they’ll be with you soon.”

“Send them to this coordinate,” she said, listing the series of numbers from her wrist display. “What’s your ETA, Commander?”

“Ten minutes. Can you buy us some time?”

“Of course,” she said. Estimating her own position, she had about five minutes to go until she reached the estate. She pressed down the gas as far as it could go and steadied her grip on the steering wheel.

***

Mire stumbled forward, slowly working to gain control of his limbs. As he neared the garden’s exit, he paused for a moment to rest, leaning on a fruit tree’s trunk. Looking ahead of him, he could see the ballroom. It looked completely deserted.

Peering closer, however, he found that all the party guests were on the floor, immobile. Most likely victims of poison. He cursed, looking for a way into the compromised building. Where are the Revived soldiers?

He dashed forward along the path, stumbling until he reached the entryway by the door. Peeking into the room, he saw Tez Rylie entering the building. He bit his lip, trying to figure out what to do.

After a moment of observation, he located John, lying near the wreckage of the feasting table. Drawing a deep breath, Mire backed away and towards the small wall that encircled the building, careful to crawl in order to avoid being seen through the windows.

As he crawled, a gunshot split the air, causing him to flinch. He bit his tongue to avoid shouting in shock, though he doubted a shout would really draw the attention of his enemies. I’ll save you, John. You and my family.

He prayed, hoping that his wife had been with the kids still when Tez’s group arrived. If they stayed out of the ballroom, they would probably be safe.

He felt his strength returning as he crawled but knew that would do him little good if he didn’t have a plan. Right now, all he could do was wait and hope for a miracle. As he prayed, he heard the faint moan of Dragonflies in the distance, slowly getting louder.

***

Ralis held Maki’s hand tight as they pushed through the crowds, back towards their home. Why do things have to be this way? He thought, watching the flames burn against the ashen skies.

As he watched, the most peculiar thing happened. It began to snow.

***

Watson stared at the ceiling and closed her eyes. I’ve failed, she thought.

She glanced at her communicator on her wrist and clenched her fist. “I will kill her,” she swore. “We are not done.”

***

Izumi gritted her teeth as she set herself to her plan, crashing the truck through the front gates of the estate. The gates ripped away as if she were splashing through water. Inside the courtyard stood an army, still as stone.

Izumi slammed on the breaks, bringing the damaged truck to a swift stop. What’s going on here? She thought.

She stepped out of the truck tentatively and looked around at the crowded soldiers. An entire army stood before her, presumably the Revived that had been stolen away from their families, but they didn’t seem to notice her. In fact, they didn’t seem to notice anything.

She walked up beside one of them and shook him. He didn’t respond. Curious, she thought about pushing him over as a gunshot echoed in the mansion behind her. She cursed herself and ran towards the building.

She paused outside the door, glancing inside, searching for signs of life. In the entryway, she saw two men standing watch, their guns at the ready.

Inside were three hallways, two going off to the sides of the building and one straight ahead. The room itself had a high, vaulted ceiling with a crystal chandelier providing light from the center of the room.

Izumi surveyed the room, eyeing the light. She pulled out the gun she’d stolen earlier and aimed it at the light, then fired.

The light shattered, dozens of its crystals plummeting towards the ground. The guards dove out of the way, but Izumi was already ready, she fired two shots, taking down both of them.

She rushed past into the hallway, focused on her goal. She needed to find the President and she needed to save him. The hallway before her opened into a large dining room. There, she saw multiple soldiers, backs to her. She grinned, pulling her lightning baton out and flipping it on.

As she approached, two of them turned, but it was too late. She shot one of them in the chest while stabbing the other in the gut with her baton. As she rushed past them, she counted five other soldiers as well as the man behind it all, Tez Rylie. He was standing beyond the group, pointing his gun at someone, though Izumi wasn’t sure who.

She fired a shot at him, missing, but causing him to turn toward her. As he did so, the other soldiers raised their weapons at Izumi and fired. However, she was ready and was already diving out of the way, behind a small stage where it looked like a band had been playing.

“Stop,” Tez said above the sounds of gunfire. “She’s mine. Take care of the rest of the mission.”

Izumi glanced through the instruments to see Tez hand his gun over to his subordinate in exchange for a sword. The man stepped past him towards one of the bodies scattered throughout the room. “Are they dead, Tez?” she asked from behind her cover. She adjusted her weapon, taking aim at Tez through a gap in the drums.

“No,” he said, swinging the sword through the air a few times. “But they’re about to be,” he smiled at her.

Izumi glanced at the other soldiers. They were returning down the hallway from where she’d come. “What’s your plan Tez?”

Tez raised an eyebrow at her as he approached. “Why would I tell you that? I’m not stupid.”

Izumi fired.

The bullet ripped through Tez’s abdomen, leaving a coin-sized hole in the man. Unphased, Tez continued towards her. “Really,” he said, “Haven’t we already established you can’t kill me, girl?”

“Just because I can’t kill you, it doesn’t mean I can’t stop you.”

Tez rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say. I can see why we’ve been asked to toy with you so much.”

Izumi frowned and fired again, this time, at Tez’s right shoulder. This time, his arm fell, causing the sword to crack against the marble floor.

“Smart,” Tez said, glancing at his arm, “But if you think that will stop me, you really are mistaken.”

With a bit of visible effort, Tez lifted his arm again, pointing his weapon directly at Izumi. “Come fight me head-on, Izumi. If you win, I’ll spare their lives. Society’s already shattered. The rest of this is just personal.”

Izumi stood, still pointing her gun at Tez. “Promise?”

“Of course,” Tez said calmly.

Izumi smiled. “Good,” she said, firing another shot. This time, she wasn’t aiming for Tez. This time, she was aiming behind him, at the window, near the man she’d seen move, a man very close to President Clay, Mire Wesdon.

As the window shattered, a sound that Izumi had been unconsciously aware of burst into the room, the sound of Dragonflies. In moments, soldiers rushed into the room in full combat gear. They leveled their rifles at Tez and his accomplice, who stood nearby.

Tez only grinned in reply. “I see,” he said. “You never planned to fight me, did you?”

“No,” Izumi said. “It’s over, Tez.”

“Hmm,” Tez replied, looking around at the soldiers surrounding him. “I don’t recall surrendering.”

Behind Izumi, the house exploded, throwing her over the stage and to the ground. Tez took the opportunity to attack, cutting down her reinforcements. His other soldier also rushed into the action.

Izumi rolled over to see the ceiling above her in flames, an inferno filling the house behind them. Nearby, she caught the glimpse of her baton and grabbed it, slowly getting to her feet.

She turned towards Tez as Izumi’s reinforcements restrained the other soldier. Tez, on the other hand, ignored them, starting towards her. “Are you ready now?” he asked.

Izumi launched herself forward, not pausing to offer the man a reply. He caught her overhead swing of the baton with the edge of his sword, throwing her back. Seriously? She thought as he continued towards, unphased by the shock he’d taken through his sword.

“Screw this,” she muttered, cranking the dial on the device as high as it could go. There was no chance they’d be able to take Tez in alive, at least, not while he could move.

She charged forward again, feeling the heat of the baton grow with every passing moment. Two minutes, she thought. Two minutes to end this.

“Come on now,” Tez said. “It’s over. It’s midnight, Izumi. Your world is done.”

***

Across the room, Mire Wesdon rushed for John. Another soldier ran with him, offering a bit of protection from the forces engaging in the middle of the hall. He helped John to his feet then motioned to the soldier to help John’s wife.

Together, they worked their way across the wreckage of the mansion towards the shattered back wall of the dining room. As they exited the building, Mire looked up to see the Dragonflies descending towards them.

“Out of the way,” he shouted as the vehicles hovered down towards the earth. One of them remained floating above them while the other fired pulse canons into the room, blasting out the rest of the glass and throwing the soldiers that remained standing to the floor.

From the ship above them shot out a gravity lift, from which lowered a few more soldiers, as well as a man Mire recognized, General Teb. “We’ve got to get everyone out, now,” the general told his troops. “The other team found immolation devices, armed and ready. The priority is everyone in this room.”

No, Mire thought. “My family,” he said to the General.

The man paused. “What?”

“My family,” Mire continued. “They’re in there.”

Teb glanced towards the house. “Where?”

“I-I don’t know,” Mire admitted, “But they’re probably towards the front of the house, in one of the rooms there.”

The General nodded. “I’ll see if we can send someone, but this room’s our priority right now.”

Mire clenched his fists. “What do you mean?” he shouted. “That’s my family.”

“I get that,” the General nodded, “But this is my duty. Without the Named, this nation would be leaderless. Would you have me sacrifice them for your personal desires?”

Mire raised his fist but stopped as John grabbed his shoulder.

“John,” he said, redirecting his attention as the gravity lift reversed polarity.

“Get your family,” John replied slowly. “Don’t let him take anything more from you. I’ll be okay.”

Mire nodded, then let go of his friend. “I’ll be back,” he said, rushing into the building.