Sanctuary No Longer

[AztecWarrior]

They had just barely gotten into the air when Aztec got a message.

"NC Command to Screaming Eagles Air Squadron, do you copy?"

The radio in Aztec's Reaver crackled.

"Brigadier General AztecWarrior speaking."

"It appears that they are going to reduce NC City to rubble. We have about fifty Liberator bombers inbound from the invasion point. Defenses should be somewhat less than on the frontline. You'll have to penetrate deep in there."

"Roger and Wilco."

"There's another thing."

"What is it, command?"

"They are not flying normally."

"How so?"

"They are at maximum height. Something big is aboard. Assuming the payload is a conventional weapon, it's going to be about 5,000 kilos according to estimates. 400 meters is the lowest safe dropping height for a weapon of that load."

"But what if it isn't?"

"Well, we are going to have a problem, aren't we? Command out."

"Roger-Wilco. Aztec out."

He relayed the news to the squadron.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" implored a captain.

"Granted, as always."

"This is shit."

"Elaborate."

"We have to fly all the damn way over there! We'll be decimated! There's no way we can do it."

"All units, rise to maximum height. That should keep us from being noticed by infantry and their SAMs."

"That helps."

"And if we are decimated, we can always come back. To be honest, I'm not even confident right now."

Another pilot from the squadron radioed.

"Check it out! The city!"

They were over NC City. It was beginning to rain heavily. Almost nothing was visible, save for the light of big explosions.

"We'll go sight seeing on the way back. The fact of the matter is, we have to take down every one of those bombers...say, Katrina, ask command if they have fighter escort."

"Okay. I have to change frequencies..."

After less than a minute, but not instantly, she radioed back.

"They are not positive. No fighters in formation appear on radar but the Mosquito is stealthy until it's within 200 meters."

"Captain!"

"Yes?"

"You were right. This is shit."

[AztecWarrior]

"We should be crossing the border now. Damn, they should give us BEP just for this. Ladies and gentlemen, if you are going to be blown out of the sky, it is going to happen now..."

No sound but the scream of the engines.

"We did it. Is anyone here a writer?"

One of the Mosquito pilots spoke up. 1st Lieutenant.

"I wrote some poetry before all this, I haven't had the time to have it published..."

"This operation needs a name."

"Give me some time."

"Command to Aztec, they should be within 5 kilometers of you. Prepare for combat."

24 Mosquitoes and 16 Reavers were up against 50 Liberator bombers (post-release vehicle) with possible escort.

"Aztec to command, are the units Terran or Vanu?"

"They appear to be Terran."

"Roger. Engaging!"

The rain cleared a little. A thunderbolt struck behind the bomber formations, illuminating them for a fraction of a moment.

"Ten o'clock! Reavers, rocket barrage! Mosquitoes, look for escort!"

The bombers were flying in 'box' formation. The idea was that they would fly in a cube formation. Anyone who entered the box would be hit by crossfire from four planes. There were 12 boxes with two Liberators flying lead.

"They're in box formation! Do NOT enter the box!"

"Roger!" echoed over the radio.

Katrina, executive officer, led the Mosquitoes. She had a temper almost as big as her Russian accent.

"Aztec, there appear to be no fighters. We are engaging from the top."

The rocket barrage hit the two lead bombers. 20mm finished them off. Flares and green smoke emanated from the ripped-open bomb bay. Two pilots claimed the kills as theirs.

Aztec got a Liberator in his sights. He held down the trigger. 20mm shells riddled the Liberator, but it kept on going. He turned as it passed and held the trigger down again.

The explosion was small. There appeared to be no ordinance aboard.

"Aztec to command, are you sure they are carrying anything? I just shot one down, nothing huge."

"We are not positive of the contents. Did we SAY that there were bombs?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Now kill them all!"

The battle was over rapidly. The unprotected aircraft, despite defense turrets, were not much of a match as long as you stayed out of the box. The Screaming Eagles lost eight pilots.

"We didn't do bad. Let's head home. Why the hell wouldn't they escort those?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 minutes later
TR Headquarters
Situation room
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Generals were crowded in the situation room, with the screen showing a large map of the NC Sanctuary. The intercom came on, asking for one of the generals.

"Glorious flight has been eliminated."

"WHAT?! Where were the fighter escorts?!"

"That's the thing, sir. They weren't at the rendezvous point."

"So we just lost fifty bombers BEHIND FRIENDLY LINES?"

"Yes, sir."

"How the HELL did they get by our SAMs?"

"Perhaps they weren't seen."

The general turned towards the masses.

"Excuse me, I have to go to a classified area."

[AztecWarrior]

NC City: 40% NC control
Continent: 50% NC control

"Ok, you can reduce height to 300 meters and that's it. I don't want to play Dodge the Strikers."

Most of the people pushed down for a look.

Then Aztec had a flashback, right there, in flight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aztec has flashback syndrome. He feels that he is really back there, being tortured or seeing a nuke go off below him, or about to die. He has seen all of that firsthand.

This one was about the latter: his execution. His matrixing DNA was destroyed, and he was taken capture.

He was on a stage overlooking a crowd of cheering Terran civilians. The sun was setting. He was tied to a pole, stripped of armor plating on his suit, and unarmed.

"Are you ready to die?"

Aztec is not a coward. But there is one person he always recoils in front of. The person had tortured him daily for three months and killed him twice, the last time gruesomely and publicly. This was the last time.

The person?

{{eMaGyN}} of clan CDL-Dragonwolves.

She walked up to him with five Chainblades.

"F**king NCs. We'll kill you all. We hate you. I hate you. And I'm going to prove it."

She jammed a Chainblade, primary mode, into his thighs and upper arms. Aztec wailed in pain, blood and tears streaming.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While he imagined all this, he was losing height rapidly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Any last words?"

Aztec gathered up all of his stregnth.

"FREEDOM!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aztec's Reaver hit a building. He was going 300 KPH, as he had fallen onto the afterburner. The Reaver bounced off, stalled, and hit the street. Aztec's flashback ended there, as he died.

[AztecWarrior]

Aztec woke up at an AMS in the city.

He had respawned.

He stepped out.

"What am I doing here! I left my DNA at the Cyssor gate base!"

"It's taken."

An officer stepped out from behind the end.

"The Vanu have it. We found your severed arm on the street. It was burned up, but it had DNA. We plugged it into this matrixing panel, and Presto! you're alive."

"How have you been holding up?"

"Badly. We're expected to go to the front in a few minutes. Get some gear, that Standard Armor is no good."

Aztec got Agile Armor, his Sweeper Shotgun, a MAG-Scatter, and an AMP. The officer was impressed at his armor- it had a lot of gold on it.

"Nice. Let's go. The Sunderer should be coming soon. You might want to take grenades, they're more valuable then medkits in urban warfare."

He removed a box of thirty shells and picked up a plasma grenade.

"Oh, yeah. Welcome to Hell."

[starrider]

very cool.......hmmm i may want to get in some of this urban stuff....

[AztecWarrior]

Aztec knew this city. He had lived in it. The objective? His squad was going to secure the five-story apartment complex ahead by a few blocks. They were all in a line, searching for cloakers, traps, or snipers. Aztec was in the rear. One of the privates spoke up in a New Yorker accent.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Securing the rear."

"That's why you're facing forward. Walk backwards."

He turned around, slightly fearful of tripping on the debris.

"Squad, there it is."

The leader spoke.

The building was gutted. It had been hit by a few bombs, judging by the lack of intact glass (but it littered the streets!) and large holes in the walls and roof. Of course, this was normal, but it appeared that this one was especially bad.

"The Vanu have it. We have to charge. On the count of three...one...two..."

Pulsar beams started to fly. Everyone ran, shooing at the windows. By a miracle, they killed 2 Vanu without a loss. They ran into the wall and got ready to get in. The squad leader readied a grenade.

"How many are up there?" asked Aztec.

"We think about ten, not much." replied the sargeant.

Aztec counted the squad. Nine, including himself.

"Go after you hear the plasma..."

He threw the grenade in. Two screams came from behind the lobby desk. The soldiers jumped over and finished the job.

"Liari! Donnovan! Are you all right?"

Footstep sounds came from the stairs. Everyone took aim. As the two Vanu came out, a hail of bullets met them.

"Great. Let's move AAAAUGHHH!"

The squad leader got a Force-Blade in his chest. As a few people turned on Darklight, the cloaker jammed it in and out, killing him. The cloaker dropped the body and was looking straight at a Jackhammer. It was the last sight he saw.

"That's five. We're doing pretty..."

They heard heavy footsteps from the elevator shaft.

"MAX UNIT!"

Aztec picked up his plasma grenade and threw it into the elevator shaft (the elevator door was missing, probably due to a bomb). The MAX fell on it, and he took some burning damage. It came out. It was an anti-infantry. Aztec took cover behind the desk as beams flew. One of them took out a Phoenix. The MAX turned, and blew him to bits. He then proceeded to butcher everyone in the squad except Aztec. He had taken some damage. Aztec put the AP Slug magazine into his Sweeper and cocked it.

He rose up, fired 2 shots, and ducked back down. The MAX came and peered over the desk, but there was nothing there. Aztec came out from behind a column, fired 2 shots, and ran behind the elevator shaft. Again, the MAX did not turn in time. He then emptied a full magazine into it. He did a lot of damage, but this time the MAX caught sight of him. Aztec reloaded while running. He took a few hits. He came out again, firing AP ammo. Circle-strafing, he finally killed it by emptying another magazine.

Eight down, two to go.

He slowly walked up the stairs. A sniper and her spotter were looking out the window for targets. Aztec killed them both. He then waited for the squad to respawn and come back. After about fifteen minutes, they arrived.

"You did it? Congratulations!"

"Look, I have to get back to my outfit. Do you know if there's a way out of this city?"

"Infrastructure's fried, I'm afraid not. Here, use my Command Uplink Device."

It came to life as Aztec turned it on. He contacted his squad.

"I've crashed in the city. I would appreciate an airlift out..."

"We can't do that right now. We are trying to stop a siege."

"What do you mean?"

"They are going for the northern central warp gate base. If they take that, they will encircle NC City."

[starrider]

GO VANU take that warp gate!!!!!!!!!1

[AztecWarrior]

Aztec continued with the squad. He died three times but killed many more. Eventually, the command unit notified him that a Galaxy was going to pick him up. He arrived, and was taken to the last remaining base- the northeastern warp gate base.

His outfit was enjoying a fifteen minute break. He had to go to a meeting at the gate gun tower. The people had not arrived yet, so he walked up to the roof and lit up a cigarette. One of his vices was smoking.

The dual moons were over the sky, giving Auraxis reflected light. Masses of civilians were everywhere, in the tents. Soldiers were moving out.

Aztec sighed.

Someone tapped on his shoulder.

He turned, and Black Widow was there.

"What do you think, Aztec?"

"About what?"

"Our marriage."

"Do you want me to tell a nice lie or the truth?"

"Truth."

"It's not going to happen. The way I see it, it's all over. We'll be taken as POWs and probably executed."

Black Widow began to cry. Aztec embraced her, thinking.

What have I fought for? To lose? Was it all in vain?

He soon realized that he, too, was sobbing. He tried to think of some hope, something. A last stand? A final charge?

Aztec's radio came on.

"The meeting is about to start. We need you inside."

"I'll be there in a minute."

Aztec let go of his future wife and gazed into her eyes.

"This might be the last time we see each other...so..."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Their lips met. Holding back tears, they kissed, maybe for the last time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah. Aztec. You're here. Let's begin."

The leader of the New Conglomerate led the speech. Generals were crammed into the tower.

"I have spoken with our top generals, and we have a plan of action. We will have a last stand. Tell your men to fight as they have never fought before. We need to hold on to this city for as long as possible. Perhaps we can beat the forces not by numbers but by atrittion."

The generals did not speak up.

"You are instructed to fortify your positions, using whatever means availble. NC City will likely fall within 24 hours- the Terrans have cut us off from it. They cannot be reinforced."

Silence.

"Dismissed. There will be no debate about this. This is an order."

Aztec walked out with a very bad feeling in his stomach.

[Sando138]

A last stand. i had hoped it would not come to this. i just hope i eased the pressure off a little by destroying the resupply and respawn capabilities of a lot of the terrans on the contient.

[AztecWarrior]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Terran Republic HQ
TR Sanctuary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The general stepped into the secure area. He went to the room where Bomber Command was.

"General, I'm sure you've heard the news. For those of you who don't know, our fifty bombers were taken out over friendly space. What is siginificant was the cargo on these aircraft. They did not carry bombs. They carried nerve gas. They were spilled at this point. *He pointed to a map* The predominant winds are pushing the nerve gas over the northwestern base. The winds are changing, and it will soon go over the northern central base. It will be too dissipated, however, to inflict any casualties at the northeastern base, the last NC Stronghold."

The general spoke up.

"You f**ked it all up. Do you realize what you have done? We may lose this continent. It is unlikely, but we may lose it. This is assuming that the Vanu remain allied, which I severely doubt. They blame will go to us. Jackson, you're fired."

"Sir, I think..."

"Would you like me to shoot you?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"You're being transferred to recruitment. Have a nice day."

The nerve gas cloud made the bases inhospitable. The only NC base, however, was spared. The cities were also spared.

It was the first ray of hope, even though nobody knew it.

[AztecWarrior]

Continued @ 'Sanctuary No Longer II'.

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