An Untitled Novel

General Edwards stood in front of a small group of soldiers as two others approached. “Do you have an update on the different machine that appears to be hovering?” he asked as soon as they made it within earshot. “No sir, it just circles us and has not done anything since arriving.” The second soldier spoke unprompted, speaking with an air of urgency. “Sir, the other machine was recently spotted providing equipment to the Lizard King’s soldiers. They appear to be preparing an assault on the gate.” Edwards took a moment to process the unexpected information, mind clouded by sleep deprivation and thirst, knowing that his life expectancy was tied to that of the gate’s. Trying to push down those feelings he straightened his posture and began to address the crowd. “My fellow soldiers, friends, and loyalists to the very end.” His voice cracked momentarily, but after a brief pause he cleared his throat he continued.

“It appears the sun has set on our great nation, and the Tyrant has won out. Many have surrendered with the loss of our king, and many more have fallen in his defense.” He paused again, but switched from a melancholy voice to a forced triumphant one. “I have lived a long life in service to a just ruler, and aside from death I cannot know for sure what will befall us on this day. But I can think of no greater death than one final stand against the Tyrant with you all, for on this day in history it will be told-”

The General’s speech was interrupted by the roar of another ship entering the atmosphere, this one landing directly in the courtyard a short distance from the soldiers present. They readied their weapons and approached the ship, watching in anticipation of who would exit. Would it be an envoy of the Lizard King, demanding their surrender? A weapon to strike them all down? The creators of the machines coming to avenge theft?

Cicero ran out of the door first, a relief to the soldiers surrounding the craft previously expecting a fight. The remaining passengers stepped out, ACE relaying the state of the capital city and its siege as provided by his aerial surveillance. The soldiers’ relief turned to surprise and readied weapons when Basil stepped out PDA open with a feed from the jet, followed by Grey, but Cicero attempted to calm the crowd. “They’re on our side, all wronged by the Tyrant and the reason I have escaped his imprisonment!” The declaration appeared to be enough to get weapons lowered as Edwards approached Cicero. “The Tyrant’s men are about to assault the gate, what condition are you in to fight?” Cicero pointed to the ship. “There’s a handful of weapons in the ship taken from the Tyrant’s dead soldiers, arm everybody you can with them. Basil has a powerful weapon, and the jet has explosives it can drop.” Edwards looked confused. “The jet?” Cicero pointed at the jet hovering in circles above them. “That there, the different one, that’s Basil’s. His friend said it’s loaded with explosives.” Edwards still seemed confused, asking “That one?” while pointing to Grey.

“No, me” ACE said over the speakers. Before Edwards could question it, however, ACE continued to speak. “You need to get everyone in position alongside the walls. Then open the gates and funnel the Lizard King’s men in formation into the center of the courtyard.” Before ACE could continue, however, Edwards asked “Open the gate, are you insane?” with indignation in his voice. “They outnumber you ten to one, your only bet is to get them in formation in the courtyard expecting a knife fight and then drop a few makeshift explosives on them from the jet. It is the only way to thin their numbers and introduce chaos, with which you can surround them and retake the entire courtyard at the very least.” Edwards gestured as if he was about to speak but ACE continued. “This is the only viable strategy, if you can arm enough civilians and we can create enough chaos you may even be able to begin to retake the city.” Edwards began to say “I can’t-,” but Cicero cut him off. “You must trust him, I owe them my life, and I believe he is right in saying this is the only way.”

Basil handed Edwards his phone so ACE could stay in communication with him as Edwards and Cicero began to walk back to the soldiers taking up formation. Grey returned to the inside of the ship, with Baisil and Spiro taking up defensive positions by lying in the dirt next to the ship; weapons at the ready. Basil and Spiro watched as those on the wall fired down upon the attackers below, and those behind the gate got ready to bait the attackers through. “If this doesn’t work out,” Spiro asked Basil, “Where’s the wormhole device that ACE should have working?” Basil pointed vaguely in the direction of the jet circling above without taking his eyes off his rifle’s busted sights. “Up there.” Spiro continued looking at the sky where Basil was pointing. “So if this goes tits up anybody outside the craft is not getting out of here, are they?” Basil shook his head, still not looking away from his rifle’s sights. “No time to get that thing down here and the generator running before the gates are busted down if we want it in the air for the fight.”

As Basil finished his sentence the gates burst open as some form of makeshift battering ram pushed through, attackers entirely unaware that the chains holding the gate in place had been disconnected from the inside. Basil fired a few shots in the direction of the first through the gate, as did many of the Redcaps, but ammunition was scarce and both sides knew it. The Lizard King’s soldiers took up a large shielded formation in the center of the courtyard. Spiro explained that the attackers were expecting this last stand to be a very bloody fight with minimal ammunition on both sides, and they seemed to intend to divide the defenders into two groups. What the attackers could not see, however, was an open hatch on a jet where a group of maintenance drones were preparing to toss explosives out of. Several deafening explosions rang out as the close knit collection of soldiers turned into craters, throwing mud and appendages in all directions.

A few Redcap soldiers cheered prematurely, but most remained silent as more soldiers poured in through the gate. These soldiers, however, already seemed to know what was going on. To the dismay of the Redcaps, they watched as the Lizard King’s soldiers spread out thinly along the walls and buildings, seeming to know exactly what they could do to avoid being hit by the explosions. “Are we…?” Spiro began to ask, but already got his answer when he saw the video feed pulled up on Basil’s PDA. Basil muttered to himself. “Woulda’ been real nice to have a fucking tank right about now.”