Bring Down the Sky #7

Waking up after being knocked unconscious by grievous wounds sustained from a fight with a Knight was a lot less... painful then Nebo thought it would be, and very sudden.

One moment he felt his eyes closing whilst the Knight that was about to kill him was taken off guard by another Marine, and the next moment he was awake in a featureless concrete room. He was laid down on the floor, his body atop a white sleeping bag and his head resting on a duffle bag stuffed full of something soft yet firm. The room he was in had no windows and was lit up by two lamps on opposite sides of the room, a fire dust crystal in each one that provided the room with a comfortable level of warmth.

He began to lift himself back up, feeling a dull pain in his chest and his left hand. He attempted to push himself up with his left hand, but quickly found himself falling back down as his hand had went further down then he had thought. He readjusted quickly, blaming his little fall on poor balance. A brief look around saw that he was not alone in the room, as there were other wounded Marines laying down as well. Some were still being tended to, others laid down alone with pained groans being common, whilst others had gotten up like him although many of them were preoccupied with a book or diary.

Taking a look down at himself he saw that his armour had been stripped from him, his body bare of any clothing aside from the bandages that covered his midsection and shoulders and the briefs still protecting his modesty. A shadow of a man soon came over Nebo and he looked up to see someone he certainly wasn’t expecting to see.

”Heard you’ve be having fun.” Nebo’s Platoon Sergeant said with a toothy grin on his face, his strikingly yellow eyes peering down upon Nebo with mirth instead of the usual glare he gave to his troops. Nebo re his name, Sergeant Alberich Hákarl. Somehow he appeared even more intimidating without his armour on, standing over Nebo in his snow camo military fatigues with bulky arms crisscrossed with an innumerable amount of scars gained from a long service in the Marine Front. He should’ve been made Regimental Sergeant Major years ago, but Alberich had supposedly turned down multiple promotions.

Nebo couldn’t formulate a response, not actually feeling the need to. In fact, he didn’t actually feel a want for anything. He felt a dryness in his throat yet did not feel any sort of annoyance from it, the dull pain he felt didn’t draw any frustration from him either. He didn’t feel surprised about suddenly waking up in a room full of injured men nor did he feel any sort of happiness about being back with his comrades. Sergeant Alberich seemed to have caught onto this.

”They’ve pumped you full of Tranquil, Private.” Alberich said, which had instantly dispelled any confusion Nebo might’ve held. Tranquil was a combat drug, similar to morphine but had the added effect of balancing and then suppression emotion. The dried tears he felt on his face pretty much proved that he had Tranquil in his system, the drug had the tendency to cause crying in order to rebalance the body’s chemicals. “Saved you from that Lunie Knight you were fighting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Private charge someone like that.” Alberich added, grabbing ahold of Nebo’s right hand and pulling him to his feet. “When I got to you, your heart was beating like crazy. Had to inject you with Tranquil on the spot.”

So his saviour with the golden aura was his Platoon Sergeant? For a Marine, the Sergeant seemed unusually good with Aura enhancement.

”What happened?” Nebo broke his silence, his voice a quiet monotone as a result of the drugs in his system. “I the Lieutenant and my Battle Buddy about to clear out the second floor of the barracks we were attacking, and then I got shot in the head.” He said, his left “hand” instinctively reaching up to the back of his head but he felt nothing.

”By this?” Alberich questioned as he reached into his pockets and brought out the very same tungsten bullet that had knocked Nebo unconscious.

”Yes... When I woke up, my entire unit was dead... it was night and I was alone...”

”But you got up straight away, shoved a can of Willy Pete down some Lunie J Knight’s helmet, hid beneath a convoy of Lunie tanks, fucked up an entire Squad on your own, and then managed to hold your own against a Knight long enough for me to come save your ass.” Alberich responded, sounding smug yet also quite proud as he tossed the tungsten bullet over to Nebo.

Nebo tried to catch the bullet with his left hand, only to hear a metal clink and for the bullet to be swatted back into Alberich’s hand.

”But the Knight had severed your left hand.”

That was what got Nebo’s immediate attention. He didn’t notice it at first due to the Tranquil, but as his eyes looked down to his left hand all he saw was a stump where his wrist should have been with what looked to be a metal cap at the end of it with a pronged point. They were already in the process of replacing it.

”What happened to my Platoon? And how did you know about what I did?” Nebo asked, taking his eyes of his left arm and locking them with Alberich’s.

”You were jumped by a Knight Section. They wiped out your platoon before moving kn to the rest of the company. Their commanding officer got nailed by a Maelstrom, thankfully, and we were able to force them to fall back. I was busy securing another part of the Barracks when one of those Knights tried jumping me,” Alberich explained, motioning his head towards the room’s exit before walking towards it, Nebo following closely. “That Knight was crying for his mama as soon as I cracked open his visor!” The Sergeant said with an unnerving grin, the aura enveloping his left fist flaring quite noticeably.

Upon leaving the room they would come upon a flight of stairs, dimly illuminated by softly glowing lightning dust lamps. Alberich began heading up the stairs and Nebo followed, managing to pick up his pace however he began to experience an annoying headache. A sign of the Tranquil wearing off.

”As for how I knew what you were up to, one of Spotters told me. Had you recorded on camera.” Alberich answered Nebo, causing the Private to perk up slightly at the mention of recording. “Where the hell did you learn how to fight like that? I know the Front gives some damn good CQC training, but no Private I’ve seen had moves like that.”

”I was in Argus for a couple years, staying with an Uncle. He had me enrol into Sanctum Academy.” Nebo answered after some slight hesitation.

”A Combat School? Explains why you got out of boot camp early, you skipped the Aura Course completely!” Alberich said with a dry laugh. “Why didn’t you go for a Hunstmen Academy? A Brat like you would’ve easily got into Atlas Academy and made a decent Specialist.”

Nebo frowned at this, shaking his head. “Hated fighting Grimm. Scored low in Grimm and Dust studies as well. I did the best during spars. Didn’t bother with forging a fancy weapon, I just focused on unarmed combat.” He explained.

”You were in the Air Force too. I’ve read your file. Had to after I saw you beat down a J Knight. Fucking Mantelian Police and Atlesian Air Force Cadets? Two years as an AAF Police Officer and Firefighter? And now you’re a Marine Commando. One big fucking one eighty.”

”One year in the Military Police as well.” Nebo added. “I grew up in Mantle. Family was poor and there wasn’t much to do besides vandalise public property and get into fist fights. Mamushka thought putting me into the cadets would help out, give me something to do besides being a delinquent.”

”Why the Marines? Air Force life would’ve been pretty cozy. Good pay. The fact that you were AAF police meant basically no live combat.” The Sergeant asked with a no nonsense look on his face, the mirthful look in his eyes gone.

”I wasn’t a good police officer.” Nebo itted, starting to feel a cool draft as they seemed to be approaching the top of the stairwell. “One of the technicians at the base was stealing ammunition. I caught her, but I was given a warning because I ended up breaking her arm when I had to subdue her. After that, I figured I would fit in more with a more combat focused role.”

”Regretting ing when you did, Private? You finished boot camp right before we got sent to war. It’s not like fighting terrorists.”

”I don’t regret ing up. Would’ve preferred terrorists but the Knights were a good enough challenge. Itching to get back out there and finish the job.”

”Hm. Well, let’s get you some clothes first.”

They both climbed the stairs in silence after that, Nebo shivering slightly as the draft chilled his exposed skin. As they got closer to the top, the stairway got wider and open windows could be seen in the walls. It was midday outside, rain still falling as hard as it was before but he could tell from the smoke and fire that the fight to take over the town had kicked back up. Seeing as how he could see the tops of the surrounding buildings and could see all the way to the walls at the opposite end of the town, he concluded that he must be in a tower.

They came upon a wide open room in the shape of a semicircle, the ceiling appearing partially incomplete as scaffolding still lined the top and a series of tarps were set up to cover the many holes. There large open gaps in the walls that were covered up by grey fabrics similar in colour to the concrete and sandbags, Marines in armour with urban camouflage laying down in front of the holes with either a bulky looking rifle or a spotting scope. Behind him at the back end of the room, where the walls were the flag part of the semicircle, there were no windows and a bunch of ammo boxes and radio equipment was set up. A power box could also be seen pressed against the wall, a cyan coloured crystal that was most likely hardlight dust was powering it. There were thick, light grey cable attached to it that trailed across the entire room and down the stair wall, most likely connected to projectors and other power boxes.

Sergeant Alberich had stepped ahead of Nebo and up towards the table, shifting past the ammo boxes. He soon turned back around and pressed some neatly folded military fatigues into Nebo’s arms. “Get dressed. Don’t want to distract some of the gals.” Alberich said with a wink.

And Nebo complied as was expected of him, getting dressed in record time despite the lack of a left hand making the task a bit more difficult to complete. As he did this he was taken off guard by the snipers suddenly firing in rapid succession, the low whoop of a sniper’s magnetic rails discharging before the loud crack of a tungsten slug breaking the sound barrier. He had assumed that the snipers were gunpowder based or were using a dust propellant, most likely chambered in twenty millimetre. Rail guns were new and VERY heavy, the weight only increasing as the tungsten slugs that they fire teens to weight over a kilogram each. But they were both easy to aim and ridiculously accurate. Wind resistance is less of a factor and the insane speed of the slugs means less of a requirement to lead your shots ahead of a moving target.

Didn’t expect them to be so loud though.

”Sergeant.” Nebo spoke after he had finished getting dressed. “Where are we at the moment? And what happened to the Carrier fleet?”

”Our East FOB. Lunies used it as a broadcasting station before we arrived. Once we’ve nabbed it we turned it into a spotting tower and sniper nest. Our Signals are also using it to fuck up the Lunies’ communications so they can’t get any signals out of town.” Alberich answered. “And the Hailstorm had to back out awhile ago. A Lunie airfleet that was most likely coming over for a resupply got the drop on the fleet and managed to knock out one of the frigates. They managed to bite back but a few of the Lunie warships have managed to land and have apparently boosted their cannons and shields, basically becoming massive AA guns. Our boys in the sky can’t get close.”

”And until those SM ships are dealt with, this town will stay under enemy control.” A new voice added, this one firm, authoritative, and feminine.

”Colonel Eisenhower!” Alberich announced as he spun around to face the origin of the voice, Nebo doing the same upon hearing the rank.

The Colonel was a raven haired woman with stern, golden eyes, dressed in a similar kind of military fatigues to Nebo and Alberich with the rank of Colonel displayed quite prominently. She crossed her arms at the two Marines, looking over them both before her eyes narrowed at Nebo. “Lance Corporal Empyrean.” She said, the rank taking Nebo by surprise. “Your helmet was damaged, but we were able to recover some of the helmet cam footage and hand it over to the higher ups. They have deemed fit to grant you a field promotion for your actions. You did good out there. Despite the loss of your unit you still took the fight to the enemy and have done so considerably, which is commendable.”

Nebo didn’t respond, still taken aback by his promotion. He only did what he did to survive and to regroup with his company, he didn’t intentionally try to fight the enemy. But regardless, it was pretty apparent that he had impressed someone further up the ladder. That was scary.

”Follow me.” Colonel Eisenhower said to the two Marines, turning away from them and heading over to one of the large windows, this one facing north. The sniper laying by this open window fired her rail gun just as they arrived, the hardlight shielding protecting the tower from enemy fire briefly becoming visible as it was lashed by the air the accelerated tungsten slug shot through. They were treated to a view over the entire town, the tower they were in being the tallest building in the entire town.

Nebo could see his regiment’s target, the massive supply depot at the centre of the town. It was a pyramid like building, a blocky and grey one. It had no windows aside from one at the very top. On all four sides of the depot were gargantuan dust cannons, almost as long as the depot was tall. Their barrels were melted by precision strikes from the Carrier groups Frigates. Whilst powerful, the massive cannons were easy targets and simply did not get the chance to fire before they were rendered inoperable.

”Three kilometres north east, look there.” The Colonel said, Nebo’s eyes looking to the north east and landing on the sight of docked Shattered Moon airship. It was docked alongside two others and all of their cannons were pointed skywards, massive metallic cables connecting them to something underground. “Those SM warships are what’s stopping our Carrier from getting close. Normally we would have reinforcements approach by land, but Grimm activity has skyrocketed and we don’t want to risk losing an entire regiment to a ing Grimm horde. So we either have to wait for the Grimm activity to subside, or we launch a strike on those warships.” The Colonel then turned away, heading towards the stairwell with Nebo and Alberich in tow. “We either cut off whatever is boosting the warships’ cannons or we blow up the warships ourselves. Doing so will punch a hole in the enemy’s air defences and allow the Carrier group to reinforce us.”

They headed down the stairs quickly, matching the Marines matching the pace of their Colonel. Nebo had the suspicion that this strike is going to have him involved, which made little sense to him. He was injured quite badly, dismembered. He shouldn’t be thrown into active combat. Although his aura had done wonders to fix any internal wounds, the mere fact that he has no left hand anymore makes live combat out of the question.

They quickly entered another room, this one lit only by the holographic planning table within it. The Colonel approached the planning table immediately and turned it on, a 3D model of the entire town projecting from the table.

”The Strike will be spearheaded by our Regiment’s Specialist Attachment. The presence of Hunstmen Level fighters will hopefully draw out the dockyard’s Knight defenders in order to fend off our Specialists.” The table began to display live aerial footage from above the dockyard, likely recorded by a high flying Gryphon. Gryphon Jets were surveillance aircraft, flying both extremely high and extremely fast to avoid being shot down whilst gathering vital intelligence. “As the defenders are busy dealing with our attacking troops, several smaller strike teams will deploy directly into the dockyards to destroy the warships from within. If the SM attempt to divert forces to stop those teams, they may end up weakening their line just enough for our larger strike teams to break through and cause their entire defences to crumble.”

The Colonel then looked away from the table and directly at Nebo, her right hand reaching beneath the table and pulling out a sterile white metal box. She placed it on the table and slid it over to Nebo, disrupting the holographic display quite noticeably.

”As you have shown yourself to be an exceptional soldier, you’ll be apart of Sergeant Alberich’s strike team.” Eisenhower spoke, nodding towards Alberich whilst Nebo opened the box he was just given. Within it, held between some black foam padding, was a prosthetic hand. It was the same sterile white as the box it was held in, the ts having a pitch black colour that contrasted with the white. The insignia of the Atlesian Military was emblazoned on the back of the hand.

”It was a pain in the ass to request, but once we showed them your helmet cam footage they had it delivered to this FOB via a Wasp drone.” Sergeant Alberich commented whilst motioning towards the prosthetic hand. There was a couple seconds of silence as Nebo blankly stared down at the prosthetic, not being able to process it. Guess he’s getting thrown straight back into the fight without much time to rest. The mere fact that the higher ups had saw it fit to grant him a replacement to his dismembered hand instead of just listing him off as wounded does suggests that they were in dire need of skilled Marines.

Alberich’s hands came into view, grabbing ahold of Nebo’s left arm and the prosthetic hand. He quickly placed the hand onto the metal cap covering the stump where his left hand was previously connected to his army, a series of clicking noises filling Nebo’s ears as the hand connected to the cap and locked into place. At first his prosthetic hand remained unmoving, Nebo’s right hand clenching and unclenching. After a short moment his left hand suddenly clenched instantly, the warmth of the surrounding air being ed by whatever sensory equipment was built into hand. However the feeling of warmth was overwhelmed by what felt exactly like pins and needles, causing Nebo to repeatedly unclench and clench his hand as he tried to shake off the sensation.

”It feels strange.” Nebo finally spoke, eyes glued to his prosthetic hand as he outstretched his fingers and began to twist the hand. It moved organically, exactly like how a normal hand would. With a glove on, it would be like he had never lost his hand in the first place. Whatever impact the loss of his hand would’ve had was now meaningless. The wonders of modern medicine. “But not too strange. Sort of like waking up after sleeping on your hand. No feeling at all, but then it just comes back.”

Time flew by after that. The Sergeant and the Colonel exchanges a couple more words before the Sergeant dragged the Lance Corporal out of the room and down the tower’s stairs again. Before he knew it he was in a makeshift armoury beneath the tower, putting on a set of brand new armour with urban camouflage instead of the sterile white that stuck out like a sore thumb in the concrete streets of the town.

”Your rifle got pretty messed up during your fight with that Lunie Knight. The stock is cracked and the barrel’s bent.” Alberich said to Nebo, already wearing a full set of armour minus the helmet. “They were going to scrap the thing, but I took it off them and placed it into my locker for safe keeping along with that bullet of yours. Thought you might want them as a memento after this is over and done with.”

”Yeah, I would like that. Remind me how FUBAR this whole thing went.” Nebo responded, having already slipped into his undersuit and was now attaching his armour, starting with the greaves. It was jarring how friendly his Sergeant had gotten. He was the most intimidating man in his unit before it was wiped. Either he had impressed the Sergeant or he’s just glad to not have lost the entirety of his unit, or both.

”When they send you back, ask for extended leave.” That caught Nebo off guard. This entire day keeps catching him off guard. “You may be acting normal, but I know that stare of yours. You were a nervous little prick when we first deployed and now you’re quiet, no emotion in those eyes of yours.” The seriousness in the Sergeant’s tone was very much evident. “You need a break. Don’t want you to off yourself in a month’s time because your mind can’t handle the pent up stress.”

The Thousand Yard stare. That was what Alberich was referring to when he said he “recognised” Nebo’s look. It was common during wartime, soldier’s either suffering from shell shock displaying that lifeless stare or simply any soldier who had become desensitised to the violence going on around them. A symptom in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

As he finished putting on his armour and was just able to pick up his helmet, Sergeant Alberich approach him. “Here’s your new weapon.” He said plainly, pressing a rather blocky looking firearm into Nebo’s hands. It was... new. It wasn’t the standard issue assault rifle he normally had, it was heavier, more compact, but heavier. The weapon was mainly a rectangular block with a short but wide barrel at the end. The grip was the only thing that wasn’t blocky, sticking out of the bottom and shaped for a human hand.

”This... isn’t an assault rifle?”

”It’s an AJDST Model Knock Em On Their Ass Shotgun.” The Sergeant answered, a wide grin on his face.

”What?”

”The KEOTA is gravity dust powered shotgun that fires an ultra dense slug at extremely high velocities capable of punching through thin cover and lightly armoured vehicles and hitting a target with enough force to turn their insides into mush or knock Aura’d targets on their ass. It hits like a fucking supersonic train and is more of a sniper then a shotgun. There is zero spread. Just point and shoot and your target gets fucked. The AJDST Model has a bit more kick to it. More gravity dust was added alongside a longer barrel. Fires a faster slug. The AJDST have their own, special ammo for it but it was hard enough getting my hands on the actual gun.”

Nebo raised an eyebrow at the shotgun before shouldering it, aiming down the sights and aiming at a locker on the other end of the room although wasn’t really intent in shooting it. It was weighty yet it wasn’t difficult to hold up and aim, the weight should probably help with the recoil but then again the fact that it has gravity dust could mean it has a recoil that would break his arm if he isn’t careful.

”Slugs are the primary ammo type, though they do have buckshot. Don’t have a lot of them though. Thought you’d be better off with a weapon like that.”

”I like it.”

”Good. Not get your skinny ass moving!”