Mirror Sky. Part 1 - Blissful Nemesis

13 - Bitter End

The reinforcement from Filsuf Bastion kept coming for the next fifteen minutes. Every newcomer got busy cleaning up the gore. Sergey did not shy away from the dirty work, as he had nothing better to do. Like the privates, colonels, and sergeants, he poured the blood down on the street and unceremoniously squeezed the remains of Lepers out through the narrow embrasures, breaking the bodies even more in the process.

It was a satisfying activity - throwing the garbage out. It took Sergey's mind off Dan's unknown fate. It also seemed to score him some approval points from low ranks. He did not plan for it. Or did he? Did he do it subconsciously, following his old political instinct? Either way, he welcomed the results. Political chaos was inevitable if the city were to survive the night. He'd be damned if he stayed on the sidelines. He intended to stick it to the white coats in control of the city, and he needed all the support this city could spare. The white coats would pay for what happened to Dan.

Sergey abruptly dismissed the last thought.

Nothing has happened yet. Nothing happened. I just don't know. I need to keep my nose up.

The news soon arrived that Aeon Guard had captured Yuki bastion too. The Gates remained the last portion of the Wall left in the enemy's hands. The development was met with loud cheers. Sergey was not among the cheering and watched the tepid festivities die quickly. No happy thought could last a minute today. They all had relatives and friends down in the city with ambiguous or certain fates, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. By then, the dust from the initial explosions had cleared enough for Sergey and the other guardians to get a good look at the depressing situation on the streets below.

The only surviving skyscraper in the Gatehouse Area was the granary, scarred and riddled with bullets. The building was surrounded by large forces of the Lepers, including at least a hundred thousand people, several dozens of landships in stacks, and the Arachnids marching above all. The rest of the area was turned into a tall hill of broken concrete, twisted steel, and shattered glass. Protected by this improvised fortification, the Lepers unloaded the granary content to the landships, then drove them through the rubble, across the empty Elpida Plaza, and out of Elpida Gates. A few arachnids escorted the landships in and out of the city.

Watching the enemy looting Sergey's homeland was bad enough. However, there was something insufferable in the neat way it was all organized. No doubt, everyone had been briefed and well-schooled. The orders were given and carried out. Sergey could almost imagine a few of those assholes down there wearing suits. He wondered if, long ago, watching bankers repo your apartment felt similar - procedural, soul-crushing, inevitable. If so, there was no surprise that money lenders were not spared when the eras turned.

The battle intensified in the city and drew Sergey's attention. The frontline, charted by the gunfire deep through the streets, crept to the Pyramid at the center, making the whole Aeon Guard nervous. Were the cadets about to lose the Pyramid to the Lepers, with all the secrets within it, the secrets that were for generations denied to all the citizens of Libra? This scenario was too sick to fathom. What would the Lepers be then - the de-facto new Church of Libra? As satisfying as it was to imagine the white coats getting slaughtered by the Lepers, the Lepers taking the place of the white coats was a whole new level of bad.

With every block lost to the enemy, Sergey and other guardians wanted to switch places with the cadets below. Frustratingly, the Command's order was to remain on the Wall and prepare to storm the Gatehouse. Sergey would prefer a bullet on the streets to watching the Pyramid fall from up on the Wall. Again, he had a burning desire to defy the orders from the bizarre Teen Central Command and do just that. However, in the end, he had too much respect for the teens who stepped in so effectively, and the last thing they all needed right now was the chaos of insubordination. He was forever in debt to the Wall Commander for keeping him on the straight and narrow. He would also never admit it to him.