Chapter Forty-One: The Assault – Survivors

On the other side, the remaining troops had also arrived before the Holy Angel Fortress! They, too, began to prepare for the assault.

“Wind Squad, Winchester! You stay by Allen’s side! The rest of you, get ready to storm the fortress with me!” After making some quick arrangements, Andrew led the Fire Squad and the remaining members of the Thunder Squad forward toward the fortress. “Watch out for artillery!” Andrew spotted the cannons being primed and shouted a warning just in time. As if on cue, the “Balin” class cannons inside began to fire.

“William’s been hit!” someone cried as an anti-tank shell struck one of their own.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine!” William called back. It seemed he had only been grazed and was not seriously wounded.

“Allen, what sort of cover is this? Take out those cannons from a distance!” Andrew ordered.

“It’s no use! The cannon barrels are so small we can’t possibly hit them from here!” Allen protested.

“Who says they can’t be hit?” Winchester interjected suddenly. “My eyesight is off the charts!” Without using a scope, Winchester fired and struck one of the cannons directly. The shell, a piercing incendiary round, triggered a violent explosion.

“Well done! See, you’re nothing like that useless Allen!” Andrew chided Allen without a second thought. Winchester fired again, this time blasting open a gap large enough for them to enter the fortress.

“Keep it up, everyone! We’re almost there—just charge through that opening and victory is ours!” Andrew encouraged them. But just as they were about to reach it, two massive cannons, resembling S-type heavy blasters, suddenly appeared. Twin beams of light shot down from the sky, seemingly hitting one of their members.

“Charlie’s been hit!”

“Captain, Charlie shows no signs of life!” someone reported.

“Damn it! Brothers, blow those things up!” Furious, Andrew hefted a heavy blaster and fired at the two cannons.

“Destroy them! Huaaah!”

“Huaaah!”

“Charge! Once we’re past there, victory is within reach! Huaaah!”

“Huaaah!” The morale in Fire Squad soared, but when they finally pushed into the fortress, their shouts turned to cries of despair…

Meanwhile, back with Mingchuan and Enert, they had made it safely to the hospital.

“Bart! Secure the perimeter!” Enert commanded.

“Yes, Captain!” Bart closed the main gate to the underground hospital and began searching for and shutting the hidden side doors as well.

Enert and Mingchuan were tending to the wounded, while Colt…

“Colt, come help with the wounded! Don’t just wander around—at least help Bart patrol!” Mingchuan called out.

“No, something’s not right. There seem to be both Satans and humans here. I’ve seen movement not just on our floor but on several levels below. Except for the lowest floor, where I think there are humans, all the others are Satans!”

“What?” Mingchuan rushed to the monitoring room where Colt was. “You’re right! Those signatures with human life signs must be survivors!”

“So, what do we do?” Colt began, but Mingchuan cut him off.

“Enert, contact headquarters—we have survivors here. Tell them to send more helicopters. Colt, come with me, let’s go and rescue them…”

—End of Chapter Note—

This might be my only chapter under a thousand words. There’s nothing I can do; after editing, much had to be cut. Besides, this was never a full chapter in my draft, so it’s a bit forced. Don’t worry, I’ll faithfully continue with the original draft in the next chapter.