Chapter 102: My kind of terrible

James cleansed the rest of the Marriott by the time the rest of Crimson Hydra arrived. The damage done to Blue Light was substantial; from a purely operational point of view, the loss of a score of key personnel and the psychological damage done was enormous, but James couldn’t help but feel relieved that everyone he knew and cared for had survived.

Hackworth and the rest of his command had been ensconced in a conference room as they conferred with the NSA and other military brass, and their sole attempt at killing the Nem3’s had convinced them that any fighting was suicidal. James found them barricaded in one of the rooms, with only Major Duffy having died during the attack.

The Nems had been trying to find a way down to the parking level; their assault through the front, however, had delayed them, with a few trying to force their way down stairwells to no avail. It had been only a matter of time till they’d worked their way around the building to descend the parking ramps.

“Fucking hell,” said Hackworth tiredly as he walked out with James to the ballroom. Then, entering his public persona, he stood up taller and set to asserting control over the situation, his voice loud and confident, his manner brash and unbeatable.

James helped establish a security cordon around the hotel with the rest of his squad; errant Nem3’s kept drawing close like sharks scenting blood in the water, and it wasn’t till Ivory Medusa showed up to relieve them of their guard duty twenty minutes later that James entered the hotel once more with Serenity for updates.

With Jelly floating over one shoulder, he found Hackworth calling in for reinforcements and slowly asserting control over the Area of Interest once more, coordinating attacks, re-establishing communications with battalions, and ensuring the fight against the Fourth Wave continued.

“Kelly.” Hackworth stepped away from the ASOCC to clap him on the shoulder. For a moment the commander had no words, and James saw how deeply entrenched the lines of exhaustion and concern had grown in his previously handsome face. Before they could speak the lights flickered overhead and then went out.

“Fucking hell,” said Star Boy, standing before his still operating station. “Someone check the breakers?”

The ballroom was a massive, dark space without illumination, with only the red EXIT signs offering a baleful glow over each door.

James exchanged a look with Serenity, and she hustled out of the ballroom. Soldiers brought in large free-standing lamps and plugged them into security strips that snaked off to large boxes that had started to hum against the back wall.

Bemused, James watched as technical folk did technical things, and a moment later Star Boy approached Hackworth. “Looks like the grid’s down, sir. I just spoke to operators in Albany at the Nysio. They’re trying to get the power back up, but their whole operation is fucked. They’ve got cascading problems compounded by overloaded transmission wires.”

“How long till they get the power back up?”

“They’re not sure. They’re hoping - once the Fourth Wave dies down - to be able to work on the problem and get a forty-eight hour turnaround. They’re understaffed, even with army engineers helping.”

“Great.” Hackworth pinched the bridge of his nose. “And the blackout area?”

“It’s pretty bad. Most of the state’s coastline.”

“Shit.” Hackworth checked his watch. “It’ll be getting dark in four hours. That means we’ll be dealing with a hundred thousand Nem’s in pitch black.”

“How can I help?” asked James quietly.

Hackworth glanced at James, dismissed Star Boy, then took him aside. “We’re reaching a place beyond institutional control. I was getting an update about our different Blue Light groups across the country. One third of them failed outright when the Fourth Wave started. Another third is just trying to hold certain areas and giving up the rest of their cities for lost, with the final group - most of which you visited, by the way - doing better and maintaining patrols and a visible presence. But it’s…”

“Fucked.”

“Fucked. I’ve been trying to think what we could have done differently. Mobilized our forces more effectively, deployed greater ordinance in urban areas, casualties be damned. But nothing comes to mind. Maybe if we’d accelerated the Fabricator program from earlier on, we’d have more of these War Hounds…”

“You know, I don’t think it would have made a difference. Even if we’d had a dozen War Hounds in the city at the start of the day.” James raised a hand to forestall Hackworth’s interjection. “I mean, yes we could have killed an order of magnitude more demons today, but would it have really changed the outcome? The massacre, the millions dead, the chaos? No. This is going exactly as it should, as it was planned.”

“By the Monitors.”

“By whatever’s running this show. I’m about to level out of Acolyte. My aura’s Silver, I can now summon avatars of Justice, spent the day walking the city in a War Hound, and really? It didn’t make a difference. Not big picture. These demons have an end game for us, and we’re just following their plan. When the Pits open we’ll be a handful of elite fighters with a small group of Fabricators backing us up. Billions of us will be dead. Just as they expected.”

“So Old Crow.”

James smiled. “You know it. Nothing drives me crazier than busting my ass for nothing. I know we can make a difference out there, but it’s a very small one. The first time I spoke with the Monitor, she said I was one of seven hundred or so Nexuses in the city. I’m willing to bet that a Nexus is someone with the potential and luck to become a leader in this apocalypse. Someone who can rise up and level hard and get the rest of humanity pulling together. Which means even my successes are accounted for, predicted, expected.”

Hackworth rubbed his jaw. “When do you want to go?”

“I want to talk to my team and to Jessica. If we’re heading after Belanger, then the odds are good the demons won’t want us to make contact. Either he’s dead and gone or protected. We’ll need to be all on board and ready to fight above our paygrade. But when? Tonight.”

“Tonight?” Hackworth was genuinely taken aback. “It’ll be a real blow, losing you with so many Nem3’s still out there.”

“Get someone else to ride the War Hound. Anyone with an Anima can do it. But I genuinely think I can do more good in Canada than I can down here. My killing another thousand demons or wiping out another hive won’t really move the needle.”

“The President’s given the green light for plan Hand Drop.” Hackworth’s tone turned subdued.

“What’s that?”

“Even subdued and cleansed hives are popping back up. The Airforce is going to have key personnel push bombs out of planes by hand, lighting them up with Smite just before they do.”

James let out a low whistle. “Even though they’re in the biggest city centers?”

“The areas are to be evacuated and the bombs are being calibrated so that they only destroy the area covered by the hives. Smite will make them effective, and that way the experience will still go to the nine-man groups aboard the planes.”

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James nodded slowly. “I can see the appeal. When’s that starting?”

“Tomorrow. Everything’s being set in place tonight. My concern…” Hackworth trailed off. “My concern is that if, as you’ve said, the demons are aware of our next steps and planning for them, how will they react to such strikes?”

“I’m sure they’ll be effective,” said James soberly. “The hives will be wiped out. Until the next set of demons move in and set up shop again.”

“Right. It’s an arms race, isn’t it? The best that the US military can throw at these fuckers till they become too strong for our munitions.” Hackworth pinched the bridge of his nose again and sighed. “I know it’s necessary, but it still feels like we’re losing. At what point will we be convinced to drop dirty bombs, or be forced to evacuate entire cities so as to bring enough explosive power to bear? It’s why I’m signing off on Old Crow. If there’s a way to surprise these bastards, to get the jump on them, we need to take it. I’ll commission travel and get clearance from the Canadian government. Soon as I’ve got everything lined up I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to my people and keep patrolling till then.”

“Very good.” Hackworth clapped James on the shoulder. “Thank you for the save, there. It’s surprisingly easy to discount how dangerous these demons are given how easy you make it look.”

James grimaced and gave a sharp nod. “My pleasure, sir. I’ll go talk to Crimson Hydra, grab a new Wing, and then patrol till you’re ready for us.”

James strode out of the dark ballroom and into the equally gloomy hallway. The crimson emergency lights cast an eerie glow over everything, and made the bloody smears on the floor and walls glisten.

Emerging into the lobby, James saw teams of people entering with efficient energy, reinforcements already arrived to help with the initial attack, soldiers and other military personnel. James didn’t pay them much mind, but instead saw Serenity making her way back into the lobby. They saw each other at the same time, and she cut through the crowd to reach him.

“Looks like the whole city’s dead,” she said. “Manhattan, Brooklyn, what I could see of Queens by taking the Wing way up.”

“Yeah, Star Boy says it’s a big problem from Albany. Overload of the grid or something. I’m surprised it lasted this long, but they say they can fix it.”

Serenity looked around the dark lobby, the marble floor reflecting the light that streamed in from the ruined entrance and the tall windows. “Believe it when I see it.”

“Hackworth’s given us permission to go to Canada. We’re probably leaving tonight.”

“Tonight?” Serenity’s shock was obvious. “Jesus fuck, Kelly, the place is still lousy with demons.”

“And will remain so. We could spend the next week hunting them down and wiping out hives without winning this war. No. We have to blindside them. Stop doing the expected. Whatever happened with this Belanger guy, we need to move on it. If it’s not already too late.”

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” She rubbed her jaw. “Just feels wrong, pulling out with so much work to be done, so many people counting on us.”

“I hear you.” James sighed. “But the best we can do is quit being predictable. All around the world folk are fighting as the system wants. Leveling up, picking Benedictions, Virtues, whatever. Just like rats being fed sugar in a science experiment. But if you step back and look at our score card, how’s our species really doing?”

“Not so hot.”

“Not so hot. How many billions have died already? I mean, are we even able to count the number of dead at this point? And there are still under two months to go till the Pits open. The way things are going, this’ll be over before we even get there.”

“Fine. Canada. You going to post a message or something to let everyone know?”

James frowned. “I don’t think so. Maybe Jessica can post an update on the War Hound. That’s some good news. But I want to keep this mission under wraps. I’m not sure how closely the Monitors are actually listening in, but if there’s a chance at surprising them, we need to take it.”

“Gotcha.”

“So let’s go find our team. I want everybody on board, and I know Miriam just signed up. How’s she doing?”

“Miriam’s good people. Stronger than she looks. She’s in way over her head, but she’s not tapping out. She might need some convincing to go to Canada, though. She’s got a big family here in the City that she’s fighting to make sure stay safe.”

“Then this is the best way she can do that. I’ll talk to her. Then I’ll need a new Wing. Don’t have time to get back to the War Hound today.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Serenity let out a low, shaky breath and closed her eyes.

“You hanging in there?” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Saw some heinous shit in the Holland,” she muttered. “Demons got in there with the people. They died ugly. Was… it’s been a day.”

“It’s been a day,” he agreed, and pressed his brow against her own.

For a moment they just stood thus, an island of calm surrounded by the bustle of new arrivals, and then she chuckled. “How did a couple of fuck-ups like us get to be so important to humanity?”

“Beats me.” He smiled and pulled back. “Maybe we were always worth more than people thought.”

Serenity pretended to consider. “Nah. I was always a pretty terrible human being.”

“My kind of terrible,” he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and leading her outside. “Now let’s go convince the rest we’re worth following into the Arctic Circle.”

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