18

'Zero's dead.' Vivian said the words flatly, but even over the radio Tomalon could hear the tension in her voice.

'How? Are you sure?' Tomalon asked. That's unexpected. I didn't think he'd still be in Nasces.

'I've got his body with me,' Vivian replied in a measured tone. 'He was killed by a Blackhead.'

Tomalon wasn't too upset, truth be told. He'd not liked Zero to begin with, and being in direct competition for Vivian made it worse. It was a shame that it had upset Vivian, though, and he'd have to be careful to act sympathetic. 'I... I'm sorry. I know he meant a lot to you.'

'No, you don't.' Vivian sighed. 'I just need a moment, okay?' She stopped transmitting.

Damn. I'd better be careful. Tomalon turned his attention back to the strategic map. The Ghosts had almost fifteen thousand personnel in the city and that many again had come from the Panthers and the Strikers, of all places, to assist in the defense. The Panthers provided mainly air support- their air force was second to no clan in the north- while the Strikers were bringing some of their considerable military might. Not everyone was happy though, as Tomalon could hear from several meters away.

'We could save more if you let us take the refugees back to our bases,' the Striker commander was arguing. 'The president won't allow us to use our aircraft if we're just ferrying them straight to you.'

'I appreciate your help,' Vernon replied diplomatically, 'But many Spartans are still uncomfortable working with Strikers as it is. They would view us allowing you to evacuate Spartans as a breach of the terms on your expansion, as per the treaty you signed.'

'Fine! But the blood of those who die today will be on your hands.' The Striker commander walked away, muttering angrily.

'They don't like people mentioning the war,' the Panther commander remarked.

'I don't care what they like or dislike,' Vernon replied. 'I just want to get as many people out of this city as possible.' He glanced towards Tomalon. 'What's the ETA?'

'Half an hour till they enter the city,' Tomalon replied. 'Another half hour before they reach us here.'

Vernon cursed quietly. 'There will still be millions of Spartans in the city when that happens.'

'Fewer than if you'd done nothing,' Tomalon said.

Vernon nodded. He takes praise better than Meier did. Or I did, for that matter.

An alert sounded in Tomalon's HUD. It was an incoming communication from Alcor, whom Vernon had given priority access. Vernon opened the call, forwarding the details to all of the allied commanders.

'Do you have an update?' Vernon asked.

'We've run into a problem,' Alcor replied. 'My force has taken the Anchor, but discovered that the Harpoon module has not been installed.'

'And?'

'We've come up with another plan. The Anchor still has the engines that were used to move it into it's current orbit, and they still work.' Alcor started to talk faster. 'The principle of the Harpoons is simple; it's just huge amounts of kinetic energy. Well, if we used the engines to de-orbit the space station, we could use it as a giant Harpoon of sorts.'

There was a stunned silence, broken by the quiet laughter of the Panther commander. 'That's a good plan,' he said.

Tomalon thought quickly. How much larger was the Anchor than a Harpoon? Thousands of times, surely. The impact would be enough-

'That would destroy Nasces,' Vernon said.

'And ruin Solidade. It would probably seriously damage Oaktier, Melaska and Daath as well.'

'You'd kill every Spartan still in Nasces,' Vernon said. 'Their cores would be destroyed; they'd be gone for good.'

'We don't have a choice.'

'You're going to kill millions of Spartans.'

'How many more will die if we don't stop the Blackheads here?' Alcor asked, clearly exasperated. 'Our entire species could go extinct. I'm telling you, we don't have a choice!'

Vernon sighed. 'You've already put this into action, haven't you?'

Alcor didn't respond for a moment. 'Look,' he began. 'Either you can hold the line and save the entire population of the Central and Eastern continents, or you can refuse and damn them. Either way, the Anchor is going to hit Nasces.'

'You will burn for this, Alcor.' Vernon stood up. 'Recall all the aircraft. We're making a stand here until that damned space station lands. Get those fortifications complete!'

'Thank you, Vernon.' Alcor sounded tired.

'Don't thank me for my part in this,' Vernon said. 'I just hope you can sleep tonight.'

19

The fortifications had advanced substantially by the time Vivian returned with the last of the Falcons, just ahead of the first wave of Blackheads. They were arranged in shells around the SolNas bridge, rows of walls and sandbags with gun emplacements fitted behind as well as spaces for vehicles to act as mobile turrets. The whole thirty thousand alliance Spartans were arranged behind or above them, weapons at the ready. It was a very impressive sight to behold, yet nothing compared to what they faced.

Vivian landed her Falcon and hurried to Tomalon's side.

'Good work out there' Vernon said, looking up as she approached. 'We're headed out to the forward staging area,' he gestured to the field of equipment and barricades, 'Since we can't see much from here.'

'How long do we have?' Vivian asked. She'd seen glimpses of the Blackheads from her Falcon- a dark tide, sweeping through the city destroying everything it met. Most clans still in the city were providing resistance; their fortified bases holding by sheer virtue of there not being enough space for all the Blackheads to attack at once. Not one of them stood a chance in the long run.

Tomalon glanced at the clock on the table. 'Four minutes,' he said.

The three of them moved forward along with a number of Vernon's aides and other commanders to an elevated platform about thirty meters from the edge of the defenses. A few gun emplacements were set up, though nobody was manning them.

'The best view in the world,' Vernon remarked as he showed them up. He drew a Battle Rifle and aimed it at the street ahead.

'For the worst show in the world,' Tomalon added, drawing his Light Rifle and checking its magazine.

I am about to see the end of the world, Vivian realized as she drew her own weapon.

The Blackheads came. They appeared around a bend in the street ahead, first a few bodies racing ahead of the crowd, and then a massive horde. Thousands of Blackheads filled the street in just a few seconds, charging towards the alliance defenses.

Vernon didn't wait. 'Open fire!' he commanded, and all hell broke loose. Vivian was deafened by the sounds of a thousand machine guns firing and blinded by their muzzle flashes. A solid wall of metal bore down on the horde, cutting clean through the first rows and penetrating deep into their ranks. Warthogs of all kinds fired their turrets; the handful of Scorpions arranged towards the back fired their cannons; the lone wraith somebody had produced from goodness knows where began to launch mortars at the oncoming horde. In those first few seconds, hundreds upon thousands of the horde fell.

More took their place, clambering over the bodies of their comrades. They came on, charging through the hailstorm of bullets, making progress despite the colossal losses they took. Where one fell a dozen took its place, more and more pressing down the streets towards the open area surrounding the SolNas bridge and its defenders. Within a minute they had reached the edge of the buildings and began to spread out into the space where they were harder to target, rushing the defenses. Despite the huge amount of gunfire they made contact moments later, jumping the walls or cutting their way through. Spartans began to fall and seconds later the outer layer of defenses was lost as the next row fired upon their own allies in the hope of keeping them alive.

Vivian watched the battle unfold in a daze, only firing when Tomalon shouted at her to start doing something. She unloaded a clip into the horde, not bothering to pick targets or look for the results of her fire, knowing only that something would take the bullets.

The second row was swamped after less than a minute, the defenders killing themselves to avoid being speared on the Blackheads swords. The next layer began to take the heat, just a few meters away from where Vivian was stood. Tomalon stopped firing, and shouted above the roar of the guns.

'We should get out of here!' he yelled. 'Our defenses are falling much faster than we expected!'

'Let's go,' Vernon shouted back. He got the attention of the others on the platform and began to make his way off the platform.

Then the last row of defenders began to fall.

Blackheads swarmed up to the platform, moving at inhuman speeds. Shocked, Vivian raised her gun and began firing again, picking off the Blackheads as they tried to climb the stairs to the rear. They fell en masse as more fire cut into their rear from the other defenders, but there were too many to overcome. The commanders, cut off from the rest of their troops, were forced to retreat back up the stairs onto the platform.

'We need an evac now!' Vivian heard Tomalon scream. The Panther falcons began to move their way, but too slow- the Blackheads were charging up the stairs now, swords ready to kill. This is the end, Vivian thought, and closed her eyes.

A sudden motion in the platform caused her to open them again. She fell forward and grabbed onto the floor as the platform lurched sickeningly, throwing the Blackheads away. Above her Vernon stumbled and fell; she stretched an arm out and caught him by his wrist. He swung in and took his own hold on the floor, still barking orders.

Something must have given way underneath the platform for it continued to sway, denying the Blackheads purchase when they tried to jump up. Vernon had managed to find a stable position and was firing at them as they jumped. Vivian drew her own weapon and did the same. We're only delaying the inevitable. A large group jumped all at once on a perfect parabola, their swords outstretched to spear the group of Spartans. As they were still hanging in the air, the platform collapsed fully. Vivian was thrown free, tumbling through the air. A vision of Blackheads swarming below her filled her mind- she was about to hit them-

A sudden sharp pain blossomed in her back and she was jerked painfully into the air. She swung wildly for a few moments, unable to comprehend what was going on. The field of Blackheads was growing smaller beneath her, but that wasn't possible. Am I flying?

Vivian looked upwards and laughed in relief. A falcon was flying a few meters above her, connected by a rope from some sort of harpoon to her back, where a bolt had embedded itself in her armor- hence the pain. Those Panthers... trust them to come up with something like this. Vernon and Tomalon hung similarly from other Falcons, being pulled safely back behind the lines. Tomalon caught her eye and waved, shouting something.

'What?' Vivian shouted back.

'I said, we're turning the tide!' he repeated. Vivian twisted, trying to get a better view of the battlefield. Sure enough, the initial surge seemed to have receded somewhat, and the fourth row of defenses was proving able to keep them at bay. The horde was still coming, but they were having to climb over mountains of corpses to do so, slowing the rate at which they could assault the defenses.

We might just make it through this after all, Vivian thought. She closed her eyes. It's up to you now, Alcor.

20

The commands to cause the Anchor to de-orbit were complicated and long. Alcor had Gigolo program in a series of fail-safes as well, to prevent any terrible accidents.

'What we're doing is terrible, but even worse would be for it to all be for nothing,' Alcor had said on the matter. Gigolo stopped complaining and continued entering the code.

Gigolo finished with a few minutes to spare before the optimal burn point. He entered the last command and immediately began to float towards the nearest wall.

'We're already under acceleration?' Elesa asked.

'It's the attitude jets steering the engines into the correct place,' Alcor replied. 'You'll want to be out of the station before the acceleration starts for real. It'll make getting out a whole lot more difficult.'

'Sounds like a good idea,' Gigolo said. He and Elesa left the control room and made their way back to the Sabre, still docked safely in the hangar.

The acceleration began as they were entering the Sabre. It was a strange feeling even after just a few hours zero gravity; a slight tug of a fraction of a gee. Gigolo was easily able to pull himself into the cockpit, though even as he sat it seemed to be increasing.

Then it stopped suddenly.

Alcor opened communications almost immediately. 'What's happened?' he asked. 'Why has the acceleration stopped?'

'We didn't do anything,' Gigolo replied. 'Is this meant to happen?'

'No!' Alcor shouted, and Gigolo realized how stressed the other spartan was. 'No, there must be something wrong on the Anchor. Give me- shit. Somebody pulled the emergency shutoff on the engines.'

'Can you reverse it?' Elesa asked.

'Not from here, nor from the control room. You'll have to get to the engine room and turn the switch yourself.'

Gigolo jumped out of the cockpit. 'Stay here,' he told Elesa. 'If something goes wrong, take the Sabre and run.'

Elesa sighed. 'Regardless of whether goes wrong, I'm getting you out alive.' She fixed Gigolo with a defiant stare.

'Then I've got nothing to worry about,' Gigolo replied with a smile. He pushed away and made for the hangar exit. There were signs posted all over the station, but Alcor stayed on the radio to give Gigolo directions. The other Spartan was noticeably tense, though Gigolo wasn't sure why. It became clear a minute later, however, as a loud banging sounded over the radio.

'Oh, no.' Alcor cursed. 'This is as far as I can help you. Sorry.'

'Open up!' Gigolo heard somebody shouting.

'One moment,' Alcor replied. 'Get out of here Midori. Run. Go!'

'Alcor?' Elesa asked. 'Alcor! What's happening?'

'They found me,' Alcor replied grimly. 'Must have noticed all of the bandwidth I've been using.' He sighed, and Gigolo heard the sound of a shotgun being cocked.

Gigolo continued moving. First Lucas, now Alcor? Everyone who helps us ends up getting fucked. He pulled himself quickly down the tunnels that lead to the engine room, venting the atmosphere from each one as he passed through it. He blew the door of the engine room in as the sounds of Alcor being shot and killed came over the radio link, which cut out moments later. The lone Builder hiding in the room had a moment to look surprised before Gigolo ran him through with his Energy Sword and restarted the engine.

Gravity returned with a vengeance as the controlling program tried to compensate for the missed burn time. What had previously been an effortless float now became a near vertical climb against almost a gee of thrust. Gigolo had to drag himself up the walls, praying that he didn't fall. What an ignominious end that would be.

'How far away are you?' Elesa asked, concern in her voice.

'A couple hundred meters,' Gigolo replied. Uphill.

'It's all uphill, isn't it?' Elesa asked. 'I can hear you panting.'

Should have spent more time in the gym after all. Gigolo kept climbing. 'I'll be there soon.'

The statement was undercut by an ominous rumble. The station shook slightly, and then again. Maybe not soon enough.

'We're skimming the atmosphere,' Elesa said. 'Gigolo, if you're going to get out it has to be now.'

'There's not much I can do about it!' Gigolo shouted. He pulled himself onto a ledge which turned out to be a radial tunnel, and sat down heavily. 'I'm not going to make it in time.' Damn. I've too far for it to end like this.

Elesa was silent for a moment. 'I'm undocking,' she said. 'Hold on a moment.'

She's leaving? Gigolo didn't know whether to be hurt or relieved. 'What are you doing?'

'There's a ledge somewhere near you, right? A tunnel?'

'I'm in it,' Gigolo replied, 'But it doesn't go anywhere.'

'It goes near the surface of the rock.' Oh. Ah. 'Keep moving along. You'll know when you find me.'

Gigolo stood up and started to run down the tunnel. How much time do we have? The station was starting to shake quite violently now, and the rock on the outer edge of the tunnel was starting to heat up. The tunnel curved gently, starting to incline upwards again, and the run became progressively harder. If I survive this, I'm taking up cardio.

There was a large tremor and Gigolo stumbled. The rock beneath his feet cracked and splintered. Gigolo tried to get to his feet, but it was suddenly as though he weighed far more than he ever had before. The shaking tunnel didn't help.

I'm not dying here. The realization was sudden and powerful; Gigolo forced himself to his feet with a strength he'd never know before. He began to run again, jumping faults and boulders in the tunnel. Around the curve a more cracked area suddenly became visible; as he watched it exploded inwards, revealing the void beyond. Gigolo jumped through it as the tunnel collapsed behind him. His shield flared as myriad fragments of rock pelted his armor; a larger chunk caught him solidly in the back and sent him spinning.

'Elesa!' he shouted as his world lurched dizzyingly. 'Now would be good!'

There was a sudden thud and the Sabre materialized below him, its acceleration holding him onto its nose. He saw Elesa through the cockpit glass waving at him to hold on. She's not- oh, fuck. Gigolo scrabbled with his hands and feet to find some purchase as the Sabre's main thrusters ignited, pushing it back into a stable orbit. Gigolo was afforded a spectacular view of the Anchor descending slowly into the atmosphere behind Elesa's tiny spacecraft. For a long moment it looked as though the Sabre was about to join it.

Inch by inch the Sabre started regaining height, and after a minute the Anchor was dwindling rapidly. Apparently satisfied, Elesa eased off the acceleration and allowed Gigolo into the cockpit.

'Never do something like that again,' Gigolo wheezed. 'Ever.'

'So next time I shouldn't save your ungrateful ass?' Elesa asked.

Gigolo shook his head, then thought better of it. 'Uh... maybe give me more warning?'

Elesa spun the Sabre slowly until the falling space station was in view. Both Spartans watched in silence as it began to light up in the fires of re-entry.

'We're going to want to see this,' Elesa said quietly. 'We're about to see just what we have wrought.'

21

What was left of the Blackhead assault stopped suddenly, and changed direction, sprinting full pelt away from the defending Spartans. The roar of guns fell silent as the Spartans watched their enemy go.

'Where are they going?' Vernon asked over the command channel.

'Looks like they're headed out of the city,' the response came from the aerial unit.

'As expected.' Vernon checked the time. 'They won't make it.'

'How long do we have?' Vivian asked. In response, Vernon simply pointed upwards. Vivian followed his finger, looking up it into the darkening sky.

A lone star was visible in the twilight, slowly growing brighter. As Vivian watched, it grew in size rapidly and a trail of flame appeared behind it. The light appeared to be headed right for them.

Tomalon put his hand on Vivian's shoulder. 'That's absolutely terrifying,' he said.

'You can say that again,' Vivian mumbled in response. Her eyes were glued to the now quite large station as it fell through the upper atmosphere at colossal speed.

'I would like to personally thank everyone who has taken part in this operation,' Vernon said over a megaphone. 'Our victory here has saved the central and eastern continents, and struck a great blow to the Outside Context Problem. This would not have been possible without the help of the Strikers and the Panthers.' The two clan leaders nodded their acknowledgments and Vernon continued. 'In a little under a minute the Anchor space station will collide with the city of Nasces, and destroy it. Until then, you are dismissed.'

There was a moderate laugh from the assembled Spartans at the last line, but the majority were too busy looking to the sky. The Anchor was now very large, and Vivian could feel the heat from its descent on her face. As it bore down on her, she wondered whether this was truly victory.

The Anchor struck Nasces with a force far greater than all of the weapons detonated on the planet in its long history. Everything within a few kilometers was vaporized instantly- buildings, Spartans, the cores that sustained them. Those further out were pummeled by the shock wave and subsequent earthquakes, with the eventual ring of destruction radiating out several hundred kilometers from the blast site. The SolNas bridge was completely destroyed, sinking without a trace into the boiling ocean.

It took minutes for the first Tsunamis to hit Solidade. Waves hundreds of meters tall wrecked the cities docks and everything else less than a kilometer from the coast, as well as flooding large parts of the city and causing untold amounts of damage to buildings and equipment. Waves also battered the coastal cities of Daath, Oaktier and Melaska, and every ship in the area was sunk.

Within a few hours the resulting cloud of dust and debris had spread over a large part of the planet, falling all over as a thick black rain and blotting out the sun for several days. Temperatures fell by several degrees all over. In arctic Pramos the sea froze ships in the harbor, while in usually hot Cressat the first snow in decades was seen falling in foul black clumps.

Ultimately, the impact did what it was supposed to. Almost all of the cores in Nasces were destroyed, along with the colossal Blackhead Army and the only way it had of escaping the Northern Continent. The comparatively small Alliance force was annihilated as well, although they were to later re-spawn safely. For the millions of Spartans trapped in Nasces, it was the final death.

Was our victory worth the cost?

22

Elesa let the spacecraft orbit once. They returned an hour later to be above where Nasces had used to lie. All that could be seen now was a rapidly expanding cloud of dust and debris that obscured the carnage they had wrought.

'What now?' Gigolo asked.

'You mean, where do we go?' Elesa asked back. 'Where is safe for us anymore?'

Gigolo thought for a long while. 'We need to go somewhere we haven't been before. Somewhere remote where they won't know who we are.'

'So, somewhere in the North?'

'Yes,' Gigolo said. 'Let's go North.'