Subsequent Fall Part 62: To the Ground

Zane looked around as their zone was as large as the city was, and slowly losing small parts of ground. There was no way he could slow down Titan's forces as they were better than the clones. Zane ducked underneath cover as Sal and Pete joined him. "Sal you have to have something cooking deep in that brain of yours."

"BUT I DON'T AND THAT'S THE ISSUE!" Sal snapped abc as he was still emotionally soft to all of the action, and the fact their force was crumbling far faster than the projections were. "If I had an answer I would act."

Pete looked up over the barricade as the barrage of bullets from Titan's army was slowly trying to crush them. "What do we still have heavy vehicle wise? If artillery is still a green light we can hold here with an elite squad." Pete felt tears rolling down his cheek. "But I will be damned if I fall back one more fucking time."

Zane loved the enthusiasm as he also felt the weight of the situation becoming unimaginably heavy. He looked at the numbers as he smiled. "All artillery, open fire on the marker and do not stop firing on the marker, MAKE THEM REGRET!" Zane yelled as he threw a digital marker at the feet of the frontline of Titan's men, burly and bulky as he was in their armor.

Titan's forces were augmented, being more machine than man, the human element being their minds as their armor was hard to damage. They marched past the item that was thrown as a small glow formed a line across the front barrier. "All Artillery batteries, lets help our boys out!" The commander in the back line announced as they fired their first salvo staggered.

Zane saw how the rounds were hitting as they kept opening fire. "What else do we got here?" Zane kept looking at the forces left as he let it click in his mind. "Two escorts of tanks come flank each side of me. The rest form up and hold a hardline across the five mile line." Zane knew they would be left in space if this truly happened. They all heard it as they didn't care.

"But sir, there will be no man's land between you and us if we get pushed back and move around your tanks." The commander from the backline commented. The forces slowly moved into place as the forces kept marching forward without regard to their life.

"That's the plan. We can hold them off for as long as possible. But we are no longer moving an inch, we will kill them till we physically can't." Pete sent through the comms system as he fired a sniper round that took off the skull of a soldier as two took its place.

"Godspeed and strength General." the commander spoke as a golden glow hovered across the battlefield as they felt great. The forces moved across the two sides and were ready for the inevitable as Titan's forces kept pouring in.

Zane looked to the city as he smiled. "You damn crazy bastard, giving everyone even a drop of your power is enough to keep us going." Zane loaded up the launcher for Sal as he fired it and took out a wave of Titan's troops as the tanks took their positions. The artillery kept the frontline pushed back.

"We can do this?" Pete peeked up over the barrier once more and took off another skull from the soldier marching at him. "NAH, WE WILL DO THIS." A shot pierced his left shoulder as he dipped behind one of the tanks as one of the clone medics were patching him up. Zane directed the tank's and where they fired using digital markers for each barrage. Missiles flew in and took out three of their ten tanks they had. 

Sal started breaking down mentally as he felt like this front was unwinnable. He couldn't think as his mind was running through all the possibilities. Zane hopped over the barrier in awe of Sal and charged at the enemy as his shotgun blasts were finally taking down the soldiers as he was walking through the bullets.

The artillery sailed above Zane's head as they crashed in front of him. 'We gave up that much land already?' The Titan forces all directed their attention to Zane and going around the tanks, creating an isolated bundle they could crush. Zane was pulling off movements he didn't know was possible as the ground had a mystic feel to it.

One of the Titan soldiers grabbed Zane as Pete took off it's skull, resting his sniper on top of Sal while he was rocking back and forth. Zane rolled backwards as the Titan forces successfully wrapped around the cluster Zane was leading. All Zane could do now is hold out as long as possible.

His gut feeling is that there would be no more help. The tanks kept going down one by one as did the clones falling just as fast. Zane hopped over the barrier as there was two tanks left and one hundred clones. "TO THE LAST!" Zane looked around as he felt his belt and started chucking each and every grenade he had left as Sal finally came to reality.

"Death is inevitable. May as well go into hell swinging." Sal hoisted up one of the tanks auto turrets as he held it in one hand and the ammo box in another. Opening fire into Titan's forces while Pete adjusted his sniping and rested the sniper on a burning tank. All they could do is wait as Zane saw them coming from behind and knew he could slow them down.

"You two hold the front!" Zane sprinted past them as he dived into the backline where they were coming from. An explosion went off nearby as they realized one tank was left. All they could do was hope and hold on. Despite the desperation Zane clung to hope as he kept gunning down the forces with less than what was in the front.

'If anyone can do it, it is us! We got this!' Zane thought to himself as he felt a bullet rip through his chest. Falling onto his back he felt pain for the first time in forever. The clones backed up as Titan's men advanced. They were back to back with the other clones as two men stood over Zane and pointed their rifles at his face.

They tried to press the triggers as something close to a miracle happened. Crashing was heard as mech crashed around them. Three of them landed as one cut the backline around the clones as the clones all faced forward with a renewed vigor. Zane leaned up as the mechs were labeled as guardians. Marked with the special insignia that only Adam uses. 'Is he still with us?'

"Sir, please relax and hop in." The mech's hatch opened up as several tanks started rolling around slightly in front of the five mile line, culling down Titan's men with ease. The other two mechs were moving around and were dodging the missiles being fired at them. Zane stood up as the mech grabbed him and lightly set him down.

"Down but not out yet. FUCK THEM UP!" Zane calibrated with the mech as he felt his wound get covered by the mech's systems. The cluster could hold out for longer as two more ground vehicles were driving around automatically.

The space battle was grueling as every time Viper turned there was a new threat to take on and take out. He watched as several anomalies happened on the ground as a new squadron of fighters approached. "Viper three, on our starboard side, new fighters are on approach!"

"Copy that moving to engage, wait, they have Adam's mark!" Viper three spoke as they looked at the fighters and fell into formation with them. "Your call, I think they will listen to you no matter what!"

"Full speed, pick your targets and take down the bridges, if there are any fighters trying to take you on, call an ally in the squadron!" Viper took the lead as he hit the throttle at max, the rest of the team following him with haste. Firing into the ships and their bridges, crippling them.