The Phoenix Chronicle Book 3: Hollow Words

[dark33hawk]

I think this story goes in depth from the normal FTL story and shows a great story,10/10

[DarkPhoenix141]

I think this story goes in depth from the normal FTL story and shows a great story,10/10

D'awwwwwww.

Chapter 10: The Pit

Clarity.
That describes it.
That describes the feeling Phoenix felt as he neared the bottom of the Pit.
A feeling of certain continuity. Of things past, things present, and things future.
A feeling of warmness, growing into a feeling of burning. But no pain, nothing at all. Like the burning was the feeling of a warm fire under him.
A feeling that no man could describe, and no man could experience, unless you felt the reaper grasping at you. Only for you to escape it's grasp.
A feeling interrupted by his impact against a pile of concrete. He survived the fall, but only barely. He heard the sparks of his bionic right arm. Busted.
He looked around, he was laying on his back, looking upwards. A thick fog blocked his vision, he had to assume he was at the bottom. To his right was the corpse of the gunner he took with him out of the window, his gun was destroyed and useless.
His pistol however, was not.
In front of Phoenix was a destroyed car, and a variety of buildings that formed a small neighborhood and an alley. He got up, his legs were weak. He could barely move. Blood trickled down his head, dirt on his cheeks, his vision was blurry, he felt almost numb. He had head trauma, definitely, he needed a doctor. He crawled over to the body and picked up the pistol, then he moved over to the car to use it as cover. "Gods... fucking... dammit..." Phoenix moaned, closing his eyes as he felt the strain on his muscles grow stronger, "I... need a goddamn doctor.". Phoenix punched his earpiece in an attempt to make it work, before he checked the comms again. "B-Briggs... you there?" He asked. "Commander?! You survived that?! We cleared the school- are you okay?" Briggs yelled ecstatically into the microphone. "N-Not... really..." Phoenix replied, breathing lightly due to the extreme effort it took to breathe in the first place. "Well hold on we're coming." Briggs replied, "Want me to stay on the radio?".

Phoenix sighed, and then smiled, he was going to be rescued. It was only a matter of time, only a matter of time.
Then he heard the hum of engines.
He peaked over the car's hood, and saw a black Kestrel class cruiser, hovering there in the light. And ropes stringing downwards, along with several mercenaries on the ropes, moving to find him. He heard their voices, and his eyes widened. "Look for the target!" said one "Stick together!" cried another. Phoenix readied his pistol, aimed at a soldier, and fired. The soldier fell, blood leaking from the hand he used to cover the fatal wound. The remaining soldiers took cover and fired at Phoenix. The rain of steel and laser bolts kept him covered, nothing he could do. "BRIGGS WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" Phoenix yelled angrily into his microphone "We're mopping up the school now and-" Briggs replied before being cut off "SHUT UP AND GET DOWN HERE!". Phoenix blindly fired at the soldiers, his bullets hit only a few marks but thinned few ranks. The fire kept him from taking any further shots, he had angered the soldiers, and he feared they would attempt to flank him. Then, the pangs of metal against fire stopped, but the fire did not. "GET THE FUCK OUT!" Cried a mercenary "DRONES COMIN FROM THE ROOFTOPS!" shouted another, "WATCH THE WINDOWS, THEY'RE FLOODING IN!" yelled another. They didn't lie, drones, millions of them came out of the windows and dropped from the rooftops, Phoenix watched on in horror. But he was even more surprised when a small horde of drones ran from one of the windows straight at him. He fired desperately, but it was no use.
The drones ran close, and quickly, then one pounced Phoenix.

Briggs walked out of a broken window, alongside the remainder of Phoenix's squad. Looking down at the side of the Pit, standing on fractured concrete that lead down onto ground level. And he heard from the radio "GET THE FUCK BACK! GET BACK! AH-AGHHHHHHHHHHH". Briggs sighed, and looked back a Burden "Burden trace that signal, the rest of you, let's go." he said. They hopped off the natural ramp and continued onward, looking down. "God, I hope he's..." Anna started before Briggs caught her off "He's a survivor, he'll live. We'll find him.". They moved along the side of the Pit, before Burden picked up a transmission "THIS IS ICEPICK 3-2 WE ARE PINNED DOWN BY MERCENARIES, NEED BACKUP RIGHT NOW GODS DAMMIT!". Briggs motioned for his team to follow him as he ran across a broken APC as a ramp to get over the Pit. They ran past a destroyed building, only to be stopped by Briggs, who saw the 6 squads of mercenaries pinning the poor platoon of UPF soldiers to the cover they used. Briggs placed a single finger to his lips and opened the door to the building they passed. They moved through it, quietly, watching in silent horror as the soldiers were mercilessly gunned down, one by one. With a simple single by Briggs, they busted down the windows and opened fire rapidly, killing most of the soldiers and scaring the rest into retreat. Derrickson and Severus in particular killed 3 or so soldiers each, before promptly leaping out the window and cutting themselves on the glass to check on the survivors. They walked around, checking the corpses, only before one soldier coughed. The rest of the team ran over. "Talk fast guys he ain't gonna make it." Severus said, holding the soldier's many wounds "F-for... forget me... a-another team... is..." he coughed "W-walking... into... a trap... down the road... s-stop them... p-please..." and he was gone. Briggs cursed their luck and ordered their team to carry on up the road. They walked silently, thinking of the current situation. Briggs (In the fashion of a leader) decided to make small talk.
"Hey, Griffin."
"Yeah?" replied Griffin calmly.
"You really insane or is that some act you pull here?"
"I will not provoke a debate until we find some-things to kill."
"Seriously."
"Fiiiineee. No, I'm not insane. I'm perfectly sane. And yes, I'm really British."
"Hah... so. How was Phoenix in the olden days-"
"He was... kinda the same. He was just as cold, unfeeling, and only felt as though he had something under the surface if you didn't know him. I may be wrong, but he's doing a damn good job of hiding any emotions under all that... coldness."
"He seemed fairly caring a few months back"
"And has he been in that situation since?"
"Well now."
"He's busy getting either eaten by drones or tortured by Leon to show any emotion. Not to mention he isn't in command this time."
"Wow, the stories you two could tell."
"Could we."

And with the sound of gunfire the discussion stopped. They crouched on Briggs' order, and inched forward. And sure enough, down below them, two squads of mercs were firing down on a group of UPF soldiers. Various pieces of the road raised and lowered thanks to the immense tectonic event from the landing of the hulk. Severus and Derrickson picked up rocket launchers from a corpse, and fired at the two squads. Briggs, Anna and Adrian finished em off. Adrian smiled and laughed briefly, showing his signs of being the second youngest of the group. "WE GOT EM BOYS!" he yelled down to the soldiers as he jumped down. "You sound happy, you alright?" Anna asked sarcastically "He's just excited we got to blow somethin up." Severus said, snickering briefly. "Excited?! THAT SHIT WAS AMAZING! Man, when Maria hears about this" Adrian replied, pacing happily "You're married?" Briggs asked "Not... married" Adrian replied, somewhat embarrassed. The soldiers thanked the team of few for their assistance, citing their precarious cover as reference. "Wanna follow?" Derrickson asked, shrugging. The soldiers had a short internal discussion, then agreed. The large team carried down the road, to where they did not know. And given the success of the previous talk, Briggs decided to try again. Adrian wasn't the kind of person to get happily easily.
"So, Shepard."
"So, Briggs."
"You don't act like you did back there... often."
"My luck is looking up man! I have a REASON to be happy now!"
"You were a lot more professional before."
"We were in combat before, remember?"
Briggs snickered, and smiled at Adrian, who looked around somewhat calmly. Despite the severity of the situation, things were looking up. Briggs felt like he was doing good as a replacement leader, for his ragtag team of people from every walk of life. From some degree of nobility, to basic grunts. Briggs decided that they could follow one end of the Pit and then go to Phoenix's last position. He looked cautiously (With some degree of pity to her, as worried as she looked) at Anna, as she shook with worry. She needed some degree of closure, she had earned that much.

However, many miles away, things were not looking up for Phoenix.
He sat himself down on the edge of the entrance to the mall that collapsed down below ground level. He sighed and and tried to stay awake. He was pale, his clothes were torn, his bionic right arm didn't work properly (It was both busted and his head trauma damaged the relays that conveyed his attempts to move), his gun was dry, he was weak and tired, he had a horrible headache, blood trickled from his lips, nose, and forehead. And to top it all off, Leon's men were closing in and fast. He heard the ships, he heard footsteps, he heard voices. He blacked out, he couldn't move. He attempted to stand up, and walk. He fell straight on his face. No dice. He would have to crawl with his one good hand. And he did, it took a while, but it happened. The mall was massive. Two sections divided down the middle, the bottom floor buried under tons of rubble and dirt. The actual sections of the mall (Including shopping centers and things of the like) were buried under the basic dirt at the top. 5 or 7 feet of it. He stood up in awe, and breathed deeply, his vision blurring as he looked. He moved to the right into a storage room, and passed out.
He dreamed.
A dream of ashes and embers.
And wind.
A lot of wind, a pleasant warmth near him.
Ahead of him, a hooded being, with a cape that flowed in the air, the being felt familiar. He inched toward it. The warmth followed him. He touched the being's shoulder. It turned to meet him.
"Morning, Phoenix. Rise and shine." It said, in a familiar voice...
Leon.
"I knew you'd see this. I knew we'd have this conversation. I know something you need to here" Said Leon.
"Whaaaa-" Phoenix started, the figure turned to him.
Blonde hair, green eyes, it was definitely Leon.
Was he in his dreams now?
"Stop. Say nothing." He said. "You need to hear this." he pulled out a gun, pointed it at him, then waited. Phoenix held his head "M-my head oh gods..." he moaned "W-what is that-" Leon cut him off.
"Your eyes, they're about to be opened. You'll see."
Phoenix shook.
"You see. I am what you will become. What you think you are. And soon, you'll see."
Phoenix reeled and shook. "What do you mean...?"
"No matter how much you tried. You could never accept the reality of your actions. And that will be your downfall."
"I..."
"You never could understand, you needed to be taught desperately. It's like Graves' teachings were... lost on you."
Phoenix grunted angrily.
"You see. You never understood, the true problem at hand. And you were your own worst enemy."
"STOP SPEAKING IN RIDDLES!"
"You never figured out that no matter how much punishment you take, no matter how many you sacrifice to stop me. No matter how much you try. You simply couldn't save them. And a failure overcame you, and you let rage cloud your mind. And that brought you nothing."
"H-How do you know all this?"
"I don't Phoenix. I call it as I see it. I look like Leon, but you're talking to...-" Leon stopped as a perfect clone of Phoenix appeared beside him "yourself" said the clone. "You're asking yourself these questions, and it'll save you.".
Phoenix heard a shrieking, a pain in his head, and he collapsed.
Was it all a dream?
No, it had to be.
Had to be.

In the time he was passed out, Briggs had made some progress, they were at the mall, they could see it in the massive rift. The soldiers rappelled downward into the edge of one of the top shops, while the team of soldiers Briggs rescued (Ghost Team) used a zip-line to get to the shop opposite of them. They looked about the mall, things were quiet, too quiet. The sounds of distant battle roared in their ears softly, but not enough to blind them to the smallest of sounds in the mall. The air was still, tensions were high. "HE'S IN THE MALL!" Yelled a voice, followed by cries of "CHECK YOUR CORNERS!" and "WATCH YOUR FIRE". Briggs ordered his team to hold, and looked around for the source of the voice. He looked to his left, and ran to the edge of the mall. Below Ghost Team, five or six mercenaries moved. Heading through the building, looking for their target. "They haven't found us, hold fire" Briggs whispered to his team, "Holding" said a soldier from the team across the gap. Below them, more teams ran through, hundreds of them.
And then a shot rang out.
In an instance of instinctive response, Briggs and his squad ran forward, through a doorway and past a shop. And stopping when they saw the flash.
"COME AT ME YOU PRICKS!" Someone yelled.
Briggs pulled out his binoculars, and switched to thermal mode.
He zoomed on where the flashes came from, and switched back to normal mode. It was Phoenix.
Soldiers had him pinned. He needed their help.
With a short order "Fire down there! Take em out!", the team opened fire. Releasing a hail of bullets on the exposed soldiers. Killing several and forcing the rest into cover. "What the hell..." Phoenix whispered to himself, looking over to see Briggs waving to him. With a short smile he continued onward, running for the nearest piece of cover. Briggs, on the other hand, had his own problems. Leon's forces were dropping down onto the roof above him, firing down onto Phoenix, and lowering down onto Briggs' team. He fired upwards, killing several (Causing their corpses to fall and make a satisfying thumping noise) before pushing onward to find a method of getting to the other side of the mall. Meanwhile across the gap, Phoenix sat in cover, blindly firing his pistol into where he assumed the enemy was. Killing a few of them before he had to reload. Yellow bolts darted around him, Federation blasters, they would tear through his vest. He needed to be careful.
Bah, screw that. He'd be fine.
He ran to the next room, the soldiers were below Briggs, on the fifth level, tracers fired around him, he barely made it to cover. He took a breather, shooting one soldier as it ran to intercept him. The gunfire above him hinted that Ghost team was faring far better than Phoenix or Briggs. He sighed, and walked out the other end of the doorway, finishing the soldier he shot seconds earlier, before running through a hail of fire from an MG and right into a hallway. There, he tackled a poor bastard who didn't have the reflexes for his line of work. He stepped on the mercenary's neck and pointed his pistol downward, as the man tried desperately to hold the pistol away from his forehead, to no avail. The bullet pierced the helmet that was designed the hold blaster fire off, in this laser oriented universe anything else would be a horrific decision. Blood splattered on the tiles behind his head, and the soldier was dead. He ran right and through a large passageway and shot two more mercenaries dead. The gear on these men was black, but different all around, some using ballistic protection, some using repainted Federation armor, some using Rebel armor, some using ballistic weapons. It varied. Proof that these were soldiers Leon hired to exercise his will. Where he got all that money was a different topic entirely. Phoenix took another right, into a large clothing store, as he made his way through the somewhat large rectangular room and to the entrance, a group of soldiers came in.
5 or so from the roof, 6 or so from the door. All wearing tan and black, things ranging from boonies to balaclavas. They rushed in, professionally. "Target spotted" said one "Omega 9-8 is clear. Breach and capture protocol, snipers are active." said the radio on another. Phoenix ran over to cover behind what seemed like a shoe rack, the 11 soldiers opened fire. Phoenix blindly fired an entire clip into the force as bits of tile fell around him, they weren't going to let him out of there, not alive. Then he heard the radio again: "Secondary infiltration team coming in from the rear, do you copy?"
"Roger sir we copy, moving to attack, weapons are hot"
"Copy, Sniper team are you online?"
"Roger sir. 5 man sniper team, moving up, Got a visual on the target, On your order.".
Phoenix looked stunned, his eyes widened and his pupils dilated. He shivered, and ignored the millions of shots that landed around him.
Then, he heard a voice, a voice that sounded far too confident and hoarse to be any he knew. He peeked out, the soldiers didn't shoot him.
A soldier, wearing a more extravagant uniform, removed his balaclava and lowered his pistol. He was their commander.
It wasn't a familiar face, it wasn't Griffin or Sinvet, or anyone else he knew. But it looked at him with confidence. "Come on out Phoenix! Make this easier and we'll leave your friends alone!" He said, smiling and looking back at his soldiers. Meanwhile, above him where a squad of soldiers dropped down, 5 snipers aimed down at Phoenix, laser sights pointed on him. He looked at them, defeated. And then, behind him, a soldier wandered out at Phoenix from behind, he fired. And the extreme bout of gunfire began again. Until the commander yelled (And the poor mercenary was pulled back into cover, uninjured) "HOLD FIRE!".
Phoenix aimed out, "Well then... Phoenix. You gonna negotiate?" the commander said. "You know, your friends are getting cut apart up there. Surrender, and we'll hold fire and let them retreat" the commander continued.
"You're lying." Phoenix growled, yelling from cover.
"Nope! They aren't gonna make it much longer Phoenix, not without some... divine intervention. Hah. If you give yourself up, we won't finish em off while we have the chance."
"You... you son of a bitch."
"I wouldn't antagonize the man who could easily finish you, your friends, your wife, and everyone you ever talked to with a single word."
"You wouldn't fucking dare."
"Phoenix, we both know with as many resources my employer has, your friends are only gonna last so long. Ghost team is already getting gunned down as we speak. Ammo is limited, soldiers are not. We have more problems with you than your friends, I'd suggest you listen to us."
"Y-you can't be telling the truth"
And then, someone on the radio started talking again. "Sir, we've got em in a corner. They're running low on ammo, we'll have em captured soon" said the soldier on the other end of the communication line.
"Heh. See Phoenix? You only have so long, our soldiers are a tad... anxious given how many of their friends you killed today, they won't have a problem roughing your guys up a bit." the commander said, snickering.
"T-there's no fucking way" Phoenix stuttered in surprise.
"Isn't there?"
"Y-you're lying, they're... they have to be fine."
"You can still save them Phoenix, nothing is set in stone. Throw down your weapon, and come with me."
"N-no..."
"I hear the girl is cute, is that true? I'm a bit... curious."
Phoenix growled like an animal. And in an instant, he jumped out of cover,pulled out his pistol and aimed at the commander, ignoring the other soldiers. "Lower your weapon, and come with us quietly." the commander said "And your friends will be fine".
"Lower your weapon, and I'll lower mine." Phoenix replied, angrily.
"Like hell I will."
And then, out of nowhere, a soldier approached him from behind.
He pointed a rifle at him and spoke confidently "Got nowhere to run now, eh?". Phoenix raised his arms and dropped his pistol.
This could only end badly.

Above him, not far away, Briggs wasn't faring much better. The commander hadn't lied to Phoenix, they were cornered, but nowhere close to death. The mercenaries were in a constant game of cat and mouse with them (Where the mouse can fight back), chasing them down corridors and attempting to lure them into ambushes. To no avail on either side's part.The leader of the mercenaries knew that they needed a solution and fast, or else they'd be worn down and defeated. Briggs lead his team through the maze of underground corridors in an attempt to lose the mercenaries. "It's no use" Burden said, looking back on the door they just left "They'll follow us.". "That's exactly why we need to move now c'mon!" Briggs replied, quickly and angrily. "No. You go. I'll be right behind you." Burden stuttered, holding his shotgun tightly. The team moved up, looking behind them constantly as Burden fired at the oncoming horde of troopers. Bursts of purple plasma flying back into the doorway, hitting enemy soldiers and killing them. They did not look back, they did not care, the sounds of plasma fire were close as they ran. Burden followed them, running backwards and shooting as the soldiers attempted to reach them. His efforts staved them off, at no personal sacrifice no doubt. They continued fleeing, the mercs could only follow them so long. Before long, they reached a large shopping center, there they decided to make their stand. Briggs ordered his troops into positions around the entrance, the bastards wouldn't know what hit them.
They wandered into the mall, curious as ever. They looked about, wondering what could possibly be going on, then, out of nowhere.
"AMBUSH!"
Tracers tore into them, and endless hail of bullets ripped them apart without mercy, the soldiers were instantly cut down by the fire. Ten lives, ended in mere seconds. Humans are as frail and weak as ever, in this modern era. The team regrouped inside the mall, and stared at each other curiously. Wondering what to do next. A strange sense of relaxation, but tension. All at the same time. Together, they readied themselves. Burden went first, then Severus, then Derrickson, then Anna, then Griffin, then Briggs, and then finally Adrian. They moved through the area they just fled through, starting with a walk, then changing into a run.
Before long they were out in the open again, finally.
No, not finally.
They walked into a damn ambush.
Tracers landed around them as they fled through the side of the mall, taking fire from the opposite side, ignoring the distant gunfire of sides shooting each other. Then they finally found something that resembled cover, but the endless tide of organized gunfire kept them from moving further. Their thoughts centered on planning and survival, nothing more.

Meanwhile, across the gap, the tension between Phoenix and his countless aggressors was high. As high as someone should expect. But Phoenix was a smart man, a man of calmness and coolness, all from years of experience. But this was different, he was hoarse, husky, and tired. Pain scorching across his head, the pain in his legs from running was barely masked by the feeling of fatigue and heaviness everywhere else. Blood continued to trickle down head, his many scrapes leaking the liquid of life as well. Phoenix continued huffing and angrily exhaling, while the commander looked at him nervously. In a short instance of cowardice, he ordered one of the soldiers on his left to apprehend the injured man in front of him. The soldier, who's name is lost to history, was sweating with stress as he carefully walked toward the man. Phoenix, hands aching from being raised, waited. The soldier, muttering "Screw it all" under his breath, ran forward and placed Phoenix on his knees with a gun to the back of his head. Phoenix couldn't resist a snicker, as he quickly turned to his right and grabbed the gun and trigger, and fired. Within moments the commander and soldiers around him dropped dead, or ducked for cover. Phoenix kneed the soldier and grabbed the pistol lodged in his holster, and fired at the two troopers behind him before shooting his captive in the back of the head. Then he ran, ran faster than he ever ran before. Before long he assumed he lost the soldiers following him. And collapsed behind cover, resting. "I... fucking... did it..." He thought to himself, sighing and smiling all at the same time. Then he heard gunfire, and realized his job was not yet over. Phoenix prepared himself, loaded his pistol and walked to the edge of the wall, looking down. Sure enough, down below, a group of people being shot at. He didn't need to look at them for any period of time, just to see they were his team. With a smirk, he ran up the broken escalator, and looked to his right. And there they were, five men dressed in black wearing custom vests produced by independent manufacturers. Phoenix, taking a deep breath, ran forward. He charged and knocked the hired guns off the ledge and to their deaths below. Even to Phoenix, he felt a cold remorse. He reassured himself that he did what needed to be done, then went upstairs to finish the job.
He aimed his pistol at the head of one of the soldiers on the next floor, and fired, then repeated such a process for the remaining four soldiers. Finished. "Hey man, you up there?" Briggs asked over the com units "Y-yeah... I'll meet you in a bit." Phoenix replied, taking a moment to regain himself. "Where you want to meet then?" Burden asked. Phoenix sighed, then walked down an escalator and replied "We'll figure it out.".

Combat soon ensued as Briggs and his team paced the edge of the mall, a small platoon of infantry waiting for Phoenix fired on them. And reinforcements soon showed themselves. Phoenix, looked to his right and once again saw his team bogged down.
"TANGOS RAPPELLING DOWN, SEVERUS WATCH IT!" Burden yelled in the chaos.
"WATCH IT WE'RE BEING FLANKED" Yelled someone else.
Briggs took a moment to asses the situation. Twenty soldiers were firing on them, and cover was fading fast. Two gunners with heavy weapons set themselves up, firing down on them as well. Reinforcements were dropping in, they were pinned. There was chaos on both sides, Leon's crew was suffering heavy losses as time went on and Briggs' team was pinned down. Phoenix, seeing this. Decided he could provide some sentiment of support if he intervened now rather than later. He took a left and decided to flank the troopers from behind. He ran behind a collapsed snack machine and fired at one of the guard soldiers while Briggs screamed in his ear: "WE NEED BACKUP NOW GODDAMMIT!". The patrol member collapsed dead, and his companion (Of much weaker fortitude no doubt) fled into cover and called upon what little backup he had. With the motto "Don't ask questions just get over here" as a symbol of how minor or major the problem could be. Phoenix used his pistol and gunned down what ever resistance was there then moved up further, making it a point to snatch up a rifle and reload his pistol despite his conservative ammo usage. Phoenix sighed, trying to regain himself from his fractured being and shot at the group, paying little attention to their screams as they collapsed with bullets in their torso. Then moved on. A few reinforcements came, and Phoenix ducked behind cover and blindly fired his rifle at them. The gunfire that landed around him stopped, as he quickly ran forward and stabbed a soldier in the neck, then moved and shot several soldiers who fortified themselves in the next room. For a second, he collapsed and relaxed. He wondered why this was so taxing, then referred to the broken mechanical arm and bleeding forehead. Not to mention he had been working so hard lately, was one nap going to hurt anything? No, it couldn't. A short rest was well earned. He fall back on a piece of clothing and passed into the warm darkness.

The roar of gunfire tore him from his sleep and he took a sudden instant of his surroundings, a clothing store of all places. In one of the doors to the north a soldier stumbled upon him. Phoenix aimed haphazardly, aiming his weapon sideways in an instant of fear and feeling stunned, at the soldier. And fired quickly, hitting him in the head and killing him instantly. Phoenix swore at the corpse, for interrupting his rest. Then Briggs came over the radio once more "PHOENIX WE COULD REALLY USE SOME FUCKING BACKUP!". Phoenix ran over to the edge again, and noted something. He wasn't even close to Briggs. Dammit, he needed to move now. He ran across the edge and then took the first left into the hallway, then a right and ran forward "PHOENIX WHERE ARE YOU?!" Briggs asked. Phoenix, took a left. At the end was a wall leading right to another set of stores, to his right was a door barricaded naturally. And near the end at the left was another double door, not barricaded. "I'll be right THERE FUCK" Phoenix yelled, as a soldier burst out of the double-door on the left and he collapsed on the ground. The soldier aimed his weapon, a ballistic rifle, right down at Phoenix, who couldn't help looking down the barrel. The soldier had a mask with a skull face on it, and glasses. Phoenix held it away from his face as the soldier fired several shots around him. "S-STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He yelled as the soldier's head turned into a massive skull screaming at him. And back again, in flashes of white. Soon the entire soldier turned into a demon, firing his weapon in demonic screams at him. "PHOENIX WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Briggs yelled, hearing everything as it happened, "I'M BUSY OKAY I'LL GET THERE!" Phoenix yelled in reply, as the soldier's rifle fired full auto around him. Out of nowhere, Phoenix grabbed his pistol and shot the demon's head. Then took a second to catch his breath. Then realized, he couldn't hear his breathing. "FUCK I CAN'T HEAR SHIT NOW!" He yelled, hoping Briggs would hear. "SONUVABITCH MY EARS! I CAN'T HEAR JACK SHIT GODDAMMIT FUCK!". Then, he felt his stomach turning, the impact of the bullets churned his stomach, he threw up twice on the floor. Breathing for air, he tried to regain himself. "Gah... son... of... a... bitch..." He moaned as he grabbed his weapon and pushed on through the hallway. Then he looked to the right, a group of people. "EAT FIRE YOU SONS OF BITCHES" He proclaimed as he through an incendiary at the group of soldiers firing down at Briggs. The grenade burst, sending burning fire onto each of them, some panicked and ran over the edge, the others just collapsed and died. Soon the fire died with them, and the situation resolved itself. Phoenix, exhaling, took a second grenade and threw it up a floor at the other gunners. Clearing them as well. Problem solved. "What the fuck do we do now?" Burden asked. "I'll cover you, get up higher and I'll meet you on your side, then we'll head down at the other end and move for the radio tower GO!" Phoenix replied, urgently. Then, get got on the MG. Soldiers, moving down. Going for his team. He unloaded on them. Covering Briggs' team as they moved for the stairs, and covering them further as they moved up the stairs. The chaos was real, Phoenix continued firing as they moved for another room, quickly. The soldiers followed them, and Phoenix gunned them down as well. The next floor was on equal level to Phoenix, the soldiers firing on him knew this. And decided they could kill Briggs easier if Phoenix was removed. They underestimated his weapon however, and were promptly cut into pieces by his gun, which riddled them with steel bullets. Briggs and company moved up, ignoring the corpses. Then they moved up another time to the next floor. "Alright, we're there. We'll meet you soon, okay?" Briggs said, calmly as the fight seemingly ended. "Yeah, alright..." Phoenix replied, seeming to drift off. Then he looked down. Sighed, and said "Well, nobody lives forever." And jumped. He was aiming for one floor below him, but missed. And instead landed two floors down on accident, seemingly breaking his arm the instant he grappled the rail. Swearing and cursing his luck, he climbed over the edge and onto the floor. Taking a second to regain himself, he figured he earned that much.

With a sigh, he stood up, grabbed his pistol and moved around the edge. Looking for a way up. The ground was close now, a fall wouldn't be fatal. But it would damn well knock him out. He looked cautiously to his left, saw a method of moving up and smiled, then kept going. At the top of the stairs, he was surprised to see a soldier patrolling the lower levels. He aimed his pistol, without hesitation and pulled the trigger. And pulled it a second time, his heart beating faster. Nothing. No flash, no bang. Nothing. Phoenix grunted and rapidly clicked at the trigger, hoping his pistol would un-jam itself. He cursed himself, and pulled out his knife and threw it at the mercenary's neck. Then sighed. Then, in an instant of fear, another soldier appeared. Phoenix, stuttering over his own fear, bashed his gun consistently as the man walked smugly toward him. "Come on goddammit!" He said bashing his gun onto the ground. Then, as he punched the weapon one final time, it fired conveniently and pierced the armor of the merc. Killing him, instantly. Phoenix, smiling, whispered to himself: "So, you're on my side. Good then, I need that.", referring to his gun no less. He looked to his right, seeing another escalator into the mall proper. He walked up that disabled stairwell, and took a left randomly, and kept walking. Phoenix wanted nothing more than to be out of this, and for this day to end. There, at the end of the short hallway leading into yet another store, was another stairwell. He walked up this stairwell and came to the conclusion after a few more floors he'd be close to his team.
The details are monotonous and boring, and many people spare their dear readers while retelling this tale. This shall be no exception, his walking had little meaning and nothing of value happened during this period. All that should be noted, is that it took a total of 49 minutes for him to reach the appropriate level. Which was, of course, two levels below where he was needed. And with him being tired, weak, broken and bloody he decided it was of course, going to happen anyways. To no surprise, he took a second to regain himself at the top of the appropriate stairs. He ignored the soldiers who festered and ran like rats, and relaxed. Sweat rolling down his face despite how cold he felt, his mechanical arm twitching and sparking with each breath as the brain implant fumbled over itself due to head injuries. His organic arm cold and barely usable, as blood trickled down it and scrapes riddled his body and shoulder, blood leaking from them as well. He tried to relax, but couldn't. Then decided in finality, to act. In front of him, squads of soldiers ran to meet the gunfire above them. Phoenix picked up his pistol, also battered and dirty, and ran forward. Shooting quickly to kill several of the soldiers then following up where the squads went. They took a quick right up a short staircase and another left up to the next floor, then he took quick cover against the side. Blindly firing at the soldiers as they attempted to engage Briggs as he ran across the floor in order to get into cover. "LOOK OUT WE'RE GOT A SHOOTER BEHIND US!" One of the soldiers yelled, moving for cover as they noticed Phoenix shooting at them. Phoenix, grunting angrily, ran forward shooting at one soldier and fatally wounding him. Then knocking his corpse over the small crate he once used for cover. Then, Phoenix shot another soldier in the head and killed him, then proceeded to kick another until he fell over the edge and onto the ground dying instantly. Quickly, in an instant, he knocked another poor soul onto the ground and beat his face onto the tiles, blood gathering with each beating until the man dropped dead. Then, after shooting a poor soul in the stomach with his weapon, the flashes stunning him, Phoenix beat him to death with his pistol as well. Then ran and grabbed a soldier's rifle and unloaded the remnants of his magazine into his chest and leaving him to bleed out. Now armed with a rifle, Phoenix climbed another set of stairs and decided that he would regroup with Briggs and company soon, and then he could relax. He kicked down a door and ran through the associated hallway until he reached the end. He took a second to contemplate not opening the door, then opened it reluctantly. As he walked through the strangely designed store at the end of the hall, he took a second to look around, sensing movement. Then, out of nowhere, soldiers emerged. Barking orders to fire and kill him. Phoenix, tired of this, ran into cover behind a wall and fired blindly. His rifle flashing and flailing as he fired. The bullets sprayed about his firing arc, spectacularly bouncing and ricocheting off metal creating a magnificent and deadly show of light for brief seconds. Until his gun ran dry of ammo, leaving it wanting and it's barrel smoking. Phoenix took a second to regain his breath from the incident then quickly shoved another aptly sized magazine into the rifle. Then ran out of his cover, shot two mercs dead as he ran and then pounced on another, and stabbed him in the throat. Finished. Only four ambushers, Phoenix could have sworn there were more. No matter, he pushed through the store. Then saw, at long last, his team. The soldiers firing on them in a prolonged firefight (The likes of which were rather typical). With the accuracy of a tired and injured man both drunk on frustration, Phoenix engaged the small squad of soldiers pinning his team down. Five or six soldiers, all dead. He didn't even care anymore, it was too much. "Good to see you" Burden said, wiping a bit of dirt off himself as he walked up to Phoenix. "Yeah, me too. Lets go." Phoenix replied, simply not caring any more. With that, they kicked down a small door, leading to into the back of the mall. Finding nothing there, they kicked down the next and also found nothing, no ambushes or anything of the sort. The next door lead into their final challenge, the stockrooms. Severus walked forward and peeped through, seeing several soldiers in the massive open and devastated area. "Go through or go around?" He asked, looking back at Phoenix. "I have a broken rifle... A migraine... And head trauma... So let's do this, and do it right..." Phoenix muttered under his breath, before walking up to the door and opening it spectacularly, for all to see. Then proceeding to shoot them all dead with his barely functioning rifle. Then he ran for cover behind a crate, alongside Briggs and Burden. And began firing while everyone else began to flank around. The fire was a mixed bag in every way, red lasers, blue plasma, yellow lasers, tracers, green beams and such. The chaos was amplified as Anna and he division of the team flanked around the right, forcing the enemy to retreat into the major storerooms. Phoenix, frustrated and bored, through a grenade into the room. An incendiary. He paid little attention as soldiers ran out, coated in flames and screaming for help and mercy. Only to collapse, charred and bloody. After another explosion, Phoenix and company rallied on the door, then moved through it quickly. Taking a left to reach the end, the massive radio tower nearly in sight. Then, a secondary explosion from volatile contents inside a crate exploded, sending Phoenix flying left out a broken wall, alongside Derrickson. He blacked out upon hitting the ground.

He awoke, slowly, but surely. The entire area was rubble, and on fire. Lit up red like an inferno. Like the inferno it was. Phoenix turned over and stood up slowly. Burn marks all about him, then he turned around. Smoke filling his lungs and eyes, he walked forward. Holding his hand out as a reference. Then, out of nowhere. On a pile of rubble, Derrickson. Burned as well, with a metal spike through his chest, lodged in the rubble. No way getting him off of that. "Derrickson! Hold on, hold on... I'll getcha outta there" Phoenix said, coughing as smoke filled the air. "F-for... get about... me... please..." Derrickson replied. Phoenix tried anyways, a few bits of rubble moved easily, others were lodged. No way of getting them out. Then he saw, a fire. Moving up, moving to get him. "Either get me out... or..." Derrickson started, pointing meekly at the pistol. Nearby the broken rifle, the pistol unbroken. Phoenix picked it up and checked the magazine, one bullet. But then, Phoenix paused. "Derrickson, I have one question. When you told Graves about my father's assassination... where did you go first?" Phoenix asked, inquiring. "W-why are you just standing there?" Derrickson asked "Help me!". "I said: where did you go?" Phoenix said sternly. Derrickson sighed, then stated "I... went to the courtyard...".

"Why?"

"W-why does this matter? Just get me outta here!"

"Answer the question."

Derrickson said nothing.

"Y-you..."

"I... ordered your brother to kill your father. Your mother got killed in the crossfire and, you were a specific target."

"You... son of a bitch."

"I'm sorry Phoenix. I did what was necessary. Your father was... sick. He caught the plague-"

"So did I and I'm still breathing!"

"You don't get it... he wasn't you. He was a frail old man, he was going to die, it was going to kill him. You weren't ready."

"Bullshit I wasn't!"

"Phoenix, I needed you to toughen up. I needed you to be strong. And you were."

"How could you fucking look yourself in the mirror?!"

"I COULDN'T! I spent all my time hating myself for robbing a small child of his innocence, then decided to be nothing but a guardian for him. I couldn't look at you, because I wanted to die for what I did."

Phoenix took the second to swear himself, tearing at his own hair and growling in anger. Then he yelled again. "Who did you meet?!"

"I met the captain of the guard, and told him what happened. He killed himself later out of guilt. I wish I was in his place." Derrickson replied.

"The hell did you do this for?! I trusted you! I believed in you! Next to Graves you were all I had! Without you, I was nothing!"

"No Phoenix, thats not true. You had oceans of supporters, you broke down in public before. You were human to them! You weren't a blind face behind a monitor, you were a person. Without you, they were nothing. Not the other way around."

"T-then why did you do it? Why did you kill my father? Money? Power? What was in it for you?"

"I wanted us to survive, nothing more. I knew you'd survive, and this would make you stronger. You weren't worthy before but-"

"AM I WORTHY NOW?! HUH?! WHILE I HOLD THE POWER TO END YOUR LIFE AT MY FINGERTIPS?! AND YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE GONNA SPEND THE LAST FUCKING MOMENTS OF YOUR SHITTY LIFE IN AGONY".

And with that Phoenix removed a small bottle of alcohol and drank a little of it, then poured it onto Derrickson's face.

"Is there anything else?" He said "Your time is short, answer everything.".

"Gah..." Derrickson started "R-remember when the Federation invaded us?"

"Yeah..."

"I... ordered the bombing of the rebel refugee camp. Not the one Leon bombed a different one, in our previous system. I did it so the Federation wouldn't declare war on us."

"Y-you're insane."

"This is only the beginning, when the Engi Uprising began, I was contacted by a fleet admiral-"

"WHO?!"

"I don't know, he knew of what I did and wanted me to give him your psych evaluations to a contact of his, Golly."

"But they weren't on his ship..."

"Golly's affiliate contacted me before the attack, and told me to give them to an ally of his. Named Leon."

There was a long silence. Phoenix aimed the pistol at Derrickson, overcome with rage. This man orchestrated the killing of his parents, and other morally reprehensible acts justified by survival. That didn't matter, emotion came first. "Phoenix, please. I'm sorry. My intentions were always good, just don't let me burn. Just kill me." Derrickson pleaded, leaning up. Then, Phoenix walked off, to the left, into the fog beyond.

"H-hey what are you doing?!" Derrickson yelled.

"What Graves woulda wanted me to do" Phoenix coldly replied.

"PHOENIX PHOENIX PHOENIX!" Derrickson screamed, burning alive behind Phoenix.

Phoenix relaxed, taking a breath and walking on slowly. Then Anna's voice came over the radio. "P-Phoenix we... we heard all of that" She said, shocked "So is Derrickson...". "Dead" Phoenix said, simply "He fucked us, he fucked me. He fucked us all.".
Phoenix kept on walking, further into the fog. "We'll meet you at the tower, you should see it in front of you if you're going on. And if there's anything you need to talk about..." Anna soothed, trying to sound calm in the face of this betrayal. After hours of walking, he escaped the smoke, and saw the massive tower. His team at the base. The tower was tall, three poles aligned in a triangle connected by many smaller poles holding it upright, at the top five or six small satellite dishes and a large antenna at the top, capable of broadcasting into space past any jamming device. Luckily he didn't need it for that, he quickly ran over to the base.
"Good to see you again, I guess." Briggs said softly, moderately untrusting of Phoenix having heard the story on the radio. "What's the plan boss?" Burden asked, sitting down on one of the concrete foundations keeping the tower in place. "I'm gonna climb this damn thing, and tell command where these damn things are holding out at, and we'll blow it away. That'll solve everything" Phoenix replied, jumping for one of the support horizontal poles, and began climbing up. The tower being narrow and made of slippery metal (and worse yet, it had begun raining), Phoenix took caution to take deep breaths and not look down as he shimmied about, climbing one second up the safe support bars and riskily latching onto the side poles making up the entire structure to get up to the next set of supports. This went on, quickly as a massive battle seemed to go on around him. As he neared the half way mark, a small black ship began flying around him. Then, in an instant, the top of the tower exploded. BOOM. Fire rained down and Phoenix slipped from his perch for a second, the top of the tower bending over backwards. The ship then strafed again, firing it's burst lasers at Phoenix, who watched them narrowly miss his person. Now realizing that it may be an amazing idea to rush up the tower before it collapsed or the ship gunned him down. He climbed rapidly and almost perfectly, stumbling here and then as the ship shot at him, eventually however he reached the top.
Phoenix looked on for the nest as the ship circled around him, and then he saw. A massive crevice, festering with grey moving around. Under the road, the cave continued. There they were.
"Attention all orbital units this is Commander Phoenix, I have a target for you, acknowledge?" He yelled into his radio.
"Roger that, channel is good. What are your orders?" Said the operator on the other end.

"I have a target for you three miles east of the Square, between there and the Municipal Building. Copy?"

"Solid copy, carpet bomb the area?"

"Definitely, hit it hard."

"Roger that, orbital strike is online. Launching Acolyte artillery weapons. Impact in ten seconds."

And several seconds later, thirty or so small shells impacted the hive, a golden fire spreading like a massive bomb. Then the shockwave hit.
A massive storm of dust hit, the tower rocked, and Phoenix attempted to hold on as the tower rocked massively back and forth. The tower then fell forward. Phoenix, attempting not to die, ran forward onto the side as the tower fell. Then it impacted the ground. Phoenix was sent flying a few feet, and hit the ground. He stood up, several buildings in the distance falling downward.
"It's over... we've won."
The clouds soon parted, sunlight at last. The drones were no more. The planet was safe at last, they could finally rest.