Astral saw the masses attacking them. The aggression beacon worked. He felt bad for the soldiers next to him. He could hold them off by himself. He shouldn't have dragged them into his war. The Sacramentum wouldn't stop. It seemed like they were trying to swarm them. Or were they boxing them in?
"Minnesota, on your left!" Nevada shouted, shocked as she would turn and lay down fire with her new chaingun.
"This thing is nice." She would aim at an incoming tank like object as the bullets ripped through it like paper. Nevada would fire his prototype railgun rifle and take down another tank. Carolina and Hawaii were focusing their fire on the commanding units. The little peons would run around freeing themselves.
Astral saw this as fascinating as he looked past that, a machine with eight legs was crawling towards them. And it wasn't small. Knocking over many of the buildings in the area Proto and Omaha were much farther away from everyone. Running back to cover to be safe from it.
"What the hell is that!" Proto spoke.
"Damn thing tried to crush us!" Omaha spoke as the front legs turned into claws, showing the plasma cannons off. Aiming them at the seven of them behind the cover. It would open fire as a steady stream of light came from each claw. Astral would pull two pillars of stone out of the ground and send the claws skyward. Astral would have a hologram of himself on the Red Merle.
"Astrid, I need three striker drones on my position if you got some free." Astrals hologram would fade as Astrid rerouted the support from a transport ship to Astral.
"Hopefully that works." Astral didn't want to use his powers. Wanting to test his equipment instead. The roaring engines could be heard as a burst fire of a gun could be heard. The drones came in right away a tight cluster they came down in. the two on the sides firing onto the legs and dismembering the core of it. Many of the on surface of the creature would fire up at the drones but the third drone shredded the main part of the body before the three flew away onto the next part.
Then Astral saw the gleam from a sniper. The beam would fire and miss him. Striking Carolina right on the shoulder. Astral saw this and made a little bit more cover as he rolled out and sniped the creature out of the building.
"Why does it burn!" She would scream as Nevada pulls her into cover. Applying a bacterial spray onto the wound. Astral would be dropping the aliens left and right. They became more aggressive as the ape's would charge in a dense pack. Astrals magnum didn't do enough as they crawled their way into the cover.
Proto and Omaha would be able to push two of them away as one of the apes grabbed hold of Minnesota. Trying to pull off her arm. Every joint of hers was dislocated as the grip from the apes crushed several of the bones on her body. Ending in Astral slicing the ape to bits. Appearing in front of them in a whirl storm of slashes. All the apes would fall in chunks.
"Nevada, Hawaii. Stop anyone that isn't us three from getting in. Proto and Omaha, we are going on the aggressive to draw them further." Astral spoke as the cover slowly grew.
"Fuck that, we aren't leaving you." Hawaii would stand as a spear was thrown through her. They were coming all at once. A grenade was chucked into the core and as it blew up Nevada would absorb most of it. Astral saw he had to make the time count.
Closing off the cover to leave them in a box he would hop above it. There was a few thousand still left. All rushing at him at once. Astral's suit would flare alive. His two rifles in his hands he would aim at specific spots. The bullets ricocheted through the masses.
It was just too much to deal with all at once without pushing himself. He would land on top of the hill and his suit would hyperventilate, the pieces of the suit hovering away from his body, looking as if it became something else.
Allowing for him to breathe, his robotic wings hung motionless as he flung himself into action. Severing the entire side of the army in one swift action. His bladework was refined to the most it could be. Or could it? Gunfire was heard from the hill as Proto and Omaha busted open holes to open fire on the ones who would try and get through to hurt them.
"Launch three red flares, you two! They need immediate medical assistance!" Astral demanded of them as he held his scythe in one hand and Murasama in the other. Astral finally let the rip cord loose. He was too fast as the flares were launched upwards. Astid saw this and diverted every free ship to them.
The Sacramentum forces in the quadrant that Astral was sent to were finished. The thousands dead around them all in chunks, severed arms, legs and heads flop around the battlefield as a doorway opens for the core. Proto and Omaha see the masses in front of them dead. He did this, he really was the one the sacramentum talked about.
A shuttle came down immediately after startling the two of them as they looked back. Stretchers lie out for the four wounded. Proto and Omaha carried the four of them there as it immediately took off as fast as it arrived. The two looked up to Astral, his second objective checked off.
"So, what do we do now?" Omaha asked the gentleman on top of the hill.
"We meet up with Airsoft and his fireteam and go to California." Astral spoke softly, it was his fault those four got hurt, he felt the remorse from his actions. He should have just done the diversion by himself.
Proto rested a hand on his shoulder. "As a leader, losing members will happen. An inevitable reality we face. The great ones minimize these losses, but we feel like you will save every dying man or woman." Astral felt eased by these words, like these two will be the parental figures the ship needs at times.
Omaha grabbed both of them by the collar. "C'mon, we still got someone to interrogate those guys." The three got a small little laugh as a blue flare launched up not too far from them. They immediately started to run as they checked out the scene, it was Indy. he was curled on the ground crying.
"Oh no." Proto and Omaha spoke at the time and stopped in their tracks. Astral walked over and sat down next to him.
"Why did they have to die, my wife, my kids, all the work I put in. I failed as a husband and a father for what, just to say that we lost?" Indy spoke as the Astral clones showed pictures to Astral of the bunker's scene. A bloody mess.
'Could I use the spell on them?' Astral stood up and offered a hand. "So, do you want to see a miracle?" Astral held his hand out as Indy grabbed it. "You two won't say a thing to my wife, right?" Proto and Omaha stood still in shock as Astral waved for the two to follow them and Indy to lead.
Once they got into the bunker Astral's helmet glowed a soft blue color from the visor, Indy shined the flashlight on his family. "My wife doesn't want me to practice dark magic. Playing with life or death is something the gods hate as well. But, I don't fear them." His suit stood there as he walked out from it. He slipped a glove on his hand.
The three of them stood back in awe and amazement. Astral rested his hand on the ground as the two clones from outside and a third summoned one was created. "Life transfer." with a soft blow from his mouth the three clones collapsed and faded away as the bodies of Indy's family healed. He embraced them as they all started to cry.
"Indy, spend time with your family, if my data is correct you were the only member of Valor with a family correct?" Astral asked as Indy nodded his head. "Well, tell the rest of your family there will be footage of me for them to watch California falling." He nodded. Just happy that his family was alive, given a second chance.
They left the building as Indy and his family got into the safety of the shuttle and went to space as Astral, Omaha and Proto advanced to California using the pocket dimension.