Astral stood with Airsoft and his forces behind him, the bay area stood in front of him, full of life and movement, seemingly unaffected by the outside world. They admired it for an hour, everyone with gullible minds were here. Those deemed dangerous were meant to protect it.
"Airsoft, you have thirty minutes to set up scouts and checkpoints, the current battle map for the situation." Astral handed over a tablet and gazed at the city. He then spotted the one man he wanted to see, before he vanished like a mirage.
Was it a vision or foresight that let him see the target he was looking for? Astral shook his head, maybe certain abilities aren't meant to be absorbed. He would graze over the city as his suit zoomed in on certain hot zones. "If anyone aboard the Red Merle has family still here, they will be highlighted in a large amount of green. Weapons free on anyone else."
Astral looked to his left, seeing the two other fireteams. "Fireteam wolf and fireteam falcon. You guys have one mission. Getting to that building with the yellow marker, and blocking off all sub divisions so they can't go to their bunkers. Be careful of the man who we briefed you on." They nodded and set out, once the clock strikes zero zero it's showtime.
Sliding down the mountains the fireteams went about their way. No engaging the man they call 'Cali', reports say they will beat any one of them in a one on one fight, as for the civilians, if they die, it's an accidental casualty among the masses. As for total enemy forces. The number hasn't been confirmed, but by the hawkeye in the sky they were assuming two million.
"Airsoft checking in with the rest of Fireteam Angel. Can confirm the satellite readings, two million soldiers are present and accounted for. That is going to be a lot, but the seaside seismic charges are in place and we will set off the landslide on your signal." He watched as the rest of the fireteam stood still behind him, were they really about to kill their own country for the betterment of the rest of the world when it is repaired.
"Alright then." Astral held out his scythe and his sword. "Time to show them who death is." Astral walked down the mountain in a trot, trying not to have any missteps as his armor wasn't there. He knew the people nearby were ready to attack once given their signal. But he needed to be in range first.
"Sir shall we fire at him?" the man on the sentry tower asked his commander.
"We will not fire on him until he is in the detonation field." the commander stood still. "Cali, just as you predicted." He spoke through his radio. Cali remained silent, pressing a buzzer, it was just him alone on the top floor.
"Good, stall him as much as possible." He spoke back before disconnecting the radio. "If he falls right into the trap, I will have him and his entire fireteam in a trap, the politicians are bait, but he doesn't know what it is." He looked around the mountains and saw his other target, Airsoft. Two birds, one stone.
Astral stood on the minefield, waiting for the rounds to fire. Looking at the sky, it became artillery as he stood still. The area became leveled in minutes as the fire didn't stop. Astral stood still, once the smoke cleared out Astral held two pistols in the air. He fired the one in the left as red smoke trailed the one. Dropping his right arm and firing a single round.
The tower stood still for a moment as the glass shattered, the man on the console looked behind him as the commander had a bullet hole through his skull before dropping instantly. "Damn, Lucky really did tune the pistol to perfection." He smiled as a wave of soldiers took a defensive position in a pre-dug hole.
Astral watched them line up. Only holding his scythe in his arms he held it behind his arms as he waited for their next move. "Have you ever seen death?" With a flash of light he stood behind the trench line and cackled. Explosions came from the seabed and from the mountains, the men looked dazed, this wasn't their plan was it?
Astral flicked his wrist with the scythe, severing the heads within his reach as those to each side of him looked at what was happening around them, the landslide was becoming larger by the moment, it'll knock out most of the east side. The typhoon wave will crush the west side. All that is left is for Astral to go right down the gut and the others to clean the house around him.
"Ha, check." Cali walked over to the elevator and started to take it down as he gave the order to all target Astral, but he had to deal with some bugs in the basement. The two million all went rushing at Astral. He stood there as they openly charged at him with knives and shotguns. Leaving him puzzled, unless this was meant to distract him as Cali took on the others.
The elevator dinged as it opened, Cali walking out and smiling. "So you are the rats working for him, shame that I have to kill all of you." He looked around, seeing the ten men in there who looked puzzled.
"We need to leave. Formation four." The fireteams stood together as they all looked at him with one member checking their flank. "If he moves fire." One of the members spoke as they slowly exited out the basement into the survey tunnel that was built.
"Oh, but I want to have a bit more fun." Cali pulled out a knife as it was shot out of his hand.
"We found him Astral, permission to engage?" A second member echoed through comms. Cali clapped his hands in excitement.
"Sure, but if all of you are down, you must press the button on the left side of your helmet." Astral's voice was smooth and calm as the waves of men kept coming at him. He transferred the vitals command to Jaimie.
This many people felt overwhelming to Astral at first but then he thought back to the tournament, these are lesser beings than anyone he faced there, they were the strongest the universe had to offer. "Sheer cold." He held the ice ball inside of his right. Pushing himself and flanking the remaining forces.
Shoving his right arm forward, the icy release from his palm consumed the area, extending outward and freezing the massive typhoon he created. Catching a knife with his left he looked over. "Still got some fight left huh?" Astral saw them all line up down the street as rockets were fired at him. He stood still as he waited for what was coming.
Cali smiled as they rushed in. Two of them opened fire on the man standing there. Each of them had a different martial art they threw at him as he countered with ruthlessness and efficiency. Breaking kneecaps and arms, dislocating shoulders and hips.
Each one of their punches and kicks were not even close as Cali was faster than they were. Rag dolling the forces around him. The pile of their bodies at their exit as Cali grabs a grenade from his back. "I wonder what this does?" He pulled the pin and got ready to toss it onto the pile of men as he looked up.
Jaimie dove from the hawkeye and came crashing all the way through the building. Landing on the basement floor smiling. "Not on my watch."
"Aw, I'd hate to hurt such a pretty face, oh well." He tossed the grenade and took off up the stairs as Jaimie reeled the grenade in with her hand, setting it on the ground and covering it with her shield.
Storming up the stairs Cali looked behind him snickering, setting down a handful of claymores as he walked out the front door. Being met with an arm bar from Airsoft as he falls to the ground. Airsoft crushing his food onto his right arm as he squeals in pain.
Astral heard an engine roaring in the sky, the barrage of bullets he wouldn't have to worry about. He set up the bubble shield and sat down to meditate and reflect on the battle. Sal and Jax opened fire on the infantry along the streets and buildings, each round shredding the resistance as they landed next to Airsoft and Fireteam Angel.
"Lucky for you we were given the order to capture, not kill." Airsoft put restraints across Cali's body. Sal, Jax and Jaimie approach the body as it starts laughing.
"I'm just the decoy, the real Cali is taking on Astral right now!" Airsoft without hesitating pulled his pistol out and shot the man in the head.
"Do we help Astral or not?" Sal asked as Airsoft and Jaimie nodded their heads no.
"First off, we have to secure the families that are here to the Red Merle, and my fireteam is out of gas, we still are good, but you young ones need to do more of the heavy lifting." Airsoft spoke as transports came down around them.
"And you two are going to help me get Fireteam's Wolf and Falcon from the basement of this building." Jaimie waved for Sal and Jax to follow her. "They aren't hurt badly to the point of immovable without stretchers. But Cali got them good." The two followed her to the basement getting the hurt teams out to the hawkeye before getting back safely to the Red Merle.
Astral was waiting for Cali as the man went for a throat chop onto Astral. It hit his armor that glinted in a reflective manner. "What type of cheap trick is that?" Cali spoke as Astral went and swept the legs of his opponent. Cali jumped over it, his mind running along with each possibility.
'Impossible that my mind is running too slow.' Cali thought as Astral crushed him with one leg into the ground. Astral stood still staring at the man in the ground. Waiting to see if he makes any more moves. Cali pushed upwards out of the crater in the ground and looked at the man in front of him. "I read all of the reports and still I'm surprised how little it actually represents you." He slowly came to a stand as he readied himself.
"Well, tell me then and I will spare you to just eternal suffering. Whose plan was it to sell me over to the Sacramentum?" Astral asked quietly as Cali dropped his guard.
"That was that entire building. Everyone that had knowledge of you was in there." Cali pressed a button on his hip as the building detonated. "Well, they are all dead now, earth will be safer for another thousand years as society rebuilds."
He extended his arms in pity. "I let my team down. I deserve any and all suffering bestowed on me." Astral bound them in a puzzled state.
"How much did you know about your fireteam and what happened to them?" Astral asked as they walked to where the hawkeye landed.
"They gave the details to Tex, telling me I was needed to protect and secure the new world powers. I felt like something was off, once I looked at the numbers I realized they didn't care for my team so I tried to send resources. I still had supply line privileges until they cut me off. I deserve the punishment for not stopping this." He kicked along a rock as Jaimie seized his arm from Astral, setting him in his seat as they lifted off to the Red Merle. For the last time on earth, it was fairly memorable.