Resistance: Chimeran Allies

Chapter 6.

Just this morning she never could have imagined that her life would change this much, she was exhilarated. Sat next to her was an amazing human who had very quickly stolen her heart, and she seemed to have done the same to him.

They were quietly eating their food now, just enjoying the silence and closeness. the Hybrid was glad to have some food in her, eagerly wolfing down the rations, a content sigh escaping her as she relaxed, leaning some of her weight on the human next to her.

The human had offered her some of his rations, the Hybrid finding the crackers not very appetizing. He had also offered her half of the little fudge meal he had, the Hybrid finding that much more appealing.

It was just then that footsteps could be heard coming closer. The human looked up, glancing at the Hybrid, but she made no motion to move, instead moving her arm across his hip, forcing him to stay seated.

She could tell by the sound of the footsteps that it was a Hybrid approaching, their metal shoes announcing their presence as they rounded the corner, the human and Hybrid seeing that it was the Hardfang.

They stared at each other for several seconds, the Hardfang looking between the two of them before speaking. "Am I interrupting something?"

She spoke in their Chimeran language, the Hardfang not skilled enough at human speech to hold any real conversations, the human sat next to the Type-2 only hearing one side of the conversation.

"If you had come by a few minutes earlier you would have." She watched the Hardfang move forward, standing off to the opposite wall, leaning her side on it.

"Took you long enough to finally make your move. I hope you two are done eating, the human's commander wanted to see him."

The Type-2 relayed this information to the human, the soldier quickly picking himself up, putting everything back on, the Type-2 doing the same, the Hardfang staring eagerly at the Type-2, the Hybrid already knowing what was going to come.

She had been around the Hardfang long enough to know how uninhibited she was, and worse, she seemed to relish it too, taking great enjoyment in trying to make those around her squirm.

"It's a shame I didn't come by a few minutes earlier, wouldn't have minded seeing what you two were up to." She was looking the human over like he was a dinner plate, the Hybrid seeing her eyes settle on his neck, noticing the indents where her teeth had been planted.

The human noticed her staring, bringing up his hand to feel along his neck, running his thumb across the indents.

"Hmm, he's lucky." They had finished donning their gear so the Hardfang turned around, leading them back over to where his squad was.

They hadn't been gone for awhile, but a lot of stuff had already been done. There was now a communications line lying on the ground, a station set up near the tanks, several officers and radiomen standing near it.

One of X-Ray 4s squadmates spotted him, running over to him. "Good, you're back. We got communications up all around the tower. We got word from the other companies, they've been scattered all around the tower, and they've all been beat to hell, we're looking at 50% casualties right now, probably more. We're still trying to get the numbers, some companies are completely gone though."

X-Ray 4s eyes went wide. "Jesus christ."

"Ya, it's bad. We were able to get in contact with Command too, they're working out some plans right now, so far they've ordered us to stay put. They had some orders for you too, X-Ray 1 is off over at the radio station."

X-Ray 4 nodded to him, and he split off, the man watching him walk off to one of the tanks as he and the two Hybrids next to him made their way to the officers.

X-Ray 6 was stood next to X-Ray 1, and 6 noticed X-Ray 4 first, getting his commander's attention.

"Ah, good, you're here. It's a shitshow, command has no idea what to do, and they've decided that you're to stay with the Hybrid there until directed otherwise. X-Ray 6." The soldier came over, and X-Ray 4 watched as X-Ray 1 took his radio from him, handing it to X-Ray 4.

"Command wants to find out more about what's going on, and they want you to find out. You're probably gonna be on your own, get this radio on, and go find out if the Chimera have any idea about what to do about this massive horde that's about to knock down the doors."

He took the radio from him, attaching it to his vest, linking everything together. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Scouts outside report that Stalkers have made their way into the streets. The Goliaths can't get close, thankfully, but those Stalkers are gonna start breaching the doors soon, Command is trying to gather reinforcements together, but for now we're on our own."

He turned away, resuming a conversation with some of the officers, and X-Ray 4 turned to the Type-2. "Well, I've been handed off to you now. I hope that Angel is listening, and I hope she's got a plan, because it looks like we've got jackshit here."

She looked around, taking in the scene. The Sabertooth tanks had been moved into flanking positions, covering the entrance in the massive hanger. Several machine gun nests had been set up too, the Hybrid seeing that human and Chimeran machine guns were mixed in with each other, and there had been several deployable cover sets tossed down all around the area.

"She wants to see you." The Hybrid looked around, staring at the groups of Rangers walking around, before she spotted the one she was looking for. "The Queen wants to see that one too."

He followed where she was looking, seeing it was Sergeant Hale. He was staring at them, and when X-Ray 4 looked over at him, he took that as an invitation, making his way over to them.

He could see the Ranger looking at the three of them with suspicion, but he seemed to be able to set that aside enough to do his job.

"The Hybrid says the Queen wants to meet us, we're gonna see if she's got some plan to get us out of this situation." He looked to the Type-2 and she started walking forward, the Hardfang gesturing for them to follow.

The Type-2 took them down several hallways, the small group passing increasing amounts of Advanced Hybrids and machine gun turrets.

Sergeant Hale spoke up. "Where are we going?"

"To the heart of the tower. It's the most important part of this place, it's why there are so many defenses around."

X-Ray 4 could not see what the Sergeant was thinking, but he could tell that his interest had piqued as soon as he heard that.

The Ranger's absence was soon noticed, and X-Ray 4 heard 1 call him on the radio.

"X-Ray 4, is Sergeant Hale with you?"

The Hybrids turned to stare at him, along with Sergeant Hale, the man's eyes narrowing as he stared at the special ops soldier.

"Yes, sir, the Hybrids are taking us to the Angel. They said the Angel wants to meet both me and the Sergeant." X-Ray 1 did not like the sound of that, and his response had the Hardfang and Type-2 glancing at each other nervously.

"Negative! Negative! Sergeant Hale is not to be allowed anywhere close to an Angel, he is too vulnerable to get close to another one again!"

As X-Ray 4 looked at the Ranger, he could tell that he did not like being told what he could and couldn't do.

There was a group of Advanced Hybrids standing nearby too, and whether the Angel had directed them he did not know, but soon after hearing that they walked over, silently boxing them in, urging them forward.

"I don't think we have a choice in the matter, sir. We're being pushed along by more Hybrids, and Sergeant Hale doesn't trust us." The heat of the tower was slowly increasing, still very cold, but he could notice the subtle increase in temperature. They were getting close to something.

"We're making our way to your location, do not let the Sergeant get close to the Angel, Command does not want him to have another run in with one."

Sergeant Hale looked over at X-Ray 4 again, his brow furrowing. "How long have you been following me for?"

"Since Grimsby, as far as I know. We've gotten close a few times, but you were either ahead of us, or our guys got taken out before you found them. We didn't want you to get as close to the tower as you are, but it's looking like it's a good thing you got past us now, you might be one of the only ways we've got of getting out of here."

He had no plan of keeping Sergeant Hale from getting to the Angel. He didn't really have a choice in the matter, the Hybrids ferrying him along, but he also doubted the Angel was going to do any harm to the Ranger, not with the effort she had gone through.

"So, do you have any on what we're supposed to do here? What plan did you have when you convinced British command to get a strikeforce sent here?"

It looked like he wanted to say something, but as X-Ray 4 stared at him he could tell that the Ranger was still suspicious of him, but then he glanced at the Hybrids walking around them, and he seemed wary of them. "I'll let you know when we get to wherever we're going."

X-Ray 4 echoed a small sigh, sparing him a side long glance which the sergeant couldn't see as they continued walking forward.

The Advanced Hybrids stayed with them, 4 of them staying close behind them, the Type-2 and Hardfang standing at the front. The defenses were getting more numerable too, the group walking through a killzone set up by the Chimera.

They could see the killzone long before they made their way through it, 3 shielded machine guns and several metal barriers set up facing down the long corrider, a completely barren pathway, no cover at all for any unfortunate enemy sent this way.

It was being manned by a group of 15 Advanced Hybrids or so, the creatures just milling about, some stuffing magazines into their pockets, but most were just sitting around, waiting for the time they were needed. They watched them pass by, many of the Hybrids setting their eyes on Sergeant Hale, noticing the gold sheen in his eyes, a trait which only Chimera normally had.

X-Ray 4 wasn't apprised very well of the situation, he wasn't high enough on the food chain to be worthy of any notable info. He just knew that Sergeant Hale had been infected by the Chimeran virus, he'd somehow recovered from it, despite the 100% fatality rate it had.

He had been aiding the British for several days, cleaving through countless Chimera with his abilities he'd been developing from the virus, most notably was his ability to rapidly heal wounds, a trait that made Chimeran creatures very deadly in combat.

He seemed to be just as much of an anomaly to the Chimera as he was to Command.

A little ways past the blockade was a sealed door, yet more defenses and Chimera defending the gate, X-Ray 4 even seeing a few Hardfangs among them.

They made their way closer, but as they got just a few feet away they suddenly went on alert, X-Ray 4 watching the Hybrids tense up, some going for the mounted machine guns, checking them and making sure they were loaded, bringing ammo closer to them.

X-Ray 4 turned around, seeing that the guards they had just passed were now standing at their defenses, aiming their rifles down the hallway.

Sergeant Hale's radio had been echoing with chatter from the Rangers for awhile now, mostly status updates on their units, but the radio operator's tone quickly changed, the two hearing why the Chimera had gone on alert.

"All units, prepare for combat! Chimeran forces are about to breach the tower! Command reports enemy armor approaching from the North and East, we need all armor to cover that side of the tower!"

"We've got to hurry, we don't have much time." The Type-2 quickly made her way over to the door controls, opening the door, and the group were quickly ushered through, walking down a set of stairs in front of the door, the Hybrids now staying even closer to the two soldiers, acting as body guards.

The door was quickly sealed behind them, and X-Ray 4 felt how this room was much warmer than the surrounding area, and as he looked up he saw why. There was a reactor in here, 4 glowing rods steadily pumping out heat, shields occasionally lowering to let the temperature die down.

And hovering near it was the Angel, the massive creature turning to look at them, X-Ray 4 feeling as if it was staring right through his visor.

It was an imposing creature, and he could feel the authority it gave off as it moved closer to them, the device implanted on its back allowing it to fly around the area, along with keeping the creature from overheating.

Its face was not very appealing to the eye, featuring a long snout with multiple fang-like teeth, and 3 eyes on each side of its head.

It had 4 tentacles branching off the back of its body, and as it lowered all the way to the ground he watched them drape behind the creature, out of sight. It had several thin, pointed legs, which looked ill suited to supporting the creature's immense weight, but it settled down on them perfectly fine.

It turned its head at X-Ray 4 first, looking him over, the soldier seeing her head angle down slightly, looking at the sniper rifle in his hands. It let out a low rumble and turned its head towards the Type-2.

"She's glad to see that you are still alive, she feared what would happen if you hadn't made it." The Type-2 appeared to be filling in for the Angel, likely being the only way that the Angel had to communicate with people.

She stared at the two of them for a few more seconds, the soldier resisting the urge to look away as she looked him over, the man's thoughts wandering back to when the Type-2 had said that she knew everything that was going on with Hybrids under her command.

She then looked over to Sergeant Hale, moving a bit closer. The man grimaced, gripping his weapon tighter, and X-Ray 4 noticed that the Hardfang was keeping very close to the Ranger, ready to defend the Angel if she had to.

He seemed to falter a bit, and X-Ray 4 watched him bring his hand up to his head, rubbing it, before he looked back up at the Angel, and it seemed to back off, stepping away.

"She's trying to get a look at you, to see how far the virus has affected you. It will continue to change your body, but she may be able to stop it from getting worse."

Sergeant Hale looked at the Type-2 for several seconds, silently considering, before he turned to the Angel. "I'll consider it, if we make it out of here alive."

The Angel seemed a bit hesitant, but she lightly bowed her head, turning back to X-Ray 4. She was looking him over again, and he could see her eyes shifting between him and the Type-2.

"Well, Command wants to know what plan you have here. From what I've heard from my superiors, we don't have anything at all going for us."

The Angel tilted her head slightly, and X-Ray 4 turned to the Type-2 as she started to speak, acting as the translator for the Angel.

"We've got more than enough soldiers to hold off any attack from the enemy. We would whittle them down as they attack, shredding their numbers with killzones like the one we walked past scattered all around the tower."

The Angel let out a low sigh, turning her head to look over at Sergeant Hale, who X-Ray 4 had now noticed had moved away from them, examining the glowing rods of the device taking up the center of the room.

"It would likely take several days, there would be a lot of casualties, but she's confident that we would still be able to win. The enemy just does not have enough resources to take on the entire tower. We have 10 thousand Hybrids in this tower ready to defend, around 50 Stalkers and about the same amount of Titans."

He looked back over to the Type-2, and though she spoke confidentally, he could almost see a bit of worry in her eyes.

"We're outnumbered roughly 4 to 1, but our troops have better weaponry, and we have the tower protecting us. Are your superiors able to bring more reinforcements in?"

"I'm... Not sure. We've lost thousands of soldiers these past few days, from York and now this operation. It might be several days before more reinforcements could come."

He wasn't too optimistic about the situation. He imagined the Chimera could likely hold the tower, but he wondered how many would be left at the end of it. The Americans weren't in good shape, with over half the force massacred, and the British army was a shell of its former self.

There had been 15 thousand American soldiers at the start of the operation, at least half of them had been killed outside the tower, and the British only had a few hundred left. He didn't think Command would be happy to learn this was the plan.

He looked over to Sergeant Hale, seeing him still looking at the rods, and he made his way over, also taking in the sight. "What the hell is this thing?"

The Type-2 walked over to him, standing next to him. "The most important part of the tower. It's the reactor, it supplies everything with power, including the other towers, sadly we can't shut that off."

"What would happen if it gets destroyed?"

X-Ray 4 turned to Sergeant Hale, starting to realize what he was thinking, and it seemed the Chimera did too.

"What...? N- No, that's not an option, we can't just..." The Type-2 stopped talking, and he noticed the Angel peering at her, it seemed she was saying something to her.

"The... Angel said that it would destroy the tower, and everything else in the area... It... could also chain react and destroy all the other towers." The Hybrids around them seemed unsure of the idea, glancing around at each other.

Sergeant Hale looked away from the rods, looking at the Angel and X-Ray 4. "It's a better plan than what we've got right now." They all looked to the Angel, and after a few seconds she slowly nodded her head.

X-Ray 4 was feeling much more confident about this plan, and he reached toward his radio. "X-Ray 1, do you copy?"

"Yes. These damn Hybrids aren't letting us through. Do we have a plan? What's the status of Sergeant Hale?"

He looked up at the control rods, an idea coming to him. "Yes, sir, we've got a plan. We're going to need a demo team over to our position, with all the explosives they have."

A few minutes later X-Ray squad was finally able to get through, and they were filled in on the entire plan, X-Ray 1 relaying it to the Ranger companies.

They were going to start retreating south away from the tower, the path being cleared by their Chimeran allies. A demolitions team was also making their way over here, where they were going to rig up as much explosives to the reactor as they could, then head out, leaving the attacking Chimera to a doomed tower.

They were against the clock though, Chimera were hammering the tower, some had already gotten through the doors, and it was only getting worse.

"All units, British command has just spotted 3 Angels making their way towards the tower, focus fire on these Angels if they are spotted!"

"God damn it, where is that damn demo team?" X-Ray 1 was pacing around, and he reached up to his radio. "A company, we need that demo team here now! Where are they?"

A familiar voice came through the radio, X-Ray 4 recognizing it as the Captain of the company they'd saved earlier. "They just radioed in saying they were almost there, shouldn't be too- They're breaking through! Hold the-" An explosion echoed through X-Ray 1s radio, followed by the sound of gunfire, everyone turning to look at him.

"We cannot hold, we are being pushed back! Chimera are flooding into the hanger and... Holy shit, we've got an Angel here!" Gunfire echoed through the radio for a second before a pained scream came through, then it cut out.

"Shit! Get that damn door open, we lose that demo team we're screwed!" X-Ray 1 picked his rifle up, running towards the door that they had all come in from, a Hybrid opening it, revealing a Titan a hundred meters away from them, 4 Rangers behind it, running towards the defences protecting the door.