"I'm not really sure what to do now." The Type-2 looked at the ruins of the tower that had been her home for her entire life, and a lot of the other Chimera were feeling the same way.
The explosives had done their job. The reactor had been completely destroyed, the meltdown chain reacted to every other tower in the network. All the other towers were destroyed, taking the Angels and their defenders with them.
The army that had been attacking them lost their Angels, leaving them vulnerable to capture, and the two rogue Angels swiftly took advantage of it, taking control of all that had not been killed in the tower explosions.
The two Angels now had control of around 35 thousand Chimera, and currently, they did not know what to do. There was nowhere for them to go.
"Come on, let's keep searching." X-Ray 4 walked into the open doorway of a small house, calling out. "Is anyone in here?" There was no response. The Hybrid walked in after him, looking around at some toys scattered on the floor.
There was little combat left. Every now and then a gunshot would be heard, usually when a Leaper had been found, but thankfully most of the feral creatures had gone away into forests and other places away from civilization.
The Angels had no control over those creatures. Leapers, Crawlers, and Howlers were still a threat that people had to be mindful of, luckily, Crawlers didn't survive for long before they molted into Leapers, and the Howlers could be dealt with easily enough now that they weren't supported by suppressing fire.
X-Ray 4 had no contact with Command anymore, not since his radio had been torn apart, so he had been aiding the British in searching for survivors, along with the Rangers. They had found quite a few so far, and thankfully the Hybrids stayed well clear of the survivors, who would likely never get used to seeing a Hybrid not attacking them on sight.
There was a rug on the floor of the room, and he pulled it away, revealing a trap door underneath. He pulled it open, stepping down, pulling a flashlight out of a pocket. He looked behind him, gesturing for the Type-2 to stay up there.
He went down the steps to the basement, calling out again, receiving no response. He shined the light around the room, revealing several items on shelves caked with dust and cobwebs. He walked towards a cabinet, looking at some old pictures, jumping when he heard creeking behind him.
He whirled around, relaxing when he saw it was the Hybrid. "Thought I told you to stay up there. You nearly lost your head with the last survivor you tried to help, don't want you getting killed." She had been eager to aid in the rescue process, perhaps trying to make up for all the wrongs that had been done.
It was a dangerous strategy though. Many of the survivors were armed, and the Hybrid had come way too close to getting shot, X-Ray 4 actually having to stand between her and a terrified civilian a time or two.
She ignored his comment, instead pointing her finger, nodding to a dark corner of the room, the Hybrid gesturing for him to walk over. He sighed, hoping this survivor wasn't armed. Despite all the near misses, the Hybrids were proving very adept at finding survivors that were still too terrified to reveal themselves.
He had found out that the sensor device the Type-2 had mounted to her head was capable of seeing in several different waves of light, there was no hiding from her. She could see a person hiding in the corner of the room, and she pointed them out to X-Ray 4.
He turned around, gesturing for the Type-2 to go back up the stairs, and he heard her let a grumble out before she left.
"It's ok, she's friendly." He walked to the place the Hybrid had gestured to, his light illuminating a dresser, and behind it was a young woman, her dark hair matted, a shotgun clutched in her hands, the weapon pointed directly at him.
He stopped where he was, slowly stooping down. "Whoa. Hey there, it's ok, it's safe here. There's nothing to be afraid of. Here." He raised his flashlight up, letting her get a look at it, then he lightly threw it, the item rolling on the ground towards her.
She picked up the light, turning it towards the soldier. "Who are you? Are you an American? I don't recognize that kind of uniform."
He raised his hands up to his helmet, pulling it off and setting it down. "I am. I'm part of a special division of the U.S. military. There's other American soldiers outside too. The fighting's over, we won."
"Why was there a Hybrid next to you?"
He pursed his lips, thinking for a second before responding. "It's a... long story, but they're not a threat anymore. None of them will harm you, that one up there has actually saved my life several times. They saved a lot of lives today."
She stood there for a few seconds, and then he saw her shift, slowly coming out from behind the dresser.
The soldier smiled, standing up, grabbing his helmet. "Come on, let's get you out of here. What's your name?" He started walking towards the stairs, stopping when he saw the girl was still wary of going up.
"I'm... Angela... Angela Cartwright."
His eyes grew wide as he heard that. "Cartwright? Royal Marine Commando, a lieutenant?" He watched her nod, and he took in a breath, a smile forming on his face. He gestured for her to come forward. "There's someone who will be very glad to see you, come on."
Her face had been shrouded in the pain and misery she had been subjected to for months, but he could swear he saw all of it bleed away as he said that, and she dropped her shotgun, racing past him up the stairs, though she stopped short when she saw the Type-2 looking down at her.
The Hybrid stepped away out of view and the girl continued up the ladder, X-Ray 4 following, seeing the Type-2 had moved away towards the center of the room, away from the doorway.
Angela stood at the doorway, looking at X-Ray 4 and the Type-2, walking out when X-Ray 4 walked towards her. They walked out onto the street, Angela looking around in awe at the countless soldiers walking about.
Most of them were American Rangers, but there were some British, and X-Ray 4 quickly made his way over to one, asking him to radio Lieutenant Cartwright.
It was a few minutes, but eventually they came around a corner, X-Ray 4 seeing Lieutenant Cartwright, along with Captain Parker, the highest ranking officer still alive in British Command, and Sergeant Nathan Hale.
Angela had been looking away down the other end of the street, watching a Titan push some knocked out cars away, but she turned around when she heard X-Ray 4 call for the Lieutenant. He looked at them, confused, and his eyes settled on Angela. X-Ray 4 saw his eyes narrow, but then they grew wide.
His rifle slipped from his hands, his arms falling to his side, and then a massive smile came onto his face. "Angela?!?"
He ran over, several soldiers and Hybrids moving aside in alarm as he covered the short distance to them, scooping up what X-Ray 4 now knew for sure was the Lieutenant's daughter.
The Royal Marine Commando had been through hell and back, but everything he had been through had instantly melted off of his face, instead replaced by the warmest smile that X-Ray 4 had ever seen in his life.
