Crossing the Rubicon Ch. 20 pt. 2: David and Goliath
Thursday; two days until the Guardian Assault
"Captain, the patrol is right on top of us!" A Guardian declared. She stood up and back away from the edge. Victor looked. Like he expected, the tank was scanning the tower windows for them.
Victor looked to the south tower. He held up three fingers. Here..." Two fingers. "We..." One finger. "Go!" No fingers.
Suddenly, thirty or more Guardians jumped from the towers. Warlocks gunned down some of the Cabal as they gracefully glided to the surface. Titans dropped straight onto the interceptors, and kicked the beasts out of the seats. The tanks began maneuvering frantically. The Cabal stood back up and shot at the Guardians. However, some took the interceptors and rammed the imperials into walls, crushing every bone in their body.
Laurel, Matson, and Victor landed on the hull of the Goliath. Victor opened the hatch, then tossed a flash-bang in. After the Cabal were blinded, he jumped in, killed them, and tossed the corpses out. "Get in!" He shouted to the other two. Once the team of three commandeered the tank, more Guardians jumped onto the hull for a ride.
The Guardians killed all of the Cabal before any of them could send a distress signal to their Primus. Hunters jumped on their backs and shoved knives into their necks. Titans held machine guns to their gut and held the trigger. Warlocks tossed grenades that swallowed Cabal into singularities.
Victor climbed into the back of the tank and played with the controls. There was one joystick that turned the main solar cannon. The other joystick adjusted the altitude for the cannon. Laurel and Matson stayed to the front of the vehicle.
Laurel looked at all of the controls for the steering. She slowly reached out for them and tried to control the hovercraft. Suddenly, the hulking mass crashed into the south tower, knocking over the Guardians on top. The Guardians on the interceptors moved out of the way of the out of control behemoth. The Goliath then, swerved into the opposite tower, knocking over the Guardians again.
"What's going on down there?!" Yelled a hunter after he hit the hull a few times.
"Laurel, keep it steady!" Victor said from the back of the cabin.
"I'm trying!" Laurel cried. "It's not as easy as it looks!" Matson had a large grin on his face, and was trying not to laugh, despite being shaken around.
Finally, the Goliath stabled out. The Guardians on top, crouched down and held their weapons high. The remaining Guardians hopped on sparrows and led the pack of tanks out of the city.
The patrol of Guardians had been riding for a couple of hours before they began to enter the mouth of a valley. Sand gave way to rocky monoliths and weathered archways. The formations were truly beautiful.
The young warlock driving the Goliath started whimpering lightly, and her hands began shaking. Matson turned to her and held her shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong? What's going on?" He asked.
Laurel glanced to Matson for a brief moment. Her helmet hid the fear in her eyes. "I... I... I don't wanna die..." she said with a weak voice.
Matson looked around, searching the air for the right words, but he stuck with what he got. "Neither do I, Laurel. I think we'll be fine. I'll protect you, and so will Victor..." Laurel and Matson turned to the titan behind them. "He told me he wasn't going to let us die."
"He always said we weren't meant to be on Mars..." Laurel said.
"He also said we've given him hope. Don't worry, Laurel, we'll be fine..." Matson said after hugging the warlock tightly.
The sun had finally set. Now, Deimos and Phobos watched as the lonely pack of Guardians silently crossed the sandy dunes. Many Guardians-- Awoken and humans specifically-- were yawning in their helmets and fighting to stay awake.
[i]BOOM!![/i] Something in the sky broke the sound barrier! Victor tilted the camera on the cannon upward to see what it was. Four harvesters flying in formation. They passed over the Guardians as if they were not even there.
"All Guardians, follow those harvesters. They'll take us right where we need to go..." Victor said over the comms.
"Copy that," replied a couple of Guardians.