Chapter 4 – An Unexpected Friend
Guard duty sucks. You’re either standing around doing nothing or standing around people waiting for your attackers to make the first move. It’s especially bad when you’re on guard duty with someone who isn’t talkative or who you dislike like I am. The enemy has made the first move and now I’m waiting for my allies outside to take care of them and for the enemy to appear in front of me. I’m guarding a group of VIPs who I’ve heard a lot about, but don’t care to remember because they all seem to be typical politicians, bishops, and CEOs with overlapping responsibilities and avenues of influence. The Dogmatists are attacking this city world specifically because of these people who they believe are the reason for corruption within the Church.
I don’t understand why it’s necessary that I stay here. City worlds are notorious for having buildings that are susceptible to falling in on themselves, so the Dogmatists need only to destroy the lower structures to make the buildings on top of it fall to the ground. Granted, the lower structures are better built than the top parts to prevent this, and buildings themselves are made in a way that the people within them could survive if the building fell, but still, it’s better than what the traitors are doing right now, at least in my opinion. The boredom of guard duty is making me think about different ways that the enemy could better attack me, which might be a good thing to consider so I’m ready for it. Silent prayer, however, is always the best thing to do when I’m not involved in active combat so God may do the fighting for me and bring a quick end to the battle.
I suddenly feel and hear a rumble in the building the guard near me and I conclude our prayers and ready our weapons. Before we know it, the door in front of us blows up and the enemy comes in shooting. My fellow guard is shot in the hail of fire as we try to use the limited cover we have. The firefight ends rather fast. As the dust settles, a singular enemy soldier comes out with his hands up.
“Halt!” I command him.
The soldier takes his helmet off and stops walking where he stands.
“My name is Samson, and I’m defecting to the Ecclesia. My proof of this is the many dead bodies you see before you. I shot my fair share of them from behind as you can see from the burn marks on their back.”
There are burn marks on the backs of the deceased, so he appears to be telling the truth. Still…
“Why did you betray them?”
“I’m done serving those traitors. The war isn’t going in our favor after so many useless years of conflict. I’m coming back home to the Church and this was the easiest way I could think of defecting.”
“What makes you think I can trust you when you used such a treacherous method of defecting?”
“Because if it wasn’t for me, then you would be dead. I also don’t care for those bureaucrats behind you. I’ll even take the place of your dead friend there, God rest his soul,” he says while crossing himself.
Where are the people from the higher and lower floors when I need them? The building is then violently shaken from some kind of strike from outside.
“What’s happening?!”
“Those idiots…Come on! We have to get out of here! They’re striking the building from orbit, which means they’re losing.”
“The building was made to hold out against attacks like this.”
“No, you don’t understand! The orbital strike isn’t the only thing they’re going to do! They’re going to crash their ships into the buildings to-” Something rocks the building and makes it lean to the right. “Come on!”
“Get out of here without me! I still have a job to do.”
I open the doors behind me to get all the VIPs out and follow behind them as I lead them to the closest exit where Samson is heading. The building continues to lean as it slowly begins to tip over until it falls over and everyone goes tumbling through the rooms and buildings as they struggle to hold onto something. I struggle to climb into a room meant for circumstances like this only to struggle to get in. My hand is grabbed by someone inside who helps me in. It’s Samson.
“I’ve got you,” he says before closing the door behind us.
“Wait, we have to get everyone else-”
Samson pulls me back as the building falls to the ground and we bounce around the room. The walls keep us safe and unharmed as they hold despite the high fall. I’ve always thought these rooms were useless until now. Thanks be to God that they exist. I lay in Samson's arms before getting up and taking off my helmet to breathe.
“We’re alive, thanks be to God, or maybe I’m not alive since I’m looking at an angel,” Samson says as he gets up and looks at me.
“Now’s not the time for flirting,” I say as I put my helmet back on, open the door, and climb out of the room.
Samson and I walk the halls of the destroyed building to find the dead bodies of the VIPs and others who were defending this building with me. I say a silent prayer for their souls, and it looks like Samson is doing the same.
“I failed…” I accidentally say out loud.
“Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent this,” Samson says as he puts his hand on my shoulder.
I push away his hand then point my gun at him.
“You could’ve done something!”
“I told them that crashing into the buildings was crazy, I swear to you! They wouldn’t listen to me!”
“Tch. Killing you won’t do anything, so I’ll just bring you in.”
“That’s fine.”
We exit the ruins of the building and I look up to see the damage and how far we fell. It looks like the Dogmatists had the same idea I did. The ruins of the ship sit jammed in the broken building I was in.
“Wow, how far did we fall exactly?” Samson asks.
“At least two skyscraper lengths,” I answer.
“What’s a skyscraper?”
“I don’t know. It’s just the length of measurement I was told to measure how far the distance between the city above the city below. I think skyscrapers were the tallest buildings in a time long past. Whatever the case is, we have to find the nearest elevator to get back up.”
I use my helmet’s map of the city to find a nearby elevator and begin heading to it.
“What’s your name?”
“It’s not important for you to know. You’ll be blessed to spend life in jail for your sins.”
“Probably, but still, I’d like to know.”
“I’d like to know why you joined the Dogmatists only to betray them.”
“Because I was born growing up with their values. I thought our cause was good until I saw the fruitlessness of it.”
“Is that it?”
“That’s it. Why?”
“There’s more to do than acknowledging the Ecclesia as the true Church. You have to accept all our dogmas that were given to us by the Holy Spirit.”
“You sound like the Dogmatists.”
“It’s because we’re not all that different.”
“Then why did this war even start?”
“Differing interpretations and pride as far as I know.”
“I knew this whole civil war was a waste of time.”
“You’re telling me.”
“So, tell me about yourself.”
“You don’t need to know.”
“I told you about me and you won’t tell me your name. Can’t you do me this one favor?”
“Fine. I was born in a military family but wasn’t able to become one of St. Joan of Arc’s Holy Virgins because my parents wanted me to become a guard.”
“Why’s that?”
“They wanted it as part of the family’s history to brag to the other families about the diverse roles our family played. Even as I tried to make it into the Holy Virgins, they rigged it against me, so I was forced to be a guard.”
“That’s horrible.”
“I know. It’s given me a strong dislike for politics.”
“I can imagine. Well, at least you can marry, unlike the Holy Virgins, right?”
“I guess.”
“Have your sights on any guys?”
“No.”
“We could-”
“No.”
“I’m kidding.”
You better be. Suddenly, I hear the distant sound of explosions coming from above. The battle should be over, but when I look above, I see that there’s still a battle to fight. The crashed ship starts shooting at Ecclesia ships with its few remaining guns. Escape pods from the crashed ship fire out from it before it is blown up by an Ecclesia ship. My helmet’s zoom function allows me to see that they’re headed this way of all places.
“We have to move!” I saw as I pull Samson along.
“What’s going on?”
“There are survivors from that Dogmatist ship and their escape pods are now coming down here.”
“Of all the places…”
“I know. We have to get to cover!”
As soon as we enter cover, the escape pods land near us. I watch as Dogmatists who have heavy armor and weapons step out and group up. My rifle can’t burn through that armor and I don’t have any grenades to blow them up. The Dogmatists move to the building we were in probably to see if their targets are still alive.
“What’s the plan, guard lady?” Samson whispers.
“Don’t call me that,” I whisper back, “We just have to quietly get out of here. The Ecclesia have to have seen the escape pods fire and come down here. They’ll be sending down people to take care of them and see if the VIPs are alive.”
“Okay, let’s go then.”
Samson and I make our way through the lowest level of the city while avoiding the surviving Dogmatists. As we make our way through the lower city, we come across Dogmatists who are beating up the poor on this lower level. Their armor isn’t heavy so I should be able to take them both before they fire at me.
I point my rifle at them and am about to fire, but Samson pushes the gun aside and says, “You’re going to give us away!”
“So what? I failed in protecting the people I was supposed to! I won’t fail these people!”
“You’re not a law enforcement or military!”
“I don’t care!”
With my rifle, I shoot the Dogmatists then run as I tell the poor victims to run and hide. My shots have attracted a squad of Dogmatists with heavy armor. Samson and I have managed to hide in a small store, but it doesn’t have any exits that we can use to sneak away.
“So much for your plan,” Samson complains.
“Whatever, I saved those people,” I retort.
“But you’ve killed us!”
“I did what was right.”
“Okay, fine you did, but we need a plan to get out of here. Maybe we should…I don’t know.”
“What is it?”
“…I have a crazy plan and you’re going to have to go with it.”
“Just tell me what it is. They’re going to find us soon.”
“Give me your gun and pretend that you’re my hostage.”
“What?!”
“Like you said, they’re going to find us soon so give me the gun.”
With no other option, I give Samson my gun and I pretend that I’m his hostage just as the Dogmatists are about to enter the building we’re in.
“I’ve got our ticket out of here boys and girls,” he says as we are surrounded.
“That’s good, Samson, but have you completed your objective?” a Dogmatist says.
“I have no thanks to you bringing down the building with the ship.”
“What about your squad?”
“All dead.”
“Can someone confirm this?” the Dogmatist says over his comms, “…Okay. It appears to be true. Everyone, converge on my location. Samson has our way out with him.”
More trouble. I look over to Samson and he smiles and shrugs. A minute passes as more Dogmatists surround us. What looks to be an admiral or captain judging by his fancy-looking armor approaches us and looks at me before shooting me in the leg to put me on my knees.
“What are you doing, sir? She can help us get out of here,” Samson says.
“I’ve always been wary of you, Samson,” the admiral says.
“Why’s that? I’ve completed the objective.”
“And you’re the only survivor of your squad most of which seem to have been shot from behind. You’re usually on missions that end up flopping or going wrong. I pushed my suspicions aside because of your years of service, but there is no such thing as coincidences. To be sure of your loyalties, I want you to shoot this guard.”
“Sir, she can help us get out.”
“We can get another guard to use as a hostage. Now, hurry up and shoot her before the Ecclesia sends a squad down here.”
I look behind me as Samson points my rifle at me and looks like he’s struggling in deciding what to do before he rolls his eyes then shoots the admiral to little effect. His leg is shot as he falls to his knees beside me.
“I knew you were a traitor. What corrupted you? This guard?” the admiral asks.
“No, God did though the guard is an honorable servant of God who risks her life to save others. She’s more likely to make it to Heaven than a traitor like me,” Samson honestly answers.
“I see. She’ll be the first to die then so you can make a better confession to God before you die.”
I look at Samson who gives me a gentle smile. It seems like this is the end for me until I hear laser fire coming from above that kills the admiral. Explosions kill and scatter the Dogmatists around us as soldiers of the Ecclesia come to save us. A medic helps us heals my wounds first before Samson’s while the rest of the soldiers scatter to eliminate the rest of the Dogmatists.
“Are you two okay?” the medic asks.
“I’m fine. Help him too. He saved my life,” I say.
“Aren’t you a Dogmatist?”
“Not anymore. I just defected,” Samson says.
“That’s good to hear. Welcome home.”
“Thank you. Do you know what my punishment is going to be?”
“For what?”
“For previously being a Dogmatist?”
“You can serve in the army. That’s what the penance is for all defectors.”
“Can I serve as a guard?”
“I’m sure they’ll let you. Why do you want to be a guard, if I may ask?”
Samson looks at me with a smile then says, “Just a feeling. Call it a calling from God.”
“That’s understandable. You two should be able to walk now. Do you need help getting to the surface level?”
“No, we’re fine,” I say.
“God bless you for your service,” the medic says before heading off.
Samson and I continue to walk to the elevator.
When we enter the elevator, I take off my helmet since I can finally breathe easy then say, “Just because you want to be a guard doesn’t mean they’ll let you. Even if you do become a guard, it’s not likely that you’ll serve with me.”
“God only knows. A man can hope. Since I’m not going to jail and I saved your life, can I have the honor of knowing your name?”
“Fine. My name is Delilah.”
“Delilah, huh? Makes sense since you were almost the reason for my death.”
I grunt in response. Samson is looking at me with a smile on his face now.
“What are you smiling for? I’m not going to give you anything besides my name-”
Samson gives me a hug instead of what I thought he would. I then push him away by hitting him in the stomach with the end of my rifle.
“What was that for?” he says in a pained voice while managing a little laugh.
“I said you weren’t getting anything besides my name.”
“You seemed to enjoy that hug a bit though since you let me hold you for a bit.”
“Shut up.”
He continues to smile at me before laughing. His good mood is contagious as I laugh and smile with him. I may have failed my job as a guard, but at least I made it through a made a friend along the way. God willing I’ll see him again later.
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