War in the City Chapter 12

IN THE FIFTH YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
Pompey closed his eyes, trying to register all this new information. "We’re not licked yet. We can’t be."
"Pompey face it. We’re through."
The sting of truth in those words shuddered through Pompey’s body. "How could this have happened? Varro, I left you in charge!"
"How could I have known?"
Pompey dismissed his anger with a shake of his head, focusing his mind on more important things. "Why would WIN attack us?"
Varro shook his head in confusion. "I’ve told you all I know."
Pompey took a deep breath, trying to think of what to do next. "How large is WIN?"
Varro thought for a moment. "I don’t know off hand."
"Give me your best estimate."
"Oh, say twenty percent of the population, probably a little bit less."
The wheels in Pompey’s head began turning. He started talking out loud, half to Varro, half to himself. "Twenty percent explains why they haven’t been winning any of the elections, but it’s still a large number, much larger than the Resistance was. They’re Watchers too, which mean they know how to use a laser gun just as well as we do. The major flaw the Harpies had, they are free from. Hand in hand with the Harpies, they are an almost unstoppable force. They knew where to hit us too. With the Resistance gone, so is our hope of winning."
"So what remains," Varro asked, unused to hearing Pompey talk so pessimistically.
"Only the fight. If we’re going to lose, I’m going down with my guns blazing, so I can take as many of them with me as I can."
"How many are there left of us? You, myself, and your twenty men?"
"Nineteen men. We lost Ortel."
"In that case, might I suggest another option?"
"Go ahead." Pompey’s tone of voice showed he wasn’t too interested in what Varro had to say.
"The resistance is dead, Pompey, but that doesn’t mean we have to give up. Don’t hand yourself over to them. The tick, if it tries to fight a deer head on, will be instantly trampled. It inflicts its damage when it appears to be gone, then takes its bite. Be like the tick Pompey. Keep fighting, but not in a suicidal way. Rather, take your small shots at them where they can’t get you."
Varro’s words had more wisdom than Pompey had been expecting. "I’ll consider it," he answered. "Right now, we’ll regroups with the other nineteen, and inform them of what has happened."


Grechal stuck the upper half of his body out the window just long enough to fire his laser gun at the Harpies circling the top of the building. He quickly ducked inside again, and then slammed the window shut as some of the Harpies returned fire. He dashed across the room to shut the window on the opposite wall, just in case the Harpies would decide to start shooting at it as well. The glass was little protection against the lasers, but even so, having the window closed made Grechal feel a lot safer. Closing the door behind him, Grechal ran out of the room and down the hallway. Turning to his right and going up a flight of stairs, Grechal emerged onto the next floor, where he wasted no time in running down the next hall. He stopped at a door to his right with the name "Ducas" written on it. Grechal flung the door open and ran in, feeling guilty for not knocking but knowing he didn’t have time to. The window on the far wall showed the chaos that was ensuing outside, and the terrible sounds of battle were not kept out of the room. Ducas himself sat at his desk, yelling furiously at the monitor, although Grechal could not see who he was talking to.
"Listen to me Hull, you get those people out of there and you get out now!" Hull replied, but Grechal could not hear what he said. Ducas exploded again at hearing Hull’s answer. "I don’t care if it takes ten times that, I said do it!" Ducas hit the off button on the monitor, and immediately swiveled his chair around to face Grechal. "Yes?" he asked in an impatient tone.
Grechal took a step forward. "Mister President, we have to get out of here immediately."
Ducas swiveled back to his desk and began scribbling notes to himself on a pad of paper near the monitor. "Nonsense," he said without even looking up from the paper. "I can’t leave my city in its greatest hour of need."
"Mister President, they’ve broken through."
Ducas jerked his head up like a startled deer. "What?"
"The Harpies, they’ve broken through the defenses. They’re in the building now. Please sir, your safety is imperative to the city. We have to leave now."
Ducas grabbed some of the papers around him that had writing on them (although Grechal was unable to make out what was written on them) and stuffed them into his pockets.
"Where are we going?" he asked as he followed Grechal out of the room.
"To the underground exit," Grechal replied. "If there’s anywhere in the city that you’ll be safe, it’s there. The Harpies don’t even know about it."
Peter and Justa obeyed the signal they received on the computer pad, and came directly to the middle of Daved Park. There were still a small number of Harpies in Daved Park, but they were no longer a threat. The majority had flown away at the beginning of the attack. A small group was already at the meeting place, although Peter noted Davree and Kialka were not there yet. Justa introduced Peter to the Resistance members he had not yet met. He met Morphel and Strata, both of whom seemed quite pleased with the results they accomplished. Peter was also introduced to Kalief, who had blood on his clothes from a hand to hand struggle he had with one of the Harpies during the battle. Kahn was the next figure Peter was introduced to, tall and massive with a face that expertly hid what he was feeling at all times. Next Peter met Ares, a rather short man, but well built and with an aggressive look to him. Turra introduced herself to Peter next, followed by Lela, who had dirt covering her whole body. Justa also made a point of making sure Peter met Silva, who was a close friend of hers. Silvia had eyes that looked like she was always questioning something. Next was Diana, who held her laser gun tightly as she was introduced to Peter. Finally, Peter met Kaya, who had just arrived and was only beginning to catch her breath.