Chapter 158

Being back in the air was a sensation Rain couldn’t quite get used to, but this mission was different. The first time she had flown, the flight had been long, and she’d been nervous for far more reasons than she was now. This time, she was on a small plane with a select group of soldiers who were being moved to the front to help complete a mission that was almost done. All eight of the soldiers on board the flight had recovered enough from their wounds during various other attacks that they could now go back into active duty. Rain was ready to storm the fort where President Violet was reportedly hiding, and she was glad to have Adam by her side, not only on the flight but also when they landed.
It was loud inside of the plane, so no one could truly talk, and despite their relationship status, Rain didn’t dare touch Adam with her hand while they were in uniform and active. But the fact that her leg was bumped up against his and their arms were touching did make her feel stronger. She knew how much flying fascinated him and didn’t want to distract him anyway. It was surreal to look out the window and see the clouds, but if she thought about that too long, she’d get dizzy and potentially lose her lunch. No one needed that in a confined space.
Her understanding was that Josie and Seth were already on the ground, leading troops into battle. Seth had been promoted after the battle in Michaelanburg, as he should’ve been. He proved his ability to lead soldiers into hostile situations, keep his cool, and make tough decisions without the luxury of more than a few seconds. Rain was truly proud of him, but part of her didn’t want to see him during the attack. Fighting alongside her friends and loved ones was stressful; sometimes she felt it was better not to know how they were doing.
It seemed she’d be fighting alongside Adam again, though, which made her nervous. She tried not to grip the black armrests as she thought about what it would be like to be back in a situation where she was being shot at again and fire was falling from the sky. If she could avoid those types of situations, it would be great, but that wouldn’t be much of a battle.
The Mothers had fallen back to this point, bringing all of their remaining troops to a town near the western border called Ashleyville. That’s where President Violet had been moved to, and she was currently dug in behind the walls of a large fortification that dated back to the late twenty-first century. The Mothers clearly intended to hold onto this last piece of their territory if possible, exhaust the attacking forces, and then wait it out so that, eventually, once the invaders left, they would attempt to rebuild what they had, piece by piece.
It would never work. One didn’t have to be a war strategist to understand it was simply impossible. But then, the Mothers were a bunch of stubborn people, so Rain wasn’t surprised that they would hold to the last. Besides, if President Violet and her inner circle were taken alive, they’d be tried by a jury from nations around the world. If found guilty of the charges that were sure to be brought against them, such as using fossil fuels, killing innocent children, and torturing men, and using them as sex slaves, there was no doubt that all of them would be executed.
Rain had never met President Violet. She’d seen her once, at a distance, during a celebration when she was a young girl. But that had been years ago. She remembered thinking the woman was awfully small to be so powerful. She hadn’t realized at the time that President Violet was likely a figurehead and that others were truly the ones holding the power and pulling the strings. In a way, she felt a bit sorry for Violet. She would be held accountable for all of these atrocities whether she’d ever even known what was happening or not. She must’ve known about a lot of it, though. Rain was no one, a peon, and she had known about most of it. She’d simply been powerless to stop it.
Did Violet have the power to stop any of the suffering happening in her nation? Rain had to think likely not. As corrupt as the Mothers clearly were, Rain realized that they likely would’ve gotten rid of anyone who questioned them. If Mother Violet tried to make the other Mothers in power change their horrid ways, she would’ve probably been taken out of power, died of a mysterious illness, or simply disappeared.
So now, this woman who’d essentially been a figurehead for all of these years was the most wanted in the world. The Nation of Quebec wasn’t going to back down until Mother Violet was out of the picture, once and for all.
The Commander in the front seat of the plane next to the pilot got up and walked the few steps back to address them. “We will be landing soon. Unlike the last time most of you entered the fray in Michaelanburg, there won’t be any camping, drilling, or regrouping. You are all seasoned warriors now. We will be stopping on a landing strip about a quarter-mile from the front. We believe the Mothers no longer have any sort of weaponry that is capable of taking this bird out of the sky, so we will be flying in as closely as possible. Once we are on the ground, Commander Donald will be there to meet us. He will lead you to your launch point. Your objective is simple. Breech the fort and either capture or kill President Violet and her cabinet members. Once that objective is met, this war will be over. While it is true that there are a few more bands of Mothers dotting the landscape, we have no doubt they will be eradicated shortly. With the combined help of the other countries of the world that have sent their forces here to assist us, it’s just a matter of time.”
Rain felt Adam tense next to her. She wanted to steal a glance at him to see if he was okay, but she imagined he was just ready to go. She kept her eyes on Commander Hughes.
“We could simply wait out the Mothers in the fort, but we’ve decided not to take the chance. We will save time and resources, it is our thinking, by storming the fort and taking out their leaders. We know that those of you on this transport are some of our most accomplished warriors, and we have every confidence in your ability to take out the Mothers once and for all!” Commander Hughes raised his fist as he finished speaking, and the soldiers all cheered, even Rain, though she wasn’t exactly sure she should be. Nothing about what they were about to do seemed worth cheering for. After all, there was a good chance at least a few of the people on this transport would not be making it out of there alive.
Once the Commander was finished speaking, Rain took a moment to turn and look at Adam. The confident look on his face made her feel better. He smiled at her, and Rain smiled back. She wished she was as confident as he was, but the last battle was still fresh in her mind, and she wasn’t sure how she would react when she was faced with the same circumstances again. At least this time she wouldn’t be facing her own mother.
A few moments after Commander Hughes gave his speech, the plane began to descend. Rain braced herself. The landings and takeoffs were always the most nerve-wracking for her. The skilled pilot had no problem setting the airplane down, though, and soon it rolled to a stop.
With the engine still running, the doors popped open, one on either side, and the soldiers quickly unhooked their safety harnesses and poured out, weapons in hand. Rain spotted Commander Donald nearby, waving his arm to get their attention. All of the soldiers easily spotted him and fell into ranks as they headed that direction at a full sprint.
Rain’s rifle was at the ready as she followed the other troops toward the sound of gunfire and explosions. Within a few moments, the objective came into view. The charred walls of what appeared to have been a white building at one point jetted up out of the ground like a mangled skeleton. All around the buildings, black uniforms swarmed the openings as smoke plumed from out of the windows.
The closer Rain got to the building, the more she began to think about the last time she ran into a building occupied by Mothers and how close to dying she’d been. She couldn’t think about that right now or else her heart would tighten up, and her lungs would begin to restrict. No, she had to stay focused on what she was doing.
Adam wasn’t currently in her line of sight, but she knew he was nearby. Running into a burning building was a lot easier knowing he was with her. If he was strong enough to do it, so was she… wasn’t she?
Their mission was simple: find President Violet and either take her prisoner or end her. Simple enough. Rain wondered if this building had tunnels under it like the buildings in Gretchintown. She had to think that it did.
The line of troops narrowed so that they could fit through the doorway. Rain fell behind the soldier who had been to her right, and their detail moved quickly down the hallway. Unlike the other groups of soldiers who were there to shoot down any Mothers that moved, the main focus of the group of soldiers that Rain was with was to find Mother Violet and the cabinet members.
The other squads had cleared a path for them, it seemed. They were able to make it through the hallways unabated, moving and turning as they ran toward the center of the building. Gunfire echoed around them, but until they reached the hall before the center of the building, they didn’t see a single Mother.
Then, a dozen or more of them suddenly appeared on every side, leaping out from open doors and even through the ceiling.
Rain turned and fired at the closest brown uniform to her, aiming for the woman’s forehead. Unlike the soldiers in Gretchintown, these Mothers had on helmets with clear face shields. Her first shot bounced right off, so Rain lowered her weapon and shot again, this time aiming for the exposed area above the collar of the uniform where the shield of the helmet didn’t quite cover. Blood spurted between the woman’s fingers as she grasped at her neck. The one bullet that hit Rain’s uniform did no damage as it connected with her arm, hitting the bulletproof fabric. It was no wonder the Mothers were losing so badly. They had a lot of medical technology, but they hadn’t made the advances necessary to be able to defend themselves. They simply never expected to be attacked, regardless of the atrocities they’d been committing against their own citizens.
A few of their numbers were on the ground, though, which meant that there were some breaks in their armor, which Rain did know from Walt’s experience. She didn’t think any of the fallen were dead, but she hated stepping over them and leaving them behind as they rushed to their objective. She had to trust that they’d make it out and get medical treatment before it was too late.
They reached the door that reportedly led to the inner room where President Violent was waiting for them. It was locked and would require a battering ram of some sort to knock it down. Or an explosion.
Commander Donald backed them all up into a couple of nearby rooms, “Get down!” he shouted. “Take shelter!”
Rain did as she was told, ducking into the closest room and waiting for Donald to tell her what to do next. About fifteen other soldiers were in the room with her, all of them breathing heavily at the scent of burning gunpowder and smoke. Sweat dripped from her forehead, but she couldn’t wipe it at the moment, so she had to blink the beads away from her eyes and hope that it didn’t take long for Donald to get them into the room where Violet was waiting.
A few moments later, an explosion rocked the hallway, and then the Commander was shouting, “Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Immediately, the troops filed back out into the hallway to see the door had been breached. Rain followed the others into the room across the hallway, all of them ready to fire. A hush fell over the attacking troops as they ran inside and spread out across the room.
Rain’s eyes focused on the woman in the center of the room, and like everyone else, she froze, dumbfounded.