82 Merits and Rewards (1/2)
With the real mayor dead and Dupe adding confusion to the situation, the chain of command was quickly broken. Miami officers argued over who should take charge. There was discontent amongst the soldiers due to Dupe's prior mayor framing activities over the last few months.
The Hell Bull drills finally managed to break through from underneath the city walls. As each hole was nearly the size of a house, they easily allowed for the Harmony soldiers, mechs, and steam tanks to march through. This internal breach fanned the flames even more as bloody battles broke out on the streets. Buildings collapsed as they were bombarded in gunfights between the two sides. The city streets were dyed red with blood.
Suddenly, a voice spoke to the mana-radios on both sides. ”Attention Harmony. Temporarily stand down. We're calling a ceasefire.”
Another voice came from the radios. ”This is Officer Garcia. All soldiers are too surrender. We've been promised humane treatment, and we've already lost the battle. There is no point to further sacrifice.”
The city grew oddly silent after the radio orders. The two sides stared at each other on the battlefield.
Yet another voice rang out over the radios. ”GARCIA! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND?! This is the 2nd in command. We have not surrendered. Fight to the last man standing! I repeat, fight to the death!”
Some Miami soldiers heeded the new orders and small pockets of fighting broke out again. However, most of the soldiers chose to throw their weapons down, abandoning the battle. They had joined the military for benefits and to help protect the city from mutants. The idea of fighting a war against other humans had never even occurred to most of them, as it had been so many decades since they had even heard of one.
The Harmony soldiers began confiscating weapons, annexing factories, and setting up patrols. Miami was now theirs, and it was one of the most important cities in the entire war. Miami and Orlando made up most of the state population, had the largest armies, and the most espers. The rest of the war would be much easier as a result of capturing them.
It took nearly a day to organize everything in the base. Some of the soldiers even joined Harmony voluntarily during the process. However, most soldiers chose to return to civilian life. There was never a shortage of labor demands during a war, and they could always work in a factory instead of risking their lives for meager pay.
Early in the morning. Dupe stood in front of the soldiers, disguised as Forge. He praised Officer Garcia for surrendering, and thus saving thousands of lives. The casualties on both sides had been very heavy, with Harmony losing roughly a fifth of their forces and Miami losing nearly half of theirs. It could be considered a very successful battle for the sieging side, but many had lost their beloved friends and family members.
Dupe smiled. 'You'll thank me for this someday Ed.' He spoke into a loudspeaker, the message passing through mana-radios throughout the city. ”Today has been a very harsh reality for most of us. We've lost many friends and comrades. So much that we loved was taken from us, regardless of which side you stood behind. However, I want you all to know this. Death is not the end of life, but merely a new beginning. Believe in Harmony and Forge. I will help reunite your families in the afterlife, restoring what should never have been taken by the selfishness of man.”
Confused murmurs rang out through the crowds. Both soldiers from Harmony and citizens from Miami were baffled by the speech.
'Did I lay it on too thick?' Dupe wondered.
”What do you mean?” One of the soldiers near the stage questioned.
”How to explain it...” Dupe said. ”The government keeps many secrets from the ordinary citizens. The main goal of Harmony is to equalize ordinary humans and espers. However, we have other goals too. One such goal is to improve the spread of information, for that is key to the future development of mankind. One of the biggest secrets in the higher echelons of the esper world is the energy known as faith. When people die, their souls will naturally travel to the esper that the person holds the most worship for. This gives the espers unparalleled power and is what has allowed the government to stay in power so long. If you choose to believe in me, then when you pass, your soul shall come to me, and I will unite you with others that have believed in me as well.”
Some more confused whispering echoed through the crowds. It seemed that the vast majority of them still didn't understand, which made sense given the context. Ordinary humans hardly ever came in contact with the mysteries of mana and other energies. Forget about them, not even Dupe understood it all that well. And he was a well-traveled esper that had clones on other continents gathering information.
...
Orlando. Ed suddenly felt the golden thread of faith energy in his body expand several times. 'Weird.' He thought as he noticed the energy continuing to grow. 'I'll worry about it later. I've got other matters to attend to.'
He stood atop a stage at the Orlando town square, a loud speaker in his hand. Much like Dupe had just done, he was preparing his own speech. His voice travelled through mana-radios throughout the city. ”Today was the first of many battles to come. We dominated our enemies despite our low numbers, and as a result, we are now one step closer to creating true equality between espers and humans. You should all be very proud of yourselves.”
Clapping and cheering rang out from the chimeras and superhumans.