“Sir, we’ve lost the radio tower. We’re getting runners to the city outposts for reports.” The Junior Officer yelled into the Command Room through a half-open door, he was in such a hurry he didn't even bother coming in the room.

McBride turned to Freeman who was staring out the window at the smoke rising from the far side of the city. He looked twice his age as the usually stoic leader of the free people let his head hang low.

“No word from Baron.” McBride went to stand beside Freeman and crossed his arms before letting out a sigh.

“We need to start the evacuation.” Freeman replied barely above a whisper. The two stood in the silence of the room with only the echo of the battle to occupy their thoughts of the near future.

“The drones are offloading more BDF! We need to push while we still can!” Mouse screamed at Baron over the sound of the multiple .50 caliber machine guns behind them rattling the street.

“They want us to push. It’s why they took so long to start the advance!” Baron replied while he fired several rounds into a BDF soldier who stood up from his cover for a moment too long. Baron knew they were being pushed deeper into the city and boxed in for what the BDF hoped would be a surrender. The options were limited as he considered slipping past the BDF line to harras the rear of the BDF but the open ground between the city and the BDF would be filled with snipers....He couldn’t afford to lose more of his men.

“Push that alley so we don’t get flanked!” Baron pointed at an alley on the other side of the street and Mouse nodded. He knew now was not the time to argue. Mouse screamed something indecipherable at several militia soldiers before they sprinted for the alley with the heavy machine guns covering them.

“Moses, update?” Baron barked into his helmet radio that for some reason lost connection to the Militia headquarters, he assumed their radio tower had been destroyed but had no way to check.

“Get away from the machine guns!” Baron was startled by Moses’ reply as he never got excited unless things were really bad. Before he could ask what was going on he saw the problem. A BDF Goliath drone was rounding the corner of the street where they had been holding the BDF infantry at bay. The Goliaths were the size of a small car and contained a variety of weaponry hidden behind thick layers of armor. Rarely used on the uneven surface of the wilderness and not fast enough to react to the Gray but it would be unstoppable on the flat roads of the Peak. The deep growl of its engine and cracking of the tracks as they flexed on the road made for an intimidating entrance.

Its turret swiveled around to face the machine gun nest directly above Baron on the second floor of an old apartment building. Baron pushed his head into the dirt and braced, he didn’t need to wait long. The air pressure around him changed a second before he heard the echo of the cannon. The side of the apartment dissolved and collapsed on top of Baron as he rolled to one side to avoid the brick wall. He managed to avoid the bricks but was buried under heaps of rotting drywall and the dust engulfed the street, providing a perfect smokescreen that the defenders desperately needed.

Baron moved his limbs to make sure nothing was broke before digging through the brown rubble. His left arm had gone numb earlier but now he felt it burning and the warm blood started flowing into his inner suit again. Several Militia soldier were coughing from the dust and one was gasping for air that needed a gas mask but it was shattered when he fell from the apartment. The sound of coughing was interrupted by a hail of laser fire from the Goliaths secondary weaponry that tore the soldiers apart. Baron laid back down in the rubble and gripped his rifle as he waited for the onslaught to end. Maybe a minute later he heard footsteps slowly moving on top of the rubble. The dust was starting to settle but Baron didn’t have a choice, now was the time. He raised out of the rubble and stuck the barrel of his rifle in the stomach of a BDF soldier before sending his internal organs flying over the street.

Baron turned his helmet speaker to maximum volume and screamed as he dropped the rifle and ejected his gauntlet blade. He eviscerated two BDF in one swing that were moving to shoulder their rifles. Another was just out of reach of his blade and he stepped directly into the soldier rifle as it fired. He felt the heat absorbed by his armor as it was harmlessly negated. The soldier looked up in horror as Baron forced his blade up through the soldier’s chest. Throwing the dead BDF soldier to the ground Baron turned to face several other BDF soldiers at the foot of the rubble that were aiming directly at him.

A second passed as Baron waited for them to fire harmlessly at him...The Goliath was still on his street, he didn’t see it was still aiming directly at the building he was now standing on. It’s machine guns opened up on the rubble, cutting down the BDF soldiers at the base in a horrific display that lacked any form of care for friendly fire. Baron wasn’t spared from the gunfire as the higher powered laser weaponry began melting his armor from the intense heat. Baron fell backward off the pile of rubble and rolled several more feet until he came to a rest.

His heart was pounding and his head spun. He didn’t feel pain, it was overwhelmed by emotions as the realization of failure hit him.

Arms....good....legs....good...Still breathing...move you worthless piece of shit! Baron swore at himself and the self-abuse motivated him just enough to get back on his feet. He was peppered with holes and would need more cans of sealant for this...he didn’t expect to live long enough for radiation to matter anyway. He crawled around the rubble to get back on the street. He needed to take out that Goliath.

“Moses....Mouse....Rook? Anyone?” Baron mumbled into his helmet microphone not realizing his entire suit was smoking from the heat it had absorbed and the communications equipment in his helmet was fried.

“Baron!” He heard Mouse’s voice but couldn’t see anything. Most of his helmet display was cracked and static. Baron jumped as someone grabbed him and he went to inject his gauntlet blade towards the unknown assailant.

“It’s me, it’s me, relax!” Mouse screamed while helping Baron out of the rubble.

“You’re good, breath. You’re good bossman.” Mouse whispered through a grunt as he helped Baron. They got out of the rubble and Baron went to collapse on the street before Mouse hefted him over his shoulder. The smaller Venator struggled to shift Baron’s weight over him.

Mouse jogged down the street towards an open door leading into another Militia outpost. He was several yards away and needed to hurry, he could hear the squeaking tracks of the Goliath moving. Despite his best judgment Mouse turned around to look behind him. As he did he missed the dead Militia soldier lying in front of him and tripped over the corpse dropping Baron beside him as they both grunted.

The squeaking was louder, Mouse rolled over to see the Goliath in front him with several BDF soldier on both sides of it. They weren’t going to make it. He crawled over to Baron and used his own body and the dead militia soldier to shield his Captain. He braced for the impact....

He heard the Goliath fire but never felt the sting....Mouse pushed the dead soldier off him and looked up to see the Goliath firing into the BDF. The machine guns were ripping the BDF infantry apart as they fled for any cover they could find. Mouse laid in the street confused, why were they shooting their own men? The Goliath tracks moved in reverse and it began retreating back the way it came, all the while firing on any BDF infantry unlucky enough to encounter it.

Mouse grabbed Baron and rolled him over.

“Gentle.” Baron replied through gritted teeth.

“Hahaha! Oh thank God.” Mouse laid on top of Barons half-melted armor while laughing hysterically.

“Why aren’t we dead you clumsy fuck.” Baron grunted before reaching for Mouses suit sealant in his belt.

“The Goliath...It’s shooting the BDF.” Mouse replied as he pushed Baron's hand down and started sealing his suit ruptures himself.

“We need to get out of this street.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Baron replied just before a drone flew overhead before pausing a brief moment.

Baron and Mouse looked up and were met with another Venator in the open bay door of the drone....It was Grinch. The drone hovered closer and he jumped out, landing hard on the street in front of the exhausted pair.

“What the hell is going on?” Baron growled as he pushed himself up from the dirt with blood dripping off his suit.

“You made a deal with them didn’t you!” Baron screamed through a cough and felt the blood dripping from his mouth.

“Actually it was me.” An overly articulate male voice rang from Grinches’ suit speaker.

“Gabe?” Baron coughed again.

“The beacon was me, you made the right choice protecting this city. The resistance these people have developed to radiation is remarkable and something we’re hundreds of years behind even being close to replicating at the Bastion.” Gabe continued as Grinch tossed Mouse another can of suit sealant after he ran out repairing Baron’s suit, which was going to be more sealant than an actual suit.

“So you want them for testing?” Mouse asked before Baron could.

“No, the population is high enough for proper genetic diversity. We can retake the surface with these people...and your help?”

“I left with the intention of bargaining for your lives.” Grinch added after Gabe finished.

“All I wanted is for the team to be safe.”

“Then I have some bad news for you.” Baron replied after an awkward period of silence.

With Gabriel, they were able to commandeer the drones within his sphere of influence and push the BDF off the mountain. The shock of having the drones firing on BDF personal routed the infantry in a mass panic. Rose was dead and Rook was missing in action, presumed dead. Freeman assured the wounded Baron that his men would find the body if it was on the mountain but time wasn't on their side.

The failing generators of the Peak left them defenseless to counterattack except for Gabe's ability to commandeer nearby drones but with no munition to resupply them they needed to move. Using the drones as shuttles the residents of the Peak evacuated their devasted home, only able to bring limited supplies with them. Leaving behind not only memories and homes but hundreds of dead loved ones. The past was irrelevant now as the weary, hungry, and mostly wounded people of the Peak went to find a new home. Under the guidance of Pale Horse and Gabriel, they ventured off into an unknown future.