[right][h2] Brigadier General South - [/h2][/right]
[right][@Heretic][/right]

[b]Valk South Entrance, 15:30[/b]

Everything was going smoothly. Excellent. Brigadier General South looked out over his forces. A lot of them were young, and they held their guns like they barely knew what end bullets came out of. These were the 'super soldiers' he'd been promised, the next generation of military might. Here and there was an actual soldier or police officer, someone with training and skill, but most of them were unskilled. Even with superhuman powers they were barely more than fodder, but at least they were durable fodder. And in time he would whip them into shape. This was the responsible Lieutenant General Johnathan had given to him, to forge an army worthy of ruling the world. Even now the men followed his orders without hesitation, and this was an excellent live-fire test. Once the Covenant arrived his men would test their metal, and those found wanting would be forged into steel. Not a single scrap would be wasted.

Men and women were dragged into trucks in an orderly fashion. Seperated by gender and age, neatly sorted and then delivered to a main base set up just for this purpose. In time they would become food or reinforcements. In another commander South might have doubted the decision to gather so many civilians in one place, it was practically asking for a retaliatory strike. But the Lieutenant General was of a different breed, and such doubts had no use. When the time came he would understand the meaning, as would those foolish enough to strike this perceived weakness. Such strategic brilliance was the reason South followed Johnathan, even as they walked the fine line between Heaven and Hell. For that was the duty of a soldier.

Gunshots. Not here, but not far away either. From the sound they were small arms, probably police. With a gesture he sent a nearby squad to handle the situation. These small fries were just a warm-up, the main dish would soon arrive. And he needed to be ready when they came. To have any such morsels still active when the real battle came would be a failure on his part.

[hr]

As Carolyn ran through the spacious streets she would hear shouting and gunshot wounds, screaming and laughing. There was a scent like smoke in the air, mixed with blood and fear. A smell unfamiliar to her, but embedded into every human's subconscious, the kind of smell that she would not soon forget. It was the smell of war. It was the smell of death.

Loud slamming footsteps behind her. No, not behind her, above her? Like a blur of red and black a figure leaped from a nearby roof, skidding to halt on the cobblestones as they turned to face her. Inhumanly sharp teeth grinned wide at her as the stranger paused, locking eyes onto it's prey. It was wearing a mockery of military uniform, black kevlar plates with a red underlying uniform. A visor failed to hide a pair of glowing red eyes as they stared at her. Nothing in those eyes felt an emotion as human as mercy.

"Lady lady, can't you see it's dangerous out right now? We can't have you running around and getting hurt, can we?" Still grinning the figure walked closer, spreading their hands as if showing they were unarmed. There was a rifle on their back, although they made no move to retrieve it. "How about you come with me and we get you somewhere nice and safe, huh? How about it?" Loud footsteps, army boots on stone, approaching rapidly. It seemed that more of this guy's friends were coming.