A Bridge Too Far

One World Trade Center, Lower Manhattan, New York.
March 5st
9:20 AM

On our journey to the south, we began to touch each time with more soldiers from the Empire who were heading north. By deduction, I think that near here is the road through which they are carrying reinforcements towards the rest of the city. We were hiding for a while in the 9/11 museum, precisely the zero point of another enormous tragedy. Since the place was underground, it was a good point to seek refuge, so there were quite a lot of people next to us, people in panic, injured, emergency personnel. I had thought that I had already left all this behind, but it seems that no matter what I do, that bastard was right. Once again I was in the midst of chaos, people hurt and fighting for their lives. This place had been created as a tribute to the victims of a horrible tragedy and yet here we are surrounded by the rubble of that day living another painful day for the people of this city. But again we had no choice, the only thing we could do was to move forward and face the challenges that were presented to us again. 

I managed to steal the radio from a policeman and gave it to Charlotte to see if somehow we could get more information. Although it was not of much use, we managed to capture information from the police network, where they were also trying to do what they could, no matter how useless it seemed. It seems that the origin of the enemy comes from somewhere in Brooklyn or nearby and they are using the access to Manhattan to take their ground troops to the north of the city, where they meet again in the vicinity of the UN building in an attempt to take it by force.

My family and I were arguing about what we should do now because while we were certainly a bunch of fantasy creatures, there wasn't much we could do against a group of tanks without a plan first. The first thing on my list of priorities is getting Maria, Momo, and the twins out of here to safety. Then I want to go to the UN to get my mother and Lisa out of there. But I can't do any of that if there's a damn army that came out of nowhere out there. 

At this rate, every minute that passes more enemies is coming to the front lines. And even if the UN is strongly defended, it will only be a matter of time before they are outmatched or run out of supplies.

"Right now it's safe to say that the Empire is using the bridges and the tunnel 478 to come here" I began to explain to others with the tourist map that I found lying around 
"Although I would like not to go into combat like this, we have to do something to reduce the number of incoming troops"
"We have to destroy or disable any of its routes before leaving here"
"The tunnel is a good place to move troops and it is quite resistant, so it is surely the main place where they are arriving and the most protected route."
"Bridges are more direct routes but easy to damage, but the risk is worth it"
"We have to block the passage or damage the integrity of one of the two bridges at least"
"Suggestions?"

"Are you suggesting that we destroy New York City with your plan?"
"Bridges that hostile tanks are currently crossing"
"Have you lost your mind brother?"

"Don't you hear the shots up there?"
"We can do something to change what is happening"
"Due to the brutal surprise attack, the only thing left for us is to buy time until help arrives"

"And how do you plan to blow up a huge 100-year-old bridge with pistol ammunition?"
"Your idea is ridiculous"

"We don't need to finish off the entire bridge, we just need to make a big hole in it or block the passage with something big"
"Tama, what would happen if you put a fire paper spell on something like a bus?"

"Well, I think something this big will take two to be completely destroyed"
"But with the potency of the flame of just one, it would be enough to melt the metal"

"Well that can work"
"If we wait and manage to put one of those talismans on a couple of tanks, the ammunition depot will explode, thus creating the hole we need"
"Kazumi, I imagine you have the map of the city in your head"
"Any idea how to get out of Manhattan without using the main roads?"

"There are two subway tunnels, the one on Line A where you can access it from the Fulton station which is a couple of blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge and the other is 3 Line, much further south and with the entrance at the Wall Street station"
"They are here and here respectively"
"In fact, Line A is the same as the World trace center station, it is 250 meters away from here"

"Okay, I don't think the soldiers of the empire will bother checking the tunnel  if what they're planning is a blitzkrieg attack"
" We will attack Brooklyn Bridge and then will use line A to get out of here"
"Momo you keep my gun, go with Maria and the twins and wait at the Fulton station"
"Tamamo and I will do this as quickly as we can and we will meet with you there "
"Do not let anyone see you and if you see that it is dangerous better get away from there and seek refuge in another place"

"Wait do you want me to have the gun?"
"Well they taught me how to use one but I can't do it, I don't have the courage!"
"Also with what do you think to defend yourself?"

"Do not worry about me, weapons this city has in excess for now."
"You just make sure you shoot first before the other"
"Besides, you didn't want to be a warrior from the security section?"
"This is your chance to show that you can do it"
"I need you to do it"

"I..."
"..."
"I'm going to try, but I don't promise anything" She said a little scared

"Very well I will take them to the subway station, after that they walk the Line to the other station"
"All ready?"
"Come on, every minute is important!"

After having brought the others safely to Fulton Street and I continued on the surface, where we could advance without problems until we reached New York City Hall Park. Tanks from the empire were advancing down the street, continuing their route north. Crossing, in reality, will not be difficult, the question was what we would do to avoid drawing attention as little as possible to get to the bridge because from now on the enemy presence will be numerous.  I was thinking about what to do until Tamamo came up with a rather effective and humiliating idea. Basically, if she transformed into a slightly older woman with white hair and held me in her arms she would look like a mother running with her daughter to safety. I wanted to refuse the plan but time is running out so we go ahead with that plan.  In the end, it even worked better than we expected, as one of the tanks even came under speed to let us pass.  We managed to continue further along the Dover street that was still next to the bridge and then we climbed up to the bridge.

Now we were hiding ready to ambush the next tank that would pass to make it explode and get out of here. but as always with my life, something different than planned happened. The soldiers began to agitate and shoot at a vehicle that was coming in the opposite direction, it was an armored police truck that was coming at full speed. Without stopping art, nothing followed until it was stamped with a concrete block that the soldiers of the Empire had just placed.  Several policemen dressed in military style came out and began to shoot everyone around them trying to get out of the situation they had just gotten themselves into. They managed to kill a few, but quickly they began to be quickly overcome and began to have several casualties. The coordination of the team was fatal and made no sense whatsoever, they seemed like a bunch of poorly trained recruits. It's only a matter of time for them to be annihilated.

That they were idiots? How can you think of going so stupidly head-on against an enemy key position !? What were they planning to achieve?

I did not plan to go help them, my goal was only to disable the bridge, but seeing their truck I thought of something different. They must have had military communications equipment there, so if I managed to retrieve it and give it to my daughters, we could connect to the army network and see what is happening.

I spoke quickly with Tamamo about whether we would help them, she replied that she agreed. We left our hiding place and she threw her naginata at a couple of enemies. For my part, I took an assault rifle from one of the dead and also started shooting at them as I approached the truck. The combat was not easy, but at least I managed to secure the rear of the Swat team so that we could focus on fire in one direction. The first to arrive with them was Tamamo, who picked up his spear back and told them that we were on their side to avoid misunderstandings as soon as possible. After finishing with a soldier who left suddenly I also approached the truck. Immediately everyone stopped attacking and stared at me with a face of total disbelief. 

"It's a little girl with a gun !?"

"Get out of here now!"
"This site is very dangerous!"

"Drop that, it's not a toy!"

"Quick, someone gets the girl out of here!"

"What the fuck are they doing, they got enemies coming over the bridge"
"You the one with the machine gun begin to make supreme fire!" "
"The one on the M14, take care of the pedestrian crossing"
"You are the team doctor, check your partner who is on the ground"
"Which one of you is the captain? I need to talk to him! " I start giving instructions to the idiots who just stood there. 

"What the hell is wrong with that brat?"

"Is she giving us orders?"

"The captain is the one who is dead there"

"Excellent, first he does something stupid and then he leaves you abandoned being the first to die"
"Well, who is next in command?"
"I want to warn you that he is going to be the next dead man if you don't change what you are doing now"
"Are you not the best that the police have?"
"Or is it that you shit your pants to see a little more people with weapons equal to yours?"
"What were you going to achieve with this stupidity?" I told them bluntly 

"Get out of here brat!"

"Enemies at three o'clock"

"The command wants all possible troops to meet in Brooklyn together with the Joint Task Force Empire Shield to try to retake the John F. Kennedy airport to prepare it for the arrival of the 82nd airborne that will arrive in 5 hours"

"Our captain was desperate to see all the roads taken by enemy troops and we decided to try to force our way"

"You throw the grenades  towards the group that just appeared"
"You two get paid on that car and take care of the survivors"
"Were they planning to force their way over a bridge that tanks use to cross?"
"Are you crazy?"
"You stop shooting, take the M-COM, if you drop it I'll kill you myself"

"Honey!"
"Here comes another one of those big vehicles!"
"That over there is a tank right !?"

"Fuck a tank!"

"The tank is pointing at us, we are lost!"

"Your girl runs, they will kill you if you stay here!"

"Oh my God!"

These people were planning to cross the bridge but were spooked by the tank. I jumped out of the protection of the truck and I saw that the tank was really approaching with its weapon facing us. Summon Avalon and him or hold tight. The tank fired its main gun and the explosive projectile hit the sword directly. But despite what should be a brutal impact, I did not feel it. As I did not feel the explosion that accompanied it afterward, the flames of it rose almost in all directions, all but one part. Behind the sword, everything was completely intact. There was not the slightest scratch from that attack. 

"Tamamo the tank!"
"Throw the talisman NOW!"
"Launch it before it reloads again!" I scream desperately.

There were probably about a hundred meters between the tank and us, it should be impossible for a simple paper to travel that distance. But even so, Tamamo got out of the police truck, turned his body around, and threw the paper away with such impulse that it did not look very different from the projectile from before. I could see how the paper stuck to the front of the vehicle and a second later a huge blue flame consumed the vehicle violently. I saw how the barrel of the same began to bend due to the heat, I saw how someone tried to open the hatch of the tank to escape, but that only accelerated his death. A moment later the tank exploded and the turret of the tank went flying through the air. The other part was lost from sight as it fell into the water in a huge ball of fire and metal.  We had achieved our goal, the bridge had a huge hole that would take at least days to repair. No vehicle would pass through here at the moment. 

"All right guys, clean up and pick up."
"My name is Elise, I'm not ten years old and someone hired me to figure out how to fix this shit."
"I have a way out of here that does not include a suicide attack and I am interested in that plan that I heard about getting a base for the reinforcements"
"I don't have time to argue who wants to accompany me can do it and if not, Get the fuck out my way"  I said taking the communication box and leaving the place. 

I know what I said sounded, how to say it, weird? But my intention was to make it clear that unlike them I did have a plan at least not so retarded.  The policemen stared at me completely incredulous again, Tama made a gesture as if saying goodbye to them and followed me. 

"What the hell just happened?"

"Those girls just saved us?"

"Forget that, they destroyed a fucking tank!"
"Those two are not human!"

"Forget that too, they can save the city!"
"Hey wait we want to talk to you!"
"Can you help us, we have to retake the city at any cost!"

They fell into the trap. I had them right where I wanted them!

"Okay, I think I can help you not die so fast"
"But there are conditions!"
"The first will do what I say literally "
"Second you will not say or ask anything you see or hear"
"Third, I am not here for civilians, my goal is to get people out of the UN"
"Fourth, my identity is secret, I don't want the slightest question about myself"
"If you don't accept any of that, you can go to hell"

"You are not ten years old are you?"

"What do you care, I'm a better option than your dead captain, I know how to use a weapon and I know how to get to the other side"
"Isn't that what you need?"

Despite the understandable complaints and doubts of the police, at the end of the day, they decided to bet on me and followed me. Upon arriving at the subway station in Fulton we met the rest of my family. More doubts seemed to them but even so, they continued to heed my orders. Now we had to prepare for the next part. Try to secure the John F Kennedy airport.