Steel

Chapter 28

"I couldn't use them in Heaven. I was lucky enough to be given a home there, I wasn't about to push it and demand the use of my wings as well as free rein around the city," she explained coolly.

"Well they're beautiful. Truly," Siena chimed in. Ravenna opened her mouth to thank her, but was cut off.

"Now that we're done fawning over Ravenna's wings, we have important business to attend to. The Reckoning will begin any day now. I've brought you all together to devise a strategy and to share any techniques you think will be useful against the forces of Hell," Michael explained coolly.

"Why are the other Archangels not here?" Siena grumbled in irritation.

"They're working on reinforcing Heaven's fortifications as well as finishing up preparations for the Angels who have remained in Heaven for the time being. They will bring down our forces when I alert them it is necessary," Michael replied in a steely tone.

"How many Angels do we have?" Grey asked with a clench of his jaw.

"Approximately 50,000. However, we also have Pledged Souls, both alive and deceased, that are willing to fight for us. I'm waiting on Jophiel to get back to me with those numbers," Michael pursed his lips in thought. "They will be the weakest links in our forces. The highest amount of casualties will likely occur within their ranks."

"And what happens to them? When they die?" I blurted out, unable to stop myself. I suddenly became hyper aware of the ten pairs of Angelic eyes staring back at me.

"That's up for us to decide. If we win the war, those Pledged to Heaven will be gifted with the immortal life in the Golden City they were promised. If we lose-," Michael paused, as if the words had died in his throat.

"They descend into Hell and burn for all eternity. As will all souls Hell decides to punish," Grey's cerulean eyes met mine as he spoke.

Losing wasn't an option. If we won, then the lives and souls lost wouldn't be in vain.

"On the bright side, I hear that Hell has cookies," Siena added. I turned and looked at her- confused.

"No, it doesn't. You're confusing that with the dark side from Star Wars, dumbass," Grey grumbled in response and Siena huffed in frustration.

"Anyways- if anyone has any ideas regarding battle strategy, now is your time to speak," Michael quickly changed the subject back to the war.

"I think it would be wise to use our strongest troops to create a diversion, allowing the Pledged troops to attack from behind or from the side where they're not expecting," Barachiel suggested.

"But then we could be sacrificing some of our strongest soldiers for the sake of a diversion," Siena snapped back.

"Would you rather we sacrifice the weaker soldiers? The ones that would be absolutely obliterated in the first wave?" Barachiel quipped, leaning back casually against the cement wall.

"No, I think we push our strongest troops to the outsides of our forces, sheltering the Pledged forces on the insides. I vote we select an elite group to attack from behind comprised of a mix of both Pledged and Angels," Siena proposed.

"Then the Angels are going to be solely focused on protecting the Pledged rather than themselves," Michael mumbled back.

"Is that so bad? Angels are insanely difficult to kill- why shouldn't they protect the mortal souls?" Ravenna snapped defensively.

"We can't sacrifice Angels to be used as shields, Ravenna," Grey snorted in disbelief.

"Because their lives are worth so much more than a mortals?" Ravenna challenged, eyeing Grey as if she wondered what he would do given her disrespectful tone. However, Grey didn't seem to care, to my surprise. It seemed that as of right now, he viewed us all on the same plane, as each opinion being worth consideration.

"Obviously you know I don't believe that for a second, Ravenna. I've spent the last two years utterly infatuated with a once mortal soul," Grey chuckled, fluorescent blue eyes flickering to light when they met mine. I felt heat rise to my cheeks and quickly turned my attention back to the debate. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the feelings I had for Grey. I needed to ensure there would still be a world for me to love Grey in before I could do that.

"Are all of the Pledged Souls- are they Awakened?" I asked Michael, changing the subject off of me.

"No. A little more than half of them are. All of the deceased Pledged are considered Awakened since they reside in Heaven, but most of the alive Pledged haven't seen an Angel," Michael replied.

"Well it's inevitable that when the battle begins, those Pledged that aren't Awakened will become one, which makes them a lot less vulnerable," I explained.

"Yeah, but they're still mortal, doll. They're not comparable to an Angel. Lower Level Demons could still shred them apart in a fraction of a second," Barachiel huffed in disinterest, as if this were already something he'd considered.

"So maybe what we need to do is evenly disperse the Angels and Pledged and instruct the Angels to only engage with the Lower Level Demons, leaving the Higher and weaker Demons to be dealt with by the Pledged- who could actually stand a chance," I suggested, recalling how I had taken down multiple demons when I was a mortal Awakened.

"Battle is going to be so chaotic, Miss Greene. I hardly think any sort of organization at that level would be possible or cohesive in the heat of battle," Michael shook his head.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be strict- but encouraged. Angels who see a Lower Level Demon attacking a mortal Pledged, go help out. Mortal Pledged- try to avoid the Lower Level Demons if you can," Siena shrugged in agreement.

"There's still going to be so many casualties simply because the Lower Level Demons are going to focus entirely on our Pledged Souls until we have none left," Ravenna frowned.

"The Angels are going to have to act somewhat as a shield regardless, it seems. That's the only way to mitigate casualties. While we may suffer more losses in our stronger forces, it's morally corrupt to not protect our weakest links simply because they're mortal," Michael interjected with a sigh.

"Wars aren't won by being moral, Michael," Siena snapped with a tightening of her jaw.

"This one will have to be. Otherwise the Heaven we fight for doesn't exist to begin with," he insisted sternly.

"We could lose the war by sacrificing Angels for the sake of mortals, Michael," Barachiel agreed with Siena quietly.

"Mortals are the reason Heaven exists at all. We have to protect them. They offered their souls to protect us, the least we can offer them is the same courtesy," Grey suddenly spoke up.

There was a moment of stiff silence, so heavy you could hardly breathe. Then, the silence was broken by the clanging of feet against the metal stairwell descending down to the basement.

"I brought pizzas!" Zadkiel's voice rang along the cement walls in a singsong tone. He turned to face us  and his smile fell as he took in our tense expressions and the suffocating silence in the room. "I see things are going well."

HI!!! Yep I suck sorry it took me literally a fucking month to update lol but I'm BACK BITCHES

IM READY NOW FOR THE RECKONING

had to mentally prep myself but now i think I'm ready

are you?

til next time ;)

-TJ