Soldiers: Skyfall

"Mayday, this is Lieutenant Shade aboard SS Shining Star, we are under attack a mile off the coast of Baltimare! We've lost the bridge and upper deck. We've got the passengers bellow deck but our security is being overwhelmed. Please we are an unarmed cruiseliner, please stop! Anyone please help us!"
--The wreck of the SS Shining Star was found 1 mile off the coast of Baltimare lost with all hooves.

Date: August 9th, 1666 CC
Time: 09:49
Name: Red Tie
Location: Old Oak Inn, Baltimare

Red Tie had been preparing for today's rounds of meetings with a local business his distribution company was hoping to get a contract with, so sent him to bid on it since the company's current contract was up. He had not been looking forward to the meetings as the small company was proving to be rather difficult and a bit stubborn making meetings go on very long. He’d already been here for a week.

That had all changed when the first of the distance explosions had begun. He’d turned on the tv to find every station taken over by news or emergency broadcasts reporting some sort of threat and the military being mobilized to engage it. He’d not gotten much info from the station he was on before the signal cut out.

He tried looking on his phone only to find his signal gone prompting him to begin grabbing his things. If he was fast enough he should be able to get distance between him and whatever was going on in the city, thankfully he was in an inn closer to the edge of the city then the center.

As Red packed his room was rocked by a concerningly close explosion. Rushing to his window he looked out to see something had seemed to crash into buildings just down the street and it was then he saw the military jets engaging planes he’d never seen before over the city, many of them falling to the ground below.

“What in the….”He managed to say a moment before the Inn’s fire alarm belgian blaring as there was another shutter of the building. Now fully releasing the threat Red rushed for the door, only taking the time to grab his work laptop and leave everything else.

The alarm sound grew louder as he opened the door to the smoke filled hall. He could see the handful of others on his floor also exiting their rooms to begin moving toward the stairs at the end. It was the off season for this area so there were not many other guests.

As he stepped into the hall, he saw why the hall was filling with smoke, the hall in the opposite direction was nothing but flames. He began moving with urgency reaching the section of the hall that looked out over the courtyard at the center of the Inn, containing a very old oak tree that was the Inn’s namesake and across the courtyard he could see large areas of the Inn were engulfed in flames that were spreading rapidly through the historical building.

Red saw there was what looked to be a hotel maintenance worker trying to direct guests to the stairs and keep them calm.

“Can anyone hear me! HELP! SOMEBODY!”

Red froze as he heard a mare yelling from the room he was passing and when he looked, he could see the barest hints of smoke seeping out from under the door. He looked to the end of the hall and the door and back down towards the flames realizing he was the person last in the line meaning the others most likely didn't hear it as they kept going to the stairs. “Damnit….” HE said, setting his laptop bag down across the hall from the door running through the fire safety he’d gone through for his company. He felt the door and it still felt cold meaning whatever was going on at the other side had not reached the door at the least or wasn't big enough to fully heat the room so that was good.

He tried the door, finding the locks were still engaged.

“Sir, you need to leave.” The maintenance worker said approaching him, realizing he was now the only person left in the hall besides the worker.

“Some pens in here.” Red said and a moment later the yell for help now punctuated by a coughing fit went up again.

The worker grabbed a key card from his pocket and quickly unlocked the door with his master key.

They opened the door to find a room that looked like Red’s own but this one now sported a collapsed support beam that was on fire and cut the room in half. Red could see the flames spreading through the attic through the hole.

Trapped on the far side of the room was an older mare dressed in casual clothing, the beam having trapped her from the door.

“Damnit…” The worker said as he rushed up the hall to grab an extinguisher. Red looked closer at the holes and relaxed the flames eating through the other beams, the old wood burning rapidly. There wasn't time to try to put the beam out.

Red moved before he really thought as he entered the room looking for anything he could use to reach the mare. Quickly grabbing the mattress and flipping it up and over the beam to create a bridge. “Ma’am come on.” HE said stepping onto the mattress that was threatening to start burning as well.

The mare was frozen in terror and Red had no choice but to cross the mattress and grab her. He nearly dragged the petrified mare across the now burning edged mattress but once accessed she seemed to become more animated as another part of the ceiling caved in.

They rushed out of the room as the worker arrived. With the extinguisher, electing to keep it as he grabbed the mare’s other side to help her. Red grabbed his bag as he went by and the three of them headed down the hall of the burning Inn, the flames spreading more and more.

The three of them reached the ground floor without much incident as the fire had not reached the stairs yet but they found the lower floor was in worse shape than the upper floors as there was more fire here completely cutting them off from most of the Inn.

The worker tried to use the extinguisher to clear a path, but it barely did anything forcing them away from where the exits would be, the extinguisher allowing them to pass through less burning paths till they reached the Inn’s built in restaurant where they found many other guests and staff trapped.

“Is there anyone else?” One of the staff asked as they entered.

“I don't think so…..we didn't see anyone else….” The maintenance worker reported.

The staff nodded gravely before two others closed the wooden and glass doors to the restaurant, stuffing tablecloths in the gap under the door to slow the smoke.

“Why the hell are we still here?” Red demanded.

“The….door outside….the explosion caused the door frame to shift….the door is jammed…we are trying to get it open, but the door doesn't want to budge.” The staff, looking like the hostess, said. Red looked over the room and saw two of the cook staff trying to force the door open with either ramming it or kicking it, but the thick door showed no sign of their efforts doing anything.

This wasn't good…Red moved the older mare to a chair far from the door they entered from and sat her down before going to see if there was anything he could find to help acutely aware the smoke and flames were building outside the glass doors.

“What in the world happened?” He asked the hostess.

“Our best guess is whatever hit the Inn starting the fire also caused the boiler to blow causing the fire to spread rapidly as everything is down there.” She said the power cut out as emergency lights clocked on.

That explains the rapid spread….it was an electrical fire was his best guess which wasn't good.

There was spreading panic as the flames reached outside the door being clearly visible through the glass. It wouldn't be long before it burned its way in.

“What do we do?” Someone yelled as several others were beginning to panic.

As the chiefs continued their efforts to bash the exit door down there was a sudden thud on the other side causing them to jump back in surprise as another came. It sounded like someone was hitting the door from the other side.

After a few hits the red tip of an ax broke through the door near the handle before being withdrawn only to hit again. Someone was hacking their way in.

Once the hole was a certain size another tool was slid through and used to leverage the door till with a loud pop the door finally came open to reveal firefighter in full gear. “Come one everyone out!” The muffled order came as 3 others entered the room to help move people.

Red found the mare from before and helped her to her feet, nearly carrying her to the door and the fresh air beyond.

Outside was utter chaos, the jets still engaged the unknown planes but there were a lot fewer jets now and even more smoke rising in the distance. Where they exited, they found a firetruck, a couple of ambulances and several Keepers of Law with their weapons drawn watching for threats.

“What…what's going on?” Red asked as he was ushered towards the ambulances.

“You are being evacuated….we are going building to building to get people out.” A firefighter answered. It was then He noticed none of the emergency vehicles and their lights on as if they were trying to avoid notice.

An EMR took the mare from Red to benign, checking her over and getting her oxygen and he looked toward the city hearing the gunshots that made this whole situation seem like a war.

What in the world was going on?