INTRODUCTION
This and all subsequent stories take place approximately fifteen years after the combined Mobian forces managed to successfully overthrow and destroy the tyrannical rule of 'The Doctor'. The war against him took many years and many lives but was finally put to an end by a collaboration of the leaders from the free people and the most proficient warriors from each of the races.
The elimination of the main threat was taken well at first but soon after jubilation had died, the individual country leaders realised that there was now no common denomination to hold the alliance together and that with such a vast tyrant gone, there would be great amounts of land and resources to be claimed in his wake.
This caused what was to be called the 'War of Greed' as each country fought to hold on to its own and also take from its neighbours. More people were killed in the years following 'The Doctors' defeat than in the entire of his dominance.
It took four long years but finally a delegation from the Angel Island managed to broker a fragile peace between the countries, using their wisdom to divide the remaining resources evenly. This was held as law by the governments on the planet and all wars ceased for a time. It was known as the 'Angel Manifesto' and in theory still exists today.
However it wasn't long before other parties became involved that again caused massive friction, igniting anew what was already a fragile peace. The Dark Legion used all its influence and power to spark long held hatreds and grudges, thrusting the countries into another dark age.
The Echidnas had been pulled into the conflict early on. Normally on their Floating Island well above Mobius they had little to no interest in the goings on of the Mobians. Wars were not at all uncommon between the countries. Individual leaders always petitioned for Echidna support, claiming their cause was much more worthy than their adversaries. The Echidnas, as a rule, turned every one down, content to remain aloof on their island high above.
However, this time was different. The six countries amassed against the three remaining had support that the Angel Island and especially the Guardians had a distinct interest in. The Dark Legion assistance had gone unnoticed for ten months and in this time the 'Alliance' had made massive gains in terms of ground and conquest, literally being on the doorstep of victory.
When the Guardians found out their fury was unprecedented and they felt honour bound to interject. It was their own twisted kin that had reignited the destruction and they were the only ones capable of stopping it. They let the public decide on the matter and the result was unanimous…
For the first time in a thousand and four years the Angel Island would go to war.
The Echidnas knew under any circumstances, the Dark Legion and anyone they supported must be stopped if any hope was to remain of preventing the destruction of the remaining three loyal countries. World war was upon them, but even with the might of the Echidna military and the unrivalled knowledge they had amassed over many thousands of years they would still be hard pressed to turn back the combined forces arrayed against them.
CHAPTER 1
1230 Hours, 15th August 3055 (Haven Calendar) / Drop Troop Tactical Deployment Centre, West Angel Island, 40,000 Feet Above Sea Level.
Corporal Finn casually checked his personal gear with practised ease as he looked around the loading bay. The place was massive, six large swordfish transports had landed here the day before and now the crews were running through their pre flight checks assisted by dozens and dozens of technicians, gun crews and loaders. Looking down on them from his heightened position it looked like a swarm of multicoloured ants running around with no sense of coherency. This thought was noncence however and he knew it to, for if there was one thing his kind was good at it was organisation. He smiled occasionally in wonder of how quickly the crews loaded the armaments and primed them, flinching when one of the loaders accidentally let a spanner drop on to an unloaded missile. The pilot of the aircraft dropped down from the wing that he was inspecting and then proceeded to bawl at the young technician until he was satisfied the incident wouldn't happen again. 'Just like boot camp' Finn thought haphazardly as he checked over his gear again.
"Hey Corp, what do you reckon is going on?"
Finn glanced over his shoulder at private Gilly who was checking his kit also, no more than four feet away. He was smoking. "I don't know Gill, something big, something really big I think. Why else would they have brought two platoons of us together?"
Gilly nodded, a little ash dropping onto his body armour which he brushed away with his hand. "Good point, me and the lads thought that was a little strange"
Finn smiled at the reply 'me and the lads'. What that really meant was that Gilly had an idea and that the others just agreed with him. Every unit had someone like Gill in their ranks, rumour had it he was a Sergeant once and got busted for fighting with an officer. Finn trusted him as his second in command; he was a devil in a firefight and had a cunning twist that made him devious when not in one. He was a good soldier. "Id guess that with the drop ships being down there and with them being readied and all, oh and with us being up here, that were going to hit somewhere big and hard"
Private Gilly smiled, showing the two missing teeth he was famed for, took the last drag of his cigarette and stamped it out on the floor, giving the fingers to an orderly that shouted at him for littering. "Must be a girl then" he chuckled dirtily.
This got a laugh from the other guys around him and when he finally caught on Finn chuckled as well. This was his first command with this section of troops and so far he was sure everything was going fine. Jokes like that broke down the tension that always popped up before a mission kicked off properly, he welcomed them. Finn checked his ammunition carefully and then cocked the rifle to make sure it was clear, he released the bolt forward with a large crack and then smiled. "Oh I hope so…"
"Deck, ATTENTION!"
All of the troops struggled to their feet quickly and snapped to attention as the order was called. Out of large blast door stepped Lieutenant '8Ball' Orin and his second in command Sergeant Major 'Treacle' Treshin. It was Treshin that had bawled the order, no creature on the planet could have argued with that voice. It was a bawling voice of the highest order. "At, EASE!" Treshin shouted and then trailed behind the lieutenant as he walked towards the assembled troops.
Finn breathed heavily and then stood at ease in front of his troops; the Lieutenant stopped his walk fifteen paces in front of the squads and crossed his arms across his large chest. A lot of things have been said about lieutenants and junior officers in the military but everything went out the window with '8Ball' Orin, possibly the most feared and respected officer in the force. Hed come up the ranks with Treshin as his second since they both joined years before. He was a legend.
"Command has agreed a course of action gentlemen, we are to relocate and eliminate any resistance at the Drop Zone. From there we will create a secure area to move in specialist teams on the objective. That is all you need to know, any questions?"
Complete silence.
"Very well, we move out in fifteen"
"Deck, ATTENTION!" Treshin bawled again and the troops came smartly to attention as the Lieutenant paced out of the hanger. Treshin stayed behind until he had gone and then turned on the waiting troops like a bolt of thunder. "Which one of you has been smoking? I can bloody smell it so don't lie to me!"
Gilly, possibly as a reflex self defence mechanism took a pace forward and stared at an interesting piece of metal approximately ten inches about the Sergeant Majors head. "That would be me Sir".
Finn cursed.
Treshin stalked over Gill and stood directly in front of him, invading his personal space. "I won't ask you how you got them in here Private Gill, ive know you to long to ask questions of your ability to hide things and I really don't want to know where you hid them. You have two seconds to find that packet…"
Gill reached down to his trouser map pocket and pulled them out deftly, holding them in front of him with an open palm. "I believe that this is the packet in question Sergeant Major Treshin" he replied calmly.
Treshin stood for a second completely immobile, just staring at him. "I believe that is a packet of cigarettes yes, ones that banned due to the close proximity of a huge array of explosives" he held out his hand and took them from Gill, his glare not leaving his face. "There's only one thing left to do with them isn't there Gill?"
"Yes sir"
Treshin smiled evilly as he took one and put it in his mouth... "Im afraid it's my duty to smoke one as an example of how dispose of them safely and then pass them around so you can all practise…"
Everyone chuckled and Gill breathed a sigh of relief.
"Got a light?"
Half an hour later they were in the air and heading for the 'big ride'. This was the term that drop troops such as the '8 Balls' used for when the transports hit the mass of turbulence at the side of the island and were forced to nose dive in order to clear the rim and descend to the surface of Mobius. It was three minutes of pure hell.
"Lock down!" Finn shouted at the troops in the transport as he sat down in his seat. Finn smiled worriedly as he secured himself into the transport harness, which looked like a multicoloured fairground ride, with a hiss and a click. Seconds later and with more than a few curses the ten troops under his command had all locked themselves in and some were already clutching their good luck charms. It was a well know fact that if anything mechanical would happen it would happen on the 'ride' and that tended to mean a forty thousand foot drop quicker that you wanted to. No military craft had been lost this year but the previous year they lost four in one go, taking forty guys with them.
"Hey Corp" Gill shouted from across the transport, his head covered in the large protective helmet and visors the entire drop troopers wore.
Finn looked over. "What is it?"
Gill pulled a little magic eight ball out of his top pocket and shook it violently, all eyes in the transport watched intently. "Are we going to die today?" he asked and then shook it again. After a second or two he smiled and held it up for every one to see.
'ONLY IF YOU WANT TO!'
Finn laughed along with the others and gripped the bars of his restraint as the red light came on in the bay. A moment later the aircraft nosedived, throwing him into the side of the harness with a bang and he winced as the turbulence rocked the aircraft with massive lunges and thumps. He heard the engines outside fighting against the onrush of wind and hopefully winning and then he blacked out for a moment coming round around again a moment later.
"Hey Corp!" Gill shouted from across the transport again, apparently unaffected by the nosedive and the noise. "You know what the best thing about being an '8Ball' is?" he laughed. He pointed to the insignia on his uniform of a flaming black eight ball. "When were down, we win the game!" he laughed and then blanked out himself.
Finn awoke and then immediately looked out of the nearby steamed up window using his arm sleeve to clear the condensation. Outside was a bright day, slightly overcast and drizzly but a bright day. The transport had levelled out probably five minutes ago and had accelerated to extreme speeds. The pilot was literally skimming tree tops with the underside of the craft and he could hear the occasional strikes of a branch as they careened towards the target. The ground was a mixture of green grass pastures and rocky outcrops, it looked desolate.
"This is Orin, ready up, drop zone ahead in one minute"
Finn tapped his communication bead and replied in acknowledgment. He lifted a thumb to the troops and undid his restraint which rose up slowly. He got out of his seat and rubbed his aching neck with his hand. "Lock in guys and get ready to drop, load your weapons and prime your grenades"
Everyone hooked themselves into the large drop pylon in the centre of the aircraft with a sturdy coil of treated cord and did as they were told, priming their grenades with activation codes and loading their weapons with the plasma cells.
"Drop zone in fifteen seconds" Orin's voice shouted over the radio.
Gill tapped Finn on the back as a good luck gesture and then waited. A yellow light flashed in the holding bay and then the aircraft slewed to a sudden stop, its engine whining so loud that it was deafening. A moment later, the floor gave way…