Hey all! Chapter 11 is up and running. I hope you enjoy it. Review!
The hall was silent at Bloom's answer. Most of the students had looks of confusion on their faces. Only Flora, Tecna, and Amaryl were different. Their faces were twisted into looks of deep thought, no doubt about how to respond.
"What are you talking about," asked a young, freshman fairy. "What did Bloom do?"
None of them spoke. The silence soon became deafening with none wanting to answer the young girl's question. The silence was only broken when Bloom decided to answer, "It was when Flora, Tecna, and Amaryl were taken hostage by Seraphim that were in the swamp." The student body froze at hearing about Seraphim in the swamp; their fear coated the air like a fog. "My team and I were sent out to deal with them," she continued. "We found two of them holding these three," she said, gesturing to the girls, "prisoner. I made the decision to neutralize them."
"Meaning," asked the freshman from before.
"We killed them," answered Dostya bluntly. Even though Dostya was a great commander, her diplomatic skills needed work.
The students all turned to Amaryl, who nodded in confirmation, before turning back to the three commanders in even more fear.
"But… you said your people use mechanical armies, so how could you have killed before," asked another student.
"While our armies are mechanized," began Bloom, "there are still organic commanders on the battlefield to command the units." She paused slightly, "In order to win the battles we fought, we still had to destroy the enemy ACU," she finished. Her voice had a slight tone of depression in it, something her fellow commanders, the teachers, and most of the students heard. She must have lost friends who were in their own ACUs, was the general thought that entered the students' and teachers' minds.
Dostya took the opportunity to study the facial expressions of those in the hall. Most seemed to be more level headed and to have accepted that it was her job and duty to do what she did, but also not take any pleasure in it. Only a few didn't have their fellows' sense of clarity. Their faces showed disgust and one had outright hatred. Thankfully, none of Bloom's roommates or the teachers had such looks. She will have to work harder to earn their trust, thought the raven haired Cybran.
A student in the mix caught Bloom's eye. She looked like she wanted to ask something, but was afraid to do it. The girl looked up and saw Bloom staring at her. The girl became even more nervous and unsure about asking her question. "You have a question," Bloom asked gently.
"Y…Yes," stuttered the girl, "I was curious if there were any recordings of the wars we could see," she finished with uncertainty very clear in her voice. All turned to the girl and stared. The girl couldn't have been older than seventeen with short, dark brown hair, and a tanned complexion. She squirmed slightly at the stares.
Curious as to the girl's identity and reasons, Rhiza asked the girl's name and for her to explain. She said her name was Anna and that she was always curious about the battle strategies that commanders used to fight. Bloom understood her reasoning very well. She was the same way in her history classes. It was one of the things that drove her to become an ACU commander. Bloom noticed curious sparks in the eyes of the other students. They want to know too.
"Yes," she answered to Anna. "I have some of the Infinite War, but none of the Seraphim War."
"Can you even show those," asked a confused Stella. "Wouldn't they be classified or something?"
"Only battles that had top secret information," Bloom responded. "Major movements and other such battles were always recorded by news crews before humanity left Earth, and it still continues today."
"Can we see one," Anna asked again. The girl was simply brimming with curiosity, waiting for her answer. Bloom nodded and Anna smiled in gratitude.
Taking a small projection disk from her pocket, Bloom set it down on the ground and turned it on. A large hologram popped up with a selection bar below it. Bloom scrolled through multiple icons before settling on one, and pressing it. She stopped and turned back to the gathered group, "For those of you who don't wish to see this, you can leave now." None moved, and Bloom hit the play button.
Four screens popped up immediately. The one to the far left held Bloom, dressed in a UEF ACU uniform. The one next to Bloom held a young, brown haired man with bright blue eyes and a slightly pale complexion. Next to him was an older gentleman that had graying hair, also dressed in an ACU uniform. The final one was of a blonde haired woman. She was dressed in a UEF officer uniform with a sash draped across her chest and multiple medals pinned to it.
"Excellent work you two," commented the blonde haired woman. "Because of the skill the two of you displayed on Luthien, and Colonel Arnold's recommendations, both of you are here by promoted to captain, congratulations." The screen changed to a water covered planet with green landmasses dotting it, "We have just received word that the Aeon are attacking Matar, and important rim world." The screen zoomed in and highlighted a small area, "Undoubtedly, they're brainwashing the population, or slaughtering them outright. You will drive the Aeon from Matar." A flash of shame briefly adorned Rhiza's face at the statement, before vanishing again. No one missed it.
The screen once again changed to show an area of ocean and several islands. It showed two bright-green Aeon symbols on two separate islands. "Colonel Arnold will maintain overall command responsibility. Captain Parkens will be dropped here," a blue UEF symbol appeared on an island to the north, "Peters here," another symbol marked a spot to the south of the Aeon symbol on the large, eastern island, "and Arnold here," with one final symbol marking an island to the south as well.
The screen changed once again to the four officers, "Did they fix the blasted Gates," Arnold asked.
"Our techs say that the Gates are functioning properly," Clarke answered Arnold. "Time is short, so I expect Matar to be liberated in a matter of hours. Be ready to gate at 17:30, dismissed."
The clock advanced ahead to the time they were to leave and a large screen of the area popped up. It showed the locations of the Aeon and UEF commanders, but one was off. Bloom was dropped on an island to the far west.
A screen popped up revealing a young, brown haired man with a head set, "Colonel? Captain Peters missed her LZ. General Clarke is confident you can rectify the situation. EarthCom out."
"I thought they fixed the Gates," replied Arnold in agitation. "Get an operational base up and running. We're gonna have to wing this one."
The young operator appeared again and told Bloom to build a sonar installation and a fleet to deal with enemy frigates to her south. The next few minutes were of Bloom and her companions building up their forces and fending off small raids. It was about twenty minutes into the mission that Arnold appeared again, "Holy… EarthCom! I've got incoming like I've never seen. It's a wall of units. They're on me!"
The minutes ticked by as they waited for Arnold to appear again. The data showed the Aeon units decreasing in number, but Arnold's were also decreasing, rapidly. His image soon came up again, "EarthCom, I've suffered heavy losses," he said as he tried to catch his breath from the scare. "I'm rebuilding and have scouts out, but if they hit me like that again, they'll roll right over me. Some of the units were marked with an unknown insignia. Transmitting image."
"Colonel, can you verify that insignia," asked the EarthCom officer.
"Of course I can verify it," growled the colonel. "I just sent you a blasted picture!"
"That's the royal crest, used only by the Princess' Champion! Standby for further orders, EarthCom out."
"Fantastic," replied Arnold sarcastically.
The minutes continued to tick by. Arnold and Parkens sent their own units to attack the Aeon while Bloom started to clear away the Aeon units blockading her base. The skirmishes went on like this for a while. Aeon would attack, UEF would defend, and then it would switch. It was when Bloom destroyed the last frigate in the blockade that things changed.
"EarthCom," shouted Arnold, "they're hitting me again! I don't think that I can hold them off."
"Colonel, recall immediately," the UEF operator ordered, "General Clarke's orders."
Arnold appeared, but the image was distorted, the sounds of explosions sounding in the background, "Can't. …too many of 'em," he answered, his transmission being distorted and garbled with static. "No where to-."
"Hang on colonel," said Bloom, "I'm on my way."
"Nothing you can do! …finished!"
"Get out of there Zach," Clarke desperately ordered her subordinate.
"Ah, hell!"
The transmission was cut off at the source. The symbols that represented Arnold's forces and the Aeon forces attacking him flashed several times, indicating damage, before vanishing.
"Zach?! Zach, come in," demanded Clarke as she desperately tried to reach him.
"Captains," addressed the young UEF operator, "we have a confirmed ACU explosion at Colonel Arnold's last know position. He's gone."
Silence reigned over the hall.
That's all for now. I'm on a roll today. Let me know how you liked it. Also, yes, this will no doubt happen in humanities future wars. All battles were recorded, but only the ones that everyone knows about will be viewed. Special permission will be needed for the classified missions, not major operations.