Chapter Six

Lucia's Surface

Five minutes after the strikes

After rearming on the Hammond, three F-308s came down to get a closer look at the damage caused by the orbital nuclear strikes. The land three-hundred feet below them was transformed into a seemingly never-ending field of fire and the sky above was glowing orange as bolts of lightning flashed in the distance.

And Major Nancy Emerson couldn't have been more pleased.

"Reaper Two, Reaper Three, I think our ships smoked this planet pretty good."

"Yeah, I agree boss," Reaper Two said. "The radiation readings on my visor are off the charts. I don't think anyone or anything is going to be living on this rock for a very long time."

"Do you feel like you've finally avenged your brother, boss?" Reaper Three asked.

"Affirmative. With the Lucian Alliance officially burning in hell, my thirst for vengeance is finally quenched."

"I hope this doesn't mean you're gonna turn in your wings," Reaper Two said.

"Of course not. I plan on making general someday so unless the Air Force wants me to take an early retirement, these wings are staying right where they are. But anyway, do you two want to fly past the newly discovered volcano before we rejoin the others?

"We're game if you are, Boss. Right Reaper Three?"

"You got it Reaper Two."

The nuclear strikes didn't just burn a great deal of Lucian Alliance land and high vale infrastructure, it created enough seismic activity to trigger the eruption of a volcano six hundred miles from their current position. Until recently, it wasn't known if Lucia had any volcanoes or not.

Flying at Mach Eight, the fighters covered the distance in no time and conducted a close flyby of the raging mountain before going vertical for the return to space.

With space supremacy established and the nuclear strikes on Lucia completed, the only thing left to do was wait for the Marines to finish their operation on the Lucian Space Station

Lucian Space Station

Control room.

After hearing a fierce exchange of gunfire over his headset, Tolbin, the senior communication officer took it off and turned to the remaining members of the Lucian Council.

"The last team we sent to retake the ring room was just wiped out. They never got close."

"How many guards do we have left?" Clayvin asked.

"Just the ten tasked with guarding this level, High Commander. But it's only a matter of time before the Tau'ri troops storm this room."

"Eighty-nine members of our Crimson Guard lost for nothing," Clayvin said in a depressed tone as one of the council members, Ning approached him."

"Sir, I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm afraid surrender is our only option now."

"I happily beg to differ, Ning," Irene said then pulled out her pistol and trotted towards the door.

"Where are you going?' Clayvin shouted.

Since stopping the Tau'ri troops is out of the question, the least we can do is face them in one last moment of glory. I will lead the remainder of our crimson guard against them and if any of you consider yourselves true Lucian's, you will-,"

Irene was cut off by the sudden eruption of gunfire outside the door. Clayvin and the others quickly drew their pistols.

"Irene, I think you'll last much longer if you stay in here with us," Tolbin said.

"I will not stay in here like a coward. Open the door now."

"I will not endanger the council and you'll probably catch a bullet the moment I push that door open." With the power out on the station thanks to the destruction of the main generator, pushing the door was the only way to open it but there was no way Tolbin was going to do that with a firefight raging outside

In a fit of anger, Irene was just about to point her gun in Tolbin's face when the flash of a transport beam filled the center of the room then quickly faded revealing a trio of grenades that instantly detonated.

Instead of being consumed in fire and shrapnel, the council members had their senses rocked by loud booms and multiple bright flashes. These particular grenades were nine-bangers.

Just when it appeared that the madness was on the verge of subsiding, the door was blown to smithereens and despite his severe headache and the smoke flooding into the room, Clayvin could make out ten figures entering through the breach dressed in body armor, helmets, facemask and night vision goggles. Two council members tried to get back on their feet but they were struck down by two red balls of energy fired from small devices beneath their guns.

One of the Tau'ri troops stood before Clayvin from across the room, took aim, and the last thing Clayvin saw was a ball of energy flying right into his face.

After knocking out Clayvin with the forty-millimeter stunner attachment located beneath the barrel of his SCAR-H, Captain Fitzpatrick activated his radio.

"Hammond actual, this is Wolverine Zero-One we've taken the control room and all HVTs are secured."

"Roger, Wolverine Zero-One," Carter replied. "Were there any casualties trying to get to them?"

"None amongst my guys. The same can't be said for the ten Crimson Guard members who tried to stop us."

"Excellent job, Captain. Secure the prisoners and we'll beam them into our vehicle bay.

They're already tagged and bagged, Colonel. But I still recommend having one of your security teams on standby."

"I got one already in place. I'll see you once you're back on board."

"Copy, Fitzpatrick out."

After the prisoners were beamed away to the Hammond, the Marines were beamed back aboard the V-309s who proceeded to hightail it back to the Hammond.

With the area around the former Lucian space station cleared, the Pendergast blew it to bits with two MK-IXs.

AN. Sorry for the delay, I recently recovered from a wisdom teeth extraction. The next chapter will be the conclusion of this story.

Now that the Lucian Alliance has been well and truly hammered, what should the end of war terms be? That's what I'm trying to come up with right now.