So, here we are again, with the last part of Great Galactic War Arc. After the last visit at Mobius, we move to the event a bit more closer to the end of the war, but still not final. However, it still is one of the more important battles within the GGW universe, so you know… Also, yeah, the biggest influence on some of the things in GGW were the newest Star Wars movies, especially The Force Awakens, which will be visible in this chapter.
Anyway, let's start. Have a nice read.
Chapter 36
,,Fading stars"
August 19, 2151
08:33
Unknown location
Following the defeat at Mobius, Holy Order was basically put in a position they couldn't come out from. With majority of their fleet destroyed and remaining fleets too small to any possible attack or defense, Resistance simply now steamrolled over them, throwing them further and further back towards the Unknown Regions, where it all began. Every day by the last two months, it was nothing but defeat after defeat after defeat, even more severe than by all of the last year. By that time, among HO leadership, the thing that nobody before wanted to say out loud, started to become very popular.
War was lost and now, nothing could save their position.
Yet, Supreme Leader pressured on. He ordered them to continue fighting even if they had to die to the last one. Everyone who wanted to do otherwise, was met with the same fate: he was found dead not long after, or simply vanished without a trace. After that, not as many people talked loudly about surrendering.
Admiral Kotch was one of the people, which still believed in the cause, even after looking at the reports he was getting. Losses were piling up and nothing could stop it. Even his plan, which assumed gathering all leftover Super Carriers in one place and punching all the way towards Earth. At this point, even an entire fleet of Super Carriers won't be able to help. Besides, there were only twenty left, scattered across the Galaxy and unable to make way to any point within HO territory. They were high-value targets, no surprise Resistance tried to destroy them at all cost.
"Admiral."a voice said.
Kotch looked towards the voice's owner and saw one of Kyla's personal bodyguards, the ones wearing all black. He always though this idea was stupid. Yes, at night, such things would help, but in daylight or in snow? Clearly visible from kilometers.
"What is it?"Kotch asked.
"It's time for you."soldier said.
"Sure."
Soldier walked out of the room and waited for the admiral outside. Kotch joined him and the two went to the place, where admiral had to do his part of the job.
Soon, they found themselves outside and on a giant podium. On the side, Kotch could see all other officers at the base, as well as contingent of Kyla's soldiers, with her amongst them. Their eyes met and Kyla nodded.
Kotch went in front and looked down at hundreds of soldiers in white, snow camo uniforms, looking towards him. He took a breath and started.
"Today, we will see the end of the Resistance."he said."Resistance, which stood against us, the warriors of only true faith and Order. Last twenty years, were our greatest work and THEY! They destroyed it in a swoop. Millions of our brothers and sisters lay dead, cut down by their machine guns!"
Some soldiers cheered in agreement.
"And it all started fifty years ago, when our fathers were refused their rightful place in the universe! We were forced to be exiled and to hide! And now, we are being forced to this again! And we won't allow it!"
More cheers.
"However, we are prepared now."Venomous smile appeared on Kotch's face."The Core Fragments, remnants of the Enean race, allowed us to finally activate a tool, which will bring them all to our knees! This base you're in, this entire planet, is another Enean remain. But by far the strongest in our arsenal! And thanks to the long and hard work of our scientists, we were finally able to activate it!"
More cheers.
"And today, with the use of this weapon, WE will force them to surrender! We'll show them out true power! WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!"
In response, soldiers lifted their hands in the air and cheered together for the words of the admiral.
"Now watch, as they turn to ash!"
Hundreds of feet sounded, as they hit the ground, turning around to face the forest behind them. However, soon, they were almost blinded, when giant laser shot out of the ground and flew towards the atmosphere.
Kotch just stood there, along with rest of the base's leadership and Kyla. He smirked under his nose. They might have lost, but they surely didn't say their last word. And this had to be their manifest of that.
09:02
Alnustown
This day at Alnustown was, as many others, calm. People were dealing with their stuff, not thinking about what happened in the world and especially behind the Gate, considering how far away from them it was.
And Delilah's tavern, was, as always, center of people's meetings and free time.
"One more!"someone exclaimed.
"Right on it!"Delilah replied.
As of now, she was on a leave from the military. After Mobius, she was allowed to leave for as long as she isn't called back into the fight.
"Here it is."she said and gave the mug to the waitress.
Warrior Bunny returned to her job.
Meanwhile, at one of the tables, certain quartet was having a good time with the members of White Squadron, which also had free time.
"…then, Lena goes in from the side and blows that HO fucker up."Ana said.
"Phew, it had to be really hot out there."Rory said.
"It sure was! Entire planet was one, giant volcano!"Lena replied.
Everyone laughed.
"That year was really exciting for you, I have to admit."Lelei said.
"It sure was."Jackie agreed.
"But it was worth it, that's for sure."Arlette smiled.
"Yeah, with current pace we're doing it, Holies will become a memory within next month."Liz stated.
"Amen to that!"Suvi exclaimed.
Everyone picked up their mugs and touched them to each other. Even Rory, Tuka, Lelei and Yao joined in.
"Shame it took us twenty years to do it."Aqi said.
"Yeah, but hey, look at the bright side!"Arlette said.
"What bright side?"Jackie asked.
"If not this whole mess, we would never meet each other."the French explained.
Members of White Squadron looked at each other and smiled.
"Seems like everything has it's pros and cons."Liz stated.
"Indeed."Yuko agreed.
While this talk was taking place, Rory was looking to the side, towards a pair of lovebirds, which decided to sit somewhere else. Since the events of Mobius, Ester and Dora were really spending a lot of time together, even more than before. Not to mention, that they didn't even try hiding it and already everyone in the base knew it. Also, Dora seemed to change because of that. She wasn't torturing rest of the team as she used to do and certainly calmed down. She still knew how to kick your ass, but didn't explode every time someone said something wrong to her.
"Can I say it out loud?"Liz suddenly asked."Of course I can. Aren't Ester and Dora cute together?"
"Can't argue with that."Suvi said.
"Nobody asked you."Ana said.
"Come on, I didn't have anything on my mind!"Martian exclaimed.
"The world will come to an end if that's true."Jackie stated.
Suddenly, the TV from which music was playing stopped and everyone turned in that direction. Intro of HNN appeared and it soon revealed concerned face of young presenter, looking at something on her tablet.
Woman looked into the camera and a red bar appeared under her, with short, simple message on it: 'BREAKING NEWS! TERTAN SYSTEM ANNIHILATED'.
"Wha…?"Emiko squealed.
"Impossible…"Ana said.
"But…"Yuko wanted to say.
Meanwhile, presenter cleared her throat and started talking:
"We stop the current program to give the breaking news. This is really fresh, as we received this information just few minutes ago. Today, at 08:55, Tertan System was met with a disaster, which completely annihilated it. It's still not clear how it happened, but we also received a video, sent by a crew of Human freighter which barely escaped the system."
Presenter disappeared and the video appeared. It showed the dark outlines of several planets far in the distance, with reddish star behind them. Nothing strange seemed to be there, but suddenly, there was a red beam which came out of nowhere and collided with the star. Seconds later, star started growing, absorbing the planets, before turning into a wave of thermal energy, but ship stopped recording at that point.
Woman returned to the screen and continued:
"From what we just learned, the star of Tertan System somehow turned supernova, although scientists expected it to happen withing next five million years. It's possible, that this strange beam that could be seen on the recording might be responsible for this. We suspect, that because of how suddenly all of it happened, none of sixty billion inhabitants of the system made it out alive. General Secretary Orcan already decided to call a special meeting to analyze the situation and think of possible options. We will informing you up to day."
Presenter disappeared and the program returned to normal, with music playing.
Everyone, including Faliens, became silent and had no idea what to say. Even for locals, information about such event were shocking. Especially considering, how big was the population of the system.
"Dear Gods…"Yao said.
"Sixty billion…just like that…"Tuka followed.
Lelei still had her usual face on, but even she was deeply moved by what she heard. Rory didn't knew what to say.
But there was one person, which everyone's attention immediately moved to.
Aquexymeva, although still wearing her helmet, was visibly breathing heavily and still looking towards the screen.
"No…"she said."No…no…no, no…"
"Aqi…"Arlette tried to talk to her.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!"Tertan exclaimed."It can't be, it can't be, it can't…!"
"Suvi, take Aqi to her room so she can calm down."Anastasia ordered.
"On it."Suvi replied with serious face."Let's go."
She helped Tertan to stand up and slowly walked out of the tavern with her.
Ester and Dora stopped their cuddling and also couldn't believe in what they just saw and heard. Suddenly, their hand terminals started calling. Ester looked towards Delilah, which in turn looked towards her.
"Girls!"Ester shouted to the rest."We're going!"
Few minutes later, all of White Squadron and Delilah left the tavern.
August 22
14:24
Fort Terhis
Just like a year ago during the Hegemon hunt and few months ago, during Ichroid Crisis, all personnel in Fort Terhis was put on high alert. Entire fortress was sealed off and all possible guns were ready to open fire. Not like this would help against this new crap that Holies had, but better than nothing.
"Move quicker!"Dora exclaimed.
Once more, she was trying to take care of team's performance and was running laps around Alnus Field. Rest of the squadron, except Ester and Aqi, were following her, this time actually trying to get better. Even Emiko was doing her best to keep up with the rest.
"Sir, yes, sir!"everyone exclaimed.
Ester was standing on the side, watching, rating how they were doing. And, if she was right, everyone tried their best and were doing good. Next, she looked towards the second hangar, where members of 1st Warrior Bunnies were also doing drills. Emmy was in charge, doing rompers. Rest only did the same thing as her.
"How are you?"Delilah asked.
She approached Ester from the side and leaned on nearest fighter.
"Don't even ask."White Squadron leader replied.
"Still bad?"
"Yeah…You're surprised? Holies just destroyed home system of the most powerful race in the Galaxy. They didn't even need to get close, just used that…thing of their and…"
She shuddered just thinking about it. Images of Earth and Sol System meeting the same fate were playing in her mind.
"Did they sent any message to you?"
"None, for now. But they have to want something, if the did that. Although…I wouldn't be surprised, if they did that just for shits and giggles, or to show us one last middle finger."
Delilah nodded.
"And how is Aquexymeva?"
"Don't even ask. She isn't coming out of her room and just…lays there, not talking, eating or anything else. Can't say I blame her. Her entire family was on Terta Prime when it was destroyed. Not to mention, that she just heard of deaths of sixty billion members of her race. All Tertans feel miserable because of that."
Before Delilah could say anything else, their hand terminals started making sounds again. They looked at the screens and saw, that both got the same message from Anna. They opened it and started reading.
"In briefing room…in five minutes."Ester finished.
"Let's go then."Delilah said.
"Call your girls, I call mine."
"On it."
The two went to their teams and told them what they had to tell and went to the briefing room.
14:34
Fort Terhis briefing room
Five minutes later, all pilots in the base were sitting in the briefing room, waiting for the person, which had to do the briefing. Everyone was stressed, considering that when briefing was called, the situation was either critical or mission was important. Considering the situation, the second option was more than likely.
Ester was sitting in the first row and was surprised to see Aquexymeva sitting next to her.
"Sorry for the lack of presence."Tertan said, sitting down.
"No offense taken."Ester replied with smile."How are you?"
"Better, I guess…"Aqi shuddered."But still…I can't believe that Terta Prime is just…gone…"
"We are also still trying to get over that news."squadron leader said."But I promise. Holies will pay for that."
"I'm gonna make damn sure they will."Aqi clenched her fists.
Right then, the door on the right side opened and Anna stepped in. Everyone silently watched her walking up to the podium and as she stopped behind it. Admiral Richards' First Officer silently looked at them all and cleared her throat.
"Good to see you all here."she started."Let us begin."
Anna pressed some buttons on the console mounted in the podium and the screen came to life. It again showed the recording which was showed on news three days ago.
"Why do you force us to watch this again?"Dora asked.
"Because we have a plan."Hope's FO replied.
"Plan?"Ves asked.
"Yes. See here?"She stopped the video and pointed at the beam which caused the supernova.
"Yeah."all voices replied.
"As you probably know, all such things need to start somewhere. And by looking at the angle and direction of the beam, our eggheads were able to pinpoint the exact location of the beam's origin."
This information sparked the attention of all pilots, especially Aqi.
"How did they do it?"Macy asked.
"Ask them, it's not my part."Anna replied.
"Okay, so, where is this?"Jackie asked.
First Officer pressed more buttons on the console and holographic map of Milky Way appeared in the air, with a red dot on one of the stars.
"Wait. Aren't those…?"Arlette asked.
"Unknown Regions? Yes."the Russian simply replied."That beam came from Unknown Regions, so it's very possible, that Holy Order had that weapon or whatever in their hands the whole time."
"If they did, then why didn't they use it?"Helley asked.
Anna pondered for a bit.
"There is a theory…"she said.
"What theory?"Ana asked.
"That this thing needed Core Fragments to work."
"That would explain, why HO was really keen on getting the Core Fragments."Liz said."It makes sense from this point of view."
"Indeed."Anna agreed.
"So…"Ester said."Now, someone needs to go there and investigate, what the hell is that planet killer they have."
"Already done."
Silence hung in the air again.
"What?"some pilot finally asked.
"Yesterday, scout mission was sent to that system to get an eye on what Holies had there. When it came back, it carried this photo."
Map of Milky Way disappeared and was replaced by said photo. It showed some snowy planet orbiting a star. However, what really caught attention, was the fact, that this planet had a large trench running through it's entire equator. In the middle of this trench, was giant hole, with red glow inside of it.
Everyone's jaws dropped immediately.
"Is that…"Yuko started.
"…a planet-sized planet-killing weapon?"Anna ended."Yes."
Pilots suddenly lost all their confidence.
"Well, aren't we fucked."Suvi stated.
"Also, this thing has some kind of planet-wide force field around it."Anna continued.
"Even more fucked."Suvi stated again.
"Are we, though?"the Russian turned to her.
Pilots' attention again turned to her.
"What do you mean?"Emmy asked.
"Eggheads also made quick research on the energy readings of this force field."Anna explained."They say, that ship could make it through, if…"She stopped.
"If what?"Dora wanted to know.
"If it came out of hyperspace inside of planet's atmosphere."Anna replied.
Once again, everyone looked at her with wide-eyes. Exiting the hyperspace inside the atmosphere was dangerous. Not only because you could fail to make it and hit into the surface, but also because ship could simply fall apart from sudden loss of speed or it could literally flatten you on the walls or floor. Some people found it out the hard way…
"Who would be stupid enough to do it?"Aqi asked.
"Us?"familiar voice said.
Everyone looked back and saw Jessica, accompanied by several other Marines, in full gear.
"Colonel Richards will lead the infiltration team."Anna said."They will get on the planet and turn off the force field, so we can fly in and destroy anything important."
"You sure you will do it, Jess?"Ester asked.
"If I wouldn't believe in it, I wouldn't do it."Jessica replied.
Pilots just nodded and looked back at Anna.
"So, we have a plan."Delilah said."When do we perform it?"
"HQ wants everything to be done within next two days."
All faces immediately stiffened. Pilots were ready to perform the mission and destroy the planet-killing weapon.
Two days later, operation started.
August 24
16:16
Hyperspace lane
"All pilots get into your machines!"PA system shouted."Infiltration team is making their way to the target! Our turn will come soon!"
Warrior Bunnies aboard Selene stopped looking at the ceiling and looked back at each other.
"So it begins."Emmy said.
"Yeah, people are already saying, that this battle will end the war for good."Macy said.
"I do hope so."Helley said."Holies really started pissing be off."
"They piss off everyone."Kenya stated.
"True, but me the most."
"Whatever."Ves waved her hand.
Delilah stepped in front of their team and looked across the hangar, at all other members of the unit, already getting into their fighters. After Battle of Mobius, which everyone survived, surprisingly, Warrior Bunnies of the 1st Battalion became all aces, each holding from five to twenty enemies shot down. Only 1st Platoon had more, as it existed longer.
"Alright, everyone, gather in three lines!"Delilah ordered.
Without hesitation, all ninety remaining members of the unit formed in three lines, just Delilah ordered and waited for what she had to say.
"As you probably know, this battle is very important."Delilah started."If you have at least simple knowledge of how to use Human Internet, you are well aware, what are we trying to destroy here."
She made a pause for effect.
"A weapon capable of destroying entire planets."1st Platoon leader continued."Almost a week ago, it was used to destroy Terta Prime and basically threw entire Tertan Federation to it's knees."
All Warrior Bunnies winced after hearing that. They were well aware of that. Not only did Terta Prime was gone, but entire Tertan Federation started falling apart within hours. Self-proclaimed kings, emperors and presidents started popping out like crazy. Federation became consumed by chaos and disorder never seen before in that area of space and nobody knew, how long will it take to stop it. It was estimated, that in sporadic clashes which erupted across the Federation, fifty to one hundred million Tertans, excluding Tertan System, already lost their lives and these numbers were only going to grow, as more planets were being bombarded and ships destroyed.
"Looking at your faces, I guess you are aware what can happen, if Holy Order destroys more planets. This is why today, we have to do our best, if we want to stop them from doing whatever they want once and for all!"Delilah exclaimed.
All Warrior Bunnies cheered in agreement.
"Now go and prepare to take off!"
Everyone ran to their fighters and climbed into the cockpits. They made all standard procedures needed and soon, all engines were turned on and ready to roll.
"Exiting hyperspace in 3…2…1…Now!"flight controller of Selene informed.
At the same time, hyperspace visible behind the force field closing the hangar disappeared and was replaced by space.
"Alright, we're going out!"Delilah ordered on radio.
All fighters took off and started flying outside. Once they were all outside, Delilah ordered:
"All platoons, report."
"2nd Platoon, ready."commander of 2nd Platoon said.
"3rd Platoon, we can go in."commander of 3rd Platoon said.
"4th Platoon, ready to fight."commander of 4th Platoon said.
"5th Platoon, ready."commander of 5th Platoon said.
"6th Platoon, time to show what we can."commander of 6th Platoon said.
"7th Platoon, on it."commander of 7th Platoon said.
"8th Platoon, ready."commander of 8th Platoon said.
"9th Platoon, ready."commander of 9th Platoon said.
"10th Platoon, time to kick some ass."commander of 10th Platoon said.
"1st Platoon ready to start mission."Delilah said."Alright, let's go!"
All fighters shot forward and looked towards the planet. Giant trench in it was clearly visible, with it's main weapon in the middle. System also detected small flotilla around the orbit, with enemy fighters now leaving ship hangars and coming from the surface.
"Detecting over three hundred enemy fighters."radar officer said."Most of them are coming from the surface."
"Gods, I thought we destroyed majority of their fleet at Mobius."member of 8th Platoon said.
"We destroyed, but their bigger ships."member of 3rd Platoon replied."But they still have hundreds, if not thousands of fighters."
"I just hope we don't have to fight these thousands."Kenya said.
"Who doesn't?"member of 5th Platoon replied.
"Alright, enough chit-chat."Delilah said."We have to destroy enemy forces in space and be ready to fly into the atmosphere when the time comes."
"Yes, sir."all Warrior Bunnies said.
Delilah then looked at her radar and saw several friendly signals approaching from the left. She looked in that direction and saw fighters of White Squadron pairing up with their battalion.
"This is White 1 to Warrior Bunnies Leader."Ester said on the radio."Are you pilots ready, Delilah."
"For everything. And yours?"Delilah replied.
"Feeling like they can destroy entire systems by themselves."White Squadron leader replied.
"Good."
More and more fighters started joining them and soon, their number grew to over one hundred fifty, half the number of Holy Order, but unlike Holies, which were now relying mainly on people from forced conscription, all pilots taking part in this fight on the side of Resistance were battle-hardened veterans. Not to mention the crews of the ships, which carried them to fight and had to support them.
"Enemy is launching missiles."one of allied pilots reported.
"Launch your own and drop flares. Then fly up."Ester ordered.
"On it."everyone replied.
Resistance fighters quickly locked onto incoming HO fighters and let their missiles fly. Then, they dropped flares and turned up, hoping, that enemy missiles will catch the bait. As it turned out, all HO missiles turned towards the flares, while Resistance missiles were newer and 'smarter', which didn't allow Holy Order to evade them that easily. And this way, from three hundred fighters, eighty nine were destroyed outright, while others were hit by chippings from missiles, which exploded behind them.
"Okay, now's our turn!"Ester said.
With that said, Resistance fighters started diving towards Holy Order's, firing their guns and managing to destroy another fifty. Within seconds, Holy Order lost over one hundred fighters, while Resistance lost none.
As this was happening, Resistance ships fired their missiles, which flew towards few Frigates and Destroyers, which tried to use their PDCs to defend against them, but because these were older ships used over two hundred years ago by species from Unknown Regions, missiles had not easy task breaking through the defenses.
Not long after, several new stars appeared in the orbit around the planet.
"Damn it!"HO commander of the defense, sitting on the planet, exclaimed.
"Sir, we already lost over one hundred sixty fighters."one of analysts said.
"Then do something!"commander shouted.
"I…I can't, sir…"
"Then fuck you!"
Before anyone could say anything, commander pulled out his gun and shot the analysts where he sat.
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"commander shouted at everyone else.
Other analysts just turned around and tried to do their jobs, trying not to think about their crazy fanatic commander.
Back on the orbit, Resistance fighters and pilots started performing nothing more than simple massacre on HO pilots, destroying fighter after fighter, while taking basically no losses themselves. There were several situations, when Holy Order fighter managed to score hits on the enemy, but damage was minimal and allowed Resistance pilots to continue fighting.
Delilah just made a Barrel Roll, evading incoming laser fire. Next, she performed Cobra and landed behind the enemy which was chasing her. Series from her gun changed HO fighter into pile of burning scrap.
"Another one down!"Emmy exclaimed.
"And let's hope, that there are no more coming!"Macy said.
All Warrior Bunnies again started showing their worth, as they completely decimated all enemies coming their way. Holy Order pilots finally decided, that this was enough. They didn't even want to be here, they all were forced to join and were sent here. Not to mention, that most of them had no battle training and experience whatsoever. There were only a handful of veterans in there.
"Cowards!"one of said vets exclaimed."Come back here and defend what you want to defend!"
"Fuck off!"one of runaway pilots exclaimed back.
"You will see, we will…"Before he could end, his machine was changed into ball of fire.
"Nice one."Ester said.
"Thanks."Aqi replied.
"What do we do about them?"Fatima asked, meaning the running pilots.
Ester looked at her radar and the group of escaping enemy pilots. Their group still consisted of around ninety fighters, so they still posed a threat.
"You know, what to do."Ester replied.
"You sure?"Delilah asked.
"Either we do it, or Holies will shoot them down for leaving their posts."White Squadron leader explained.
"If you say so."Dora agreed.
All Resistance fighters lined up again and this time aided by ships, fired their missiles towards escaping enemy fighters. When information about incoming missiles reached HO pilots, it was too late. Series of explosions marked the end of the last Holy Order fighters.
"To all allied, all enemy units eliminated."flight controller aboard Hope said.
"Understood."Ester said."What about the team on the surface?"
"Well…"
At the same time…
Surface of the weapon
Grenade exploded, throwing chippings in all directions. Holy Order Marines didn't have time to react and were all cut down by the chippings, what allowed Resistance Marines to move up the corridor. To make sure, they also packed one bullet into each enemy's head.
"How long before we reach the control center?"Jessica asked.
"Five hundred meters."Marine replied.
"Let's move then."
Squad of ten Marines moved forward, moving closer and closer to the control center. But just as they had to make it around another corner, they were greeted by laser fire from the other side.
"Shit!"one of Resistance Marines exclaimed.
"Pin them down with fire!"HO commander ordered.
Marines from both sides quickly started exchanging fire, making lead and laser flying past each other. However, just like in space, on the ground, situation with HO troops looked the same. Inexperienced and barely trained on how to use weapons. Even if they wanted, they didn't stand a chance against Resistance Marines.
"Locke, Vale! Smoke!"Jessica ordered.
"On it!"the two replied.
They pulled smoke grenades and pulled out the cotters. Next, they threw the grenades into the corridor. Smoke was released and cover was made. This confused HO Marines, which stopped firing for a second.
"Don't stop! Fi…!"Before their commander could end, well targeted bullet hit him straight in the neck. Blood gushed on all sides, as he tried to stop the bleeding. He died before he even fell on the ground.
HO Marines quickly reopened fire, hoping, that they managed to score any hits on the enemies. Finally, when they ammo ended, the simply waited for what was gonna happen now. They all gulped, not knowing, what will happen in a minute.
Finally, they noticed some kind of blue glow behind the cloud of smoke. Their curiosity changed into horror, when they saw Resistance Marines walking out of the cloud with some kind of energy shield in front of them. They quickly reloaded and fired again, but the shields easily stopped any form of energy-based fire.
"Finish them."Jessica simply replied.
Marines behind the two with the shields loaded their under-barrel grenade launchers and fired. Explosions easily dealt with enemies and left the defenders as much as dead.
"Easy job."another Resistance Marine smiled.
"Yes. Now, open this door."Jessica ordered.
Soldiers quickly took their C4s and placed them on the door. Next, they stood on both sides and waited for orders.
"Open."
Marine holding the detonator pressed the button and the door was quickly bent inside of the control center. All analysts and their commander were made wide-eye, seeing as enemy troops entered the room and fired at anyone trying to pick up a fight. Even leader of the analysts didn't stand a chance and ended up with bullet in his face.
"Everyone on the ground!"Jessica shouted.
All personnel obliged and soon, all surviving analysts were lined up before the Marines. Jessica stood in front of them and asked:
"Who's in charge of that bubble around the planet?"
"M-Me…"One of analysts raised his hands.
"Good."colonel said with smile.
She nodded at two Marines, which grabbed the man and led him to one of the computers. There, they placed him on the seat and aimed their weapons at him.
"Deactivate the shield."Jessica said and a thought appeared in her head."Also, give us information about the biggest and most vulnerable weak point of this shit."
"B-But…"
"Do it if you value your life."Jessica said in cold voice.
Analyst shuddered and did what he was told. He quickly pressed buttons on his console and not long after, Marines saw animation of the protective force field around the planet slowly vanishing. There was also icon of message being sent.
"Good."Jessica said and activated her radio."This is colonel Richards to all space units. You can start the run."
Back in the orbit…
All fighters turned off their engines for the time they weren't needed, so their could save as much fuel as they could. But then, they all received a call from the flight controller on Hope.
"All fighters, we just received info from our team on the surface."he said."Force field is down and we can go in. Also, we know the best target to bomb, which can help us quickly destroy this thing."
"So, what do we have to bomb?"Ester asked.
"The heat exhaust on Northern hemisphere. According to data, the heat after each firing of the weapon goes into the core, slowly destabilizing it. This exhaust stops that. It goes right to the core and if we destroy it, we might heat up the core so much, that it will simply implode."
"You sure about that?"Delilah asked.
"One of Marines on the ground checked it. It's legit info."
"If so, then let's go."Ester said."All fighters, prepare for atmosphere flight."
Resistance fighters quickly lined up and aimed their noses towards the planet's surface.
"3…2…1…Now!"she shouted.
Immediately, all pilots felt the pressure pressing them right into their seats. Also immediately, they started feeling heat of the planet's atmosphere, as all machines were surrounded by flames. Systems reacted by standard procedure of injecting cooling liquid right into everyone's bloodstreams.
Delilah hissed, when needles with said liquid started injecting the substance.
"I will never get used to this…"she thought.
"Everyone get ready. We're already beyond the atmosphere."Ester communicated.
All fighters started evening their flight and were now flying over the vast, snowy fields of the planet. Not long after, they flew into a large canyon, which they hoped would stop HO from detecting their approach.
"Any new info?"Ester asked the flight controller.
"Yes."the man replied."According to more info gathered by our Marines, the exhaust is defended by an array of AA turrets with their own control center and energy source. So they can't turn them off. Also, there is special squadron, which task is to defend the exhaust. Around eighty fighters."
"Understood."she said and connected with all other fighters."Look out for enemy AA. We might have some problems with it. There are also enemy fighters defending it."
"So, what's the plane?"Dora asked.
"Who has bombs?"
Around forty pilots reported in immediately, including Emmy and Delilah.
"Alright, you focus on the exhaust. Others, destroy enemy defenses. Understood?"Ester asked.
"Understood!"all pilots replied.
"Let's go then!"
Exit from the canyon was already visible and soon, fighters left the natural formation. Just as they did it, enemy AA opened on them and their radars enemy craft approaching their position.
"Shit…"Emmy said.
"Focus on the exhaust."Delilah said.
"I'm hit! Damn it! I'm losing…!"One of Resistance fighters crashed into the ground.
"Me to, going…AAAAARGH!"Another fighter went down.
Before they managed to even fly over the exhaust, fifteen fighters were shot down by the AA, including ten fighters armed with bombs.
After that, HO fighters assigned to defend the exhaust joined the battle and started fighting remaining Resistance machines. Fortunately, in this field, Resistance pilots still dominated and HO started falling like flies.
"Mameluk and Aleppo Squadrons."Ester turned to the two teams."Destroy the AAs."
"Right on it."Mameluk leader replied.
"It will be done."Aleppo leader added.
Two squadrons detached from the main formation and started taking care of the enemy anti-air emplacements. They started falling one by one, just like fighters.
"Hell yeah, now we're talking!"Dora exclaimed, destroying another enemy fighter.
"How many are left?"Lena asked.
"Radar shows forty enemy craft left."Aqi replied."We're almost there."
As she said that, she destroyed one more enemy fighter.
"How are the bombs?"Ester asked the bombers.
"Dropping in 3…2…1…"Delilah replied.
And she was right. While Mameluks and Aleppos were focusing AA fire on them and other fighters continued to destroy enemy fighters, fighters with bombs already formed over the exhaust and were ready to release their cargo. Which they did when Delilah stopped counting.
Bombs were let go and flew towards the exhaust. They started exploding, tearing the exhaust apart and changing it into one, giant fireball. Explosions were occurring not only on the surface, but they continued all the way towards the planet's core, heating it up to really dangerous levels. In short, it became highly unstable.
"All units!"air controller said in radio."We're detecting activity in the core! It's gonna explode! Get out of there!"
"On it!"Ester replied."You heard the man! We're getting out of here!"
When last Holy Order fighter fell down, Resistance pilots quickly put their machines in ninety degree position and started burning towards the atmosphere. Within seconds, they crossed the thin barrier between space and inside of the atmosphere.
They quickly made their way towards their ships and, thanks to their hyperspace assist, jumped away from the planet which not long after exploded, due to the instability of it's core. Entire action took no more than three hours.
From all units sent to destroy HO planet-killer, one hundred and thirty one fighters returned. From ten Marines, which infiltrated the base, nine came back alive. Much to everyone's shock, Jessica didn't make it. From what Marines said, she met Kyla on the surface and tried to reach to her. Kyla simply pierced her with her sword and threw into the abyss below them. Even Jess couldn't stand up after this.
But everyone knew, that the sacrifices of this operation were needed to bring the war closer to the end. Remaining strongholds of Holy Order across the Galaxy started falling one after another and everyone knew, that war will be over soon. This, however, loosened their attention.
Two weeks after the attack on HO planet-killer, Holy Order made one last ditch attempt on scoring any kind of victory. They launched a surprise attack on Earth itself, led by three most high-ranking members of the HO: Kyla Dren, High Admiral Barren Kotch and Supreme Leader Broke himself. Kyla and Kotch arrived in their Super Carrier, while Broke arrived in his Overseer, over twenty kilometers wide, wing-shaped moving capital of the HO.
Battle which ensued, was bloody. Forces from all neighboring systems, as well as from inside the Sol System, quickly jumped towards Earth, on which Holy Order Marines landed in several cities all across the globe. However, although it seemed dramatic, Holy Order had no chances of winning.
It became pretty clear, when White Squadron managed to board Dreader and not only kill Kotch, but also subdue Kyla by simply knocking her out. Next, they made sure, that this ship will be returned to HO, by simply ramming it into the Overseer. They quickly evacuated and detonated the core of Super Carrier right next to the core of the giant vessel. Explosion, which followed, simply evaporated entire middle section of Overseer. And just like that, Kyla, Kotch and Broke, were all dead.
When battle was over and last footholds of HO on Earth were eliminated, everything was cleaned and with that done, General Secretary Orcan officially declared the Great Galactic War, the biggest conflict in history of the Milky Way galaxy, which consumed lives of over 140 billion beings, over.
Celebrations started all across the Galaxy. People came to the streets and got rid of any signs of Holy Order presence on their planets. But the reality soon came to them. Rebuilding of what was destroyed will take years. But everyone knew, that if they work together, they shall prevail once more.
Resistance, in the meantime, was not done. Now, because 'Resistance' was not needed anymore, they simply renamed themselves to Coalition. And there was still one more detail they needed to work on.
Special System.
XXX
And poof! Just like that, I ended Great Galactic War within one chapter.
I know that for some of you, it may seem to be a bit rushed, but I just wanted to finally finish this arc and focus on what will happen in Special System. And except of things known from the show, manga and novel, things will happen. Just you wait.
Until then, see ya!