Hello again in another chapter! So, the last chapter of 2021. I still can't believe I made it before the year ended. Horay! Ekhm. Today, yet another arc starts in the story, the one I like to call Crisis Arc. But not like Crisis the game, more like Ichroid Crisis level of crisis. And as you probably guess, King Tyrranius introduced at the end of the last chapter have something to do with that. But what, you will learn when you read on!
So, without extending, let's get going.
Chapter 40
,,Back to nothing"
October 17, 2151
06:02
Araluen
Silence of Araluenian countryside was interrupted by sound of several engines working on full gear. Convoy consisting of three trucks carrying cruise missiles, two APCs and two armored cars was making it's way through dirt roads of the country to the North. Their goal: newly built missile base at the border of Araluen and Picta. Araluenians wanted to make sure, that their eternal Northern foes will not try any attack soon. They even opposed the attempts to make Picta join the Coalition. But HQ decided otherwise and Pictan king was currently talking with Coalition's ambassador.
In one of these trucks sat a Shakayan by the name of Trugr Gorat, a corporal, which everyone thought was doing the best behind the wheel. Nothing strange, considering that he was a truck driver before the war started. He couldn't shoot, couldn't help the wounded and wasn't well organized. Actually, he was forcefully pulled into the military, without him being asked. One thing he will never forgive to the government, although he was one of it's biggest supporters.
For this 'trip', he was literally torn out of his bed and forced to get dressed. He was still very tired and often closed his eyes.
"Hey, Trugr, don't fall asleep."
Shakayan looked to his left and saw his passenger and friend, Bry'Wef, Nashini quartermaster responsible for the missiles they were transporting. They knew each other for over three years already and often spent time on drinking or talking.
"It's not my fault…"Trugr yawned."They got me out of my bed so early…"
"I know that, but look at the road. If we crash, then we're in trouble."Bry stated.
"You mean I AM in trouble. You will probably don't even feel it affect you."
"Come on, why did you became so grumpy lately?"
"You should know."
"Ftruda?"
Trugr groaned. Every time someone called out the name of his wife, he remembered the day he had to leave for the military. There were screams, tears and even threats about divorce. Ultimately, he left, while she probably cried into the pillow or tried to focus her mind on playing with little Juka, his daughter.
"Don't even remind me…"driver sighed."I promised them, that I will be back once the war is over. And?"He moved his arm in a circle."Holy Order is gone and we are here now. Where is this justice I've heard Humans talk so much about?"
"You're a pessimist."
"No, I'm a realist."
"Whatever…"
Bry looked to his left and risen an eyebrow.
"Hey, look at that."quartermaster said, shaking Trugr.
"You told me to look at the road."Trugr growled.
"Yeah, yeah, but look at that…"
Driver sighed and looked in the same direction.
Bright, silver point in the distance was clearly visible in the dark morning. If the didn't see the moon over their heads, they would easily mistake it. It was brighter than the star and surely not that far.
"You ever seen anything like that?"Bry asked.
"No, never before."Trugr admitted.
"What do you think that is?"
"I don't…"
Before Trugr could end his sentence, he noticed one thing, which made him shudder. The strange object was approaching their convoy. Fast. Very, VERY fast.
"What the…?"Bry asked.
His words were interrupted, when silver object literally rammed one of the APCs escorting them. Bright explosion was clearly seen in front of the truck they were driving behind. All vehicles stopped immediately and soldiers started getting out of the surviving APC and cars.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"terrified Bry shouted.
"I have to know?!"equally terrified Trugr shouted back.
But this was just the beginning.
Suddenly, the edge of the forest they were passing by came to life. Strange, blue beams started flying out of the bushes and hitting the Coalition units. Trugr saw, through front window of his cab, as one soldier got his head literally evaporated, when beam hit him. Soldiers quickly started returning fire into the forest, but this didn't seem to do much. More and more soldiers started to fall, hit by the beams.
"We're getting out!"Trugr ordered.
"Are you crazy?! It's hell out there!"Bry protested.
"You rather die in here?!"
This shut the Nashini up. He quickly opened his door and jumped out of the truck, followed by Trugr. Next, using the fact that the vehicle covered them, they ran into the farm field next to the road and laid down on the ground. They watched as some soldiers still fought, but this didn't last long. It became quiet, after some kind of missile hit the second APC in the side, literally turning the vehicle over.
Grim silence fell upon the area. Trugr and Bry still couldn't comprehend what just happened. They were told enemy had no way of truly fighting back against Coalition. These five deaths during Operation: Viper, was just sheer luck for Imps. Then what in the name of everything that was holy just happened here?!
"They simply drove us over…"trembling Bry stated.
"Be quiet."Trugr whispered."Maybe they won't notice us."
"Yeah, you can think that."Bry whispered back.
They were laying like that for few seconds, not moving and saying anything. However, nothing happened.
"You think they let us go?"Nashini asked.
"I doubt it."Shakayan stated.
"Why would someone do that?"
"I think that someone really didn't like the idea of these missiles."
"Pictans?"
"Doubt. They still don't even know, how to use a riffle."
"Then who?"
"If I knew, I would…"
Explosion which engulfed three trucks made the darkness disappear for several seconds, as chippings were flying in all directions, cutting and slashing. Trugr pressed his head into the ground as fast as he could, to evade being hit. When it was over, he looked back at the three vehicles, now burning like bonfires.
"Bry…"he said.
No answer.
"Hey, Bry…"
Trugr fell silent, when he looked at his friend. Nashini was laying motionless on the ground, with wide open eyes and piece of truck's body piercing his head right between the eyes. Blue blood started to trickle out of the wound onto the ground.
Shakayan just started trembling, when he heard a sound similar to the one made by rotor blades on helicopters. He looked up and his jaw dropped. Hovering above his head, was a silver machine, with big, streamline hull and four engine gondolas, with rotors on them. Driver watched as it flew over him, amazed.
Because of that, he didn't notice a single, almost two meter tall, human-like figure approaching him. Figure was dressed in some kind of armor, just like Imperial soldiers, with helmet with small orifice on top. A blue visor was only thing, which allowed to notice it's existence, as it's black gear almost completely made it invisible.
Figure aimed a shotgun-looking weapon at Trugr and pulled the trigger. Blue beam literally evaporated upper half of his body, leaving bloody mist in the air.
"This is Tiir 1-1."figure said in radio."Targets eliminated. None survivors."
"Understood. Let's go back."pilot of the flying machine replied.
Soon, machine touched down and opened back ramp, allowing squad of ten soldier to pack onto it. They disappeared as if they never existed, leaving only death and destruction behind. As they always did.
October 19
11:03
Fort Terhis, Command Room
Admiral Frederick Richards stood in front of the holo-table, with his eyes decorated by black circles. He's been up for nearly twenty four hours. All because of report sent two days ago by Joint Staff in Araluen. The attack and destruction of convoy transporting missiles was something, which shocked everyone in the base. Nobody could perform such operation, except them. Some people started accusing Tertans, only because of Federation's situation, but it was quickly silenced. After that, two more accidents happened. First, was an attack on training camp in Kingdoms Coalition, where around fifty people have died, entire garrison at the time. Second, crash of Heavy Dropship in Kingdoms of West; damage clearly shown, that it was shot down.
Still, the search for culprits continued and because nobody survived the attacks, they had no clues or traces to hook up on.
"Admiral?"one of analysts asked.
"Hm?"Richards growled.
"This came just few minutes ago."
Saying that, he gave a tablet to the admiral.
"What is it?"
"A report from Western Orisia. Someone blew up an ammo depot near Akropolis. Some of our and Orisian soldiers died or were wounded."
"Motherfuckers…"
Admiral slammed the tablet into the table, almost breaking both. Analyst jumped, seeing irritation on admiral's face.
"Can you tell me one thing? How is that even possible? Until now, nobody was able to inflict any death casualties on us, except some lucky bastards during Viper. Then how the hell is someone now destroying our hardware wherever we look?!"
Silence fell around, as everyone in the room, Humans, Nashini, Tertans, Chakdrik and Shakayans, and some other races alike, didn't know what to answer. Some had their own theories, but didn't want to share them with the others. For personal security reasons.
This silence was interrupted by the door opening. Pina and Hamilton slowly approached the angry admiral and stood next to him.
"Can I take some of your time, admiral?"she asked.
"Of course."he said."What is it?"
"Hamilton."
Younger knight nodded and pressed something on her tablet. Soon, holo-table came to life, showing another list of names.
"These are the names of my, let's say it, spies across the continent and beyond."Pina explained.
"And?"Richards asked.
Hamilton again pressed something and half of the names were marked in red.
"By the last two days since the attack on the convoy, half of them stopped responding or simply disappeared. We don't know why and how, but it's not normal."former princess continued.
"It actually isn't…But are you sure they didn't simply move or were bought by someone else?"Richards speculated.
"These were some of the most loyal people I managed to find. I doubt they would do it."
"Well, seems like Princess Cocktail isn't the only one with that problem."
Everyone looked in the direction of analyst responsible for ICTA operations on the planet. He stood up from his chair and approached Richards.
"What do you mean?"Pina asked. She didn't even get mad, when someone called her by that nickname.
"Guess what? I just saw signals of five of our ICTA cells vanish from my screen."analyst replied.
Everyone's jaws dropped.
"You serious?"Richards asked.
"Yes. Three in Falmart, one in Gernea and one in Orisia. They simply stopped operating."
"Maybe it's just a mechanical failure?"Hamilton guessed.
"These were new devices, brought there just a week ago."analyst swept the theory away.
Everyone around the table looked at each other. Whatever was happening, it was getting serious. It wasn't normal for spy cells to simply stop responding, because reasons. Admiral crossed his arms.
"Ladies and gentlemen."he started."Something we're not fully aware of is unfolding in front of our eyes. And whatever it is, it's something aimed right at us."
"You think it might have something to do with Sadera?"Pina asked.
After Operation: Viper, Coalition expected response from the Empire. They waited for another great army to march in, trying to be intimidating. Instead, they got long period of silence. Even during Operation: Galactic Liberation, when African Union was sending scout units into the continent, there were some skirmishes with Imperials. And now, even this stopped happening. Drones flying over Saderan cities and other important places pointed by Pina shown nothing. Something was in the air.
Alarm, which blazed across the Command Room, torn everyone out of their thoughts.
"What the hell?"Pina asked.
"Admiral, incoming emergency video-call from Italica!"another analyst shouted.
"Give it on the screen!"Richards ordered.
Analyst nodded and turned to her console. She pressed some buttons and soon, the screen showed what it had to show.
More precisely, it shown concerned face of Chakdrik garrison commander, with burning buildings behind. Sound of machine guns and riffles clattering was mixed with sounds of energy weapons being fired.
"This is lieutenant colonel Vixran Graela to Fort Terhis!"Chakdrik exclaimed."Italica is under attack, I repeat, Italica is under attack!"
"Calm down, lieutenant colonel!"Richards ordered."Who is attacking and how?!"
"We don't know! They look like Imps, but holy fuck, they have lasers and flying machines now!"Graela shouted.
Everyone widened their eyes.
"What are you talking about?!"Pina shouted.
"I'm telling what I see!"Graela shouted back.
"What about the Parliament in Exile?"Hamilton asked.
"We're currently securing their evacuation! Countess and her maids are also leaving!"An explosion was heard."There is no chance we're gonna keep this city! There are too many of them and they have air superiority! Damn it!"
Colonel threw away the device he was talking to and stood up, to fire at someone invisible because of the rubble that was laying around. It didn't last long, though, as colonel was hit right in the head, which evaporated, and his body fell on the ground.
Soon, the attackers came into view. Clad in armor similar to the one used by Imperial legionaries, with blue visor and shotgun-like weapon, they marched forward, not caring about the device they passed and bodies they left. Everyone could even see some shots land perfectly on them, but not doing almost any damage, just stunning them. Over their heads, four-rotor machine flew, firing blue beams from gun placed under it's chin.
People in Command Room just watched the transmission with dropped jaws, unable to comprehend what they were just seeing.
"Terminate the link."Richards ordered and soon, the screen turned black.
Silence hung the room, as nobody knew how to comment the situation. But this didn't last long…
"Sir…"
"What?"admiral turned in that direction.
"Emergency message from Araluen. Unknown forces just attacked Castle Araluen and Castle Redmont. Evacuation is underway."
"Reports from Kingdoms Coalition, all capitals under attack."
"Akropopolis requesting backup, enemy troops landed in the city."
"Message from King Casir, his capital just underwent an air raid. Enemy is approaching from the South."
More and more reports about sudden attacks started flowing in. Admiral looked in all directions at analysts were running with tablets and datapads, trying to quickly take care of the situation, which clearly started getting out of control.
"Sir!"another analyst shouted with fear.
"What now?"
"AA radars detecting incoming hostile objects!"
"Are they really hostile?"Pina asked.
"There are over two hundred of them and are all coming towards Alnus, not responding to our calls!"same analyst shouted back."Yes, they're hostile!"
"Admiral, captain Tyuule on the line!"
"Patch her through!"
Soon, familiar voice of former Battle Queen was heard across the room:
"Admiral, we have bad news. Some strange, blue balls just appeared in the orbit."
"Say what?"confused Richards asked. Not only everything on the ground was going to shit, now something was happening in the orbit.
"Allow us to show…"
After she said that, the same screen as before was now showing live transmission from Selene. Tyuule was right. There were three blue balls, seemingly made of pure energy, hanging out in planet's orbit.
"What are those?"Hamilton asked.
"We have no idea, but…"Tyuule stopped."Holy shit! One of them is moving!"
She was right, one of the blue balls suddenly turned and in lighting speed flew towards the surface of the planet. In the place it impacted, which was Blue Sea, they saw large, blue flash of light.
"What in the world…?"Pina asked.
"S-Sir…"analyst pale as wall said.
Richards just nodded at him.
"Report from captain Goodluck of African Union maritime ship Congo…They just witnessed that thing impacting. It evaporated area of water with diameter of one hundred kilometers…"
"Any casualties?"admiral asked.
"No, but…that's not it…"
Analyst turned around and looked at them with empty eyes.
"The Naval Gate was in the impact radius and…it's gone…"
"Gone?"shocked Pina asked."Like, GONE gone?"
"It simply ceased to exist…"
Unified, shocked and terrified gasp filled the air upon hearing those news. Naval Gate was the only way they could bring ships in here and without it, it simply became impossible. They just got kicked in the balls even harder.
"Oh no…"Tyuule said.
"What's going on?"Richards quickly turned to her.
"The other two…they are…"
The screen showed remaining two balls shifting and changing positions. Soon, they shot towards Hope and Selene. Right before impact, screen went dark.
"Captain? Are you there? Tyuule?"Pina asked.
Silence was the only reply. Everyone shuddered. If whoever attacked them just now had the ability to strike from orbit, they were fucked. Simply fucked, without looking for less vulgar word.
"The objects are closing in."analyst that detected the approaching objects said."They split into two groups. One is coming towards Alnus Field, it should be clearly visible."
Admiral, former princess and her companion quickly approached the windows, which were directed in the direction of Alnus field and Gate. And they actually saw a group of silver objects approaching at high speed.
"What are they gonna do? Can we shoot them down?"Richards asked.
"No idea. They are going too fast for our missiles to impact them."
Admiral bit his lip and watched the group of unknown objects approaching. It took them only few minutes. Objects started turning towards the ground and not long after, they all heard row of one hundred explosions, as objects collided with hangars, fighters and dropships, changing them into burnign husks. Crew of the airfield tried to respond somehow, but were also consumed by the explosions tearing the installation apart.
When all objects did their job, only thing left after Alnus Field was one, giant pile of smoke coming up in the air. No one even bothered to call for any services. Something like that couldn't be survived by anyone.
"Dear Gods…"Pina said, covering her mouth from shock.
"What about the second group?"Richards asked.
"It's still on the move…"analyst replied.
"Target?"
"We're not sure. But…"
Suddenly, she paled.
"Sir…Their goal is…"
"Yes?"
"It's Ga…"
Before she could finish, second group of silver objects appeared in place of the previous one and turned in their direction, filling the Command Room with panic. But instead of going straight for them, objects turned to something, which was the true heart of Fort Terhis and all operations in Special System….
The Gate.
Metal dome did nothing. First party of objects torn the construction apart, allowing the remaining ones to take care of the very thing it protected. The stone construction alone was an easy picking. More and more objects rammed into it, breaking it into smaller pieces. Earth was shaking, as objects hit the ground, throwing some people off their legs. Not long after, Gate became nothing more, that smoking crater.
Everyone became speechless, trying to comprehend what just happened.
"Sir…the Gate is…destroyed…"analyst said.
"I can see that…"Richards said, slowly standing up, after the shaking threw him onto the ground.
He gritted his teeth. Everything just went to hell. They were easily dealing with the Empire, winning this war, in search for justice for the ones killed in the attack on Terhis City and now, without Gate allowing them to contact the Milky Way, they were completely fucked. Just fucked, from the lack of better word.
"Admiral…"analyst responsible for air control said.
"Now what?!"
"More enemy contacts detected. They are bigger and slower than the previous objects. Probably enemy transports."
"Our AAA?"
"None responding. Probably also destroyed."
Richards looked at Pina and everyone else in the Command Room. He took a deep breath and turned to the communications officer.
"Comms?"he said.
"Yes, admiral?"officer asked.
"Is there any jamming?"
"No, sir."
"Establish a connection with any possible frequency, all over the planet."
"Of course."
Not long after, the connection was established. It happened just as shapes of approaching transports appeared on the horizon.
"You can speak, sir."
"This is admiral Frederick Richards to all Coalition troops across the planet! You are to spread out as thinly as possible and keep a low profile! Both Gates are destroyed, we are cut off from Milky Way! Try and keep away from villages and towns! I hope that all of you will get to safety and…"
Admiral's voice was stuck in his throat. Pina looked at his face and saw a tear going down his cheek.
"…and I wish you all good luck."
Comms officer ended the transmission and everyone turned towards Richards. Fred looked at them all with empty eyes, showing nothing else than fear.
"We lost…"he whispered.
First enemy transports started touching down…
Two hours later…
50 kilometers away from Alnus
Vehicles of Third Recon were making their way down the dirt road leading towards Fort Terhis. Land Rover, Catcher, Fennek, Leopard 5, AMX-40 RC and LUE-11 were slowly coming back from a mission they were sent on few days ago, near the border between Empire and uninhabited terrains. Uninhabited by Humans, that is. These terrains were real heaven for trolls, goblins and other similar things. And few days ago, someone came to Fort Terhis saying, that their village is being constantly attacked by a bunch of trolls. Third Recon was the first to answer the call and now, they were coming back after eliminating the troll danger.
Ester stretched in her seat in Land Rover.
"Man, am I happy we're going."she said.
"Yeah, that entire thing was too stressful…"Liz stated."Remember, when that troll threw a rock into the LR?"
"Yeah, and how you pissed your pants!"Suvi said.
Everyone in the Land Rover laughed, causing Liz to pout.
"I almost died back there…"she mumbled.
"Oh, come on, Liz."Tuka said."It's just a joke."
As always, Rory, Lelei, Tuka and Yao had to tag along the with rest of the group. And their help while fighting a herd of trolls was pretty handful.
"Besides, is it bad to have a laugh from time to time?"Arlette asked.
During running from a troll, she broke her leg and Fatima demanded her to get into Land Rover with them.
"By the way, how is that leg?"Ester asked.
"Pretty good. I applied the bone gel and it should be healed soon."Fatima replied.
"Good to hear that."Liz admitted.
They were driving in complete silence for few more minutes, before Ester's radio came to life with Dora's voice:
"Ester. I can see a column of allied vehicles incoming."
"How many?"Ester asked.
"Ten. Some trucks and APCs. A platoon worth of soldiers."
Everyone in Land Rover looked at each other, confused by the situation. Why would they send an entire platoon in that direction? Everything was dealt with, so there was no need to send forces in the direction of uninhabited lands.
White Squadron leader changed the channel to internal channel of the team.
"This is Ester to everyone, pull over to the side. We have friendly platoon incoming."
"Copy that."everyone replied.
Vehicles pulled over to the side of the road and Ester came out of the car. She stood on the side and started waving at the approaching troops. They noticed her and as soon as they approached them, vehicles stopped on the other side.
It was at this moment, that Ester noticed one thing. Some of these vehicles had some parts missing and sooting on their armor. And a few soldiers sitting on top of APCs' roofs seemed, as if they were veterans of millions of battles, with empty eyes and damaged equipment. They just looked in one direction, not saying anything.
Suddenly, the door at one of the trucks opened and UNSA Army major jumped out. He approached Ester quickly.
"What are you doing here?"he asked.
"I could as you the same."Ester replied.
Major laughed.
"We? We are getting as far as fuckingly possible!"he answered.
Ester risen her eyebrow and looked back at Liz sitting behind the wheel. She just threw up her arms and White Squadron leader turned back to Major.
"But why?"she asked.
"Didn't you hear orders?"surprised Major asked back.
Ester looked away.
"Well…We wanted some peace on the way back, so we just turned off all our radios…"she replied.
"Well, lucky ones…"Major hissed."Well, I have good news for you! We are all fucked here!"
At this point, all soldiers of Third Recon left their vehicles and stood behind Ester. They looked at Major with confusion.
"Fucked in what way?"Dora asked.
"We're cut off! Both Gates gone, all our forces attacked, all across the planet! Fucked in that way!"
This information made everyone wide-eye, even aliens. From all things they expected to hear today, this information was not one of them. Major looked at them with confusion.
"Fuck, you really didn't hear…"he hissed again.
"But wait, start from the beginning, please."Ester tried to calm down the situation.
"Sure. Two days ago, something blew up our missile convoy in Araluen."Major started."And today, everything went to shit. I was in Command Room, talking to my commander, when reports that all our troops across the planet were attacked started flooding in, fuck, even Italica has fallen not too long ago!"
"WHAT?!"members of White Squadron exclaimed.
"Yeah, as I tell you. Ships in orbit reported of three energy balls appearing and soon, one of them fell on Naval Gate and other two targeted our ships. Then, Alnus Field and first Gate were bombed by swarm of silver…things! Then, enemy transports appeared and dropped troops! They had some…strange, beam-firing shotguns that evaporated parts of your body, armor similar to a hoplite or Roman legionary and rotor-moved flying machines, like helicopters… We barely made it out! I know it's hard to believe, but what you see before you, used to be a mechanized regiment."
Third Recon members looked at ten vehicles and shuddered at the very thought, of what the hell happened at Alnus.
"It's true?"Aqi asked.
"You think I'm kidding?!"Major replied.
"Okay, sorry…"Tertan lifted her hands in defensive gesture."But…where are you going now?"
"Where are we going? Last order from Richards was 'spread out and keep a low profile'. So that's what we gonna do! You can join us, if you want."
"No, thanks. We can do on our own."Ester answered.
"Sure, whatever. We, on the other hand, are getting the fuck out. Peace!"
Major ran back to his truck and got back inside. Column soon was on the move again, lead away with the eyes of Third Recon. After they disappeared behind the nearest group of hills, they all looked at each other.
"You think what he said is true?"Lon asked.
"Considering how they all looked?"Prixin, new Chakdrik in their team, replied."I don't have reasons not to believe them."
"Yeah, me too."Rory stated."I could feel nothing more than true fear from him."
"So…what do we do now?"Emiko asked shyly.
Ester turned back and looked at soldiers under her command. Some still had stern faces, but most were rather scared, uneasy or worried. Situation just turned around by 180 degree really fast and none of them knew what to do now.
White Squadron leader took a deep breath.
"Dora."she said.
"Yes?"Dora replied.
"I want you to scout the situation. Find a hiding spot near Alnus, turn optical camo on and contact me when you do it."
Dora saluted and nodded.
"Will do."
Next, she turned around and made her way to the Fennek, with others that used the vehicle alongside her. The engine was turned on and everyone watched the vehicle drive off into the unknown.
"You think it's a good idea?"Fatima asked.
"We need to have the bigger picture of how it looks."Ester explained.
"I just hope they'll be okay."Lena said.
"Me too…"
Her eyes again turned to the others.
"Return to your vehicles and await further orders."she ordered.
"Yes, sir."everyone said, but without energy this time.
After everyone was in their respective vehicles, the waiting started. As they waited, they tried to focus on something else. Some played games on their terminals, others were reading, while some started looking in the air, trying to make sure no flying surprise will suddenly obliterate them. After hearing what they heard, this was more than possible to happen.
Ester was looking through her ammo, when information about incoming call reached her.
"What is it, Dora?"she asked after answering the call.
"We're near Alnus, hidden."Dora replied."I can see Fort Terhis and…Wait, I'll put a live transmission through."
Silence fell on the other side for few seconds. Not long after, the live transmission appeared on the screen.
Fort Terhis had multiple smoke piles over it, with some fires visible in it's further parts. Some of the walls were cracked and had giant holes in them, while muffled sounds of gunfire were heard, coming from afar. The air was filled with strange flying machines and multiple figures were standing in the field before the hill, in formations. Alnustown was no better. As much smoke as at the base.
"My God…"Liz gasped.
"This is bad…very bad…"Suvi stated.
"Orders, Ester?"Dora asked.
White Squadron leader watched the transmission for few more seconds, before letting out another sigh.
"Come back to us. We're also getting out of the area."she ordered.
"Understood."Dora replied and the call ended.
Everyone in the Land Rover looked at Ester with surprise.
"What? We're running, just like that?"Yao asked.
"Why?"Tuka joined.
"You saw how it looked out there."Ester answered."And there are only slightly over twenty of us. What can we do against an entire army?"
"You have me."Rory stated.
"I know, but…Don't be mad. I doubt even you could stand a chance against them."
Hearing this, Rory pouted like a little kid.
"You say I'm weak?"she asked.
"Not at all. But remember what that guy said?"Here, Ester pointed in the direction Major's column left."Thy have weapons that evaporate you. What if you got hit in the head? Can you regenerate an entire head?"
"Single parts or reattaching it, yes…But not completely regrowing it."Apostle replied.
"See? That's what I mean."Ester stated.
"So…what now?"Lelei asked.
"You heard the last order. Spread out and keep a low profile. That's what we gonna do. After Dora comes back, we're gonna hide."
"And then?"Arlette asked.
Ester needed few seconds to find an answer to that.
"Then? Then, we shall see."she finally said.
Ester said the same thing to all other soldier and they waited. When Fennek came back, they simply turned around and left.
15:32
Fort Terhis ruins
Emperor Molt felt as if he was in heaven, looking at everything before him. He subconsciously smiled, seeing the slaughter Otherworlders received. Blood of various colors, red, blue, purple, green and others mixed with mud, as he slowly marched through the destroyed fortress, surrounded by guards, Zorzal, Diablo and Tyrranius. Finally, the invaders received the punishment from Gods, just as he always dreamed.
"Look at them…"Zorzal said.
The looked in the same direction as him and saw several Otherworlder prisoners being led by Imperial soldiers, now wearing ceramic-titanium armor and helmets, with in-built HUDs, carrying evapguns in their hands. Emperor and his sons were wearing similar armors, but without helmets. All of these things, including flying machines, was given to Sadera by Clan Ektrim, which also trained Imperial soldiers in how to use them.
"Look how pathetic they are now."Zorzal smiled."They seemed so powerful, undefeated…"
"And now…"Diablo summed.
Molt looked at King Tyrranius.
"King Tyrranius, we are grateful for your help."he said."We really appreciate it."
"It was in our best interests to eliminate them."Tyrranius replied."They were danger also to us."
"And what about other attacks, because I had no occasion to ask?"
"My men did it quickly. Akropolis, Castle Araluen and Zhirovo are all ours."
"Magnificent."
"And what about the nations, which, as you said, decided to negotiate with Otherworlders?"Diablo asked.
Tyrranius smiled.
"We send them our envoys, demanding to give us their diplomats. They complied without asking."he replied.
"And good that they did."Zorzal nodded."Now, father…"
"You can go."
Crown Prince smiled and quickly left, walking in the direction of Alnustown. Because it was infested with demi-humans and other non-humans, Saderan soldiers quickly went to action, killing, robbing and raping. And Zorzal hoped to at least get a bit of the last one.
After Crown Prince left, Diablo approached a Human body laying on the ground. It's left leg, as well as part of left side of torso were evaporated, causing the victim to quickly bleed out, if it wasn't finished earlier. He grabbed the helmet and slowly pulled it off. Immediately, he was greeted with wave of curly, brown hair.
He grabbed the hair and lifted the head. Because the helmet covered entire head, he could clearly looked into shocked eyes of young woman, no older than twenty five. Her face was frozen in shocked expression. Prince also noticed something peeking out of one of her pockets attached to her vest. He pulled it out and opened the leather item.
Inside were some stiff cards and behind transparent window, he could see three photos. One showed the same woman, smiling brightly and holding a child in her hands. He had to admit, she was really beautiful when she was alive. He pulled out the picture and looked on it's second side. There, he saw something written: 'Little Filip's third birthday'. This must have been her child, probably. On other two photos, he could see a young man, around the same age as the woman and picture of the same child as on the other photo.
"What cruel fate brought you here?"Diablo thought in sudden melancholy.
"Diablo."Molt said.
"Yes, father?"prince replied, laying woman's head down and hiding the picture of her and child in his pocket.
"What are you doing? You pity them?"Emperor asked.
"No, of course not."
"Good. Because we're leaving. When we're back, prepare your best attire."
Prince risen his eyebrow.
"What for?"
"You don't know?"Molt cheered."We need to give our allies of Clan Ektrim the best possible banquet possible! To celebrate our joint victory over the enemy!"
"Of course, father."
"Let's go then."King Tyrranius said.
The three, in company of their guards, quickly went in the direction, where their personal flying machine waited. After Zorzal returned to them, the machine took off and flew back to Sadera, where celebrations took place later that day.
XXX
And done! Chapter shorter than normally, but clearly showing, what kind of situation did Coalition Forces just landed in. Gates are gone, Saderans and Ektrims managed to fight them off and they are now on the run. Pretty crappy time, isn't it? However, they need to find a way to fight back, because they will never give up on fighting so easily.
But that's it for now. Goodbye and see you in 2022!