Hello again. Gamer here.
Welcome back to The Will of Resistance, Crisis Arc. Last time, we saw Diablo pretty much giving himself in to Coalition's troops, as well as bringing them a new toy in form of Alantian whirlwing. And because they have the enemy machine, the time has come to use it to their advantage.
But first, reviews:
To Supreme Supra: Pretty much yes.
Okay, with this one out of the way, let's it started.
Chapter 42
,,Comms online"
November 6, 2151
19:54
Hideout
After over an hour of talking, Ester left the tent pretty much content with what she heard and already with plan forming in her head.
"How did it go?"Dora asked.
White Squadron leader jumped up and turned around, seeing her girlfriend leaning on the tent.
"Jesus Christ, never scare me like that!"she exclaimed.
"Sorry."Dora lifted her hands in defensive gesture."But tell me, how did it all go?"
"It went…better than expected."Ester replied."He really told me a lot. Don't know, which is true, but t least we have something to start from."
"So, are you gonna tell us now, or…"
"Get everyone to the command tent."
"Right on it."
The two went in separate directions, Ester to command tent, Dora to get everyone there.
Half an hour later, everyone was gathered in the command tent, awaiting what Ester had to show them. She approached the holo-table and started pressing some buttons on it's control console, bringing out the holographic presentation of the planet.
"So, what did our 'guest' say?"Tru asked.
"A lot. Probably everything we need to know about our new enemy."Ester replied."But for now, let's cover the basics."
She stepped in front of the holo-table and looked at everyone.
"I'll start from the basics. Our new enemy, which gave Saderans all these toys and shit, are a group of people called Alantians. Or, more precisely, a group in this group, known as Clan Ektrim."
At this moment, a hand shot into the air.
"Where did they come from, if that's not a secret?"Human Marine asked.
"According to prince Diablo, so our new guest, they have numerous cities and other settlements on and off the coast of fourth continent of the planet, known to the Alentians as Treruna."
As she said that, she pressed some buttons on the console and blue rim appeared around the coast of said continent.
"If that's the case"Arlette said"then how come we didn't know about them?"
"Apparently, they were using some kind of super-advanced cloaking technology, which made their cities pretty much undetectable. I was also told, that this highly-advanced technology was given to them by their gods, but I have no idea if it's true or some kind of legend."
"So…you're saying, that they were here, all this time and we didn't even know that?"Louise asked.
"Pretty much yes."Ester nodded."But they observed our movements and as we started making allies and expanding, they felt endangered and decided to completely erase us from the planet. In this, they didn't do well."
Everyone grinned, but quickly stopped, as they remembered, that their situation still was shit.
"Not to mention the drones."Ester continued.
"Drones?"Shakayan captain asked.
"Drones are silver disks used by Alantians as missiles, smart bombs and such. They're often used in huge swarms."
"I think I remember something like that from Fort Terhis…"Human corporal said.
"There are also two locations, which he revealed to us."She pressed the buttons on console and soon, two dots appeared on the holographic globe."These are our current points of interest."
"What are those?"Jackie asked.
Ester smirked.
"You ever wondered, why comms went down so suddenly across the entire planet?"she asked.
"Yes. That was pretty weird."Yao admitted.
White Squadron leader pointed at red dot in somewhere in the Great Ocean.
"According to Diablo, this location is some kind of jamming facility, with planet-wide range."she explained."Without it, Ektrims won't be able to control and jam our communications."
Everyone started murmuring and whispering between each other. This could be their chance to finally truly strike back at the new enemy and to find out, if there was someone else still around the planet.
"Also, we might not be alone."Ester said.
"What?"Louise asked.
"Diablo also said, that there are other groups attacking Saderans and Alantians across the planet."
"Hell yeah!"someone exclaimed, but seeing others' eyes, calmed down."Sorry."
Yuko's hand went into the air.
"What is it, Yuko?"Ester turned to her.
"What is this second point?"She pointed at second dot, much closer to the coast of Treruna.
Smirk appeared on Ester's face.
"This"she said"is the location of Clan Ektrim's capital city of Trar."
A unified gasp escaped everyone's mouths.
"Holy crap…"Ana said.
"So, what is our current plan?"Tertan major asked.
"Our current plan is simple. I want to take my team and scout these places, just in case we would need to attack them."
"Sounds good enough."the same Tertan said."Our only option, in fact."
"Exactly."Arlette said.
"Okay, you all can go."Ester dismissed them."Take care of our base, while we're gone."
All commanders, as well as Rory, Lelei, Tuka and Yao nodded, turned around and left the tent, leaving only members of White Squadron inside, as well as all other personnel.
"Alright, what exactly is your plan, except of scouting?"Lena asked.
"That's my best plan. We would need more people to come up with something bigger. And more forces."
"Can't argue with that."Jackie nodded.
Then, Ester looked at Yuko again.
"Yuko."
"Yes?"
"Can you act as our pilot for this scouting mission?"
"Oh, um…Sure…"
White Squadron leader risen her eyebrow, seeing her friend's face suddenly unsure. Others also noticed this.
"What is it?"Dora asked.
"I…"Yuko squirmed."Well…Because it's a fact now, that there are more of us, then maybe…just maybe…"
"Seyi?"Fatima asked.
"Yeah…"the Japanese sighed.
Everyone knew, that Yuko was worried about her step-sister. Now, it was official, as before coming back to Special System, she went to Japan and took care of everything that needed to be done and now, Seyi officially become a member of Hagamoki family. But, instead of leaving her with her parents back home, she just couldn't refuse catgirl's demands of staying with Yuko in Special System, knowing, that she will be safe in Fort Terhis, while Yuko was on missions.
This whole thing went to hell, when Alantians hit and screwed everything up and Yuko had no idea, what happened with Seyi. She just hoped, that catgirl got out with some of retreating troops. She just had to hope.
Since then, Yuko became less talkative and certainly tried to mask her anxiety with smiles and giggles. But everyone knew, how she really felt.
Suvi put her hand on Yuko's arm.
"Don't worry."she said."I'm sure she's okay."
"I want to believe it, but…I just don't want to think about it…"Yuko shuddered."I promise, that if something happened to her, I'll rip every single Saderan and Alantian to shreds…"
Slight chill came through everyone's backs.
"For now, just focus on the whirlwing. We don't need to crash after all."Ester pointed out.
"Of course."Yuko quickly regained her composure."You can count on me."
"Good. Get your guns and we can go."
"Wait."Jackie said."I thought, that we're going on this mission tomorrow."
"No, we're going today."
Silence hung in the air.
"It's better to do it fast, or who knows what happens."White Squadron leader stated.
White Squadron sighed.
"Well. Seems like we can't argue against that."Aqi said with a sneer.
"Just admit you also want to repay these fuckers for what they did."Dora said.
Right then, Liz's hand shot in the air.
"What is it, Liz?"Ester turned to her.
"I know it may sound a bit selfish of me"the British said"but I would like to stay here and question the prince."
Ester nodded.
"Sure, if you have to."she replied.
"And I would like Emiko to stay, too. As my assistant."
"No problem."
"Thanks."
The two turned around and left the tent.
"Okay, the rest of you, get ready. We're going in twenty minutes."Ester ordered.
They all agreed and quickly walked out of the command tent. On the way out, Ester looked around and saw Lelei walking around.
"Lelei."she called out to her.
"Yes?"young mage asked, as she stood in front of Ester.
"I need you to take off the magical cover from the whirlwing."
"On it."
Lelei then proceeded to take off the cover, while White Squadron loaded onto the whirlwing. Not long after, the machine was in the air.
22:32
Sadera, Imperial Palace
Once more this day, King Tyrranius was walking down the corridor of Imperial Palace in Sadera, as he was called by Emperor Molt in, as he called it, 'very important matter, which couldn't wait'.
"I swear, if it's something trivial again…"he murmured.
He stood in front of the Throne Room door and looked at two guards standing on the sides.
"Open."he ordered.
The two bowed and opened the door for him. He walked inside and saw soldiers and analysts running around, while Emperor and Crown Prince Zorzal walked in circles around the holo-table, with their hands behind their backs. They had worried expressions and looked as they really didn't know what to do.
Molt looked towards him and immediately ran up to Tyrranius.
"Tyrranius, it's great you're here!"he said.
"Hold your horses, Molt."Tyrranius groaned."I swear, I was just about to finally finish this deal on healing pods, when you decided to again ruin everything, calling me here, probably in…"
"My brother is gone."Zorzal said.
Silence fell between the three, as King Tyrranius, completely confused, surprised by this unexpected news.
"What?"king finally asked.
"Several hours ago, my son, Diablo, decided to join one of the patrols."Molt Started explaining."And few hours after they left off, they simply disappeared, with the whole machine."
"I'm sure it's these Otherworlder remains. They must have done something."Zorzal stated.
Tyrranius sighed. In fact, this news was not great, especially considering, how important prince was in Sadera, owning a lot of iron mines, which also benefited Alantians, as they needed iron to make their armor and vehicles. And without the prince, there was no iron and no materials to fuel the factories.
"Can't you find look for him by yourself?"Tyrranius asked.
"You know we can, as we need to take care of all these rebels that still hide in our lands."Zorzal protested.
King shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I can't spare any forces."
"What do you mean you can't?!"Molt exploded.
"Simple. I heard, that some of other clans might be scheming against Ektrims."
"Why would they?"Crown Prince asked.
"We gave you half of our arsenal. We made numerous enemies by the centuries and many would like to use our moment of weakness to take over from us."
"But…"Emperor wanted to say.
"No 'buts'."Tyrranius raised hand."Besides, instead of taking care of enemy remains, I also have to make myself some allies, if worst happens and other clans attack us. Sorry."
King could clearly see both Emperor and his son twitching on faces, as they listened to what he had to say. The truth was, Ektrims had enough power to deal with both possible enemy clans, as well as help in the search. But in king's mind, this was just not their problem. Maybe if Tyrranius' son, Tireus, gone missing, he would care. But he knew this will never gonna happen, as Tireus was too focused on taking care of cheap prostitutes or drinking in taverns of Trar.
Also, if Saderans really wanted to keep their place as partners and allies of Alantian Clans, they had to show their worth. At the beginning, it king thought it was a good idea to support Saderans and Soutlanders. But after some time, he started thinking, that it would be just much better to attack them and take them over. Which he had to consider, after Otherworlders were gone.
"Is that all?"Tyrranius asked.
He could see the hatred and trembling of Molt, but ultimately, Saderan Emperor sighed.
"Yes. You can go and take care of these pods…"he said.
"Thank you."King turned around and left.
"Father, we can't…!"Zorzal protested.
"No. If he doesn't want to help us, then let it be. We'll show him, that he was wrong."
They watched king leave the Throne Room and after that, they just returned to their own tings.
November 7
07:03
Great Ocean
Entire journey to supposed jamming station took them the whole night. As it turned out, the machine was pretty fast, although being powered by the rotors, not any form of jet engines. However, on their way, they had to sometimes keep low, as other enemy patrols passed by. Fortunately, none of them seemed to care about missing machine, flying around like if it was nothing.
On the way, members of White Squadron tried to do anything to kill some time, as sound rotors was the only thing, that accompanied them.
"You heard about that new Bond movie?"Suvi asked.
"The one with Felix Shawn?"Ana asked.
"Yeah, that one. What do you think?"
"I dunno…It doesn't seem very realistic to me."Lena shrugged.
Everyone turned towards her.
"A super-spy movie unrealistic? You just discovered America…"Arlette stated.
"Come on, the guy runs around Siberia in nothing but his suit, then goes to Japan and nobody turns an eye!"squadron's mechanic exclaimed."He should smell as if he actually bathed in dog's shit!"
"I liked it, actually."Aqi added.
The conversation about whether or not realism was part of Her Majesty's Agent adventures continued, as Ester listened, leaned against the wall. But as it started going into talking about which actor was better, Shawn or Fredricksen, she simply went to the cockpit. There, Yuko and Dora were making sure, that this machine won't fall off the sky.
"How are you?"Ester asked.
"Good."Yuko replied."Although, Dora doesn't seem to understand what I'm teaching her here."
"I'm just responsible for guns, don't say anything else."Dora pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah."the Japanese shrugged.
Ester looked at the radar on Yuko's left.
"Any luck?"she asked.
"None. If that jamming facility exists, it's probably well hidden."
"So that means, that the guy simply lied to us."White Squadron 2IC stated."I'll have a talk with him after we're back…"
"Do, if I let you hurt anyone you wanted, there would be nobody else to fight but us."Ester said.
This made Dora stop talking.
"Wait…"Yuko said."I got it!"
"That was sudden."White Squadron leader stated.
"Look!"
Ester leaned over Yuko's shoulder and saw, that she was right. There was a radar spike several kilometers in front of them.
"What is it?"she asked.
"System classified it as an island."Yuko replied, looking at screen, displaying some words in Saderan.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. And also…it shows, that there is something on that island."
"Can you tell, what is it?"Dora asked.
"No, the radar doesn't tell what that is. Only that something is."
Squadron leader and her deputy looked at each other.
"Is there a place, where we can land?"Ester asked.
"I'll try and find some…Why do you ask?"Yuko replied.
"If you can't check it with the radar, then we will just see it with our own eyes."
"If you say so."
Not long after, the island appeared in their sight and they quickly flew over it. For the next fifteen minutes or so, Yuko was searching for a good place to land the big whirlwing. It didn't take them long to find a clearing big enough, so their machine could land and slowly touched down, opening the back ramp.
Ester entered the transport compartment and grabbed her riffle.
"Okay, people. Our radar detected something on that island. I'm going to investigate. Someone want to go with me?"she said.
"Can I?"Suvi asked.
"No!"everyone shouted.
Suvi immediately threw up her arms.
"I thought it was fun…"she pouted.
"So, anyone else?"Ester turned to others.
"I can go."Arlette said.
"Good. Rest, set up a perimeter around the whirlwing and don't let any enemy take it from you. Got it?"
"Sir, yes, sir!"everyone saluted.
"Arlie, let's go."
The two left, while others quickly set up around the machine, looking in all directions, with their weapons ready.
Ester and Arlette, in the meantime, slowly walked through the jungle, which covered the island. There and there, they could see some monkeys swinging on the trees or some exotic birds they never saw before. Not to mention numerous insects, which constantly tried to bite them and give them God-only-knows what sickness.
After around six kilometers of walk, they met an obstacle in form of a hill in front of them.
"Well."Ester said."I hope you like climbing."
"In military, I have to."Arlette replied.
And so, they started climbing up the hill. It wasn't that hard as they would expect, but it was a bit tiring. But when they stood on top of the hill, they were fully content of what they were seeing from it.
"Get down!"Ester ordered.
The two quickly landed on the ground and activated zoom in their helmets' visors.
In front of them, was a big valley, with small river flowing through it's center. The valley was surrounded by two rocky walls, while both riverbanks were covered by thick trees. All of this could be really idyllic and beautiful.
It could be, if not for a giant, high-tech looking complex of buildings at the end of the valley.
"You think this is it?"Arlette asked.
"Considering these satellite dishes?"Ester replied, looking at pair of large antennas on top of the biggest building."I would say, yeah."
They observed the building for few more minutes. Some whirlwings were taking off or landing. With their helmets' zoom, they could see people walking around the base. Guards, all armed. But also some noncombat personnel. Some buildings seemed to be some kind of warehouses, while others looked like barracks.
In the back of the base, Ester also saw something, what looked like old ballistic missile silos on Earth.
"Security seems pretty tight."Ester bit her lip.
"Yeah."Arlette agreed."You have any ideas?"
"Well, there is a place for whirlwings to land…But I won't spoil anything. I will tell what I'm thinking about after we're back."
"Sure."
"For now, let's take some pictures."
Saying that, she started making photos with camera in her helmet. After she made sure, that all of them are saved in her hand terminal, she nodded.
"Let's get back."
"What are we gonna do now?"
Ester looked at her and smiled.
"We're gonna take a look at Ektrims' town."
The two stood up and repeated their march back to the place, where whirlwing landed. It took less time than before and when they were at place, Ester quickly told them, what was their next goal. Some of them felt uneasy, thinking that they are going to fly close to enemy capital, but deep inside them, they were well aware, that Ester was would decide to do that, so nobody said anything. They just had to wait for what happen.
Machine took off and after few minutes, the island with jamming station was left behind. They turned North, towards the supposed location of the Ektrim capital city, thinking what kind of metropolis they were going to see while there. Of course, they also had to watch out for the passing by enemy machines, which were going in all directions over the Great Ocean. Yuko watched them come and go on the radar, deducing, that some were going to Falmart, others to Orisia or Gernea. The air was really busy.
The flight took them next two hours. After that, they saw another big island and as radar showed, it was surrounded by several small archipelagos. They chose the one that was the closest and put the whirlwing at the closest island. Then, Ester again left, this time alongside Dora, and they went to find a good point to see, if they can see the island more clearly.
And as it seemed, they got lucky, as they found a place with a view towards a large bay on the coast of the island. In that bay, after zooming in, they could see several dock-like structures, accompanied by the warehouses. They didn't see a lot of people walking around, but what they did see, were several tall, skyscraper-like buildings and one, tall, sky-reaching spire, right in the middle of the city, which extended inland. There were also walls, surrounding it from left and right and probably the front, too.
"Well…I guess that there it is…"Dora said.
"Yeah…"Ester nodded."A bit…disappointing, you could say?"
"What do you mean?"
"It looks high-tech, but the size…How many people do you think can live there?"
Dora looked back towards the city and had to agree, that Trar, capital city of Clan Ektrim seemed a bit…disappointing. Instead of huge metropolis, that could fit millions of people, they received something similar to standard-size small colonial town. Highly developed, yes, but still.
"I don't know…Maybe from one hundred to two hundred thousand?"White Squadron 2IC guessed.
"Exactly."Ester nodded and something popped in her head."That reminds me. How many of our people were in Special System before Gates were destroyed."
"Around two hundred thousand."Dora replied."From which, eighty thousand were from Milky Way, then there were sixty thousand from Kingdoms Coalition, thirty thousand from Western Orisia, twenty from Kingdoms of West and ten thousand from Araluen."
"Huh. I had no idea that after all that time, with all of that training and equipment we gave them, they actually started to outnumber us."
"Well. They had to become self-sufficient after all. Our own troops couldn't be able to stay here forever."
"I guess."
"Are we done here?"
"Yes. We saw and found what we had to, so we can go."
Again, however, before they went back, that took some pictures of the city and saved them on their hand terminals. They came back to the whirlwing and soon, they were off.
16:01
Hideout
After another few hours of flight, whirlwing was back in the hideout, with Lelei taking off the cover over the landing place and then, putting it back on. Once the machine landed and back ramp fell down, Ester ordered everyone to gather in the command tent. She waited just few minutes, when commanders, Falmartese and even Diablo came there. They waited with anticipation for what Ester was going to say.
After few seconds, she pointed at the dot on holographic globe, in the place, where jamming station was.
"Tomorrow, we're taking this place!"she declared.
Everyone's jaws quickly fell down, hearing this serious declaration and quickly glanced at the globe.
"You can't be serious."Tertan major said.
"I am."Ester said with wide smile.
"But…But we don't know anything against this place!"Tru stated.
"Actually…"White Squadron leader said and started pressing something on her hand terminal.
Then, holograms of the photos she took with Arlette appeared in the air. All of them had some red circles or arrows on them.
"We took these photos and while we were flying back here, I analyzed them as carefully as I could."Ester said."The red circles are our points of interest. The main building, possible landing pad and these silos-like things."
"Like if we also knew how to get there and take it…"Louise said.
"Well…I actually have a plan."She looked at Diablo."Diablo?"
All eyes turned to the prince, which was now dressed in a spare UNSA uniform and had his red hair tied in a ponytail.
"As my part on research on Alantians, I also requested to have a look on plans of the jamming station. I memorized them. And if you will go and try taking it, I want to go with you."Diablo explained.
"Sounds good enough."Jackie threw up her arms.
"Exactly."Ester resumed.
"So, what is the plan?"Chakdrik lieutenant asked.
"Plan is simple."Ester pointed outside."We take the Daredevil, load thirty troops on it and…"
Right then, someone's had shot in the air. Ester looked in that direction and saw a Shakayan corporal.
"Wait, what Daredevil?"he asked.
"Oh, while we were flying back here, we came up with an idea for the whirlwing."Lena said."UNSA Daredevil."
"So what? Is it under Navy or Air Force administration?"Nashini captain asked.
Everyone looked at him and risen an eyebrow.
"Really?"Rory asked."That's your biggest concern right now?"
"I was just curious."He shrugged.
Ester cleared her throat and continued:
"As I was saying, we take the Daredevil, load it with thirty troops and get into the base. After securing the landing pad, White Squadron will try and take the command center, where we hope to find a way to disable the comms blockade and, if we can, block enemy communications. This will allow us to contact whatever allied forces are still out there. So?"
Commanders, Falmartese and Diablo looked at each other and after few seconds, they all nodded in agreement.
"Let's do this."Louise said.
Ester risen her eyebrow.
"You suddenly want to risk?"she asked.
"Well, considering how well it went to take the Daredevil, it shouldn't be surprising, that we want to follow up on it."Shakayan staff sergeant said."First, taking the jamming station…"
"…then Trar…"Chakdrik captain said.
"…and then, Sadera!"Tertan sergeant finished.
"Yeah!"everyone cheered.
Small smile appeared on White Squadron commander's face. She nodded and looked at everyone.
"Someone wants to say anything else?"
"Yes, I would like to."Liz replied.
"Then come here, please."
Ester stepped away from her place and soon, Liz stepped in, with tablet, notes and pen in her hands. She laid the notes on the table and turned back to everyone. She cleared her throat and corrected her glasses.
"So."Fatima said."What do you want to tell us?"
"Well, I had a theory about these 'Alentians', which was going around in my head, especially considering the Gate's ability to simply pop up in random worlds at random moments."the British said."And because we now have Diablo, I decided to have a few words with him about this subject."
Prince nodded once again.
"And? What did you learn?"Tru asked.
"I asked him about what he knows about them. He said, that he only heard few things. But he heard their origin story."
"And this is…?"Dora asked.
"Well…You ever heard of Sea Peoples?"
Silence hung in the air, as everyone started thinking about what did Liz just said.
"Not really…"Ester finally said.
"What did I expect…"Liz sighed.
Then, she looked at her tablet and started tapping it. Not long after, holograms of something looking like ancient manuscripts, Egyptian hieroglyphs and wall sculptures appeared in the air. Everyone risen their eyebrows.
"Allow me to explain who they were, then."She looked at the holograms."What you see here, are ancient, Mediterranean, mainly Egyptian, sources. All of them tell the same thing. Of mysterious, seafaring groups of people, which attacked the land of Pharaohs. They were called 'Sea Peoples' and are said to be the ones, which caused the Bronze Age collapse."
"Okay…"Aqi said."But what does it have in common?"
"The story Diablo heard from them goes somewhat like this: one day, a mysterious structure appeared in the middle of their capital city. When they crossed through it, they found new lands, full of riches and possible colonizable territories. But what they also found, was what they saw as the residence of their Gods. A city of immense power and wealth, where everyone had god-like powers. They started worshiping them and decided to move all their people into the ream of Gods, so they could be close to them. Seeing their devotion, Gods not only gave them a sample of their power, but also made them guardians of their secrets, as Gods were waging war with some mysterious enemy. One day, Gods decide to leave the world. Alantians, to keep their promise of guarding their secrets, hid from rest of the world for centuries, even as more and more species appeared in this world. They believed, that Gods will return one day and allow them to ascend to their place."
Everyone listening had their eyes fixed on Liz and mouth open, even four Falmartese. Only Diablo stood there, as if nothing was happening. Silence fell in the air as they all contemplated the story they just heard.
"So that's the origin, let's say, myth of Alantians?"Dora finally asked.
"Pretty much."Liz nodded.
"Sounds…interesting."Aqi stated.
"I know. That's why I started dissecting it into smaller parts and researched them all one by one. And I came up with my new theory."
"Which is…?"Louise asked.
"You know about Atlantis?"Liz asked back.
"Every Human probably heard about it."Ana said and then realized."Wait, you're not saying that…"
"I am."Liz smiled brightly, seeing on everyone's faces, that they started to realize what she did."My theory sounds like this: thousands of years ago, there was a powerful, seafaring civilization on Earth, more powerful than all of ancient world. They were the Sea People and they caused the Bronze Age collapse. One day, in middle of their capital, a Gate appears, they send some colonists in and discover these 'Gods', which they start worshiping and decide to live close to them. However, Gate soon vanishes and some people are trapped in Special System, some are left back home and empire on Earth falls, it's cities falling to ruin and vanishing, too, after some time, while people spread across the known world, assimilating with other groups. Back in Special System, Gods pity the people cut off from their place of origin and to help them, they give them their power. Gods vanish one day, probably killed off by that mysterious enemy and their worshipers go to hiding. Thousands of years later, they feel endangered and decided to eliminate us."
Now, all jaws simply dropped, hearing the British's subversive and ambitious theory.
"So you're saying…"Lena tried to comprehend everything."…that we're fighting…"
"…remnants of Atlantis?"Arlette finished.
"Pretty much, yes."Liz nodded."But it's possible, that it was ALANTIAN, no ATLANTIAN empire. Name probably got deformed through centuries."
"Liz…If what you just said is true…"Ester said.
"It could change the history of Earth forever."the British finished."And if not, it may at least shed a light on some ancient mysteries."
Right then, Tuka's hand went into the air.
"But wait."she said."I understand that Alantians are probably just another group of people, which crossed to this world through the Gate thousands of years ago…"
"Yes."
"Then what about these Gods? What happened to them?"
Silence fell in the air once again.
"You know, I have a theory about that too…"Liz bit her lip.
"Say it, then."Yao said.
"For primitive people, advanced technology might look like magic or god-like powers. These 'Gods' Alantians refer to, might be an ancient, highly-advanced alien race, which used to control this planet and gave Alantians some of their tech, so they would survive. They also created the mechanical Elecdrago to help them."
Right then, everyone made a horrifying realization.
"If they were so advanced…"Tru started.
"…why did they disappeared…"Louise continued.
"…and who was that 'mysterious enemy'?"Diablo finished.
Chills went down everyone's spines.
"Eneans were killed by species more ancient than them."Liz stated."Who said, that similar things couldn't happen in alternate worlds."
Deadly silence hung in the air. Ester decided to defuse it.
"Liz, knowing you, I know that this theory is, unfortunately, completely plausible and believable. But for now, we have to focus on something else."She turned to everyone."Our own survival in this world."
Everyone looked at each other and nodded. There will be time to worry about that. Now, they had to kick Alantians hard, so they would went flying out the window with pants down.
"Be ready. Tomorrow, we start the operation. If nobody has anything to say, you are all dismissed."
The tent emptied seconds later.
The next day…
15:21
Over the Great Ocean
The next day, everything went into action in the very morning. After waking up, Ester quickly selected the team of thirty soldiers, which had to go with the White Squadron to take the jamming facility. It was a mix of Humans, Chakdrik, Nashini, Shakayans and Tertans. And while they were sitting in the transport compartment, White Squadron was sitting in the cockpit of the Daredevil alongside Diablo, which had to be their guide around the facility. Actually, even Rory managed to sign up for this mission, although Ester tried to say 'no' to her.
And so, they moved out and were already flying for few hours, as this time, they wanted to fly around the island to approach the facility from the front.
"How far before we reach the place?"Rory asked.
"Just few more minutes."Ester groaned."Stop asking that."
"But I'm boooooored!"the Apostle whined.
Ester sighed.
"Never knew that Apostle of Emloy can be this…annoying."Diablo whispered to her.
"Welcome to our world."White Squadron leader replied.
The flight continued for the next few minutes, with occasional Rory's whining, until they received the call request.
"Oh shit."Yuko said."Should I…?"
"Yes!"Dora replied.
The Japanese pressed the screen and accepted the call.
"Let me do the talking."Diablo said.
Soon, they heard a voice:
"This is Sakha Island Jamming Facility to unidentified transport. State your business, or we'll be forced to shoot you down."
Diablo approached the comms and started talking.
"This is Saderan Empire's whirlwing number six. We were tasked with getting you some supplies, which you might need."
There was a short silence, making everyone think of the AA weapons, which could lock onto them right now.
"Alright."the same voice said."You can land."
And with that, the call ended and everyone let out a joint sigh of relief.
"That went well."Ana stated.
"Seems like that guy doesn't care about the job."Aqi laughed dryly.
"Maybe because he really doesn't."Suvi threw up her arms.
Ester, in the meantime, went to the transport compartment. As she entered, all soldier looked at her.
"Get ready, we're touching down soon."she ordered.
"Yes, sir!"soldiers replied and started standing up.
Meanwhile, on the facility's landing pad, two ground crews approached the place, where whirlwing had to touch down. Machine with Saderan markings was slowly approaching.
"What do you think they carry?"one of them asked.
"Maybe the power cells for our drones?"second guessed."Without them, they are useless."
"Or maybe some ale, just for fun."
"You really only think of drinking and eating…"
"Hey, that's who I am, ain't I?"
Second just shook his head and looked towards the whirlwing, which already started touching down.
"Okay, let's go and see, what do they have in stock."he said.
"Sure."
They approached the machine as it started to lower it's back ramp with 'hiss' coming from it. They stood in front of it and crossed their arms.
"Okay, show us what you…"second was saying.
He stopped and widened his eyes, when ramp lowered completely and what he saw, was thirty barrels aimed straight at them. Soldiers inside smiled.
"Bang."one of them said and pulled the trigger.
Bullet hit the second right in the face, throwing him onto the ground. First tried to run, but precise shot from Chakdrik riffle ended his life.
Sudden commotion turned the attention of everyone else on the landing pad, but it was too late. Soldiers started leaving the insides of the machine and fired at anyone that was still on the landing pad. No matter if it was someone armed or unarmed, why should they show them mercy? Alantians showed them none of that.
Bullets and lasers were flying in all directions, as soldiers cleared the pad of the enemies. Diablo said, that entire facility is mostly automated and it has skeletal crew and guards, which were either here or inside. And most of them were already dead.
Silence fell over the landing pad as suddenly, as the cannonade started. Wherever you looked, there were bodies of dead Alantians, coloring the ground in crimson red. Soldiers quickly reported, one by one, about clearing of the area.
"Clear."Tru said.
"Clear."Louise finished.
"Copy that."Ester replied."Let's go."
White Squadron members, Rory and Diablo left the machine.
"Good job."Ester praised the soldiers.
"They didn't know what hit them."Shakayan corporal laughed.
"Alright, keep this place secured. We, in the meantime, go and secure the command room."Ester ordered.
"On it."everyone replied.
With this, White Squadron members, alongside their two companions, went inside the facility.
Meanwhile…
Facility's command room
In the command room, base's commander was sitting in his chair, drinking some ale, delighting this calm moment and job he had. He knew, that he will forever praise King Tyrranius for sending him here, not to fight on the frontlines. Especially as she heard, what Otherworlder remnants were doing around the planet. Shivers went down his spine.
Except of him, the command room was occupied by five other people. Because most of the facility was automated, he didn't need more people. Same was going with security. For entire building, he needed only twenty people, ten inside, ten on the landing pad.
Yes, he had a perfect job.
Or so he thought…
The door of the command room slid open and one of the guards came in, running. He ran through the room and stopped in front of the commander. He knelt.
"My lord."he said.
"What is it?"commander asked."Don't you see I'm delighting my ale."
"I do, my lord, but…"
"No, listen here."Commander put down his ale."You barge into here, interrupting my free time, for no reason and…"
Door opened again and another guard ran in. He knelt before the commander.
"My lord, facility is under attack by the Otherworlders."he said on one breath.
Commander blinked a few times, confused by what the hell did he just heard.
"Yeah. That."first guard said.
"Then why did you say anything?!"commander shouted."Get there and stop them!"
"But…I don't think we could…"
"JUST DO IT!"
Two guards sprung up and quickly ran out of the room. Meanwhile, commander turned to his screen and turned on the cameras. Shots of multiple corridors appeared on his screen, as he watched them all carefully.
Right then, some cameras started turning off, one by one.
"They're inside…"commander whispered.
Facility's corridors…
Rory bounced from the ground and jumped up into the air. Two turrets turned towards her and fired, but she evaded, swinging her axe back. Next, she swung horizontally and blade easily pierced through the two turrets on the ceiling, as it did with many others before.
"Another two down…"Rory said.
"Great work."Ester praised her.
"Thanks."
White Squadron and Diablo quickly followed the demigoddess through the corridors. As of now, only thing that stood on their way, were the turrets. For now, no guards appeared and tried to stop them.
"You sure we're going the right path?"Ester turned to Diablo.
"Yes."prince replied."If I remember correctly, the plans showed, that this is the fastest way to the command room."
"I just hope you're not getting us into a trap, or else…"Dora still didn't trust Diablo completely.
"I know."
"More of them!"Rory shouted.
Two more turrets moved out of the ceiling and Rory quickly took them out. But then, much to their surprise, they saw a group of people dressed in armor, with-shotgun like weapons.
"Get back!"Ester shouted.
Rory quickly turned around, just as enemy troops opened fire. Others managed to get behind the turn, lined against the wall.
"Damn it!"Rory exclaimed.
"Rory, what is it?!"Jackie shouted.
In response, the Apostle rolled into their hideout and everyone saw, that she was missing a leg.
"One of these fuckers hit me!"she said.
"Hearing you swear for the first time makes me uncomfortable."Liz stated.
"See if I care…"Rory hissed.
"Fatima, give her some bio-gel."Ester ordered."With her regenerative abilities, she should be in shape within few minutes."
"On it."
Medic quickly approached the Apostle and pulled her further back. Next, she pulled out an injector and pierced it into Rory's thigh.
"I'm never gonna like this…"Rory stated.
"Don't worry, many people fear needles."the Israeli replied.
"Who said I'm scared?!"
Ester, in the meantime, looked from behind their cover and looked at ten people marching forward, firing their weapons.
"How do we get through them?"Emiko asked.
"I have one idea…"White Squadron commander replied."Do?"
"Yes?"Dora asked back.
In response, Ester pulled out a grenade for under-barrel grenade launcher from her belt and put it in hers. Dora knew, what was the idea.
"On it."
She did the same as Ester and swapped places with Suvi, which was standing right behind her.
"On three."Ester said."One…"
"Two…"Dora followed.
"…three!"the two of them finished.
For a split second, they leaned their weapons from beyond the corner and fired the grenades, aiming at enemies' legs, so no lucky shot would destroy them. When Alantians saw two objects flying low towards them, it was too late.
Two white phosphorus grenades landed in the middle of the group. Substance managed to find it's way through some cracks in the armor. Screams of burning enemies filled the corridor, as they let go of their weapons and started taking off their armor, as they started literally cocking alive in them.
This was signal for White Squadron, which jumped from behind their cover and quickly killed all what remained of the guards of the facility.
"Done."Ester said.
"White phosphorus…"Liz said."It's a war crime."
"I am aware of that…"Ester sighed."And I don't like it myself. But they didn't hesitate to massacre us when they had a chance. So if we want to win, we have to be brutal, too. Even if we don't like it."
"Yeah."Dora sighed.
Everyone fell silent.
"If someone finds out about it…"Arlette said.
"…we'll take the punishment. Right, Do?"Ester turned to her.
"Sure."
"Alright. Let's go then. Fatima, can you take care of Rory here, while we take care of everything else?"White Squadron commander turned to the medic.
"Sure."Fatima nodded."We will join you soon."
"Good. Let's more."
And so, everyone was on the move again. This time, there were no turrets or more guards to deal with.
"Command room is not far from here."Diablo said after few minutes of run.
"Where exactly?"Ana asked.
"Right…"
As he was saying that, they turned the last corner and stopped in front of big door.
"…here."prince finished.
"How do we open that?"Aqi asked."Got any explosives?"
"No. But we have Yuko."Ester looked at the Japanese."Right?"
"You can count on me."Yuko said.
She then approached what looked like a main panel on the wall and looked at it, narrowing her eyes.
"Let me…"
She pulled out her sidearm and shot off the joints, which held the panel to the wall. This allowed her to simply tear it off the wall, revealing number of cables and ports under it.
"Here it is."She smiled."It may take a few minutes."
She reached for her back pocket and pulled out a USB cable. She attached one end to her hand terminal and the other end to the opened console. Fortunately, they fit right in, what allowed her to quickly get closer look into the system.
"Got it. Surprisingly, they aren't securing it in any way."
"Probably because never before have they met someone, who could endanger their systems."Ana stated.
"Probably."Yuko threw up her arms, pressing the buttons."Aaaaaaand…done!"
Inside of the command room, the mood was less than optimistic.
"Sir!"one of analysts said.
"What?!"facility's commander asked.
"They're…breaking into our system!"
"Stop them, then!"
"We can't, they are too good! They're about to…Oh Gods…"
"What?! What now?!"
"They overridden our door's controls! They can enter here any moment!"
So this was it, huh? This is how his life had to end? Killed by some Otherworldly barbarians, which didn't know anything about existence and life? Not on his watch. He will not die quietly.
Commander grabbed his sidearm.
"The doors are opening!"same analysts shouted.
Commander looked in the direction of the door and watched them slowly slid open. He lifted his arm with weapon in it…
His head exploded, when bullet fired by Dora flew through the opening door and he fell on the ground, as members of White Squadron and Diablo entered the room, aiming their weapons at the remaining four inside.
"Hands in the air, now!"Diablo shouted. As of now, he was still the only one able to talk with Alantians.
Everyone quickly complied with this order and their arms shot in the air.
"What now?"prince turned to White Squadron.
"Tell them to disable the communication blockade on all Coalition's frequencies across the planet."Ester replied.
"Unlock all Coalition's communications."Diablo said to the analysts.
"But we…"
"NOW!"prince shouted."And don't try anything funny, or I'll blow your brains out, you fucker!"
Now completely terrified, analyst looked at the headless body of base's commander and quickly turned to the console and started writing the codes, feeling the barrel pressing against his head. Analyst noticed his hands shaking, but he managed to press all things that needed to be pressed and all codes that needed to be written.
"D-Done…All communications on Otherworlders' frequencies is now unlocked."
"He says it's done."Diablo relayed to the squadron.
"Suvi, check it."Ester ordered.
Suvi lowered her weapon and pressed button on the side of her helmet to open the communication channel with their hideout.
"Hideout, do you hear me?"she asked.
"Loud and clear."familiar voice of Yao, which had to await any news in the command tent, replied.
"It's working."Suvi reported.
"Good."Dora nodded."Now, tell him to block all communications on Alantian, Saderan and any other non-Coalition network."
"Block any communications that aren't Coalition's."prince ordered.
This time without protesting, the analyst turned to his console and did what he was told.
"Done. All communications between Alantian, Saderan and Soutland's forces is severed and blocked."
"Good boy."Diablo patted his cheek."Now, you will wait here. Someone will take care of you."
Around half an hour later, the analysts were led out of the room by five Coalition soldiers. The facility was firmly in their hands and there was no way to simply let it go.
"So, what do we stand on?"Ester asked.
She was standing behind Yuko and Diablo, which were both working on base's systems.
"As of now, we're pretty good."Yuko replied."The base has a lot of defense systems which can work autonomously, as long as they have resources to produce ammo for themselves."
"And how much resources do they have in stock?"
"According to this list…"Diablo said, looking at the screen."For an entire year to come."
"Good. So, if we would just leave this place for itself, with someone to watch over it working, it would defend itself?"White Squadron leader wondered.
"Pretty much."Yuko turned in the chair."But as you said, there must be some people to watch over everything, especially to defend, if systems won't fully work."
"But at least, these are good news. We send some people here and we should be alright."
Right then, beeping came from Ester's hand terminal. She accepted the voice call.
"What is it, Do?"she asked.
"Come to the landing pad quick."Dora said, with excitement in voice."I think we just got ourselves a new toy."
"Okay, coming."
She left the command room and quickly marched through the corridors, until she walked out into the landing pad. There, she saw Dora, standing near one of the hangars and waving to her, so she quickly approached her.
"So, what did you want to show me?"Ester asked.
"What is here."Dora replied.
She approached the hangar, which was covered in darkness. But, after pressing the light switch on the wall, the lights came to life.
What they saw inside, was another whirlwing. But this was much, much different from Daredevil. First of, it's hull was not as streamline as the other, but fully rectangular, with sharp edges. It also had four engine gondolas, placed on the edges of the hull. There were six turrets on it's sides and four under it, two in the front and two in the back. All in all, it was thicker and bigger than Daredevil.
Ester looked at it with jaw dropped.
"Holy shit…"she finally said.
"I know, right?"Dora smiled.
"This one seems like more of a war machine."
"Can't argue with that. How should we call it?"
Ester risen her eyebrow.
"You already wanna call it?"she asked.
"Sure I do!"White Squadron 2IC said with sparkling eyes.
"You and your love for the military…"Ester shook her head."So, have any ideas for the name?"
"I was thinking of Harbinger, Montezuma or Tracker."Dora replied.
Ester frowned and wondered too.
"Hm. And what will you say about Fearless?"
"Eh, good enough."Dora nodded."I can go with this."
"Okay, now get ready. We're leaving soon."
Dora looked at her and saddened suddenly.
"But…I wanna…"she pointed at the Fearless.
"Don't worry, you'll get your chance."Ester promised.
"I hope so."
They left the hangar after turning the lights off and went in the direction of Daredevil. There, they saw two people that they needed just now.
"Tru, Louise."Ester said.
The two quickly sprung up and saluted.
"What is it, sir?"Nashini lieutenant asked.
"Since now, you and Louise are in charge of this place. Soon, we will send some other people to set everything up and it should be okay."
"You serious?"Louise asked.
"I am."Ester smiled.
The two saluted again.
"Thank you for putting your trust into us."Tru said.
"Sure thing. Now, we have to leave. I leave everything in your hands."
"Bye then."
With these words said, Ester and Dora went to Daredevil. Few minutes later, rest of White Squadron and Rory also came and machine took off, flying in the direction of hideout.
Later that day…
Hideout
After landing, Ester and the rest immediately went in the direction of command tent. There, they saw Yao, together with radio operator, working on the device. By the time they were hiding, the Dark Elf learned how to use it well.
"Any luck?"Ester immediately asked.
"Not yet."Yao replied."We've been trying to find any Coalition's frequency bu as of now…"
"…we can't find any."radio operator sighed.
Ester looked back at everyone else.
"Continue trying."she ordered.
"Sure."
Radio operator and Yao turned back to the radio and continued to search for allied frequencies. Half an hour passed, but nothing came on the radio. After that time, they started losing hope.
"Nothing…"radio operator threw up his arms.
"Crap."Dora muttered.
They all looked at each other, thinking the same thing. If nobody was responding, they had to count with the possibility they didn't wanted to believe in: they might have been the only remaining Coalition's forces on the planet.
"So, what do we do?"Liz asked, looking at Ester.
White Squadron's leader, already reconciled with the fact, that all this was for nothing, slowly fell on the chair that stood behind her.
"I don't know…"she muttered.
She covered her face in her hands, thinking all possible options that they had left.
And then, all hope returned.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"the radio asked.
XXX
Aaaaaaaand cut!
This is where we're going to finish for now. Jamming station is now in Coalition's hands, communications were restored and enemy's were jammed. It seems, like there still is a way out of this. And I bet nor Molt or Tyrranius won't be happy about that. This, however, is a story for another time.
For now, I can say see you later!