Hi, welcome back! We find ourselves here again, this time preparing for the Coalition's attack on Trar, the capital of Clan Ektrim and Alantian Clans. Last time, our heroes started preparing for the operation and today, we're gonna see, what will come out of all this. Will they succeed? Well, read to find out. But certainly, this won't be an easy journey to reach their goal.

But before that, reviews.

To Supreme Supra: Hope you will like what you read below.

Okay, that out of the way and we can go on.

Chapter 44

,,No plans ever…"

November 15, 2151

08:23

FOB Santa Maria, unnamed island chain

The bay, over which bloody disc of the sun was visible, was their final place of troop concentration. It was probably how Achaeans arriving from Greece saw it, when they came to burn Troy.

Ester herself did not know, why did she made this comparison. Earth or Special System…Probably everything slowly started to mix together for her-people, ages and events. She's been through too much and saw too much to stay normal.

Today, however, instead of wooden ships carrying troops, different fleet anchored here, modest, but they didn't have better one. All ships of African Union Maritime Corp that were in Special System by the time Naval Gate was destroyed were now here. They looked mesmerizing, alongside two nuclear powered AU Submersible Missile Platforms, which basically played the same role as submarines back when naval fleets actually meant something, instead of being simple ground support.

On the airfield built next to the improvised naval base, numerous craft that had to support the operation stood, prepared for everything. Except of four Tertan Heavy Dropships, two dozens of fighters, bombers and close air support craft were lined up. There were also six normal Skyhawk dropships, from which one had to operate as runner between here and Secure Valley. And between them, stood Fearless, just like Daredevil, repainted. Thanks to Yuko, which gave several lessons on how to operate Alantian machines, there was no problem with pilots for the whirlwing.

Although for someone not related to the military this looked like actual, powerful force, it was mostly smalls. Everyone was aware of what Ektrim drones were able to do and were not giving much chances to the flying and swimming machines. This is why surprise was their biggest ally right now.

"L-Looks p-pretty…"Emiko said, as they were slowly leaving the hold of Daredevil.

"If not all that military hardware, I would agree."Dora nodded.

"But well. For today, this is our command center for invasion of Trar."Ester stated."Yuko. Go and find someone for Daredevil."
Japanese nodded. During the flight, Ester explained to her, that this time, Daredevil will have a different mission and they won't be able to use it.

"So, we're here. What now?"Fatima asked.
"I'll go and see Larik."Ester replied."You, do whatever you want."

"Understood."both White Squadron and Falmartese replied.

As they walked away, Ester approached some soldiers guarding the area and asked them, where Larik was placed. They pointed her the way to his command center and soon, she reached the place, where a truck with several large antennas on top of it was surrounded by masked positions filled with computers and boxes.

Standing next to the vehicle and talking to his deputy, stood Larik, the Blood Scythe himself. As White Squadron leader approached them, she heard them talking.

"Are the warheads ready?"Larik asked.
"Sure thing, boss."deputy replied."Gas is already in. We're ready to poison all of these rats."
"Good, good. I wanna hear them beg us for mercy."
"So do I."

The two laughed, making Ester wince. She stood behind them, saluted and said:
"Major Ester Barkhorn of White Squadron, reporting in, sir."
Larik and his deputy looked at her. Next, colonel waved his deputy away and stood before Ester.

"At ease."Larik said, with strong, South Caucasian accent.
"Thank you, sir."Ester replied."I would say I'm honored to meet the Blood Scythe himself, but…"
"I know, I know. My reputation is faster than me."Colonel smiled, showing off a row of perfect, white teeth."So, you heard of me. Let me say, that I also heard about you."

Ester blinked, a bit surprised.

"You heard of me?"she asked, tilting her head.

"Who didn't? You led surprise attack on enemy jamming station, what basically allowed us to do all of this. Not to mention, that you played the role of official Enean artifacts hunter during Great Galactic War. And you brought down the higher ups of HO during Battle of Earth."Larik counted."Should I continue?"

"Okay, you know me, I know you, let's stay on this."Ester stopped him."For now, I want to know, if you have anything for me and my team?"

Colonel rubbed his chin and after few seconds, looked at Ester and went into his command vehicle. He returned with hand terminal in his hand, pressing something on the screen. Soon, Ester heard the sound of receiving message from her hand terminal.

"There is one job I have for you."Larin said."There is still one missile battery that we need to set up and you could make yourself useful by helping in setting it up. I hope it's not too much of a chore for you?"

Ester sighed and looked into her terminal. There, she saw number of Tertan Heavy Dropship they will use for this and the cargo.

"No. Not at all."she said."Thank you, sir."
"No problem. Now, excuse me, I have matters to attend to."

Saying that, he simply went into the command vehicle and the door closed behind him.

"Hello."a familiar voice said.

White Squadron leader turned around and smiled, seeing certain gray-haired Ranger from Araluen.

"Hi, Halt."Ester replied."Fancy seeing you here."

"Same here."Halt nodded."But princess, or should I saw, now queen Cassandra appointed me as official adviser for the operation from the side of Araluen. There is a platoon of our troops taking part in the operation."
"Interesting…What's happening there, by the way?"

"Royal Rangers are leading the way in guerrilla warfare against Alantian forces in the Kingdom. Will and Maddie are especially engaged into that. Horace and Gilan are the two main military leaders of ours right now."

"I hope you're kicking Alantian ass hard?"
Former Ranger let out a groaning laugh.
"With their communications being jammed, it's easy to strike them where they don't expect us and they can't even call support."he said.

"And good. It's finally time to repay them. Now excuse me, but Larik just gave me and my team a task. See you later."
"Let's hope tomorrow's operation will be a full success."
"Let's hope."

Ester left the command area and made her way towards the four Tertan Heavy Dropships. She had to admit, they were impressive machines. Armed with cruise missile launchers, they could easily fight with any kind of enemy ground defenses. They were big and slow, but they made up for it with firepower.

She passed by a group of Tertan pilots and quickly found the dropship with Tertan number four painted on it's hull. The ramp was open and inside, she could see some boxes placed under the walls. Next to it, stood three crew members of the machine.

"You from here?"she asked them.

Tertans looked back and nodded.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"one of them asked back.
"I need to see the pilot. We're assigned to your next mission."

"If that's the case…She's inside. You shouldn't miss her."
"Okay, thanks."
White Squadron leader proceeded to walk up the ramp and inside the cargo hold. She looked around, but saw no one. However, her ears heard a sound resembling…muffled moaning?

"Please don't tell me…"she murmured.

The sound was coming from behind a bigger pile of boxes. She slowly approached them and even slower, looked behind them.

"Oh dear…"she said, mouth wide open.

Behind these boxes, she saw something, she never expected to see. She saw…Jackie, being pressed against the wall by Diablo himself, kissing, with his hands on her chest and moaning into his mouth. Ester literally couldn't believe that what she was seeing right now, was really happening in front of her eyes.

"Ekhm."Ester cleared her throat.

The two stopped kissing and looked in her direction. Seeing her commander looking at the situation, Jackie quickly pushed Diablo away, made sure that her uniform is okay and quickly saluted.

"Sir!"she exclaimed.

"Jackie…"Ester said, not knowing what else to say.

Diablo just stood on the side, not saying anything.
"Ester, don't be mad, I can explain…We…I mean…It's…"Jackie spewed a stream of words.

"Calm down, calm down."White Squadron leader lifted her hands, trying to calm her squadmate down."I didn't knew you were…so close…When did it start?"
"Back in the hideout."Diablo replied. By these few days, he learned a lot of English, surprising everyone with his speed."We talked a little, about this and that and somehow it…sparked."

"Yeah…I was actually the one who made the first move…"Jackie admitted."Are you mad at me, Estie?"

Ester looked at Jackie from top to bottom and…smiled. She approached the Minenian and patted her arm.

"You go girl."she said.

"So…you're not mad?"Jackie asked, confused.
"Why should I? I was just surprised, that it happened so fast."
"I once read a poem with said, that love is the fastest feeling Humans can feel."Diablo added.

"By the way"Ester turned to him"how did you get here?"

Former prince looked at Jackie and back at Ester.

"I told Pina about what I felt towards Jackie."he revealed."She understood and simply put me here as a connector between her and Larik."
"That's a nice cover."
"I know. Now excuse me, I have to go, or Larik will send a Wild Hunt after me."

Saying that, he left the cargo hold of the Tertan machine, leaving only Jackie and Ester in there.

"So, how is it?"Ester asked after few seconds of silence.

"Amazing."Jackie said."I never knew, that having a man could be so…thrilling."
"I was asking about the dropship."

"Oh."Jackie's cheeks reddened."Yeah. It's a good machine. But wait, when did you get here and why are you here?"

"We came just few minutes ago by Daredevil. Larik told us to join you on your next transport mission."

"Oh, the missile battery transport? Yeah, we're moving out in half an hour. If you want to tag along, then get everyone here."
"Sure. I'll get the others."
Ester turned around and started leaving, before stopping and looking back at her subordinate.

"Oh and Jackie?"she said."I want to be the first to receive wedding invitation."

"You got it."

The two giggled like little kids and Ester left.

Finding the others was not hard, as they sat near one of the AA missile launchers. Some were playing with their weapons, looking at their hand terminals and talking. Ester cleared her throat, bringing everyone's attention.

"Okay people, let's get moving. We're moving out in thirty."
"Already?"Rory pouted."We just got here and I counted on some R&R."
"We can't, Rory."Lelei said."Operation starts tomorrow. If we want to win it, we have to have everything ready."
"Exactly. In times of war, you can't rest forever."Yao added.

"Okay…"the Apostle moaned.

"What are we gonna do exactly?"Tuka asked.
"We're gonna help in setting up last missile battery that has to bomb Trar. We're gonna go with Heavy Dropship."
"And who are we going with exactly?"Dora asked.

"Good news. We're going with Jackie."
"Good that not with Heklan. He's one of the dropship pilots and he would faster kill us than get us to the target."Aqi said."I once trained knife fight with one of them and you know what? He almost killed me."

"You weren't careful."Yuko said.
"I was careful, he was just fast. Train with him yourself and you'll see."

"Are you challenging me?"Yuko asked with cheeky smile.

"Wanna find out?"
"It's not time for challenging. Let's go."Ester said.

Everyone stood up and followed her. They went to the Heavy Dropship landing spot and there, they saw the cargo being loaded.

Their task was pretty simple, at least for once. A battery of South American Selva Tigre MLRS, alongside stock of missiles, had to be placed at one of uninhabited islands, eighty kilometers away from Trar. Because the range was smaller than Shakayan XG-S missile launchers, which battery already stood one and a half kilometer South of the island chain, it was decided to transport them closer to target. It shouldn't be a problem. The flight, low over the water and on marching speed, should take them no more than two hours, unloading cargo and vehicles would take another hour and then return. Nothing much for Fighter Infantry.

Slowly, the morning chill started making place for more noon-ish temperatures and everything started clearing out.

Ester took a sip of hot coffee from her canteen. Fortunately, the supplies of good food and drinks were also saved from Fort Terhis and were now being distributed between Coalition forces. Paradoxically, this didn't make anyone feel better. This is how you did with cattle being led to slaughter.

She quickly shook her head. After all, she proposed the idea of this operation. If anything happens, it will be all on her. So this had to work out.

Waiting for the cargo to be loaded, everyone sat on some boxes, which simply laid around the area.

"Did you ever wonder, what happens next?"Arlette asked.

All eyes turned on her.

"What do you mean?"Ana asked.

"I mean, after we take Trar. We will have the tech, we will win, but then what? We're still gonna be trapped here."the French pointed out.

"Can't argue with that…"Liz sighed.

"If there is a way, we will find it."Ester reassured them."Gate was opened once, maybe we can open it again. There just…has to be a way."

"Maybe if we get access to Rondel's libraries…If Master Mimosa is alive, then maybe she knows something."Lelei added.

"Maybe during the studies I ordered her to do, she found something she forgot to tell us about."Rory said."I wouldn't be surprised."
"Unless we won't live to see it."Dora said.

Morgue silence fell over the place, but Dora didn't stop talking:
"Tomorrow, we will find out, how many of us will make it, because I think everyone knows, that Alantians are going to fight to the death. Let's say we achieve victory and all our strategic goals. There will be casualties. And losing one Heavy Dropship is too much. What will we replace it with Same goes for everything else."She pointed at four machines with the barrel of her gun."Not to mention, that we still have to somehow reactivate the ships in the orbit. They might be useful in the future…"
"We're gonna find a way."Fatima said."But first, we need to deal with these sons of bitches which drove us over."
"Wow, never supposed to hear this from your mouth."Lena said.

"And I tell you, it will not be easy."Dora continued her speech.
"Dora, please stop scaring them."Ester said."Look at them."

Dora looked at Emiko, which now cuddles into Liz, as she always did, when she was scared.

"Not my fault."Dora threw up her arms.

"Then who's? Don't get so pessimistic all of a sudden. Hey, ladies, let's get ready. We're getting aboard and moving out."

XXX

Although it happened only few days ago, she barely remembered, how it was in the beginning, only that it wasn't easy. But she quickly learned what and how and soon, it was like her second nature. Heavy Dropship was dependent on her will, reacting to any, even smallest move of the hand. Now, it was a real joy to fly this Tertan giant.

Jackie designed the route earlier. Flying from point A to point B was easy for even a child, not to mention someone, who had at least basic understanding of what and how. Although small habit, the sound of engines howling like lost souls still irritated her and headphones barely silenced it. She really felt pity for the passengers, which didn't even have that, but probably sealing off their helmets should do it. But in comparison to smaller machines like this, Heavy Dropship wasn't even shaking. She didn't worry about her friends, but the crew of missile launchers could take it poorly. When she saw them last time, they already looked pretty scared and she wasn't surprised. They will be placed in middle of nowhere, left only to themselves, only to start rocking after hearing the signal. They had nowhere to run. If Alantians were to get them, they would either kill or capture them into slavery. Hard to say, what was worse.

And her? She'll be in the middle of the battle, watching it in it's full glory and terror. Nobody will get better place. And if she makes it out or not, was only the matter of heavenly Providence.

10:43

Cargo load of Heavy Dropship

The flight dragged on for everyone. Some tried to sleep, but sounds of the engines were really drilling their ears. Tertan crew didn't had problem with that, though. Same was with Ester, who just looked down at her hand terminal, reading something from it. Dora sighed. Her girlfriend was right. She shouldn't have scared everyone like that. She had no idea why, but she just needed to say it. She just hoped, that she didn't jinxed it.

How was it with Argonauts, which under leadership of Jason went to find Golden Fleece? They were not like these heroes. They did have a Galaxy-wide war behind them, but nothing could prepare them for something like that. On the other hand, they went so far, that word 'retreat' was off the list. Their Golden Fleece will be Trar or rather, the technology inside. She heard about it many times from Ester. She also heard about prisoners. This really made her laugh. How did Larik and the rest imagined that? That they'll get in there and capture some bastards before they start an alarm? Idiots. Maybe if they went there themselves and showed what they could do?

But knowing Larik, she knew, that he wouldn't stop before reaching his goal, no matter the cost. He would easily let them all die, if this meant total victory.

Ester also told her, that Halt was a member of the staff. She didn't envy the old Ranger. During her stay in Araluen, she heard from Gilan, that he was the best in field, although he was already retired. His place wasn't among the people, thinking themselves to be new Clausewitz.

After few more minutes, Heavy Dropship started slowing down, meaning, that they were getting close to the target. Landing wasn't hard. Different team left markers during previous visit, so Jackie knew where to land.

Machine fell on the ground like a giant bird. Ester and White Squadron were the first ones to leave. The island had merely one and a half square kilometer of surface and had at least two hundred fifty meters in highest point. Fighter Infantry simply secured the area, rest was in hands of artillerymen. Launchers on six-wheeled MZKT-9990 Stratos chassis had to go to positions two hundred meters further, where artillerymen had to quickly spread masking net over them. Ammo vehicles will park in small ravine, while command vehicle had to set up among rickety bushes to the left of vehicles with effectors. They will receive the coordinates in advance.

Water would not be a problem. There was a small source nearby. They will survive few hours on dry MREs. As a way of relaxing, they could also bathe in the crystal clear waters and get some strength. Vacation on tropical island paid by the military. Who would refuse?

Ester even started liking it here. Almost like a fairytale. Thousands of lights shined in the water. There was an absolute silence, interrupted by sound of hydrogen engines. She really didn't like, that war reached here. She suddenly felt, that some places should simply be left to themselves, so people could watch their beauty at any possible moment. She started daydreaming. For a minute.

She turned around and started to direct the driver of first vehicle.

The service of the Tigres was moving slow. Doesn't matter, they had a whole day.

11:31

Trar, Royal Palace

"My lord, is something wrong?"Fingers of Idira laying at his side affectionately moved across his forehead."It's another day in a row?"
"I'm thinking."

"About what, my love?"
Tyrranius sat on his bed and later stood up to walk up to the window. His mind was still focused on the current situation with the Otherworlders and how they managed to stand back up after what they did to them. For him, it was like biggest humiliation.

He had to think fast. He had to finish what he started. Ultimate conquest of the world was their goal, to ensure them more centuries of security. They made a promise to their Lords and he would never forgive himself, if it had to end just like that. Not to mention, that everyone else wouldn't forgive him as well. Kings of several other clans still looked at him as if he was nothing more, that a simply warmonger and cheater.

"Will you come back to me?"Idira's voice sounded imploringly.

Tyrranius ignored the girl, sunk in his own thoughts. One more thing still stuck in his head. That forsaken jamming facility. Assaults were launched and all failed. With the facility's defenses, it wasn't that easy for them to hold it. Sooner or later, though, they had to take car of that.

When previous king of the Ektrim Clan, Krimissos, passed away and Tyrranius took his place, he promised himself, that not only he will restore the rightful place of his clan among all others, but also reunite their people under his rule. Making them all a single nation was still far away, but he already took a first step, during the election of next King of Alantian Clans. When he defeated previous king from rival Heritid Clan, everyone was stunned, as Heritids never lost the Tiral by Combat for a thousand years. After that, Ektrims started to prosper, entering a new Golden Age. He knew, that he was on his way to greatness. And now, with Otherwoarlders, it was the time to start with his plan.

Allying with Sadera was just a temporary thing. All these primitives, believing in doing the will of their false Gods, would soon kneel under him. When they will brake the rest of enemy resistance, Saderans and Soutlanders would get what they deserve, not to mention all the others.

That's what he hoped for.

"My lord…"
King shook, scared. He wasn't expecting a visit at a time, when Idira was here.

"I'm all ears."
"We detected something strange. We don't know what it is, or where does it come from."

Tyrranius needed just one, quick glance at three dimensional projection coming from a device in guard's hand.

None of the Clans used such a thing. A giant, black-red monstrosity, flying just above the water. It had three, rotor-less gondolas attached to it's hull and some tubes on top of it. Pretty interesting technology.

"Bastards."
"What did you say, my lord?"The guard didn't get what Tyrranius was talking about.

"That wasn't to you."King screeched his teeth, looking at the data. Sixteen pharasongs from Trar. Not too far.

It would be better, if they took a closer look.

11:58

Back with White Squadron

"Just a bit more…a bit more…drive here. Okay, enough."

Shame, that nobody earlier thought about a small excavator to dig firing positions in the ground. Such thing wouldn't take much place and could be easily squeezed into the cargo hold of the Heavy Dropship. It would be faster and people wouldn't get so tired…

Except Rory, which just sat on a rock, not doing anything.

"You could help."Tuka pointed out.

"You are doing just fine."Rory waved her off.

"Easy to say, Miss Demigoddess."Yuko murmured.

"Isn't Lelei helping you with her magic?"
"I did…But now…tired…"young mage said, laying on her back on the ground.

They didn't get the excavator, so she decided to do it. After removing a lot of sand with her magic, she suddenly felt really tired and decided to rest.

Ester just shook her head at Rory.

Now, a bit of stretching the lines, hammering the stakes and throw some green on the net. The crew doubled and tripled, to deal with the task, before sun could hide behind the horizon.

Slowly, they could start getting out of here. They will come back here in the evening, unless Jackie will squeeze a bit more power out of the dropship, which was pretty plausible, considering, that they threw off the cargo.

Dora thought, that it could be good to set up one more battery. Why not? There was still a lot of place to do it. Enemy had to be burred with missiles of all kinds, in so big numbers, that the drones wouldn't be able to get all of them.

They also had the gas up their sleeve. Who knew, maybe standard missiles will do enough damage, so it won't be necessary? But knowing life, it probably won't change anything. White Squadron's second-in-command already saw all of them, jumping out of one of the Heavy Dropships, or maybe even Fearless, right into the fray.

However, upon inspecting last bit of cargo, she found Hazmat suits. So yeah. Dropping Klofor was still in plans. She just hoped, that all of these were checked and none had any leaks. She didn't want anyone to get paralyzed. Or worse.

"Okay, Do, get everyone, we're getting out of here."Ester said."

"I just hope these guys here will not die while we're gone."Saying that, Dora already looked in the direction of approaching captain, which was in charge of the battery.

A native of Montevideo, officer had to receive his rank before everything went to hell. He was scared and tried to mask it by putting on a neutral face. Arlette wanted to share her gum, which nobody knew where she got it from, but Uruguayan politely declined.

"We're going."Ester said after a bit of silence.

"Thanks for the help."Captain thought of shaking their hands, but quickly decided not to.

Members of White Squadron just nodded and started walking away.

"Funny guy…"Dora said, after they went few steps away. They were going towards the shore, passing by the ruts, made by the wheels of the trucks.

Ester thought that…

No, it wasn't possible.

She looked up, in the direction, from which a strange whistle came. Fiery streak looked like a meteor entering an atmosphere.

But it wasn't a meteor.

She tried to say anything, but her tongue simply stuck to her palate. Dora also noticed the danger, but they didn't have the time to react.

"Oh…"that's all she managed to say, before the Heavy Dropship changed into a supernova. They were blown away by a shockwave.

When Ester woke up, her head, bones, everything hurt, even lungs. He desperately blinked her eyes, trying to see anything. The sight slowly returned.

"Jackie!"she heard Ana's shout.

"Wait, stop, don't go!"Arlette said, seemingly trying to stop her.

"But maybe…She couldn't…!"
"Ana, don't!"Fatima exclaimed."Nobody could survive that…"
They said better is an enemy of good. Today, this proverb has proven itself. Instead of surprising the Ektrims, they were surprised themselves.

She laid on the ground for a little, before slowly lifting her head. He managed. She started spewing sand, which screeched between her teeth.

She lifted herself up high enough, to, instead of Heavy Dropship, see a smoking, burning funeral pyre for Jackie and the Tertan crew.

It was even good, that it didn't happen few minutes later, when she and the rest were already aboard.

12:11

FOB Santa Maria

"It's true that the tests were not performed, but Nashini specialists insist it's effective. A person affected by it comes back to senses after twelve hours. It all depends on personal predisposition and dose. After some time, the gas decays and vanishes, so we don't have to worry about toxicity, which makes our job easier. I'm more worried about the fact, that some of the inhabitants might get struck by it. The ones inside will be okay and their battle readiness will be imminent. There is also the wind…"Halt prepared a full litany, but his further words were stopped by the move of Larik's hand.

"They won't be quick enough. After all, this substance should work for few hours."Larik was skeptic."We'll be able to take the key points. In fact, I'm against complete populace extermination, if we want to take the technology. Living specialists could be useful. From what I know, the gas doesn't work immediately, unlike the other one we've got. If enemy realizes, that he's doomed, he can pull a fast one on us from desperation."

"Concentration of the gas will be different on different areas. We can't be sure, that in strategic locations, situation will go as we want. Guesswork is not enough and adapting Fearless for new tasks will take at least few more hours."
"Few hours to change the tanks, nozzles or what? Weird. Can we wait these few hours?"
It started to get stuffy in the field tent. Halt, Diablo and few other officers awaited the final decision. Everything seemed to go in the right direction, until Larik and his problems appeared. He constantly complained about everything. Every point of the operation was analyzed numerous times. If it continued like that for much longer, the delay could turn from few hours into few days.

"We're exposing ourselves to unnecessary risk."

"I decide about it."
"We're right under Ektrim's noses and if our intel is right, they are concentrating forces. Every hour…"

"Don't forget yourself, soldier. This plan…"Larik shook the documents with orders for all of the strike groups."…has too many holes. It's basically as holed as Swiss cheese. We will take unnecessary losses, because if intel is right, they already outnumber us."
Halt, until now leaning over the map, straightened up, sighed and sat down. He wondered, why did Pina chosen such an idiot for their commander?

He looked into Diablo's eyes, former prince did the same. It started to piss them off. How long can you go like that?

One of younger Chakdrik officers stepped into the tent, looking right at Halt. Former Ranger moved back, full of worry.

"I hope it's important."
"Major Barkhorn just reported."Second lieutenant's mandibles started shaking against his will.

"Are they done? Where are they? Speak up!"
"Dropship destroyed and they are stuck on an island."
"Destroyed? By who?"Halt couldn't believe in what he heard.
A truly rhetorical question. Their entire plan just went to hell. Larik wasn't gonna like it. And, what worse, it will be all on him.

Right after Halt passed the bad news further, there was deadly silence. Maybe some of them expected something like that, but not all.

"Is it confirmed?"Larik asked.
"Ester can be trusted."
"That's what I was talking about, ladies and gentlemen."Larik stopped wondering. He straightened up and ordered."We're starting withing three hours. I will contact Secure Valley and report everything. Dismissed."

Gears of the war machine started turning in fast motion. They had nothing to lose.

Analysis, concepts and corrections…And now, corrections were done for. This or that gas. Was it so important now? There will be no second option. They found themselves on lost position and by their very wish.

XXX

The picture of destroyed vehicle didn't satisfy Tyrranius one bit. If there was one, there will be more. Otherworlders came so close to the city, which was as worrying as the fact, that they did exactly what the king excluded. He should have sent more patrols in all directions. Fortunately, their pathetic technology didn't stood a chance with Alantian tech, but it had to be said, they did have some achievements.

Following the capturing of their fortress on Alnus Hill, they managed to put their hands on some of their technology. What Tyrranius was interested the most in, were their infantry weapons. Some of them even managed to discover the secrets of energy-based weaponry. Evapguns were good, but their fire rate still was the biggest problems. Unfortunately, prototypes they made were complete failures. Doesn't matter, with trial and error, they were going to finally get these things to work. Soon, warrior of Clan Ektrim will be wielding weapons able to pin down their enemies with fire rate alone.

Although all the trump cards up his sleeve, surprised Tyrranius did god scared of failure, because he thought, that this wouldn't happen. He really needed to gather the War Council. They couldn't just stand and wait.

XXX

Dora was sucking on blade of grass, carefully watching the sky. After first drone, more will appear, she was sure of it. And when they will find them, they will destroy the launchers, killing the crew one by one. They won't come out of it alive. No one will come for had to be said openly and they had to accept their fate.

They didn't mean much. Only the success of the operation counted. Doesn't matter, what Ester transmitted by the hand terminal. They can't spread their forces. Not now.

"There they are."said Rory, curled up behind a rock.
Dora squinted her eyes and in the pointed direction, she saw a whirlwing, accompanied by several bright dots.

They were screwed.

Armada managed to reach the island withing half a minute. Crewed vehicle stayed in safe distance from the island, allowing the drones to do the recon. There were at least fifteen or sixteen, she couldn't count them because of their speed and sick maneuvers.

You just needed to to tighten your teeth and wait. It didn't take long for the command vehicle to become a fireball. They tried unnecessarily to mask something, what couldn't be masked in such terrain. They had to leave the junk as a decoy. They won't talk to the HQ anymore. You could say, that they punched right in the face and spread on the ground, without a chance to survive until the end of the round.

The launcher placed in the middle of thin firing line was annihilated few seconds later. Explosion of fuel and warhead threw the chippings all around the island. Big shred of plate flew right over Dora's head, before falling few meters behind and starting a small fire in dry grass.

White Squadron's 2IC stopped liking being on this island. And Argonauts with Jason could go fuck themselves as an addition. Show-offs.

Echo of another detonation came from behind. Shitty feeling, laying like that and waiting for death. To that, she they couldn't do anything. They start returning fire and only give away their positions. Drones were too fast for their eyes.

She rolled onto her back, trying to evaluate the reality.

In short, they were fucked. Situation just like during the destruction of Gates. Why did nobody though of adding some air defense to the battery? This new Phoenix, for example, which everyone praised so much. They had some of them in Secure Valley. It wasn't pretty, but supposedly effective. Built as a cooperation between American Raytheon and Nashini Haradan Motorics weeks before the end of GGW, it was basically a Nashini JU-05 chassis, with smaller version of Hoplite CIWS mounted in place of a turret. What would they lose?

One of the inexperienced youngsters stood up and started running, probably because he didn't withstand the tension, to find a better hiding spot.

He run exactly ten meters, before a series from approaching whirlwing cut him down. A body being partially evaporated was not a pretty sight for someone with weak stomach. And just as she expected, she heard Emiko vomiting behind her.

Whirlwing didn't move as crazy as the drones. It would be easy to hit with infantry weapons, but the armor would withstand it and soon, they would meet the same fate as the guy.

Gun spewed few more shots, while Dora pressed her head between her shoulders, trying to be a stone. She had no clue, how the others were withstanding it. She was harder than them and she barely could.

Suddenly, the firing stopped. Machine turned, taking a new course, and drones followed it. Unbelievable. They were spared, not massacred.

She stood up and dusted off her knees. She wasn't exactly pleased, quickly figuring out, where they were going. Ester also could see it and others simply started to figure it out. North of here, was their concentration spot. When whirlwing team gets there, the invasion force will be a memory. If there will be someone to hold the memory.

Earlier, they didn't even think about such possibility.

XXX

Halt never liked putting all eggs in one casket. This didn't paid off. Because of someone's oversight, everything could go downhill in fraction of a second. Only dispersion could allow to evade needless losses, the regroup and begin the attack.

Fleet and air forces, gathered here by almost a week, quickly started leaving the bay and the airfield. Not all of them were fully crewed. Ships themselves didn't take any damage, hiding by these two weeks, but crews…Some committed suicide, others went mad, others went to find some resources and never came back. Some ships missed captains, others missed a mechanic or half the crew. But this wasn't important. The speed was the thing they needed now. They had to get the hell out and fast.

Durban and Marrakesh, two Submersible Missile Platforms, had the easiest job. They quickly performed emergency dive and were not seen again. Other machines didn't have such a comfort. Tertan Heavy Dropships were the first to take off, quickly lifting their bulky forms into the air. The the most of the burden of fighting had to be taken by maritime Heavy Cruiser Congo, filled with surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles. Together with Destroyer Sierra Leone, they were the basis of their naval forces. Now, they had to show, what they were worth.

Other, smaller vessels, such as cutters and Frigates, had different tasks. They were tasked with support tasks and escorting the landing forces. The core of strike group were four, or rather now three, Heavy Dropships. Without them, the attack couldn't commence. Now, the pilots of these majestic machines tried to do their best, to get out of snare, in which the FOB changed.

Fleet still had a chance, the troops stationed on hills, not so much. They won't start running, because this would equal doom. They'll tie the Ektrim forces, give them some losses. They will surely demand a huge price for their skin.

Halt, together with Larik, found themselves in command point right when news of incoming drone swarm came.

"They're faster than we expected."

"I know."All possible options went through colonel's head. There wasn't many of them."Prepare to open fire. We do Plan Red Variant Two."

Plan Red, so attack, no matter the circumstances. Last sensible decision. They didn't have anything else left.

Through tactical network, order reached the units. Everyone stayed ready, so there was no confusion, which often entered the action in such situations.

Halt stood behind the operator, to watch the screen. Points marking the flying units fortunately were not numerous-three big, crewed whirlwings, and how many drones made the escort, they did not know. These ones were invisible to radar.

Former Ranger tried to keep calm, but inside, he was boiling. There were only few allied drones in the air, but more were appearing. Fighters started taking off from the field and soon, they were going to circle around the area. He hoped, that this will make any difference.

Ektrim whirlwings made a compact formation, staying in the back. Drones moved forward, formed in wide range. Not equipped with radars, attackers probably didn't know, where to look for them.

That was about to change. Targets were already in the range of AA. Computers counted the vector and trajectory and sent two infrared-led missiles into at each drone. To it, rest of the salvo was aimed at the whirlwings. Now was the real time of trial for all these toys that were brought and in which they put so much hope into.

This time, they were prepared to anti-air warfare. These weeks spent on hiding in the forests and mountains allowed them to find out, that for some reason, infrared missiles were true drone-killers. It was true that Alantians managed to master the art of drone swarms, but the numbers of infrared missiles was on Coalition's side.

Enemy was almost there. There was no time to waste. Fifty missiles were fired in one, short sequence.

The fight for life and death has begun. Everything happened so fast, that human eye was unable to register all of them. Only microprocessors in multi-sensor warheads could manage that.

Halt bit his lip. Drones should have protected the crewed machines. That was their main directive and working mode.

"We got it."Operator at the radar didn't withstood the tension and hit his open hand with his fist. Good that not into the console, or he would break it. Halt didn't react. He was happy too, but less excited.

They could note down their first success. Drones worked as they expected and thanks to favorable force ratio, all were destroyed. Now, they had to hunt the bigger animal, which escort protected from first wave. Machines that stayed behind were targeted next. Whirlwings started running, rightly determining their situations. They got one, two others escaped.

That wasn't the end, but barely a skirmish.

Now, it was their turn.

They didn't have ways for sophisticated attack. Daredevil still wasn't ready for mission-it's tanks just started to be filled. All because of Larik, which had to have some weird objections.

Good that they did secure themselves for such opportunity and some missiles were also filled with the gas. It won't be as effective as work of a whirlwing, but they didn't have any other option.

Ten surface-surface batteries started firing, sending salvo after salvo into the air. Correspondingly large fire intensity was needed. Drones will surely appear over Trar, in large numbers, trying to intercept the missiles. This moment was decisive.

"What about Heavy Dropships?"
"In position."
That wasn't enough. There should be an assault team in each of them now. Just like on all smaller dropships. They planned four thousand soldiers, now, there were only two aboard. How many of them will they manage to drop? Half?
Many question marks appeared, but battle was one, giant unknown and enemy was unpredictable in their moves. Especially this kind of enemy.

Halt turned towards Larik. He slowly nodded, unsure of his decision.

Where was Fearless now?

It turned out, that the machine was carrying more missile trays and would be here in three hours. So Daredevil was supposed to go alone. Flight to the island should take them at least forty minutes. If it works, he could win the battle for them.

Halt also missed White Squadron with the others. Easy task resulted in them getting stranded in place, from which they couldn't get them. It was clear, that he wouldn't send anyone for them. They had to do everything alone, at least for now.

XXX

Wailing of the wounded started to irritate Ester. Private got his hand evaporated and half face burned, changing handsome face into terrifying mask. Fatima loaded him with morphine, but it was only ad hoc solution. He could only be helped by an actual doctor, because with such injuries, he won't go for long.

"Will they come for us?"Tuka asked, looking at the horizon, hoping to see some kind of help, constantly coughing, when black smoke from destroyed command vehicle got into her lungs.

"Forget it."

Dora's words reminded them, how bad was their situation.

"Where are you going?"Ester asked, seeing as her girlfriend starts to walk away from the others.

"To look around."
She had enough of the screams. She just needed to clear her head.

She didn't haste with climbing. She walked slowly looking under her legs and every few steps, forward, to see, how much way she had left. The fact, that they were still not finished, was thanks to luck or mysterious calculations of their enemy, but as they said-what is delayed is not lost. Ektrims were not done with them. They will appear sooner or later, to finish what they started, unless they saw them as meaningless detail. She had no idea, what was worse.

Dora had a sudden vision of Jackie. Considering, what the Minenian been through, seeing her family killed off on Minenia and her homeland occupied, it was really sad to see her die in a place like this. She was always the spirit of the team, although her trauma. Now, she would never see her smiled face. Ester also told them, that she had a thing with Diablo. White Squadron's 2IC still didn't like the prince, but if he really had something going with Jackie, she really felt compassion for him.

But now, this didn't mean anything.

She reached the top, but the sight didn't make her happy. Not anymore.

She squinted her eyes and then activated zoom in her visor, trying to see the object on the horizon. Around half a mile from the island, she could see a black dot, which upon closer inspection, turned out to be a Tertan Heavy Dropship.

So it happens.

Dora activated her hand terminal, trying to call Ester. If they manage to make contact with the machine, they could find out, what the situation looks like. And that's what they needed.

She returned down much quicker, hoping to hear, what orders did they got.

Ester and captain were discussing something, which could mean only one thing.

"What did they say?"she asked, when Ester stopped talking to her terminal.

"They asked, how many launchers we've got left."Ester scratched her chin.

"You're joking. Are they going to evacuate us?"
"For now, probably not. We have to fire when ready. What? Two launchers are still working, we can't leave ours in need."

"Estie, damn it, you know, what that means? They got us with our pants down, five minutes before the start of the offensive. Do I have to tell you, how is this going to end?"
"Dora, please, I would like to not hear more of that bull…"
Selva Tigres came to life, firing more and more missiles into the air. Dust flew into the air, making Dora feel dry in her throat.
"If you don't have anything else to do, get out of my way."
This wasn't a time for quarrel, they knew it. Ester really wanted this operation to succeed. It was her idea. So they had to wait with this for more appropriate time.

XXX

It wasn't as bad as they previously thought. It wasn't good either.

At the beginning, they fired two hundred missiles from land and sea. If at least a quarter of them get through, it will be a success. First were already close to the target.

Larik tried to play made out of rock. He stood on the side, with hands crossed on his chest. When they win, he'll be declared a hero. In case of their failure, everything will lose it's meaning.

Halt still couldn't comprehend, why Pina decided to make him the commander. Larik knew his things, but not in such situations. It seemed that there were some reasons. Actually, it might have been a blessing for him, that he was here, doing what he was doing. If he manages to do it, he won't be charged for war crimes. And after talking to some soldiers, he had a folder so thick, that it needed personal locker.

It simply had to be this way.

XXX

Tyrranius tried to calm himself down. He had reasons to be happy. He tracked the hornet nest and could destroy it.

Otherworlders started to endanger them directly, so they had to be annihilated. He was sure, that Saderans wouldn't care, if there were no more Otherworlders left to make them into slaves.

He moved his hand through hair and touched his beard. Not too long ago, he came up with interesting idea, but hard to accept. He didn't think about it much at the beginning. Idea like any. Absurdity, but at some level, rational: if they could simply find a common language with Human Otherworlders? After all, they were not as primitive as Saderans or Soutlanders. Also, DNA tests showed, that they were in some way related to Alantians. They also had some interesting ideas. They were better mercenaries. Probably earlier they wouldn't even consider that, but after breaking their spine, he seen the alliance as possible.

At the beginning, he didn't believe, that several objects were directing towards Trar. It wasn't possible. He almost panicked, barely held himself together, it wasn't time to think. He gave orders. From various points across the island, numerous drones shot into the sky, choosing an interception course. With their foolish move, they crossed the line. There will be no pact. Human blood will join the other races.

Interception took place three parasongs away from the island. Something like that wasn't seen in these areas for a long time. Drones, having much bigger autonomy that missiles, tried to destroy them with kinetic force alone. Emotionless machines didn't worry about short circuit. Half of fired missiles was destroyed by drones, not having a chance of reaching their goals.

Second half did better. Attack performed with unguided, guided and cruise missiles, as well as classic munitions similar to Grad system, but much bigger caliber.

Missiles going on arc trajectory were no match for drones, shooting them down one by one. The ones cruising just few meter above the sea were not so easy. In some places, they lacked precision and mainly time. Missiles kept coming from various directions and heights and Ektrim defenses were thinning out second by second. It was a classic saturation attack.

Heavy Dropships, each having eight launchers for cruise missiles, opened fire halfway between the islands. Twenty four plasma warheads, all weighting two tons, sped with 1/8 the speed of light, trying to force their way to Ektrim Clan capital. Theoretically, they should be supported by a squadron of fighters based in Santa Maria, ready to throw themselves at the enemy, if he tried to stop the escapade, but they were too focused on chasing down two remaining whirlwings, which escaped destruction during failed raid on Santa Maria. Dropship pilots had to hope, that their missiles will reach the target.

Alantians were not only defending, but also attacking. One Heavy Dropship was destroyed a minute after firing it's missiles. The same fate met Congo, which was hit simultaneously by five drones, sending shattered hull to the bottom of the sea. More and more dropships, cutters and Frigates were going out of commission. It seemed as if the defenders had limitless stock of drones, because new ones kept coming. Finally, fire intensity did it's thing. Cluster missiles started opening over Trar and sub-munitions reached the city and whirlwing landing pad, where it immediately put several machines preparing to take off out of fighting.

The buildings and shining spire dominating over the city were hit by three more missiles, including one filled with gas. This first, confirmed success, started a wave of cheers in HQ. Coalition cheered, seeing the victory as inevitable. Sadly, the shelling weakened. Keeping it at this level was impossible. Ektrims also exhausted their forces.

Everything will be decided by round two, which was just started.

XXX

And this chapter, ends here.

You have to admit, shit hit the fan down there real fast. The full out clash with the Ektrims had begun, but nobody yet knows, how will it end and who will come up on top. Clash of clashes we've all been waiting for. But how this will play out, is a subject for further chapters.

So, stay tuned and see you soon!