World War Guppy
Chapter 2: Casualties
"The goal of all life is death." —Sigmund Freud
Somewhere in space, near the Hannibal
Objective: Rescue survivors on Hannibal
"I see the HQ, only a couple of hundred meters. Be ready everyone that will exit!" Gil announced. Moon got up and went to the back.
"Do you see anything special already, Gilly?" Molly asked. Gil zoomed in with an outside camera on the Hannibal.
"Oh no. It has been damaged badly! There is a big opening in the Circle. I see debris floating all around it, and the HQ itself is slightly leaning on the left."
"Hmm, put yourself next to the large opening. We'll do the evacuation via there." Flynn ordered. Gil obeyed and slowed down the ship next to damage hole.
"Molly, you hear me?" Gil asked via comlink.
"Yes Gilly?"
"Please, find Milou back…"
"I will, Gilly. Let's do this now." The ETS, Moon and Flynn went through the ship's exit airlock, and entered the Hannibal, for the last time.
"It changed..." Oona whispered.
"Of course, it got completely blown up!" Flynn added.
"We can't go left, metallic plates are blocking the way. We must reach the briefing room." Molly said.
"It seems like the security systems are locking the 4 doors leading to it. You must manually shut it down." Nonny explained.
"Then the survivors must be there." Oona added.
"And the enemy outside it, let's get moving and deactivate the security systems." Flynn said.
As the group started moving inside their old HQ, Deema was trying to establish a communication link with the possible survivors.
"Hello, hello, can anybody hear me? Please respond. We are the ETS, hello? Nothing, sigh." Deema said.
"Keep trying!" Gil said, entering the briefing area. Cesario was attached to a chair. Suddenly, the ship got hit.
"Mosquitos probably! Stay on your positions, I'll use a manual defence turret." Gil added, and he ran to the ladder in the back of the room that lead to the weapon. Gil was ready and saw the OD fighter ready to attack again.
"Gil, watch out. He's not the only spaceship around." Nonny yelled.
"But now there's one less around! Haha!" Gil said, after successfully destroying the spaceship.
Our other group was still advancing through the Circle, until the past by the medbay.
"This place really is doomed..." Moon mentioned.
"So we won't be able to repair it?" Oona asked.
"I'm afraid it can't. A whole part got blown away, almost all the systems, maybe the core got damaged too, and the gravity machine. No, we'll have to find another place."
"Then we should save as much medical equipment as possible. We need them badly!" Oona replied. Molly looked at her.
"You can Oona, but stay wary. We will continue." Molly said.
"I'll stay with her to help." Moon added. Flynn nodded. The 2 entered the medbay, while the rest continued.
"The hangars. We'll have to go through it, our passage is blocked again by debris." Flynn noticed in front of him. He approached the door to hangar 1 on the side of the hallway. The 3 entered it.
"The gates are completely open." Goby said. As they wanted to walk to the other exit door, an OD transport ship flew inside, and troops left it.
"No time for fire exchange! We can't afford the time! Run!" Flynn said. The 3 started running while shooting behind them at the enemy. The OD guards shot back too, but mostly hit the security fences the 3 were running behind. On the end, the trio could reach the door and get around the blockade.
"Nonny, where is the security systems room?" Molly asked via her comlink.
"It's in the part you are in. The room is on the right part of the hallway and above its entry there's written 'security systems'."
"Welp that was stupid. Deema, have you managed to make a link with the briefing room?"
"Nope, I doubt they have a strong enough radio. I also can't see inside it, the glass walls have been covered with a protection layer." She replied.
"Hmm, okay..."
"We should hurry before they leave the hangar!" Goby added.
"That's what I was thinking." Flynn said, and the 3 continued down the hall, until they arrived at the right door.
"Here it is..." Molly opened up the door and saw 2 OD soldiers at the command panel.
"Hey what is..." One said, but Goby had shot him. The second one was killed too.
"Anybody knows what the Hell all of this means?" Molly asked, looking at the surrounding monitors.
"I do." Nonny replied. "Go to the command panel in front of you, then look at the monitor above it. A security code is asked, normally."
"Ah shit! I hear those bastards coming to us! And this stupid door won't lock!" Flynn said.
"Let's put those boxes against the door!" Goby pointed at 2 metallic crates in a corner. The 2 pushed them closely against the door.
"Nonny, the code!" Molly said.
"Hey Nonny, wait, look! Oona is back!" Deema said, standing up. Gil was still shooting down the OD ships around.
"We must save all this medical equipment! Such a waste to leave it here!" Oona explained. Moon appeared behind her too, with stuff in her hands.
"There's still much to take." Moon added.
"I'll come and help. Nonny, will you hold it out here alone?" Deema asked.
"What a rhetoric question..." He answered.
"Nonny, the code quickly!" Molly insisted.
"Oh eh, let me look in my notes. I wrote it somewhere... Aha, here! 6 3 4 8. Do I need to repeat it?"
"...4 8, access granted! Perfect, and what now."
"They're trying to enter Molly! Do this fast!" Goby shouted.
"You're basically done. Click on the red button on the command panel, that's the one to deactivate the security systems. Click a second time to confirm your action."
Molly obeyed. The monitors all around her showed the same text. 'Security systems deactivated'.
"Finally!" She said sighing.
"Now come and help! We won't hold this for long!" Flynn said. Molly joined the 2, and after a couple of moments, it seemed that nobody was pushing again. The trio moved the crates and slowly peeked through the door.
"They all died?" Goby said questioning, looking at the bodies.
"You can thank us later!" Moon said. Oona and Deema appeared too. "We heard all the noise and thought you were in danger."
"Soldiers are more important than medical equipment." Oona added.
"The security systems have been disabled. It's time to evac the survivors." Molly explained.
"We'll spread ourselves on the way back to the ship." Flynn said. The rest nodded and went back to the hangar. Flynn stayed at the security room. Molly went through a transport hall to the elevator leading to the briefing room. The doors were now open.
"Moment of truth, will there be survivors, or will I get shot from 36 different sides." Molly thought. The elevator platform went up. Almost at the top, she saw a whole arsenal of weapons pointed at her, held by people in spacesuits.
"Molly?" One person said. As it approached Molly, she could see who it was.
"Commander!"
"It's Sergeant Molly from the ETS!" Another familiar voice said. A dozen of WPP soldiers survived, McCrab, Laurent and Jiang were part of them too.
"You survived! I can't believe it!" Molly replied.
"And you 7 then, you all survived too, if you are here!" Molly looked down a moment.
"What the Hell all happened..." Molly mumbled.
"I will explain everything I know, but when we are in safety. Do you have evacuation?" Valen asked. Molly nodded.
"Go down with the elevator and to the hall in front of you. Sergeant Flynn must be there to escort you all." Half of the survivors went first.
"I'm so glad to see you arrived!" A voice said to Molly. She turned around and saw Jiang, the scientist.
"We won't die today, don't worry." Molly said. From behind Jiang, a noise came.
"Waf Waf." A dog in a spacesuit said.
"Ah here you are, Milou was it?" Jiang said picking the little dog up. Molly smiled.
"Gilly, Milou is alive!" Molly said through comlink.
"Oh thank God! Thank you! Molly I don't know what to say!"
"Keep your focuss on the mosquitos incoming!" Nonny ordered.
"Oh indeed, see you soon Molly!" Jiang looked at Molly again while being evacuated.
"Such a waste. My entire robotics laboratory must be abandoned..." Molly nodded and started thinking.
"Robotics, robotics... Hmm." She snapped her fingers and had an idea.
"An eureka moment?" Jiang asked.
"Sort of... I'll tell you later. The elevator is back up. Let's leave!" Molly said. The second half took the elevator down. Valen was in it too.
"Flynn is in front of us. You sh..." Molly couldn't finish her sentence. OD soldiers came from behind and started shooting. The WPP soldiers fired back.
"Let's not lose time! Move to the transport ship!" Flynn shouted from down the hall.
"I'll hold them a moment. Protect the rest!" Molly said back. She shot back, forcing the OD soldiers to take cover.
"Come on candyfloss! Everyone left the hall!" Flynn screamed. Molly looked behind her, and retreated. Flynn was waiting and the 2 jumped in the hangar.
"This whole place will blow up soon! Let's make a run for it hahaha!" Flynn mentioned. Molly rolled her eyes and the 2 went back to the transport ship.
Everyone was on board. All the medical equipment was claimed too. Molly was the last to get through the ship's entry airlock. Gil went back to the cockpit and flew away, deep in space.
"Talking about a miracle. You guys come out of nowhere to rescue us. But I don't know if it will be enough to turn the tables of this war. It ceased to be a secret fight, now the entire population has been impacted... Where is Zooli? I haven't seen her." Valen asked. Molly sighed one last time and took Goby's backpack, showing Zooli's head. Everyone were silent.
"You saved the head. All the most important parts of the robo-guppy are inside it. Hopefully her artificial memory didn't get damaged. If I had the robotics department, I could have given her a new body..." Jiang said.
"I won't give her up. We will find an adequate lab, and we will bring her back!" Molly answered. Everyone nodded.
"We are safe and far away from danger. Time for a little chat!" Gil said, arriving in the briefing room. The ETS, Flynn, Moon, Laurent, McCrab, Valen and Jiang sat down. All seats were taken. Gil crossed his arms. But then, a little thing in a spacesuit approached him happily.
"Waf waf!" It said.
"Milou! I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you so much!" Gil said while picking the dog up. He retracted his spacesuit to reveal the fur ball again. He put it down again, but Milou started whining.
"Ah, forgot to tell, he broke one of his paws during the attack." Jiang said. Gil looked concerned.
"I'll examine it with the medical equipment we took." Oona said. Gil nodded happily.
"Was he ever that affectionate with you?" Deema whispered to Molly. Molly rolled her eyes.
"So..." Valen started. But he was interrupted by noise in a nearby locker. Gil went to it and opened the storage locker.
"Ah not too early! Merda! This place is too small for me!" Cesario said.
"I put him in there, just in case..." Nonny added. Valen stood up too.
"Giovanni Cesario. What a coincidence to see you here!" Valen said.
"Long time no see Commander!" Cesario replied.
"This really looks like a bad family reunion." Deema whispered to Molly. She laughed.
"Ehem, not important right now, I think you've deserved some explanations. Let me start. Right after your entry in the OD HQ, there was this report telling that a giant weapon shot a laserbeam on Earth. I saw it pass just next to the Hannibal. Why they did it? Perhaps they knew we would help Earth's population by retreating away all our forces. And their plan was a success! The high-command ordered the immediate redeployment of our troops to Earth, to help the civilians and claim as much territory before the OD could take it..."
"And thank God we still managed to save a couple million of people on every continent by opening our emergency bunker complexes. This was at the cost of our anonymity, but we really didn't have a choice… But I don't even know if other people survived the shockwave. Let's hope they did." McCrab added.
"And... Our parents..." Oona said worryingly. The rest realised it too.
"They were a priority to us, for obvious reasons. They and your 3rd gen counterparts have been brought to East Coast bunker 1. They are hidden and not a priority to the OD." McCrab explained. The 6 were reliefed.
"But what we know now, is that we underestimated the OD. Shortly after the deathbeam, most of our facilities and complexes reported OD attacks. Even the Antarctic HQ has been taken. Mister Richardson and a part of the personnel fled by miracle in a space fleet. Their plan was to reach the Hannibal, but that isn't possible any more." Valen explained.
"We have to contact them. If we regroup with this small army, we can continue the fight." Flynn proposed.
"But to go where? We lost both our HQ's. This ship is too small. Where do you want to go then?" Valen asked. Flynn was thinking.
"The OD HQ on the Moon." Nonny said. Everyone looked confused.
"Don't be silly! We blew up the reactor. You, blew up the reactor, right?" Deema asked.
"I purposely didn't. The HQ itself hasn't been damaged except the walls. We could break into the security systems and take control of it. It is abandoned, so..." Everyone started discussing.
"That is a good plan, because we don't have any other choice. We must get in contact with Mister Richardson immediately." Valen explained.
"I'll do that for you." Deema said, and she ran to the communication panel of the ship.
"Okay, while we wait, I'll tell the rest that I know. So the general situation isn't in our favour. In function of the reports we received from our bases and the news media on Earth, we could speculate that 70 to 80% of Earth is under OD rule..."
"What happened in the remaining 20% then?" Goby asked.
"The United Nations and several countries started to organise resistance with our help. We opened up our secret material storages and distributed it to surviving soldiers, or any body that was ready to fight. These groups under our influence and UN coordination could hold several cities and places. Unfortunately, some of these resistance groups stopped seeing the difference between us, and the OD. A couple of rebel bastions emerged all over the planet."
"They aren't a real priority to us right now, but their fate will be decided later." McCrab added.
"The positive news, the deathbeam didn't wipe out huge parts of the population as we thought it would. It only destroyed most of the surface's infrastructure and buildings. We also didn't detect any major atmospherical changes. Earth is still liveable, but it's the apocalypse down there." Valen explained.
"The major resisting regions are located in New England and Eastern Canada, the Alpine region and Eastern Asia. But of course, other places are fighting back too." McCrab added.
"I found Mister Richardson's ship signal. They want to regroup with us." Deema explained.
"Make him come here. We will discuss it here, in safety." Valen ordered. Deema send a message back. Samur and his fleet were on their way. After half an-hour, they were visible. The ship transporting Samur connected to the one of the ETS. People could now get on board.
"Greetings!" Everyone said when Samur arrived. Valen ceded his place. Everyone looked at the leader.
"I don't know where to begin. There is so much to say. But first, to the ETS, congratulations. With you, we can continue our works. You accomplished great things, and now, you will have to safe the whole world and destroy the OD, once and for all!" The Guppies nodded. "Ehem, and now the analysis of our situation. We practically lost all our outposts on Earth, except the ones in the resisting areas. Some Space stations and Moon bases survived, but a lot were destroyed too. The WPP is vulnerable now. We must build our strengths back up."
"And our squad here, had an extra plan for that." Valen added, looking at Nonny.
"Mister, I assume that a couple of experts from the decryption centre came with you?" Samur nodded. "They and I can take over the systems of the OD HQ on Earth, with the adequate approach naturally. It is completely abandoned, and we didn't nuke it..."
"If there is no other plan... This re-organization in Space seems to be an advantage for us. The OD has to spend troops and resources on maintaining control over Earth, or what's left of it. So yes, let's head for the OD HQ. If we can really make it ours, the battle will continue!" Everyone cheered.
"And from there will start your world domination plan..." Cesario mumbled, just loud enough for Goby to hear it. But he ignored him.
Gil took control of the ship, and the fleet followed him, back to where they came from...