High Chancellor Grandeur was standing in front of the large 'viewport' of his recently refurbished office on board the Righteous Fist when his aid, a grey furred lynx arrived at the entrance to his chambers and requested permission to enter over the short range intercom that linked the entrance and his office, Grandeur keyed the intercom and told the guards to admit him. He turned from the view of Dinosaur Planet which wasn't a true viewport at all but a large viewscreen linked to cameras on the outer hull. The door hissed open and the aid briskly stepped through, pausing to allow the door to whisk closed again before advancing to the base of the large pulpit that raised Grandeur's desk and the viewscreen a good one and a half meters from the floor, forcing visitors to look up at the High Chancellor.
"Sit my loyal servant, what is it?"
The aid sat down in one of the small chairs that sat at the edge of the pulpit.
"My lord I have brought a report from Admiral Lovell concerning the progress of his campaign at Venom, a report from the engineer teams on Dinosaur Planet concerning the progress of the terraforming and construction, and a report from the research frigate Orpheon concerning the progress of the tiberion research."
"Very well you may continue."
The aid nodded and inserted a data card into the slot on arm of his chair; a holoscreen came to life on Grandeur's desk displaying the various pages of the three reports.
"Admiral Lovell reports that the assault on Venom has met a minor setback. Because of a series of severe windstorms on the surface he says that many of our tanks have been rendered less effective because of severe and extended sandblasting to their view exposed components, it would also seem that the toxic gases of the atmosphere have acidic properties when mixed with extensive amounts of volcanic sand and ash and blown through the air at high speeds. He also stated that he was not adequately informed of the strength of these storms or the strength of the Venomian army. He requests that
Grandeur raised a finger, the signal for silence and the aid halted in mid sentence.
"But he was warned?"
"Yes my lord."
Grandeur brought one hand to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully.
"Continue, on to the progress of the tiberion research."
"Yes my lord, our scientists report that they believe they have perfected a tiberion-based nerve gas that can be delivered by shell, bomb, grenade, or handheld gas sprayers. They also report that experiments with tiberion as a mutagen are relatively promising, experiments with captured enemy combatants has resulted in a seventy-seven percent fatality rate however the subjects show a drastic increase in physical attributes such as strength and speed but unfortunately the tiberion degenerates mental capacity and causes frequent insanity and aggressiveness, never the less they feel that with further experimentation they will be able to find a way to prevent the degeneration of mental facilities. They report that experiments with native life have resulted in only a sixty-one percent fatality rate possibly due to the natural endurance and resilience of many of this planet's native species. They report that these subjects also suffer from frequent cases of insanity and increased aggression that makes them impossible to control but again feel that they will eventually be able to find a way to counter these effects and the process will be perfected within the allotted timetable."
"Very well, you may tell them to keep up the good work, you are dismissed."
"Yes my lord."
The aid rose from his seat and gave a quick ceremonial bow before briskly marching back to the door and exiting the chamber. Grandeur sat down at his desk and took a small disk-shaped piece of candy from the small bowl sitting at the edge of his desk, one of the view pleasures he alloyed himself while working and savored the taste as he began to read the reports.
Colonel Bromley entered his quarters and noticed the flashing red light on the small desk situated in the corner of the room signaling his latest orders had come in. He pressed the button and the holoscreen whirred to life displaying a multi-paged document. The lupine colonel hurriedly skimmed it. He was being sent to the front lines at Corneria, and was to report to the carrier "Peace and Unity" in three days at oh-eight-hundred hours. He typed in a command and then an access code to bring up the roster and searched for a single name, damn Sydney's name wasn't on it. He'd have to talk to her about this and maybe see if there was a way he could personally request her transfer before he left. Oh well either way he was heading back to the battle.
The Cornerian Defense Base was bustling with activity, dozens of Cornerian soldiers and marines were scurrying about checking weapons, stowing equipment in vehicles, and performing the many tasks required to prepare for an immanent attack on enemy territory. Engineers and mechanics hurried among rows of Broadsword starfighters and Sentinel class atmospheric gunships performing maintenance checks, connecting fuel lines and wheeling in racks of air-to-air missiles and novastar bombs, while others were performing similar tasks on APCs, tanks, and LRVs. The whole chaotic scene was watched over by powerful flood lights and groups of shouting officers.
General Pepper stood in front of the window of the command bases observation area staring down at the sizable force that was preparing below him. Two hours ago he had given the order to prepare for a nearly all out attack on the Brotherhood lines and the force that was readying itself in front of him would leave the base in exactly twenty four hours, six hours after that they would swarm across the no-man's-land and hit the Brotherhood with everything they had. There was a chance they would win, but it would be a costly victory. If McCloud's team came through and attacked the Brotherhood camp in time than they might be able to disrupt the Brotherhood chain of command long enough to allow the Cornerian forces to push the Brotherhood back. Even better, with what was left of the Cornerian fleet clustered directly over the sector that was still held the Brotherhood would have no idea that their enemy was about to attack. Pepper didn't know how many young men he would be sending off to die but he should've been the first one to fall for allowing the Brotherhood to get a foothold on Corneria. The lists of those who had already fallen in battle at Dinosaur Planet or during the enemy invasion here on Corneria were vast and get longer every day. In thirty hours the mindless bloodshed would begin anew and those dark and forbidding lists of casualties would get even longer. The stage was set, and in thirty hours it would be zero hour and yet another red dawn.
Sergeant Stevenson heard the whistling of an incoming shell before he heard one of the marines shout a warning. The artillery shell slammed into a nearby building and the force of the explosion tore apart three of the seven floors sending rubble raining down on a nearby street. The entire building shook and emitted a deep groaning as the top two floors came crashing down.
"Holy shit that thing's coming down!"
The building's durasteel skeleton gave way and the massive structure began to fall, Stevenson dove behind a pile of rubble and covered his ears. The ground around him shook with such force that loose rubble fell from surrounding buildings and the few windows that were still intact shattered. Covering his ears did little to protect Stevenson from the roar of the building hitting the ground. The rubble began to settle and Stevenson staggered clumsily to his feet. The world was spinning around him and he tried to force it back into focus, his reward was a splitting pain at the base of his brain. Just as the spinning began to stop a pair of marines vanished in a green explosion. Stevenson spun and through the thick dust that had been thrown into the air saw the dark silhouette of a Brotherhood soldier shrouded in a green glow as his plasma projectile launcher recharged for another shot. In one fluid motion Stevenson brought his assault rifle up, clicked the safety off, and put a three shot burst into the figure. The Cornerian sergeant sprinted for better cover as enemy muzzle flashes exploded all around him, firing as he went. Stevenson reached the entrance to an abandoned building and put another burst into the dark shape of another Brotherhood soldier. Marines fell left and right, firing at the silhouettes of Brotherhood soldiers hidden in the dust. A burst of blaster bolts tore through a Cornerian marine as he tried to make a dash for better shelter and Stevenson put a burst of suppressing fire in the Brotherhood soldier's direction. The lieutenant stood up and bellowed an order.
"Get in the buildings you bastards!"
The marines scattered as more of their comrades were cut down by enemy fire and Stevenson ducked as burst of Brotherhood blaster bolts scorched the wall not six inches from his head. Four marines made it two the shelter of an abandoned store front and set up a base of fire, dropping several Brotherhood soldiers before a rocket arced out of the smoke and brought down the entire front of the store. The lieutenant sprinted for the building Stevenson had taken shelter in, he had just reached the doorway and turned to return fire when four bullets tore through the front of his armored vest and exploded out of his back. He staggered backwards Stevenson found himself starring into the lieutenant's face, now a mask of pain and agony. Two more bullets tore through him and all life fled from the soldier's face, his limp body falling to the blood drenched ground.
Stevenson turned and redoubled his efforts at providing covering fire for the last few marines still alive, sending a hail of bullets in the general direction of enemy fire as the amounts of bullets and blaster bolts tearing into the wall around the window began to increase. His weapon clicked empty once again and the Cornerian sergeant ducked back into cover, hand reaching into his ammunition pouch†his fingers found nothing.
"Ahh shit."
The chaotic chatter coming in over his headset chose that moment to resolve into a clear voice.
"Base of fire shift right, we need some support over here god damn it!"
Stevenson keyed his own headset as he continued to frantically glance around the room for some kind of weapon.
"My weapons out of ammo, I'll see what I can do."
Stevenson drew his sidearm, a lightweight blaster pistol and emptied the power pack in the direction of a group of Brotherhood soldiers who running across the street into a perfect flanking position. Stevenson ducked back into cover, tossing aside the empty pistol and his eyes fell on the dead lieutenant.
"Sorry sir, I need this more than you do."
Stevenson reached out and hurriedly undid the soldier's equipment belt, pulling it back into the safety of his shelter. Stevenson opened the ammo bag and transferred the few clips the officer had left into his own ammo bag and grabbed the last few grenades as well. With experienced hands he slammed a fresh clip into his assault rifle and jammed the charging lever back and then forward again before leaning out in front of the window again and opening fire on a second group of Brotherhood soldiers that had taken up a flanking position. Two of the four remaining Cornerian marines had hidden behind a pile of rubble while the other pair had taken shelter behind the wreck of Cornerian LRV, all four were busy sending suppressing fire at a squad of Brotherhood soldiers who were hiding behind a pile of sandbags that had been set up some time in the few weeks. A flurry of enemy bullets tore through one of the Cornerian marines hiding behind the rubble and a high-velocity grenade arced into the hiding spot and tore the second marine to pieces.
Stevenson put a burst of fire into a Brotherhood soldier's head as an enemy support gunner stood up, his chain gun sending a hail of bullets hammering against Stevenson's hiding place. Stevenson cried out in pain as a bullet skimmed his left arm, taking a small piece out of his bicep. He ducked back into cover, clutching a hand over the wound; it was just a flesh wound. Taking his assault rifle in one hand with the other clamped over the wound he leaned out of his shelter again just in time to see a flurry of blaster bolts tear through the third marine's face. Stevenson sent burst after burst of suppressing fire at the largest group of Brotherhood soldiers, the still smoking pile of empty bullet casings at his feet growing rapidly. The last marine was cut down in a hail of Brotherhood fire and Stevenson emptied his last clip in the direction of his comrade's killers as a Brotherhood rocket soldier leaned out of his shelter and aimed his weapon at Stevenson's position. Stevenson threw himself away from the wall and for a brief moment the world in front of him exploded into blinding light and flames. He hit the ground as the room came down around him, summoning what strength was left in him to role between a pair of support girders that had only moments before been part of the building's support skeleton. He banged his head hard on a piece of debris and the last thing he saw before his vision burst into blackness was the ceiling coming down towards him.