The Will of Revenge

by Gamer83888

Fifteen years have passed since the event that changed history. Flare Prime, under the guidance of United Nations, prospers and develops. It's nations, united under the UNSA Andromeda Branch banner, look into bright future. However, old enemies long presumed dead or missing return to bring chaos. A new war is on the horizon and the outcome will decide the fate of billions of lives.

7. Part 1, Chapter 6

I'm back! With another chapter of The Will of Revenge. Last time, we've seen agent Theo Maxilos partaking in a mission aimed to find out what are the Laconians planning for UNSA and the Milky Way galaxy and as you probably know, they are not going to be nice about it. Not to mention, that there is still the situation in Andromeda galaxy with Zorzal and his dream of reclaiming his throne. Let's see what comes from this.

But before that, reviews.

To Supreme Supra: Yup.

To Eddie199: Typical authoritarian regime.

Alright, with that done, let's get to the main party.

Chapter 6

May 25, 2166

09:54

On the way to Leender, Taurus III, Taurus System

Long column of trucks was making it's way through the highway placed in countryside of Soutlandian C.Z. Each truck was carrying either dozen or so military vehicles or some soldiers. They passed by several cars that were driving in opposite direction, with people in them filming the passing military column.

Fergran watched the civilian cars passing by their column and sighed.

"Something wrong?"Hernik asked.

"Not much, but some things…"Fergran thought for a little."I just think, that it's not good, when people think of heroes when they see us."
"Why thought?"Gerhi risen his eyebrow."We are heroes, aren't we?"
"For some, yeah, but our job is not that of a hero."Fergran argued."We just go there, kill and destroy. Heroes don't do that."

"Actually…"Hernik wanted to say, but Fergran stopped him.
"I know, I also listened to all those legends about old heroes from hundreds or thousands of year ago. And I know they also killed and destroyed to save the world. But then, times were different. Today? We should be above that."
"It would be nice, yeah."Gerhi agreed.
"You? Agreeing on something like that?"Hernik asked, surprised.
"I mean, I do like fighting and I do like my tank, but Fergran's right. Humanity in Milky Way already achieved so much, yet war is still one of the main things that plague it. It actually plagues all civilizations. And just imagine a world, when war is just a thing of the past and people won't need to fight each other to achieve or have something. Where everyone have access to everything and where people will live happily, surrounded by their loved ones and dying also surrounded by them. That would be a really great place to live."
Silence fell in the truck, as soldiers started contemplating what Gerhi just said. Actually, some of them could agree with him.

"You should become a philosopher."some said.

"Or a politician."the other said.

"Thank you, thank you."Gerhi said, bowing slightly.

Fergran just smirked under his breath. Then, he just again looked back at the view of fields of grain that they passed on their way towards the city.

They were driving for the next two hours, before the biggest city on the planet finally appeared on the horizon. On the crossroads nearest to the city, however, they turned left. They soon reached a smaller town sitting in the shadow of Leender and drove through it's streets, until they reached military base that was next to the town.

The trucks were let in by Soutlandian guards and made their way towards the parking lot. Soldiers started jumping out of the vehicles, while the tow trucks started unloading the vehicles. Crews and rest of the brigade then proceeded to form several rows in the square, while colonel Rad stood in front of them and smiled, seeing them all so organized. He cleared his throat and started talking.
"Soldiers!"he said."As you know, we're here today for the 10th Offworld Storm Joint Exercise, today hosted by our friends and allies from Soutland. The maneuvers will proceed for a week, starting tomorrow. And remember, tomorrow, we will be the first to partake in them, alongside Soutlandian tank forces. So remember, you have to show your best and prove, that you deserve to be called crème de la crème of Falmartian Armed Forces. Understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"hundreds of throats shouted.
"That's what I like to hear! Now. You are allowed to make yourself comfortable in our temporary home. You can also go and have fun in Leender, together with our Soutlandian friends, but be careful not to drink to much. Or else, I will personally drown in cold water to make you sober again."

Soldiers laughed. Rad could not stop himself from joining.

"Okay. That's all for now. Dismissed!"

And with that, soldiers quickly dispersed in several directions, some going to the barracks, others to simply learn about their current place of stay.

Fergran, Gerhi and Hernik, in the meantime, returned to the place, where Soutlandian troops were unloading their vehicles. Currently, their company was being unloaded.
"I just hope they won't mess up something."Gerhi said.
"Oh, don't worry, Soutlanders know how to handle a tank."Hernik calmed him down."After all, they were the first to form a tank regiment in their army."
"I know, but I spent a lot of time with that piece of metal. It also saved my life numerous times, mind you."Gerhis pointed out.
"Just relax, it will be alright."Fergran said."Remember, we're gonna stay here only for a week and after that, we're going home. So let them handle it."
"Sure."

Fergran then looked around and had a thought.
"And will you say about setting off for a night on town?"he asked.

Hernik and Gerhi risen an eyebrow.

"You are proposing that?"Hernik asked.
"Where is the real Fergran?"Gerhi asked.
"It's me. I just thought, that it may be good for getting accustomed with the local customs. After all, we've never been on any colony in our home galaxy, only in the Milky Way. So let's just see, how it looks."

Two other platoon commanders nodded.

"But I have one condition."Fergran pointed out.

"And that would be?"

"If you get drunk so much that you won't be able to walk, I will personally bring the water in which colonel will drown you."captain said with cold voice.

Shivers came down the other two's spines.

"Understood, sir."they both said.

"Well then."Fergran said."Now, let's see what this base has in store for us."

And so, the three proceeded to go and see around their temporary home, with several Soutlandians serving as their guides.

May 25

10:02

Hevirn Training Grounds, Emloy, Flareian System

"Fire!"

Thunderous sound spread across the open desert, as twenty four walking tanks fired their main guns. Shells flew at supersonic speed and collided with training targets placed several kilometers away from them, as dust, picked up by the fire, settled on their hulls. After few seconds, it was silent again.

Seyi looked through the periscope in her vehicle. She waited for the dust to settle and after seeing the training targets, she nodded.

"All targets neutralized, great job, people."she said in the radio."We're going back to the base."
"Understood!"other crews replied.

All twenty four machines then proceeded to turn in the direction of the base, which was given to them for the time of the testing. However, except them, the base was also a home to a whole Marines brigade, which was tasked with protecting the two platoons from any possible danger. Some said it was an overkill, but command said, that it was needed, because you never knew, where enemy will show up to steal your tech.

Inside the Jester King, Eiko stretched herself.

"Man, I'm so worn out."she moaned."How many shells did I load today? I stopped counting after ninth."
"We fired exactly twenty two shells."Yuzu said."Considering that we fired in salvos, I can confidently say, that we fired exactly…five hundred and twenty eight shells today."
Eiko whistled.

"Good to have a living calculator here."she smiled.
"Oh, shut up."

Seyi giggled and opened a top hatch in her turret. She crawled out of the turret and sat cross-legged on it, keeping herself stable not to fall. Soon, she was also joined by Eiko and Yuzu.

"Fianlly some fresh air."Eiko said.

She took a deep breath and coughed, when some dust got into her lungs.

"Karma."Yuzu smirked.

"It's not funny."Eiko pouted.

"And if it's funny when you and Michael are making fun of me?"

"Maybe…"
"Okay, before you kill each other, let's better enjoy the view."Seyi said.

"Okay."the two replied.

And so, the two sat like that for few more minutes in silence, watching the scenery around them. Although, there was not a lot to watch, considering they were surrounded by a giant, red desert.

"Guys…"Seyi said, breaking the silence.

"What is it, Seyi?"Eiko asked.
"I was supposed to say it to you on the briefing, but…"
"What?"Yuzu squinted her eyes.

"We're not leaving tomorrow."

Eiko and Yuzu looked at each other.

"Why?"they both asked.

"General told me, that command ordered us to stay here for another week, until Offworld Storm is over."
"But we're not taking part in the maneuvers."Yuzu noticed."Then why are we supposed to wait until it's over."

"Apparently, most of the transit between planets is stalled."Seyi explained."Apparently to lower the risk of enemy spies going there."
"And who would spy on them?"Eiko asked.
"Laconians?"Seyi asked back.

Eiko blinked a few times.

"Oh, that makes sense."

"I guess it's a good thing."Yuzu stated."Considering the latest events back home."

"Yeah…"

Due to the fact that Human News Network also operated in here, they could be all up-to-date with everything that was happening back home. And stuff was happening.

Following the death of Banasz III's president, such situations repeated all across the Borderline, with planets falling into civil wars, political crises and simple states of anarchy. Suspiciously, not long after that, Laconian ships started entering the Borderline, supposedly carrying humanitarian aid to bring back peace to the region. Protests from UNSA, caused by so quick process of this, came immediately, claiming that the only goal of Laconians was to bring even more chaos into the region. However, they were silenced, when it turned out, that these ships were really carrying medicines, food and other things needed.

Although that, UNSA demanded for their military vessels to constantly monitor the Laconians during their operations. In response, Laconians started sending convoys guarded by their own ships. Tensions were growing between the two sides and many analysts and experts were saying, that it wouldn't be the first time, when war started because of something like this.

"I feel chills going down my spine thinking about it…"Eiko said and actually shivered.

"Hey, don't worry, whatever happens, we're gonna survive."Yuzu said, wrapping one of her arms around Eiko.

Seyi felt a bit of warmth in her heart seeing this. Yuzu and Eiko maybe seemed like cat and a dog, but they still liked each other.
"Yes."she said."We're a team and no matter what happens, we're gonna make it out."

Here, she put her fist out. Soon, Eiko and Seyi also put their fists to hers.
"Hey, don't forget about me."Michael said in the coms.

"You were listening?"Seyi asked, actually surprised.

"The whole time."he replied with smirk in voice."But I agree. No matter what happens, we're gonna make it out."
"Yeah!"the three of them exclaimed.

They all laughed, as they continued to ride towards their base, with sun shining brightly above their heads.

May 25

13:43

Falmart, Flare Prime

Wind was blowing, shaking the trees and making the leaves rustle. There was only a single shed with a garage standing in this forest, concealed from any sight. Everything actually looked like a perfect picture.

And looking at all of this, was Felidius.

Major and some of his group were hiding in this especially prepared hideout for over two weeks now. They used this place as a base of operations, gathering intel, contacting the collaborators and preparing for their time. They were preparing their equipment and false identities to safely travel during their mission.

"Felidius."he heard behind him.

When he turned around, he saw his deputy, Livia Havenius, a daughter of SoS' head of intelligence and one of the best agents they had, with actual talent. She was also the only woman so high in the hierarchy.

They worked together for years now and even Felidius had to admit, that she was really one of the best people he ever worked with.

"What is it?"Felidius asked.

"Everyone is already prepared. They just wait for you to give them their last instructions."

"Sure. Let's go."

The two then proceeded to the shack, in which their group was already prepared, wearing orange-black overalls, with name 'AURELIS: CHEMICAL CLEANING' written on their backs. Felidius and Livia had the same outfits.

Felidius stood in front of their group and looked at them. All eyes turned on him and Livia. Major cleared his throat.

"Okay, people, listen."Felidius started."Our time has come. We are to perform our mission, tasked to us by the Emperor himself."

He waited for someone to say something, but there was no word.
"As you know, we will not be the only ones, who will perform their tasks tomorrow. But when we succeed, we will pave a way for our troops to quickly win the upcoming war. We have to be quick, we enter, due what we have to do and leave. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"everyone replied.

"Good. Get ready and we're moving out."

After this short speech, agents started leaving thew shack.

"That was quick."Livia said.
"And did I need to extend it?"Felidius asked."I just said, what needed to be said."
"Sure thing."
"Now let's go. We'll reach Sadera tomorrow. And when we get the signal, we will move into action."

"Understood."

The two of them followed the agents, which made their way towards the garage. In that garage stood a van, colored the same as their clothes and with the same name written on the side. Except them, they also had a whole load of big bottles used for transporting chemical substances.

And each of them was filled to brim with soman.

May 26

12:55

Sorotia Training Grounds, Soutlandian C.Z., Taurus III

The day has come. After weeks of preparations, the 10th Offworld Storm Joint Exercises were about to commence.

And for the first day of the exercises, elements of 10th Armored Brigade were to perform maneuvers together with Soutlandian 5th Tank Regiment. And because the maneuvers were open for everyone, large amount of onlookers started gathering on the stands set up for the occasion. And among them, were three members of the Soutlandian Royal Family.

Imri, Ellia and Nina were sitting in the first row of the stands, with two hidden guards sitting close to them. There were several people looking at them, so Imri waved at them.

"When is it going to start?"Nina asked, writing something on her phone.

"Just few more minutes."Ellia said."So maybe you could just put your phone down for a second?"
"I have things to do, I'll put it down when I'm done."

Ellia wanted to say something else, but just gave up.

"Don't worry, El. She'll gain interest when everything begins."Imri said.

"I hope so…"Ellia sighed.

In the meantime, Harlen was sitting in a stand especially prepared for military commanders, foreign observers and C.Z.'s governors, as except of Soutlandian governor, other five governors were also invited to watch the maneuvers.

"General Ordell."the Soutlandian governor said.

"Governor Makwich."Harlen replied.

Governor Sen Makwich came up to Harlen and shook hands with him. Other governors did the same.

"I'm really glad that you are the one in charge of all this."Sen said.

"You say that as if our other officers and generals were not able to do it."Harlen smirked.
"Oh, I know our officers are capable of organizing such a thing. But I just feel honored that it's you."
"That's just my job."Harlen replied.

"Harlen."

General looked in the direction of the new voice and was happy to see Tim approaching him. American was now dressed in a more formal uniform, appropriate for the occasion, with a rank and insignias of his unit. Except him, there were also several other foreign observers, mainly from Flare Prime countries that did not partake in the exercises.

He and Harlen shook hands.

"Good to see you again, Tim."Harlen said.

"And I'm happy to see you too, general."Tim replied."And I hope for a good show."
"That we can give you."general winked.

The two laughed.

"Oh, allow me to introduce."Harlen pointed at Sen."This is governor Sen Makwich of Soutlandian Colonization Zone."
"Pleased to meet you, sir."Tim said, shaking hands with the governor.

"Same, Mr…"Sen stopped.
"Major Timothy Albeit."Tim introduced himself."I represent United States Army as an observer."

"Then I'm happy to have you here, major."Sen said.

Harlen then looked at his watch.

"Okay, I think we have to start, governor."he said.

"Of course, general."Sen replied.

Governors and foreign observers then sat down on their places, while Harlen came up to the microphone. He looked around, at the stands full of people, and both Falmartian and Soutlandian soldiers. He cleared his throat and all eyes turned on him.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"he said to the microphone."I would like to welcome you on the first day of tenth edition of Offworld Storm Joint Exercises. I really appreciate that everyone appeared here. I would also like to welcome the representatives of Soutland's Royal Family. Please, welcome queen Imri Ordell-Halmet, princess Ellia Ordell and princess Nina Ordell."

The three women then stood up and bowed. People started clapping. After they stopped, he continued:
"As you know, these exercises are very important. They are to represent our common cooperation in new era. Era of space exploration and colonization, something which just fifteen years ago seemed impossible to many. But now, here we are, on a completely different planet."

Some people giggled, mainly the ones, which actually came from Flare Prime.

"Offworld Storm is a symbol. A symbol of us, Flareians, willing to forget the past animosities and move on in this new world. That we are ready to accept our new reality and that together, we will go into the bright future, which will bring peace and prosperity to us all."

Next, he looked at the soldiers gathered in front of the stands and looking straight at him.
"Soldiers!"Harlen exclaimed.
"Sir, yes sir!"soldiers exclaimed.

"At ease!"
Dozens of feet quickly hit the ground and soldiers stood on ease.

"Now, let us enjoy the presentation of our soldiers' amazing abilities!"

Harlen then bowed and left. He sat at his place.

At the same time, colonel Nashi'Rad turned to his soldiers. They all looked at him and waited for orders.

"Soldiers!"Rad exclaimed."Man the vehicles!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"soldiers replied.

Soutlandian colonel gave the same order to his soldiers and they all quickly ran towards the tanks awaiting in the line. Crews crawled on top of them and quickly slid inside through their hatches.

Verius quickly strapped the helmet on his head and checked the coms.

"This is Wyvern 1-1 to Wyvern Company. Report."he said.
"Wyvern 2-1, ready."commander of Second Platoon said.

"Wyvern 3-1, ready."commander of Third Platoon said.

"Wyvern 4-1, ready."Hernik said.

"Wyvern 5-1, ready."Gerhi said.

"Alright, people. This is our big day, Let's show our best today and prove that 1st Armored Division deserves to be called 'elite!"

"Yes, sir!"

Engines in all of M5s in Wyvern Company and Soutlandian Challenger 6 tanks came to life, their hydrogen turbines started burning the fuel. Caterpillars started clattering as tanks moved forward. First part of the maneuvers started, as long line of machines turned right, all at the same time, in perfect synchronization. Next, they started turning left and then, they all fired at the same time. Thunderous sound spread around the area.

Shells flew for several kilometers, before finally hitting their targets and completely obliterating them. People in the stands started clapping.

"Nice one!"Verius said, seeing the hit.

"Great job, people."colonel Rad said in the radio."Firing on the move is perfect. Now, tighten your formations with Soutlandians and form a wedge."
"Understood, sir."Verius replied.

Tanks on the far right and far left of the line then proceeded to slow down and whole line started changing into a giant wedge, rolling through the field. Wedge tightened so much, that there was almost no gaps between the tanks. Right then, tanks deployed smoke screen in front of them. This was the signal for the next part of the show.

A group of Falmartian BTRs and Soutlandian Catchers then entered the field and joined tanks in their advance. Shielded by the armor of the tanks, APCs moved unopposed from any possible harm.

"This actually looks pretty awesome."Nina said.

"I see you're finally interested in something else than your phone."Imri said.
"I can't just miss on something like that."younger princess stated.

Tanks then fired again, destroying next line of targets in front of them. Colonels gave next orders and wedge dispersed back into a single line, with APCs taking place between the tanks. The whole line stopped, back doors opened and infantry poured out of the vehicles. They then started moving forward again, with tanks firing shell after shell at the enemy. People watched amazed, as the powerful combat group rolls over the enemy.

But nobody knew one thing. That all of this was observed by one, unknown person, sitting on a hill, hidden in the bushes.
"Looks pretty."the person said.
"Agent Maronius, are you ready?"his handler asked.

Agent Maronius of SoS' intelligence touched his earpiece.

"I've been ready for a long time."he replied.
"Then why aren't you firing?"
"I just wanted to watch the show for a second."

"Really?"

"Really. But now, I can do the mission."

"Alright. Take the shot."

Handler disconnected and agent looked through the scope of his riffle. He looked towards the tribune for governors and foreign observers and aimed at his target. He didn't bother putting a silencer on his barrel, because he knew, that the sound of numerous engines would easily cover the sound of his shot.

He slowly moved the finger to the trigger he waited for the tanks to open fire one more time and when that happened, he pulled the trigger and fired.

In the tribune, Harlen and governor Sen watched the whole exercise with satisfaction on their faces.

"This is really a great show."Sen said.
"Indeed, governor."Harlen replied."But remember. This is aimed to better our ability to work together with our allies in times of crisis."
"I know, I'm just always impressed about the power of our military."

"UNSA training does it's thing."

"Ag…"

Before Sen could finish, Harlen saw a bullet hitting the side of governor's head and tearing off a large part of his other side. With wide eyes, general observed the lifeless body of the governor falling on the ground.

It took him few seconds to regain his composure, but when he did, he exclaimed:
"SNIPER, GET DOWN!"

Everyone in the tribune quickly fell on the ground. Meanwhile, Maronius started gathering his stuff.

"Mission complete."he said in radio.

"Good."his handler replied."Not hunker down somewhere. We will need your help later."
"And other governors?"
"They will be taken care of, don't worry."

Agent quickly gathered everything and disappeared into the forest behind his back.

At the same time, unrest started spreading through the tribune. Imri, Ellia and Nina looked at all of this with surprise.

"What's going on?"Ellia asked.
"I don't know."Imri replied."But I don't like it."

Soon, two people reached them after making their way through the crowds of people, which suddenly started leaving the stands. Imri recognized the two bodyguards that were assigned to the three.

"Your Highness, princess Ellia, princess Nina."one of the men said."We have to go."
"But wait, what happened?"Nina asked.
Two bodyguards looked at each other and then back at them.

"Governor Sen…"same bodyguard said.
"What about him?"
"Someone blew his head open."

This information shocked the three women.
"Wha…?"Ellia shivered.

"Is it true?"Nina asked.
"Unfortunately. We're gonna take you to safety now."
"Then lead the way!"Imri exclaimed.

The group then left the stands together with the rest of people.

The news of what happened with Soutlandian governor still didn't reach the training forces, as they continued their mission and smashed the last of enemy resistance to pieces. Verius was about to give further orders to his crews, when voice of colonel Rad sounded in all coms at once.

"This is Rad to the Wyvern Company! Abort the exercises immediately!"colonel exclaimed.
Inside of his tank, Verius looked at his crew, which was as confused as him.
"What's happening colonel?"Verius asked."Did we do something wrong?"
"I just got news."Rad said."Governor of Soutlandian C.Z. just got assassinated."
These news shocked Verius.

"This is it when it comes to calm maneuvers…"he thought.

"You are to return to base until further notice. That's all."And with that, Rad disconnected

"You guys heard that?"Verius asked the rest of his company.

"Yeah…"Gerhi replied.

"And it was so peaceful…"Hernik sighed.
"We're going back to base. Let's go."

With that, all military units that were taking part in the maneuvers today quickly returned to their place of stay. At the same time, right after it was made sure that the area is safe again, an investigation was launched to find out who was responsible for the death of the governor. Many thought that it could possibly be some terrorist group or some kind of revenge for something, but until everything was found out, all such thoughts were put on hold.

However, they did not know, that what happened on Taurus, was not going to be the last tragedy today.

May 26

13:08

Sadera

Although quickly modernizing and acquiring more and more of the modern technology, cars were still a rare sight on the city's streets, which were highly modernized during the past years. Paved roads led to every part of the capital, including the Senate building. And it was exactly where a certain van with 'AURELIS: CHEMICAL CLEANING' written on the side was going.

After a day-long ride from their hiding place, Felidius and his group reached Sadera, got into the city and made their way towards the Senate building. Because they were basically Saderans, nobody payed much attention to them. Not long after that, heir van stopped and the group started leaving the vehicle, taking their bottles with them.

"Alright, put a smile on your faces and let's go."Felidius' dispositions sounded like a signal of final judgment. Before getting here, they all agreed, that it was going to be major who's gonna do the talking, while others were here only to place the bottles in right places.

They all passed by the security guarding the entrance without any problem and quickly got inside. When coming closer to the administration room, Felidius put the most honest smile he could on his face. He made it through the secretariat and disappeared inside of manager's office.

"Good day, director!"

"I'm not a director."obese manager clearly had a bad day.

"If not now, then in the future."
"Go to the point. And I'm warning you, auction for cleaning products was already made and I won't change anything in the papers."
"Hey, don't worry! We know about it very well. I don't think you're expecting such incompetence from us. We're just supposed to give out samples of our product, that's all. With that, we go a pretty souvenir with us."Saying that, Felidius pulled out a beautifully packed Rolex.

"It's clear bribery."
"Bribery is when we expect something in return. And this is but a little present."

"Okay. What do you got there?"Manager's fat fingers rattled on the table top.

"New liquid for cleaning carpets and curtains. Supposedly a-ma-zing."Felidius extended this word.

"I can't promise anything."
"I understand."Seeing his interlocutor softening, Felidius went to final assault."If you allow us, my people will carry the product to the magazine. And to make it easier for the cleaners, even to their storage. These are ten liter bottles after all."

"Well, let's see."manager's eyes were lit up by the excitement and his hand extended for the Rolex.

"I'll take care of everything myself. Without any troubles for you, mister."Felidius wante dto end this conversation as quickly as possible.

"Go to talk with miss Dia and tell her, that I allowed for trying your products."
"Of course."major quickly closed the door behind him and went outside. Who could that miss Dia be? Probably the boss of cleaners.

Next forty minutes passed pretty quickly. Under the guide of very polite person, which turned out to be the head of technical personnel, they put the bottles of soman in three places in the Senate. Six of them were placed in main storage of the cleaners, together with other chemical cleaning products, brushes and rags. Others were placed in utility lockers in other parts of the building. Leaning over one and every of them, Livia activated the timers attached to glass necks of the bottles. Time was set for 14:20. Saying goodbye to the personnel of the building, the group left right when first senators started gathering at the place for today's meeting.

XXX

The time of departure for the Senate building got entire crew of prime minister's mansion on the move. The fact that there will be delay was clear, the question was: how much? Although prime minister was very punctual person, there was nothing he could do and the speech in front of the senators had to be postponed. The reason for this was a phone call from French president regarding the buying of one of the newer EUJM's Space Warfare Carries for Falmartian Navy, which was finally confirmed. Within the next few weeks everything had to be finished and the vessel had to dock in Flare Prime's orbit.

Prime minister Marquis Garcel drank his coffee and looked at the notes he needed for the speech.

"Mr. prime minister, I thing you should also mention the need for unity and agreement in these uneasy times."the PR expert advised.

"You think that the latest events on UN-LR Borderline will be positively seen by our senators?"
"Maybe not so straight on. Just a suggestion."
"Knowing them, the populists will leave the building right after I'll mention that."
"True, they don't have a lot of supporters, but love to talk and shout. I advise doing some kind of a nod towards them, something like 'enemy at the borders'. This should ease their tempers at least a bit. Your huge trump card is ability to improvise, not to keep with the text."PR specialist's words ran over Garcel like water on a duck.

"Let's better go. Otherwise, the almighty senators, instead of applauding, will start to stamp."

Leaving his mansion, prime minister felt, that today's speech might be deciding for his further career.

XXX

Forced break, caused by the Senate meeting, forced the technical personnel of the building to go out of sight of representatives of the nation. For good measure, until evening, entire crew of the building, except Senate Guard, some electricians, hydraulics and cooks, could spend the day at home. The noise, caused by prime minister being late, was becoming louder and louder with every second. Some senators passionately discussed behind the scenes, giving themselves to their favorite hobby.

For miss Celia, an elderly wolf-woman cleaner, this was nothing interesting. For many long years she worked at numerous mansions, looking at all the most important faces in the country. She's seen many things then, that if she had to make a speech, it would not be worse than any that were made everyday in this place. Passing by excited politicians, she turned towards her office.

A small, two by three meters, room hid the kingdom of miss Celia. Placed in straight rows were numerous cleaning products for any situation, but two very large bottles brought here by a strange group of people constantly interested her. Used to savings made by the administration, she was surprised to see something new here.

While helping to carry the new cleaning product, two young men said, that now, everything will be different. It's something like mix of a bleach with enzymatic stain remover, was what one of them said, blinking at her. If it's so great, than maybe she could use some at home, in which old carpet needed a lot of cleaning.

While doing so, she looked at her watch, which she bought during her only visit to the Milky Way.

Only few seconds were left until 14:20.

Detonator, when exploding, severely cut her hands. At first, she was surprised. At first she thought, that the plug broke because of her, but soon she noticed, that the same happened with the second bottle.

Blood from hurt hand started mixing with weird, colorless substance on the floor.

Soman, one of the most dangerous combat chemical substances, started working immediately. Miss Celia died in five seconds.

Remaining eight bottles exploded at the same time and the smell filled the Senate building. Gases moving everywhere didn't give anyone a chance. Their concentration was so big, that only a HAZMAT suit could help you.

First to die were the people in corridors and lobbies. Their bodies, falling in seizures, created hard to decipher tangles of legs and arms. Hands, which in last moments reached for collars, didn't manage to undo it. Open eyes showed nothing but fear. In just a minute, giant cloud consisting of all others, filled the whole building.

Politicians gathered in the main hall were all surprised as much as their colleagues in the corridors. Although here, some tried to save themselves. Putting some tissues to their mouths, they tried to make their way outside. They didn't know, that soman attacks not only through the respiratory tracts, but also through the skin. It's as effective that way, falling it's victims in pains, seizures and breathlessness.

Only people able to save themselves were the ones outside, like police officers, Senate Guard soldiers and Government Security Service agents. And they were the first ones to report, that some incident took place in the Senate.

May 26

14:36

1st 'Dirga' Air Defense Squadron base, Lesiu, Elbe

Captain Ronius put the binoculars to his eyes and regulated the sharpness. He was laying on the trunk of the biggest tree he could find, watching the planes standing in front of the hangars. Only thing separating him from them, was eighteen meters of open field, overgrown with grass and small bushes.

Looking from one plane to the other, he didn't see any other forms of security. Quite the opposite: although the works should be done in the hangars, he could see several mechanics and armorers walking between the machines. These machines were going to perform just some routine patrol, which they always did over Dirga and surrounding areas.

Captain looked back. His entire teams was dressed in uniforms with in-built camouflages, allowing them to change the masking on the fly. For now, they had it set for various shades of green. They also had face paint. He didn't see all of them, but he knew, that they're there. He also had a paint on his face, making him look like some some monster from a horror movie. Shadows around his eyes and rest of the face in brighter colors made a terrifying impression.

He activated his radio and connected to his communication officer.

"Ready?"he asked.
"Sir, yes, sir."voice in the radio said.

Setting up two automatic TUR-89 Ares grenade launchers needed time and soon they could run out of it. Except that, captain's group had a 12,7 millimeter riffle. Shooting people from it, although effective, was not economic. Aircraft standing in the open were a different story, as after being shot by something like this, it could only be sent to repair or to junkyard.

"Fire!"
Muffled fire of the grenade launcher sounded tight next to the captain. Nothing happened for few seconds and captain started worrying, that something wrong might have happened. Only after few seconds, 30 millimeter grenades started exploding among the machines. Direct hit reached one of the machines and fuel cistern next to it. Bang of explosion and heat of the explosion changed the area into a sea of flames. Even Ronius felt a delicate fiery breeze on his face, but he didn't worry about it. Shockwave from the exploding cistern overturned the two nearest aircraft and caused a large pile of black smoke to appear. Although that, the commandos continued to fire the grenade launcher.

With their view obscured by the smoke, they methodically moved the fire towards other regions of the base. Through his binoculars, Ronius could see people running in all directions. Some of them, in burning overalls, waved their hands in panic, trying to extinguish the flames. Others, trying to help them, often fell victim to the sniper riffle, causing a massacre among the ground personnel.

Piercing sound of alarm sounded over the base after two good minutes. It seemed that surprise was so big, that acting officers were so stunned about what happened. But the cause could be different. Some of the 12,7 rounds, which were so good against the personnel in the open, hit the tower, surely doing some damage there. It was possible, that all inside were killed in the first seconds of the attack.

"Hold your fire!"
Happy about what they done, captain Ronius jumped off the tree, not trying to hide anymore. In just few minutes, his squad destroyed around twelve Kingdoms Coalition's Eurofighter Cyclones and damaged the airport itself a lot. Now, the time has come for retreating and covering their tracks.

May 26

14:42

RFNS Selene, Deliona Anchorage, Flare Prime's orbit

Deliona Anchorage was the biggest Falmartian fleet base in orbit of the planet and a house for the main strike force of the fleet, which were ten Gen. Juan Salazar-class Heavy Cruisers, two Mount Blanc-class Battleships and the flagship of the entire Falmartian Navy, the Grizzle-class Guided Missile Cruiser Selene.

Sitting at the captain's chair of the ship, was admiral Tyuule, supreme commander of the entire Falmartian Navy. She was calmly sipping coffee, watching the data that were presented on her tablet.

"Are all diagnostics ready?"she asked her First Officer.

"Yes, sir."the FO replied."We made them today and all our systems are ready Orbital Storm."
Tyuule nodded. Orbital Storm were international maneuvers, similar to Offworld Storm, but for fleets, always happening a week after the end of Offworld Storm. It was younger than it's ground counterpart, as it was just the fifth edition of the exercises that was about to happen.

"The other fleets confirm, that they are also ready for the exercises."First Officer said.

"Good. I hope I will be able to kick admiral Firons ass again."admiral wondered.
"We all hope so."

Next, they both laughed.

After they were done, Tyuule looked at the stars behind the window of the bridge. It's been thirteen years since was made the commander-in-chief of the Navy and she surely didn't pull any punches during that time. With Anti-HO Campaigns in full swing, she led the fleet to numerous victories over what remained of the splinter Human faction. She also became a face of the new policy of Sadera, which allowed everyone, human or not, to make a great career in new nation. She knew that she was mostly made for battle, not for posters and like, but she didn't mind posing for several of them.

And now, here she was, everyday sitting in her chair, just waiting for some kind of war in Milky Way to start. It wasn't like she wanted a war to start, but both galaxies were relatively boring after the Campaigns ended.

"Uhhhhh…Admiral…?"the main engineer said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"What is it?"Tyuule asked.

"Could you come here?"

Admiral stood up from her chair and came up to the main engineer's place.

"What's going on?"

"Please, take a look."

Tyuule looked at the screen, but she didn't understand anything from the numerous diagrams and lines and numbers.
"Honestly, I don't get anything from it…"she admitted.
"Yes, of course. Sorry, sir."main engineer said."Allow me to explain then. This diagram here shows something we should be worried about."
"And that would be?"
"Sudden spike of energy."

This actually was worrying.

"Where did you detect it?"
"Well…"

Before the main engineer could finish his sentence, the entire ship was shaken by a big explosion and were almost blinded by a blue light. They immediately looked in the direction of that light, seeing enormous light ball in place, where one of their ships used to be. Everyone on the bridge widened their eyes.

"What the hell is happening?!"Tyuule asked.
"We…We don't know…"the main engineer replied.

Right then, alarms sounded all across the ship. At the same time, another light appeared, as engines of another Heavy Cruiser went off, destroying half of it.

"Sir!"the security officer exclaimed.

"What is it?!"Tyuule shouted towards him.
"We are detecting firefights on the engineering deck and numerous hostile contacts are approaching the bridge!"With every word, security officer's voice was changing into higher and higher squeak.

Tyuule looked at the crew around the bridge and few Marines, which guarded the deck.

"What are you waiting for?"she asked."Get ready to fight!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"Marines replied and started leaving the bridge.

At the same time, Tyuule pulled out her sidearm.

"What are you doing?"First Officer asked.

"What do you think? I'm going out there."Tyuule replied.
"But…But…"

"Listen, I'm not going to let some randoms barging onto my ship and trying to blast it! I worked too hard for all of this!"
This shut FO's mouth. She saluted.

"Understood, sir."FO said."Good luck."
"You bet."

With that, admiral followed the Marines and quickly joined the battle.

May 26

14:53

Landres Nova, Mars, Solar System

The street in front of Martian Prime Minister's Office was filled with thousands of people, all protesting about the current policies of the government. In front of the building, numerous police officers made sure, that no protesters would get into the building. Everyone knew how such protests turned out on Banasz III and nobody wanted it to repeat so close to Earth.

"This is gonna end badly…"Prime Minister's adviser said.

"Have more faith."Minister of Defense, and Second Minister at the same time, said.

"But look at that. That damn rabble will do the same as they did on Banasz III, you'll see it."
"Rean, just stop. You're gonna scare our host."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Zeng."Prime Minister said with her velvety voice."I've been through too much to be scared of something like that."

"You're saying this now, Suv."Rean snorted."You're gonna talk different when they put a barrel to your head."

Suvi Felinainen, years long Prime Minister of Mars, just threw up her arms.

"You're sometimes break me down…"Rean sighed.
"I can do more, if you wanna find out."Suvi said, blinking.

Rean and Zen looked at each other. Of course, they were aware of their employer's…tendencies. The only good thing was that she could hide all of her 'escapades' very well and by the years she's been in charge, nobody even tried accusing her of any indecent behavior. Which was also impressive, considering how much does opposition parties on Mars love to dig deep into other parties' politicians backstories.

"And what would your wife say about ti?"Rean asked.

"Oh, don't worry."Suvi just waved it all off."Persia is really understanding."
"As Faliens tend to be…"Zeng smirked.

Following her victory in the elections, Suvi went on to visit several places in both Milky Way and Andromeda. During her visit on Flare Prime, she especially pointed out, that she wanted to meet with Pina in Italica. After the meeting, she stayed there for the night. But not everyone knew, what actually happened behind the walls of House Formal's residence after the lights were all off. More precisely, that a certain maid with cat ears and tail sneaked into the room occupied by Suvi, where they spent very 'eventful' night, as during Suvi's numerous visits to the mansion between missions, she and Persia actually fell for each other.

Then, after two years of hiding their relationship, Suvi publicly declared that she and Persia were going to get married. And this marriage was one of the most famous marriages at the time, as many important and known people were going to be there, including leader of Tertan Protectorate and UN General Secretary.

And now, many years later, they were still happily married, with Persia also becoming more 'open' in certain aspects regarding Suvi.

"You are happy to have such an understanding and loving person at your side."Rean said.

"Still remembering Verna?"Suvi risen an eyebrow.

"Don't mention her name again."

Suvi smirked. She still remembered the time, when her adviser was getting a divorce after his wife cheated on him. After all, she was a witness on behalf of Rean during the trial.

"Anyway, I think we should get down to the point of our meeting."Zeng said.

"Indeed we shall."Suvi agreed."Take your seats."

Tow men sat down on the other sides of the desk that Suvi occupied. Prime Minister cleared her throat.

"So, you know why did I call you here today?"she asked in official tone.

"The whole stuff with Laconia?"Rean guessed.

"Yes."Suvi nodded.
"Any news from the Borderline?"Zeng asked.
"You could say it like that…"Prime Minister rubbed her chin."But I can be certain of one thing: Laconians are up to no good, as always."
"That's pretty much their national policy."Rean murmured.
"Not to mention, that our client planets are really scared of their actions."Zeng said, turning on his hand terminal."Recently, we moved four fleets near the Borderline, where our allied planets and colonies are. All that, because they were scared that Laconians might try invading them, or because situation from Planetary States at the Borderline might repeat there."
"And it may repeat, if we don't tighten up the security there."Suvi stated."But at the same time…"
"You worry, that people might see it as simply trying to rebuild the SetDef?"adviser wondered.

"Yeah…You know how it is, when some country suddenly starts building up military presence on some territory."

"What can we do then?"Minister of Defense asked.

"At first, we should…"Suvi wanted to say, but was stopped.

Sound of shattered glass completely surprised the three of them, as bullets and lasers flew inside the room.

"Get down!"Suvi shouted.

The three quickly fell flat on the floor, as bullets continued to fly and ricochet from the ceiling. Rean was squeaking like a little girl, Zeng laid down with widened eyes and Suvi was the only one keeping straight face in all that was happening. At the same time, shouts from the streets started getting louder and louder.

After few minutes, it all stopped. Suvi quickly made sure they were safe and allowed the three to stand up. At the same time, the door burst open and some security officers came in, with vests on and weapons in hands.

"Prime Minister, Mr. adviser, Mr. Minister, are you all right?"one of them asked.
"Yeah."Suvi replied."What the hell was that?"

"Turned out that protesters had weapons."security officer replied."They are now trying to get deeper into the building and get to you."

Suvi murmured something and came up to the desk, opening one of the drawers and, much to everyone's shock, she pulled out an Vris-II assault riffle.

"You had an assault riffle in your desk the whole time?!"Rean asked in shock.
"Yeah, don't you?"Suvi replied like it was nothing."I also have something for you."

Next, she pulled out two PI-33 pistols and handed them to them.
"Wait, you expect us to fight?!"Rean asked again, even more shocked.

"Yes. I also three bulletproof vests hidden behind the bookshelf."She pointed at said bookshelf.

Zeng and Rean looked at each other.
"There are still many things we got to learn about you."Zeng stated.

"Indeed there are."Suvi replied with smile."Now, can someone help me move this bookshelf?!"

One of the security officers volunteered and soon, three vests were pulled out from behind it and worn by Suvi, Rean and Zeng. Next, all of them went to defend the building from the armed mob.

May 26

15:06

UNSA Headquarters, Geneva

"Ugh, how much more?"Penny moaned, sitting at her desk in HQ's reception.

It's been almost two decades since she was working here and already after all this time, this job already started to get boring. But what else was she supposed to do with her life? Unlike her younger sister, which was considered a war hero all across UNSA's space, she was not fit for the military life and the only time she got to see any action, was when HO terrorists attacked the city when Ester brought the Falmartese here. After that, she spent some good days in bed but after everything was already calm, she was put back to work.

And here she was, almost seventeen years later, still sitting in the same place, at the same desk.

"Hey, it's not so bad."Tina, her coworker, said."After all, we don't have so much work and we can talk about things."
"Things like?"Penny risen her eyebrow.

"Well…"Tina thought."We both do like anime and manga, right?"

"I do, but…how long can we talk about that. I'm sure you get bored listening to me."
"Actually, I'm not. I really like talking to you."

Warm smile that appeared on Tina's could melt everyone's hearts. Penny really liked this youngster for her energy, life approach and enthusiasm.

"Something I really lack, heh…"Penny thought.

She turned her eyes towards the entrance, when she saw a man entering the building. He pulled her attention mainly because, unlike everyone else that were currently in the lobby, he wasn't dressed in any form of uniform or suit. He was dressed in simple, everyday clothes. He slowly walked towards the middle of the lobby.

He then moved a part of his jacket move and under it, Penny's eyes noticed some kind of contraption. Next, in his hand, she saw some weird device with a button on it. He then put a finger on the button.

Penny suddenly realized, what was the contraption.
"GET DOWN!"she shouted at top of her lungs.

The button was pressed and the bomb attached to the man exploded with enormous force, engulfing everything in five meter radius, killing several people at place. At the same time, the shockwave was so powerful that it send some of the furniture in the lobby literally fly. It so happened, that one of the benches flew straight at the place Penny and Tina were standing at.

Penny quickly pulled Tina down as the beck flew over them, crashing into the wall.

After few seconds, everything went silent, as if nothing ever happened here. Penny could feel Tina shaking next to her.
"Are you okay?"Penny asked.

Tina looked at her with watery eyes full of fear and trembling lips.

"I think I peed myself…"girl shyly admitted.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one…"Penny said."Stay here, I'll check everything out there."
"Okay…"

Leaving the younger receptionist in hiding, Penny quickly stood up and immediately almost vomited.

Entire lobby looked like a battlefield. There was a giant, five meters wide burn mark in the very middle. Numerous pieces of furniture were laying broken or overturned. Glass at the entrance was shattered and fountain that stood in front of it was now half broken, with a puddle of water forming under it.

Not to mention the smell of burned bodies that littered the place. She and Tina were the only ones that actually had somewhere to hide from all of this and she was sure that nobody out there survived that.

But she noticed a bit of movement, as one of the bodies lifted it's arm. Penny quickly jumped over the desk and run up to the body. When she approached it, she saw one of the colonels that talked with her just half an hour ago, with half of his face burned and his uniform charred. She knelt next to him.
"Help…"he grunted.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright, the help is on the way."Penny assured him."Or at least I hope it is."she added in her mind.

Fortunately, just few minutes later, she could hear the sound of sirens of approaching vehicles. Not long after, some ambulances, police and firefighters came. Blessed be the local police and fire stations and hospital.

Not long after, police, firefighters and paramedics started entering the building, taking care of the wounded and the dead. Penny and Tina were also taken care of by the medical teams. It was then that they learned, that not only the HQ was a place of a tragedy today.

In New York City, a truck rammed into the United Nations Building. As it turned out, it was packed with high-grade explosives and when they exploded, they touched the structural integrity of the whole building. And just like that, the building that was a symbol of the United Nations, fell after over two hundred years of existence, claiming numerous lives with it. Fortunately, General Secretary Harika was visiting Japan at the time it happened but as of now, she was on her way back to New York.

May 26

16:02

Imperial Palace, Sadera

Pina was quickly walking down the corridors of her palace, with Hamilton invariably at her side. They were both in a hurry, as they were still reading the information from the tablets they held in their hands. Queen still tried to comprehend what actually happened.

The series of attacks that were carried out all around the planet, and even beyond it, was a shock to her and everyone in the building. The most shocking of the events was the chemical attack on the Senate. But the attacks on numerous military facilities and bases of both Falmartian military and their allies were also concerning. Not to mention the events on Taurus III.

"What do we know already?"Pina asked.
Hamilton looked through the information on her tablet.

"Not much. We're still gathering the intel, Your Highness."Hamilton replied.
"Can someone even tell me how all of this even happened?"

"I would really love to, but I don't know…"
Queen managed to get one of the security officers running by.

"Get me the Minister of Defense, immediately. Tell him to come to my office."she ordered.
"Understood, sir."the officer said and ran off.

The two continued walking.

"Uhhhhh…"Hamilton said.
"What?"Pina asked.

"You should take a look at this…"

Pina stopped and looked at the tablet held by her adviser. On it, she could see several screens straight from the news networks, showing some buildings with smoke coming out of them and one completely reduced to rubble. She then looked at the red belts and read the headlines.

'ATTACK ON MARTIAN PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE AND PARLIAMENT BUILDING'.

'SUICIDE BOMBER DEVASTATES UNSA HQ IN GENEVA'.

'BOMB TRUCK MAKES UN BUILDING IN NYC COLLAPSE'.

Pina looked at the headlines and the screens in disbelief.
"Seems like not only our day turned into shit…"she muttered.
"Indeed, Your Highness."Hamilton nodded.

They just turned around the corner and went down the corridor leading to Pina's office.

"What are your orders?"Hamilton asked.

"First, we need to gather everyone."Pina started counting."Then, we have to assess the casualties we've taken. Then…"

Her words were cut short by a sound of explosion and hot shockwave that spread up and down the corridor. It made the two fall on the floor. Pina started coughing and looked towards her office. And what she saw, were flames and giant pile of smoke coming out of it. Additionally, alarms started blaring.

A group of palace's guards, dressed in snow-white uniforms, came from around the corner and quickly approached the two.

"My queen, are you alright?"one of them asked.

"Yes, I'm okay."Pina lied swiftly and coughed.

How could she feel okay? She just witnessed a bomb going off in her office.

Guards helped her and Hamilton on their feet. Meanwhile, another guard broke the glass covering the fire extinguisher. He took it and started extinguishing the fire that now consumed the office, books and all other documents that were inside.

"What should we do now?"Hamilton asked, clearly shaken by what just happened.

Pina looked at the burning office once more and squinted her eyes.

"Call Grey."she said."And tell him, that I'm canceling his vacation."

May 26

16:28

Koan Forest

The Koan Forest has seen it's fare share of events throughout the history. It saw the first Elves settling in it. It saw battles, that were fought inside and on the outskirts of it. It remembered being burnt down by the Flame Dragon and it still remembered the screams of the Elves that became it's victims. But since then, the forest was reborn anew and some of the Elves that managed to escape the wrath of the beast returned to rebuild their homes.

A single wooden hut stood inside the forest, with a view at a small lake. Sun rays were deflecting from the water, making it glitter and changing it into a real spectacle of light. Birds were singing and some forest animals were running around.

"This is the life for an old man like me."the inhabitant of the hut said.

He has been on vacation here for around one and a half month and he still had a month left. After all, he wasn't needed right now at his workplace, there was peace in Andromeda and Milky Way, so he wasn't worried much about what was happening.

However, this calmness couldn't last longer.

Sound of ringing brought him back to reality. The men looked at the little table next to him and on a hand terminal that was placed there. Now, instead of playing some calm music, it was furiously ringing, meaning, that there was a call incoming. Man grunted and reached for the device.
"I wonder, who disturbs my rest?"he thought to himself.

He accepted the call.
"Who is that?"he asked.

"This is Ministry of Defense speaking."the voice on the other side said."I hope we managed to get in touch with you, general?"

General Grey Co Aldo, commander-in-chief of the Royal Falmartian Armed Forces, immediately tensed. If they were calling him in the middle of his vacation, this couldn't mean anything good.

"Yes, it's me."Grey replied."What is it?"

"Queen Co Lada officially canceled your vacation."the voice replied."You are to return to Sadera immediately."

That was it when it came to another month of rest.

"What happened?"Grey dug deeper.
"We have kind of a crisis in here…But everything will be explained at place. We already sent a dropship to pick you up."
"And when will it come?"

"It should be there…"
Right then, Grey saw a dot on the horizon. It soon became a dropship and sound of engines reached his ears.

"…now."

"I can see it."
"Good. I hope we will see you soon, sir. Goodbye."

The call ended, while Grey watched the dropship approach and soon, it landed in front of the hut. General went inside and came out, now instead of wearing his civilian clothes, he was wearing his official uniform. He came up to the dropship.

"Good to see you, sir."one of the crewmen said.

"Indeed."Grey replied, shaking hands with the soldier."So, what is the situation."
"Well…"

"Alright, don't say. They will tell me everything at place."
"Indeed. Okay, we can go."
Machine then took off again and turned back towards Sadera.

XXX

And done. Another chapter complete, with situation now getting real hot, considering the amount of attacks that happened in this chapter and not all of them were showed. As of now, everything goes according to Zorzal's plan. And not only his, considering what happened to Mars and Earth. But what will come out of it? Await further chapters to find out.

For now, it's all. As always, leave a review, favorite and follow. It will be highly appreciated. See you!