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.

15. Part 2, Chapter 8

Hello back to The Will of Revenge. Last time, we revisited Milky Way to check out Ester and her team, as they went on their first actual mission as ICTA's special operations team. They managed to retake the station from Nakatan hands and possibly stopped the fall of Shakaya…at least for now. Anyway, today, we're gonna continue their story.

But before that, reviews.

To Supreme Supra: No, no, no. It wasn't that tragic of a joke. I actually chuckled at that.

To Guest: Hey, I'm a simple man. I stand with the good guys. But SoS is still on the winning side right now.

Okay, with this done, let's get down to business (to defeat the Hun!).

Ekhm, anyway…

Chapter 8

June 8, 2166

07:22

Underground Command Center, Laconia City, Laconia

President Tekrionis walked down the corridor leading to the main command center of Laconian military, placed right under the Presidential Palace. Above, in the streets of the city, celebrations were taking place, as today was an anniversary of Laconian independence from Earth. And this time, it was truly a big occasion, considering that the war was taking place and the very fact their forces currently besieged Earth and Mars were a big part of it. Tekrionis gave a big speech and listened to the cheers of the people, but now, the more important matters were at hand.

He made it's way to the main chamber where all screens and analysts were placed, alongside the table at which he met with his commanders. And the table in question had all it's seats filled, as all commanders of armed forces branches were here, alongside some other, less important officers. Seeing him, everyone stood up.

"Sit down."he ordered.

Officers immediately complied. President sat down too and looked at the others. However, he noticed something.

"Where is Lioni?"he asked.

Everyone looked at the place normally taken by the head of LIS.

"He said, that he's gonna be late."Liliana said.

"As always."Timos groaned."Why is he always late?"
"Don't you know?"Nils risen an eyebrow."A coffee, a newspaper and a murder."

"I thought these were just rumors."Jason said.
"And why do you think a car always leaves LIS HQ in very morning?"Nils grinned.

The rest of this conversation was stopped, when the door opened and the person in question walked in. Lioni came up to his chair and sat down. But everyone noticed one detail on him.

He had a blood on his jacket.
"Zack?"Tekrionis asked.

"Yes, Mr. President?"head of LIS replied casually.

"What is this blood?"

Lioni risen his eyebrow and looked at his jacket. He waved it off.

"Well, I had three today and one of them turned out to be a pretty good sword fighter. I had to actually struggle a bit."He noticed that everyone sends him some weird looks."What? I said something weird?"
"So you DO start a day with a murder!"Jason exclaimed.

"But coffee and newspaper are the first in line. At least they have some worth, unlike that trash I deal with every morning."

"Question one: what did all these people do to you?"Liliana asked."Question two: why swords?"
"Oh, the applicants always come to me, saying that I did something wrong to them. That I slept with one's wife, that I ordered to kill one's son because he looked at me weird, some just don't like me…The usual."
"And are those accusations actually have any foundation?"Tekrionis asked.

In response, Lioni laughed.

"Of course! I did everything they accuse me of!"he replied."And I use swords, because they're more elegant than guns."

Everyone looked at each other. They knew that Lioni DID have some sadistic masochistic aspirations, but mostly they overlooked it because he was good at what he was doing. But well. Who didn't have such aspirations, right?

"Alright then."Tekrionis cleared his throat."As of now, I would like start the meeting for the reason it was called."

Everyone nodded and soon, four sided screen lowered itself from the ceiling and hung over the table. On that screen, everyone saw map of Milky Way with several colors on it. Blue was, of course, Laconia and the rest of the Concordance. Red represented UNSA and all it's allies. And the yellow represented all the nations that were still neutral.

Tekrionis' eyes were immediately drawn to the thing he was mostly proud of. A significant blue area in the middle of enemy territory, connected to the rest of the Concordance with a long, blue tunnel. Local Sector. Solar System. And the Intergalactic Gate. All of this achieved within first few hours of the war. And all thanks to The Traitor. If not him, this feat would not be achieve.

"Alright then."President said."Let's begin. If possible, start with news from Solar System."

Here, Liliana and Timos pulled out their tablets and activated them. They searched for sufficient reports and cleared their throats.

Head of the Navy started.

"As of now, our fleets in Local Sector are achieving astounding progress. Since out entrance to Sol, we took over all of Jovian System, as well as other gas giants and bases on their moons. Stations like Ceres or Pluto also fell to us, with not much of a fight being put there. Marines of commander Takua did their best."
Here, Jason nodded.
"Unfortunately, we didn't go without losses."Liliana continued."Enemy AATIS guns were able to reach our ships in the orbit and shot them down. As of now, we lost around fifty ships in the solar system, but new ones are already on their way to replace them."
"Still better than expected."Tekrionis stated."And what about the forces that landed on the planets?"
"Allow me to take over, then."Timos said and cleared his throat."As of now, we managed to take large portions of territories of Earth, alongside some big cities. Our biggest and most important holding, as of now, is Beijing. Chinese forces were thrown into complete disarray when our Marines and Army forces touched down. We also took cities like Los Angeles in United States or Hamburg and Naples in Europe, but this is just the beginning. We're already pushing towards cities like Moscow, Brussels or Washington. Without the support of their fleets, it's only a matter of time before we manage to take these cities and, hopefully, force Earth to surrender."
"And Mars?"Nils asked.
"Pretty much the same. Our forces are already in Landres Nova and push through the city. But they met a solid resistance of Martians. Especially Martian Shock Trooper Corp."

"How bad can it be?"Lioni tilted his head.
"As you probably know, STC is the elite of the elite in Martian Army."Timos growled."Trained to battle in urban areas, both offensively and defensively. I know it might sound controversial here, but if Martian Army consisted ONLY of STC soldiers, we would be long gone from Martian surface."

There was a short moment of silence, as everyone held their breaths, waiting for Tekrionis to say something. What Timos just said did sound a bit defeatist and in these halls, being defeatist was a ticket straight to one of penal colonies or work camps. And if there was one thing all of Laconian higher ups feared, it was being sent to penal colony or work camp.

But President didn't erupt with fear at all.

"Understandable."he said."Anything else?"

"No."Timos said and sat down.

Of course, he was not going to say anything about the numerous resistance groups that sprung out seemingly from thin air and started making their life harder. Assassinations, bombings and even organized partisan attacks. And he knew, that the longer it will continue, the more resistance there will be from the populace of occupied territories.

"Can I say something, sir?"Lioni asked.

All eyes turned on him.

"I was about to ask you anyway."Tekrionis said."Fire away."
"Thank you."He cleared his throat."Since the beginning of the war, we were monitoring the populace and it's behavior."

Everyone knew that by that he meant 'invigilated every single part of their lives and made sure they stay in line', but this what what Laconia simply was. You didn't listen, you get what you deserve.
"Oh, then let us hear it."President said, eager to hear what his most trusted man has to say.

"Of course. We monitored everything regarding our population and it's certain, that larger majority supports our actions against Earth and it's allies. The celebrations that are taking place over our heads are the best example."

The unspoken 'But…' hung in the air.

"But…"There it was."As expected, there were some…incidents with extremist groups."

"Go on."Jason said.
"While Laconia City itself is the center of war support, not everyone supports our rightful crusade to liberate the oppressed people living under the United Nations.'

This was the main way of Laconian propaganda, that this war was aimed to liberate the oppressed Humans and aliens living under fascist and totalitarian regimes, just waiting to strike the peace and democracy loving people of Laconian Republic and it's allies. And thanks to the fact that all schools and TV were controlled by the state, it was easy to brainwash the children into believing it.

"There were mass, anti-war protests in cities like New Roswell or Canter. Police, fortunately, managed to arrest and disperse the protesters. Ultimately, one thousand three hundred people were arrested, two hundred have died and rest simply went to home."

"Good. Such elements should be simply all squashed like bugs."Liliana hissed."There will be peace but only when we will want it."

"Exactly."Nils agreed.
"But that's not all."Lioni continued."Several recruitment offices were set aflame by Molotov cocktails. All culprits were apprehended and will be publicly executed to teach the people obedience."

"Wonderful."Tekrionis mused.
"And finally, there were some acts of sabotage. Several ammo and fuel depots for the fleet were blown up by some anti-war soldiers in our military. They will also be found and executed. Same goes for the traitors that refused to continue fighting."

After these last words, Tekrionis looked at the commanders of his armed forces' branches. He narrowed his eyes and they gulped.

"Why didn't you tell me that?"he asked.
"We…"Jason started."We thought…"
"I'm not paying you for thinking."

"You barely pay us."Nils thought."Indeed, there were some incidents, but mostly among the younger soldiers."
"The veterans that fought in GGW are all in favor of our actions."Timos said."Only the newer recruits openly started to oppose it."

"But we will deal with them."Liliana waved it off."Nothing bad will happen, if some sons won't return home to their mothers. What are these mothers gonna do? Try searching for them and causing a wave of dissatisfaction to spread, which will ultimately cause a full-out revolution?"

People in the command center laughed as if she told a funny joke.

"Exactly. But now. Lioni."Tekronis said.
"Yes, sir?"head of LIS asked.
"Now the thing I wanted to ask. How is the special operation going?"

In response, Lioni smiled so much that his teeth literally shined.

"All according to plan."he chuckled.

Meanwhile…

07:34

Shakaya, Gardon, Royal Palace

Sky over the Shakayan capital city was clouded and rainy today, as if to mourn all those that already perished in this war. However, on Earth, such weather could be considered a category five hurricane, here on Shakayan, it was a normal, stormy day. Shakayans were simply used to the fact, that their planet had the deadliest weather in the galaxy. And it was the reason why most of their buildings didn't have any flashy or ornate details, but looked like simple, concrete blocks someone put in rows.

On top of several buildings, one could see anti-air installations, aimed to defend the sky in case if enemy craft appeared over the city. Which, hopefully, would never happen. One occupation in the last sixty years was enough.

Queen Kalisa Nagrif, ruler of her nation for the last forty years, stood in front of the window made out of highly-resistant glass produced only on Shakaya.

"Is something wrong, mother?"a voice asked behind her.

She turned around to look at crown prince Lukrik, the younger of her two sons and, currently, her successor. The treason of crown prince Polid was a big hit both for her and the nation. After war, prince was judged and executed, which was the first time in eight hundred years that a member of Royal Family was executed for treason. This is why Lukrik, six years younger than his brother, had to quickly be prepared for the role of crown prince and later, when it comes to it, the king. Although it was so sudden, he truly took it upon himself to reach all his mother's expectations.
"It's okay, Lukrik."Kalisa replied."I'm just pondering here."

"About what?"

"About everything that happened by the last few decades."
"I understand."

Lukrik was well aware about what his mother went through. Not only was she forced to abandon Shakaya so it would fall into HO's hands, but the time when Polid almost killed her and made her fall into coma hurt her even more than seeing her country burn. After all, Polid was her firstborn and carried the name of his and Lukrik's father, which Lukrik never knew, because he died in a car accident before Lukrik was born.

Before the war and failed coup, his mother was cheerful, good and loving, but firm and tough as stone when situation demanded. After all that, for some time, she closed herself in. She barely left her room and the palace as a whole. People actually started worrying, that she might be long dead. But after few months in moderate isolation, she again returned to her old self, although she, as expected, was never the same.

Lukrik grabbed his mother's hands.
"Don't worry, mother."he said, as calmly as he could."We faced bigger dangers than this. Laconia and Concordance will never be as powerful as Holy Order. We will come out on top, with our allies by our side."

"I do believe that, yes."queen said."But the question still remains. When will it end?"

"We still aren't sure, but sooner or later, we will win."

Queen wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by the sound of her son's phone in his pocket.

"Excuse me."he said.

Lukrik went to the side and pulled out his phone. On the screen, he noticed a familiar number. He accepted the call.

"Lukrik here. What is it?"he asked.
"Colonel, this is Reger."his deputy said.

Lukrik might have been the next in line to the throne, but as long as his mother ruled, he still held the position of Royal Guard Commander.

"We have…a situation here…"Reger continued.

"What kind of situation?"
"A patrol found two dead guards on the tower."

Lukrik held his breath as the news went through his head.

"Could they die by accident?"he asked with hope in voice, although he knew this question was absurd.

"No, sir. Clear energy weapon marks."

"Fuck."
"What was that, sir?"
"Nothing. Put the Guard on high alert. And send someone to the queen's quarters."
"Understood, sir, right on it."

Prince hid the phone in his pocket and returned to his mother.
"What is it?"she asked worriedly.

"We have a problem."Lukrik replied.
"By that you mean…?"
"There might be…"

The door leading to the room exploded. Splinters flew in all directions, with some hitting Lukrik and making him fall on the ground, as well as Kalisa. Smoke arose from the place where the door used to be and few seconds later, several targeting lasers broke through the smoke screen, moving around the room.

Lukrik lifted his head and saw several figures coming through the door. They were all dressed in dark azure uniforms and had energy SMGs in their hands, eying the area surrounding them. Their faces were covered, but even this couldn't hide a very bright, solid glow of azure material that made up their faces.

Maraqs.

Or, more precisely, their special operations forces. Crystalline faces turned in all directions until they finally landed on the two Shakayans.

"Command, we have the target."commander-looking one said in their language, which Lukrik did not understand.

There was a moment of silence.
"Understood."commander said again and disconnected."Secure the target."

Some soldiers came up to Kalisa and picked her up. Next, they started falling back. Lukrik tried to reach towards his mother, but was unable to.

He then saw one of the Maraqs commandos standing in front of him and looked up. Maraqs' covered face didn't show anything, especially when soldier lifted his leg and prince met the underside of commando's boot.

June 8

14:54

UNSA San Antonio

Following their mission to the Shakayan listening post, Ester and the others got the promised days of R&R. However, just after two days, they had to return to training and had to again be at full combat readiness.

As of now, they were again sitting in the common room after another training session. They looked at the TV mounted in the room. On the screen, a debate was taking place between two politicians from some Planetary States.

"We should immediately sit down and talk with the Concordance."one of them said.

Other politician risen his eyebrow.

"What are you saying? Concordance performed and unprovoked attack on Earth and all it's allies and we are supposed to talk to them?"
"Of course. This is what is demanded from diplomacy. Even if both sides are at war, they need to talk and try reaching a consensus."

"You can't talk to Laconians. The only consensus they would agree on, is our immediate, unconditional surrender."
"And what's wrong with that? If that's the consensus, then we should accept it."

Young presenter looked from one politician to the other, not knowing what to say or do. She seemed a bit out of place right now.

A cup full of water flew across the room and hit the screen.
"Fuck you, Laconian fuckboy!"Norrine shouted.
"Norrine, you're gonna break it."Elsa said.
"I just couldn't listen to the fucker."she said through gritted teeth."'If that's the consensus, we should accept it'. Yeah, maybe we also should completely demilitarize and become Laconian puppets? Living under an authoritarian regime will be fun!"

"I'm not surprised by what he said."Ves said.

Everyone looked at her.

"Really?"Emmy asked."Why?"
"Yeah. That guy's a foreign minister of Uion."the hacker said.

"Oh, that explains it."Macy said.

Uion was what many called 'Little Laconia', because it was pretty much exact clone of Laconia, but in UNSA space. And it MOSTLY supported Earth in the struggle against Laconian machinations. But it seemed, that not this time.

"Change the channel, will you?"Norrine asked.
"Sure."Ester said, rolling her eyes.

She grabbed the remote and pressed the button. Channel changed from the debate, to another news channel, on which a man in a suit was looking into the camera.

"Ah!"Norrine clasped her hands."Good ol' propaganda!"

A small window showing a destroyed HO-made Heavy Cruiser with Laconian markings appeared. The headline under it read '12th DAY OF WAR'.

"It is the 12th day of war. The pack of Concordance rapists, robbers and bandits continues it's criminal attack on free and democratic galaxy. They do not stop at their attacks at civilian objects and civilian infrastructure, constantly pushing out the rhetoric of 'only attacking the civilian targets'. Meanwhile, General Secretary Harika made another announcement for the brave defenders of freedom and peace from her current office on New Terta."

Next, the man disappeared from the screen and what everyone saw, was a recording from some city. Far in the distance, one could see numerous fiery explosions, so loud that they could be heard even on the recording. Next recording was filled with sound of air-raid siren and yellow fireball. And on another, row of MLRS-style vehicles with Nakatan markings was firing at some unknown target.

Finally, the voice of the reader appeared:

"It is been nearly two weeks since the beginning of the war between UNSA and it's allies and the Galactic Concordance. Both sides are constantly exchanging fire across the entire frontline. Meanwhile, in the Borderline, Laconian vessels are pushing forward from the Banasz System and surrounding systems, meeting a fierce resistance from the side of UNSA Navy. But the sheer number and firepower of the enemy forces turns out to be enough to penetrate the defenses and slowly push forward."
"Well, that sucks."Norrine muttered.

"Following the first few days of the conflict, however, the pace of Laconian advance clearly slowed down, although not enough."

The screen showed a man in UNSA Navy uniform. The bar under him said 'Cap. Thomas Payne, Spokesman of UNSA Navy'.

"Although the situation on the frontline is hard, we're cooperating with our allies from United Shakayan Kingdom, Nashini Republic and Chakdrik Collective. Tertan Protectorate forces, although achieving the most success, are unable to be everywhere at once. But it will not stop us from stopping the criminal activities of terrorist regime that is Laconia and it's allies."

The view changed again. This time, screen showed map of the Milky Way colored in several colors. Blue represented UNSA and it's allies, while red represented the Concordance. Yellow color represented remaining, neutral parties. Everyone immediately looked at the long, red string of territory leading to the Local Sector. But then, some animated explosions and crossed assault riffles appeared, showing the places where battles were taking place.

"Except Borderline, the heaviest fights are taking place in Zaren, Soren, Leseria and Nashinian Systems. Concordance forces are tied in Nashinian System, as numerous Nashini forces managed to fortify their position on moons of gas giants and other installations there. Chakdrik forces report a partial success, as they managed to actually repel all attacks on their positions. Meanwhile, Shakayans formed a cohesive defense line around one hundred light years into their territory. They reported a great increase in pressure from Nakatan fleets following the failed attempt to attack Shakaya from different side."

Everyone smirked.

"However, there is still hope, as numerous videos, like this one, start to appear across all types of networks in the galaxy."

The said video started playing on the screen. It showed a view from a dash cam, probably from Earth or some different planet of that kind. On it, one could see a road and on the side of said road was a Laconian APC. Two soldiers stood next to it, talking about something and scratching their heads.

Driver stopped and asked:
"Hey, what's wrong?"

Laconian soldiers turned to him and shrugged.

"We run out of fuel."

Some soldiers in the common room laughed.

"Then maybe I should help you? They're gonna kick you out of here sooner or later, so I might as well drag you back to Laconia, ha!"
Laconians shook their head.
"Nah, thanks."one of them said.

"Or this one."the reader said.
On the next video, they could see a bunch of people seating on top of Laconian tank with UN flag on it, driving it down a farming field. They were singing and laughing.

Next, General Secretary appeared on the TV, with an oxygen mask needed on New Terta, appeared.

"As our current intelligence says, Laconian and Concordance forces are clearly undersupplied and lack some of the necessary equipment needed to continue their offensive. The only way they were able to achieve so much success and progress as they did, was due to the fact of their firepower and numbers. It is true that all of them declared universal mobilization, but it appears that nothing is going as planned and new recruits are not as numerical as expected. Concordance knows that they have to win the war quickly, otherwise they will run out of personnel and equipment."

"Unfortunately, the only thing we can do now, is wait."the reader ended.

Ester turned off the TV and put the remote down.

"Well, at least there are some good news."Macy said.
"But their still kicking out asses."Emmy stated.
"In darkest of times, you have to grab onto the smallest of hopes."Heley said.

"Well said."Delilah nodded.

Right then, the PA system came to life.
"Special Operations Section commanders are needed in the briefing room! I repeat: Special Operation…"

"Okay, wait's over."Ester said."Let's go."
"Right after you."Norrine said.
"Rest, wait here."Delilah said.

Soldiers nodded and watched as their commanders left the room.

June 8

15:28

Briefing room

The three entered the briefing room and took their sits in front of the podium. Their handler walked through the door and they stood up and saluted.

"Sit down, please."handler said.
He turned on the screen behind him and the ICTA logo appeared on it. He glanced at Ester, Delilah and Norrine.

"So, what's cooking now?"Norrine asked casually.

Handler pressed something on his console and the screen showed the photo of Shakayan queen.
"We have an emergency."he finally said.

"I don't like where this is going…"Delilah stated.
"And rightfully so. We received a distress call from Shakayan crown prince and SRI."
"About what?"Ester asked.

Handler took a deep breath and looked at them.

"Queen Kalisa have been kidnapped."

There was a short moment of silence in the room, as the three processed what they just been told. It was never good, when a leader of a country was being kidnapped in a middle of a war, especially the kind of war they were waging now.

"Is it confirmed?"Ester finally asked.

"Prince Lukrik was in the same room as his mother when she was taken away."handler replied.

"And who are the kidnappers?"Norrine asked.

"According to Lukrik, they had covered faces, but it was clear that they were Maraqs."

"So, the crystals are entering the action huh?"Marines commander asked.

Delilah hit her in the arm.

"Hey, what was that for?"she asked.

"Don't call them that."Delilah said."I have a close Maraqs friend."

Ester nodded. She still remembered Karilia, a former Maraqs accountant, which settled on Flare Prime and started working in Delilah's tavern in Alnustown. Following the end of the war, she decided to stay there, disillusioned by the way Maraqs Confederacy went politically, as many of her species did. She still was in charge of the tavern, especially when Delilah had stuff to do in the military. And word 'crystal' was considered a slur among Maraqs.

"Okay, sorry."Norrine said.

"I promise that I will introduce you to my friend after all of this is over."Delilah said.
"Sure."

Handler cleared his throat.

"Can we continue?"he asked.
"Of course."Ester said.

"Shakayans decided to currently not reveal this fact to the public. Instead, they asked for our help in saving her."
"Pretty much what I expected."Norrine said."But why did they contact us? Can't they do it themselves?"
"They are still impressed by how you took back their listening post. So they wanted you to help them in this. And don't worry, you will get help from a team of Shakayan commandos, which they had available."

"Okay, but how will we find where the Maraqs took the queen?"Delilah asked."They might as well be on the opposite side of the galaxy."

"We don't have to worry about that."handler calmed her down."Shakayans were fast enough to attach a tracking device to their escape ship. And it was tracked…"

He pressed some buttons and an image appeared on the screen. It was a gray planet, with numerous clouds covering it's surface. There was also a map of star system with five planets, all rocky, and this planet was the fourth in the system.

"…here."handler said."Planet Servus IV. It's in Maraqs space, around three hundred light years into their pre-war territory. The Shakayan commandos I mentioned earlier are to meet us there. They will arrive before us to scout the area."

"So, we're gonna simply fly in there?"Norrine asked."I doubt it…"
"We're a Stealth ship."handler reminded."We will be able to sneak past most of this galaxy's radars, so we don't have to worry about it."
Marine threw up her arms.
"If you say so."she said.

"Now, you should go and prepare your soldiers for the mission. Due to the fact we have to be sneaky, you have an entire day before we reach the planet. And it's best if you start immediately."

The three stood up and saluted.

"Understood."they said at the same time.

Next, they simply left.

June 9

09:43

Servu IV orbit

A day later, the Stealth Frigate jumped out of hyperspace in the orbit of the planet. For that day, the crew was doing their best to sneak past Concordance patrols beyond and within Maraqs territory. Fortunately, Maraqs crystalline ships were unable to detect the newest generation of Stealth sheathing with which the ship was equipped. And although some close calls, the majority of the journey went relatively smoothly.

By the time, Ester and the others prepared for the mission. This time, it was decided that all of them will go.

As of now, they were being loaded on a Akula heavy dropships which, fortunately, was part of the ship's airwing.

"Finally we're here."Elsa said.
"Yeah, it was stressful."Macy agreed.

"Not as stressful as expected."Emmy said.

Some people looked at them.

"You serious?"Ves asked."We almost got detected, like, five times!"

"Still could, be worse."Norrine said.

Ester just rolled her eyes.

"Before you start arguing, please, let's focus on the task at hand."she said.

"Yes, sir."everyone replied.

Dropship started taking off and soon, it left the hangar. It turned towards the planet, scanning the area around, to make sure that it's entry will not be interrupted. Fortunately, Maraqs didn't hold any type of defense in the planet's surface. This allowed the ship to point it's nose towards the surface and after a short countdown, it started descending. Flames started surrounding it, as atmosphere gave way to it.

"I hate this, I hate this, I hate this."Norrine gritted through her teeth as pressure pushed her into the seat.
"Then why did you join the Marines?"Ester asked.
"Because except this, I like everything."

The entry continued for few more minutes, before the pressure disappeared and the ship evened it's flight. It continued on this way, while Ester stood up and started walking between the rows of seats.

"Okay, the plan as of now is simple."she started."We're to rendezvous with a team of Shakayan commandos, which was supposed to reach this planet before us to perform a scouting operation. After that, we're gonna see."

One of Marines lifted his hand.

"Yes?"Ester turned to him.
"What happens if the queen isn't here?"Marine asked.

That was actually a good question. Ester pondered for a few seconds, before finally throwing up her arms.
"If not, then we'll simply get out of there and wait until ICTA or Shakayans finds her."she finally replied.
"Sounds good to me."Marine shrugged.

"We're about to land, colonel."pilot said from the cabin.

Dropship slowed down and extended it's landing gear. It slowly touched down on a flat part of terrain between some hills and large, pointy rocks. When this was done, it's back ramp opened, soldiers started standing up and leaving the machine.

As Ester left, she noticed a bunch of figures standing in the field. After a closer look, she recognized fully geared up Shakayan commandos. She, alongside Norrine and Delilah, approached them.

"So, you are that ICTA team that took back that listening post?"Shakayan in front asked.
"That would be us."Ester replied.
Shakayan nodded.
"Major Gerion Ordag."he introduced himself."i command this bunch here."
"So we heard."Norrine said.

Ester and Gerion shook their hands.
"Okay, without further extending, could you introduce us to what you found out?"colonel asked.
"Sure, follow me."Shakayan said.

"Nor, Deli. Take care of setting everything up."

"Sure."the two replied and walked away.

"Same goes to you, guys."Gerion said to his soldiers.

They only replied with a nod.

"Follow me."Gerion said to Ester.

The two of them then proceeded to walk away from the place. At the same time, dropship took off and started it's return to the ship. Ester watched it go for a few seconds and sighed, knowing that if something goes wrong, they could be stranded here. But it wasn't the time for that. Queen was more important.

She followed Gerion up the slope of one of hills. On top of it, Shakayan signaled to her to lay down, which she did.

"Look there."he said, pointing forward.

Ester looked in said direction and gasped in surprise.

In the middle of barren, rocky plain, there stood a giant fortress. It was square in shape and numerous searchlights were lighting the area around it. There was one, central tower in the middle. Single gate was placed in the front wall, currently open.

"What the hell is that?"Ester asked.

"It's the place, where they took the queen."Gerion replied."Or, at least, where the ship went."

Ester used the zoom option in her helmet and looked closer at the fortress. A bunch of armored vehicles was just leaving through the main gate, probably for a patrol. She also noticed several heavier and lighter turrets placed on the walls, with big cannons sitting on each corner. They were easily the size of at least Battleship cannons.

"A lot of guns there."she said.
"Yeah."Gerion nodded in agreement."High security, for such a remote place. Which means…"
"…that they have to hide something in there."

"Exactly."

They looked at the fortress for few more seconds.

"Just out of curiosity…"colonel said."You figured out how to get in there?"

"Kind of."commando replied."We have two ideas."

"What?"

"See that wall there?"

Saying this, he pointed on the other wall they were able to see.

"Yeah."Ester replied.
"We noticed, that there is a secret entrance there. Some Maraqs technicians came out through it to check something on the wall. Then, they left the same way."

"Okay, okay. And the other?"

"The other is trickier. Allow me…"

He pressed a button on the side of his helmet and soon, Ester saw an uploading bar. When it reached 100%, the view changed and now, she could see the fortress with blue outline, but not only. She also could see blue outlines under the fortress, leading in some different direction, out of sight.

"What did you do?"Ester asked.
"I uploaded a program used by our cyberwarfare specialists. It allows them to scan the area and see all the technological and computer elements."Gerion explained.
"Neat thing."she admitted.
"Thank you. Anyway, returning to the matter at hand. See the outline leading away from the structure itself?"
"Yes."
"It appears to be some maintenance tunnel. It stretches from there to a place around eight kilgs east."
"And in kilometers?"

Gerion frowned.
"Twelve kilometers, I think."he finally replied.

"Okay then. Where do you think it leads?"

"Probably to the power station."
"Probably?"
"We didn't scout that far."

"Fair point. Okay, let's get back to the rest."

Saying that, she stood up and went back to the meeting place, talking about the plan they started coming up with. The rest looked at them as they came closer.

"I think we have a plan."Ester said on the get-go.

Everyone quickly surrounded them.

"What plan?"Elsa asked.
"Gerion showed me the place, where queen could be held. And two possible ways we could get inside."colonel replied.
Shakayan nodded.
"There are two ways."Gerion said."A secret entrance in the wall or the maintenance shaft. Each has it's pros and cons."
"So enlighten us."Norrine said.

"As you wish. The first way, the secret entrance, will lead us straight into the fortress and will allow us to search it faster. But, it might as well be well monitored and might be more commonly used."

"Okay. And the second option?"Delilah asked.

"Maintenance shaft might be less monitored and as long as won't smash anything, we can remain undetected. But then, we would have to walk twelve kilometers and find the entrance, probably also fight our way through it's security."

There was a moment of silence between the soldiers, as they processed this information. Either way, they could be detected, but the mission was mission and they had to do it, no matter what. So they had to chose.

"Hm."Delilah said."Do you have any hackers?"she asked Gerion.

"Yes."Gerion replied."They found the shaft."

"Then I have an idea. We're gonna split. One group goes along the shaft to the place when you can enter, while the rest waits in hiding near the secret entrance. After the shaft group gets inside, they will help the entrance group in making the entrance secure to use."commander of the 1st Warrior Bunnies explained.

"Sounds good to me."Norrine said.
"And to me."Ester nodded."Gerion?"
"Same."Gerion replied.
"Okay then. I will lead the shaft group, and I want Norrine, Elsa, Delilah and Ves with me. Gerion, you get the rest."Ester said.

"Understood."Shakayan saluted.
"I will now report everything to command."

Colonel walked to the side and activated a safe communication channel. She quickly explained the situation and the plan to their handler and after that, there was a moment of silence. Finally, the voice of a handler came back:
"Understood, colonel. Proceed with the operation."
"Yes, sir."

She returned to the now two groups, as they already split. Both were doing their last preparations and now, they were ready to move out.

"Okay, we have a green light. Let's go!"Ester ordered.
"Sir, yes, sir!"everyone replied, but still quietly enough so the echo wouldn't betray their position.

A few moment later, both groups moved out towards their targets.

June 9

Two hours later…

As it turned out, walking twelve kilometers in rocky terrain, at the same time making sure to not get detected by air patrols and drones, was not an easy task. Several times Ester and the rest of her group were forced to quickly duck down and turn on their masking devices, which, fortunately, were given to Ester, Norrine, Delilah and their subordinates by the ICTA as a part of their new equipment.

"Okay, it's gone."colonel said, after another drone patrolling the area left and disappeared in an unknown direction.

Soldiers quickly stood up and continued their march. After so much time, they hoped to finally reach their target.

"How much do we have left?"Norrine asked.
"Just a little more."Ester replied.

"By the way, I wanted to ask one thing."Delilah asked.
"What?"

"What if we don't find anything?"

Elsa risen an eyebrow.

"Uh, I think we will."she said."It's the most logical course of action."

"If you say so."

And just a few moments later, Elsa's words were confirmed, when they passed by another large rock. Because behind it, down the slope, there was a single, lone-standing structure. Ester used the program given to her by Gerion to check it once again and saw all the blue lines going into that structure.

"It appears we found our target."she said.
"One could say 'finally'."Norrine smirked."So, what do we do now?"

Ester looked at the structure for few seconds. It was simple, small power plant, which probably supplied the power to the fortress. And the maintenance shaft led there, so there was one reasonable thing to do here.
"We're gonna quietly get in there and take out the crew. Then, we will proceed with the rest of the plan."she finally said.
"And how many crys…people"Norrine said, stopping herself from using the slur under Delilah's gaze"do you think we will find there?"

"We're gonna find out. Let's go. Slowly."

Everyone answered with a short nod.

They started slowly approaching the power plant. Fortunately, there were enough big boulders and rocks to serve as cover. They moved in pairs, from cover to cover, constantly making sure that there is no form of security watching them from the power plant. Fortunately, it seemed that there was not even a single camera. So it made it easier to get under the structure's wall and after few more minutes, everyone was already in place.

They came up to the main entrance and lined up on both sides of it. Ves and one of Shakayan hackers accompanying them came up to the door, used their knives to open the panels and connected their hand terminals to them with cables. Next, they started pressing something on their hand terminals.

"Ha! Lame."Shakayan hacker said.
"Is it that weakly protected?"Ester asked.
"Oh, come on, I know this security system."hacker continued."It's from over three hundred years ago, which tells a few things about Maraqs caring about their security."

"Maybe they just didn't update it in a while?"Elsa asked.
"Possible."Ves said.

Hackers were doing their work for another few minutes, additionally making sure that there will be no trace of their activity when they're done.

"Got it."they said at the same time.

The light over the door turned green from red and the door opened. Hackers gathered their equipment and got ready to move in.
"Alright, we're going in!"Ester declared.

Soldiers quickly started pouring into the structure, Ester, Delilah and Norrine at the front. They quickly secured the vestibule of the power plant, where, fortunately, there was nobody sitting in the security booth that was just to the left of the entrance.

"Ladies and gentleman, we got in."Norrine said."Their security is dogshit."

"Can't argue with that."Elsa nodded.

"Okay, but now, let's get to the main control room. It should be somewhere above us."Shakayan field engineer said.

"Could you get us there?"Delilah asked him.

He nodded.
"Then lead."Ester said.

Shakayan commando moved to the front of the group and they all followed him. Ester left only two soldiers behind, as a way to secure an escape route if everything went to hell. Except that, the rest was following the engineer. They started walking up the stairs leading to the upper floors, constantly having their weapons ready. But as they climbed up, they still didn't find any form of security.
"Why is it so empty here?"Elsa asked.
"Maybe it's an automated facility?"one of Marines asked.
"If it was, then there would be automatic defenses."Ves said.
"Can't argue with that."
"We're gonna figure it out later."Ester said."As of now, let's focus on taking over the control room. We can talk after that."
"Yessir."everyone replied.

So they continued up the stairs to the top of the structure, passing by completely abandoned corridors. Somehow, they didn't feel good in this place.

"Here it is."engineer said.

Everyone looked at the door in front of them. It was the same model as the door leading inside the facility, so the hackers again went into action. They repeated everything they did back at the entrance and soon, the door was open.

It slid open, revealing the control room. It was full of screens, all showing various diagrams of power and other things.

And before them sat one really surprised Maraq.

He looked at them for a few seconds, before trying to reach for a gun that was laying on the console before him. He was stopped, when a bullet fired by Norrine hit said gun. A wolf-man Fighter Infantry recruit quickly leaped towards him and grabbed him to keep him in place.
"No sudden moves, got it?"he growled.
"S-Sure…"Maraq replied.

Others quickly came up and surrounded the Maraq, who looked like he didn't know what to do anymore.

"We started thinking, that the whole place was deserted."Norrine said."But here you are."
"This whole place can be operated by one person, so…"Maraq replied.
"And where is security?"Ester asked.
"There is none. We never expected anyone to try and break in here."

Ester nodded. This place was pretty far beyond Maraq lines, so no surprise Maraq command didn't expect enemy troops to appear here.

"Okay then, buddy."colonel said."We want one thing from you."

"W-What is it…?"Maraq gulped.

"We want you to open the maintenance shaft leading to that base."Norrine said."So if you could…"

Maraq widened his eyes as much as his crystal structure allowed, making his eyelids literally clatter.
"B-But…"he tried to object.
"No 'buts'. Do it."Ester said.

Maraq looked at the bunch of soldiers surrounding him, thinking about his options. Ultimately, he decided, that there was no other option but one.
"Okay."

Saying that, he turned to the console, pressing some buttons on it. On one of the screens, red changed to green.
"Here, the shaft is open."he said."What are you gonna do it with me now?"

"Sorry, but…"Norrine shrugged.

And as she said that, she slammed her fist into Maraq's face. Sound of shattering crystal was heard the dead body fell on the ground, headless, shattering even more upon the impact. Marine just shook her hand.

"Man, it's true that these guys are fragile."she muttered.

"That was surprisingly easy."Ves said.

Most of the group started leaving the control room and going towards the entrance to the maintenance shaft. Only Ester and Elsa stayed for a bit longer, looking at the shattered Maraq, with all it's bits thrown everywhere.
"Almost too easy."Elsa whispered.

"I have to agree on that one."Ester nodded.

They turned around to joint the others.
"I have a bad feeling about it."assistant continued.
"I know. But we have to save the queen."
"Sure."
"So let's just get this thing over with."

Soon, they joined the others at the entrance to the maintenance shaft. They entered and started their march back to the fortress.

June 9

19:05

Maintenance shaft

Walk back took additional two hours. Maintenance shaft was tall enough so everyone could walk straight up, but due to the fact how much surface did the power cables took, they had to walk in a straight line, one after another. Ester, of course, took the lead.

"How much more?"Norrine asked.
"As much as when we went the other way."Ester replied.
"I don't think that works this way…"Elsa said.

This was the only bit of conversation they had by that time. Finally, they reached something, what looked like another entrance. Knowing what to do, everyone quickly made place for the hackers to move through. Ves and Shakayan hacker quickly took their position and went to work, trying to open the door.

"And?"Ester asked after few seconds.
"Here, they did their homework."Shakayan hacker said.
"Yeah, these security systems are more advanced than the ones at the power plant."Ves said."But still, not something we won't deal with."

And so, they were both clicking for few minutes, before the door finally started opening. Hackers quickly backed off. Ester came up to the front and slowly looked outside the maintenance shaft. Everyone held their breath, awaiting what will happen.

"Clear."colonel said."We can go."

Soldiers quickly poured out of the maintenance shaft and started setting up a defensive perimeter around the exit. But what mattered now, was that they were inside.

Looking around, Ester noticed, that they are in some kind of power control room, similar to the one from the power plant. She pointed at the consoles and the screens.
"Ves."she said.
"Don't need to tell me twice."Warrior Bunny replied and went to work with the Shakayan.

Meanwhile, Ester activated her communicator.

"Gerion, this is Barkhorn."she said."We're inside. Tell your hackers to get to work."

"On it."Gerion replied.

Outside, Shakayan hackers accompanying Gerion and others went to work, as they found a console near the secret entrance. Both groups started working quickly, deactivating the defense systems in the secret entrance, as well as cameras. It took them around five minutes, but ultimately, they managed to take care of everything without detection.
"Hey, Ves?"Ester asked.

"Yeah?"Ves turned to her.
"Could you try and find where are they holding the queen?"

"Sure, gimme some more time…"

After just a minute, she smiled wide.

"Got it!"she exclaimed.
"That was fast."Norrine said.
"According to the data I got here, they moved her to a…'research room'?"

Everyone risen their eyebrows.
"What does that mean?"Delilah asked.
"I have no idea."Hacker shrugged."But I doubt it's anything good."

"Yeah."Ester agreed.

Both hackers hid their gear.
"Done. I also uploaded a map, that will lead us straight to that 'research room', whatever that is."Ves explained.
"And the others?"Elsa asked.
"I sent them the map, which should lead them there from their position."

"Good. Then we should move. But be careful."
"Sir, yes, sir!"soldiers replied.

And with that, they left the room and entered the corridors of the base.

June 9

19:36

As it turned out, the corridors were as empty as the room they left. By the whole time they were walking down these corridors, they didn't meet any Maraqs soldier or civilian worker. Only thing they met along the way, were robots doing maintenance or simply carrying something in opposite direction. And even they didn't pay attention to them.

This only made Ester tighten the grip on her weapon.
"Something is fishy here."Norrine said."We're either very lucky, or they are stupid beyond Human comprehension."

"Can't argue with that statement."Delilah said.

"Or maybe the place is bigger than we thought and these corridors are not used very often."Shakayan hacker said."Although I doubt it."
Ester once more opened channel to Gerion.
"Gerion, can you hear us?"she asked.
"Loud and clear."commando replied."What is it?"

"How big of a resistance did you meet?"

There was a short period of silence on the other side.
"None."Gerion finally replied."There aren't even people in the corridors."

"Same here. Be advised, something is very odd here."
"I got the very same conclusion."
"Okay, see you at that research room."
"See you."

She terminated the call.

It didn't took them that long to get to their goal. They just had to make a few more turns, before they finally reached the door, which was marked on their map. And on the opposite side of the corridor, they saw the rest of their team approaching.
"This is weird."Gerion said, as his group stood in front of Ester's.

"Not a single Maraq in sight."Emmy said."I don't like it at all."
"Nor do we."Delilah said."But I think we should use this occasion to it's fullest. Ves, take care of the door."
"Sure."Ves replied.

Hacker once more repeated the same sequence by opening the panel at the door with her knife, then attached the cable from her hand terminal. She started clicking and sliding on the screen, until the door opened.
"Okay, let's check this and let's get out of here before something goes downhill."Ester said.
"Aye!"everyone replied.

Soldiers quickly entered the room, checking every corner. It was surprisingly big room, almost completely empty. On one wall, opposite to the entrance, there was a window, with some control room behind it. There were lights on the ceiling, lighting the while place.

And it was almost empty, because there was one person standing in the middle of it.

"Your Highness!"one of Shakayan commandos exclaimed, seeing the familiar figure.

Queen Kalisa stood with her back towards them, slowly swaying from one side to the other. She didn't even react, when she was called out.

Gerion wanted to follow the commando, but Ester stopped him.

"What are you doing?"he asked with reproach.

"I don't like it at all."Ester simply replied.

"But it's the queen!"

"I also don't like it."Norrine said.

Meanwhile, commando already reached Kalisa. He called her again, but once more, she didn't reply. He poked her back. This got a reaction, as queen slowly started turning around.

"My queen?"commando asked.

Queen continued to turn around, until she was facing the group. And it was then, that the commando jumped back in horror.

Kalisa still looked like herself, but there was one significant different. There was a weird, oily substance coming out of her eyes, mouth and trunk. Her whole fur was covered in the weird substance, which seemed to move around her face as if it was alive. Her eyes were completely empty seemed to not notice anyone.

Although that, queen let out a terrifying shriek and jumped on the terrified commando, which didn't manage to jump back. His screams filled the room, as queen's teeth started biting into his neck and pull out pieces of meat. Soon, his screams turned into gurgles and his blood started mixing with the black substance.

Everyone watched this spectacle in shock, until the screams and gurgles stopped. Kalisa then looked in their direction, gave another shriek and started running at them.

Norrine was the first one to get herself together and lifted her weapon. She pulled the trigger and unloaded an entire magazine into the queen. Bullets tore the body into shreds, but queen continued to run at them. Seeing this, she quickly loaded a grenade into her riffle's grenade launcher and fired. And only then Kalisa fell to the ground, torn apart, bleeding the black substance.

Soldiers quickly approached the dead body. Shakayans looked at their deceased leader with sadness and sorrow in their eyes.

"Why…?"one of them asked and started crying.
"She went through enough."Gerion said."Why did she have to end like this?"
"Sorry, but I didn't see any other option."Norrine shrugged.

Gerion only nodded.

Ester, in the meantime, looked at the black substance, which poured out of the queen. Although the body was dead, the substance was still moving. And whatever it was, she didn't like it in the slightest.
"Gerion?"she asked.
"Yes?"Shakayan looked at her.
"We have to burn it."

Hearing this, all Shakayan commandos looked at her in shock.

"But…But we can't!"Gerion protested."She deserves a proper burial!"
"But look at this black stuff. If that's what killed her, then we can't let it continue existing."

Gerion looked at the substance that now covered the floor. He bit his lip. As much as he wanted to give the queen her honors, Ester was right. This thing could not be good for anything.
"Alright. But be quick about it."he finally said.
"Sure."Ester replied."We're also gonna do it with your friend. Just in case."
"Fine!"

"Norrine?"

Marine nodded and pointed her arm at the queen. Soon, a blue flame danced along it and a fireball hit the queen, immediately igniting both her and the black substance. Next, she proceeded to do the same with dead Shakayan commando, who's blood already merged with the back substance.

Ester winced at this sight, but knew it was needed.
"Alright. I will now contact the HQ and tell them…"
"Oh, I don't think you'll be doing this."

All heads immediately turned away from the smoldering bodies.

There, standing at the entrance to the room, was a whole company of Maraqs Marines, shaped like Humans or Shakayans, with a smiling Maraq officer in the middle.

"Well, shit."Norrine said.

XXX

We're gonna end here for today. I hope you liked this chapter and as always, remember to leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!