Gathered friends. Listen again to our legend…of The Will of Revenge. In a time before time…
Okay, enough of these callbacks. But if anyone got it, then great, you are a true fan. Anyway, we're coming after a longer time, due to the fact, that I simply decided to take a quick brake I took at the end of August, right before school started. But I'm back and so is the story.
But before we begin, let's look at the reviews.
To Supreme Supra: They have a tendency to do that, yes.
Okay, now, let's go with it.
Chapter 10
June 11, 2166
14:54
Shakayan System
Shakayan System, the very home of the Shakayan species, was in chaos. The news of Laconian-Nakatan fleet breaching the frontline set every single military force in the system on high alert. Even numerous PMCs based here decided to take up arms against incoming danger. They might have been guns for hire, but all of them seen Shakaya as their home and would not allow some neo-fascists to just stomp on their garden.
That's why when previous day the enemy armada entered the system, it was met with a hard resistance from numerous mercenary groups, which set up ambushes for the incoming enemy forces. And, much to enemy's surprise, these mercenaries, supported by Shakayan regular forces and territorial defense, managed to actually put up one hell of a fight.
Alas, this was not enough and soon, the resistance was broken, as Shakayan defenders had to retreat due to the lack of sufficient resources, caused by the inability of Shakayan commanders to believe that enemy forces would ever reach the system, what allowed Nakatans and Laconians to move deeper into the system the same day. Not long after, they started landings on the planetary surfaces, boarded numerous stations and even settled on Shakaya's orbit, repelling attacks performed by Shakayan Navy, at the same time dropping troops straight into Gardon, what lead to start of hard urban fighting.
As of now, Shakayans were gathering forces for a counterattack, aimed at breaking the ring around Shakaya and simultaneously surrounding enemy forces in the system and forcing them to surrender, if possible.
This was the time when a new space distortion appeared and soon turned into UNSA San Antonio, which came here after stopping in Human Space for a refueling and R&R. And after all of that was dealt with, they immediately came here.
Ester and the others were again in the hangar, preparing their weapons, and not only Fighter Infantry, but Marines too, as Norrine and her troops were supposed to join Shakayan reinforcements on the surface of Shakaya and help in the effort of clearing the enemy troops on the ground. Same was for the Shakayan commandos, which were still with them on-board. Their task was to reach the Royal Palace and secure prince Lukrik. All of this was earlier consulted with Shakayan admirals and generals mounting the counterattack.
"Yeah."Norrine shrugged, loading bullets into her magazine."Turns out that us retaking that listening post gave nothing but shit."
"No kidding."Emmy said, loading her MG's ammo belt.
"Pessimist as always, huh?"Elsa asked.
"Shut up."the two of them replied.
Elsa just shrugged and returned to cleaning her weapon. Honestly, she was starting to really get into the frontline service. It took her some time to get used to actually fighting instead of just filling the blank documents or accepting incoming calls. She still didn't pride herself in killing other beings, but she knew, that if not them, she would get her head blasted open.
Ester turned to them.
"Stop whining this much, we already got it."she said.
"What can I say?"Norrine risen an eyebrow."We stopped Nakatan secret maneuver on Shakaya and for what? Only for them to just smash through the frontline and come here anyways."
"At the same time, they hold Solar System and we can't go back to Andromeda."Emmy added."Not only that, but we also don't know what the actual hell is going on back home."
"This sounds like you're spreading defeatism."Delilah stated.
Emmy looked at her with thunders in eyes.
"Don't you give me that 's[reading defeatism' bullshit again."she said through gritted teeth."I'm stating the facts!"
Delilah looked at Ester in search of help, but colonel just threw up her arms. In all honesty, sometimes, she also felt that all of this fight doesn't have any sense. And then, she remembered the twins and Dora and remembered, what she is fighting for. So there was no way they could lose this war.
"Better get ready."she said."We're gonna soon join with the Shakayans and go to Shakaya. Better be prepared."
"Yessir."Norrine mumbled.
"Gerion."
Shakayan commando looked in her direction and said something to his soldiers. Next, he left their corner of the hangar and came up to Ester.
"What is it?"he asked.
"Are you ready for this?"Ester replied with a question.
In response, Gerion hit his chest in a place, where Shakayan three hearts were placed.
"We were preparing for this since the day we were born, Ester."he said."We swore to protect our homeworld under any circumstances."
"Good to know that."colonel agreed."But I asked about…the other thing."
Immediately, his expression changed and darkened. He was well aware what she meant.
"I'm still thinking of how to tell this to the prince."Gerion admitted, scratching the back of his head."Losing two highest ranking members of the royal family in just a few decades…It never happened before."
Ester did not know how to respond, but he was right. In their long history, United Shakayan Kingdoms never lost both king/queen and the heir to the throne in relatively such a short period of time. This was going to be shock to both the nation and the new prince/king.
"I'm sure you will find a way."she said, putting a hand on his arm."But as of now, we should focus on kicking the Lacos and these lizards out of your homeworld."
"Agreed."Gerion said, hitting the inside of his hand with his fist and immediately looking with firm look.
Next, he turned back and returned to his soldiers.
June 11
15:04
UNSA San Antonio, bridge
On the bridge, the entire crew was hard at work, preparing the ship for the upcoming battle. All systems were being checked, as well as all other machinery that was aboard. After all, even with artificial gravity, at quick, sudden maneuvers, even the smallest thing was able to change into deadly projectile, just looking for someone unfortunate enough to find themselves in a way of it's flight.
Captain Phil sat in his chair, looking at the holographic situational map of the system. As of right now, there was a lot of red on it. Like…a lot. He stopped counting the red dots after getting to ninety. There were also numerous blue dots symbolizing Shakayan forces, but these were dispersed all around the system, with the biggest cluster around one of anchorages, which the Stealth Frigate was approaching.
"Sir, all weapons are ready."weapons officer said and saluted.
"Good."Phil replied.
"Same goes for the engines."main engineer said.
"And comms."communication officer added.
"And everything else."First Officer said.
Phil nodded. At least there was no danger of something unexpected happening in the worst possible moment.
"Utron Anchorage is in sight, sir."FO said.
In front of them, they could see said anchorage, one of the biggest in the system. And it lived up to it's name, with numerous Shakayan vessels around it. Everything from simple Corvette to Battleships was present here. All the ships looked very blocky and geometrical, but this was just how all the Shakayan ships looked like. They were not made to look pretty, but to accept a lot of punishment.
A green light appeared on the holo-table.
"Sir, incoming message from the Shakayans."comms officer said.
"Accept it."Phil ordered.
Officer nodded and turned to his console.
Seconds later, the situational map disappeared, replaced by a hologram of elder Shakayan. His fur had the color of dull brown, with numerous gray strands. He was proudly presenting several medals, which decorated the chest of his uniform and radiated an aura of confidence which could be felt even from the hologram. He nodded at the captain.
"I see that UNSA actually sent some support."he said."Shame, that only a single ship. And a spy one at that."
Phil waved it off. He expected such a reaction.
"We're not the only ones."he said."The rest of our allies are just behind us. We were simply faster than them."
"If you say so."Shakayan said."Allow me to introduce myself. Admiral Zetron Deger, 15th Response Flotilla of Royal Shakayan Navy. At your service."
"Pleased to met you, admiral."
"Shall we begin the briefing?"
"I would advice to wait for the rest of our forces."
"Of course."
They didn't have to wait long. Soon, numerous other space distortions appeared, only to soon change into over thirty UNSA Navy ships, with enormous shape of Mont Blanc-class Battleship. Together with these newly arrived Human vessels, the entire forces aimed at breaking the enemy resistance over Shakaya now numbered around eighty eight vessels.
Another hologram appeared in over the holo-table soon after. This time, it was an Arab man, dressed in UNSA admiral uniform. He touched his hat and nodded.
"Admiral Amir Rahan, at your service."he introduced himself.
"Admiral Zetron Deger."Shakayan admiral said."Glad to see you, admiral."
"Same here."
"Should we go to the briefing?"
"Yes."
Admiral Rahan looked at Phil.
"Excuse us, captain, but this is a conversation for only the two of us."he said.
"Of course, admiral."Phil nodded.
After that, both holograms vanished. Alongside Phil's smile. He turned to the comms officer.
"Did you attach yourself to their systems?"Phil asked.
"Yes, sir."comms officer replied."We can hear everything they talk about."
"Good."
Unlike some might think, this was not any kind of independent action. It was an order given to any and all operatives of ICTA, no matter what was their task. They were ordered to keep a look and listen to everything that was being talked about among the surrounding allied forces. The goal of this was to hopefully stop any treason attempt by any means necessary. And it was going really deep. For example, if Phil wanted to defect to the enemy with important information, he would be executed by one of his officers. And if that officer wanted to do the same, he would be executed by another officer and so on. ICTA was preparing for the war in any way possible and one of them was that.
Did it possibly violate some normal Human laws?
Yes.
Did it deepened the overall security of the whole machine that was military bureaucracy?
Yes. So for ICTA, the choice wasn't hard.
But as Phil listened to the conversation between admirals and some other officers, nor he nor his subordinates could pick up anything that could point on any form of coming treason. But they also heard the entire plan of the approaching battle.
It was pretty simple. Their joint group was supposed to destroy, or at least rout, enemy forces that set themselves up in orbit of Shakaya, at the same time shipping forces to the surface to help in the defense effort. At the same time, another, equally strong group, was supposed to enter the system front different direction and cut off the main enemy escape route. Then, they had to finish the remaining enemies. Simple as that. Although Phil knew, that the simple plans were the ones that could be the most easily torn apart.
But soon, the conversation was over and Phil ordered to stop listening and just waited. Few minutes later, the entire flotilla entered hyperspace and was on it's way to Shakaya.
June 11
15:26
Shakaya's orbit
Just two days ago, the entire orbit was filled with numerous ships and space stations, which were performing their tasks dutifully. Freighters were freighting cargo off and to the planet, while military defense ships were patrolling the orbit for pirates or possible any enemy intrusion. After all, Maraqs did manage to get onto the planet and abducted the queen.
But today, only sign of that were numerous broken hulks of formerly operational vessels and massive wreckages of space stations. Pieces of metal floated around, forming a gruesome ring around the planet.
And among them, was the joint Nakatan-Laconian fleet, which managed to reach the system and after few hours of resistance, managed to set themselves up in the orbit of Shakayan homeworld, while some other ships were chasing the territorial defense forces and mercenaries.
The overall commander of this fleet, was admiral Hekr Sarif, a renowned Nakatan admiral, which fought all the way back in Great Galactic War. However, unlike majority of his people, he belonged to the Free Nakatan Front, an organization which cooperated with Resistance Alliance and which aim was to restore Nakatan Clans to their former glory. They succeeded, of course and admiral swore, that no matter what, he will do anything to preserve his country and his clan. This is why when he learned that they were going to war, he celebrated very clearly.
And now, he hoped to be then one, which will bring an end to Shakayans, which for many decades were a real torn in Nakatan Clans' side, especially with their anti-raid operations against Nakatan raiders and pirates. They were really close to it, closer than ever before.
And then, they learned of the mounting counterattack.
Of course, admiral knew, that something like that will come sooner or later, so he wasn't surprised. The surprise came from the fact, that the counterattack was going to come so fast. Not only that, but not only Shakayans, but Humans decided to come here to try and stop them. So the battle was going to be a very serious one. This is why he ordered his fleet to position itself in a way, which would allow them to meat enemy forces head-on.
Currently, Hekr sat in his chair, awaiting the arrival of enemy forces, which, according to their long-range sensors, were already on the way.
"How long before they arrive?"he asked.
His radar officer looked at his console.
"Jusssst three more minutessss."radar officer replied.
"Good."Hekr nodded."What about Laconianssss? Are they ready?"
"Commander of their tassssk force ssssayssss, that they are ready assss well."
With this, Hekr was completely satisfied with what he heard. Now, they just had to wait for the enemies to come.
Three minutes have passed and the time has come. Immediately, radar officer reported the detection of numerous hyperspace entrances, alongside numerous space distortions appearing. Soon, these space distortions changed into both Human and Shakayan ships. They were coming at his fleet with full force and their guided missile ships were already opening with their long and short-range missiles.
"Point defensssse, dessstroy them!"Hekr ordered.
"On it!"weapons officer replied.
Soon, PDCs on all Concordance ships came to life and opened on the incoming missiles, while at the same time, fighters and bombers started leaving ship hangars.
Missiles on their way met the resistance of the PDCs, which indeed managed to destroy a big number of them. However, some of them managed to break through the defenses and connected with Concordance's vessels. Explosions and flames appeared on them, with crews quickly rushing to take care of the damage.
Hangars of San Antonio were emptied as well, alongside the hangars of all allied ships. Except of Fighter Infantry and air force fighters, numerous dropships also left the fleet, going towards the surface to support the defensive effort.
"Alright, everyone."Ester said."Get ready for a tough ride."
"You always say it, but it never is tough."Emmy noticed.
"Ichroids."Delilah simply said.
Emmy shivered inside of her fighter.
"Never say that word again."she said.
Delilah just smirked.
"Norrine, just be careful down there."Ester said.
"Don't you worry about us, we're gonna clean these lizards and Lacos and will be home before supper."Norrine replied in the radio, with audible smirk.
"…Just don't burn half of the city down."colonel stated.
"Who do you think I am?"Norrine sounded genuinely offended.
"Besides, I don't think even her flames could burn through our concrete!"Gerion joked, but his joke was based on reality.
After that, the dropships continued to fly towards the surface.
Ester glanced over her shoulder, at Elsa.
"Weapons ready?"she asked.
"All green, Ester."Elsa replied, showing a thumbs up.
"Good."Ester smiled."So let's get into it!"
Saying that, she pushed the joystick forward and fighters followed her into the fight, to meet with enemy pilots.
This time, fight started without using long-range missiles first. Both sides literally rammed into each other and soon, formations broke into tens of single dogfights.
Ester dropped behind Nakatan SIX-21 fighter and quickly locked onto it. She pulled the trigger and immediately, a wave of bullets flew towards it. Nakatan pilot tried doing evasive maneuvers, but wasn't good enough and bullets easily hit his machine. Then, Ester simply finished him with 50mm cannon.
Delilah did the same, but with Laconian fighter. She noticed a single HER-3 fighter evading fire from AA guns, so she quickly followed it. Laconian pilot noticed her too and tried evading her, but was unable to, as Warrior Bunny sat on his tail and quickly fired a short 50mm series. Fireball of a fighter then crashed into Nakatan Corvette, which so happened to pass by, hitting the bridge, killing the main crew and rendering the entire ship useless.
Speaking of ships, both allied and Concordance ships also engaged themselves on close range, firing their main guns and short-range missiles at each other. Shakayan ships led the charge, with their hard armor shielding relatively more fragile Human ships. Their cannons spoke all the time, puncturing holes in enemy vessels' armor, destroying them one by one.
Admiral Hekr Sarif observed everything on a situational map displayed in front of him. Both blue and red mixed, as his and enemy vessels clashed, leaving only lifeless husks behind. The battle was lasting for only few minutes and already, Concordance lost several Cruisers and Destroyers. There were also losses on the enemy side, but not as severe.
"How are they doing thissss?"he asked.
"They're putting a lot of pressssure on ussss, ssssir!"radar officer said.
"Then do ssssomething about it!"
"But what?"
"Thing of ssssomething!"
Hekr looked at the map again and something appeared in his head.
"How many Battlesssships do we have in the ssssysssstem?"he asked.
"Four."his first officer replied.
"Call them all here."
FO nodded.
"Assss you wissssh."he said and turned to the communications officer.
Meanwhile, battle raged on. UNSA Sněžka, the Mount Blanc-class Battleship, engaged two Laconian Hermes-class Heavy Cruisers, which tried to stop the ship's path, but were unable to. Several shells loaded into them was enough to quickly decomission the two Heavy Cruisers, what allowed Sněžka to continue it's attack run on Laconian ships standing between in and the Laconian flagship.
On both flanks of the Battleship, two groups of three Johannesburg-class Heavy Cruisers decided to help two Shakayan Destroyers, which were surrounded by enemy Destroyers. All ships quickly fired the missiles they had into unsuspecting Laconian and Nakatan Destroyers, what resulted in most of them being destroyed.
At the same time, Fighter Infantry and other pilots continued to massacre enemy fliers. Fighters and bombers easily fell victim to the well trained and equipped allied forces, although enemy numbers were still very high.
"In the name of everything that's holy!"Emmy exclaimed."How many of them are there?!"
"Too many!"Heley replied.
She quickly landed behind Nakatan bomber and fired a short-range missile at it. Enemy pilot, however, countered with flares, which made the missile ineffective. This is why Warrior Bunny had to resolve to simple guns and cannon. With that, she managed to destroy the bomber, although it did took her a bit more time.
"At least we're winning, right?"Emmy asked.
"Actually, it does look as if we're winning."Macy agreed.
To her left, she could see Shakayan Heavy Cruiser literally ramming into it's Nakatan counterpart. Of course, Shakayan ship came out of it without any scratch, while Nakatan vessel was completely shattered into two halves. Additionally, Shakayan Heavy Cruiser fired a salvo, which disabled enemy Destroyer.
Ester watched everything happen by both looking around and on her radar. And as much as she could tell, they were winning.
"I think we're doing good."Elsa said, firing a missile at enemy Cruiser, while Ester evaded the AA artillery. Missile scored a hit, disabling one of the main guns of the ship.
"Same."Ester said."I bet they didn't expect a counterattack so soon."
"Probably yes."
However, their happiness didn't last long.
"All units, this is Sněžka."A voice of main air controller came through the radio."We're detecting four new hyperspace signals. Be cautious."
"Understood."Delilah said.
"That can't be good."Emmy said.
"You're the one to say it."Kenya said.
Second later, four new space distortions appeared among the raging battle. Everyone eagerly waited for them to finally change into ships and when the four ships appeared, everyone widened their eyes. The ships were the standard size of Battleships, but none of them saw them before. They were long and soaring like all Nakatan vessels, but there was something different about them.
"What are those?"one of FI recruits asked.
"Never seen this type of Battleship before."Ester admitted.
Right then, the four Battleships opened fire. Weapons came to life on it's left, right, top and bottom, literally spraying shells and bullets in all possible directions. Not only that, but on every side of the ship, there was one, large turret, which now started aiming around. And when they fired, the shells left orange traces behind them.
Shells fired from these guns rammed into several Shakayan ships. And, much to everyone's shock, these ships, built to withstand ten times the fire than that, then proceeded to simply explode, when their reactors were hit, scattering debris in all directions.
"What the hell was that?!"Emmy exclaimed.
"Weren't Shakayan ships supposed to withstand much more than that?"Macy asked.
"They did."Heley said."Not anymore I suppose."
Right then, everyone got information about incoming call.
"All units, be advised!"Ester and others easily recognized the voice of their ship's captain."This is San Antonio! We scanned the vessels and compared them to our database! These Nakatan Verstil-class Area Control Battleships!"
Ester frowned.
"What even are those?"Emmy asked.
"I heard of these things before."Ester replied."Nakatans worked on them seven years back. They were supposed to be their secret weapon, ships that could not be flanked, because they will have weapons on all sides."
"And these guns they used on Shakayans?"Delilah asked.
"They were also supposed to be armed with next generation railguns, able to penetrate every kind of armor."colonel continued.
"Wait, I think I remember now."Ves suddenly said."But weren't they supposed to cancel this project? Because it was too expensive?"
"Or at least that's what they wanted us to believe."Emmy stated.
Ester looked at the four Battleships, which now laid fire on allied fleet. The very fact that there were four of these was terrifying. If one had such power, four was definitively an overkill.
"What do we do?"one of pilots asked.
"These things will simply smash us if we won't come up with something!"another pilot said.
"All units!"a voice said in all radios."This is admiral Rahan! Engage the Area Control Battleships and destroy them by any means possible!"
"Sir, yes sir!"all pilots and ship captains replied.
"Great, how do we deal with these shits?"Emmy asked.
Ester once more looked at the four Battleships. Majority of allied fleet was currently burning towards them, firing missiles and their guns at them. Of course, Nakatan crew, although several hits, was not sitting idly and replied with fire.
"If only Dora was here…"she thought."I just hope Norrine is doing better on the ground."
June 11
15:57
Gardon
"Shit! Fuck! Shit!"Norrine exclaimed with every shake.
"I think you should calm down, sir!"one of her Marines said.
"Shut up, Miriam!"Norrine snapped.
Marine simply backed off.
Immediately after landing, Norrine's platoon was put into action. Nakatan and Laconian forces already controlled half of the city and the current frontline was marked by the river, which was flowing through the center of the city, diving it into Northern and Southern parts. Concordance was stopped, but Shakayans and their allies were going to immediately counterattack once they landed on the planet.
Her platoon was assigned to the first wave units, which were supposed to cross the river and establish a beachhead by destroying enemy defenses. Additionally, they were ordered to eliminate enemy artillery emplacements on the other side.
And now, Norrine and her soldiers were sitting inside Shakayan amphibious vehicles, which carried allied troops to the other shore. The only problem was the artillery fire which currently fell around them, shaking the vehicles on the water.
"How long until we reach the other side?!"another Marine asked.
"Just few more seconds!"driver replied.
Another explosion shook the vehicle.
"Three's down, three's down!"came from the driver's radio.
"Damn it, move faster people!"commander ordered.
"Easy to say!"another voice said.
Norrine simply sat and listened. Truth be told, she wasn't scared of being it like others. She's been through enough to not fear death.
"Approaching the shore in 3…2…1!"driver declared.
Sure enough, they felt the vehicle driving out of the river and it's autocannon coming to life. Back ramp opened.
"Alright, people!"Norrine exclaimed, standing up."Let's move!"
Marines started standing up from their seats and quickly leaving the vehicle as fast as they could. On the way out, Norrine took a quick glance at the river behind them. She could see some wrecks still floating on the water before joining numerous destroyed bridges on the bottom. She could also see the second wave units already approaching.
But that wasn't important now. She quickly joined her soldiers, which now formed perimeter around the vehicle and firing at the defending Nakatans and Laconians. She could clearly see shapes of Nakatan and Laconian infantry jumping from cover to cover. And it wasn't hard to find one, as numerous buildings were still intact. Norrine had to admit, Shakayan architecture was really durable. But well, when planet is a literal serial killer…
She came back to reality, when a bullet whizzed past her. She quickly aimed and sent the fire back.
"Okay, people, let's get this beach cleared and find that artillery!"Norrine ordered.
She knocked on the armor of the vehicle, which started to move. It fired an ATGM at Laconian Mastiff, which fired on them. Thin armor of the APC was unable to withstand the power of the warhead and was easily dealt with. Seeing this, some Concordance units started backing off or even running away from their previous positions, but still fired at advancing joint Shakayan-Human forces.
"This is Bahrag."The Shakayan colonel in charge of their forces spoke in the radio."Enemy artillery is set up five kilometers from your position. Continue your advance and destroy it."
"That's what we're gonna do, boss."Norrine said with a smirk.
"Use formal language, major Bauer."colonel replied."And watch out. Nakatans deployed their SX-01 Havoc launchers in there."
Norrine whistled. Havoc launchers were the most powerful, most advanced and most expensive mobile artillery vehicles in Nakatan Clans arsenal, what resulted in them appearing on the battlefield very rarely. They were basically glorified and oversized flamethrowers, which fired very destructive thermobaric charges. And it could also operate as assault vehicle, as their launchers could also fire directly in front of them.
"Copy that. We're gonna make sure they'll have a few less."she replied.
"I expect nothing less. Bahrag out."
As the conversation took place, amphibious vehicle and Norrine's soldiers already reached the streets. There, they saw withdrawing Nakatans and Laconians, which were still overwhelmed by the magnitude of allied fire. Of course, they did score some hits, as several Shakayan soldiers following one of five other vehicles, fell to the ground. But it was still not enough and allies pushed onwards, with sounds of gunfire and artillery in the distance as their only companions.
Norrine dropped another withdrawing Nakatan, before she signaled her soldiers to stop firing and simply moved forward, shielded by the vehicles driving alongside them.
"That was surprisingly easy."one of Marines said.
"Can't argue with that."Norrine agreed."But something tells me, that it was too easy."
"That doesn't matter now."one of Shakayan squad leaders said."We have to take out that artillery, so the rest of the brigade wouldn't have to worry about them. Let's go!"
One of the amphibious vehicles then forces it's way forward, passing by Norrine and her soldiers. Platoon of Marines watched as platoon of Shakayans made it's way forward, racing towards the crossroads visible in the distance.
"I would not advice you to do it."Norrine said in the radio.
"We don't have to worry about anything."leader stated.
His platoon already reached the crossroads…
…and was immediately met with hailstorm of rubble and wrecks. They flew from behind the turn and burred advancing Shakayans in a blink of an eye.
Norrine quickly raised her hand, so everyone stopped.
"What the hell was that?"Human squad leader asked.
"Don't know, don't like it."Shakayan squad leader replied.
"Hold yourself in place now."Norrine ordered."We have no idea what we're dealing with."
Squad leaders confirmed and simply waited for what was going to happen and for answer to their question.
This came pretty fast.
Something started emerging from behind the turn. Quickly they realized, that this 'something' was actually 'someone'. More precisely, it was a Nakatan, but dressed strangely. He was wearing Nakatan uniform, but on it he had an orange robe placed. In his hand, he held a staff with orange crystal on top of it.
Everyone looked at it, confused.
"What the fuck is with this guy?"another Marine asked.
"No idea."Norrine shrugged.
The idea was showed to them equally as fast.
Nakatan lifted the staff and the crystal on top of it started glowing. Norrine frowned for a moment, before coming to a terrifying realization.
"Everyone get down!"she exclaimed.
Right as she said that, numerous pieces of buildings were torn out of their places and started floating in the air. Seeing this, crews of amphibious vehicles aimed their weapons at him and opened fire with both machine guns and ATGMs.
Seeing this, Nakatan raised his staff and swung it down. Immediately, numerous pieces of rubble floated down and placed themselves between the ordinance and himself, forming a shield. Missiles crashed into it, while bullets simply pierced into it. After few seconds of continued fire, they simply stopped.
"Boss, is that…?"another Marine asked.
"Not important now!"Norrine exclaimed.
Right then, Nakatan swung his staff and the rubble simply launched in the direction of amphibious vehicles. Seeing this, soldiers quickly spread out in all directions, while vehicles tried to fall back. But before they could, the rubble rammed into them and simply smashed them. Even reinforced armor was unable to survive the rubble flying at that speed.
Soldiers, in the meantime, hid in the buildings, as they were the only suitable cover in the area. But at the same time, they were the most dangerous places in the area.
Norrine quickly climbed up the stairs to the higher floor and opened a door leading to a simple Shakyan apartment. She passed through the main corridor and into the kitchen, from which she could observe the street. She looked out the window and saw the lone Nakatan standing there. However, he was soon joined by a group of both Laconian and Nakatan infantry.
Major quickly sat on the ground, thinking. She then saw two other Marines running into the kitchen and joining her.
"Is everything alright, sir?"the first said.
"No, really."Norrine replied.
"What the fuck just happened?"second Marine asked.
"Mages."Norrine immediately replied.
The two looked puzzled.
"What do you mean 'mages'?"
"Remember all this conference and whatnot about mages that suddenly started popping out in our galaxy?"Norrine asked.
"Yes."
"And remember who didn't come?"
Soldiers frowned, before realizing.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"It would appear, that entire Concordance was secretly building itself an army of battle mages."major said through gritted teeth, hearing gunfire from the direction of the corridor. It would appear, that enemy soldiers started entering the buildings.
"Makes sense. They had to do something with all these people that manifested magical powers suddenly."
"But that's something even I did not expect."
"The question is: what do we do now?"
"Let me think about it."Norrine stated."You better go out there and not let the fuckers come in here to rape our asses."
Marines saluted and quickly left the kitchen and the apartment to rejoin the firefight.
"Better gonna come up with something quick."Norrine thought to herself."Or else, we're not gonna worry about burial expenses…"
She laughed dryly at the joke she made and started wondering, if Ester and others in the orbit were doing better.
June 11
At the same time…
In the orbit
In the orbit, situation was turned into a clear stalemate. After the first clash of the battle, both sides decided to back off a little to quickly regenerate energy. As of now, they were separated by the four Nakatan Battleships. Barrels were still pointed at each other, but as of now, there was no fighting taking place.
"This sucks."Emmy stated.
Ester and the others were still in space, although they had to go back to San Antonio for quick refueling and rearming. In battle, they lost only two pilots, which tried to recklessly attack the four Battleships. Enemy AA easily dealt with them.
"What do you mean by that?"Elsa asked.
"We destroyed so many of their ships, but these four bastards had to show up and ruin everything, as always."Warrior Bunny explained.
"Just like Humans."one of FI recruits said, probably not realizing that his radio was turned on.
"I heard that."Ester said.
"Sorry!"he quickly exclaimed.
Ester meanwhile looked back towards the Battleships. Their enormous shapes were just floating there, in the vastness of space, separating the two battling fleets. Both sides knew, that this short pause would not last long. The question only was, which side was going to first start attacking again.
She didn't need to wait for the answers long, as soon, all communicators came to life with admiral Rahan:
"To all allied units! We're resuming the offensive operations! Allied forces have ended their part of the plan and are soon to appear and join our effort! Before that, we are supposed to quickly distract enemy! Attack!"
"Well, there it goes."Delilah said.
"Yeah…"Ester sighed."Alright everyone, let's go! We have to take out these guys!"
"Yes, sir!"everyone replied.
With that, the entire fleet started charging towards the enemy again.
Seeing this, Laconians and Nakatans immediately went into action too. Their ships' engines came to life and started closing on the allied forces. Four Area Control Battleships also joined and already aimed their weapons at Humans and Shakayans. And of course, they were the first to fire. Their railgun shots managed to reach several allied ships and immediately took them out. Other ships started taking cautious maneuvers to not get hit.
Destroyers, Cruisers and smaller ships fired their missiles and torpedoes on both sides. Hundreds of glowing dots cut through the space, flying towards the ships of opposing sides. PDCs came to life immediately, but although numerous projectiles were shot down, they still couldn't shoot down all of them. Lights of explosions of missiles connecting with their targets appeared, when said missiles found their mark.
Ester and the others also joined the fight, as numerous enemy fighters also flew at them. Colonel quickly dropped behind one of enemy fighter-bombers and fired a series from her gun at it. Pilot was unable to evade and soon, his machine turned into a ball of fire and metal.
Delilah found herself being chased by Nakatan fighter and she tried to shake him off, but for some reason, enemy pilot just stuck to her.
"I've got one on my tail."she reported."Can someone take him off me?"
"I'm on it, boss."FI recruit said.
Her fighter quickly found itself behind Delilah and her attacker. Fighter's 50mm cannon quickly came to life and fired several rounds into the enemy fighter. Nakatan pilot tried to evade, but before he could, his machine joined his numerous companions, as it was completely smashed to pieces by the shells.
"Thanks."Delilah said.
"No problem, sir."FI recruit said.
Next, the two of them split up.
Ester destroyed another fighter, when she got a call.
"Colonel Barkhorn, this is San Antonio."the voice of comms officer said.
"What is it?"she asked, a bit irritated."We're kinda busy here."
"I'll be quick then. There might be a way to destroy the Battleships."
This picked Ester's interest.
"Go on."she said.
"We were analyzing their structure and fighting patterns the whole time. And we came up with something."
Right then, a display of the battleship appeared on her screen. A part of the ship, just behind the superstructure, was marked red.
"We detected a dead field in ships' sensors right there. Not only that, but in that area, we detected energies which upon further investigation turned out to be the power generator of the ship."
"So you're saying…?"
"…that if we destroy that area beyond the superstructure, we will deprive these ships from power and they'll be sitting ducks."
Ester liked that idea a lot. But if they wanted to do it, they had to get permission.
"Did you tell this to admiral?"she asked.
"Yes."comms officer replied."He agreed to check this theory. Could you do it?"
"Just tell me how to get behind that thing without being noticed and I can try."she replied.
"Try using the ships as cover."
"Got it. Wish me luck."
"We do, colonel."
Saying that, the comms officer ended the call and Ester quickly called the rest of the Fighter Infantry.
"Delilah, can you hear me?"Ester asked.
"I do."Delilah replied."What is it, Ester?"
"You're taking over for a short period of time. Unless I die. But anyway, we might have a way to deal with these things. I have to test it out. Got it?"
There was a short period of silence.
"Yes."Warrior Bunny finally replied."Just don't die like a bitch there."
Ester laughed in response.
"You know me."
"Sure I do. Kick their asses."
"Of course."
Colonel terminated the call and looked back at Elsa.
"You ready, corporal Steier?"she asked.
Elsa had that stern face, which she always had when handing various documents to Ester. She tightened her grip on the weapon controls. It seemed, that adrenaline finally started taking control of her in heat of a battle.
"Yes, colonel Barkhorn."she replied.
"Alright then!"Ester exclaimed, pushing the joysticks forward.
As she did so, their fighter shot forwards, passing by several enemy fighters flying towards the allied fleet. Seeing single UNSA machine fly by and deciding that it would be an easy target, so they quickly turned and sat on their tail. Ester looked at her radar and saw four enemy signals behind them. She smirked.
"Don't you think you can stop us."she thought.
She pushed the controls forward even more and fighter sped up. Nakatans and Laconiasns chasing them didn't want to let go so easily, so they sped up too. Ester just shook her head seeing their persistence.
"Annoying."Elsa stated.
"True that."Ester agreed.
Ester started looking for a way out of this situation. If they wanted to actually do what they were told, they had to somehow lose these four guys. It wasn't going to be easy, especially when they started firing at Ester and Elsa. One of them fired a missile, but Ester reacted quickly and dropped flares. Missile got distracted by them and left the fighter alone.
Colonel started looking around, trying to quickly find a way out of this situation. And finally, she came up with an idea.
"I advice you to hold tight."Ester said with a smirk.
"Sure."Elsa replied.
And after she said that, Ester turned towards a bunch of ships fighting each other. Enemies, of course, followed them.
Fighter sped towards the ongoing fight, as three allied Destroyers engaged two enemy ships of the same type. Allied ships were getting the upper hand, but that wasn't important. The important part was the PDC fire flying from side to side, as both sides clashed. Ester flew straight into it, followed by the pursuers, which clearly didn't expect that maneuver.
Mainly because two of them were quickly taken out by the PDC fire. They were changed into wrecks, which simply flew forward, courtesy of force of inertia.
But two remaining enemies still held strong. They easily evaded the PDC fire, following the line left by Ester and Elsa. Colonel shook her head. She had to admit, these guys were really fucking persistent. She was still evading their fire, but these guys simply had to die.
This is why she made a quick turn towards enemy Heavy Cruiser. It was Laconian, which was easy to recognize not because of it's markings. It was because it was a Holy Order ship. But she didn't care about now. She evaded the AA and PDC fire directed at them and flew under the ship, with enemy fighters still following her. Next, she started spinning and, as she hoped, enemy fighters started doing the exact same.
"Elsa, you okay there?"Ester asked.
After blocking the vomit, Elsa showed a thumbs up and said:
"All good."
"That's great. Because we're going wild now!"
After saying that, Ester turned the controls in a way, that the fighter, still spinning and enemies spinning behind it, started moving up the side of the Heavy Cruiser, towards it's top part. There, she spun and evaded enemy fire at the same time.
"What's your plan exactly?"Elsa asked.
"This!"
Saying this, Ester stopped spinning and quickly performed a Cobra. However, two pilots behind her were not as fast and additionally, their heads started spinning after the prolonged spinning of their machines. This is why they didn't notice the ship's bridge coming towards them and it's crew trying to run for their lives, before two fighters crashed into it, basically disabling the entire ship just like that.
Ester smirked under her helmet.
"Now that that's done…"she said.
Next, she started jumping from ship to ship, using them as cover and evading the fire of enemy ships. When colonel finally decided that the time has come, she flew from behind the cover and started flying towards one of the Battleships. As it turned out, San Antonio was right and on their fly route, they met no enemy resistance. This allowed them to easily lock onto the place, where supposed generator was meant to be.
"Elsa, you got it?"Ester asked.
"Yes, I do!"WSO replied.
"Then fire away!"
"Missile away!"
And with that, a missile flew towards the targeted area, unopposed by any PDCs or AA guns. Nakatan crew, unaware of this, could not do anything to stop it. Missile flew all the way and hit it's mark.
Immediately, a giant ball of fire bloomed behind the superstructure of the ship. Bridge was shaken by the explosion and Battleship's captain looked around, not knowing what just happened.
"Sssstatussss report!"he ordered.
"Ssssir!"main engineer saluted."Enemy hit our main power generator!"
"What?! How?!"
Right then, lights on the ship flickered. They continued to do so for few seconds, before finally completely turning off. All bridge crew members looked at each other collectively gulped, realizing, that their invincible ship actually had a weakness. And that the designers actually managed to leave a gap.
Outside, Ester immediately noticed, that all weapons of the ship stopped firing and most of it's lights vanished. Even it's engines stopped dead and the ship just floated there.
She quickly activated her radio.
"San Antonio, this is Barkhorn."she said."You were right. You actually found a weak point!"
"Glad to hear that, colonel."comms officer replied."We will now relay this information to the rest of the fleet and try to eliminate the remaining enemies."
"Do just that."
And so, they did. San Antonio reported the revelations to admirals Rahan and Deger, which upon hearing this news, immediately relayed it further. News reached the rest of the allied fleet and immediately, pilots started doing the same thing as Ester and sneaking behind the unsuspecting Nakatan Battleships.
Nakatans were unable to prevent the inevitable. Some skilled allied pilots managed to repeat Ester's deed and soon, remaining three Area Control Battleships were put out of commission by well placed missile shots.
Soon after that, allied ships came into action, surrounding the four vessels like a swarm of mosquitoes, biting and stinging like crazy. Although Battleships had a very thick armor, the sheer firepower of allied vessels was enough to overwhelm them. Several minutes later, four new stars appeared in the skies of Shakaya.
All of this was observed by admiral Sarif, who couldn't believe in what he was seeing. Some of the most powerful and best ships Nakatan Clans had to offer were picked off one by one by well placed shots and simply swarmed to death. These ships were his trump card and without them, there was low chance, that his fleet will be able to win this battle.
"Ssssir!"radar officer hissed.
"What issss it?"Sarif looked at him.
"Enemy sssshipssss! Exiting hypersssspace behind ussss!"
Sarif just hung his head. Just like that, all his hopes for victory were swept away.
Seconds later, the fleet tasked with cutting off enemy escape route jumped out of hyperspace in the rear of enemy fleet. Immediately, missiles, shells and torpedoes started flying in all possible directions, aiming at the exposed rear of Nakatan-Laconian fleet. Although some enemy ships tried desperately to turn around and open fire, this was of no use. Without their main asset and pincered between two advancing fleets, Concordance had no chance of surviving.
Admiral Sarif didn't see the final defeat of his forces. Just before the battle concluded, his Heavy Cruiser, already scarred by battle and burning heavily, with air leaking out and fifty percent crew losses, was hit by several torpedoes from allied Destroyers. Two of these torpedoes hit right into the machine room and the main reactor. Reactor exploded, tearing the ship in half and evaporating the bridge.
Remaining Concordance forces ultimately saw no more use in fighting to the death and simply surrendered. The battle took barely one and a half hour, but consumed over thirty ships on both sides and thousands of lives, while crews of the ships that surrendered were transported to UNSA or their allies' prison camps, were they would wait until either the war was over, or Concordance and UN bloc decided to do a prisoner exchange. Additionally, all ships captured by allies were to be repaired and put back to service once the appropriate crew was found.
Following this victory, both admirals gave an order for the spacecraft to go to the surface and support the defenders. Under the command of Ester, all fighters, bombers and close air support craft turned towards the planet and begun the atmospheric entry.
June 11
16:13
Gardon
The time passed and Norrine and her forces were still stuck between a rock and a hard place. From one side, there was that Nakatan magic guy, who would literally stone them, if they picked their heads from their cover. And from the other side, there were enemy troops, which already cleared some of the buildings used by Norrine's and Shakayan troops as cover. The pressure on their side was now stronger.
Miriam ran into the room. Before she entered the apartment in which Norrine was hiding, she fired a grenade from her riffle's grenade launcher. It managed to massacre several enemy troops storming their floor, but, as always, Shakayan architecture turned out to be barely destructible. Immediately, new enemies took the place of the ones killed, trying to break through the constant fire coming from the allied troops.
Marine knelt next to her commander and saluted.
"Sir."she said.
"How does it look out there?"Norrine asked.
"Not good."Miriam shook her head."Enemy troops are coming as if there was no end to them. And we can't do anything about it, because that guy is waiting out there."
Norrine turned her head towards the window and carefully looked over the windowsill.
Nakatan mage was still there. He looked right in the direction of their building, but seemed not to notice Norrine. He only stood there, smiling with superiority.
"Smile while you can."Norrine whispered."Bastard."
"What was that?"Miriam tilted her head.
"I wasn't speaking to you."
Major rubbed her chin. She had to come up with something. Frontal attack would not work, due to the fact, that the oversized gecko could throw rocks at them.
Or maybe…?
"I have to get around his monkey tactics somehow…"Norrine thought."Maybe if I had…? No, We have no such possibility."
As if someone higher heard her thoughts, her radio came to life and a familiar voice came out of it:
"Norrine, can you hear me?"
Norrine grabbed her radio as if this was some holy artifact.
"Ester! You came here?"she asked.
"We finished everything in the orbit."Ester replied. Sound of fired missiles could be heard in the background."How does it look?"
"Well, we're stuck."
"How?"
"You won't believe this. Concordance has fucking battle mages."
There was a short period of silence.
"Wut?"Norrine finally heard, clearly hearing the 'u' in the word.
"There is some guy with a staff with crystal on it. And he throws pieces of buildings and wrecks at us!"major explained.
"Huh, that would explain, what happened to all the mages in Concordance's space."Elsa said.
"True that."Ester nodded."Do you need something?"
"I have an idea and you are like a blessing from the lord."
"Aw, you flatter me. But tell me, what do you need?"
Major quickly explained her plan, with Ester listening closely. Norrine couldn't see it, but with every point of the plan, Ester nodded her head. Truth be told, this plan had some chances of success. Not much, but it did.
"Alright, I get it."she said."Are you sure it will work?"
"No."Norrine replied truthfully, looking at her hand terminal."These are our coordinates."She relayed them to Ester.
"Alright, got it."
"Remember, aim for the guy with big stick in his hand. And at all the ants surrounding us."
"You can count on me."
With that, Ester disconnected.
She quickly analyzed the coordinates and turned in the direction they pointed. At the same time, she and four Falmartian pilots she took with herself as her wingmen, had to evade the enemy ground-based AA positions. Fortunately, flares and such did what they were intended to do and saved them from being damaged.
After around two minutes of flight, Ester could finally see the position given to her by Norrine. Colonel quickly activated a zoom in her Cyclone II's cameras and observed the street. There, she could see several Laconian and Nakatan infantry units trying to storm a building, probably the one, in which Norrine and others were hiding.
And in the middle of the street, she could see a single Nakatan, wearing an orange robe and with staff in his hand. She turned off the zoom.
"Alright, people."she said in the radio."Aim for the guys storming the building and that orange-dressed lizard. Blast them to oblivion!"
"Yes, sir!"Falmartian FI recruits replied.
They all quickly locked onto their targets, each using two missiles. Collateral damage was nothing to be worry about on Shakayan homeworld.
"Fire!"Ester ordered.
With that, ten missiles dropped from under the wings and flew towards the Concordance troops. Then, pilots quickly broke formation, trying to get away from this area as fast as possible.
At the same time, Nakatan battle mage observed the missiles approaching their position. He looked at the soldiers still trying to storm the building and scoffed. These were mere magicless, as such people were called by mages from Concordance space. After all, since magic was discovered in people across the Concordance and these people were placed in special, secret training and indoctrination facilities, they were told, that they were better in every way. Of course, magicless people were in charge of their countries, but even if that was the case, they were their leaders, which they could not oppose.
Or they would end like some people that tried to do so.
Mage quickly raised his staff and special crystal on it, which was used as the catalyst of magic power, which was made possible thanks to the knowledge taken from mages in Rondel, courtesy of Concordance's spies in the city, started to glow.
Pieces of rubble and wrecks all around started floating into the air, forming a shield around the mage. At the same time, Concordance soldiers noticed the incoming missiles, but it was already too late, when the missiles hit, performing a full scale massacre among the. Hearing the explosion, soldiers already in the building quickly turned around.
"They're distracted, move!"Miriam ordered.
After she said that, allied soldiers started leaving their cover inside other apartments and charged down the corridor, putting shots into distracted enemy soldiers. They, on the other hand, were so confused by the sudden attack, that thy tried to get out of the building as fast as they could, at the same time stomping on the soldiers behind them and making them fall off the stairs.
Norrine heard Miriam's order and smiled.
"Ester, when all of this is over, I WILL kiss you!"she said into the radio.
Ester laughed dryly.
"I'm married."she reminded.
"But your wife doesn't need to know."Norrine grinned."Anyway, I gotta do my thing now."
"Good luck."
With that, Ester disconnected and Norrine went into action immediately.
She decided not to take the long way and simply jumped out the window, at the same time activating her jump-pack. She slowly landed on the ground and called upon her power. Her both arms were covered by blue flames and she quickly rushed towards the enemy mage, which already started lowering his shield of rubble.
He, however, managed to notice her and before lowering his shield and swung his staff, sending several rocks flying at her. Major, however, wasn't unprepared. She quickly ducked down, evading the rock projectile. Next, she stood up, sending several fireballs at the mage. He countered with more rocks, using them as shields, to protect himself from the fireballs. But the fireballs were so strong, that they easily broke the rocks.
With mage occupied, Norrine rushed towards him once more. She closed the distance as quickly as she could, evading the rubble shields and quickly started punching at the mage. Nakatan, however, evaded her attacks, trying to send more flying rubble at her, but major managed to evade them again and again.
The magic battle certainly was a sight to behold, but Marines had other things to do. They already managed to get out of the building and kill numerous enemy troops, but now, they had to find and finish the remaining ones. Nakatans and Laconians were being scattered at astonishing speed, not only on this street, but also all around the city.
With newly arrived air support, Shakayan and Human forces went for a counterattack. More and more amphibious vehicles were crossing the river, attacking and breaking through the enemy entrenched positions. And without the support of the fleet, there was no way for Concordance forces to hold their lines.
Back with Norrine, she still punched and swung at the enemy, which still evaded her attacks. This really started to piss her off.
"Alright, enough of this!"she exclaimed.
Without warning, she dove for the staff held by the Nakatan. Lizard-like alien didn't expect such a move and was unable to react. Soon, Norrine's hands clenched on the staff.
"Let go, Human!"Nakatan ordered.
"Why should I?"Norrine replied with a grin.
Her grip on the staff tightened, while her blue flames started heating up more and more. Even Nakatan started to feel fear. This Human woman…There was something weird about her power. It felt…powerful.
However, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his staff breaking in half. Before he could comprehend what happened, Norrine kicked him in the stomach. He fell back, landing hard on the ground. He looked up at Norrine.
"Sorry, but magic staffs are overrated."she stated, throwing the lower part of the staff away.
Then she came up to the mage and stood over him. She grabbed the staff part with crystal and turned it upside down. Nakatan widened his eyes, realizing, what she was going to do.
"Wait…!"he cried.
But wasn't listened.
With one, swift move, Norrine hammered the crystal into the mage's chest. She knew where to aim and the crystal easily smashed his heart. Nakatan died soon after.
Major let go of the staff and looked at her troops.
"Status report?"she asked.
"Enemy troops taken care of."Miriam reported."What do we do now, sir?"
Norrine grabbed her riffle, which still hung on a belt from her neck.
"Mission's still the same."she replied."Destroy enemy artillery."
Miriam saluted in response.
Marines quickly reorganized and followed Norrine through the empty streets. Their target was still the same distance as before and they could hear the sound of artillery fire coming from behind several buildings in front of them.
Fortunately, there was no more enemy troops on the way.
"Major Bauer."colonel Bahrag spoke.
"Good to hear you again, sir."she said.
"Same. What's your status?"
"We finally broke through and are on our way to the target."
"Understood. Our forces are on the move, slowly regaining the city. That air support sure helped us in it."
"Good to hear that."
"Good luck, major."
With that, colonel disconnected.
The way to the target took the few more minutes, but finally, they made it to the place, where enemy artillery was stationed. It was a wide square, with some park in the middle, now completely charred, where a battery of six Nakatan artillery pieces were standing. From these six, two were Havoc launchers, while the rest was traditional towed artillery, which constantly shelled the allied forces.
"There is our target."Miriam said."Now what?"
Norrine eyed the whole square, trying to come up with a plan. Finally, her eyes fell on several shells stored between the artillery pieces. She pointed at them.
"Karl, Florian."she said.
"Yes, sir?"the two Marines replied.
"Hit those shells there."
Marines nodded and grabbed the rocket launchers they had on their backs. They came to the front of their platoon and knelt on one knee, aiming the rocket launchers at the pile of shells. They waited until enemy soldiers were out of the way and pulled the triggers. Two missiles flew towards the shells, hitting their mark.
Explosion caused by that was so big, that two closest artillery pieces were thrown away several meters. Meanwhile, the soldiers standing closest to the shells, were literally torn apart within seconds. Other crews, seeing this sudden development, were a bit confused and stopped their work.
"Move!"Norrine ordered.
Marines didn't need to be told twice. They quickly ran out of thew alley they were hiding in and opened on the artillerymen. Nakatans were unable to react, as they were being cut down one by one, falling to the ground in pools of blood. Marines moved forward like a force of nature, unstopped by anyone, firing and throwing grenades in all directions.
Norrine used the confusion to run up to one of the Havoc launchers. She ran around it, to the place, where two ion outtakes, used to led off heat from the ion engines of the machine. She grabbed a grenade and threw it inside. She then leaped away from it, laying low on the ground. It was time for fireworks.
Soon, the whole machine was blown to pieces, when the grenade exploded inside the ion engines, raining pieces of burning metal all over the square. Second Havoc soon joined it's brother, when another Marine repeated Norrine's deed.
Rest of the mission went smoothly. Remaining artillerymen were cut down, until it was completely quiet. Norrine stood up from the ground and activated her radio:
"This is major Bauer. Mission complete."
"Great job, major. There is a dropship on the way, it will take you back to the friendly lines. You've done enough and enemy is at a breaking point anyway."Bahrag replied.
Norrine disconnected and waited. Soon, the said dropship came and the entire platoon loaded aboard. They flew back to the friendly lines, where they were allowed to rest and were examined by the medical teams.
At the same time, all across the city, Concordance's forces were in full retreat under the pressure from counterattacking allied forces. But there was only one, single problem: they had nowhere to retreat to. This is why after around two more hours of fighting, the invasion force's command decided to give out an order to surrender.
Majority of the forces listened. However, there were still some outliers, which refused to surrender, escaped the city and started terrorizing the Shakayan countryside. Eliminating them would take another week. But although that, UNSA and it's allies managed to stop what could have been the greatest defeat since the start of the war. If they would lose, it would be a defeat they would never recover from.
But for Ester and the others, the hardest part was about to come.
June 11
19:11
Gardon Spaceport
Few hours later, in the spaceport, Ester and the other pilots landed to take a breather and meet Norrine. It took them few minutes to find the Marine major and her troops, which were sitting in one of the hangars, resting after the battle.
Seeing Ester, Elsa and Warrior Bunnies approach, Norrine stood up and started walking in their direction.
"Well, seems like…"Ester started saying, but was not allowed to finish.
Norrine approached her, put her hands on her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss on the lips.
Ester, as well as everyone else, widened their eyes.
"Oh, my…"Macy said.
Colonel pushed herself away.
"Norrine, what the hell was that?!"Ester exclaimed.
"What?"Norrine risen an eyebrow."I told you I will kiss you when it's all over."
"I thought you were joking!"
"I never joke about showing my gratitude. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless you want something more that gratitude?"
Hearing the tone in which Norrine said that, Ester's face immediately reddened.
"I told you, I'm married!"colonel exclaimed."Besides, I thought you're straight!"
"I'm bi."Major shrugged."Ladies, guys, doesn't matter. As long as it's fun."
Ester just put her hands in the air in the gesture of capitulation.
"Great. I have another Suvi here."she whined."Let's better end talking about that, or…"
"Is something the matter, colonel?"a new voice asked.
All heads turned in the direction of the voice. They were surprised to see no one other, than prince Lukrik himself, accompanied by Shakayan commandos, the same ones that served under Gerion.
Seeing the Royal Family member, everyone quickly stood on attention and saluted.
"Your Highness!"they all said.
"Stand down."Lukrik said.
They did what they were told. Prince approached them and smiled friendly.
"What brings you here?"Delilah asked.
"I came here to congratulate the soldiers for defending our homeworld and the city from enemy invasion."Lukrik replied."As I was doing so, one of soldiers accompanying me recognized your fighters here. We asked where you went and got here, as I wanted to meet you."
"And why would you like to meet us, the unworthy ones, Your Highness?"Emmy asked, grinning.
In response, she was kicked in the shins by Heley.
"Ouch, what the heck was that for?!"Emmy exclaimed.
"Behave yourself."Heley replied.
"I will answer the question anyway."prince said."I simply wanted to meet the people, which were sent to save my mother."
Temperature in the hangar went down by several degrees. Awkward silence hung in the air, as nobody knew what to say.
"Is something wrong?"Lukrik wondered.
"Gerion didn't tell you?"Ester asked.
"Major Ordag died protecting me from enemy sniper."Lukrik replied."What was he supposed to say?"
Colonel bit her lip.
"We…didn't managed to save your mother."Ester said solemnly.
Once more, silence hung awkwardly in the air. Prince was processed what he was told in his head.
"You can't be serious, right?"he finally asked.
"We were already too late when we came there."Ester replied."Maraqs did some sick experiments on her. We…had to put her out of her misery."
Prince looked at the commandos accompanying him. They all nodded their heads in confirmation.
"That means…"
"Yes."one of the commandos said."My king."
Saying that, commando knelt on one knew. All others followed. Ester showed everyone to kneel too, to not look disrespectful. Lukrik looked at all that, not knowing what to say. He knew he should be ready for this, he was prepared for such an eventuality…but never had he expected to take the mantle of responsibility in a time like this.
"I…I understand."he finally said."I will now inform the government and prepare everything. Farewell."
After he said that, he turned around and left. Commandos followed him.
"He didn't seem moved by this."Norrine stated.
"Shut up."Ester said."He must think about all this. Besides, he now must lead a country during war. It's already too much for him."
"Alright, I get it."Major waved her hand.
"Okay, everyone. Let's better get back to San Antonio. We have to get ready for any other tasks ahead."
Others just nodded in agreement. Norrine told her Marines to gather their stuff and after few minutes, they were on their way back to the ship.
Two days later, prince Lukrik dealt with all needed preparations and administration actions. Entire Parliament was in shock upon hearing the news of queen Kalisa's death. They immediately went to action, preparing all the needed things and deciding, that the information needed to be revealed to the public.
The day after that decision was made, prince Lukrik appeared on live television, with message to the nation. In this speech, he told about the kidnapping and death of queen Kalisa. People were shocked to hear it, but Lukrik calmed them down. He said, that they have to be strong in a times like these. That queen Kalisa would want it. Their enemies just wait for them to fall into disarray, so they could repeat their attack. He also declared a month long mourning for the queen and said, that they must now strengthen their effort to save the nation that his mother loved so much and promised, that he will follow her steps in everything she did.
Another day after he made that speech, he was officially crowned King Lukrik IV of United Shakayan Kingdoms. Due to the circumstances, he decided it to be done without much fanfare. In his mind, war was more important than sumptuous coronation. He promised himself, that he will do everything, so their nation would survive.
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This is where we're gonna end this time. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and as always, remember to leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!