The Retaliation

Indoraptor Year 1270, January, Kepler 801 system (Human Republic Space), in orbit above Atlantis...

Raizex had been patiently counting the number of days that had passed during the fleet's journey to the Republic Space. Three weeks and a half flew by, and he couldn't help but think that the warp drives of their spaceships were as slow as snails.

By the time they finally arrived on the Republic-owned star system, they were greeted by garbled SOS signals coming through their communication channels.

Once those signals were cleared of static, they revealed that the human colonists on the planet were still holding out against the pirate invaders, but once in a while, they would send SOS messages to the Republic's internet network, desperately calling for help. It seemed that time was running short for the colony; in each passing day, more and more holdouts would go dark.

As of then, the colonists' holdouts were reportedly reduced to six safe zones, and even then they too were under the threat of occupation. The allied fleet sailed closer and closer into the star system as long-range scans picked up signs of enemy ships flying in and out of the planet, having assumed the defensive position against the combined fleets of the Union, the Polity, the Republic, and the Clans.

As the young agent looked outside the ship's window, the dark void appeared full of debris randomly floating by. The fleet's caution turned into despondent gaze once all hands onboard realized the debris contained spaceship remains, some of which were easily identifiable as Republic-owned warships. Other debris came from mercenary ships hired by the Sylvon's Council of Elders. Even though there were more destroyed Sylvon ships than human ships, the captains and generals of the allied fleet were convinced the Republic ships that once patrolled this system were forced to retreat elsewhere, likely due to the sheer size of the enemy's marauding forces.

It was terrible.

Naja and his bombastic right-hand lackey weren't lying when they said the pirate army had been razing Atlantis to the ground in anticipation of the cargo ship's arrival. But what had befallen the ship, then? Did it reach the colony safely with the Red Lotus in tow, only to inadvertently lead the enemy to its destination, or did the damned mollusks intercepted the ship and stole the relic? If it was the latter, then where did the Sylvons take the Lotus… and what would they do with it? Raizex partook in several discussions related to the relic in his possession and its connection to the other relics that the Sylvons were so eagerly trying to rob.

Was Naja telling the truth regarding the Lotus artifacts' true nature? Or was the creepy alien so deeply indoctrinated by his people's totalitarian society?

From USV Stegodon's observation deck, Agent Raizex Ludvik, his companions Xivena, Vion Hyperion and Lea Vascon, the Navari huntress Amalia, and the human commander Liam O'Brien stared into the colony planet's charred surface, occasionally glancing at the regrouping enemy ships in the distance. They were not the only ones, it seemed.

"We're late, aren't we?"

"No, we're not. If we are, this planet won't be here at all."

"What if we run into more of those... things again?"

"I know, right? That creepy mollusk guy and his servant must be arrogantly expecting us to turn tail and run. We shouldn't let him get that satisfaction."

To be fair, Raizex was a bit more certain of their likelihood to see through the mission, knowing that the liberating army was bolstered by many species. Whether by donating resources in the form of money, medical tools, weaponry, or manpower, the allied species of the known galaxy were participating as best as they could in the war.

"Remind me of what our primary objective is?" Lea asked to divert the conversation.

"We will land our forces next to Alfheim City, the largest holdout on the colony. From there, we'll split the army into five-man teams; some teams will restore order at the city and its adjacent settlements as well as coordinating our war effort, while other teams will engage the pirates and reclaim the relic if it was stolen from the cargo ship. I heard the humans will deploy a large number of fancy guns or whatever the hell they've got in their stash."

"Will there be some assistance or vital information from the colonists? I mean, we've never visited this place, and if we could help it, we better not go in blind," Raizex queried.

"The Republic's internet has a detailed map of the colony's main roads, ground ports, landmarks, and other places of interest… including a map of the planet's crystal mine network. Don't worry; I've downloaded them into my PDA," Vion explained as he showed his PDA to the group, "I'll share the map with you all as soon as possible."

The young Indoraptor wasn't exactly sure how there could be a mining network on an oceanic planet when he looked at the digital map and the planet itself from the observation deck. 93 percent or more of the colony world was encompassed by oceans, albeit the color was aquamarine instead of deep blue, and the visible landmasses were mostly archipelagos, despite the presence of small continents here and there. "Also, if you guys don't mind, we better do a medical checkup one last time before we make landfall, and preferably some last-minute training," Liam voiced his suggestion. True, the commander was almost ready to go back to the field according to his doctor, but uncertain whispers from his fellow humans indicated that Liam might not be able to perform heavy physical activities for too long lest his leg gave out too soon.

At his offer, Vion nodded and accompanied the commander to the medical bay, followed by Xivena and Amalia who'd like to have some word with their people. With the others gone for the moment, Raizex and Lea pulled out their PDAs to contact their respective families. Raizex typed a quick message for his parents and Lyra.

Should the upcoming skirmish took a turn for the worse, he figured his girlfriend and parents would want to hear a final message from him.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Indoraptor Year 1270, January, planet Atlantis (Human Republic Space), Alfheim City and its peripheries...

Raizex and his teammates were expecting the atmosphere to be windy and humid instead of foggy, but with the landscape being blanketed with smoke from countless bomb craters, it's hard to tell whether the fog was natural or simply a side effect from environmental poisoning done by Sylvon mercenaries. Visibility was quite low, prompting a dozen scouts to go ahead and scan the perimeter.

But the smoke wasn't the main problem.

Small flying drones employed by the Assembly's forces were impeding the allied forces' trek to the city proper. Most of the time, these fragile robots did nothing but alert Sylvon foot soldiers, but once or twice they would encounter drones equipped with single-shot rifles, not very lethal but still annoying regardless. The allied forces had to keep an eye just in case they appear again.

One drone was spying on them from a barren hill, flying closer and closer every minute. Raizex, alarmed at how near it was, aimed his shot carefully at the uncanny object.

"Got one!" The drone fell from a well-placed shot at its center. Soon after, he spied another drone revealing itself from behind a large rock. Hiding behind a fallen tree log, Raizex waited until the drone stopped moving midair before aiming his rifle, firing a precise shot at its optic.

Yet a third drone soon replaced it and began to alert its alien makers using a series of whistling sounds. The young agent swiftly shot it dead, halting its whistling noises, while others around him moved forward to take down the pirates it summoned. Out of six Sylvon mercenaries that came investigating the commotion, four were brought down with ease while the remaining two booked it out without even firing a shot.

Lea took this opportunity to disassemble the drones to prevent the pirates from repairing them.

"Not bad, pal. I bet Vion would be proud of you," Lea quipped.

Raizex offered a thin smile just as the scouting soldiers came back and spoke of how the Sylvon holdouts should be easy to deal with without having to break out the big guns, yet sights of gnawed bloody limbs scattered across the area convinced the young agent that the humans' bulky toys might come in handy once those freakish beasts showed their nasty snouts again.

"The city's just up ahead. With luck, our human friends should be done with their job."

"How many people are living there, by the way?" Raizex asked his companions.

"Some 98,240 humans of various ethnicities, including migrant workers."

"Do they have a working internet system on this colony?"

"They do, but the connection speed isn't very good," Lea shrugged.

Soon, the allied forces congregated in front of Alfheim City's entrance gate, where everyone was neatly divided into smaller teams. At present, Raizex's team consisted of himself, his two Indoraptor friends, and Xivena. Liam and Amalia were organizing their respective people into four-man teams and so unable to work with the young agent directly. Raizex found himself quite unnerved and intrigued at the sight of the Republic's robot army (pardon, Artificial Intelligence units) serving alongside their human counterparts. Those robots looked so much like their human equivalents.

An AI unit approached Raizex and briefly shook his hand.

"Greetings, Indoraptor friends. This our first time interacting face to face. I hope you still recognize me as the unit who guided your team on your Union's colony planet."

"Nice to meet you again, Unit 47," Raizex and his companions nodded in appreciation.

"Allow me to give you a brief detail concerning the landscape we're in," said Unit 47 as the team continued walking, "This city was established in Republic Year 2160 to trade precious metals and crystals with the rest of the Republic. The land surrounding the city was divided into four zones; the one we are standing on was once a vast farming zone, the second and third zones are mountainsides where the colony's crystal mines can be found, whereas the fourth contains the colony's primary spaceport. If the latest Intel from the Republic is accurate, nearly all of the Sylvon pirates were regrouping near the mines."

"Thank you very much for the information," Xivena replied courteously.

And so they went, two dozen primary combat units who'd engage the enemy head-on accompanied by a dozen auxiliary combat units providing support from the rear and sides. Most of the human soldiers were stationed at the city to restore order and reestablish communication with their government, although some willingly joined the auxiliary groups. The Indoraptors were skittering on all fours in contrast to their alien allies who jogged on two legs.

At Raizex's request, Unit 47 mentioned that the time was 16:52. Nighttime was approaching fast.

The terrain soon changed; no more flat grassy plains littered with bomb craters, but instead rocky hills surrounding a mountain range, one of which is almost hollowed out. Shiny pink crystals the size of wardrobe could be seen jutting out of the ground like giant flowers at the foot of the mountains.

Nearer to the teams' destination, the combat units spotted lots of movements in the distance and took cover behind those crystals to assess the situation. The auxiliary units took this chance to share what they saw on the horizon. As Raizex and Lea turned away to check in with the other groups, Vion nudged the young agent's shoulder and pointed at a large gun being carried by a big muscular human. "What in God's name is that?"

"The Ripper Cannon, big dino. She's an impressive toy, yeah? This is the portable version of the rapid-firing autocannons the Republic developed for our frigates. With this girl and her copies in our hands, we won't have to call the ships in orbit for air support."

Really? Looking around him, Raizex could see a few other muscular humans carrying the exact same portable arsenal. The compact and collapsible nature of these Ripper Cannons allowed them to bring the guns to anywhere they wanted and no additional support was needed, the big guy explained, not to mention its extended ammunition capacity. Just as Lea moved to ask further, the combat units quietly reported the Sylvons' current action. The pirates were now moving across manmade bridges between the mountains, apparently the product of early human explorers who found the crystal caves and established a mining company there. The sun was setting fast and the teams had no choice but to move in reduced lighting.

Everyone began moving in the shadows, taking care not to shine their light sources until they needed it. "Oh yeah, they look awesome and all, but do you think the cannons can bring down big monsters like the pirates' pets?" Lea asked before Vion could.

"I don't know about you, dinosaur, but we always put our faith in our techs to do the job right," the big guy replied curtly. Raizex snorted in amusement.

Soon, the combat and auxiliary units arrived not far from the Sylvons' secret compound; a dry, rocky area where huge crystal nodules provided ample cover for the attacking force. Raizex took his team up a hill with a full view of the dry landscape, just good enough for his sniper buddy to do his job without obstruction. Somewhere down the hill, the young agent could see Unit 47 and his fellow robots setting up the Ripper Cannons as quietly as they could.

With extreme precision, the snipers gunned down three Sylvons every minute, and any Sylvon who tried to report the deaths of their fellow pirates would be shot dead as well.

This brief fortune didn't last long, however, as the rest of the alien pirates noticed the existence of their opponents. Realizing this, the smaller combat units began scaling the hillsides to distract the Sylvons while the bigger ones provided cover fire. Explosions soon erupted once both the allied forces and the pirates unleashed their expensive weaponry.

"There!" Vion shouted all of a sudden. Pulling out his own sniper rifle and aiming it at where Vion pointed, Raizex saw a pack of eight monsters running down the hill at their handlers' command; leading the charge was a bioweapon twice bigger than the rest. That big one, screeching incessantly while flailing its nested mouth, had two of its multiple eyes gone, a sign that it won a previous skirmish with somebody else. AI units were directing most of their arsenal to bring down the rampaging bioweapons, even aiming the Ripper Cannons away from the pirates, but as the monsters approached closer and closer to the allied forces, only two had been successfully defeated.

"Shit, I don't think we have enough firepower to kill it!"

"What the hell do we do now?!"

The crystal-laden slope the beasts were traversing served as a two-edged sword; on one hand, the bioweapons slowed down their advances to avoid tripping on one another, allowing the soldiers and the mounted guns to score extra damage, but whenever the beasts slithered past the jutting crystals, they gained a means of reprieve from the merciless barrage of bullets.

Raizex led his friends away from the hill to somewhere safer. Ten minutes passed by, and two more monsters had been felled. But it wasn't enough.

After more than forty minutes of an endless barrage of bullets, one by one the Ripper Cannons overheated. AI units swiftly provided quick maintenance procedure in hopes of restarting the guns, but alas, the fleeting moment of inaction gave the monsters ample time to continue climbing the slope. At a Navari's signal, all soldiers had their weapons ready in hand as they assaulted the living bioweapons, doing all they could to keep the creatures from moving forward. One by one the beasts fell as their skulls cracked and bled from the simultaneous gunfire, but the big one persistently charging forward, shrugging off all injuries. Ultimately, the last remaining monster arrived at the soldiers' staging ground, tearing the mounted cannons apart as it thrashed about, injuring as many victims as it could. Almost everyone lost orientation as they struggled to make a dent on the creature's thicker-than-normal scales. But out of the blue, a Navari huntress successfully threw a grenade at the creature's open maw as it roared; the explosive went off inside its throat, allowing both the combat and auxiliary teams to finish it off for good.

"We have men down! I repeat, we have men down!" A handful of soldiers shouted.

"What?! Where?!" Raizex spun around trying to count the number of people they've lost so far.

"Has anybody seen Xivena?"

Vion nudged him and pointed at the soldiers down in the valley. No less than thirty men and women of various species were dead or dying; one of them was Xivena, covered in blood and grime, being carried away by AI units who were contacting the city to send in shuttles to evacuate the dead and wounded.

In the ensuing commotion, Lea had to stop Raizex from leaving their position on the hillside. "Hey! Hey, listen to me. We'll have time to mourn later. For now, we ought to get the relic back and stop the bastards for good. Do you understand, buddy?" Snapping out of his daze, Raizex nodded quickly as he realized what he just did and quietly promised his Aviren friend that he'll win the war for him. Now, only the combat units were able to press onward, with most of the auxiliary units electing to stay behind to look after their fallen or injured soldiers.

"We'll win this war… for him, and everyone else."

"I'm with you there, Ludvik."

"That's a promise I'm willing to keep, as well."

Soon, with most of the Sylvon pirates dead or in severe disarray, the joint forces were able to breach the pirates' holdout, a ramshackle of tents, dropships, and old mining silo. From a distance, Raizex could hear Vajra cursing the pirate commanders for losing both thousands of foot soldiers and their horrendous monsters due to the pirates' mismanagement. He wasn't alone, however; the rest of the allied forces heard the yelling, and they found it hilarious.

They didn't waste time laughing at the mollusks, thankfully, what with the AIs mowing down the remaining Sylvon pirates like dried leaves and the Humans barging right into the center of the compound.

"Get the Lotus! Get that relic right away!" Naja commanded his troops to secure the relic. Three alien pirates ran into a building to retrieve the stolen Red Lotus, but as soon as they exited the building, Raizex gunned them down and snatched the relic from their grasp, much to the Sylvon spy's dismal as he fled the premises. The young agent then handed it to an older Indoraptor who then ordered his men to scour the area clean of enemies. From the corner of his eye, the Indoraptor spotted Naja and whatever left of his army fleeing deeper into the compound. He decided to radio in his Human friend for backup.

"O'Brian, come in!"

"I hear you, Ludvik! What do you need?!"

"The fucking mollusks are trapped in the northeast compound! Get your people to box them in! We can't let them get away!"

"Roger that!" The Human replied. Raizex and his companions dashed on all fours to keep up on the fleeing alien spy. Behind them were Amalia and her Navari huntresses, calculatingly firing their arrows at any pirate who tried to block the Indoraptor team's advance. Naja and Vajra fled to the lower levels of the facility as fast as their feet could carry them, only stopping for a while to close a heavy door to hinder the pursuing Indoraptors.

"Fuck! We'll have to take the long way around!"

The team chose to gallop across a narrow walkway suspended six meters above the running Sylvons. Soon, Amalia and her team were able to catch up by trailing the Indorators via safe and wider walkways, occasionally firing their arrows at Naja or his henchman.

"Keep running, sir! I got this!" They heard Vajra shouting his superior to leave the henchman behind. Making a sharp turn at a corner, the trio of dinosaurs witnessed the Sylvon unsheathing two large bombs from inside his suit while holding a remote.

A suicide attack?! Not on their watch!

Vion jumped first, biting Vajra on his arm as he wrestled the bombs away from the Sylvon's grasp. Lea galloped closer to lend help, but the sniper gestured with his claws for the other two to leave him and get Naja before it's too late. Vion then continued his attack on the Sylvon henchman, delivering nonstop clawing and biting to his opponent just so that he couldn't press the button to detonate his toy. Enraged by the sheer pain of the Indoraptor's bite, Vajra unsheathed a big revolver and fired it at Vion's chest as many times as he could, each shot managed to pierce the sniper's body armor but failed to deliver a fatal injury.

For a moment, the alien could feel his opponent's deadly maw loosen bit by bit as he lay dying from multiple gunshot wounds. Vajra confidently shook his body away from the sniper's grasp and collected his belonging, but before he could reach his discarded bombs, Vion suddenly burst to life again and stabbed the Sylvon in his hand with a hidden combat knife.

"No! No! You're already dead! I killed you!" Vajra's eyes widened in fear and panic as Vion, still keeping his knife lodged in his enemy's hand, reached up and bit it until the hand was severed.

Vajra's scream of terror echoed across the building, alerting Lea that something terrible had happened. Raizex, too, heard the scream and gestured at his remaining friend to go back and find out what exactly occurred between the SYlvon and the companion they left behind.

The young agent, after running for another ten minutes, finally caught up with the fleeing Sylvon spy, finding him battling Amalia alone, both were wielding decorative daggers.

Realizing who else had come to join the fight, Naja ducked in time to avoid Raizex's pounce, producing a longer dagger to halt the Navari's counterattack. The Sylvon expertly kicked the young agent's gun out of his hand before he could even fire and danced around the Navari huntress' attacks. To Raizex's credit, however, he immediately utilized his trusty glaive to disarm Naja's shorted dagger and forced the Sylvon spy to stay at a safe distance. Naja's sight alternated between the Indoraptor, the Navari, and his disarmed dagger, waiting for a moment to strike back.

"Give up. You're alone now; no one's coming to help."

"As if!"

Amalia charged forth, aiming to confuse and disorient the alien spy with quick jabs and thrusts, keeping her weapon close in case the Sylvon tried to knock her out, retreating only when Naja began to get more violent in his attacks. The only thing preventing the Sylvon from delivering a direct hit on her was Raizex's even wilder attacks, jumping in and out of the battle with the help of his glaive; sometimes he would strike from behind Naja to jump-scare him, other times he would swing his glaive in wide arches while Amalia crouched to swipe at the spy's legs. But the Sylvon refused to give up.

Evading yet another wild swing from the Indoraptor, the mollusk weighed his options. Either he could continue fighting at the risk of being left behind by his remaining mercenaries, or he sacrificed himself in a suicidal attack and hope for at least a mutual kill. Naja knew he wouldn't stand a chance against an Indoraptor's deathly jaws and so chose to let his guard down for a moment. As expected, Amalia the Navari used the opportunity to finish him off, but Naja was ready to plunge his dagger into her chest.

"Not quite!" Wait, what happened? Just as the Sylvon prepared to kill his assailant, the huntress managed to grab him by his wielding hand and twisted the dagger out of his hand. Furious that his plan was ruined, the alien spy grappled Amalia by her head, kicking and punching her even as the Navari stabbed him three times in the shoulder, before throwing her at the wall behind him. The Navari was knocked out; not dead, but too winded up.

In his moment of anger, the Sylvon forgot to mind Raizex and his glaive, which pierced him in the stomach just as he spun around to face the dinosaur. "Fools… fools all of you! You won't… understand… the true might… of my people…" Naja, bleeding from the mouth and the stomach, forcibly yanked Raizex's glaive out, kicking his assailant away to buy himself enough time to roll out of the way just as the furious Indoraptor swung his weapon at the mollusk's head. With his army dagger back in hand, Naja turned around to face the Indoraptor, but it was too late. The young agent had already closed the gap between them and kicked the Sylvon's dagger away before plunging the glaive twice; first at Naja's dominant hand, preventing him from using the dagger, and the second at his chest, this time impaling him right at the heart.

"Fuck you!" Raizex spat at the Sylvon's face.

"My death… shall not… discourage my people's struggle!"

"Is that the best you can say?! Try harder, dumbass!"

Having enough of Naja rambling about his Assembly's superiority, the young Indoraptor grappled him by the neck and delivered a killing bite, letting the defeated Sylvon just enough time to gasp in horror before twisting his neck, killing him instantly. Raizex then dropped the body kicked him in the head once to make sure the Sylvon was dead.

Satisfied, Raizex yanked the glaive out as he approached Amalia's unconscious body. Her fellow huntresses finally managed to catch up after clearing the compound from the pirates. At Raizex's command, they collectively carried Amalia to safety.

"Wait, have you guys seen my companions on the way here?" Raizex asked.

"Yes, we did."

"Where did you last see them? Did they make it?"

"One Indoraptor was mostly fine, but the other one was heavily wounded. We don't think he'd make it," the Navari answered, "We have requested the Humans to evacuate him and give him the best medical assistance available on Atlantis. Should the worst comes to pass, we would like to offer you our condolences."

The young agent could only nod solemnly, listening to distant voices of Humans and Indoraptors talking to each other.