Chapter 3 time

Planet Hyrt

Samantha was running down an alleyway as Militia soldiers chased her. They were firing their Hemlock rifles at her, but the soldiers were greenhorns, their shots going way wide. Samantha turned a corner and hid behind a trash can. The Militia ran right past, not bothering to turn. Sam peeked up from her hiding spot, and kneeled back down. She considered her options, and she didn't like them. First, she could wait for help, but that was about as low as one could get. Second, she could try to leave the town to a spaceport that hadn't been captured by the Militia yet, but considering how the Militia operated, all the spaceports had probably been taken. Lastly, she could surrender and join the Militia, however she threw that option out immediately. The Militia had been rounding up entire planets' populations for their needs, whether it be grunts, pilots, leaders, or something in between. She would be used, and thrown away like garbage on a battlefield as a corpse and be replaced the exact minute she expired.

The Second Frontier War was drastically different from the previous conflicts. The war was much larger, and the politics and causes behind it had changed side. Instead of the Militia actually trying to free the Frontier, they were trying to control both the Old and New Frontiers and recruit the masses to fight their wars against whoever spoke against them. The change had come after Hammond jumped into the war, and the Militia feared the power. They turned dark, fast. The Militia took entire populations and brainwashed them to fight the enemy without question. They had burned towns, cities, and planets, all because the people had supported Hammond.

Speaking of which, the Hammond Empire was the phoenix that had risen from the ashes of the Interstellar Mining Company. The Hammond Empire, known simply as Hammond, was named after Hammond INC, who had previously been the IMC, but splintered from the company after multiple reports came to light that the IMC had been doing actions that would be considered war crimes. Hammond then proceeded to produce their own units on their Core Planets. Once the United Earth Faction fell from power, a short democratic period followed until Hammond staged their own military coup. The leader of Hammond, now known as the Emperor Commander, ascended to power, and led a huge fleet to the Frontier. Hammond forces essentially ignored the Militia at first, focusing on the IMC. Majority of the IMC Navy, Airforce, and Marines went to Hammond, and were welcomed. Those branches hadn't been committing the crimes, the IMC Army had been the culprits. Hammond purged them with brutal efficiency, and left no record of them. Hammond, with access to a large source of planets, put the core planets to work on producing the mechanical parts of the Hammond military. The Frontier planets produced the human aspects, and were left to more or less their own devices. Hammond produced the largest standing army ever in less than two years, though most of it was mechanical.

The sides were clear. Hammond had a large mechanical army, and was hoping to free the Frontier from the Militia. The Militia was made up of fanatics who were brainwashed into wanting nothing but to destroy Hammond, and they had plenty of soldiers to die for that exact cause.

Samantha wanted to go home, but her home was on fire, burned by the Militia. She left her hiding spot, and went to find a new one. She was walking out when she quickly hid behind another trash can. She peeked up, watching the Militia commanders inside their Atlas titans order masses of soldiers out of the town center. Ogre titans were loading up their 40mm cannons, and when they were done they would leave the area. There was a barely audible noise of gunfire coming from the outskirts. Sam wondered what would rile up the Militia so fast, until she heard a noise coming from above her. She looked, and her eyes went wide. A Militia carrier ship was falling out of the sky, or rather half of one was. It landed somewhere far behind her, and she realized what had happened. Hammond was here, and they had absolutely shredded the Militia forces, or were currently doing so. She hoped they were almost through the Militia lines, and would free her planet.

Outskirts of Town

The field that was usually peaceful and green was now consumed fire and corpses. Militia soldiers had dug into trenches and were laying fire onto the oncoming Hammond forces. Militia titans were firing at the same target. They seemed to be winning, but this battle had been lost from the start. The thing with Hammond was that they would send wave after wave of mechanical forces at the lines, and their current wave, which was the first wave, was now almost on top of the Militia. The Hammond Spectres were easy to make, cheap, and effective. They were the tip of the spear, and great at being it. The Hammond Paladin tanks, which were based off a certain older tank, were armed with dual 210mm cannons to deal with titans and armored with armor of a steel and ceramic mix with layers of depleted uranium. The Spectres hid behind the tanks, concealing them from the Militia, as bullets of infantry and titan caliber bounced off the Paladin's armor. Soon, the Paladins rolled over the trenches. The Militia soldiers turned and fired at the tanks, but they never saw the Spectres. The Spectres jumped into the trenches, and killed the Militia soldiers with ease. The Militia titans were destroyed by tank shots, and the Hammond force pushed further to the town.

Elsewhere, Hammond was having some difficulty. The Militia Ogres were holding down a smaller Hammond force from entering the town. The situation was quite grim, as summed up by one individual.

"The Militia have now figured out how to fight the war, someone call the press!" The soldier shouted, armed with the newest Hammond rifle, the R-301 carbine firing a 8.92 round, was hiding in crater formed from a stray 210mm round from a Paladin tank.

Another Hammond soldier jumped into the crater. "Hey, Rafton, what the hell are you doing in this hole?! We need to keep pushing!"

"Crap dude! I'm just amazed that the Militia are actually giving us a damn fight for once!"

"Rafton, we are pinned by Ogre titans and your focused on the fact that the Militia are keeping us at bay? Damn it man, I always knew you were crazy! But I gotta agree, this is better than usual!" At that moment, a stray 40mm round exploded nearby. "Yeah, they still can't aim though."

Rafton nodded, and ducked as rounds flew over the crater the two were in. He weighed his options, and was about to run towards the fight until he heard the familiar engine noise of Paladin tanks. The tanks fired their cannons, destroying the titans easily. Hammond Ogre titans pulled up the rear, unloading their XO-16s on enemy infantry. Rafton jumped out of his crater, joining the masses that pushed towards the town.

Town

Sam was still hiding in the alleyway, hoping for Hammond to make it to the town, when her hopes were answered. Militia Atlas titans pointed to the east, when a 210mm shot hit one of them, destroying it. The titan fell, engulfed in flames. Sam ran from the safety of her garbage can cover, and as she ran she watched the Militia titans fire at an unseeable target. She hid behind a wall corner, and a nearby Militia grunt fell next to her, dead from a shot to the chest. Sam picked up the fallen's rifle, an old G2A4 model, and hid behind her cover. She cocked the loader on the rifle, and hoped all her shooting with her father was about to pay off. She turned the corner, aimed down the sight, and fired a single round. The Militia grunt she was aiming at was hit in the arm, and turned to face Sam. The grunt raised her usable arm, a P2016 in hand, and fired back. Sam turned back to cover, the rounds missing and hitting the corner. She turned and fired again, and the grunt did likewise. Sam zeroed in on the grunt's head, and fired. The round hit true, and the grunt fell. Sam went quickly back to cover as Militia Spectres started powering up, and firing at their Hammond counterparts. Hammond grunts, holding their R-301 rifles, fired at the Spectres, and kept them from doing any real damage. Sam decided to join the Hammond soldiers in shooting, as she had just finished reloading her rifle, but when she turned the corner she was met face to face with a Spectre, from the Militia side. The robot knocked away the G2 easily, and threw a right straight at Sam, who fell to the ground, her face bleeding. She watched as the Spectre raised its foot, intending to stomp her face in, when the robot was hit with a stream of 8.92 rounds. It fell, destroyed. Sam looked at the now dead robot, thankful that she was alive. She started to get up, when she came face to face with the person who saved her.

He was adorned with the typical Hammond grunt gear, holding a R-301 rifle painted red and black, with a large pauldron on his shoulder with the Hammond symbol (The Hammond power button with the H but the semicircle around it is an olive branch, being held by an Aquila). His left pauldron was smaller, and marked the soldier as a first lieutenant. He handed her the G2 rifle that got knocked away, which she gladly accepted, and the two turned back to the fight scene. The last Militia grunts were putting up a hectic final stand, but they were surrounded on all sides. The lead Hammond soldier raised his hand to signal the units to stop shooting, with the final enemy units holed up in three story building. The Hammond lieutenant and Sam walked to a nearby group of soldiers.

"Lieutenant Rafton, sir, the final Militia forces are holed up in this building," the soldier pointed to the three story, "And we aren't expecting them to surrender. Orders?"

The Lieutenant, Rafton, rubbed his chin in thought. "What if we try convincing them? I mean, this is the first time we have surrounded Militia forces. Give the Major his megaphone, see if he can convince them to stand down."

The soldier nodded, and motioned to the others to go find the megaphone. Sam looked towards Rafton. "Lieutenant, pardon the interruption, but why is it that Hammond has fought the Militia so many times but this is the first time you have surrounded the enemy and be able to try to make them surrender?"

Rafton turned to look down at the civilian, "Miss, Hammond has fought the Militia many times, but they always off themselves before we have a chance to get to them."

At that very moment, the Major from Hammond started speaking through the megaphone, asking for surrender of the Militia. In return, Sam heard the Militia respond, "Screw you fascists!". Sam was unsure what they meant by that, when the three story exploded. Rafton tackled Sam, covering her from the explosion. Sam heard nothing, and the world turned dark.

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