Hello, hello, dear friends! Welcome to another chapter! Previously, we witnessed the liberation of Flareian System and the final push of Sons towards Leender. War is slowly coming to it's conclusion, but even now, with situation on Taurus seemingly dire, it is still unsure how it will all end. So how will it end? Stay put and find out.

For now, without further ado, let's start the next chapter.

Part Six

Rise

Chapter 1

September 9, 2166

09:36

Unified Staff, Leender, Soutlandian C.Z.

General Harlen Ordell stood over the holo-table with Tim and colonel Rad to his right and other commanders to his left. They were all looking at the map and talking about the current situation. And the situation didn't look good.

It's been four days since the Sons' offensive. Battle of Leender's Foreland was their last ditch effort to halt their attack before they reached the city, but after two days of continuous defense, Sons managed to break through the defensive lines. Forces defending the lines were ordered to either fall back to the city or to disperse across the countryside. That's exactly what they did, still trying to slow down the enemy.

Enemy managed to finally enter the city on early September 6. Currently, they were pushing through the streets, eliminating everyone and everything in their way. It seemed as if frustration caused by such a delay in reaching the city finally reached it's breaking point and right now, they were releasing all of it on the civilians and all the area. Already large parts of the city were turned to rubble by enemy artillery.

Meanwhile, the support they were promised still didn't arrive. The same RFIS ship contacted them yesterday again, saying, that it will be a few more days before the support arrives. Apparently, the government borrowed a whole lot of civilian transports to transport the allies to Taurus. However, the civilian owners and captains of these ships had some problems and didn't want to cooperate for some reason. Which pissed Harlen off, as they needed the support for yesterday and they still had to wait.

He looked at the red stain slowly pouring through the streets of the city. Sons were still only on the right bank of the river, but it was only a matter of time before they break through to the left one and reach the center, where the Unified Staff was located.

"I want a quick sit-rep."general ordered."Tim?"
Adjutant nodded and looked at his datapad.
"The reports aren't good, sir."Tim replied."Infantry company from 10th Armored Brigade reports that the enemy is already slowly approaching the bridges. They are asking if they have to blow them up?"

"Are they still on the right bank?"general asked.
"Yes."
"Tell them to fall back and then blow them up."
Tim nodded and looked at another report.
"There are heavy fighting near the Financial Center."he read."Enemy is about to breath the defense there. What are the orders?"
"Tell them to fall back and mine the area."
Another order sent.
"The…"
"Tell them to retreat."

"Sir, they can't?"
"Why?"

"Sons surrounded them. They have nowhere to run."
Harlen tightened his fist.
"Tell them to hold out as long as they can."

"Y-Yes, sir."Tim replied and sent another order.

Taking a deep breath, Harlen Ordell looked at Will.
"How is the evacuation of civilians going?"he asked.
"We evacuated as many as we could."Royal Ranger replied."But we're under constant enemy fire. Most of them aren't even able to leave their living area before they get targeted by enemy artillery. For now, we evacuated ten thousand."

Ten thousand. From two hundred thousand still left on the right bank. General sighed deeply.
"Evacuate as much as you still can and then call it off. It's of no use right now."he ordered.
Will felt the knot in his stomach at the thought of that, but instead of objecting, he just nodded. They were living thousands of people to die just to buy themselves some time. But after so long time on this war, he knew, that sacrifices had to be made. Even if they won't lead to anything.
"Understood. I will give the orders now."Will said, walking away from the table.
"Colonel Rad, how is your brigade?"

Nashini commander nodded.
"10th Armored Brigade is currently retreating South, away from the city. The armored battalions, or rather companies now, that is."Colonel Nashi'Rad's voice sounded hoarse and almost broke."They did what they could during the Battle of the Foreland."
"We know."General nodded."Their part in this war is over."
"For now."someone muttered.

As much as he didn't, Harlen had to agree. There was no way Sons would leave a bunch if tanks riding around the planet without anyone's supervision. And considering the losses they sustained, he doubted lieutenant colonel in charge of them would want to fight anymore. Rad said that this Fegran was a good leader, but even good leaders have their limits. Harlen knew it very well.

He already crossed his.
"The more I look at this, the more I wonder how are we still fighting."one of the other commanders asked, shaking his head.

"You and me, buddy."another said.

Harlen just stood there, listening. He was so tired, that he just didn't want to say anything. He could, of course, tell them another speech about glory and how they can't let this aggression go unpunished, but truth be told, he didn't want to anymore. He just wanted it all to be over.

He glanced at the map. Looking at it told him, that it wasn't such a far fetched request.

September 9

09:47

12km from Leender, 1st Armored Legion field staff

General Klausus Ho Margas was very pleased. Their final goal was finally in their reach. Leender. The largest city on the planet and the last real stronghold of the UTDF. With it, the planet will be theirs and then, only Flare Prime will remain. He wondered how their forces in Flareian System were doing. Who knew, maybe they actually went so fast, that they took over Flare Prime and are already getting all the credit for winning the war, while he was still grinding through the enemy?

He quickly shook his head. He shouldn't worry about it. They maybe will be late to the party, but they will have their own Triumph on the streets of Sadera. They were gonna be damn sure that this will happen.
General was currently sitting in the command tent, with his officers next to him. There were not many of them left, though. Truth be told, there was half less of them than at the start. Which was kinda worrying. Experienced and well trained officers would be needed in the new Empire. At least colonel Geded was still here. His regiment basically made the whole thing possible and if not the sacrifice of his tank crews, they probably would still be grinding through enemy defenses before Leender.

Legion's operational officer as always stood in front of the screen with a pointer in his hand. He nodded towards the gathered.
"So, what do you have for us today?"Margas asked, smile on his face.

The officer turned on the screen, which showed the map of Leender and surrounding areas. Tendrils of blue slowly slithered their way through the streets of the city, street by street, building by building, pushing the defenders back and back again. Same when it came to the flanks of the city, where enemy still stood their ground, trying to hold off the advance of the Sons and hold the two roads leading out of the city. If they capture it, they will simply close the city in a ring of siege. Which will make taking it easier.

"For the past three to four days, our forces have been slowly making their way through Leender, taking street after street."the officer said."Unlike our expectations, enemy isn't as prepared as we feared. Which is good for us. They still show ferociousness at the same level as before, but our troops are dealing with it in every possible way. There is still a lot of ambushes and enemy leaves a lot of IEDs behind them, but not in the amounts that could stop them. According to our analysis, we'll manage to reach the center of the city and with it, all the important leadership and command institutions, in about two to three days. Maybe even four or five."

"So, what you're saying…"recon commander said."…is that we'll be done within another few days?"
Operational officer nodded.
"Yes."he said."However, while with the capture of Leender we'll be able to declare a total victory, we will still have numerous enemy remnants still on the loose, which will call for numerous additional operations to eliminate them."

Margas pursed his lips. This was true.

"And how is it on the flanks?"he asked.
"I will answer that."colonel Geded said."Our units are continuing to put the pressure on enemy lines. Major Octavian Semina is in charge of the whole mission. According to his reports, they will soon break through and will have an open way to capture the arteries."

"Good, keep up the good work."general said. Then, he turned to the comms officer."How about or attempts to contact the Flareian System?"

For the past few days, the forces on and around Taurus were trying to contact the forces in Flareian System, with no results. They contacted the HQ in Erecan space, but they said, that legatus Cassius stopped responding. Everyone simply assumed, that he was too occupied with celebrating victory or maybe even rebelled. But until now, taking Taurus was more important, so they let this situation be for the time being.

"Still nothing, sir."comms officer said.

"Continue trying. They must reply someday."
"Yes, sir."

Looking back at the operational officer, Margas nodded.
"Anything else?"he asked.
"Well, we finally achieved a complete air superiority."officer replied."Our pilots reported, that yesterday they bombed last remaining enemy aircraft before they could take off. With it, only enemy ground forces are left."

They finally got air superiority. At the end of the war. He sighed. Some things really came in clutch, didn't they?

"Alright. Keep up the good work, gentlemen."general said, standing up."Dismissed."

"Yes, sir."Officers replied and started standing up.

They walked past the general on their way towards the exit from the tent. This allowed Margas to relax for a bit, thinking about what will happen while all of this is over. Maybe he'll get promoted? After all, he wanted Maio's position for himself for years. Maybe he won't get it after this war, but sooner or later, he'll get close enough to…
"Well, look who's sitting on their ass doing nothing."a smug voice said from behind him and then laughed.

Margas quickly stood up and turned. He widened his eyes.
"You?"he asked.
"Me."general Terion Firius replied with a wide grin.
Margas blinked a few times. It was so long since he heard anything about Emperor Zorzal's favorite unrest suppressor. Last time he heard of him, Firius was supposed to deal with whatever was left of Nordian forces in Nordian C.Z. Since then, he kinda vanished. And now he came into his tent like he owned the place?

"You have a nerve to come here, especially after staying silent for such a long time."he growled.

Firius laughed again.
"Oh, did you really miss me, Old Margie?"General flashed his teeth.
"Don't call me that."Margas said."You're older than me. I should call you old."
"Nah, we're only a decade apart. I'm not that old."

Margas just rolled his eyes. He never liked Terion. The general was one of the most loyal to Zorzal. Not like Margas wasn't, just in Firius' case it was more like a fanatic, religious zealotry. It was actually kinda scary. Not to mention, that the general was additionally pretty brutal in his actions, not only towards his enemies, but also his allies. He's the type of guy to execute a private for spying on his wife bathing and then laugh on a party from some dirty jokes. In short, he was dangerous.

"What you're doing here?"Margas finally asked.
In response, Firius grabbed a datapad from under his arm and handed it to the general. Margas grabbed it and opened what was saved on it.
"As you may see, I was ordered to come and ensure that there will be on unrest among the civilians and prisoners."Terion explained."Orders from the very top. From Emperor himself."
"And how can I be sure that you didn't come here just to have an eye on me, you fanatic?"Margas thought."I understand."he said instead."Good to know that they are sending us their best."
"Of course. Only perfection can reach our goals!"Firius said and laughed."Anyway, I'll be going. You have fun, Old Margie."

Margas just growled as he watched the other general leave. All his pleasant emotions from earlier vanished completely.

September 9

10:11

Near Leender

As it turned out, two days was not enough for them to reach the city. Mainly because they ran into some marshes that were not even marked on any maps. This only showed that while Taurus was colonized for nearly a decade, it still had some secrets that needed to be discovered. This also showed, that they will have to move around the marshes, which would slow them down even more. Simon, of course, was not happy about it, but ultimately, even he gave up and followed the others on their journey around the marshes.

After that, they finally reached an area close to Leender. They stopped at the edge of a small forest several kilometers from the city and looked at it from afar.

What they saw, didn't particularly get their hopes up.

Numerous smokes were coming out of the city. Sounds of gunfire, explosions and buildings turning to rubble were heard even here. At one point, Dora saw enemy fighter-bomber diving and dropping it's payload somewhere on the left bank of the river. On the road leading to the city, which they could see from here, they saw columns upon columns of SoS vehicles going in the same direction.

As they stood and watched from their hiding spot, a sinking feeling appeared in their stomachs.

"We're too late."Simon said and sighed.
"Damn it."Stig added.

They stood there for a few minutes, watching, thinking and not talking.

"We have to go there anyway."Maddie said.

Everyone looked at her.
"What? Are you crazy?"Stefan asked."You want to break through hundreds of angry Sons of Bitches? Good luck with that."
"Maybe if we had some support, then yeah."Ulf said.

"You know, for once, I agree with you."Wulf said to his brother.

Ulf looked at him, surprised.
"I'm with Maddie on this one."Lydia said."I'm pretty sure Leender would use some additional barrels."
"I agree."Ingvar said.

"Me too."Fenis said.

"Kloof!"Kloof barked, although they didn't know which side she was on.

"And I say we go somewhere else."Dora said.

They all looked at her.
"Where?"Maddie asked."The fight is here. Sons are already storming Leender, we have to do something about it."
"There's only thirteen…"She glanced at Kloof."Fourteen of us. And while agree, that all barrels are useful in a situation like this, we still wouldn't make much of a difference. We would only be another numbers on Sons' tally. Besides, breaking through such a tight cordon is too risky. There will be thousands of them between us and the city. We were lucky until now, because the front was moving faster than us. We don't have that privilege anymore."

Silence hung among them. Even Maddie didn't have a counter-argument. They all knew Dora was right. What could thirteen people and a dog do in face of hundreds of thousands of Sons of Sadera? There were already thousands of soldiers defending Leender and just by looking at it, they could tell it wasn't going well.

Finally, Maddie sighed.
"Alright."she said."What do you suggest we'll do?"
Dora looked around.
"We'll better move. I don't think Sons are so far South from the city. Maybe if we go further, we will meet some allied troops retreating from the city or going there."she said.
"I guess that sounds just fine for me."Hal said.
"Yeah, for me too."Maddie agreed, but with less enthusiasm.
"Let's go then."Dora said, standing up.

Everyone followed her, as they left the hiding spot and started moving away from the city. As they did, Maddie took another glance at the city. She was certain, that Will was there. He had to be.
"I will be back."she whispered.

And with that, she followed the rest.

September 9

11:38

Leender, Right Bank

The air was thick with sounds of explosions and gunfire. Pillars of smoke rose up into the sky from the top of skyscrapers where anti-air systems stood. From the windows of a building she was sitting it, she saw a fighter-bomber drop yet another bomb somewhere between the buildings of the right bank of the river. Whatever the target was, it was most likely turned to rubble. With everyone in it's vicinity.
"Nina, stop watching and come here!"the voice of her commanding officer said.

Nina looked back into the room. Members of her squad looked back at her.
"Yes, sir."she replied and quickly joined the rest of the team.

The commanding officer in the rank of major was the only person with actual military and combat experience. That was the plan for the whole Civil Defense. Squads of volunteers commanded by actual military officers. They were mostly doing support tasks, like delivering ammo and other supplies, but some squads were also specifically made to fight alongside regular units. Nina's was the first type.

As she stood with the rest, the major pointed at the map laying on the table.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have another mission."he said."We have to deliver ammo to a unit defending the space port. They are being hardly pressed by the Sons and they need anything they can get. If the space port falls, Sons will be able to ship units from the orbit straight into the city. We cannot let that happen."

"What can we expect on the way there?"Jessica, one of Nina's squadmates, asked.
Major pointed at the map.
"We know that Sons are already near the crossroads of Jeskin St. and Selina St. We have to watch out for snipers and enemy patrols. They might have only recently enter the city, but they are already having their way with patrolling the streets."major replied.

"So, the usual?"Fin'Der, one of Nashini twins in their team, asked.
"Seems like it."Gei'Der, Fin's brother, stated.

Major looked at their squad of six.
"Let's not waste time then. Space port is a crucial part of our defense line. Let's go."he ordered.

He quickly led them down the stairs and out of the building, where the rest of their company waited. They turned and went towards the logistics officer. On the way, Nina looked around.
"Something wrong?"Jessica asked.
Nina blinked a few times and shook her head.
"Huh? No. I was just…thinking."the princess replied.
"Then focus more. Or else, they'll have to scrap you off of the street."the other girl said, smiling.

Jessica was Nina's closest friend in this whole ordeal. They met on the first day of the Civil Defense training and kept close ever since. Jessica's parents were veterans of GGW and after their home planet was rendered uninhabitable, they decided to move to Andromeda and start over. But then, war caught them here as well. Both of Jessica's parents already enlisted back in service with Soutlandian Armed Forces this time. She herself signed up with Civil Defense, to do something, as she was too young to enlist in regular army.

"Let's just deal with this thing."Nina said.
"Right after you, Your Highness."Jessica said with a big smile.

Nina couldn't help but smile back.

They approached the logistics officer.

"We're here for the ammo delivery."major said.
"Already ready."officer said, pointing at a pile of ammunition boxes."It's pretty rare to see so much ammo boxes these days."
"Most of them already served their purpose."major replied and turned to them again."Alright people, move!"

Nina and her team approached the boxes and picked up a few of them. Nina managed to take two, while others took three or even four. Of course, Nina could take a few more as well, she trained with them all. But by taking just two, it was easier to use their side arms. It was their only weapon and it was kinda hard to aim with it when you held four ammo boxes in your hands and under your arms.

Major looked at them and nodded his head.
"Alright. Squad, move out!"he ordered.

And with that, their group left the save cordon of allied soldiers and started making their way through the ruined streets towards their goal.

Later…

As they moved forward, Nina could take a good look at the destruction around her. All around, she could see piles of rubble left in the wake of bombs being dropped on the area. Scorched wrecks of civilian and military vehicles dotted the streets everywhere she looked. Some still even had their passengers in…

She shook her head, trying to not thing about the amount of death that will happen in the city. Already, nearly fifty thousand inhabitants of Leender met their demise by the hands of Sons since the start of the war. And that number came only from the air raids and enemy soldiers that managed to get into the city BEFORE main enemy force came here. It was terrifying to think how many of them will join them in the nearby future. Sons were firing at everything that moved. There were still half a million people left in the city. It was sure, that once Sons take it, they will unleash all their hatred and frustration on the civilians, maybe even more than they are doing now. Although, she couldn't figure out what could be worse than the current state of things.

"Hey!"the princess heard.

She quickly looked to her left and saw Jessica there.
"Watch where you're stepping."the other girl said."You almost tripped a few times."
"Oh, uh…Sorry."Nina replied.

Jessica's face saddened.
"Is everything alright?"she asked.
"Not really…"Nina replied."I just…find it hard to look at all this…"
"We all do."
"Me especially."

Jessica blinked a few times, before it hit her.
"Ooooh, right. Sorry. You know, with you here, it's kinda hard to remember you're a princess."she admitted.
"Yeah, I can guess why."Nina replied, smiling.
"Who knows, maybe in the future, Soutlandian children will be learning about Nina, the Warrior Princess?"Jessica snickered.

"More like Courier Princessss."Lezri Heszer, a Nakatan from their squad, said and giggled, what sounded like a bunch of hisses.

He was another refugee from Milky Way. He served back in the Great Galactic War, but as a part of an underground resistance cell on Nakata. He moved to Andromeda after the new Great Khan of Nakatan Clans allied himself with Laconia and declared all people who fought in the resistance forces terrorist and told to arrest them. Disillusioned with the home he fought so hard to liberate, Lezri escaped the Nakatan law enforcement and now, with his name on the list of terrorists hunted by Nakatans he so fought to free from the terrible rule of dictatorship such as Holy Order.
"Silence."major ordered."Enemy might be anywhere, stay frosty."
"Yes, sir."the team replied.

They continued in silence for the next few kilometers. Leender Spaceport was still nearly forty kilometers way. Making that distance on foot, especially in a situation like this, when danger can wait beyond every corner, was not easy, so they had to focus. While the amount of ammo they were carrying was small, getting it to the defenders would extend their lifetime for at least a bit longer. And in this situation, all time counted.

So they walked and weaved through the streets and alleys of the city, trying to stay as unnoticeable as possible. Enemy drones constantly hovered over the city, searching for any signs of UTDF activity and pinpointing the places to hit for aircraft and artillery. And truth be told, all of them preferred to be killed in a firefight instead of being torn apart by a well placed artillery shot.

Most people would already get tired after such a long trek, especially with several kilograms worth of ammunition on them. However, part of the accelerated training in Civil Defense was going through some stamina and strength enhancing exercises. It wasn't much, but enough for the volunteer units to perform their duty as needed. Nina herself wasn't very good at the exercises, but from what she was able to do, it was enough.

After a few more kilometers of walking and running, they came across a crossroads. Two roads intersecting with each other, going from South to North and from West to East. Once they reached it, they quickly hugged the wall of the nearest building, hiding from the sight.
"Be careful."major said."Places like these are perfect for sniper ambushes. We need to move without getting spotted."
"But ssssir."Lezri said."It's an open field."

The Nakatan was right. There were only few pieces of rubble laying on the street, between equally small number of wrecks. While it seemed like a good cover, they were dispersed so wide, that it basically didn't mean anything.
"Still, it's the fastest way we have to spaceport."major said."So we gotta do it. I'll go first."

Saying that, major quickly ran from their cover and dove behind the nearest wreck. Everyone held their breaths, expecting the sound of plasma sniper riffle to fill the air, but none of that happened. After a few seconds in hiding, major quickly repeated that maneuver a few more times, leaping from cover to cover. There was no sign of enemy in the area, but that didn't mean there were no enemies hiding. Snipers were really good at that.

After a few minutes, major was already on the other side. He quickly started waving at them, showing them to move. The five of them looked at each other.
"So, who goes first?"Fin asked.
"I'll go."Lezri said.

The other four showed him the way.
"Oh, really?"he asked."None of you is gonna stop me, saying it's too dangerous out there?"
"Nope."the four replied.
"You really don't like me, don't you?"

With that, the Nakatan quickly repeated what major did, sneaking from cover to cover as fast as he could. Everyone held their breaths as this was happening. Fortunately, the lizard alien managed to pass without a problem.

Fin was next in line and Gei followed right behind his brother. At the end, only Nina and Jessica were left.

"I'll go first."Nina said.
"Be careful."Jessica said, holding Nina's arm.
"I will, don't worry."

And with that, the princess took a deep breath and quickly made her way to the first cover, a burned sedan.

As she did it, she also used an occasion to look at the street going East from behind her cover. And once she did, she immediately hid, seeing a flash of light in a window of one of the far buildings.

"Oh, crap."she thought.
Of course, it wasn't necessarily a flash from sniper scope. It might have also been light deflecting from the window. But you could never know.

With that knowledge, she quickly made it to the next cover and then the next and another. At the last one, she stopped and took a deep breath. It was the longest jump between the covers. But it could be done. She quickly rose to her feet and ran towards the rest and before she realized, she was already on the other side.

"Okay, now it's just Jessica."major said.

Everyone looked in Jessica's direction. The other girl was already starting to make her way through the crossroads. Everyone observed in anticipation. It started well. She was going from cover to cover, like everyone before her. She was almost at them.

And then, she tripped on a piece of rubble.

Once she did, the ammo boxes she carried clanged loudly on the ground and echo was carried between the buildings. For a second, everything seemed to stop, as the group awaited any kind of reaction. Nothing happened for a few seconds, as Jessica slowly rose up to her knees and looked at them. She quickly tried to gather her cargo.

"I thought it would…"Gei started.

And before he could finish, a plasma shot came in and decapitated Jessica.

Everyone almost screamed from shock and how sudden it was. A second earlier, she was still kneeling on the ground and next, her head was gone and she was falling to the ground. Right then, several more shots came, as if the enemy wanted to make sure that they got the kill, even though missing head should indicate it clearly.

Seeing her friend's demise, Nina covered her mouth and turned around. It was the first time she saw someone die like this. She saw people die before, when she was a kid. But never in a way like this.

They stood there for a few seconds, not doing anything. Finally, the major looked away from the dead girl.

"Let's go."he ordered.
"What about Jessica?"Fin asked.
"We can't do anything for her now. And going for her cargo is too dangerous. Let's just go. Someone will take care of her later."

With that, he turned and started walking away. Others looked at Jessica for a few more seconds, before following him. Nina was the one to look the longest. She started at what was left of her closest friend and the time seemed to stretch.
"Nina, come on!"Lezri said.
"Yeah…coming…"Nina replied.

With one last glance at her deceased friend, she followed the others.

September 9

13:56

Near Leender Spaceport

Leaving behind Jessica's body, they quickly picked up the pace. Still haunted by what they saw, they ended up repeating the same situation two more times, sneaking between covers and hiding from enemy sniper. Fortunately, they didn't lose anyone else while doing so. Still, the fact that Jessica of all people would end like this was something they still couldn't comprehend. This only showed them, how unpredictable life can be.

Roof of the spaceport's main building could be seen above other buildings. Numerous piles of smoke and fire could be seen coming out of it, as well as sounds of gunfire. Just by the sounds they could say, that situation didn't look good.
"Come on, we're almost there."major said.

The four didn't answer. They just followed their commander. Ammo still hung off of them, when they turned another corner and stopped in their tracks.

In front of them, they could see two Aksha 4x4 MRAPs approaching from the direction of the spaceport. As the vehicles passed them, they stopped, the door opened and another major, a Nashini, jumped out of the leading one.
"What are you doing here?"he asked, his eyes as wide as if he saw an army of ghosts.
"Major Herds."the major introduced himself."We're with Civil Defense, we were ordered to deliver you ammo."

Nashini major shook his head.
"On your place, I would turn around and run as fast as possible!"he exclaimed."We're getting outta here!"
"What?"Nina asked."And what about the spaceport?"
"Forget about it."He shook his head."The spaceport is lost, they just pushed us out."
"What?"Gei asked."How?"
"Two entire armored brigades, that's how. We better get out of here."
"And what about the resssst of your unit?"Lezri asked.

Nashini major pointed at the two MRAPs behind him.

"We're all that's left. Others are either dead or captured. Before his position was blown to pieces, our colonel ordered us to go back and cross the river."

The five looked at the sorry state of the half the platoon and their vehicles and they hardly could believe, that out of nearly three thousand soldiers protecting the spaceport, this was all that was left.
"You can come with us if you want. We still could use that ammo."Nashini major said."You can come with us, if you want."

Herds pursed his lips. Their whole mission just became out of date. Decision of what to do now belonged to him. He sighed.
"Alright, we're coming with you."he said."Take the ammo."
"Thanks. That will…"

Before Nashini major could finish, a missile came out of nowhere and slammed into the MRAP in the back. The vehicle was basically turned into a supernova as it was torn apart and disappeared from existence, together with all soldiers inside. Right after that came a wave of plasma fire.

Soldiers from the second MRAP quickly jumped out and started returning fire. Nina and her squad rushed to find cover, as some plasma shots flew above their heads, barely missing them and Nina could swear, that some of her hair was fried by the high condensed energy. But she was too concerned about her life to check that.

Looking above the pile of rubble they hid behind, Nina could see a squad of around thirty enemy soldiers approaching their location. Many of them were falling under the fire of UTDF soldiers, but still not enough.

"Fuck, what do we do?"Fin asked.
"We're gonna do something!"Gei added.

"Ssssir?"Lezri looked at Herds.

Major observed the situation unfold and gritted his teeth.

"Major!"he shouted to the Nashini.
"What?!"Nashini major shouted back.
"Got any spare guns?"
Nashini major turned to one of his soldiers and asked hims something. After getting an answer, he turned back to them.

"Quite a bit!"he replied.
"Give us five!"

Major didn't need to be told twice. He relied it to his soldiers, who quickly looked into the back of the MRAP and grabbed five riffles. Next, they three them to Herd's team, which caught them all.

"Open up!"Herds ordered, dropping his ammo boxes.

Others quickly proceeded to do the same and opened them, pulling out spare mags and placing them in the riffles. Next, they leaned from their cover and joined the fighters as they fired upon the encroaching enemies. The stakes were certainly stacked against them, but they still decided to fight. Seeing that even though UTDF had less men they still inflicted high casualties upon them, Sons quickly got behind any cover they could find.

Nina looked from behind her cover and saw an enemy running from one cover to another. She quickly took aim and sent a short series after him. She had no clue if she hit him or not, but she certainly hoped she did.
"Screw this!"Nina exclaimed.
"I ssssure have to agree!"Lezri replied.

He peeked his riffle over his cover and blind fired at the enemies. He couldn't see it, but his series actually hit two enemies, who weren't careful enough. Right then, one of Sons got smart and pulled out a grenade from his belt. He pulled the cotter out and threw it towards where the shots came from. The grenade then landed between Nina and Lezri. Both of them widened their eyes. Fortunately, Gei saw it too and rushed to their aid. The Nashini grabbed the grenade and threw it back. Upon returning to the sender, grenade exploded, killing the Son that threw it.

"That was good!"Herds exclaimed.
"Years of playing volleyball, hah!"the Nashini replied.

As the fight continued, Sons started losing their advantage in numbers. More and more of them fell under the UTDF fire and before long, from thirty that started, there were just fifteen left. The one carrying missile launcher was killed at the start of the fight, so there was none of that. And when one Son tried to go and pick up the said missile launcher, they were immediately met with a bullet from UTDF soldier.

As street started getting filled with SoS' bodies, their commander decided to do one last ditch attempt to stop these enemy escapes. He ordered his soldiers to fix bayonets on their weapons and before long, the last enemy troops were charging at UTDF at full force. Although surprised, defenders decided to meet this charge head on. This including Nina and her team.

Now, most would think that Nina, being the smallest of everyone here, would be the easiest to deal with for Sons. However, as it turned out, it was quite the opposite. Nina almost matched her opponent in strength, as the Son tried to force her onto the ground. However, the princess kicked, punched and even bit him as much as she could. All around her, soldiers engaged in a melee resembling something one would see on the bloodiest battlefields of the pre-Gate era. The sheer fierceness of the whole fight showed how important every fight was for both sides. Each wouldn't let go easily.

Still, UTDF was still winning. In the fight with Nashini major, enemy commander fell when major kicked him back and unloaded a series into him. Rid of command, Sons immediately showed signs of disorganization. Advantage was again on UTDF side as they killed enemy after enemy.

Nina's enemy finally forced her onto the ground, but she still didn't say her last word. She hit his forehead with her own, what caused her a great pain, but the girl didn't care. She quickly reached into her own holster and pulled out her side arm. She put it to the Son's chest and pulled the trigger. Enemy widened their eyes at her as she pushed hard and made him fall on his back. Then, she started beating him in the face with the butt of her riffle with her full strength. Bone crunched, blood splattered, some even on her face and mouth, but she didn't care. She just let herself be lost in the rage. She didn't care what was happening around her, she just wanted this one soldier under her to die, die, die.
"DIE!"she exclaimed time after time.

"Nina!"someone shouted.

She didn't pay attention. Soldier's face didn't even look like a face anymore. Just a molten pulp of flesh and bone. But she still didn't stop hitting it. Her face was almost completely red from the blood splattering on it.
"NINA!"someone shouted again, this time next to her ear.

This finally stopped her and she looked at the owner of the voice. It was Lezri. Nakatan looked at her with concern in eyes.
"He's already dead."he said.

Nina breathed heavily and then looked down at the enemy she was sitting on. She was hitting him so hard that she almost flattened his head. He was more dead than dead. Next, she looked around and saw that everyone was looking at her and all enemies were already dead as well. She took a few more deep breaths.
"S-Sorry…I…"She was at loss for words. It was the first time she let the rage take her over so much. She looked at her hands. They were also covered in blood."Where's Herds?"

Lezri just pointed. Looking where he pointed, she saw their late major laying on the ground, bayonet sticking out of his back, around the heart area. A pool of blood was forming under him.

"Oh…"was all Nina could say."So I guess you're in charge now?"

"Sssseemssss like it."Nakatan shrugged."I wassss his ssssecond-in-command after all."
"Okay."princess replied.

Right then, the Nashini major came up to them.
"Bad news."He sounded less terrified than earlier. Probably because of the adrenaline, or some Nashini equivalent of it, running through his veins."Sons reached the river and are already crossing it. Some moron forgot to blow up the bridges, or Sons managed to get there before blowing could happen and demined them. Whatever's the case, they're already crossing onto the left bank. Command is ordering everyone to quickly get to the nearest bridge still in our hands and cross. We're abandoning the right bank."

Nina felt a bit of annoyance. For some reason, these news simply made her angry.
"Who gave that order?"she asked.
"General Ordell himself. Reports flooding from the line forced him to do it."Nashini major replied.

Nina sighed.
"Can we sssstill come with you?"Lezri asked.

"Sure. There is a place for four."

"Okay, let's go guys. We have to get out of here."

Gei and Fin quickly joined them. The four remaining members of the Civil Defense team quickly got into the MRAP, where they cramped together with the remaining soldiers. Next, the last vehicle from the unit defending the spaceport was on the move, leaving behind the burning wreck and bodies of their comrades and enemies.

September 9

20:32

Unified Staff, Leender

Harlen stood alone in the command room of the building. For the past four months, this place became like a home to him. He spent so much time in here that he barely even remembered how the outside world looked. Running his hand across the edge of the holo-table, he was actually sad that he had to leave it all.

He didn't like the decision he made. But at the same time, he knew it would be best. Even though he had to live with this fact for the rest of his life.

"Harlen?"

Looking behind him, general spotted Tim approaching him. The adjutant waled up to him and stood next to the table as well.
"Is everything ready?"Harlen asked.
"Everyone's waiting for you."Tim replied.

General took a deep breath.
"Leaving in the middle of a siege."he said."What kind of leader am I?"

"The type that will not make it easy for the enemy to catch you."Tim said with a smirk.

Harlen couldn't help but smile at it himself.

"You always know what to say, right?"he asked.
"Always."Tim replied with a smile.

"And how about Ellia and Imri?"

"Already waiting."
"Nina?"

Tim didn't answer. He stayed silent for a few seconds.
"We couldn't find her. Last time we heard about her, she was fighting on the right bank."the adjutant replied.

General pursed his lips and tightened his fists. As much as they wanted, they couldn't wait for Nina to come back. Enemy was closer and closer and if they wanted to continue with the fight, they had to keep the consistent leadership chain. Which, at the same time meant, that they had to leave the city. Sons were already slowly closing the ring and they had only one artery left out. If they wanted to still make it out, they had to do it today, under the cover of night.

Harlen took a deep breath. He stepped away from the holo-table and turned towards the door

"Let's go Tim. We're leaving."he said.

However, he didn't hear steps of his adjutant, so he turned around and saw him still standing in the room.
"Tim?"general asked."We're going."
But Tim just shook his head.
"I did say that you should leave…"Tim said."…but I didn't say anything about going with you."

Harlen immediately returned to him.
"Tim, what the fuck are you talking about?"he asked."Of course you're going with me. No one left behind, remember?"
"Yes, I do."Tim replied."But…when you're gone, someone's gonna stay to keep it all from falling apart. And if we both left, what would our soldiers say? They would crumble even faster. And with me staying, we can assure continuity of command and that the morale will still stay high for as long as necessary."

Hearing him say this, Harlen realized that Tim was serious. He really wanted to stay here and do as he said. Besides, the adjutant did speak with sense. If soldiers found out that the entire command simply packed up and fucked off, there would be panic and much worse things would happen. With someone from Harlen's staff still staying, there could still be chance to keep the fight and morale for as long as possible.

But…
"Is it really because of what you said…"general said."…or because of Nina?"

Hearing this, Tim immediately visibly paled.
"I know about your meetings."Harlen said.

Tim gulped.
"If you wanna punish me, sir, then I'm gonna accept any punishment you have for me."

But, much to his surprise, Harlen shook his head.
"No, there will be no punishment."he replied.
"But…"Tim tried to argue.
"I knew about your secret meetings since the very start."general continued."But each time I got photos and reports from it, I could clearly see that Nina was…happy. Truly, honestly happy. The type of happiness and I didn't see with her since she was a little child. And for giving her this happiness, I have to thank you."

Tim stood there, flabbergasted, surprised and most importantly, relieved. He really thought, that he was about to end up before a firing squad or in some penal battalion.
"T-Thank you, sir."He saluted.

"Still, even if you wanna stay…"Harlen gulped."You are aware that either one or both of you will most likely not make it out, right?"

"That's the job risk, right?"Tim replied with a smirk.
Harlen replied with a smirk of his own. He patted Tim's arm.
"You're a good guy, Tim. I hope we'll see each other once all this is over."he said.
"You really believe that these promised reinforcements will come?"Tim asked.
"I do. After all, what else is left for us?"

Tim nodded.
"In that case, see you on the other side."
"Absolutely."

And with that, Harlen turned and left, this time not looking back. Tim watched him go and when that happened, he glanced at the holo-table.

"Well then."he said."Time to get to work."

XXX

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