Chapter 3:
The Eighty-Six
"That's just a kid…" Holmes noted incredulously.
"Please don't tell me we've landed on that type of planet," Trooper Mattias added in disbelief.
Captain Parris shook the boy's hand, exchanging a couple of words. Like the rest of the company, the commanding officer seemed taken aback by the pilot's appearance. Does that mean that the other pilots were also as young or even younger?
Holmes felt dread running up his spine. He had personally fought on planets where the local PDF forced children to the frontlines to bolster their ranks. Those children were either gruesomely killed or were corrupted by Chaos, fanatically charging through lasfire and artillery barrages with nothing by knives and explosives strapped to them. That campaign held a dark spot in his career.
Although there is a minimum age requirement for conscription in the Imperial Guard, some worlds would actively forge their conscripts' papers or draft them under a different job, such as auxiliars, reservists or cadets. The Departmento Munitorium didn't bother to enforce their directives on those worlds so long as they paid their tithes and provided with fresh soldiers for the meat grinder.
On rarer and more desperate situations, children were drafted for frontline duties, usually acting as the last line of defence or delivering supplies. The planet would always be doomed no matter the odds or numbers, the planetary governor would willingly send away thousands of the population's youths in order to save themselves.
The commanding officer nodded as he discusses with the boy, who didn't seem to be shocked or intimidated by his presence. After a short talk, the boy retreated into his war machine and closed its canopy. Parris faced his men and cleared his throat.
"Spartan 1, you will accompany me to their base of operation where we'll retrieve a couple of our boys from Sixth company." He instructed loudly. Holmes nodded in compliance and ordered his squad to follow. "Lieutenant Fick, I'll leave the command of the company, return to the ships and report to the colonel. Tell him that all but three from the Scout Sentinels were killed."
"Yes sir!" His second-in-command replied with a salute.
"Captain Parris," The mechanical voice of Nouzen's Juggernaut hailed behind him, "Do you require transportation?"
Parris smiled and shook his head, "That won't be necessary, our rides are here," He answered as the Valkyries came into view, announcing their presence.
"Wow," One of the pilots muttered with awe, "That so cool!"
"Go on ahead, Captain Nouzen. We'll catch up to you shortly," Parris reassured Shin.
"Very well,"
The Juggernauts turned and departed, leisurely making their way back to their base. Holmes walked beside Parris as they embarked on the Valkyrie. "Sir, do you think that the other pilots are kids as well?"
Parris glanced at him with a straight face, his frown hardened, and mouth formed into a thin line, "It is possible, their captain is proof enough to think otherwise," He admitted sombrely. "Unfortunately, lieutenant we can't do anything about it, if their planetary governor requires underage soldiers to fight and die in the Emperor's name then so be it, just accept the situation as is. It's not a first for any of us."
"Very well, sir. May the Emperor protect them," Holmes responded.
"Indeed, may He protect them…"
The rear ramp closed shut and the bulky green air assault carrier ascended to the sky, following the Juggernauts with two other Valkyries.
"Undertaker…"
"Handler One," Shin acknowledged bluntly.
"Are you telling me the truth? About the presences of people from another planet?"
Shin smirked wryly in response; he could tell that she was in denial as much as he was, but the evidence was clear. Advanced armour, a variety of laser and energy-based weapons, aircrafts that flew undeterred and uncontested by the Legion's Eintagsflieges; he has seen nothing like it. He was sure that he was going to have an ass-chewing from their chief mechanic, Lev Aldrecht, but he too will have a big surprise once he'll meet the newcomers.
"Yes, Handler One. I think that the laser weapons and heavy armour is enough of proof to suggest otherwise," He answered.
"…"
He felt that the Major was hesitant, nervous even. He couldn't blame her. Despite his emotionless façade, his childish curiosity exploded. When he was younger, he would dream up of stories of humans conquering space and fighting space dragons and other evil creatures. The vastness of space has always fascinated him, and now he encountered a space faring civilisation, his mind was going awry.
Although, like Raiden, he was a bit disappointed that their first encounter with, what is objectively, an alien race… are humans with a penchant for violence. He guessed that it is human nature to wage wars and to develop better means to kill each other.
"Undertaker, if they ask for any intel: maps, names, locations… please provide them with it. Just don't mention them in your reports, we wouldn't want the Republic to act rashly against our newfound allies,"
"Are you sure that is wise, Major?" Shin asked unexpectedly, "Leaking military intelligence to an unknown entity? Isn't it a bit too early to consider them as allies, Major?"
"They've helped you fend off a large wave of the Legion. If you claim that their weapons are far better than ours, then who would stop them from overtaking us?" The Major does prove a point, but Shin still felt uneasy with this sudden acceptance to this alliance.
"I believe they can be a force for good and are willing to help you guys if we cooperate. And if that means that I must commit treasonous acts against the Republic to give you a better chance at survival, then I'll do it in a heartbeat and I'll do it again," She declared passionately.
"Wouldn't that pull you off command from the Spearhead and land you in prison for a couple of years?" Shin countered logically, trying to reason with her hasty decision.
"…Um…"
Came the Major's smart reply. Seemed that she didn't take into consideration the possible consequences of her treason. He smirked again, finding her candid nature… adorable.
"You don't need to worry about that, Undertaker. I have friends in high places so the worst to come will probably be a demotion and putting me on time-out for a couple of days,"
"You don't seem too sure about that. Can't tell if I should be relieved or more worried now," Shin stated flatly.
"Heh? Y-you're w-worried about me?!" She asked bashfully, "I told you! W-worry about yourself and your friends! I'll be fine! Promise!"
"Geez, you guys need a room or what?" Theoto Rikka, callsign "Laughing Fox", interjected with disgust.
"Thanks for ruining the moment, Laughing Fox!" Haruto "Falke" Ketas berated sarcastically.
"Heh? Wait? You guys were listening to us this whole time?" Their handler asked shockingly.
"Heeeh, yeah, sorry about that, Handler One…" Raiden Shuga, the second-in-command under the callsign "Wehrwolf", apologised sheepishly.
"Yup! And we were enjoying it too!" Kaie Taniya, callsign "Kirschblüte", admitted happily, a wide toothy grin plastered on her face.
"Sorry about that, Handler One, I must've forgot to switch to a private channel. Contact us back tonight," Shin suggested before cutting off his Para-Raid with the Major. He could hear the muffled snickers and giggles from the rest of the squadron, "Next person to intrude into my private channel will answer their teeth with my boot." He threatened coldly and the laughter died instantly.
"Ahem, you heard him, that's enough fun time." Raiden agreed after clearing his throat, "We have more urgent matters to attend to; concerning our allies, if we can even call them as that,"
"Well so far, they haven't gunned us all down, so it is a clear sign that their first intention was not conquest,"
"Still… shouldn't we be cautious about giving up information?" Anju Emma, callsign "Snow Witch", asked concernedly, "We may have a common foe but that won't stop them from backstabbing us in the end,"
"Oh please! Like we had anything else to give them." Theo retorted mockingly, "I say we point them towards the white pigs' capital and let them wreak havoc there. They'll make short work of those spineless bastards,"
"Raiden and I will handle that." Shin asserted sternly, "All of you should focus on maintenance work before resting and taking a shower. Is that understood?"
They all complied to a varying degree. He sighed heavily, he could feel that the next couple of days will be a headache of negotiations and coordination between his squadron, the Major and the Cadians.
And he was not looking forward to it. He would rather try his hands at cooking or write more fake reports.
"And there, don't move that arm to much until you see a medic," The Spearhead Squadron's chief mechanic instructed after applying the sterile gauze on the wounded soldier.
He straightened his back and stared at the two other soldiers. They were in similar shape as his patient, seriously wounded with burn scars and shrapnel wounds. He then glanced at one of their war machines, a tall and bulky bipedal walker armed with a 40mm autocannon. The armour seemed solid enough to withstand most of the ammunition the Legion could fire, its sturdy articulated legs allowed the pilots to easily move through tough terrain however the open top cockpit seemed to be a design flaw. The soldiers that the Eighty-Six rescued called them "Scout Sentinels", he had never heard nor seen anything like it.
In fact, he couldn't recognize their uniforms as well. They wore the iconic olive-green tanker jumpsuit, but their helmets were completely unique. The helmet was large and fully encompassed two thirds of head in a tri-dome shape, leaving the face open. One of them was also equipped with some sort of rebreather that covered the whole face. Finally, their unit patch was a complete mystery to him. Their left patch showed a white structure: the base, two thick pillars on the sides with a white skull in the middle and a large triangular roof on top. Their right patch only showed the number "501" in a gothic-like writing. Each then had customised patches that read "Cadia Stands!", "Death to Heretics!" or "Creed Lives!". Were they zealous soldiers or brutal fanatics? Where is Cadia and who the hell is Creed?"
Lev Aldrecht couldn't tell, despite having a long and active military career before the Legion showed up, his knowledge of the world wasn't that extensive. He could perhaps ask Shin since he spends most of his resting time in books.
Speaking of the Devil, he spotted Shin and the rest of the Spearhead Squadron returning from their patrol mission, and not a single casualty in sight. Lev sighed in relief, though he may not show it through his cold and harsh demeaner, he still cared for these kids like they were his own… if only he was able to save his wife and child in time.
Just as he was about to berate Shin once he noticed the extent of the damages his Juggernaut sustained, his mouth dropped in shock as he saw two large VTOL aircrafts land on their tarmac.
The large aircrafts wore a green and tan camouflage pattern with toothy grins painted on the sides of the cockpit and a white two headed eagle on both the wings. The two impressive birds were armed with rocket and missile pods with a cannon of an unknown calibre. Maybe an 90mm or more, he threw a wild guess.
The Valkyries landed with heavy thuds, kicking sand and dirt around their frames. The rear ramp dropped and a squad of Kasrkin with an officer walked out. Lev seemed a bit anxious witnessing a dozen heavily armoured and armed soldiers making their way towards his hangar. He subconsciously unclipped his thigh holster and let his right-hand hover over his sidearm's grip.
"Seems like our taxi just arrived," One of the wounded soldiers chuckled, coughing painfully soon after, "I shouldn't laugh…"
Shin jumped out of Undertaker and his red Pyrope eyes met Lev's silver Alban eyes. He could tell that the older man was nervous at the sight of the Cadians. Silently, he shook his head placatively, reassuring a bit the chief mechanic. Lev folded his arms instead, letting his thigh holster unclipped.
"Shin don't tell me you brought more of them," Lev warned in a low, serious tone.
"There are more of them, more than a regiment they said," Shinei responded bluntly.
"M-more than a regiment?" Lev asked alarmed. "Just where the hell did a regiment managed to get past the Legion?"
"Well if they came from space it would help to achieve that," Shin answered blandly.
Lev lowered his sunglasses and stared at Shin with narrowed and doubtful eyes, "From space? You're shitting me, right? Is this one of those rare times where you attempt to make a joke?"
The emotionless boy glanced at him and shrugged, "I wish but you'll see the proof quite soon enough,"
Just as Lev was about to retort, the squad of armoured soldiers came a couple of feet in front of him. At the head of the formation must be their leader, he presumed. The only one who didn't wear a helmet, he took note.
"Captain Parris, this is our chief mechanic, Lev Aldrecht," Shin presented, "He took care of your wounded we found earlier."
"Ah, chief mechanic Aldrecht, thank you for your aid," Captain Parris stated gratefully while extending his right hand.
Aldrecht took a quick glance at his uniform, it was all foreign to him and their weaponry looked too advanced to come from any nation he knew. He extended his hand and shook the captain's hand firmly.
"It was no problem, captain. We take care of each other in this part of the world,"
Parris nodded appreciatively and turned to the three Sentinel pilots who stood rigidly at his attention.
"How are you feeling, boys?"
"Badly hurt, sir, but a quick trip to the medicae should remedy our wounds," The sergeant replied frankly, "We're blessed by the Emperor to have been found by those war machines and their staff,"
"They also make some outstanding recaf, sir!" One of the pilots piped up, "It is by far the best one we've tasted,"
One of the Kasrkins chuckled lightly at the comment and shook his head. Parris simply nodded in understanding, "Glad to hear. We'll probably have a tasting of our own," He turned to Holmes, "Lieutenant, get these men to the Valkyrie, have your medic check them up and leave four of your men on guard."
"Sir." Holmes nodded and faced his squad, "Mons, Gunther, Kholm and Graff, go with Mattias and guard the Valkyries."
"Yes sir!" They replied in unison and escorted the wounded towards the aircrafts.
"Now then, I imagine that you have a lot of questions to ask and so do we," Parris announced to Lev and Shin, "Is there perhaps a place where we could have our discussion in a more relaxed ambiance?"
"You can follow me. And please excuse the behaviours of the others," Shin informed, "They are quite agitated and excited to meet beings from another planet,"
"We're humans just like you, kid," Holmes responded flatly, "We may come from another planet, but we bleed the same blood and beat the same heart. We are all the Emperor's servants,"
"Emperor? Which emperor are you talking about?" Lev asked curiously. He suddenly felt a cold and tense silence directed at him as the newcomers stared at him. Even through their thick dark combat goggles, he sensed the varying degrees of hostility and indignation.
"The God-Emperor of Mankind, the guardian of Humanity and ruler of the Imperium of Man. Without Him, Humanity would have fallen to the corruption of Chaos and violated by vile xenos across the galaxy. Without his Holiness, we wouldn't be capable of conquering the stars and retake the lost worlds of the Imperium." Parris explained with religious resolve.
Lev raised his hand in placative defence, "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't heard about your religion. I don't mean any offence, captain,"
The Cadians glared daggers at him, poised to strike him down. Seeing the tension rising, the Eighty-Six pilots all slowly reached for their sidearms while the mechanics from behind quietly made their way towards their armoury to retrieve the assault rifles.
"I suggest highly that you keep your hand off your weapon, Aldrecht," Holmes warned with a grave tone, sending a cold wave on the nearby Eighty-Six, even Shin hesitated to act.
"Stand down, men." Parris finally ordered, "Under normal circumstances, I would have you and your squadron shot for your blasphemous ignorance to the God-Emperor of Mankind, but it seems that His holy light haven't reach this planet and no sign of Chaos taint, there is still time for redemption." He stated sternly, "Now, should we continue on our way?"
"Yes, o-of course. Hum, Shin can you lead them? I'll start on the maintenance work," Lev suggested nervously.
Shin nodded quietly and motioned Raiden to follow as well. As the group head into their living quarters, the others viewed the Cadians with wide and concerned eyes. Was it a mistake to bring them here?
Katra followed the group quietly, occasionally sneaking glances at the building's interior. It was decaying with cracks forming due to lack of maintenance and humidity. Spider webs could be seen hanging on some corner and ceiling. She mentally took note on the lack of the Aquila or other symbols of the Imperial Cult. She did found however a cross with a person nailed to it, perhaps it was the locals' pageant cult or their own interpretation of the God-Emperor.
Shin led them into their cafeteria, letting them sit down at a table while Kaie, Lecca and Mikuri prepared the coffee for their visitors. He reassured the Cadians that they could relax and strip down their gear if they wanted to. Parris allowed the Kasrkins with a curt nod.
Gelt sat on a table behind them, placing his hot-shot lasgun on his lap. Trooper Jasper sat next to Holmes and unlocked his rebreather, revealing his tanned features and bright violet eyes to the locals. One of the girls in kitchen seemed to notice and stopped her activity to gawk in awe. Sergeant Pavlo did the same and sat down next to Gelt, running his gloved hand through his shaved head.
Katra took off her carapace helmet, placing it on a table beside her. She caught Raiden staring at her. She had a pale skin, her messy brown hair tied in a hasty low bun as sweat and grime covered her face. She had light freckles spread across her prominent cheeks. A scar featured on her left eyebrow and another on her small chin. However, her best feature were her eyes. Like any Cadian, she had the recognisable purple eyes caused by a mutation of the gene by being so close to the Eye of Terror. She had bright amethyst eyes, filled with determination and faith. She stared back at Raiden and smiled. The tall muscular teenager blushed and looked away, ignoring the heat on his cheeks.
When the girls arrived with stainless steel coffee pot and mugs, Lecca also halted in her tracks and gazed Katra's eyes. "Woah! You have such pretty eyes!" She remarked admirably.
Katra laughed and shook her head in disbelief, "Well, that's the first time someone said that to me," She admitted with rosy cheeks.
"Wait… you all have purple eyes," Kaie noticed in astonishment, "Why's that?"
"It's a trademark mutation from Cadia, caused by being so close to the Eye of Terror," Gelt explained bluntly.
"Eye of Terror?" Shin noted mentally.
"O-oh… okay..." Kaie responded unsurely before setting down the mugs while Lecca served the coffee or recaf as the Cadians call it. "Do you want sugar?" She asked politely.
"Yes, please," Jasper replied eargerly, earning himself a reprimanded glare from Pavlo for the display of unprofessionalism.
Once the drinks were served and everyone sat down, the talks could begin. Parris stirred his mug of recaf and took a small sip. He nodded in approval, liking the taste of the planet's recaf.
"That's the best recaf I've ever tasted. Nicely roasted, not too bitter and strong enough," He commented appreciatively, "Unfortunately, we're not here to discuss about recaf, so let's make this simple and quick for the both of us. We ask a question each turn, is that okay, captain Nouzen?"
"That's fine by me, captain,"
"Where are we, captain Nouzen? Which planet, system and sector?" Parris inquired.
"Are we really the only survivors of our squadron?" The team leader of the Scout Sentinel pilots.
"I'm afraid so, Sergeant," Mattias answered sincerely.
"May the Emperor guide their souls…" One of the wounded pilots commented sorrowfully.
"We'll make them pay for their deaths, sir," Gunther promised with determination, "Those abominations will regret messing with us,"
Kholm remained quiet, half listening to the conversation while scanning the hangar. His vigilant eyes were focused on the legged machines and their pilots. He noted that they were all very young, teenagers for most or barely the age of eighteen. He couldn't believe that they could pilot those war machines with such skill and fluidity, remaining constantly on the move while firing accurately.
He was intrigued by the sight of their rides. They were all equipped with a high-calibre cannon and dual coaxial heavy stubbers or two large blades. Curious, he decided to get a closer look.
"Hey! Kholm!" Mons called him loudly, "Where are you going?"
"Just getting a closer look at their walkers," Kholm shouted back without glancing behind him. As he got closer, he gathered the attention of the mechanics and a handful of the Eighty-Six pilots.
Daiya, Theo and Haruto attentively stared at the lonesome, armoured soldier as he walked towards Shin's Juggernaut, Undertaker. They were chatting by Theo's Juggernaut, occasionally gawking at the passing girls as they were heading to the river to wash their clothes.
Kholm stopped two meters away from the Juggernaut and examined with a more critical eye. The cannon was as long as the walker with its oversized magazine hanging at the rear. He remarked its thin and damaged armour, its lanky legs barely holding its own weight. Whoever designed this war machine didn't care about the pilot's safety or survivability. Even if it wasn't surprising for the Astra Militarum's war machines, they did have a minimum of comfort and protection against heavier rounds or lasguns for light vehicles. This machine looked like it wouldn't survive a volley fire of lasguns.
He walked around the Juggernaut, observing every detail. There were no signs of its Forge World origin or even the insignia of the Adeptus Mechanicus. He also noted that there were no techpriests in the area to bless and repair the machine spirit. Did these kids drive these war machines into battle without a blessing from a techpriest? How does it operate?
A paint job suddenly caught his peeked curiosity. On the side of pilot's canopy featured a headless skeleton wearing a blue scarf around the neck whilst holding a long shovel behind its back. The word "Undertaker" was inscribed underneath the headless figure. A strange name for a headless skeleton. He turned around and saw the group of boys gathered at a Juggernaut at the opposite side of the hangar.
"Hey!" He waved at them, "What's the name of this walker?" He asked out loud.
"You mean this walking coffin?" Theo punched the side of his Juggernaut, "It's called a Juggernaut, but we call it the Guillotine," He replied sarcastically.
Kholm nodded silently and looked back at the Juggernaut. A couple of seconds later, he turned to the boys again.
"What in the Warp is a guillotine?"
The boys stared at each other in bafflement. Theo smirked and held in a laughter while it was Daiya's turn to reply, "Uh, it is a device that cuts off the head of people," He sheepishly chuckled.
"It's usually reserved for death row criminals and royalties," Haruto added with a side grin.
"So why do you guys call it as that? Or a walking coffin?" Kholm questioned.
"Because the fucking white pigs of the Republic built these things so they can send us to our deaths like cattle while lying to their citizens that the Juggernauts are drones. To assure that we die quickly, the armour is so thin, a pistol could probably punch through," Theo explained scornfully.
The Kasrkin nodded quietly again. He then started to walk towards them. The teenagers looked surprised to see him approaching, starting to get nervous as they don't know what to expect from the outworlder.
When he was about speaking distance from them, Kholm reached into his back pocket case and took out a bar of sweet ration. He broke it into bite size pieces and presented to them in his right hand.
"Want some? They're sweets," He proposed to them. The teenagers looked cautious and didn't want to take a step forward. "Good instincts," He noted appreciatively. With his left hand, he unclipped the rebreather from his carapace helmet and took off his helmet, setting it on the ground by his feet.
The boys' eyes widened as they stared at another normal human being, except for his bright purple eyes. Nervously, Daiya took a step forward, a hand reaching for the sweets. The man smiled as he took a couple of pieces and took a bite. The eldest of the trio hummed with marvel and shared the other pieces with his friends.
"Guys, try it. This chocolate tastes natural," He reassured them.
Haruto and Theo took a piece and tried it, immediately amazed by its taste. Kholm chuckled at their antics and offered more to them, earning the attention of more of the Eighty-Six pilots.
Mattias and Graff observed Kholm's contact with the locals from the Valkyrie, amused by the scene.
"He still has a soft spot for children, huh?" Mons remarked with an amused grin.
"Yeah, it reminds him of his younger siblings," Mattias answered with a thin, sombre smile.
Mons glanced at the medic and noticed the sorrow in his eyes, "Were his siblings in-"
"Yes," Mattias replied quickly, nothing wanting to be reminded of their home world's destruction, "One of his brothers just joined the White shields and fought at Kasr Kraf. He was last seen at the Kasr's second gate. He died like a true Cadian,"
"They all did," Mons added, his fists tightened with suppressed fury. Like any other Cadian in the regiment or any others, his blood boiled with righteous vengeance and pained retribution. They wanted nothing more than kill every heretic they see until they could get their bloodied hands on the Despoiler himself.
The Archenemy may have destroyed their planet, but he just unleashed the fury of the Cadians, the very same people that fought and repelled his Black Crusades for ten thousand years. It even became a running joke among the Cadians before the 13th Black Crusade.
Unfortunately, he and among thousands of others weren't present in the defence of Cadia, they were still in-route or unexpectedly caught in the middle of a campaign. Many of them weren't originally from the 501st Cadian, they were from other surviving regiments. The 501st itself was formed from veterans of the 412th, once led by the legendary General Sturnn.
The 412th was split in half after the campaign on Lorn V. One half, the 501st, was created and immediately expedited to Cadia while the other half was sent to hunt down an Eldar Farseer responsible for General Sturnn's death, it was later renamed the Kronus 1st "Liberators" Regiment.
Gunther spotted their company commander leaving the pilots' living quarters, heading for the Valkyries. He called Kholm to return while alerting the pilots to start the engines. The air assault carriers roared to life, their engines reeving with anticipation.
Captain Parris turned around and shook Shin's hand, "It has been a pleasure, captain Nouzen. The intel you've provided will greatly aid our efforts in this planet. Expect another visit tomorrow by General Farestein and a team of techpriests to recover the downed Sentinel." He explained loudly over the engines' roars, "We'll set up our forward operating base at the stadium you've recommended to us. Good luck out there. The Emperor protects!" He added before parting ways, returning to the VTOL aircraft.
The aircrafts hovered upwards, kicking up a thick torrent of dust and dirt before swerving in place and blasting off towards the atmosphere. The other Eighty-Six gathered around Shin and Raiden, wanting to know more about the outworlders.
"Are they coming back?" Kurena asked curiously.
"Yes, they'll come back to formally create an alliance with us. They are willing to help us fight back the Legion." Shin explained flatly, "They've set up their base at the stadium and they'll expand from there."
The Spearhead Squadron remained in stunned silence. The reactions varied from a person to another. Some seemed relieved to have outside help, others were wary and cautious, some were indifferent, not sure nor confident about their new "allies".
"Do you think they'll help us end this war?" Raiden asked genuinely, "Ending the Legion once and for all?"
Shin glanced at his deputy blankly, "I can't tell. They have the firepower to do so but I don't know if it'll end this war and not start another right after." He expressed contemplatively, "Who said they won't subjugate us to their Imperium, send us out there to fight aliens or whoever they consider heretics?"
"Do you think the Major will be thrilled of the news?" Anju asked.
Shin paused and sighed deeply, "Don't know," He replied sincerely, "They seemed shocked by our conditions and frown upon the Republic's treatment of the Colorata but we didn't delved more into the subject matter. Their priority was to find out where they are in space and defeat the Legion,"
"Yeah, and some of them are extremely zealous about this "emperor" of theirs." Raiden noted worryingly, "Can't tell if they are worst than the Alba. We need to tread carefully with them and hope they won't turn their space weapons on us," He recommended to the others.
"We're keeping them at arm's reach. Don't give them too much information or they might start burning our world with the Legion," Shin added grimly.
The mood among the Eighty-Six soured, a handful were hoping that the outworlders were their liberators against the oppressive Republic of San Magnolia, wanting nothing more than to see them walk into the capital city and burn it to the ground. Theo was amongst them, crossing his arms across his chest with a deep frown.
"Doesn't matter," He suddenly spoke up, earning curious glances, "As long as they help kick the Legion out of here and destroy the Republic, I don't care what they'll do to us. It would surely be better than still being with the white pigs…" He spat venomously.
"I wouldn't be so confident about that," Lecca countered cautiously, "I've been in the same room as them and they are more concerned about themselves than us,"
"Well, apparently it isn't a first for them, speaking about human extinction level apocalypses," Kaie commented bluntly, "They told us about their Imperium spreading across a million stars and facing the same world ending extermination than us,"
"Heh? You're kidding right?" Kuroto asked in disbelief, "Don't tell me that out there, in space, there are worlds that are in the same shit as us, right?"
"The galaxy, as we know it, is fighting for its survival." Shin stated stoically, "Whole star systems were either lost or destroyed, untold billions are dying by the hour…"
"Jesus, are we really this fucked from the start?" Lev asked flabbergasted from behind the group.
"What's the point then? All of this, when we now know that there are others in the same clusterfuck as us?" Tohzan questioned direly, "Why do we keep fighting for our lives if in the end we're just a speck among a burning galaxy?" He added more agitatedly. His eyes went wide open as the realization of his futile and meaningless existence dawned on him. Feverishly holding his head, he stared at the ground in distress, "Oh God… all our friends that died… is this all for nothing? What's the point of living?" He gazed up at Shin, eyes filled with madness and hopelessness, "Please… tell me this is all a bad dream…"
Shin gazed back, his usually stern Pyrope eyes wavered with concern for his fellow processor. He could tell that Tohzan is going through an existential crisis and was increasingly going insane, not to mention that it might affect the others' morale as well. Eyeing his sidearm, he needed to secure the weapon before Tohzan could reach it and harm himself or the others.
Slowly he took a step forward, gauging his reactions. He then took another and another until he was at arm's length. Gently, he reached out and placed it softly on Tohzan's right shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze.
"I'm sorry, Tohzan, I don't know the answer to that," He answered truthfully, "I can't fathom myself the true scale of all of this… but I can tell you that what matters the most is the present and us. We're still here, we've lived another day and one day, we are all still be here at the end of the road…"
Tohzan seemed comforted by his words, his rapid and erratic breathing slowing down, his eyes closed shut as tears streamed down his face. Shin quietly dropped his arm and reached for the handgun, unclipping the holster and secured the weapon.
"Yeah… we're still here…" Tohzan repeated weakly, "We're still alive, right?"
"Yes," Shin reassured him, passing the handgun to Raiden. "Get some shut eye, okay?"
"Yeah… yeah I'll go do that…" He conceded and headed for their living quarters.
Shin looked at the others gathered behind him, their worried faces staring back at his stone-cold eyes, "All of you should get some rest before dinner, we've had an eventful day,"
Silently, the other Eighty-Six departed and spread out, each resuming their tasks or heading to bed. It was an eventful and an eye-opening day. There was a whole human civilisation out there with over a million planets under its grasp and yet, it is fighting for its very survival on a mind-boggling scale. Shin didn't know on what to make out of this new situation he has found himself but whatever tomorrow brings, he'll always be the Undertaker, the Headless Knight... the squadron's Reaper, saving their bodies, memories and souls from the Legion.
Tohzan Sasha, callsign "Gunmetalstorm", would die the next day during a routine patrol, killed by a direct hit from a Löwe anti-tank round.
General Farestein read the reconnaissance mission's after-action report that Colonel Frazyer provided to him hours earlier. The mission was an initial success, all objectives have been accomplished; contact has been established with a local garrison force and a forward operating base is under construction. A very detailed report of their enemy has been provided by the locals. Though not a traditional PDF, Captain Parris seemed confident and strongly recommends a military cooperation with them.
He would meet this captain Nouzen on the ground tomorrow and hoped that he could provide more intel on this planet and its on-going conflict. He noted that new enemy doesn't have any armour that could withstand their weapons, even the humble lasgun could destroy a majority of the Legion's unmanned drones, baring a few, heavier exceptions.
He was satisfied with the reports, now focused and determined to bring this planet under Imperial rule and to rejoin the rest of their Battlegroup for Vigilus. He estimated that this war with the Legion will be a short one, hopefully a year or less would suffice to liberate this new planet called Earth.
Author's Note: Salut, I hope you guys enjoy this story so far. I'll probably post another chapter or two before going radio silent. As always don't hesitate to review, it is incredibly helpful and yes, I do take them into consideration when writing future chapter or stories. Welp, that's about it, as always, à la prochaine!