Welcome back to The Will of Revenge! Previously, we saw the conclusion to the Battle of Leender and the arrival of new danger to the Flareian Systems. All threads are slowly coming together and all pieces are falling into place, as the war is getting closer and closer to resolution. Both sides are preparing for what might be considered the final confrontation and it's only a matter of time before the final battle begins.
Who will live, who will prevail? Who will tell the final tale? Read on to find out!
Chapter 4
September 14
13:21
Taurus III's orbit
Tyuule watched as the last of enemy warships, a Heavy Cruiser, who went down in an epic final stand, explodes in a mix of orange and purple flames. It broke into several chunks which were launched in various directions, some flying off into the vastness of space, while others started falling towards the planet. Before it went down, the ship managed to destroy four of the Andromeda Branch's warships.
Fleet Admiral sighed deeply and leaned back into her chair. She rubbed her eyes. The day long battle in the orbit was tiring for everyone involved. Sons were better prepared for their attack than during the liberation of Flareian System. What mattered was that they didn't suffer any losses in the transports. Still, the ships they did lose hurt, since they could be later used to fight the big fleet that arrived into Flareian System when they left. But this was something that could not be quickly resolved.
Looking at the radar, she confirmed that there was no enemy ship left in the orbit. This was the time for the second phase of Operation: Homecoming to begin. She activated her comms to other ships.
"All units, you are clear to begin the cleanup!"she ordered.
Next, she watched on her screens as all fighters they brought with them either leave the hangars or turn towards the surface of the planet. Many of them fell during the battle, but there was still enough for the operation.
Dozens of machines of all types started their descent towards the surface, flying through the atmosphere, surrounded by fire, pilots getting injected with the cooling cocktail so they would not be fried during the descent. After a few minutes, they crossed the atmosphere and were already on Taurus III's surface.
General Arnus Salani, head of Royal Falmartian Air Force, who decided to come here to personally lead the air charge, was completely calm. This operation was the first he took part in in years, but that didn't stop him. He still knew how to pilot a machine and he was one of the best pilots Falmart had to offer for a reason. He was an ace and he shown it through the whole battle. Now, the time has to do a cleanup.
Immediately, dozens of dots appeared on his and his flight's radars. They went into hundreds and all the other flights reported the spotting of the enemy as well. General cracked his neck and smiled.
"Let's see how will you like that, bitches."he said and connected to the rest of his pilots."All units, weapons free. Let's make some fireworks!"
"Copy."they all replied.
"Fox 3!"Arnus exclaimed.
"Fox 3!"other pilots replied.
Soon, the missiles fell off from under the wings or from the compartments inside the aircraft, flying towards the airborne and grounded SoS machines. Sons' radars, of course, detected the sudden appearance of hundreds of missiles, but they were too shocked or surprised to react. All missiles hit their marks, causing a rain of burning metal to fall from the skies or fountains of fire to erupt on the airfields. Sons air forces were thrown into a complete disarray, chaos engulfed everything.
Smile appeared on general Salani's face, seeing the Sons' machines falling from the skies like ducks.
"Tyuule, this is Salani. Cleanup has been successful."he reported.
"Copy that, general. Keep an overwatch over the planet and cover our transports."she replied.
"Understood. Let's get this over with."
Upon hearing the news, Tyuule gave orders to the transport ships to start descending towards the surface. Dropships additionally left the warships to join them, as they started to get closer and closer to the surface.
September 14
13:45
Town of Hadlight
Anger, which overwhelmed general Klausus Ho Margas, was fully justified. Complications started around twenty minutes earlier. Radio transmission from the army staff in Klaresia stopped in half a word. Nervous and mumbling voice of the staff's officer ordered him to quickly march towards Foxer Base. Right now, when he was just 10 kilometers away from Mandet, second biggest city of the Soutland Colonization Zone. And all of this without a little explanation. Radio just went silent and all tries made by communicators gave no result.
The truck drivers delivering supplies, when asked, what actually happened on the back lines, just threw up their arms. When they moved out, nothing looked like trouble. For them, it was supposed to be another day behind the driver's wheel.
Margas cursed and deeply took a drag on his cigarette. A real, from Flareian tobacco, not that Erecan shit. When one of young Legion operational officers appeared in front of him, general immediately didn't liked his tomb expression.
"It's better, if you hear this yourself, Your Highness."the twenty-or-so years old major said. Earlier, in Saderan Empire, he had to work hard for promotion. But now, Sons of Sadera were lacking good officers. Especially, when war started collecting bloody harvest.
Margas followed the major to field staff placed in large tent. Wet, and lightly musty air, hit his nostrils, when he stepped in. Immediately, he was approached by the colonel-legion's operational officer.
"What is it?"general asked unceremoniously.
"It's all unconfirmed info, but something's happening."
Margas risen his eyebrows.
"We have connection with our AA missiles battery"colonel started"and we know from them, that few minutes ago all our craft disappeared from radars. Except that, no contact with other forces."
"What are you talking about? How they disappeared, they fell asleep or what?"
"Around 13:00 air was filled with our machines. Few minutes later, all were gone. What's most interesting, there were no fighters belonging to Soutland, Former Empire or other nation observed. Simply nothing."
"So what, our and Erecan KaLs fell without reason?"
Colonel helplessly looked at his commander. Few deep breaths let Margas get a grip of his nerves.
"Something else?"
"I was privately informed, that there is a smoke visible over the Air Control Center."
"It's five kilometers from here."
Again, colonel couldn't find answer. Margas started calculating. Shipped secretly by their Laconian allies on the other side of Intergalactic Gate, Field Air Control Center was a powerful kit of radars and few trucks with computers for data processing. Additional equipment are communication, without which no operations could be done. Everything was protected by anti-air battery. There was no way for undetected air raid. Besides, there also was this strange information from Leender, ordering him to regroup. First time for a long time, he didn't knew, what to do.
"Give the regiments' commanders here."he ordered to messengers listening to the conversation. Luckily, all officers he needed were already in the staff."You heard, what happened."
Two or four hesitantly nodded. An inhuman tire was coming from their eyes. Since the start of the war, on the first line, without stop. Without them, Zorzal's 'Blitzkrieg', as this style of war was called on Earth, according to the intelligence, would be failure. Margas knew about it, but looking at their faces, he knew, that he has to squeeze out last breathe from them.
"We can't contact the army staff. But the last transmission ordered us to fall back to Foxer Base."
"It's over 1100 leagues. Is this city even in our hands?"
"From what I know, there are no forces. Nor Soutland, nor ours. But still, there probably is local self-defense."
"My tanks have full fuel, we can move out in no time."colonel Geded, most sacrificial commander in the unit, said.
"I would like it to be so easy."general still was hesitant. He was getting mad, that he had to leave his goal, which was so close, and march back. He didn't wanted to leave this so easy."I advice, that we leave one platoon from armored regiment and one centuria. Should be enough. I don't want to capture this city again."
Later…
Decimus couldn't believe in what he heard. It couldn't be true, more likely sick joke or misunderstanding.
"We have to turn around and run?"
Commander of the platoon, one of Erecan commanders, pretended, that didn't heard that. His predecessor died in undefined circumstances, when he went to do the nature and didn't came back. He was found later, with cut throat. Of course, all of this was said to be done by 'Andromeda Branch terrorists', but everyone in the cohort knew, that lieutenant was simple son of a bitch and snitch.
"Heat up engines, we're moving out in twenty minutes."
Platoon walked in separate directions. Decimus, Aulus and Jeos stood next to their Leonidas -21. On the square tower, two of the reactive protection cartridges were missing, a trace after Andromeda Branch anti-tank weaponry. Cartridges filled with explosives could spread the cumulative from enemy shells. Two times, they made it, but one time, the shell could finally pierce the armor and kill the crew.
Leo-21 also had other traces of battle. Broken frontal lights and scars after bullets from Soutland heavy machine gun showed, that the crew found themselves in trouble not once, not twice.
"When I hear these idiots, I feel sick."Jeos said.
"You just have to do the orders."Aulus had as gloomy expression as his colleagues."Besides, I feel defeatism in your voice, and it's punishable."
"I thing everyone in Higher Ups simply gone mad. I never expected much sense about them, but this is too much."
"Although, they know something we don't."Decimus said, scratching back of his head in thought. The lack of field baths was another problem.
From behind the trees, a courier dropship took off. On the height of fifty meters, it made turn, turned East and disappeared.
"I tell you, something is happening."Decimus didn't wanted to stop.
"Shit hit the vent and we're gonna get hit."Jeos said, sitting in his mechanic place. Decimus grabbed the tank gun and pulling himself up, jumped on the armor.
The roar of activated engines from the back of the column pointed, that the entire battalion started to turn on the road by 180 degrees. Luckily, a machine like Leo-21 could basically do it in place.
Decimus yawned and corrected his headphones. There was still time to 06:00, yet the day already started to look shitty.
September 14
15:47
Road leading to Nera
2nd Tank Cohort of 1st Armored Legion moved down the comfortable road. Cavalcade was opened by the 1st Cohort.
From the map of continent, which was in hands of Decimus Sedvis, it seemed, that they still had fifteen kilometers to Foxer Base.
Idyllic landscape on both sides of the road reminded him about his hometown, back on Flare Prime. Mostly fields and glades, forests there and there. The buildings in nearby villages looked like the others he already saw on Taurus III. Even here, there was bigger order than his village of Dar, where he lived before leaving with his father.
The atmosphere was making him calm and he didn't wanted to let his guard down. Everything would be good, if not one detail. Since very morning, he didn't seen any of their crafts in the sky and even with best binoculars, he couldn't see any vessel in the orbit. Earlier, it wasn't so hard to do it. So what happened now?
In front of him, he saw shapes of five preceding vehicles. Sitting on the tank turret, he had the great view on this, what happened in front of him. He didn't care about the back of the column. Next to him, supporting himself on the hatch, Aulus was taking a nap, approaching everything with indifference for few days now. A clear sign of crew fatigue, after being tossed from place to place.
Decimus looked at the nice, wooden inn next to the road. Under big umbrellas in colors of Kingdom of Soutland flag, few tables were placed for the guests, wanting to stop and rest during the journey. However, there were no cars on the parking lot and nobody drank coffee under the umbrellas.
Sudden impulse told him to look around the horizon. Black, thick smoke coming up wished trouble. Except of caterpillars clatter and sound of tank engine, he didn't heard anything, what could say about battle taking place. His headphones were silent, too.
"Aulus, wake up!"
Decimus tagged his friend by the collar of the suit. Gunner, opening his sleepy eyes, didn't looked aware, where he is. Just after second, he noticed the same. Without more words, they both dived inside the Leo-21.
"Century, look out, possible enemy contact."radio finally said what they knew about.
"Possible?! This idiot is blind perhaps!"Decimus jumped towards the periscope and looked outside. First tank of his company just exploded, throwing white-orange flames from open hatches. Sergeant also saw, that commander of hit tank was thrown far away from his vehicle. Actually, it was just the torso, without legs.
"Activate the smoke screen!"captain ordered.
"Turn right! Jeos, get us off of the road!"Decimus ordered to the driver.
Fifty-seven tone colossus pulled over to the side of the road. Decimus activated the smoke grenade launcher on the sides of the turret and charges were shot in the air. Before they covered the area in smoke, Sedvis saw enemy tanks driving off the hills. No more than one thousand two hundred meters. Square, flat turrets and low hulls didn't looked like the older T-105 or M4A3 tanks.
Cold thrill went down Decimus' back. Challengers! Since very beginning, they were told, that Andromeda Branch won't use them in battle! Smiles and double sided words showed, that guys from the intelligence had to take care of this. And now what?
"Tanks in front."he ordered."Load in sub-caliber!"
The shell went inside the gun.
"Fire!"
They hit. Emotions grabbed Decimus' throat. He tracked the enemy with awareness. Challenger they hit moved forward, like nothing happened. They got ricochet, or armor was resistant to their shells.
"Left, left!"Decimus shouted at Jeos.
Now, they were the target. The vehicle was shaken, when they fell into twist in the field. This, however, saved their lives. Shell sent at them flew over. Decimus didn't waste time. They hid behind burning Leo-21 from their unit.
The commander's orders about smoke screen gave no results. Only they fired the smoke grenades. White cloud was already being blown away by wind and black smoke dominated the battlefield. Whole company was crushed. They showed themselves like at a shooting range, driving down the road, where they fell victim to much bigger predators.
September 14
15:51
Squad T, 5th Tank Regiment 'Sole Riders'
Captain Alden Halled couldn't look away from his thermal vision. In front of him, the shapes of Sons of Sadera's Leo-21 could be seen. Until now, they destroyed seven enemy tanks. Remaining three were still looking for cover, but they were taken care of too. Satisfaction was even bigger, when he noticed, that none of his tanks was even damaged. Only one time they found themselves in real danger, when enemy shell hit his vehicle. Vibrations bounced inside the turret. Alden got stiff. A heat wave went through his body and then, he got covered in cold sweat. Armor withstood that.
"Drake, blast him."
Gunner looked for the Leo-21, which fired at them and fired.
Miss.
"One more."
Leo-21 hid behind an obstacle.
"Doesn't matter, we'll take care of him later."gunner said, setting the targeting computer. Searching the field, Alden noticed more incoming Leo-21s, Erecan Namasz tanks and Achilles IFVs. Small fight at the beginning, it started to change into real battle.
"Leave that idiot."Alden ordered."Enemy tank at 11 o'clock."
Gunner found another target. Shot. Gun recoil shook the Challenger.
"Still good, that King Arlan bought a bunch of them from UNSA during Post-Great Galactic War Disarmament."Alden thought.
Captain looked around. Son of Sadera's tank got direct hit in the hull, stopped and gun fell towards the ground. It could be said, that hydraulics and electric systems were destroyed. Still, Zorzal's troops were lucky, that ammo and fuel inside didn't exploded.
Over the battlefield, at the height of three thousand meters, UNSA-made MQ-107 was circling around. Truly, it was sent here to bomb the enemy column, but seeing how good Andromeda Branch tanks and soldiers were doing, it just observed. Now, it was just sending information to it's pilot. Electronics were kings both in the air and land. Operator of the drone, hidden in armored command vehicle, watched the fight.
Nine AB Challengers simply decimated Leo-21 company, but situation didn't look good. More and more enemy units were coming from the West. On the monitor, at least fifty tanks and APCs were visible, coming towards the fight.
Major, commanding the team, leaned over the monitor.
"Look, sir. Entire battalion will reach Squad T soon."operator said, moving the camera.
Now, they could see, how big advantage the enemy had.
"Good, very good."major didn't looked worried. Instead, he grabbed the radio."Uhlan Two and Three, move to positions near Nera. I repeat: Uhlan Two…
His voice sank in the sound of dropship engines. It didn't matter. His order got where it was supposed to. Two more Andromeda Branch companies moved into action.
After few minutes of silence, after watching the situation unfolding, new task was given to the UAV.
"Move the 107 to quadrant 14B."major ordered."Let's check, if they pulled their artillery in."
Inert about human life, machine moved to another position.
September 14
15:56
1st Armored Legion staff, West of Nera
General Klausus Ho Margas had a feeling, that he's gonna explode. He knew, that nothing good will come out of this march. He found out about it, hitting the stone, or more precisely, metal wall of enemy tanks.
Small forest hid him and legion's staff in it's shadowy inside. From the communication vehicles set up on it's outskirts, only bad news were coming, about fighting happening everywhere around him. Hot, cloudless day slowly started turning into nightmare. Making few steps from his tent, he could see entire horizon covered in thick, black smoke. Sometimes, they were single piles, other times more then one, symbolizing the battle unfolding. General couldn't believe in what happened. Or more precisely, he didn't wanted to let it sink.
"We have information about heavy fighting near Nera."staff's chief said, looking at the incoming reports."What do we do?"
General started analyze the situation. If the main road was blocked, maybe move around Andromeda Branch's positions. The worst thing was, that he didn't knew anything about the enemy.
It couldn't be any accident, that they met Andromeda Branch tanks here. Actually, nothing was lost yet, he still could fall back, but this didn't depended on him.
"Tell Nevan to keep the enemy occupied and we'll try to move around them."he said to waiting staff's chief."One hundred twenty tanks of the legion should do it, but how many of them are still operational?"he thought.
Smoke was pointing, that there were less of them. Used in right moment, second armored regiment could turn the tables. But where is the best point to break the enemy? Map, one of the most important things in the staff, was placed in front of him. North or South? More likely North. In case of complications, they could fall back towards nearby river.
September 14
15:58
Air scout was circling around the sky. It was high enough, that he didn't pulled any attention, when it made another circle ordered by the operator.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"the operator, UNSA Milky Way Branch operative sent to train Andromeda Branch operators, watched the screen.
"Yes, corporal?"
"Please look, major. Looks like concentration of comms vehicles, maybe a staff is nearby."
"Zoom."
Corporal, using his keyboard, changed the zoom. Now the view, which earlier presented general overview, showed detail: several trucks with characteristic roof, covering comms equipment, two Amstaff APCs and Erecan-made Fint armored car. All parked around large copse.
"Looks promising. Mark it."
"We hit?"corporal asked.
"Not so fast."major replied."We look for bigger victim first."
UAV's camera again changed for general overview. Pictures on the screen now changed like in a war movie. Road, on which units of Sons of Sadera's legion moved, looked fully occupied. Two rows were occupied by cavalcades of ammo trucks and mobile fuel tanks. In the middle of this, Laconian self-propelled guns from legion's artillery battalion were stuck. Twenty four 160mm monsters could easily destroy every resistance. But well. To set up the artillery, space was needed. And there was none.
"Target coordinates?"
"Alpha-Oscar-One-One."
"That's what I'm talking about."
September 14
16:01
First shells of Andromeda Branch artillery fell on the car column just few seconds after the order was given and exploded between squeezed vehicles. Some drivers tried to run, turning into the forest. But it didn't do much. Just few of them managed to dodge the trees, so they escaped one hundred meters from the road, but they were reached here, too.
Soon, normal artillery was joined by Russian-made BM-155 rocket artillery. Although being one of the oldest weapons in UNSA arsenal, it still could give a punch. Another salvos massacred the enemy soldiers from logistic and repair troops. But they were not the main target.
Heavy, caterpillar SPGs looked quite like tanks. Giant gun put on Leo-21 hull. Whole construction looked heavy, but this didn't change it's effectiveness. To prove this, however, space was needed. Placed in straight line they became easy prey. They were armored, but their armor protected only from small arms fire and shrapnel. Direct or even close hit changed them into burning pieces of metal.
More salvos teared metal apart and killed soldiers. Oil, which leaked from damaged fuel tanks, was now everywhere and everywhere they reached burning vehicles, they caught on fire. Even worse, the oil let the fire reach artillery shells transported behind the guns, which started exploding, only adding to the chaos. Nobody even tried to save them.
"What the hell?"Klausus looked up from his map, surprised by the sounds behind his back. Rest of the officers just cuddles themselves, not knowing, what to do.
Not only in front, but also behind him, piles of smoke were flying into the sky. Just now, general orientated, that this is the end of his legion. He got tricked, like complete idiot. He still tried to find any excuse, when first shells landed in his staff.
September 14
16:11
Alden tried to count burning Leo-21s and Achilleses, but he stopped quickly, there were too many of them. First reports told about around sixty enemy vehicles destroyed. He and his crew could be happy from four of them.
Own loses were minimal. Two destroyed Challengers and four more damaged. One of them came from his platoon and members of Squad T burned inside, what only made him more sad and pissed.
Radio came to life.
"Alden, what are the orders?"voice of infantry commander said.
Squad T leader grabbed the radio.
"Look for any survivors. If you find anyone, kill at place."he ordered.
"Roger that."another soldier replied.
Soldiers and vehicles of Squad T started moving forward. Several Achilleses and Amstaffs, hidden behind cover, tried to fall back.
"Free fire."Alden said to the gunner."Look for Leo-21s."
"Sure thing, captain. I'm willing to kill few more bastards."gunner replied.
Five seconds didn't passed, when gun fired a shell. They hit Achilles. Captain had a feeling, that battle was coming to an end, only artillery was still hitting into the forests. From behind them, Catcher and Hellcat APCs, until now hidden on the second line, came. They didn't seemed fit for the armored battle, which happened here. They had other tasks otherwise. Now, their 40 and 30mm guns looked for potential targets. But most of the enemy troops was dead or dying inside the vehicles. Fights continued, however. The further they got, the greater resistance they met. Infantry armed in anti-tank weapons responded with fire there and there. But mostly, they died under Challengers' caterpillars or from guns.
But more and more enemies started to surrender. They lifted their arms in the air and waited to be taken.
"Is it over, sir?"driver asked from the his seat.
Alden didn't knew what to say. He didn't knew, what driver meant. The end of today's battle, or that the war took unexpected turn.
"The beginning of the end, that's for sure."Alden replied."But I would wait with final conclusion."
Inside of the tank was filled with smell of sweat and Squad T leader couldn't stand the heat. He decided to carefully open the hatch and look around for enemy snipers. When he was made sure, he grabbed the MG-17 machine gun next to the hatch and started to look for enemy marauders.
He was right. Shapes of enemy soldiers moved behind the trees, trying to run away from the massacre. One of them aimed the anti-tank launcher at Challenger. They still seemed shocked by what just happened.
Alden didn't hesitated. He turned the machine gun at them and pulled the trigger. Bullets hit the enemy right when he was pulling the trigger himself. Missile flew up, leaving white smoke behind it. Soldiers of Squad T quickly took care of remaining enemy soldiers.
Alden wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He exhausted the luck limit for long, long time.
September 14
16:45
Leo-21, 2nd Cohort, 1st Armored Legion
The heat inside the tank was overwhelming. The three men crew of the tank just sat inside, unable to say anything. Although it was so long after it started, they still couldn't get themselves out of the initial shock.
"They simply drove over us."Jeos said first."We're gonna sit here any longer?"
"Shit, it's so hot."Aulus added.
"Okay, we're getting out."Decimus said.
The three opened their hatches and immediately got hit by the smell of burned meat and scratching smoke.
They looked around and tried to find anyone alive. But everywhere they looked, they could see burning wrecks and dead bodies. Also, a smell of burning meat reached them. From far away, sounds of shots could be heard. It seemed, like Andromeda Branch forces simply passed them.
"What do we do now?"Jeos asked.
Decimus tried to contact any friendlies, but he couldn't. Only response was static. He looked on his crew.
"How many fuel we have left?"he asked.
"Around ¾. Why do you ask?"Jeos replied.
"We should try and move forward, towards the closest allied position. Maybe they'll let us join in fight."
Aulus looked at him with scared eyes.
"You want us to move through enemy lines?"he asked.
"You have any better ideas?"Decimus replied.
This closed Aulus' lips. The three dived back inside the tank.
"Forward."Decimus ordered.
Leo-21 came back to life and came back on the road. It drove over destroyed truck and continued down the road, hoping to soon get to the nearest allied troops.
September 14
16:53
UTDF's Staff
Seeing allied ships appear in the skies was something Harlen thought he'd never see again.
As she saw the giant shapes of Freighters and Andromeda Branch dropships coming down from the skies, his heart raced with anticipation. It was finally the time they waited for. They survived. They endured. They were the ones who will ultimately come out on top. He was sure of it.
Landing the ships, however, was a different thing. The area the staff was located at at the time had no place for the transports to land. This is why they had to land around fifty kilometers South of it's current position, where they found clearing large enough for them to land on. Harlen packed everyone up in a record speed and the convoy moved again, this time to meet their saviors. Currently, they were driving into the clearing the ships landed on.
Several Freighters already had their landing gear extended and their loading ramps lowered. Some personnel was running around, doing something, while others watched and directed the newly arrived convoy. Finally, they were told to stop, allowing Harlen to come out of his vehicle as the signal troops started showing the vehicles the way.
As she stood there and watched, another dropship came down to land next to his location. When the side door opened, Harlen smiled seeing a familiar Warrior Bunny woman walking out of it.
"Fleet Admiral Tyuule came all this way from orbit to see me?"he said, trying to sound amusing."I'm honored."
"You should be."she deadpanned.
General let out a hoarse laugh.
"In all seriousness, it's great to see you."he said."I won't lie, you are saving our asses here. But that was expected."
"Still, sorry we couldn't come sooner. Would save many lives in the process…"she admitted, sighting.
"It's still good that you came anyway."Harlen hit the inside of his hand with his fist."Now, we can launch a counterattack and…"
"There will be no counterattack."Tyuule said firmly.
Harlen blinked a few times.
"What?"he asked.
"There will be no counterattack."she said again."At least not for now. Plans changed. We're here to evacuate all allied forces from the planet."
"What?!"general exclaimed."You want to tell me…that we spilled so much blood…bought so much time for you…waited your arrival and help in hope of pushing the enemy back…ONLY FOR YOU TO COME HERE AND TELL US THAT WE HAVE TO CURL OUR TAILS AND RUN AWAY?!"
Hearing him scream turned several people's head, but they quickly lost interest. Tyuule was unmoved by Harlen's anger.
"I know what we promised, but situation changed."Tyuule replied.
"What changed?"Harlen asked.
"There are hundreds of enemy ships currently coming to Flare Prime. With thousands of soldiers aboard. It's more than sure that is an invasion fleet. When Pina learned about it, she decided that all hands will be needed if we have to push them back and thus, that Taurus III must be abandoned. At least temporarily."
General Ordell tried to argue with that, but he knew, that this was reasonable thinking. To abandon less valuable location to defend more valuable one. No matter how much life did the defense of the less valuable location cost.
Harlen took a deep breath.
"If you say so."he said.
"I'm really sorry. I know how much did this war cost you here."Tyuule tried to reason with him."But these are orders from the very top. Besides, what will the liberation of Taurus III give us if we lose Flare Prime."
"I know. Sorry for my burst."Harlen replied.
"No worries. I understand."
Harlen then looked at the soldiers directing vehicles and other soldiers aboard the vessels. He could see some soldiers arguing about it, but after some time, the arguments were quelled and everyone simply followed the orders, as the convoy started getting loaded aboard the ships.
As he watched, something caught his eye.
"What the…?"he asked.
He saw Imri, standing among all this, kissing with some Soutlandian soldier. Passionately and fiery.
"Imri!"Harlen exclaimed, running up to them."What the hell are you doing?!"
"Private Mertin!"a captain, most likely the soldier's commander, exclaimed as well."Are you nuts?! Do you know who that is?!"
"Yes."Mertin replied, turning towards them when he stopped kissing Imri."She's my wife."
The two widened their eyes, seeing none other than Arlan himself, wearing the Soutlandian Army uniform. They looked at it, completely shocked.
"Arlan…?"Harlen asked.
"Y-Your Highness…"Halbert murmured."I-I had no clue…"
"Don't sweat it, captain. You were just doing your job."Arlan then looked at his step-brother, smiling."How have you been, Harl?"
Harlen didn't answer. Instead, he approached the king and without a warning, he closed Arlan in a right hug.
"You have no idea how much I missed you, you moron."Harlen said.
"Same here, you hothead."Arlan replied.
The two brothers laughed.
"Sorry that I couldn't fully protect Imri and others…"general said.
"I already told you not to worry about it."Imri said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah. What matters is that she's alive."Arlan added with a smile."But…where is Nina?"
Harlen tensed.
"She…stayed behind in Leender."he admitted.
"What?"Arlan asked, a tone of anger in his voice.
"She joined Civil Defense."general explained."She was somewhere in the city when we had to evacuate. There was no time to look for her. We had to immediately evacuate, otherwise we would land in enemy hands."
"Don't worry."Imri said, putting a hand on her husband's arm."She can take care of herself. She'll be fine. Trust me."
Arlan looked at her and then at Harlen. He sighed and nodded.
"Alright. Sorry. I overreacted."he said.
"No. It's my fault. I should've stopped her."
"You can be sorry if she turns out to be dead. For now, let's focus on what we can do."
"Indeed."Tyuule said, joining them."We have to quickly leave the planet. Who knows what's happening in Flareian System while we're here."
Everyone agreed and returned to their tasks, some observing the loading process, while others were helping.
September 14
17:07
Somewhere in Soutlandian C.Z.
It was a few days since they were forced to continue on their journey instead of going to Leender to help. They were tired. So tired. But they knew they had to continue their march. The farther from Sons, the better.
Dora was leading, with Maddie and Hal behind her, in that order. They currently going through an expansive grass field, where grass reached to their waists. But they didn't find any allies. Nobody at all. Nobody…
"I'm hungry…"Simon whined.
"Shut up…"Fenis replied."Or I will get hungry too…"
Right then, both of their stomachs growled loudly. Others winced. They all had the same feeling as them.
"Why can't we go hunting again?"Jesper asked."I'm sure we could eat some of the local animals…"
"Did you see them?"Edvin asked."I may have a durable stomach, but even I will not want to eat a giant, Human-sized mantis."
Everyone shuddered at the memory of that encounter. They ran into a flock of Human-sized, mantis like creatures that roamed the nearby forests. They were most likely the first to encounter them, as there was no mentioning of these things in any guide to the planet. But still, even after this time, on a planet this size, it was not surprising that there were types of animals that were still not uncovered.
Either way, that meeting didn't go well. The Taurantis, as Jesper called them, were not asking for directions. They simply attacked them, what resulted in a minutes long fight. Additionally to slashing with their blades, they also could fire spikes from their mouths. At the same time, the mantis seemed to act too organized for a species of animals. Maybe it required further investigations, but there was no time for that.
They took them out and decided to quickly move away. Since then, they were just continuing to walk, stopping only for the night. And even then, half of them didn't sleep, expecting more of those things to appear.
Either way, they situation didn't look good. If there wouldn't be any miracle, they would either starve to death…or simply decide to take the easy way out.
Dora shook her head. They could not think about that one. They should hope for the best. Hope was the last thing they had left.
"Dora…"Maddie said."Where will we go now?"
Major sighed.
"I don't know…"she admitted."I'm running out of ideas."
"Same."Hal said."This whole thing is so fucked up."
"Wow, when you start using these words, then it really is screwed up."Stig said, shaking his head.
"Can't argue, though."Dora added.
Everyone let out a deep sigh. They were really going through some shit. So long, in uncharted areas of the planet, with barely any contact with civilization…The fact they made it this far was admirable. The whole situation on the planet was fucked up from the start. But they survived. The question is, for how much longer?
Suddenly, Dora heard a familiar sound. Buzzing sound. Sound, that was made by…
"Something's coming."Dora said, showing everyone to stop.
They immediately knelt on one knee, the tall grass now nearly completely covering them. They looked around, trying to figure out what's coming. Finally, Dora's eyes fell on an object that flew out from behind the trees far to their right. Fenis and Lydia immediately lifted their weapons and looked through their scopes towards it. Everyone was on the tips of their toes.
"What do you see?"Maddie asked.
"It's a dropship…"Fenis said.
"Skyhawk."Lydia added."With Falmartian markings."
Everyone looked at each other. Their hearts started racing.
"Allied? Or commandeered by SoS?"Dora asked.
"No idea…"Lydia admitted.
Gears in Dora's head started moving. They had two options. It was either a machine sent from Falmartian C.Z. to Soutlandian C.Z. to support the defense against Sons and was now doing some combat patrol. Meanwhile, the second option, which was unfortunately more plausible, was that it was a machine captured by the Sons and used to patrol the area. Either way, they wouldn't have much use of it. Still…
Without saying a word, she reached to her belt and pulled out her flare gun. She pointed it towards the skies and fired it. Everyone else looked at her, wide-eyed, while the red light flew up towards the skies.
"Dora, are you sure it's a good idea?"Hal asked.
"If it isn't, then you can kick my ass once we see each other on the other side."Dora replied.
"You bet."Stig agreed.
Watching the flare go up, they also noticed how the dropship changed directions and was now coming towards them. Slowly, it became bigger and bigger, until the machine finally reached the area next to them and slowly came to landing. The side door opened and one of the crew members came out.
Right after he did that, they all rose up and aimed their weapons at him.
"State your affiliation!"Dora ordered.
"Lieutenant Centries Flavius!"the man replied."Royal Falmartian Navy!"
"RFN?"Hal asked."What proof do you have?"
"More importantly, how and why would RFN come so far and only now?"Maddie asked.
"For the past months, we were blocked in the Flareian System."lieutenant explained."Only in the last few weeks we managed to lift the blockade. We came here to take everyone home. And we were sent to patrol the are for any possible enemy activity."
Dora squinted at him. He was saying all that with straight face. Which meant that either he was a very good liar, or…telling the truth.
"How can we know you're not lying?"Dora asked.
"I have no proof and I get why are you so suspicious. But tell me. If we were Sons, would we land and talk with you instead of doing a strafing run and just shooting you?"Flavius argued.
Dora frowned. Yeah, that was a good argument. She lowered her weapons.
"You have a point…"she admitted.
"It's actually surprising we ran into someone out here. We thought all allied forces were either loading or coming to get aboard the ships."lieutenant stated.
"What?"Maddie asked."You mean, we're leaving Taurus III?"
Lieutenant Centries Flavius nodded.
"Yes. There are hundreds of enemy vessels gathering in Flareian System, we saw them while leaving. The higher ups decided to change the operation from helping in a counterattack to a mass evacuation. All forces that can get from one planet to another are to return to Flare Prime, as it is the most likely target for the enemy."
Everyone lowered their weapons and looked at each other. What he was saying did make sense. So maybe he was actually telling truth…?
"So?"Flavius asked."Are you gonna aim at me the whole time, or are we gonna actually do something with the fact we found you?"
Dora glanced at Hal and Maddie, who nodded slightly. Major sighed and looked back at the lieutenant.
"Alright. We'll go with you."she said."But try doing something shifty and I promise, you will be closely acquainted with this."
Saying that, she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword. Seeing this, Flavius nodded.
"Got it."he said."Now, welcome aboard."He moved away, freeing the way aboard the machine.
Everyone approached the dropship and started climbing aboard, looking at the lieutenant, who looked back at them. They still struggled to accept his words as true, but at this point, they were willing to risk. They didn't show it, but they were really desperate. And if there was at least a slight chance at getting back home, they were gonna take it.
As Dora sat down as the last, Flavius jumped into the dropship and the side door closed. Flavius sat at the crew seat next to the door and looked at them.
"Don't worry."he said calmly."You're going back home."
And with these words, everyone felt a sudden relief.
XXX
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