Welcome back, everyone, to another chapter of The Will of Revenge. Last time we've seen each other, we witnessed the finale of the short, let's call it trilogy, focusing on Operation: Axer. And as it turned out, the operation appeared to be largely a success, except of some outliers. So, let's see what was the aftermath of this undertaking. And we will also visit some other people.

But before that, reviews.

To Supreme Supra: And he took it. And it didn't go well.

Okay, with that done, let's get into it.

Part Four

Aftermath

Chapter 1

July 16, 2166

07:01

Skandian C.Z.

The sun slowly started rising on the horizon. A chill wind was blowing from the North, rustling the leaves of birch-like trees that formed a forest around. Numerous bird-like creatures sat between the branches, curiously observing a pack of animals, which was eating grass growing in the glade.

They were big, yet not because of their weight, but their muscle mass. They had large, sharp horns growing out of their heads and bending back. Their fur was in various shades of green, what easily allowed them to hide from numerous predators, which roamed parts of Taurus III still unclaimed by Humans or anyone else. They had six legs, four further in front and two in the back. Their six blue eyes were calm, but when danger came, these creatures would go into offensive and their eyes would be covered by a protective membrane. They lived on this planet for hundreds of years, once being true kings of the forests and wild lowlands.

But when the first wave of colonization came, they simultaneously lost their position, as settlers started hunting them either for research, food or just sport, what led to them receiving their scientific name, Cervus Taurus Caprae, and their more popular name, taurusian deergoat. This forced them to retreat into more suitable areas, far away from settlements, where they tried to have a calm, more normal life. And so they hoped for today.

But they wouldn't have it.

A short, muffled explosion sounded. Not long after, one of the deergoats stood on it's two back legs, before falling over to it's side. It's kicked it's legs for a minute, before freezing still, not moving anymore. Rest of the pack, seeing the death of their comrade, quickly turned and ran away.

"Great shot, Fenis."

"Thanks, sir."

"I already told you, call me Maddie."
"Sure."

The two of them stood up from the wet ground. They only had their sniper riffles and sidearms with them and, slowly, they approached the deceased creature, awaiting it to stand up and attack them. But it didn't happen.

"What would we do without you?"Maddie asked.
"And I was told my interest in hunting will not be useful in the military."Fenis replied, smiling."Okay, let's get the stuff."

Saying that, he put down his riffle and pulled out his knife, before starting to skin the animal.

Maddie stood there, watching, as the Apprentice continued his work, and making sure nothing will surprise them. And at this point, she was overtaken by memories.

It's been a few weeks since the faithful fight with SoS' troops. Death of Vincent and the rest of their team was a shock to them all. But it was especially hard for Fenis and Simon. There was a strong bond connecting each Apprentice with their Ranger teacher. And seeing them killed off just like that was something what would hunt them for nobody knew how long. And her too, for that matter.

Fortunately for them, Sons decided, that there was no chance anybody survived. So they straight up left, but of course not before first taking anything they could with themselves, including all kinds of communication equipment, and burning the bodies afterward. Maddie, Fenis and Simon could only lay in hiding, watching, as bodies of their comrades in arms were being desecrated by their enemies.

After they were sure that enemy left for sure, they came out of hiding. They were everything that was left from their Rangers' squad. And worse, they didn't have their radios. They left them at the contact point and there was no reason of going back there to retrieve them. There was a possibility, that Sons have already discovered it. And if they didn't, using radios they'd retrieve from there would risk in being detected by enemy, who certainly reinforced their communication and electronic security. So they had to leave them.

And so, they were stuck here, behind enemy lines. Knowing their hard situation, Maddie had to take the command of the situation. Fenis and Simon didn't protest. She decided, that if they wanted to survive and, hopefully, reach allied lines, they had to ration their ammo and provisions. But that didn't help them, as just after a week, they ran out of food and water. This is why they had to resort to hunting local animals. Fortunately, it was long ago determined, that meat of animals from Taurus III wasn't dangerous for Humans. And Fenis, with his hunting hobby, made sure they were well fed until they reach their allies.

While Maddie was thinking all that, Fenis managed to skin the animal, take all the meet he could for them and they made their way to the small camp they made several kilometers away from the glade.

"Look what we have."Fenis declared.

Simon, sitting near their makeshift fireplace, was cleaning his LMG. He looked up towards them.

"What do you have?"he asked.

"A deergoat meat!"Fenis said, putting down the meat he gathered."We'll be fed for another few days.

"What would we do without you, huh?"Simon replied, smirking, and returned to cleaning his weapon.

Maddie just sat down under the tree and took her riffle, which was laying next to it. She then proceeded to watch what the other two were doing. Simon, of course, continued cleaning his weapon. And when he was done, he started taking care of his sniper riffle and handgun. If one thing could be said about him, it's that he cared when it came to his weapons.

Fenis, in the meantime, started cutting meat into smaller parts, then wrapping them up into bandages. Due to the fact they didn't have anything else to wrap the meat into, they had to go with a compromise. Apprentice also left some meat for them to eat for breakfast and started lighting up flame with his lighter.

Maddie decided to not question where he got it the first time she saw it. It wasn't a part of normal Ranger equipment and smoking was prohibited in the Corp.

She then felt something weird and started smelling. It wasn't the fire lit up by Fenis. It was not the forest around them, but something else. Finally, she decided to to smell herself and finally knew, where did the smell came from.

"Not bathing for few weeks will do that do you."she thought.

Maddie stood up.

"Stay here, I'm gonna find some place to take a bath."she said."Just don't wander off anywhere, okay?"
"Then how about we go with you?"Simon asked, rising his eyebrow.

In response, he received a kick in the ribs from Fenis.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"Fenis exclaimed as silently as he could.
"I was kidding!"Simon replied.
"There is a time and place for jokes! And it's not the right time and place!"

"I'm sorry!"

Maddie just shook her head and left. Fortunately, she found a small pond two kilometers away from their camp.

She returned a few hours later, to find Fenis and Simon sitting around their small campfire, roasting the pieces of deergoat meat. They were silent and sending meaningful looks towards each other. But when Fenis noticed that Maddie have just returned, he picked up a stick with piece of meat on it.
"For you."he said.

"Thanks."Maddie replied, sitting down and taking the stick.

And so, they sat silently, eating their breakfast, dinner and supper at the same time. They had to eat enough to have energy for the entire day. They were marching North, towards Leender, where they hoped to link up with any allies. They knew that Erak City was closer, but going there posed a bigger threat of being noticed and caught by the enemy. And while they were going North, they didn't meet any enemy patrols.

And none allied, for that matter.

"Do you hear that?"Simon asked.
"What, your next stupid joke?"Fenis snapped.
"No, listen."

They all went silent and listened. And after a while, they actually recognized the sound they became all too familiar with by the last one and a half decade.

A jet engine.

"Look!"Fenis exclaimed.

He pointed up and everyone quickly looked in the direction. Soon after, a familiar shape of Eurofighter Cyclone flew over their heads, smoking heavily. It disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. A few seconds later, they heard a sound of loud crash.

"That was unexpected."Simon said.
"We have to go."Maddie said, standing up.

She quickly started collecting her equipment.
"What?"Simon asked.

"She's right, we have to check, if the pilot made it."Fenis said, also standing up.

"Alright, fine…"Simon moaned.

"How did you even get into the Corp?"Fenis asked.
"I just did, I also ask myself that question."

"There's no time for this. Let's go."Maddie said.

She quickly stepped on the campfire a few times, before the fire completely disappeared. After that, the three Rangers were gone.

They were running through the forest, carefully watching to not fall or hurt themselves in any other way. The only thing they needed right now, was some of them tripping and needing to be carried.

They made their way out of the forest and in front of them, they saw a large, open field. As far as eye could see, there was nothing but an empty field of grass, with some single trees or small forests.

And a crashed fighter that was smoking.

While crashing, the machine left a long trail in the ground. Surprisingly, it didn't explode after impact, which was a good news. The other good news was, that even from this far, the three could see a movement near the machine.

Slowly leaving the forest and making their way towards the crashed aircraft, the three Rangers scanned the area around them, making sure, that there were no enemies nearby. It was true that they didn't meet any enemy forces while making their way North, but nothing was set in stone. After all, who wouldn't get interested by an enemy fighter that crashed in the territory controlled by you?

The closer they got, the easier it became to recognize the markings on the machines. It was a Skandian aircraft. Next to the wreck was sitting a pilot, still wearing his helmet. Maddie gave signals for Fenis and Simon to secure the area, while she came up to the pilot. She knelt in front of him and touched his arm.
"Can you hear me?"she asked.

Pilot slowly lifted up his head, looking at her. She could see his face through the visor. It didn't show any emotions.

She grabbed the helmet and slowly removed it, then put it down. Pilot didn't even react.

"Can you speak?"
"Y-Yes…"pilot replied weakly.

Maddie examined him very fast. He didn't appear to have any visible injuries. He might have some internal ones, but she had no way of checking it. None of them was equipped with medical scanner.

"What happened?"she asked.

"We…were on a…mission…"pilot said."Enemy convoy…bombing…"

These were good news. At least it meant, that by the time they were traveling, the defenders didn't surrender the planet.

"Turned out they were…expecting this…A full enemy squadron covered them. There were…only three of us…Byornsson and Sigurd didn't make it…"
Right then, he laughed in a way, that sent chills down Maddie's spine.
"Fucking Axer…It had to stop them…Fuck that…"

"Axer?"Maddie asked."What is that?"

"There was…an offensive…we hit em…with everything…It worked, actually…We pushed them back a lot, we were winning…But it was temporary…They…ultimately got it…together…and…"He simply stopped.

Fenis and Simon returned.

"We checked the area."Fenis reported.
"Nothing in the radius of several dozen kilometers."Simon added. Then pointed at the pilot with his LMG."How about this guy?"
"Shaken, but relatively okay."Maddie replied."You can come with us."she said to the pilot.

But he just shook his head.

"No, I don't…wanna…slow you down."he said."You better…go without me…"

"But we…"
"No…You have to go…I bet they will…come sooner…or later…But there is…one last thing…you can do for me…"
"What is it?"Maddie asked softly.

Pilot looked up at her face. His eyes were empty.

"Kill me."

July 16

12:01

Unified Staff, Leender

"I don't care!"Harlen exclaimed."You have to hold on!"
"We're doing our best here, sir!"Ortanson replied in the radio. His words were almost muffled by heavy gunfire."But they're throwing everything they have at us! Margas must be pissed from here to New York!"

"We know, but you are to keep them occupied!"

"Me and colonel Rad's deputy are doing what we can! But we don't know, how long can we hold them off before we ave to retreat!"
"I understand. Inflict as many losses on the enemy as you can before retreating. Can you do it?"
"That's what we're best at! Over!"

"Over."

Harlen put down the receiver and looked at Tim.

"This is getting ridiculous."Tim stated.

"True."general nodded."At least we were doing good for a while."

"Yeah…"

Harlen then approached the table in the middle of the room, with map of the planet showed on it. It's been a week since the end of Operation: Axer, ended with a major success. Sons were pushed back, their plans were crushed and numerous prisoners were taken. Some of them, of course, decided to take the easy way out and killed themselves, but the ones that actually stayed alive, were placed in prison camps beyond the lines. In short, they were victorious.

For a few days.

Sons of Sadera, as expected, quickly got themselves together. They brought new forces from the orbit and from wherever they came from, shipped them to the planet's surface and deployed them to the frontlines. Not long after that, they launched a counterattack. Although UTDF forces were ready for this, the strength of the attack was something they did not expect. Enemy threw everything at them and slowly, they were forced to retreat more and more. After all this time, the situation seemed to return to the state from before Axer.

Sons were again approaching Erak City. They were nearing the border between Nordian and Soutlandian C.Z.s. Australians and Saderans in the East were already basically unable to perform any form of offensive action, not to mention any defense. Skandians were also showing signs of faltering more and more. War of attrition was certainly not in their favor. Only units that still had some kind of actual operational capabilities were the ones from Soutlandian C.Z. and fighting on the northern hemisphere.

Their air forces were no better. They used most of their bombs and guided munitions in the operation. Now, they were left with mostly unguided ammo for artillery and aircraft. So the risk o collateral damage was higher than before. This is why Harlen decided, that bombers that survived the opening day of Axer were to be disposed of, so that after the inevitable taking of the planet, Sons wouldn't lay their hands on them. They served their purpose so they were not needed anymore. What use are the bombers that cannot be rearmed?

"What are the reports from Skandian C.Z.?"Harlen asked.

Tim looked at his tablet.

"Staff in Erak City reports, that SoS already came at the distance of fifteen kilometers from the city. The range of their counteroffensive already reached the highways leading North and South from the city. It's just a matter of time before they cut off the city from behind and slowly close the encirclement."
"Fuck."general said, grinding his teeth."Why did we even come up with that operation? It had no use."
"It's not your fault everything turned out like this."adjutant said."We were expecting all this to happen."
"But not this fast. They were supposed to regenerate forces for at least few weeks."Harlen shook his head."Everything is happening way too fast."
"It also irritates me, and probably all of us."Here, he made a sign with his hand, showing all people in the command room."But this is how war is. Not everything always go according to plan."
"I know that. But still…"

General simply hung his head. Tim decided, that it might be better to leave him alone with his thoughts.

Harlen's head was filled with thoughts. Not only about the tragic situation on the frontlines. Situation behind them was also not good. Sons of Sadera were constantly performing air raids against them, bombing not only military targets, but additionally power plants and other critical infrastructure. General was pretty sure this was considered a war crime, but that didn't matter. He doubted, that there would be anyone to put on trial for war crimes after this war. Well, maybe except him and the others. He wondered, if SoS actually would do at least some mock trial and then execute him, or simply execute him. Probably the latter.

He returned to his previous thought. The amount of infrastructure they were destroying was slowly getting out of hand. The entire planet was experiencing more and more power shortages. Even water sometimes stopped to flow. This was going to be bad in the long run. If something like that will continue to happen, more people will die from lack of water and heat at night than from shells or bullets. He was aware of such possibility, so he gave an order he never thought he would: as of now, numerous mass graves were being dug in secret around Leender. They were going to be empty as long as there will be no need for throwing anyone into them. And when the time comes…He didn't even want to think about that.

He was also wondering, how the rest of Andromeda Branch was doing. As far as he knew, they might have been everything that was left of Andromeda Branch. He hoped he was wrong. He analyzed the situation they were in the long by gone era known to the old people like him as 'state of peace'. Narum Prime was already lost in the beginning, he was sure of that. Not enough troops on the ground to actually put up any resistance. Space stations were no better. While Pentrum Station above Taurus III put up some resistance, he didn't expect the small to none garrisons on other stations to hold out for long. Emloy was next, with some garrison forces. He also heard, that some Japansese troops were supposed to come there for training and weapons testing. He had to bet, that they had the best weapon testing possible: combat testing. If the planet still stood or not, he didn't know. And then came Flare Prime itself. He knew that the planet would hold for a very long time, or at least he hoped it will. That would be their last hope.

The more he thought about it all, the bigger terror filled him.
"Your Highness!"someone exclaimed.

Harlen looked back and saw several officers in the command room standing at attention and saluting at Imri. Queen of Soutland nodded in response and turned towards the general. Today, she was wearing a leather jacket, a green top and jeans.

"How do you do it?"he asked.
"Do what?"Imri asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look good in everything."

"I'm married to your brother, remember?"

"Can't I complement my sister-in-law?"
"Sure you can."

She then stood next to him and looked at the table.

"Even I can recon it's bad."

"Yes, it is bad."Harlen nodded."Well, we were winning for a while. It was fun while it lasted."

"At least we showed them they can't actually just come in here and do what they wanted."the queen smiled.
"Yeah, yeah. We showed them at the beginning of the invasion. They expected and easy and quick victory. We already took that away from them. Operation: Axer was something else entirely. We were going to just delay their victory. We succeded in that. But they quickly took that victory away from us. Eh…"

Imri looked at her brother-in-law with even bigger worry now. In all the time she knew Harlen, she never saw him like this. He was always full of energy and gallant. She still remembered how many ladies did he flirt with during their travels around Orisia. And she also remembered the ones he didn't only flirt with.

But now? Now, he was just…tired. She could clearly see it. Bags under eyes, his hands shaking, his way of speaking. All of this clearly showed that he was tired beyond human comprehension.

"When did you sleep last time?"Imri asked.
"I…"Harlen stopped for a while."I can't…remember."

"I think you should lay down. I also can't count how many times did I already tell you this."

"I can't and you know it. If I went to sleep, anything could happen. And I can't allow anything to happen without my knowledge."
"You're already doing enough. Isn't there someone you can leave everything to while you rest a while?"

"There is, but…"

However, before he could say what he wanted to say, his words were stopped by a very, very loud sound of something crashing into the ground. It repeated a few more times and they even felt something hit the very building they were in.

Harlen immediately lost all signs of tiredness and looked around, until his eyes fell on the security officer.

"Report!"he ordered.

Security officer listened to what was told to him through the radio before looking at the general.
"Sir, unknown drop pods just landed in the city. They are presumably enemy units."security officer replied, as if he was talking about the weather.

"How many?"Imri asked.
"Ten. Two landed on top of the building."

"Scramble the troops!"Harlen ordered.

Next, he turned towards comms officer.
"Contact Fort Alda. They have to send us support."he ordered.
"Yes, sir!"comms officer replied.
Right then, the building was shaken by an explosion.

"And tell them to be quick!"

July 16

Several minutes earlier…

Skies over Soutlandian C.Z.

Although the war that was waged on the surface of the planet and in the skies, the skies above the cloud cover were relatively calm. Since the opening salvo that destroyed the planet's AATIS system, SoS' fleet sat idly above the orbit, only operating as repair and resupply base for Sons' aircraft and as a transit point through which all kinds of reinforcements went through.

But now, the sky was disturbed again, this time by a Frigate made in Stealth technology, which kept itself high above the clouds. It was one of many SoS' ships of that class, used by them to scout out enemy positions and to listen to the enemy radio chatter and intercept their communication. However, as it turned out, enemy had far better countermeasures and ships couldn't perform their job. But there was something else these ships could do both in the atmosphere and in the orbit.

Deliver special forces to their destination.

Corporal Janus Vangis was standing strapped to the wall inside one of ten drop pods carried by the vessel. Inside of the pod were two of his long-time companions, with which he served through much of their time in SoS' special units. To his left was ensign Lupis Omeno and to his right, ensign Marius Aurel. They were, just like their leader, strapped to the wall, with their helmets under their arms.

As all special forces units in Sons of Sadera army, they were dressed in special combat armor. It was made of numerous armor plates and bullet-resistant materials, all of which made it weight nearly eighty kilograms. If anyone wanted to actually wear this armor and move in it effectively, they needed to have some kind of super strength. Fortunately, there existed something like body augmentations. Erecan scientists were kind enough to actually augment some SoS' soldiers and equip them with this armor, originally made for Erecan special forces, but adapted to Human needs.

As they were sitting there, Janus though about their goal. Not so long ago, enemy performed an operation which was a surprise for everyone in SoS' higher ups. The strength with which they were hit was so big, that they had to fall back, because they would not be able to withstand the pressure. It was like that for a few days, before they managed to turn the situation back around and retake the initiative. Although that little operation gave them a scare.

Now, SoS leadership decided, that something like that could not be left unpunished. This is why they were called. Their task: get into the enemy HQ and eliminate their leadership. Without them in charge, these criminals would have no other option by to surrender. And honestly, Janus hoped, that this plan will work.

"All units, prepare."said the voice in the PA."Launch in three minutes."

"You heard that."Janus said."Armor up."

"Sir, yes, sir."Lupis and Marius replied.

They took the helmets they held under their arms, placing them on their heads. Upon doing that, the helmets attached to the rest of the armor, encapsulating the body inside, forming one, unified shell. The HUD turned on, showing Janus and his companions all the necessary information: temperature, weather, state of the unit members, time and radar with enemy locations. Next, they grabbed their plasma riffles, which where inseparable part of the system they were equipped with. Immediately when they put their hands on the handle, a viewfinder appeared in the middle of the HUD.

"Running system diagnostics."Janus reported.

Right then, Lupis and Marius were marked with blue outlines and were signed as Scarab 3-2 and Scarab 3-3. Janus himself was Scarab 3-1, leader of their squad.

Scarab Force was the main special operations force of Sons of Sadera. There were only thirty of them, divided into ten teams, three members each, but they were competent. Never before have Scarab Force fail a mission. And today was going to be no different. They were going to end this gods forsaken war with a single blow.

"Scarab Force, we're over the target."PA declared."Prepare to drop in 10…9…"

"Well, there it goes."Marius said.

"Time to show them they can't just think we can be stopped."Lupis said.

"Don't be so overconfident."Janus told them.

"What do you mean, Janus?"Marius tilted his head."We are Scarabs. Never before have we failed in a mission."
"But it's nothing certain."their commander said."It's better to go into battle prepared for a loss, instead of having your hopes let down."

"But that's defeatism."Lupis stated.
"I call it 'being ready for everything'."Janus stated.

"…2…1…0…Launch!"

Right then, the three of them felt as their pod was shot out of the Stealth Frigate and as it was soaring through the air towards the ground. Janus looked up, at the screen showing the view from outside cameras and saw the shape of the Stealth Frigate quickly shrinking as they got further and further away from it.

"This is Scarab 1-1-Actual."captain Sandros, their commander, said in the radio."Report."

"Scarab 2, ready."

"Scarab 3, ready."Janus said.
"Scarab 4, ready."
"Scarab 5, ready."
"Scarab 6, ready."
"Scarab 7, ready."
"Scarab 8, ready."
"Scarab 9, ready."
"Scarab 10, ready."

"Copy that."Sandros said."We're about to hit the ground, get ready."

It didn't take long for all the pods to hit the ground. Even though the armor worn by the Scarabs was thick, Janus and his team felt the shaking when the pod hit it's landing spot. It was clear that they hit the building and broke through several floors before stopping, but they didn't care about collateral damage. They won't be rebuilding any kind of these things, so why would they care? They had their task to do.

"Release."Janus ordered.

The other two released the straps holding them and Janus followed. Lupis came up to the pod's door and pressed the button next to them. The door opened and three Scarabs jumped out of the pod.

Immediately, their eyes fell on a family of four sitting at the table in the dining room they crashed into. All four members of the family were looking both shocked and terrified at the sight of unexpected guests in their home. Janus looked at his companions.

"No witnesses."he said.

The two replied with nod and they all lifted their weapons. They pulled the triggers and soon, it was done.

"Let's go."Janus ordered.
"How far are we from the target?"Marius asked.
Corporal looked at his HUD.
"Damn it, we went off course."he said."We're three leagues from our planned LZ. We have to move fast."
"Sir, yes, sir!"the two replied.

And so, they moved towards their target. They didn't bother with using the door, they just smashed a hole through the wall and found themselves on the street. They turned towards their target and although Janus said that they had to move fast, it wasn't so easy with this much of armor on. First, it weighted a lot, second, it wasn't meant for long fast run, third, it was being powered by move of muscles, not by any kind of actuators and small engines. A big mistake on Erecan part, Janus had to admit that.

But either way, they had to meet up with the rest of their unit. They didn't want to be late for the fun.

July 16

12:24

Unified Staff

The cannonade in the corridors was getting stronger and stronger. Harlen, standing near the holotable with Imri, could just listen as the fire mixed with each other and came closer and closer. Building's security was doing it's best to stop the enemy advance, with varying degrees of success. If the reports coming from the corridors were right, around six assailants were already eliminated, what wasn't easy, because hey were wearing some kind of super armor. This made general wonder, what other surprises await them from the side of their enemy.

"How about reinforcements?"Harlen asked.

Tim, standing on the other side of the room, turned to him.

"Fort Alda's rapid reaction force is already on it's way. They will be here in five more minutes."Tim replied.
"You think we can hold that long?"Imri asked.

Tim looked at the screens showing the views from security cameras. On all of them, he could see firefight between them and enemy troops. Although their advantage at the beginning, their offensive momentum have already vanished and now, they were fighting slow, grinding war of attrition.

"We appear to have everything under control, sir."adjutant replied.
"Well, I expected everything to go less successful."general admitted."But it seems that we're actually doing pretty good."
"Apparently, yes."Tim admitted.

But then, he looked at the screen and his eyes widened in shock. Soon, what he saw was confirmed by a call from one of security teams.
"One of them is making a break for the command room! We're pinned down here and can't follow! Look out!"

"One of them managed to broke through and will soon be here!"Tim exclaimed to Harlen."Security teams are unable to pursue!"

"Damn it, get ready!"Harlen ordered.

Security officers that were in the command room quickly approached the door leading inside. They stood on both sides, awaiting the approaching enemy. They tightened the grip on their weapons, awaiting the meeting with this armor-clad monster.

The whole room went silent, with only the sounds of shots interrupting it. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the inevitable. It took a few minutes, but they didn't hear anything behind the door. One of security officers looked towards Harlen.
"Maybe they actually…"

Before he could finish, the door was torn apart by a high power explosion. Both security officers were temporarily defeated and backed off. There now was a gaping hole in the place of the door and it was heavily smoking. And from that smoke, came an armor-clad giant, which took a quick glance around the room.

Security officers tried to shoot him, but their bullets bounced off of his armor. In response, enemy soldier aimed at them and killed them one after another. After that, he started swinging his weapon in all directions, spraying laser shots all across it. Most of them hit the computers and other electronic equipment in the room, while others managed to score hits on people that were in the room.

Harlen quickly ducked beyond the table, with shots flying exactly over his head.

"Tim!"he screamed at the top of his lungs."Where is the fucking support!"

But there was no answer.
"Tim?! Tim, answer me! Where are you!"

But the adjutant didn't reply. Instead, something else happened.

Enemy soldier suddenly stopped firing. Slowly, expecting it to be a trap, Harlen looked over the table towards the enemy. He stood there, but something seemed different about him. He lowered his weapon and seemed to twitch for some reason. Finally, Harlen heard a wet sound and the Son fell on the ground, motionless.

Behind him stood Tim, with a bloodied fire axe in his hands.

"How did you know that will work?"Harlen asked.
"I didn't."Tim replied."It was a gamble."
"We're lucky it worked."
"Harlen…"a weak voice said.

General turned around and his eyes widened in shock and fear.

Imri laid there, sprawled on the floor, pressing her hand to her side. There, he could see a clear burn mark after a laser hit.
"No…"Harlen replied."No, no, no, no!"

He jumped towards her and looked at the wound she sustained.

"Tim! Where are the reinforcements?!"Harlen exclaimed.

"They're already here!"Tim replied.

He quickly reached first aid kit hanging on the wall and brought it to Imri and Harlen. He opened the kit and pulled out the dressing used in case of being shot with energy-based weapon. He placed it on Imri's wound and soon, it lit up with a blue light, as special mix of medical gels started working, repairing the area that sustained damage.
"She'll make it?"Harlen asked.
"Of course, Harlen."Tim replied, placing his hand on general's arm."But she still needs to get to hospital, if we want her to come out of this completely."

"We might be able to do it soon."the security officer at cameras said.

With the arrival of rapid reaction force, the tide of battle started turning. Scarabs, until now undefeated, found themselves in a crossfire with security troops on one side and rapid reaction troops entering the building on the other. Equipped with heavy anti-armor weaponry, they were disposing of every enemy troop on the way. Without their commander, who was one of the six Scarabs that fell in the beginning, due to the fact that instead of safely staying in the back and commanding from there, he preferred to be first in line and even his helmet couldn't protect him from getting hit with a movement detecting mine that was placed on the ceiling.

Within the next twenty minutes, all Scarabs were taken care of. Rapid reaction force soldiers and security officers started clearing the bodies, but not before salvaging the armors that were damaged the least. It was stated, that if it was possible, maybe they could be ultimately useful to them. And if they wouldn't be able to reuse them, they would simply damage them beyond repair and return to their owners.

Ambulance was called and when the hospital learned that it was about the queen, they appeared at the Unified Staff as quickly as possible. Harlen, worried for her sister-in-law, decided to go with her, leaving the commanding to Tim for them time being. Not long after, the ambulance departed.

July 16

12:56

Near the Unified Staff

Janus, Lupis and Marius continued their run towards the Unified Staff. Maybe 'run' was too much to say, it was more of a quick walk. The three Scarabs had to evade several enemy patrols on their way, what sometimes made them stop for more than five minutes. And it wasn't something they could afford.
"You think we'll get there before it's over?"Lupis asked.
"We better do."Marius said."I want to finally shoot some of them."
"Don't worry, you'll have your five minutes."Janus said.
"We sure hope so, sir."the two of them replied at the same time.

For some reason, their response in unison, made him shiver.

Corporal looked in front of them and stopped.

"To the alley!"he ordered.

The three of them quickly went into the alley and looked from behind the corner towards Unified Staff. In front of the building and in the sky above it, they could see several vehicles and dropships patrolling the area. Numerous enemy troops surrounded the building and on the roof, they were removing the pods that landed there. Looking at this situation, Janus noticed something, that made him hold his breath. Five enemy soldiers were carrying a body in Scarab's armor. They threw it into a truck and sent it away.
"Did you see that?"Lupis asked.
"I sure did."Marius replied.
"But…how…?"

Janus could hear nothing but disbelief in the voices of his two subordinates. He couldn't blame them. He knew he told them to expect something like this to happen to not be surprised in the future, but even he could not believe this.

"What do we do, boss?"Marius asked.

Corporal thought for a few seconds, before making up his mind.
"We're getting out of here."he stated."We're gonna hide."
"And then what?"Lupis asked.
"We make as much ruckus as possible."

The two looked at each other and nodded.
"Sounds good to us."they again said in unison.

"Let's go."

The three of them stood up and quickly left the area. The Scarabs may have been eliminated, but at least he hoped they dealt some damage on the enemy. But Janus and his troops will do anything to make the life for the enemy much more harder.

XXX

And this is it for today. As always, leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!