The Will of Revenge

by Gamer83888

Fifteen years have passed since the event that changed history. Flare Prime, under the guidance of United Nations, prospers and develops. It's nations, united under the UNSA Andromeda Branch banner, look into bright future. However, old enemies long presumed dead or missing return to bring chaos. A new war is on the horizon and the outcome will decide the fate of billions of lives.

39. Part 5, Chapter 7

The Will of Revenge welcomes you back! In the previous installment, we returned to Milky Way again to witness some things that might be game changing for the war once again. However, both sides go hard to work to prevent any kind of advantage to fall into the other's hands and do anything to come out on top. Things change in Laconian Republic and not for the better. How will it all end? Read on and find out.

OK, let's start.

Chapter 7

August 24, 2166

09:34

Flareian System, asteroid belt between inner and outer planets

Fleet Admiral Tyuule sat in her captain's chair. Her eyes were currently affixed on the 3D holographic projection of the surrounding area. Hologram showed her all the data on nearby allied ships, ground units and all the asteroids that dotted the place. There were hundreds of thousands of them, big and small. From ones that could destroy a whole city to enormous, planet killing ones. There was so many of them.

And this is why she chose this place as a trap for the enemy.

The task force she assembled for the mission arrived here after nearly two weeks of constant, low-power output burn. There were only ten ships in it, two of which were transport ones, but that was all she needed. Two Heavy Cruisers, one Guided Missile Cruiser, three Destroyers, two Frigates and two Freighters. All of which had their part in her plan.

It wasn't actually a certainty that they would even get here. Once or twice, long-range telescopes of the ships managed to spot enemy ships flying in relatively close proximity to them. However, due to their low-power output, they were leaving barely any trace from the engines and most of the systems were turned off, with only the most essential ones running on lowest possible power. They effectively turned themselves into a group of Stealth ships with no Stealth capabilities. And it worked.

On their way, they also passed by several other things. A wreck of one of Andromeda Branch's ship, which somehow found itself in this area and was unlucky enough to get spotted by the enemy. One or two space stations that were annihilated because they probably didn't comply with enemy demands. And, of course, as they passed Emloy, they were greeted with a sight of nearly fifty enemy ships circling around the planet. They didn't even know, how situation down there looked. They just hoped, that once everything in the plan is said and done, there will be still someone to save on the surface.

"Admiral?"

Tyuule looked away from the map and looked at her First Officer.

"What is it?"she asked.
"Is everything alright?"FO asked back.
Former Battle Queen rubbed her temples and nodded.

"Yes, I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"About everything we've seen on our way here. And about what's happening in other places."

FO nodded, looking at the 3D projection.

"That's completely understandable, ma'am."she said. She looked at the asteroids behind the bridge's windows."I was wondering…"
"Yes?"Admiral glanced at her.
"If Sons wanted us to surrender, they could simply throw some asteroids at Flare Prime."FO stated."This would certainly push many politicians into negotiation mood. Maybe even threaten to drop a planet killer one to scare them even more. I would do it."

Tyuule nodded, understanding what the FO said.
"That is something I would actually consider doing, too, when enemy resists for far longer than expected."Warrior Bunny said."But tell me, Tia. How much do you know Zorzal?"
Tia frowned.
"Not much. I was just a kid when War of Flare Prime went down."she said.
"And I was Zorzal's personal sex toy for nearly three years of my life."Mere thought about that time made her shudder."And by that time, I met and understood him enough to know, that he is too proud to do it like that. Knowing him, he probably planned the invasion of Flare Prime to be the final, mass assault. A crown jewel to decorate the top of his crown of conquest."
"In short, he would rather make it a show to behold, than simply blow most of the surface up."
"Exactly."

"Still, a threat of dropping a planet killer asteroid on our heads is a good way to intimidate an enemy."
"It's Zorzal. He doesn't think like a normal person."
"Can't argue with that, ma'am."

The two of them smiled.

"Also, I wonder what happened to all the independent miners in the belt…"Tia asked, a bit of concern crossing her face.

Tyuule nodded in understanding. She was well aware, that part o f Tia's family operated as independent miners in the belt, mining resources and delivering them to various stations to be refined for use. There were a lot of those before the war, sometimes entire families living on the ships. Nobody knew what happened with them, but if some rumors were to be believed, they were still hiding in the belt. Others probably fell into SoS' hands, which in many people's eyes was much, much worse option than dying of starvation or dehydration in the middle of nowhere.

"I'm sure they're fine."Warrior Bunny assured her FO.
"Last I heard of them, nearly three months ago, they were going to Tyronis."Tia replied.

Tyronis. A dwarf planet in the asteroid belt. As the colonization started, infrastructure was built on it's surface, mainly to support independent miners, turning it into kind of a hub for their operations. In eleven years, settlements on the planet grew to house half a million people above and below the surface. It was also pretty remote and there wasn't much news coming from it. Still, various goods were being transported there, as Tyronis was officially part of Falmartian sphere of influence.

And nobody knew what was happening with it. Did it fall into Sons hands? Or was it bypassed by them? No one had answers to these questions and some were bugged by them. Like Tia.

"Admiral."The comms officer turned to her.
"What is it?"Tyuule asked him.
"I just received info from the ground team. They set everything up and are ready to go."
Former Battle Queen nodded. For the past four days, as planned, they were setting everything up, preparing to unleash their trap on enemy Dreadnaught. Nobody knew where the enormous ship currently was, but one thing was certain: it won't resist an easy prey. Like a single destroyer in the middle of nowhere. They knew that well.

"Good. I think we can start springing the trap?"Tyuule asked.

"I'll do a quick check with others…"comms officer said.

Then, he started hailing ship after ship and unit after unit, making sure that they were all in positions, as planned. After a few more minutes, he again turned to face her.
"All sections green."he said, showing a thumbs up.

Admiral nodded.
"Good. Now, let's get into our position."she ordered.

"Aye, aye."main navigator said, saluting.

He turned to his console and along with his team quickly went to work. Ship's engines turned on and soon, the vessel started making it's way towards the nearest asteroid large enough to hide behind it. Now that everything was done and ready, there was only one thing left to do.

Ship made it's way to the hiding spot and once there, immediately turned off the engines and most systems, to make detection harder. Also, soon after, one of the two Frigates left it's hiding spot and took the GMC's place.
"Fleet Admiral, we're ready to start."captain of the Frigate said.
"Then fire her up."Tyuule replied.
"Understood."

On the Frigate, captain turned to the main navigator.

"Prepare for hyperspace jump."he ordered.
"Aye, aye, captain."main navigator said.

He turned to his team.
"Prepare for jump."
"Any particular coordinates?"one of his team asked.

"Put in some random ones. We only want that ship to be here."
"Copy that."

The navigation team quickly went to work, preparing all the standard pre-jump procedures, checking data and implementing coordinates.
"Jump accuracy: 96,12%."main navigator said."Much more than I expected from some random coordinates."

"Never underestimate us."another navigator smiled.

Soon, as the procedures continued, the hyperspace generators on the ship's hull opened and blue lightning started surrounding vessel.

At the same time…

Somewhere in Flareian System, Dark Vengeance

"Detecting hyperspace signature!"The shout of Time-Space Fluctuation Detector's operator sounded across the bridge.

Legatus Cassius No Polanius immediately perked up. This was the first time TSFD system detected something in months. At the start of the war, or rather in it's first month, the system was coming to life once or sometimes more times daily. Back then, enemy tried to counter attack with their fleet at all. However, as the war progressed and Andromeda Branch realized that fleet actions are basically impossible, because then the Dreadnaught would simply detect and eliminate the jumping ships. So because they realized that, they kept their ships closer to Flare Prime, so also closer to their AATIS network. Or what was left of it. And considering the status of Dark Vengeance as the flagship of SoS' Navy, Emperor himself ordered it to stay away from the fighting if necessary, leaving the task of terrorizing Flare Prime to occasional missile strikes from the orbit, performed by single ships.

Cassius didn't like that order, but he knew his place and complied. If it was up to him, he would go on a raid around Flare Prime's orbit, eliminating enemy assets in space, as well as bombing enemy shipyards and other assets on the surface, to make it easier for future landing operations on the planet. But orders and orders, so Legatus sat and waited for his opportunity to strike.

Which came now.
"Where is this signature coming from?"he asked.

TSFD operator looked at his screen, where he could see the map of the whole system and frowned.

"The signature is in…the inner asteroid belt?"he questioned.
"Inner asteroid belt?"First Officer asked, frowning."What would they do in the inner asteroid belt? And more importantly, how did they get there?"
"Maybe it's an enemy ship that hid there during the initial days of the invasion?"chief of security said."They ran on supplies they had and now, they ran out of them and try to come back to Flare Prime?"

"I don't know."FO argued."Something's off here."

Cassius lifted his hand, silencing them both. The whole bridge crew was looking at him and waiting for his orders.
"Take us there."he finally told the main navigator.

Soon, the navigational team was hard at work, preparing the ship for quick jump.
"My lord…"FO said."I don't think we should…"
"Do you question my orders?"Legatus asked, looking his deputy straight in the eyes.

He opened his mouth to continue, but ultimately hung his head.
"No, my lord."he replied.
"Good. Let us proceed then."

Navigational team quickly implemented the coordinates given to them by TSFD operator and soon, hyperspace generators went to full overdrive, as ship was surrounded by purple ribbons of light. Next, in a blink of an eye, it vanished from it's hiding spot near one of the moons of Elange and a second later, they were already about to exit where they needed to be.

Back at the ambush…

"Enemy hyperspace signature detected!"radar operator on Selene exclaimed.

Everyone held their breaths, as soon, space distortion turned into the giant vessel. It appeared on all radars and everyone on the surfaces of asteroids could see as it slowly moved forward, pushed by the force of inertia.

Immediately, Frigate turned off the hyperspace drive and tried to escape. However, everyone knew, that there was no chance for it. Seconds after the Dreadnaught appeared, it's guns took aim on the Frigate. Soon after turning on the hyperspace, leaving himself access to remote control of it and autopilot, captain of the small vessel quickly ordered the crew to move to the escape pods, which were being now launched from the doomed ship.

It took two shots from the main guns, which slammed into the Frigate, causing it's reactor to go supernova, quickly evaporating the vessel from existence.

"That would be it."Cassius said, looking at the doom of the vessel."I'm honestly disappointed."

"Still, something's not right here."FO stated."Let's better get out of here as fast as possible,"

Legatus nodded and turned to the navigational team.
"Erebus has bee destroyed, ma'am."commander of the ground teams reported to Tyuule.
"How about the life pods?"she asked.
"They're leaving them alone. Orders?"
Tyuule looked at the ship crew. They all had stern looks on their faces. They were ready for what was about to come.
"Commence operation."Fleet Admiral ordered with full confidence.
"Understood, ma'am."ground commander replied.

On the surface of one of the asteroids, ground teams commander looked around from the turret of his tank. Around him, standing in perfectly straight tows, held by special ropes and hooks, were two full companies of his tanks. On another asteroid, similarly placed, was a full battery of artillery guns.

This part of the plan was, honestly, dependent on luck. Everyone knew, that if they had to actually inflict any kind of damage, all guns must face the backside of the ship. But they didn't know, from where will it come and which side will it face them with. Not only that, but also the rotation of the asteroids was another thing they could not foretell. They could turn completely in the direction they wanted or they could turn the other way completely. Everyone prayed for the luck to be on their side in this operation.

And it seemed, that their prayers were heard, as all guns were currently pointed at the back of the ship.

"Fire!"commander ordered.

Immediately, all tanks and artillery opened fire. Thanks to the lack of atmosphere, they were pushed by inertia and flew in straight line towards their target. They started striking the engines in places, which would ensure the damage would stop the ship here, but not completely destroy it. They flew like hundreds of small stars ready to explode.

With each impact, Dark Vengeance shook, shocking everyone on-board.

"What's going on?!"Cassius exclaimed.
"Detecting numerous impacts on the rear of the ship!"main engineer exclaimed."Engines damaged in 23%!"
"Get us out of here!"legatus ordered firmly.
"We can't!"main engineer stated."If we try to activate the hyperspace drive, we might overload the engines and in turn, the core!"

"How?!"

"My lord, we're detecting enemy forces on the asteroids!"radar officer exclaimed."They're firing at us!"
"Then what are you waiting for?! Destroy them! Send fighters at them!"

"Yes, my lord!"flight controller said, turning to his console.

Back with the Andromeda Branch, Tyuule listened to the words of ground team's commander.
"Ship immobilized, I think."ground commander reported.
"Great job, colonel."Tyuule said.
"Thanks! I guess it's up to you now! And hurry, we're seeing enemy fighters leaving the ship's hangars!"
Tyuule cursed under her breath.
"Copy, we're coming!"she exclaimed.
She then turned to the comms officer.
"Order all ships to begin the assault!"

"Yes, ma'am!"Comms officer immediately went to work, transmitting the order to the rest of the fleet.

Few seconds later, ships lit off their engines and started leaving their hiding spots. They quickly started turning down, to stay behind the range of enemy weapons, at the same time firing themselves. Missiles and shells flew towards the Dreadnaught, what was met with response in form of PDCs. Several hits were scored, but due to the size of the ship, they didn't make a lot of impression. Then again, they weren't meant to. Ship was supposed to stay mostly intact, to be quickly brought back to shape.

All weapons aboard Vengeance immediately started returning fire, but due to how UNSA ships maneuvered, the fire wasn't as effective as planned. Ships circled around the enormous vessel, firing from time to time to keep it focused on them, at the same time repelling any form of attack against them. And when the time came to provoke the Dreadnaught even more, Frigate or Destroyer would fly a bit higher to find itself in range of enemy weapons and when they were targeted by missiles or guns, they were able to fly behind some larger asteroids and use them as shields.

The ships danced around the colossus, poking him there and there, but Tyuule knew, that something like that will not work forever. This was only meant to turn the attention of the vessel, which had problems with maneuvering in this environment. Smaller ships, even the bigger ones, like Selene, were much better suited to operating in dense asteroid fields.

Additionally, fighters carried by Andromeda Branch's ships were let free. Soon, numerous dogfights started taking place around the ships, as pilots from both sides engaged in fierce close-quarters battle, UNSA pilots making sure that no enemy would reach the ground team.

As this fight continued and both Tyuule and Cassius were giving orders, trying to outsmart each other, two Freighters that came with the warships left their hiding spots and now were approaching the Dreadnaught. When the time and distance was right, they both turned so their undersides were turned towards the giant vessel. Not long after, nearly thirty small objects left their cargo holds and started making it's way towards Dark Vengeance.

After around five minutes of flight through the battlefield, thirty DV-5 boarding pods, each carrying ten Marines, slammed into the Dreadnaught, piercing the armor and stopping inside of it.

Once that happened, the hatches in them opened and Falmartian Marines quickly jumped out. Within seconds, three hundred troops have boarded SoS' most powerful warship and were ready to perform their mission.
"Foxtrot Tango, this is Alpha-1-Actual."lieutenant colonel Bres, a wolf-man veteran of Anti-HO Campaigns, reported."We have successfully boarded enemy vessel. No contact with the enemy for now."

"Copy, Alpha-1-Actual."comms officer on Selene replied."Casualties?"

Bres quickly checked his network-centric battlefield system. His helmet's HUD gave him info about each of the three hundred Marines that boarded with him.

"None. All allies green."he reported.
"Understood."comms officer said."You remember your directives?"

"Yes, sir. Secure the bridge, machine room, armory, crew quarters and barracks."Bres replied.

"Correct, colonel. Fleet Admiral Tyuule wishes you good luck."With that, the comms officer terminated the connection.

Bres then connected to the rest of his troops.
"Alright, people, you know our objective."he said."We take the bridge, machine room, armory, crew quarters and barracks."
In fact, they didn't need to take all of those. Just securing the bridge and the machine room would grant them victory. But capturing all five targets would be a nice bonus, especially after months of sitting idly and not doing anything.

"Alpha-2-Actual, copy."
"Alpha-3-Actual, understood."
"Alpha-4-Actual, solid copy."
"Alpha-5-Actual, got it, boss."

When commanders of the remaining teams confirmed, Bres turned to major Azari, his deputy, a siren.

"Let's finally stretch our bones."he said, smiling and showing off his wolf teeth.
Azari only smiled and turned to the rest.
"Let's go, maggots! Time to shoot some Sons!"she exclaimed.
"Yes, sir! Yes, ma'am!"remaining fifty eight troops replied.

When launched, all thirty pods were aimed in areas, which were the closest to their respective targets. Thanks to that, soon, each of the target areas of the ships was being approached by a sixty men team of battle-hardened Marine veterans of the Campaigns.

August 24

10:28

Dark Vengeance, corridors

Falmartian Marines were making their way through the corridors of the vessel, not meeting any meaningful resistance along the way. It wasn't like they didn't meet any enemies. Several times, they had to subdue a crew member or take down a guard which was in a bad place at a bad time. Except they, they were moving forward. Reports from other teams said, that the resistance at their sections was similar. Bres still ordered to move slowly and carefully and check every room and cranny, just to make sure. He was certain, that this state could not last for long.

"Other teams, report."Bres said to his radio.

"Team 2, reporting no hostiles."

"Team 3, no contact."
"Team 4, area clear."
"Team 5, no enemies in sight."
Bres growled after hearing this.
"I don't like it."he stated on a private channel with Azari.
Major nodded in response.
"Nor do I."the Siren replied."They are preparing something for us."

"We never expected this task to be easy."lieutenant colonel said and smirked."But who knew, that they will help us a bit by allowing us to get that far?"
"Yeah, I guess that's an oversight."Azari replied, also smirking.

Right then, the ship shook, making some Marines almost fall over.
"Damn, I guess ours aren't fucking around."someone said.

Bres didn't respond. Everyone knew, that they had only one shot at this and it depended on them, the Marines, to make the mission a success. Ships on the outside just had to buy them enough time and act as a distraction.

He just nodded these thoughts away. They had to focus on the mission. Bridge had to be theirs, otherwise…

Running into another corridor, he almost got a heart attack when a laser shot flew right past his face.
"Back off, back off!"he barked.

Marines quickly returned back into the corridor they just ran through, right as the next corridor was lit up by numerous laser shots, fired by SoS' Marines, which set up a road block on the way to the bridge.

Bres took a deep breath and scolded himself in his mind. They were supposed to be careful. Not recklessly run into every corridor!

"Fuck!"he exclaimed."Someone check out what's there!"
One of the Marines came to the front and hung his riffle on his belt. Next, he reached to his hand terminal and pulled out a cable camera from it. Next, he knelt and moved the camera around the corner. He pressed something on his terminal and after a few seconds of looking at the screen, he bit his lip.
"A blockade."he said."Some boxes and twelve enemies. Armed to the teeth and with some kind of MG."
"So, it's like a small fortress."Azari said.
"Not as impressive as stuff I seen."Bres said."We will get through."

"Got any plans, boss?"another Marine asked.
"Of course, we have our wonderful major ere, right?"
Hearing this, Azari nodded and stepped forward, hanging her riffle down. She stood right next to the blocked corridor and joined her hands together. She started mumbling under her nose, in her native language. Soon, she was surrounded by blue light. Marines just stood there, watching. They knew what was coming.

Soon, out of thin air, sixty exact copies of the soldiers appeared next to them.

Bres smiled. Before War of Flare Prime, Azari was a siren mage, specializing in duplication magic. She could make copies of physically anything and everyone. She often used this during basic. Bres remembered how several times it seemed as if his team managed to win the game by eliminating all of troops under her, only for real Azari and her troops to attack them from behind and steal the win.

Not only then, but after they graduated and went to their first battles during the Campaigns, their teams managed to take over enemy positions by simply fooling them into believing, that the Remnants were outnumbered, while in truth, HO often had more troops than Falmartian Marines did.

There was another thing, that made Bres like what Azari could do.

While copies could die pretty realistically, they could also pretty realistically hurt you back.

Azari looked at the copies and nodded at them. Without questions, they ran out into the corridor. Immediately, they were met with enemy fire, which started thinning their lines. However, copies didn't pay attention to that. They quickly started returning fire, surprising the Sons, which slowly started to fall back. Only three of them were left, the ones taking care of the machine gun. Now, they tripled their effort, mowing down copies one after another. Even as bullets fired by the copies continued to fly around them, the MG crew continued to fire.

Within first seconds of charge, nearly one third of the copies fell. But at the same time, they managed to kill four enemies. Remaining five, seeing the MG crew, suddenly got braver and returned to their previous place and now fired more, eliminating copies one after another.

"At least, this will make them waste ammo."Bres thought."I hope."

And he was right. The copies made sure that enemy ammo would run fast. While Erecan weaponry was mostly energy based, it still had to get it's battery-magazine replaced. And while that happened, remaining copies reached the defensive position and again forced the Sons to retreat a bit, still firing. Meanwhile, the MG crew pulled out combat knives and a full-on melee ensued. From original sixty copies, there were just thirteen left. Sons slashed and shot at them, their last blasts of energy ripping through their bodies. Before the last copy fell to the ground, beheaded, two more enemy troops, including one MG crew, were dead.

When everything quieted down, remaining defenders returned to their position again, checking the bodies. If they saw something twitching, they quickly made sure there was no movement anymore.

Commander of the blockade activated his comms.
"Bridge, this is Tedeus."he said.
"Report."their commander, currently residing on the bridge, ordered.
"We've eliminated a sixty men team going to the bridge. But we've lost six men."

"Great job, corporal. The sacrifice of your men shall not be forgotten by the Emperor."

With that, Tedeus sighed.

"How are the other sections?"he asked.
"Enemy is pushing forward. They are almost at the armory, but crew quarters and barracks are defending. Same with machine room."

"Understood. Should we go and help the defenders?"
"No, keep an eye on your section. We never know what else do they have prepared for us."
"Solid copy, over."

Tedeus then let out a large sigh of relief and leaned on the wall. He looked at his deputy.
"This is a goddamn massacre…"the deputy said, looking at the sixty bodies covering the floor of the corridor.
"They are desperate."Tedeus replied."And desperation brings people to this."
"Still, I think we failed to notice something…"

"Like what?"

Right as corporal asked that, something flew across the corridor and over the barricade. It bounced off the wall and landed near him. When he looked at the object, his eyes widened, when he saw a…
"Grenade!"someone shouted.

Tedeus acted more on a whim than out of thinking. He grabbed his stunned deputy and before long, the man was pushed back, landing on the grenade. His shocked expression directed right at Tedeus.
"Get down!"corporal ordered.

His soldiers quickly did as they were told. Deputy tried to do the same, but he was unlucky enough to run out of time, when grenade under him exploded, tearing him into pieces and throwing his remains across the corridor. This also made some soldiers lose their hearing for a bit, as smoke rose from the remains of the deputy.

Tedeus regained his hearing after few seconds and right after that, he could hear a sound of numerous boots approaching. He turned his head around and widened his eyes, when he saw another enemy stepping over the barricade made of boxes and immediately shooting first of the still living Sons.
"What?"corporal thought."We just…"

He then saw dead enemies…flickering. Their bodies slowly shimmered, flickered and then simply…disappeared. Like they were never there. Same with blood that splattered on the walls and weapons. All of them shimmered out of existence.

And it was at this point, that Tedeus realized, that he was tricked.

And it was also at this point, that a three bullet series hit him in the chest.

"Clear."Azari reported.
"Good, area secure."Bres said."Good job as always, Az."

"Aww, you're too kind."the siren replied coquettishly."Your throw was as good as what I did."

Bres then activated his comms.
"Other teams, how are you doing?"he asked.
"We're doing good, boss."commander of Alpha-2 said."We're getting through towards the armory, we're almost there."

"We're getting close to the crew quarters."Alpha-4-Actual replied."Enemy is resisting, but we're slowly gaining ground."
"Alpha-3-Actual here. Barracks are fighting hard, we might not get there. It's possible that we'll have to fall back."
"We can see the machine room."Alpha-5 said."There are still Sons in our way, but nothing we can't handle."

Bres took in the information. It seemed that except one, all teams were slowly breaking through to their targets. Wolf man expected that when they will meet enemy resistance, it won't be easy. And yet, it might have been even easier than expected. Still, if the barracks were actually defending as hard as it sounded, then they might actually leave that one be. Five targets would be great, but four will suffice too. Besides, they can take care of the barracks later, when they take over the bridge. They could simply turn off the life support in the barracks then.

"Continue with your operations."Bres ordered."Alpha-3, you are to retreat and hold the enemy from leaving the barracks to support other sections. Understood?"

A stream of confirmations reached him. He then switched the channel and contacted Selene.
"This is lieutenant colonel Bres. How does it look out there?"

"We're still holding, if that's what you mean."comms officer replied."But we've already lost two ships. Enemy fighters are going down one by one, but even with that, we can't determine how much longer will we hold. They are getting angry."
"As if they weren't already."Bres murmured."Alright, tell the admiral, that we're approaching the bridge. We'll be there in fifteen minutes, if there will be no problems."

"Understood, colonel. Hurry up."comms officer said and disconnected.
Bres turned to his troops.
"Let's get a move on."
And with that, sixty Marines continued on their way towards the bridge.

August 24

10:58

Dark Vengeance, bridge

Legatus Cassius No Polanius sat in his command chair, while all around him, crew of the bridge rushed around, controlling the situation on the ship. Since nearly three hundred enemy soldiers managed to land aboard, their situation deteriorated quickly. Normally, the ship of this size would have similar number of Marines and other security aboard. However, due to the losses on the frontline and that the ship was well hidden, it was deemed a waste of resources and majority of on-board were moved somewhere else, leaving only eighty Marines and security to take care of the ship.

He though these would be enough. He was wrong. From eighty security, there were now less than a half left and even then, they were being pushed back. While barracks still defended, enemy didn't let anyone leave. Meanwhile, machine room and armory have already fallen. Crew quarters were on their last legs. And with their engines damaged, they could not escape from here.

The only good thing was that at least four enemy ships were destroyed. But that didn't make anything easier, especially, when their fighters were going down surprisingly fast. Enemy was prepared for this. He should've listened to the First Officer when he advised against going after a single enemy ship.

"Idiot…"he muttered to himself.
"What was that, my lord?"First Officer asked.
"Nothing."

Cassius then turned towards the Marines commander.

"What are the reports?"he demanded.
"Enemy is still closing in on the bridge."commander replied."Two other road blocks slowed them down, but not for long."
"Is there anyone else we can send against them?"
"Most of our forces are still engaged in other areas. But we have the last line of defense right behind the bridge."

"You think they will hold?"

"They should…"
His words were stopped by the sound of fire exchange behind the twin entrance to the bridge. All bridge crew immediately stopped doing what they were doing, as they listened to the clamor of riffles. There were several explosions, as slowly, the fire exchange continued to quiet down. And considering that the sound of energy weapons used by the Sons was the first to fall silent, it was clear to them who got the upper hand.

It was even more clear, when sound of numerous steps was heard beyond both left and right entrance to the bridge. Bridge crews quickly started looking for cover, expecting what was going to happen.
"Breaching!"a shout in Saderan declared from behind the doors.

Two breaching charges exploded and the doors were torn to pieces. From both of them, tens of enemy troops poured in, aiming and firing at anyone who seemed to pose any kind of threat, which were mostly several Marines and security officers based on the bridge. Before they could react, enemy Marines took aim and executed them, not giving them a chance to fight back.

Cassius widened his eyes, when Marines commander got hit right in the face, right as he was reaching for his sidearm. He fell back on the ground, his arms splayed wide. Meanwhile, Falmartian Marines got inside and quickly started securing the area.
"Hands up!"they shouted.

Remaining crew, seeing that they wouldn't have a chance, started putting their hands above their heads and left their hiding places. Immediately, Marines started rounding them up and leading them away.

Cassius just sat there, gritting his teeth and tightening his fists, as a wolf man approached and stood before him.

"Who are you?"Legatus asked.
"Lieutenant colonel Bres of the Falmartian Marine Corps."the wolf man replied."And since now, this ship is our property."

Anger welled up inside Polanius. He could bear defeat by the hand of a Human. But by the hand of a savage animal? That was too much of a humiliation!
"What are you gonna do now?"he asked."Execute me in front of my crew as an example? Parade me in front of your leaders? Go on, do your worst, beast!"

Bres just scoffed and looked at the other Marines.
"Cuff him, boys."he ordered.
"Yes, sir."the soldiers replied.

Wolf man turned away from Cassius, while two Marines started approaching the Legatus. He looked at them and then at Bres. Gears started moving in his head, as he prepared one last plan. Maybe he was defeated, but he still could do something he would be remembered for.

Marines stood above him.
"Please do not resist."one of them said."You will go to Flare Prime and…"

Cassius' arms lashed forth and he grabbed onto the riffle held by the Marine. Surprised soldier didn't react, as he was pulled down and received a headbutt from the Legatus. The strength was so big, that the Marine's helmet cracked and he lost senses. This allowed Cassius to pull the riffle out of his hands, aim at the second stunned Marine and pull the trigger, sending a short series into his head. Helmet exploded in mix of ceramics and blood, as Marine fell back.

Next, he quickly located Bres and as the wolf man was turning to look at him, Legatus aimed at him and started pulling the trigger…

…there was a bang…

…and Cassius was pushed back into his chair, with numerous holes made by a shot from a shotgun in his body. Smoke was coming out of them, as blood slowly started coloring the uniform worn by Polanius black.

Legatus managed to look at the stain on his chest for a few more seconds, completely dizzy, before giving one last look to Bres and light vanishing from his eyes, as he reported to Giselle's realm.

Everyone looked at Azari, which lowered her shotgun.
"Smoked 'em."she said, grinning from ear to ear.
"As always, great reflexes."Bres said."Shame we can't take him prisoner now to interrogate him."
"It was his fault."The siren shrugged.

Next, lieutenant colonel turned to another group of Marines.
"How does it look like?"he asked.
One of the Marines, a dwarf, standing over a console looked at him and smiled.
"Good news."he said."These bastards didn't bother learning the language of their pimps and everything in the system is in Falmartian."
"Weapons control?"
"Same."
Smile appeared on Bres' face.
"Fire."
"Yes, sir!"

The dwarf turned back to the console and quickly started clicking buttons and manipulating the touchscreen. Before long, he gained control of the missiles and AA weapons of the ship and immediately changed their IFF parameters.

Soon, missile tubes and AA guns on the ship came to life, firing at the machines, which they previously considered allies. Surprised, SoS pilots were unable to react and their already thinned lines were thinned even more by fire from their formerly allied ship.

Bres activated his comms.
"This is Bres."the wolf man said."We've taken over the bridge."
"We can see that; stellar job."Selene's comms officer replied.
"Losses?"
"Three ships and seventeen fighters. And how about you?"
"Let me check."
He changed the channel and turned the unit's frequency.
"All teams, report casualties."

"Alpha-2, we've got twelve dead and seventeen wounded."
"Alpha-3, nineteen dead, thirteen wounded. Still in firefight."
"Alpha-4, casualties are fifteen dead and seven wounded."
"Alpha-5. Twenty dead and seventeen wounded."

Hearing the last report sent chills down his spine. He didn't expect the assault on the machine room to end up being this bloody.

He looked at the Marine killed by Cassius. His group had five dead and eleven injured. When he looked at it, taking the bridge turned out to be the easiest job, which he was actually surprised about.

He did a quick math and winced. Over 1/3 of the force that got aboard the ship either died or got injured.

"Command, we've got exactly 136 casualties. Out of which 71 are dead and 65 wounded."he reported back to the flagship.
"Understood, sending reinforcements to you."
"How about the ground team?"
"They were mostly left alone."
"Lucky them…"

"Yeah…"

Bres terminated the connection and looked at the dwarf at the consoles.

"Alpha-3 is still having trouble with the barracks. You know what to do."

Dwarf Marine nodded and went to work. Several seconds later, the barracks were depressurized. Sons' Marines inside, not prepared for such an action, quickly lost oxygen and stopped resisting in any way.

Not long after, numerous dropships carrying additional personnel and equipment arrived aboard Dark Vengeance. Crew that was taken prisoner was loaded on them and quickly taken to the other ships, where they had to be placed under arrest before being moved to POW camps on Flare Prime. At the same time, repair crews immediately started repairs on the systems of the ship that were damaged during the battle. Fortunately, diagnostics showed, that the damage wasn't as big as feared and within the next week, everything would be ready to operate.

Tyuule, upon making sure about everything, quickly contacted the HQ on Flare Prime and reported the result of the operation. Everyone in Sadera rejoiced upon hearing this. With the Dreadnaught now under their control, they could freely use their hyperspace drives and strike at the enemy. Immediately, staffs of every nation's military started drafting plans of what to do next.

After some quick consultations between different nations over the following days, the plan was set. First, they would focus on retaking space stations that fell to the Sons. A battle group consisting two EW vessels and several smaller ships was quickly assembled and sent on a voyage, beginning the silent liberation of the system.

While that was happening, another plan was made, that would be carried out once the Dreadnaught was operational again.

A plan to break the Siege of Emloy.

August 24

10:34

Obsidian Mountains, Soutlandian C.Z., Taurus III

Lieutenant colonel Verius Fegran sat in the open hatch of his tank's turret, placed on a ledge overlooking a bridge going over a deep ravine. All around him rose black slopes of Obsidian Mountains. And on a road behind him moved columns of retreating United Taurusian Defense Forces units.

The Obsidian Mountains were their last natural line of defense before Leender. Fierce fighting occurred among them in the last few weeks, but ultimately, nobody was surprised by the outcome. Sons forced them out of their positions and now, by the order of Unified Staff, they were to retreat from the mountains and move towards Leender. Command was now putting everything on the defense of the city.

So now, while numerous units were withdrawing, Verius' company was acting as the advance guard, guarding the road beyond the bridge. The rear guard was comprised of two companies from Kubliatan mechanized battalions, both of which already left and were on their way out of the mountains.

Colonel reached into his turret and pulled out a radio.
"Report."he ordered.
"Nothing out of the ordinary."Gerhi reported.
"Same as always."Hernik reported.
"No enemies in sight."Niva reported.
"You heard anything from the Kubliatans?"
"Nothing. Apparently, the Sons are still not there."

"What worries me."Verius admitted."I would have expected them to be here already."

"Better don't wish for it…"Hernik said.
"I'm not. Just keep a lookout."

"Got it."the three replied and disconnected.

He put the radio down and returned to observing the surrounding landscape. Or rather, he looked down the ravine in front of them. There, slowly and lazily flowing through, was one of the many lava rivers that were the identification marks of the mountains. If not for the orange glow the lava gave, the ravine would be nothing but darkness. He gulped at the very thought of falling there. He knew how many times this already happened here and he didn't want to join the unlucky fellas that met such a fate.

He then glanced at a device laying on the turret next to him. It was a remote detonator, controlling the charges set up on the bridge. The plan was to let the allied units through and after that, blow the thing up to not allow Sons to use it. Everyone knew that this was only a temporary resort, considering that Sons could simply airlift their troops over the mountains, but still, this could slow them down a bit.

Actually, as he thought about it, there already were reports coming, telling about SoS' units already being airlifted and dropped behind the mountains, establishing a beachhead, which could result in complete surrounding of the mountains, which was another reason the retreat was ordered. There were some units guarding the path out of the mountains, but they were strained beyond belief. This is why they had to go as fast as possible, if they didn't want to end up like animals in a trap, slowly being eradicated by hunters sent by Sons.

The time slowly passed and soon, the end of the column was seen rounding the corner and going towards the bridge. Some vehicles had soldiers sitting on them, what was still dangerous, as nobody knew if enemy snipers weren't sent and set up in the area. Just because there was no sign of the enemy, didn't mean there was no danger.

Last vehicle soon crossed the bridge and was on it's way out of the valley. As Verius watched the column go by, he stretched himself. Next, he reached for the radio to contact the company and…

Sound of explosions suddenly rolled over the valley and reached his ears. Before he could react in any way, a shout came from the radio:
"Contact!"
He recognized the voice of corporal Kh'en'an, commander of one of the Kubliatan companies. He quickly tensed.
"What's going on, corporal?!"

"Enemy dropships just came out of nowhere and smashed us!"the Kubliatan replied."And now, we have enemy vehicles approaching our positions! We're retreating towards you!"
"Understood! Be quick!"
Lieutenant colonel ended the connection and connected to his company's channel.
"Everyone, get ready, we're gonna have company."he said firmly.
"You had to jinx it, didn't you?"Hernik hissed.

"No time for this."Gerhi said."We have a fight ahead of us."

"Contact!"Niva exclaimed.

Verius quickly looked towards the valley and the ravine. There, flying from behind the mountains, was a squadron of five SoS' dropships. They were going on full throttle towards the company.
"Open fire, now!"Verius ordered.

Each of the M5s was equipped with an AA missile launcher, capable of holding two missiles. However, until now, the battalion was lucky and didn't need to use it, as AA vehicles were always with them in some sort, or air support was above their heads. Now, the time has come to finally put it to use.

Twelve missiles left the tubes and flew towards the approaching enemy machines. Enemy pilots already saw this coming and started performing evasive maneuvers, additionally dropping flares and chaffs. Some missiles were indeed fooled by them, but not all and out of the twelve, six were still on target. Unfortunately, in some cases, more than one missile locked onto a single target and in that way, all six remaining missiles struck, but there were still two enemy machines left and now, they were on their way to deliver their strike.

"Watch out!"Verius exclaimed, diving inside of the turret, but remembering to grab the detonator on the way.

Two dropships, now rid of the read of their squadron, had no other choice but to release their full missile salvo. Eight missiles, four from each, fell from under their wings and rocketed towards the twelve tanks. Seeing this, they immediately deployed their counter measures and soon, counter munitions shot towards the incoming barrage. But the missiles were not as stupid as expected and they actually tried to evade. Soon, out of eight missiles, five were down, but three still were making their way towards the targets.

Before long, they impacted, making three tanks explode in fireballs. One of their turrets flew up and down, towards the ravine and lava river bellow.

"Report, now!"Verius ordered.
"Three tanks destroyed."Gerhi replied, clearly through gritted teeth.
"Damn it. We…"His words stuck in his throat.

His eyes fell on a screen which showed the state of all tanks in the company. More precisely, on one particular tank.

"Give me a status on Hernik."he said.
There was a moment of silence.

"Everyone?"
"His…tank was one of the three destroyed…"Niva said.
"Do you see anyone escaping?"
"No, his turret fell down into the ravine. There's no going back from that."Gerhi said.

Verius slammed his fist onto the ceiling of the turret above him. He tightened his hand so hard, that he more felt than saw his knuckles going white under his glove.
"Enemy?"
"Retreating, sir."his gunner replied."They depleted their missiles and are going away."

"Fuck."

"This is Kh'en'an!"came the voice of Kubliatan corporal."We're getting close to your position! We have company!"

Verius immediately grabbed his periscope and turned it towards the bridge area. Not long after, he saw two APCs with Kubliatan markings literally shooting around the corner so fast, that drivers were doing miracles to not fall off into the ravine. One of the APCs actually swung his back so hard, that one of it's back wheels was hanging above the ravine for a second. Not long after them came their pursuers in form of three Mastiffs and two armored cars.

Verius frowned. Where was the rest of the two companies?
"Corporal, what about the rest of your men?"he threw into the ether.
'They're dead!"the Kubliatan shouted back."There's only eighteen of us left!"

Verius blinked for a second. Corporal had nearly two hundred men under him. How did they get killed so fast and so easily?
"Verius, they won't make it."Gerhi said.
"What?"Fegran was confused.
"The Kubliatans."Niva explained."They will get to the bridge, but before they cross, Sons will be right on them."
"We have to blow it up."
Lieutenant colonel Verius Fegran widened his yes after hearing that.
"But…I can't! They are…"
"They're dead already!"Gerhi exclaimed."Blow it up, man!"

Verius looked at the detonator in his hand. He could press the button now and be done with it. Sons would have it harder to go through here and they would be slowed down, even if only for a short period of time. And in their current situation, all time they could get was precious for Leender to prepare for the attack. They had to prioritize the defense of the city, after all.

But on the other hand, leaving the men under his command to die was just something he couldn't do. It went against his ideals. Ideals, which were hammered into him since the day the War of Flare Prime ended. Ideals of honor, duty and, most of all, loyalty. To not only his homeland, but also his men and friends.

"Hurry up!"Gerhi hurried him.

Looking through the periscope, Verius saw Kubliatan vehicles and their pursuers already entering the bridge. Fire exchange between them continued. Right then, one of SoS' vehicles fired a missile, which turned one of allied Catchers into a smoldering wreck.

He made a decision.
"Corporal Kh'en'an?"he said into the radio.
"What?"the Kubliatan NCO replied.
"I'm sorry."

Fegran's finger pushed down on the button.

Within seconds, fuses went off and nearly seventy kilograms of C4 went off, crushing the supports of the bridge. Stone, cement and metal started hurling down towards the lava in the ravine. Lieutenant colonel saw as allied and enemy vehicles still try to reach the other end, but to no avail. The road under their wheels gave up and soon, they joined the debris as it flew towards its doom. Verius could swear, as some hatches and doors open on the vehicles opened and people started falling out of them, but he quickly decided to push it into the back of his head.

More enemy vehicles appeared from behind the turn, but they were greeted by the sight of destroyed bridge and a salvo after salvo from Falmartian tanks. Within the next two minutes, the road leading towards the late bridge was filled with burning wrecks of enemy vehicles. Soon, the ones that remained decided to withdraw, while tanks fired a few more shells into the slope above the road, making numerous chunks fall off and block it completely.

After that, a complete, eerie and uneasy silence fell over the valley and the ravine.

"I think it's over."Niva said.
"Yeah…"Verius sighed."All units. Let's get out of here."

"Yes, sir."all vehicle commanders replied.

Tanks quickly started leaving their positions, leaving behind the three destroyed vehicles. Verius felt his hands shaking as he thought of fate that met not only Hernik, but also the Kubliatans.
"Don't worry sir."his gunner said.
"Huh?"Verius looked at him.
"You made the right decision."

Then why did he feel like he didn't?

XXX

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Until the next one!