Welcome back to The Will of Revenge! Previously, we've seen Special Operations Force join the operation aimed at pushing Galactic Concordance's forces out of the Nashinian System. Ester, Norrine and Elsa were given a task by Ester's old acquaintance to retake the home of Nashini President. Following the successful attack, the whole Nashini capital was plunged into darkness by GC's new weapon.
But before we continue that, reviews.
To Supreme Supra: Thanks.
With that done, let us begin.
Chapter 9
August 25, 2166
22:03
Galactic Concordance's Command Point, Unity Square, Hef'Adra, Nashina
General Malcolm McStorm slowly rose to his feet after he was thrown to the ground by a passing shockwave. His head was still spinning as he tried to remember what the hell just happened. There was this giant flash that blinded everyone and after that, a powerful shockwave rolled through the area. Some elements of the surroundings were picked up by it and flew in all directions, hitting people. He himself would get hit with a flying table, if he didn't fall over before. Around him, other soldiers and staff members started standing up or shaking off the confusion.
"What the hell happened?"Varian general asked.
"Hell if I know."McStorm replied.
Right then, he noticed how dark it was. Characteristic hum of the various machines also went silent, making the whole situation even more eerie. There were already sparse lights in the city, but now, the whole things looked as I someone blew a candle.
Spotting his adjutant, as shocked as possible, he showed him to come closer.
"Report."general ordered.
"Sir, all our electronic equipment is down."adjutant replied, saluting.
"What do you mean by 'down'?"Nakatan general asked.
"Fried, not working, off. That's what I mean."
"But how?"
McStorm started thinking hard about what actually happened. Right then, he remembered his talk with Goto not too long ago. The more he thought about it, the more all the pieces fit their places.
"That bitch!"he exclaimed."She hit us with Apollin!"
All eyes turned on him.
"What are you talking about?"Maraq general asked."And what is Apollin?"
"Mk.2 Apollin, a super powerful EMP warhead, designed to cover vast area."Malcolm replied."It so happened, that our flagship had one of the first prototypes aboard. And Goto apparently hit us with it! This must be why she didn't even care to tell us what her plan actually was!"He slammed his fist on the table.
He was prepared on every situation. But of course, he couldn't be prepared for what actually happened.
"So, does that mean, that enemy is also out of their electronics and other equipment?"another officer asked.
"Apollin is designed to cover vast area. More precisely, it could easily cover entire city and area thirty kilometers around it."general replied."So yes. Enemy's equipment is most likely out of service, too. But honestly, what does it change?"
Silence hung in the air. McStorm started thinking quickly, trying to figure out any possible way out of their current predicament. Apollin was a double edged sword. It probably halted enemy offensive, but at the same time, deprived allied troops from heavy support and communications, making the whole defensive ordeal that much harder.
"Tell the engineering teams to restore our communications as quickly as possible."Malcolm told his adjutant."I want it done by tomorrow!"
"Yes, sir!"adjutant replied and ran off.
General McStorm then turned to the other officers with him.
"Once communications are back online, I want you to contact all forces you can and tell them to counterattack the enemy. We gotta use this chance while we can."
"Yes, general!"they all replied.
Malcolm then turned to leave the command tent, which he was surprised was still standing. There was no doubt, that when he comes out of this whole shithole, he will go to the orbit, stand before Goto and shoot her without questioning anything. He will most likely get court martialed for this, but he didn't care. He put up with Goto's antics for far too long and now, she just pulled the last straw.
Pieces of aluminum started falling from the sky like a silvery snow.
August 25
22:03
Ivory Hill, Hef'Adra
"Is everyone alright?"Ester asked.
All around her, soldiers started standing up. Norrine helped Elsa up, as Ester's assistant still had shocked expression on her face. As did numerous other operatives. They still were trying to comprehend what did they just witness.
"What the fuck was that?"Norrine asked.
"How am I supposed to know?"Ester replied through gritted teeth.
"It wasn't a nuke, that's for sure."someone said."If it was, we would most likely not be here anymore."
"It could still be something else."another operative said."Like neutron bomb."
"Still, effect would be the same. These uniforms are not good at protecting you from neutron bomb blast."
Ester glanced around quickly. The shockwave managed to overturn a few lighter vehicles, but most were still standing. However, their lights were off and their engines were silent as well. Looking from the top of the hill towards the city, she noticed that only lights now still there were just fires that were spreading unattended. At one point, she noticed a dark shape falling from the sky and slamming into the ground. It was followed by numerous others, crashing into buildings and the streets. It looked like a rain of metal death, as she finally recognized shapes of dropships and fighters dropping from the sky like dead flies. Other operatives and soldiers were also looking at it, mesmerized.
It was also at this point that she realized, that her helmet's HUD was off, same as her hand terminal.
"Motherfuckers."she said, as it downed on her.
"What?"Elsa asked, as she regained some composure.
"The electronics are all off."colonel replied."I think it's obvious what that means?"
There was a moment of silence as the ones gathered around her processed it. Finally, they gasped when they realized.
"They hit us with a fucking EMP."Norrine said.
"And a powerful one, too."Elsa said."I can't see any artificial light anywhere."
Ester tried using her radio, but she quickly learned, that there was no use for it.
"Comms are off, too. Obviously."She sighed."I guess we're not calling any kind of support anytime soon."
"Yeah."operatives around agreed with a sigh.
Looking around, Ester quickly put a stern and firm expression on her face.
"Norrine, get me the Nashini commanders."she ordered.
"On it."Norrine replied.
She left to get the Nashini. Next, Ester looked at her soldiers.
"Gather everything you can. Set up some barricades or something. Also, try making anything work again. I would most like to see the turrets and vehicles operational again."
"Yes, ma'am!"operatives replied.
They then dispersed and Elsa looked at Ester.
"What are you planning?"she asked.
"Isn't that obvious? In this situation, we should stay here and think of our options. Additionally, Lon was on the way, so we better wait for him. He's in charge of us, after all. It's just a matter of when he comes here."
"Okay, that makes sense."
"So, get to work."
"Yes!"
With that, Elsa went and joined the rest of the operatives as they started working hard on fortifying this position.
At the same time, Ester wondered how were Delilah and the rest of her team doing. She hoped, that there was nothing really bad happening on their end. But knowing them, she knew they will be able to deal with anything coming at them.
Right then, she noticed something falling from the sky. She put her hand forward and a few pieces of aluminum fell on her hand like a silver, shiny snow.
August 25
Meanwhile…
Edge of RHEZ, Hef'Adra, Nashina
"Screw this shit!"Emmy shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Shut up and run!"Delilah replied.
She more felt than heard another dropship crashing behind them. Fireball almost reached them, but they were fast enough to escape it. It was another one that almost ended their lives and thinking about being ended like this after everything she's been through was not really something she wanted.
Right before the apparent EMP strike, Warrior Bunnies and other soldiers were repulsing another attack, this time by a Naktan armored company. While Nakatan tanks were giving them a hard time, they still managed to stop them. After that, Delilah and Emmy volunteered to scout the wreckage site and finish off any strugglers. Unfortunately, right then, the EMP hit and a true hell started.
Dropships and fighters started falling from the sky one after another, surprisingly high amount falling exactly where Delilah and Emmy were. Now, the two were on the run for their lives towards the nearest cover.
"How many of them were in this area?!"Emmy shouted, sliding under a low hanging destroyed tank's barrel.
"Too many!"Delilah stated.
She jumped over a pile of rubble and quickly ran around another destroyed vehicle. She didn't pay attention to the charred crews which tried to live the machines. If she didn't hurry, she'll soon join them.
Finally, her eyes fell on the entrance to the building the rest of their unit occupied. She could see Macy's worried expression as she waved at them to hurry. They picked up the pace and soon, they literally flew into the building. They rolled across the floor and stopped under the wall, just as another machine crashed just few meters away from the entrance.
Macy quickly approached them.
"Are you alright?"she asked, worried.
"If I have to choose between being killed by enemy tanks or by falling dropships, I choose tanks…"Emmy said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, you're fine."Macy stated hearing that comment.
Delilah quickly picked herself up from the ground and looked at the team's demolition expert.
"How does it look?"1st Warrior Bunnies commander asked.
"All electronics are fried, as you may have noticed."
"Oh, right."Emmy said, standing up."My HUD is gone. I must have missed it because of LITERAL FUCKING DEATH RAIN!"
"Stop screaming!"Ves exclaimed, joining them.
Delilah looked at the Warrior Bunnies gathered around her.
"What do we do?"Macy asked.
"Hm."Delilah said, rubbing her chin."Are all electronics fried?"
"I can confirm it."Ves said.
"Comms, too?"
"Yup."Macy replied.
"Than I think there's only one thing we can do. We're gonna stay here and continue defending this position. Send someone to inform the RHEZ and others. We still have to stand here, if we want the refugees to stay safe."Delilah replied.
Other Warrior Bunnies nodded.
"I'll go and explain everything to the leadership."Macy said and left.
"And I will inform the others."Ves said, also leaving.
This left only Delilah and Emmy.
"Well, fighting in an area hit with EMP was not something we really prepared for, did we?"Emmy asked, shouldering her RPD-6.
"True that."Delilah admitted."But we'll make it. After all, we came out of much worse situations already."
"Forever positive, aren't you?"
"Forever murderous, aren't you?"
"Touche."
"Okay, enough of this. Let's go and set everything up. I doubt GC will stop attacking, even in current situation. We gotta get ready.
"Right behind you."
And with that, the two of them went on to strengthen the defenses of the area, preparing for anything else GC could throw at them in this situation.
August 25
23:56
Ivory Hill
It's been nearly two hours since the EMP blast. Ester was currently sitting in Presidential Officer of the building. She knew it was disrespectful towards the main occupier of the residence, but it was the best place she could set up her command room in. She was deep in her thoughts.
As she expected, these two hours were not calm. From all around the city, sound of gunfire could be heard. Even in complete darkness, there was no armistice and whenever allied and GC forces met each other, there immediately started a fight. There was no telling who was winning these fights. But they were currently of none concern to the troops on Ivory Hill. Their own safety was now their main concern.
As she was thinking, there was a knocking at the door.
"In."Ester said.
The door opened and Elsa peeked in.
"Colonel Azaka is here."she reported.
"Let him in."
Elsa nodded and disappeared in the door. Soon, they opened fully and Lon strode in on his long Nashini legs.
"Seems like you made yourselves comfortable."he stated with a smile.
"As much as we could."Ester replied.
Nashini colonel approached the desk and sat down on the opposite side.
"Should I call you Mrs. President?"
"Nah, I'm not the President after all. I just picked this room due to it's location in the building."
"If you say so."
"Anyway, how was your journey?"
Colonel massaged his neck.
"As you may expect."Lon'Azaka said."As you probably expect, when the pulse hit, we were forced to go on foot. Luck would have it, that we were not far. It still took us two hours to get here, because we not only had to get through the rubble and such, but also had to be careful in case we met enemies. That didn't happen, but still."
"The most important part is that you're here."
"Yes."
He then looked past her, out the window, at the pieces of aluminum falling from the sky.
"Feels like metal snow."he said.
"Yeah."Ester agreed.
"One of my soldiers theorized, that this aluminum is supposed to block any and all radio waves and communications in case someone still had any working comms equipment."
"We have the exact same theory. GC doesn't like to take any chances, it seems."
"EMP is still better than nuke. At least we don't have to worry about radiation."
"Our situation is still pretty shit, though."
"No arguing here."
Another minute of silence.
"Did command contact you before the lights went out?"Ester finally asked.
"No. After they gave us our new order, they didn't contact me in any way."Lon replied.
Colonel Barkhorn nodded and leaned back in President's chair. She nodded slightly.
"Then I guess our orders still stand."
"What do you mean?"Lon titled his head.
"I've been talking with others a bit and we decided on something. We can't stay here for the whole duration of this. It will be better and safer if we'll get on the move. And do as our orders tell us."
Nashini blinked for a few seconds, before realizing what she meant.
"Wait, you're saying, that you're gonna try and retake the Unity Square?"he finally asked.
"Yes. After all, enemy commanders are there. And if we take them out in this whole confusion and shitstorm, it will be easier to take care of Concordance's forces in the city once the whole chaos subsides."Ester explained."We were just waiting for you to come here, so you could tag along. Our operatives and your soldiers are working on restoring the vehicles to useable state."
"And how are they doing?"
She shook her head.
"Not as good as we would like. We restored only three APCs and two cars. Their electronics were not hit as hard as with the others. Rest requires more thorough maintenance in actual garage."
"Always better than nothing."
"Indeed."
"So, when are we planning to set off?"
Ester stood up.
"As I said, we were just waiting for you. I will go now and explain the remaining details to our troops. Coming?"
"Right behind you. I'd like to know these details as well."
Nodding her head, Ester headed out of the office and towards the outside, ordering all passed soldiers guarding the building to follow her. They all complied and soon, they were outside. On the way, Ester also called Elsa and Norrine to tell them to gather everyone. As the two with soldiers reached the outside of the building, a crowd of Nashini Marines and SOF operatives was already gathered outside, waiting for them. When they stood before them, all talks went silent.
Ester eyed them and quickly went to explaining everything. Soldiers listened to her words, not muttering any of their own. Plan was simple. Ester, Elsa, Norrine and Lon would take majority of the remaining soldiers to take back the Unity Square. They would leave wounded here, under the protection of force strong enough to protect the Ivory Hill in case of another enemy attack. They would try and use the night to sneak past enemies and reach the Unity Square, where they would take down the enemy commanders and after that, set up defenses, waiting for the storm to subside, so to say.
Everything was agreed upon and soldiers quickly went to work under the rain of aluminum. Five vehicles that were restored came to life and moved towards the gate. Ester and Lon quickly gave orders and tasks to their soldiers, before joining the vehicles with around four hundred soldiers. They stood in a marching column and started leaving the Ivory Hill, marching and driving down the main road.
Colonel Ester Barkhorn was driving in one of the APCs, looking through the open commander's hatch. In her mind, she knew that this column was easy target for enemies. But at the same time, she was aware that the column was additionally the best and most efficient way soldiers could move, so vehicles could keep the pace with them and vice versa. It will take them some time to reach the Unity Square, but better safe than sorry.
The column continued on it's way towards it's goal, leaving behind Ivory Hill.
August 26
00:54
Streets of Hef'Adra
An hour later, column was still on the move. Much to Ester's relief, in that time, they were not met with anymore enemy resistance, which was a nice change after previous assault on Ivory Hill and defending it from constant attacks by GC stragglers for nearly two hours. And at the same time, the whole situation couldn't stop filling her with worry and a feeling of uneasiness. While fires and firefight was still prominent in the city, in their area, it has become quiet.
Too quiet for her liking.
"I think you should hide."Lon stated.
Ester looked down the hatch and into the vehicle. Lon was sitting on a bench in the troop compartment of the vehicle. He was constantly intertwining his fingers which Ester remembered was his way of dealing with stress. She couldn't blame him. She was stressed, too.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, memories returned from nearly two decades ago. Secure Valley. Her speaking up during a meeting. Everyone cheering and agreeing with her.
And then destruction and death caused by failed assault on Trar, capital of Alantian Clans. Remorse and guilt tarnished her for years after that, until therapy, Dora and the twins helped her overcome them. But now, these memories were back and with them, all the feelings associated. She feared, that this will end exactly like back then. Not as destructive, but still almost on par. She put her hand to her chest and slowly descended back into the vehicle, sitting herself opposite of Lon.
Nashini colonel noticed that something was not right.
"Everything okay?"he asked.
"Yeah, it's just…some bad memories…"she replied evasively.
"Wanna talk about it?"
Ester's first thought was to say 'no' but she stopped herself before the word left her mouth. She didn't want to seem rude. Even though they didn't talk for a long time, she Lon was still her friend.
She sighed.
"It reminds me of back during the War of Flare Prime…"Ester started."About how I came up with a plan of attack on Trar…"
Lon'Azaka nodded.
"I think I know what you mean."he admitted.
"You do?"
"Yeah. Everyone remembers how unwell you were after all that. All of us well unwell after that…"He shuddered."But just because it was your idea, doesn't mean you have to beat yourself about it. Same now. We're just facing the Galactic Concordance. And while Alantians were not capable of interstellar travel like they are and there was less of them, they were much more powerful than GC. GC is a pushover compared to them."
A smirk appeared on Ester's face.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."She frowned."I gotta ask Yuko to make a simulation of how a battle between GC and Alantians would look like once all this is over."
"Remember to send me this simulation."Lon said, winking.
The two of them laughed.
"Ester."Norrine said in the radio.
"What is it?"Immediately, colonel Ester Barkhorn activated her serious command mode.
"I'm going to scout ahead with Elsa and two others. Just wanted to know if you'd care to join us?"
"Sure. Wait for me."
She looked at Lon.
"I'm gonna join Norrine and Elsa in scouting ahead. You're in charge."she said.
"You can count on me."Lon replied, saluting.
Colonel Barkhorn grabbed her riffle laying next to her on the bench and climbed out through the commander's hatch. The vehicle was driving on the very front of the column, so she waited for the rest. When she spotted them running past the rest of the column, she jumped off of the moving vehicle, landed on the ground and joined the four scouts as they ran past her.
"Hey, Es."Norrine said.
"Yeah?"Ester replied.
"Didn't you always tell us jumping off of a moving vehicle is too dangerous?"
"Only if it's moving at break neck speed."
"Now you're just making that up."
"Oh, shut up."
She then looked at the two other members of the team except Elsa. They were both Nashini wearing Marines uniforms.
"We took these two."Elsa said."They're local."
"Yes, ma'am."one of the Marines replied."We know almost every pathway, street and alley in the city."
"This is what growing up here does to a mofo."the other added.
"Did you really pick up some Earth's slang?"Ester asked.
The two shrugged.
"This is how it is when you learn English, ma'am."the first one said.
"Okay. Now, lead the way."
The two nodded and forced their way forward. The five passed by the column and ran forward.
"Lon."Ester said in the radio."Forgot to tell you. Halt the column for now and wait for our signal to move."
"Solid copy."
Right then, the whole column stopped, while the five people scout group moved forward.
Half an hour later…
Night was still dark over the city and tons of aluminum continued to fall from the sky. Dark buildings rose all around, while numerous thunderous sounds of gunfire, although muffled, due to far distance, sounded all around. It was kinda horrifying for Ester, that even in situation like this, both sides couldn't just agree to an armistice and wait until the situation becomes better. But war had it's own rules. And sometimes, even those rules just gave up to normal emotions like hatred or will to fight.
Two Nashini Marines leading them, named Rin'Takod and Qer'Viks as Ester learned, learned them through numerous pathways and alleys. Rubble was littering literally every single one, just more adding to the tragedy of the city. Ester and Dora took Ursula and Conny here on a vacation once. Colonel Barkhorn still remembered how amazing everything look back then. There was a reason why Hef'Adra was one of the top tourist destinations in the Milky Way. It was just a great place to visit and see. Not now, of course, but Ester was sure, that Nashini will rebuild. The did it once, after GGW, they can do it once more.
She looked up at the sky and the falling aluminum pieces.
"Jesus Christ, how much of that did they load?"she asked.
"Too much, for my liking."Elsa said.
Each step they took made the aluminum rustle like snow.
"It will be harder to sneak around with all that."Rin said."Be careful, everyone."
"Copy."the rest replied.
The group was currently making it's way through various pathways between various living blocks in this parts of the city. As of now, they didn't meet any enemy resistance, but as always, it was about to change.
They just rounded another corner and entered a small, park-like area hidden between the buildings. It was surrounded by a pretty high brick wall and had several palm-like trees growing in it, with a bunch of tables and chairs for recreations set up there. But that wasn't important. What was important, was a big, angular shape that sat just beyond that park area. Some voices were coming from that direction and as they got closer, they could see several figures moving around the vehicle.
"Stop."Rin said."Hide."
The five quickly approached the wall separating them from the vehicle. Right then, a harsh shout exclaimed:
"Stop!"
Everyone held their breaths. They weren't spotted, right?
"Where are you two going?"
They breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't directed at them.
"Just going to take a piss, sergeant."another voice replied.
"Like fuck you do!"sergeant replied."You will not go anywhere, until you won't make this APC operational again, or at least repair the radio!"
"But sir!"another voice said."If we don't go and…"
"Is that insubordination, private?! Do you know how is that punished?!"
There was a moment of silence.
"Yes, sergeant."two voices said at the same time."We'll first repair the vehicle and the go take a piss."
"Good. Get a move on!"
Nashini Marines looked at the three Humans with them.
"What are the chances that some of your units broke through all the way here?"Rin whispered in the radio.
"Minimal."Ester whispered back."Even lower are the chances that they would use a Laconian Mastiff."
"So I guess they aren't friendly."Norrine said, already preparing her flames.
"No!"Ester hissed."We take care of this the old fashioned way."
She gave several hand signals to the Nashini Marines, who nodded their heads. Next, they slightly leaned over the wall, looking down the sights of their weapons. They scanned the area surrounding the Mastiff.
"There are three targets outside, could be more inside."Qer reported."Or even behind the APC."
"We take care of the three first."Ester stated.
She also leaned over the wall and looked at the scene before her.
"I take the one standing to the side. You take the two at the APC."
"Got it."Nashini Marines replied.
Ester looked down her sights and aimed at the enemy standing to the side, which the other two called sergeant. She could imagine the face he was making while scolding his two subordinates. A typical angry sarge face that she saw many times back in Titan Academy, each time she messed something up or shown off too much. She shook her head, chasing away those memories. Damn, why did everything start coming back to her now?
"3…2…1…"she counted.
Simultaneously, the three of them pulled the trigger and bullets hit their mark. Three bodies fell to the ground, making a rustling sound. Everything fell silent for a few seconds, as the five waited for any kind of reaction, but there was none. They slowly rose up to their feet and came down the stairs to the small square the APC stood on. Marines quickly ran up to the dead bodies and examined them.
"U-huh."Rin murmured."Lacos."
Ester let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, she feared that they might have made a mistake and actually killed allies. But now, all tension left her.
"What if there are actually some inside?"Elsa asked, pointing at the APC.
In response, Norrine lit up her flames and formed a fireball in her hand. Next, she threw the fireball into the vehicle through an open top hatch. Few seconds later, flames burst out through some crevices in the armor and the hatch.
"What about them?"Norrine replied.
"Huh, that's new."Ester stated.
"Came up with it recently. I can now make fireball grenades. But only I can use them."
"Yeah, that much I gathered."Ester stated."Let's go."
Leaving behind the three bodies and the APC, the five continued on their way.
August 26
01:01
Unity Square
General McStorm was sitting in his command tent, looking at the inactive holo-table, as if it held answers to all his predicaments. But it didn't. Engineers worked hard to repair it, but the machine was unrepairable. Same as around 90% of everything they had stationed on Unity Square. They managed to get some turrets online, but not the vehicles. Much to everyone's dismay.
Not to mention, that hand terminals and all that also went offline and there was no way of bringing them back. So no communications. And even if they managed to get them back, no signal would get through because of the aluminum that kept falling from the sky like it was some weird, metallic Christmas. It seemed as everything went to shit as if touched by a magic wand.
"Fuuuuck."he let out against himself.
"Ssssomeone'ssss grumpy."Nakatan general said.
"You're the one to say it."Malcolm shot back.
This Nakatan general was probably the most grumpy of all commanders McStorm had pleasure working with. And yet, in this situation, he seemed to be the calmest of them all, like nothing happened. Some started freaking out because of the whole situation, while he sat there, unmoved.
"Maybe you have any ideas for this thing?"Varian general asked."We've been sitting here for nearly four hours and nothing changed. I feel like I'm gonna go crazy if we won't even get to know the situation in the city!"
"Shut up, fish face."Maraqi general asked."Better start thinking instead of bitching around."
"How about you do that, crystal?"
"Oh, you motherfu…"
Maraqi general was already jumping at the Varian for calling him with the slur, but both general McStorm and Nakatan general slammed their fists on the table.
"Keep it together, people!"Malcomlm exclaimed."We have to get through this together, united! Not by jumping to each other's throats! Capiche?!"
"Yes."the two replied like scolded children.
They still looked at each other with daggers in their eyes.
With this situation under control, general Malcolm McStorm looked at the Nakatan general again.
"Any news from the scouts?"he asked.
Not too long ago, they sent some scout teams forward to check if any enemies are approaching. Considering that firefights were still erupting all across the city, there was a high probability of enemy troops reaching this area. Of course, most people downplayed the dangers, but McStorm preferred to make sure they won't be surprised by suddenly appearing enemy forces, like in all these movies and novels he saw and read.
Nakatan general shook his head.
"No, none of them returned."he replied and after realizing how it sounded, he quickly added:"Yet."
"Let's just hope there won't be any complications."
"Yeah…"
Meanwhile…
Ester and the group observed a squad of five enemy soldiers moving between the rubble. They were moving slowly, checking every corner and making sure they were not observed or there was no enemy hiding closely.
Apparently they were not great at their job, as they didn't even think to look up, past the ground floor level, as the five scouts were hiding on the second floor of a building, looking down at the squad made up of two Laconians, two Varians and one Maraq.
"Seems like we were not the only ones to come up with an idea of sending scouts."Norrine said.
"Indeed."Ester agreed.
"Orders?"Elsa asked.
Colonel Ester Barkhorn looked at the two Nashini Marines.
"How far from Unity Square are we?"she asked.
Rin and Qer looked at each other.
"Well, in Human terms…"Rin said."That would be around eight to ten kilometers."
Ester nodded.
"Alright. Elsa, I want you to go back and inform Lon. They have to start moving."Ester ordered.
"On it."Elsa replied.
She stood up and left them.
"Will she be okay?"Qer asked.
"She's got good memory. She'll find a way back. And she can take care of herself as well as any of us."
"And what do we do?"Norrine asked.
"Isn't that obvious?"colonel replied with a smirk barely visible behind her helmet's darkened visor.
Marines major smiled in response. She stood up, activated her flames and sent a fireball towards the enemy soldiers. It hit the Maraq square on. He screamed in pain, but didn't shatter or anything. This came after, when Rin scored a hit on him, shattering the crystal alien's head into small pieces.
Two Varians and two Laconians quickly rushed for cover. The didn't know where were the shots coming from, so they couldn't know that that wouldn't help. Ester and Qer joined Norrine and Rin in raining down fire on enemy soldiers. After a few seconds, GC soldiers realized where the fire was coming from and aimed at the floor above them. This, however, exposed them and allowed Norrine to place some more fireballs right into them. Two more enemies were out.
"Qer!"Rin shouted.
Ester looked to her left and saw Qer falling backwards. Or rather, what was left of him after getting hit by a shot from Varian staff. Rin quickly put the last Varian down, while Norrine took out the last Laconian.
After everything settled, the three looked at Qer's remains.
"Sorry because of him."This was the best Ester could come up with at this time.
"Time for sorrys will come later. Let's finish the mission first."
"If you say so."Norrine said."What do we do now?"She turned to Ester.
"We wait until Elsa brings the rest here. After that, we assault the Unity Square. You said it's ten kilometers away from here?"
Rin nodded.
"In Human terms, yes."
"Good. Let's just stay here and wait for the others to come."
The other two nodded and ignoring the deceased Qer, they silently waited for the rest of their force to come and join them.
August 26
01:35
UNSA San Antonio, Nashina's orbit
Captain Phil watched as enemy flagship gets blown to pieces, it's massive shape breaking into two. Some life pods were launched, but not enough for the whole crew to evacuate safely. He wondered, if enemy commander went down with her ship. Maybe, or maybe not. Either way, they will have dealt with her.
"How does the situation look?"Phil asked his radar officer.
"Enemy vessels are in full retreat, sir."radar officer replied.
Phil sighed. That meant, that they managed to win the battle in the orbit. But battle on the surface still raged on, especially in Hef'Adra and surrounding area, now a completely black stain on the surface. He wondered, how is SOF doing. Probably pretty good, he was aware of what these people can do in such situations. Especially with people like Barkhorn, Delilah and Bauer in charge.
"Sir."a telescope operator said.
Phil looked in his direction.
"What is it?"
"You gotta see this."
Captain stood up from his chair and approached the telescope operator. Operator then pointed at his screen and there, Phil saw several photos. They were kinda dark, so he frowned seeing them.
"What am I looking at?"he asked.
"Allow me to increase the brightness…"telescope operator said.
He pushed a slider on the screen and the pictures immediately brightened. And finally, Phil could see what the operator saw.
Rows upon rows of military vehicles making their way through darkened streets and roads of part of Nashina affected by the EMP. There were tens upon tens of them. On top of some, Phil could spot numerous dots, which were quite possibly soldiers sitting on top of them. There were three photos, showing three different columns driving down three different routes.
"What the fuck?"Phil asked.
"We spotted three enemy formations making their way towards Hef'Adra under the cover of the EMP and aluminum rain. It was pretty hard to spot them due to the latter. But if our estimates are right, we have three divisions worth of soldiers approaching the city."
Phil almost gasped. Three divisions. If his eyes were correct and he saw only Laconian vehicles in these columns, then according to Laconian organizational structure, he was looking at nearly one hundred thousand worth of soldiers. One hundred thousand worth of fresh soldiers with working equipment, which could simply roll in and roll over allied forces in the city. Captain cursed under his breath.
"Fuck."he then said."We can't inform ours on the ground. But can we fire upon them from the orbit?"
"Negative."weapons systems operator replied."The aluminum in the air is messing with our targeting systems.
"Ask Nashini or anyone else, if it's the same for them."
Communications officer nodded and quickly got to it. Everyone waited in anticipation for what he would tell them. Finally, after he called every allied fleet that was currently over Nashina, he turned back to Phil and shook his head.
"Everyone else tells the same."he reported.
Phil's eye twitched.
"22nd century, quantum computers, hyperspace, super lasers and intergalactic travel and simple aluminum can make all options useless."he thought, took a breath and said:"When all the aluminum stops falling, contact anyone who has a working radio. They need to know."
"Aye, aye, sir!"comms officer replied.
Phil returned to his chair and put his chin on his hand.
"Everything's in your hands."he thought."Just hang on down there."
August 26
01:48
Hef'Adra, 10km to Unity Square
After half an hour or so of waiting, Ester, Norrine and Rin could finally hear the familiar sound of boots hitting the ground and engines working. Looking down the street from their hiding spot, they saw the leading APC already rounding the corner and leading the SOF operatives and Nashini Marines towards their goal. Lon was leaning out of the vehicle through the commander's hatch and looking around.
The three quickly left the hiding spot and made their way down, towards the street. They exited the building and waited for the rest of their forces to join them. Seeing them, Lon ordered the column to stop their march.
"Good to know you're doing exactly what you told me not to do."Ester said, as she saw Lon jumping out of the vehicle.
Nashini colonel smiled.
"There were no enemy snipers."he replied simply.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Ester just sighed.
"Alright, what matters is that you're here."she said."Unity Square is just ten kilometers down this road."
"That sounds about right."Lon replied.
"We took care of some enemy scouts earlier, so they shouldn't expect us."Colonel glanced at Norrine."Unless they heard her boom booms."
Marines Major winced.
"Hey, not my fault fireballs go boom on impact."Norrine replied.
"Besides, considering that comms are down, I don't know they would even be able to learn who won the fight if they heard it."Elsa pointed out, joining them. She then noticed something."Where's Qer?"
Rin shook his head.
"Oh. Sorry."corporal said.
"We'll honor him and the others once we've dealt with the enemy."colonel Lon stated firmly."Let's get this done."
"Got any ideas what do we do?"Ester asked.
"I think that direct assault, in this situation, is our best bet."Lon replied."Enemy doesn't know about us approaching. If we get there fast enough, we could easily take the plaza back with minimal losses. After we do that, we fortify our positions and wait for all of this to blow over. How does it sound?"
Ester processed the information he gave her. Truth be told, she also leaned towards the direct assault on Unity Square. It was far beyond enemy lines, so they had no reason to keep a lot of soldiers there, maybe a force strong enough to push back any enemy attack attempt, but not big enough to actually strain their logistics. So if they struck suddenly and with full force, there was a chance the enemy wouldn't put up much resistance.
She nodded.
"Sounds good to me."
"Great. So let's get ready."
"Let's get a move on, folks!"Norrine exclaimed.
Soldiers around quickly started preparing. They moved out of the way, allowing the vehicles to take the front and be the vanguard of the charge. Soldiers gathered behind them and prepared for the order to be given.
"Everyone!"Lon exclaimed loud enough for soldiers to hear, but silent enough for the enemy ten kilometers further not to hear it."Charge!"
With that, five vehicles led the charge, with nearly four hundred soldiers following closely behind them.
August 26
01:59
Unity Square
General McStorm sat in his command tent. He wasn't doing anything in particular. He was just killing time by playing with his general's cap. Other generals were talking to their soldiers, checking out how they were feeling. He thought this wasn't needed. Probably everyone was still feeling the same. A little bit of betrayal, a little bit of fear, a little bit of trying to not show it. At least that's how Malcolm was feeling.
Aluminum still fell from the sky, blocking all radio signals. Which was a shame, because the engineers finally got the fucking communication systems working. But due to so much interference, there was no way they could ever contact any other force on the surface or in the orbit. Not like the ground forces had any working equipment. Fleet could help, but from what last reports were saying, they were not doing good. Now, hours later, he had no idea how the fleet was doing or if it was even still operating.
His adjutant came into the tent.
"Your coffee, sir."he said.
"Thanks."general McStorm replied.
He grabbed the cup and started drinking. It was his fifth cup of coffee since the whole thing with the EMP started. It probably wasn't good for his health, but he didn't really care. He had to keep his mind clear if he wanted to not get crazy because of this shit that was happening in his life lately.
"Any news from scouts?"
"No, general. None of them came back yet."
Malcolm McStorm sighed.
"I really start thinking that ours overdid it with that missile."he stated."How much aluminum can you load aboard one missile?"
"Too much, it seems. Or maybe they also dropped it from the ships?"adjutant wondered.
"Whatever the case might be, I hope it will end in a few hours. Because it's been falling non-stop since the EMP blast."
"The aluminum rain seems to be thinning, though. Maybe actually two more hours and we'll be rid of all this."
"I sure hope so."
General stopped playing with his cap and placed it on his head.
"Let's go and see how it looks."He quickly finished his coffee and stood up.
Adjutant followed Malcolm closely behind as the general left the command tent and exited into the cold night of Nashini capital city. He glanced around at the soldiers walking around, patrolling or simply sitting and killing time. All around, dark buildings were surrounding them like walls of a dark cave that were closing in on them. Sounds of gunfire became sparse by now. Probably both sides realized, that it's better to stop beating each other up and wait for it all to end before returning to slaughtering each other on mass. Orange glow over the rooftops of the building showed, that fires that plagued the city still were working tirelessly and maybe even expanded. With nobody to take care of them, this was to be expected.
Listening to the sounds of the night and rustle of aluminum under his feet, general suddenly stopped. His adjutant almost bumped into his back.
"What is it, sir?"he asked.
"Do you hear that?"Malcolm asked.
"Hear what?"
"Listen."
Adjutant listened and he sure heard something through the rustle of aluminum on the ground and soldiers speaking. It sounded like…
"Engines."he said.
"And a lot of people running."Malcolm added.
"What…?"
Before adjutant could finish his question, on the far side of the Unity Square, far from the command area, five vehicles, two armored cars and three APCs shot out of the street and into the Square. Immediately, they formed a fan and fired their weapons at the nearby GC soldiers. Not long after, a true sea of enemy soldiers poured out of the street, joining the vehicles in their slaughter.
Cacophony of the sudden shooting of numerous weapons was almost enough to deafen someone. Malcolm turned in that direction and after a few minutes of shock, he looked at his adjutant.
"You! Go and find the others! Tell them to get their asses moving and scramble the defenses!"
"Yes, general!"adjutant replied and ran off.
Next, McStorm looked at the soldiers around him, who were as shocked as he was just a second ago.
"You lot! Move your asses!"he shouted.
Soldiers didn't wait. They quickly did what they were told and got up, rushing to the defense of the Square.
Defense, which immediately proved to be futile. The sheer numbers of allied soldiers pouring into the Unity Square, accompanied by their five vehicles, was enough to push the Concordance's troops further and further back, inch by inch retaking the Square. Losses were mounting on both sides, and even one APC was blown apart by a well placed missile, but that didn't stop the advance. Bullets, lasers and fireballs flew in all directions, as GC soldiers died in their effort to defend the area.
Ester, Elsa and Norrine were in the vanguard of the advance, firing at anyone they could see. Using her Super Strength, Ester precisely took down enemies armed with heavy missile launchers and snipers. Elsa supported her, taking down every enemy that somehow got too close. And Norrine threw fireballs in all directions, her fireball grenades exploding and eliminating groups of enemy defenders.
Lon sat in one of the APCs and listened to the sounds of battle. Truth be told, he would rather be outside, fighting alongside his men, but being a high value target, he was told by Ester to better stay inside the vehicle. Not like it would help him a lot, when a missile struck, but it was still safer.
Sounds of battle spread as far and wide as possible, like thunder over the city. It was the biggest engagement in current situation and would be one of the last, too. Many across the city wondered what was happening and where, but due to the danger of being discovered by enemy, they decided to stay hidden. At least allied forces decided that, as GC troops decided to investigate what was happening. But before they could arrive, everything was already over.
Ester continued to fire at particular targets until she spotted a single figure hiding behind some rubble. Even from this distance, she could spot a typical Laconian general field uniform, with a general's cap.
"I see enemy commander!"she screamed to Norrine and Elsa."Going to get him!"
"Just be careful!"Elsa replied.
"I will!"
With that, Ester rushed towards the general.
Meanwhile, McStorm still hid behind the rubble. He knew he should be a brave and inspiring leader for his soldiers, but who would be brave and inspiring, when enemy bullets literally flew over your damn head?! It was better to hide and wait it all through. Although he had no idea what would happen with him. He heard the cannonade and was certain, that it wasn't the GC forces who were winning. Sound of engines also showed this.
"Where are the others when you need them?!"he thought in distress. Not like other generals could help him.
He had to get out of here. But how…
Something suddenly came out from behind the rubble. Turning in that direction, he saw a woman dressed in UNSA uniform. She aimed her weapon at him.
"Hands up!"she exclaimed.
General Malcolm McStorm felt panic overflowing him. He had no idea what to do.
Suddenly, he saw one of his soldiers running at the woman from behind. He looked much bigger and stronger than her. If she didn't expect him, then maybe, he would be able to kill her and help McStorm get out of here.
The soldier ran up to the woman and tried to wrap his arms around her. However, much to McStorm's surprise, she dodged it and grabbed the man by his arm. Next, twisting it towards the ground, she broke his arm so the bone pierced the skin. Soldier screamed as woman pulled out her sidearm and placed a bullet in his head, sending him to the ground. Next, she turned back to the general.
"Hands up, I said!"she exclaimed again.
Resigning to his fate, and still shocked, McStorm put his hands up. The woman approached him and grabbed him.
She then started pushing him forward towards the rest of their force. Once there, she handed hims to some soldiers and rejoined the battle. Malcolm could only look back at her, as he was led away by the enemy troops.
Allied forces continued their push for the next ten minutes. In some places, GC forces managed to set up some good defenses, but they were quickly dispatched. Allied troops nearly reached the end of Unity Square, before last remaining GC soldiers surrendered. Marines and SOF operatives quickly rounded them up and quickly placed them under guard of some of the allied soldiers in the far part of the square.
Meanwhile, once the battle has subsided, Lon quickly ordered his troops to fortify their position. Soldiers quickly put up barricades from rubble and stuff they could find in nearby buildings, additionally clearing them and making sure no enemies hidden there. After around half an hour, most of the work was done.
Ester, Elsa, Norrine and Lon gathered at the command tent, looking at an engineer taking care of the equipment.
"You sure?"Lon asked.
Engineer nodded.
"Yes. Laconians managed to get the radio going."he said."It's working and we can contact ours in the orbit."
"Then what are we waiting for?"Norrine asked."Do it."
"There is still the problem of aluminum falling from the skies."Elsa pointed out.
Norrine frowned.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about it."she said.
"We're gonna contact ours when the time comes."Ester stated, crossing her arms."For now, let's focus on making this place defensable. We must expect that some GC groups will try to take it back if they find out what happened."
"Got it."everyone replied.
They left the tent and went on to finish the preparations.
August 26
07:32
Unity Square, Hef'Adra
Ester was right. There were around sixteen assault attempts against the Unity Square since it was taken over by joint Nashini Marines-SOF forces. Most of these, however, were small groups of twenty to thirty men. Only one assault almost broke the line, where nearly eighty enemy soldiers tried to break through, but were ultimately pushed back.
In that time, sun rose over the city, making all the falling pieces of aluminum, as well as those laying on the ground, shine in the glow of the sun. They were blinding everyone a bit, but it was manageable.
Ester sat on the barricade placed on the street leading out of the Unity Square and towards the Adra Tower. She looked at the structure with a bit of a marvel. It was as big as Eiffel Tower, but it was still impressive to look at, especially considering that unlike Eiffel, Adra Tower had a shape of three arms spreading in three different directions, then on the halfway point turning and joining together at the top. It was one heck of a feat of engineering and there was no denying that. It was a miracle it still stood, even though complete chaos reigned around it.
She heard a rustle behind her and saw Elsa climbing on top of the barricade.
"What is it?"Ester asked.
"Nothing."Elsa replied, pulling out a small tin can and a spoon."Lon just thought, that you'd like to eat something. After all, none of us ate anything in hours."
"Thanks."colonel said, taking the rations."But what about others?"
"There are other people delivering the rations. Buuuut…due to the lack of our own, we had to…borrow them from supplies GC held here."
Ester risen an eyebrow and looked at the tin can. She grabbed the small metal ring attached to the lid and pulled it, peeling away the lid and revealing a mass of unknown color. She took off her helmet and sank the spoon in it, then put it in her mouth. Immediately, she pouted and almost vomited. She spitted it out on the street.
"Jesus Christ."she said through gritted teeth."This tastes like xarar's shit mixed with piss that laid in the sun for hours."
Elsa blinked.
"That's…oddly specific."she said.
"You don't wanna know."Ester replied, putting down the tin can."How can Laconians eat this? And then have the will to fight?"
"One of the mysteries of the cosmos?"her deputy said, tilting her head.
"I gotta talk with that general we captured about this…"
Said general was sitting with the rest of prisoners in the far corner of the Square. She was certain that ICTA would love to question him about some things. And she would love to question him about the quality of stuff their soldiers were eating. Giving your soldiers barely edible rations should be considered a war crime.
She looked up and immediately down, when the light reflected off of the pieces of aluminum.
"When is this shit gonna stop falling?"she asked.
"It seems like there is less and less of it, so…probably soon."Elsa replied."And then, we'll be able use the radio these bastages fixed. We better find out what's happening in the orbit and what should we do next."
"Agreed."
Ester again looked towards the Adra Tower. On the way, she caught in the view of destroyed street and civilian vehicles. She wondered, where the people living here went. Did they go to the evacuation points? Or were they taken away by Galactic Concordance? Whatever the answer was, at least there were no bodies. Civilian ones, that is. Bodies of soldiers that earlier tried to storm the Unity Square were still lying there, among the wreckage. At least allied forces had the decency to gather their dead and place them in another far corner of the Unity Square to not interrupt in any operations.
Still, because of now civilian bodies here, Ester couldn't help herself and felt…unease. Like the whole city turned into a ghost town, eaten away by war. There were still people living in it. But they didn't meet any and this made her feel really unwell.
As she sat and looked like that, she didn't notice a certain detail.
"Um…Ester?"Elsa asked, shaking her commander.
"Yeah?"Ester asked, torn out of her thoughts.
"The aluminum."
Ester looked up and with surprise noticed, that the sky was clear, not counting the clouds. There was no silvery shine of aluminum anymore and the rustle wasn't heard in the sky. So that meant…
Without saying anything, Ester activated her power and jumped off of the barricade and ran towards the command tent, which was now occupied by Lon and his staff. She made the distance in just a few minutes with her increased strength and after passing by some soldiers that marveled over the fact there was no aluminum anymore, she ran into the command tent and declared:
"Aluminum is gone!"
All Nashini looked at her, kinda surprised. Feeling red on her cheeks, she scratched one of the cheeks.
"Sorry, I got excited."
"That's good news."Lon said from the back of the tent.
He turned towards her and approached.
"That means we can finally contact the fleet."Nashini colonel said.
Officers sitting at the communications station nodded and quickly got to work. They pressed all the buttons needed and turned all the knobs. After a few more minutes of waiting, they showed thumbs up.
"It's working."he said."We got the frequency of San Antonio."
"Then let me handle it."Ester said.
"Feel free."Lon said, showing her to the comms station.
She approached it and pressed the button.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"she asked.
There was silence.
"Hello? Anyone?"
More silence.
"You sure it's working?"Lon asked.
"We did it like in the manual."SOF operative holding said manual said.
"He…ho…"came from the station.
All eyes turned on it.
"Hell…Wh…at…?"
Ester pressed the button again.
"Hello? Can you hear me?"
"Colonel Barkhorn?"familiar voice of captain Phil asked."Is that you?"
"Yes. It's so…"Ester tried to say, but was cut off.
"You have to get out of Unity Square, now!"San Anotnio's captain said with ordering tone.
Ester, as well as everyone in the tent were taken aback. Colonel Barkhorn looked around, but only received asking looks and shrug from Lon. She looked back at the station.
"What? Why?"she asked.
"There's nearly one hundred thousand enemy soldiers approaching Unity Square! Three full enemy divisions!"Phil exclaimed."With working heavy equipment and they're ready to fight!"
A loud gasp filled the room.
"How far away are they?"Ester asked.
"They are…"
Before Phil finished, there was a loud explosion.
"Already here, I guess."one of Nashini officers in the tent said.
"Get out of there! We're gonna blast the Unity Square and these guys from orbit!"Phil exclaimed."Nashini command already gave their approval!"
Lon, hearing this, pushed past Ester and spoke:
"No! We didn't retake it just to leave it so soon! Same with Ivory Hill!"
"I'm sorry, but these are the orders!"
"I can't comply with those orders! Tell that to the HQ!"
"But…"
Before Phil could say another word, Lon disconnected. He looked at everyone gathered in the tent with him.
"Let's get moving, people."he said."We're not letting them retake the Unity Square."
"But what do we do?"one of Nashini officers asked."There are one hundred thousand enemy troops! With heavy equipment and everything! And there are less than four hundred of us!"
Explosions and fire exchange continued on the outside. It was not hard to guess who was moving forward and who was falling back under the pressure of the other side. Enemies were fast. Too fast for everyone's liking.
"We still have to find a way to stop them."Ester replied, gritting her teeth."Try and come up with something. Call air support, anything. I'll be out there, doing my best to not let this place fall."
Running out of the tent, Ester didn't pay attention to what Lon was about to say. Once outside, she saw all allied soldiers, except the ones injured and guarding the prisoners, scramble to defend the Unity Square. There were too few of them, if the numbers of enemy forces were true. But they couldn't just give up. This place was supposed to be the staging ground for future operations to finally push the GC out of the city and then the planet, and this was gonna be the case, no matter what.
Enemy armored car suddenly made it's way through the crowd of allied soldiers. It ran some of them over and start going right at her. She activated her Super Strength and looked at the vehicle. She could see the vicious smile on driver's face, as she directed her vehicle towards what seemed to be an easy target. The gunner didn't fire, what was good for Ester. Because when the vehicle almost hit her and she swung her arm, slammed it in the hood of the vehicle, making it do several flips, throwing the gunner out of his nest, with the look of shock on his face. The wreck stopped several meters later.
But that wasn't the biggest problem. Around fifty meters to her right, an APC was blown apart by a tank shell from a tank that was already rolling through the Unity Square, firing shells and machine guns in all directions, injuring and killing more allied soldiers. Ester quickly ran up to it, jumped on it, grabbed the barrel and using her increased strength, she pulled it out of it's socket, together with loading mechanism. Through the hole, she could see surprised faces of Laconian crew. She grabbed one of her grenades and threw it into the hole. She jumped off of the vehicle and the grenade exploded. Vehicle stopped a few meters after that.
Taking down two vehicles with bare hands was an impressive feat for someone, even with Super Strength. But Ester knew, that she couldn't take three divisions on her own. Others also were putting in some work, but it was still not enough. There were just too few of them. She gritted her teeth.
"Fuuuuck…"she thought.
Explosions and gunfire around was even more deafening that it was last night, during the battle of the square. Ester could barely hear her thoughts, but soon, her eyes landed on something that was among the chaos. She could easily recognize Norrine, her arms covered in blue flames, walking through now retreating allied soldiers. She could also notice Elsa, battered, among the retreating ones. Colonel Barkhorn sighed seeing that she was alright, but her arm was hanging loosely, with bone probably broken. She approached Norrine and said something to her. Marines major just shook her head and replied. Elsa took a look back, then again at Norrine and nodded. Next, she ran away.
Norrine in the meantime, walked up forward, towards the approaching enemies. Ester honestly had no idea what to thing about this. What did Norrine think she could do against three entire divisions alone.
Marines major then stood in the middle of the Unity Square and looked towards the approaching enemy forces. Laconian soldiers and vehicles were pouring through the square, not even paying attention to single uniformed woman standing in front of them. They didn't pay attention to the flames covering her arms. They just thought they would run her over and that would be it.
That was their last mistake.
Norrine fell to her knees and with a scream, she placed her hands on the ground. Immediately, a blue, burning flare launched forwards the approaching enemies. Flames expanded and expanded, until they were as wide as the square. Laconian soldiers, surprised, stopped their advance, as flames reached them and engulfed them. Fire traveled forward and forward, engulfing more and more enemies. Norrine screamed, tears appeared in her eyes as she strained herself to continue. Fire just moved forward and forward, drowning streets through which units of the three divisions moved in blue inferno. There was no place to escape from it, as thousands of enemy soldiers and hundreds of vehicles burned, melted or were cooked inside their vehicles. It was both beautiful, amazing and terrifying power at the same time for everyone looking at it.
In the orbit, captain Phil saw the blue glow in the streets of Hef'Adra. He turned to the telescope operator.
"Zoom in on that!"he ordered.
"Yes, sir!"telescope operator replied.
He pressed some buttons and touchscreen, making the telescope zoom in. And when it did, the two widened their eyes.
"My God…"Phil whispered.
A sea of blue flames covered the streets of Nashini capital, constantly expanding. The flames were high enough to reach the roofs of the buildings, but for some reason, they focused only on the streets. Captain also noticed sea of wrecks among the flames. There were more vehicles coming, but they were consumed by the ever expanding inferno. It didn't take him long to realize, that these were the three divisions they spotted earlier.
"Move it to Unity Square."he ordered.
Operator did as he was told and soon, they had their eyes on the Unity Square, as well as a single person, kneeling on the ground, blue flames rushing out of her hands and covering the ground.
"Who would've thought major Bauer held such a power…"Phil said.
"Indeed, sir."telescope operator agreed.
On the ground, Ester slowly approached the kneeling Norrine. She put her hand on her companion's arm, causing her to look back. After seeing Ester's face, a smirk appeared on her tears covered face. Colonel could see the strain and exhaustion on Norrine's face, but she still nodded, encouraging her. Norrine nodded back and continued.
Soon, the flames reached the very back of Laconian columns. All three divisions soon were completely wiped out of the face of the planet. Only things there were left of them, were burning wrecks and bodies.
Once the whole process was done, Norrine deactivated her power and collapsed onto the burning ground, face first. But before that happened, Ester grabbed her and pulled her away from the flames. She knelt, holding the other woman in her arms. Elsa, Lon and several others quickly appeared by their side.
"Is she okay?"Elsa asked.
Ester looked back at her and noticed, that she had her arm placed on a makeshift sling. Next, colonel looked back at Norrine and took off her helmet. Next, she patted the major on her cheek a few times.
"Norrine? Can you hear me?"she asked.
Norrine slowly opened her eyes and looked at her.
"I feel like as if I was gangbanged by a hundred guys after getting stoned and hammered for a whole night…"she replied.
Ester looked at everyone with a smirk.
"She's fine."
Some people couldn't stop themselves from giggling.
Then, a sound of jet engines appeared above their heads. Looking up, they saw a bunch of dropships and fighters flying overhead.
"I called the nearby allied forces and the ships in the orbit."Lon said."They say that all across the system, fighting continues, but it's not for long. Nashina, on the other hand, is practically won. There are still some forces left on the surface, but it's just a matter of time before they'll be done for."
Ester nodded.
"That's good."she said.
She picked up Norrine and carried her to area for injured soldiers, while above, new allied forces continued to arrive into the city in large numbers. Dropships dropped supplies, soldiers and vehicles, which quickly bolstered the battered allied forces and allowed them to launch a full-on counteroffensive to retake the city.
Faced with lack of resources, communications and reinforcements, GC forces were not able to put up much of a resistance. Some of them tried fighting back, but the strength of the counteroffensive was too much for them to handle, causing many of remaining GC troops in the city to surrender, while others didn't go out without a fight. It took two days to fully drive GC out of Hef'Adra, while another three took to find and eliminate all forces that were on the surface and which were, fortunately, all located within one thousand kilometers from the Nshini capital.
At the same time, all across the system, allied forces continued their assault on enemy forces. Faced with difficulties, which apparently plagued all GC armies, within a week, all remaining enemies were pushed out of the system. Some remnants were left behind, meant to disrupt further operations, but this plan didn't work out and these forces were quickly taken care of.
Once it was confirmed that all enemies were out of the system, celebrations erupted all across Nashini space. President congratulated all of Nashini soldiers and allies that helped them in finally breaking the shackles Galactic Concordance held on Nashini home system for nearly entirety of the war. A parade was scheduled to take place on Nashina, but due to the fact the capital was in ruins, it was decided the parade will take place in second biggest city of the planet, Jes'Ikir.
But Special Operations Force, although being asked to take part in this parade, refused, due to the nature of their unit. They decided it wouldn't be fair for the surviving operatives to celebrate, while many of their comrades died in this battle. Instead, once the Battle of Hef'Adra was over, they gathered their dead and injured, loaded them back on San Antonio and left the system, waiting for new orders and missions from ICTA.
XXX
And this is where we're gonna end for now! As always, leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!
See ya!