Lucky raised his head from his weapon as he heard his leader speak over the squad comms.
“Alright, everybody is in positions. Lucky you are up first, we need a distraction. Bella, Garth, the two of you hit them from the side while they are distracted, Eagle eye picks off targets of opportunity and provide assistance if necessary. Loca and I will hit them from the front. Clear?” Sahib asked.
Affirmatives rang out through the channel, and Sahib gave Lucky the go ahead.
Lucky mounted his weapon on his shoulder took a deep breath and then stepped out of cover. With his implant he chose two targets for his missiles. The alien heavy weapon and the wall behind which a few of the aliens were. With a thought he triggered the weapon, and two missiles rushed out of his launcher.
Bella watched as two missiles hit and exploded in the alien perimeter. Immediately both her and Garth left their covers and ran across the street towards the enemy positions. The aliens were all startled, and looking in the direction from which the missiles came. That let Garth and her get close range. As soon as they were close enough to ensure maximum accuracy, both of them opened fire on unsuspecting aliens.
As soon as he heard two explosions, Sahib exited cover, Loca running by his side. As they crossed halfway across the street Loca slowed readied her weapon and opened fire. A soft buzzing sound came out of it, and then thunderous rifle fire as bullets started flying out of it. The weapon fire hit the unsuspecting targets and cut right through their armor. A few of the aliens turned towards her and started raising their weapons to fire, but they had no chance. Before they could fire, Sahib had already pressed the trigger of his own weapon. The magnetic fields superheated the gas and sent the plasma forward, the plastic wrapped around the plasma, and gave it a teardrop shape. It crossed the distance to the target in an instant, it hit the alien armor and the containment shattered. Plasma now free, punched a hole through it and entered the alien’s body. The alien fell down, its organs liquefied, a yellowish mist of blood vapor rose from the hole in its chest.
Before its body hit the ground Sahib fired two more shots at the other aliens, each to the same effect. A few more aliens who had tried to respond had their heads blown off by Eagle eye’s sniper fire. Within thirty seconds, twenty three aliens lay dead.
The group approached the dead aliens and then stopped to inspect their bodies. On the first look the battle suits of the aliens appeared to have been under power. And the aliens did look like they were a bit taller than an average human or Nel. Sahib noticed Bella kneeling close to one of the aliens trying to get his helmet off.
“Definitely could have taken them all by myself.” Loca said.
“No challenge…” He heard Lucky add over the comms, and then Red respond with his usual grunt.
Then Bella finally managed to get the alien’s helmet off.
“Ahh! They’re not faeries Garthy! More like birdies!” Bella exclaimed. Sahib was just about to ask her what she meant when he noticed Garth turning around and walking to the other side of the courtyard, as far away from Bella as he could. He realized then, that he probably didn’t want to know.
Tofor and his people were startled by two explosions that shook the building, fearing that the aliens had finally managed to get inside they prepared to fight for their lives. But the explosions were followed by weapons fire, and they quickly realized that they weren’t coming from the inside of the building. Tofor rushed to the monitors and accessed cameras looking at the building’s entrance, they were all too scared to look before, but now he needed to know what was happening.
The feed appeared on the monitor and Tofor watched stunned at the sight before him. The aliens lay dead on the ground, and around them seven armed figures stood. Immediately Tofor took in their shape, and realized who they must be. Then one of his people shouted. “Director we are getting a radio transmission on our emergency frequency!”
Tofor walked over and the woman played it. “Attention, this is Platoon Leader Adin of the Empire. The enemy had been eliminated, you are clear. I repeat you are clear.”
Tofor felt his legs give out and he dropped into a nearby chair. He covered his eyes with his upper hands. The help had arrived.
Eight hours later – Monarch
Johanna watched on the holo as her people brought the five of the captured alien ships to her fleet. The ships that she had sent to Rofvax, had also dispatched the ships there, and captured most of the people that the aliens had on the ground. Sadly the colonists were all killed, apparently the aliens tortured them for information and then killed them all. Johanna didn’t know what to think about these aliens, there didn’t seem to be any reason for what they had done. But she will learn soon enough, once they start interrogating the prisoners. And they had plenty.
The Trivaxian’s on the other hand had been hit hard. Before Johanna arrived the invaders had bombed most of their cities. Fortunately, most of the people had evacuated out of the cities. But not everyone wanted or was able to leave. The death count was still uncertain, but according to their preliminary numbers the aliens had killed more than a fifth of their total population, along with most of their leaders. Johanna knew that if she hadn’t arrived that number would have been total. The actions prior to her arrival told her that their plan was to kill the entire population slowly at their leisure.
Now when the fighting was finally over, her people were involved in the rescue operations across the planet. And soon she would need to meet with the Trivaxian leaders. She had sent word back to Sanctuary, asking for guidance. But for now there was nothing else she could do. Slowly she stood from her chair, feeling her legs shake from an extended period of sitting. She turned to Andros, the commander of the Monarch. He too had been in his chair from the moment they came into the system, but she knew that he would remain in the CC for a while more.
“You have the command of the fleet Andros.” Johanna said weakly, then not waiting for his response left the CC and headed straight for her quarters. Every step sending pain running through her body. Once she finally entered her quarters, she sped straight to the bathroom where she immediately dropped by the toilet and proceeded to empty the contents of her stomach. After there was nothing else to puke out, she retched on empty while tears leaked freely from her eyes. It took her at least twenty minutes to calm down enough to take her clothes off and enter the shower. She let the water flow over her as she shook and cried.
She was able to keep herself together while the fleet was in action, but the moment she knew that there was nothing else for her to do, she fell apart. Memories stabbed through her mind, of a Ra’a’zani ship and the ships she lost. The cries of people from Earth, as they called her ship to help them while their own planet turned against them. The memory of her ignoring their pleas, but listening to every one of them, each plea carved into her soul. She hugged herself and dropped to the floor, as the water ran over her.
She knew that there was nothing that she could have done differently, she was not responsible for the people that died today. But knowing something and believing it was two different things. Eventually she managed to gather herself enough to wipe herself off and get to her bed. She grabbed a bottle of pills by it and the promise of dreamless sleep they offered.
Chapter Fourteen
Four days later – Dreadnought Monarch – Trivax orbit