Duty, Honour, Love

The attack had taken the over confident Raider Leader by surprise, his bridge crew shivered in fear. None of them knew him any longer he seemed to be a different person acting odd to the highest extreme. He’d had several crew executed for no reason even this soothsayer a tepe he’d relied on before.

“I want total destruction, wipe them all out!” He snarled over his comms to the other ships.

“There are over fifty thousand people on this world. Do you really want to have the Confederacy hunt us down? They will, it’s not like we’ve anywhere to hide. We can’t sneak back to the Commonwealth like the Orsini do. The Confederacy won’t touch them in their own territory but they can and will hunt us down. Nor can we retreat back to the Terrans they’ll hunt and kill us. No prison for the likes of us they execute their prisoners,” a captain with a more level head reasoned. “I’m all for stripping what we can but wiping everyone out will ensure the Confederacy will destroy us. Who here remembers what they did on Hyren-Shai?”

There was a chorus of ayes to his words.

The Raider Leader considered this. As much as he hated the defiance he had to bide their time. He closed his eyes and communicated to the rest of his pod. The answer was the same. Wait, waste the ‘slaves’ in this endeavour they could always get more.

“I want that stain below beaten into a pulp!” he said over the comms. “Destroy what you can take what you can carry!”

The raider’s ships attacked not reckoning on the defences Hawthorn had. Those armed with missiles fired first. Out of range and unguided most fell outside Hawthorn those that didn’t were taken down by the railguns. The clever Ezarans had taken the design of the Orinoco’s point defence railguns and duplicated them. Although they’d only managed to make five it were these five that gave them extra edge. One the raider ships slipped into Jaye’s target range and was eliminated this time by one of the Ezaran torpedoes.

The raiders pulled back and considered their options. Their attacks on the settlement had proved ineffective which left two options call it a day or launch a ground assault. The Raider Leader incensed by the ‘slaves’ defiance ordered a ground attack. They pulled back a distance from the atmosphere and launched their shuttles in a effort to target as many of the settlements they could. One of the ships took a chance and headed to the surface it target the listening post out side Hawthorn. Its intention to silence the base thinking that was where the attacks were being co-ordinated from.

Jaye stared at the tactic screen her fingers itching to launch another attack. She felt extremely pleased with herself destroying two raider ships.

“Come on you bastards come into range!” she muttered hunched over the console her fingers poised like some spider about to strike. Her heart lurched as her screen picked up the images of multiple shuttle launches too many for the weapons she had to deal with. Angrily she watched them descend helpless to do anything. It was then that she noticed a larger blip on the horizon angling for the base. Her last Nuke would easily destroy it but she waited her finger poised over the firing icon. The raider hovered close the ground and began firing on the base. It moved closer weapons ineffective against the base shields. Jaye stared hard disbelieving her luck the million to one chance had turned up. “Shit should have betted on the lottery today!” she yelled and fired the main gun. The raider ship jerked as a hole was blasted through the centre of the ship. It jerked again as the raider captain tried to manoeuvre his ship and gain altitude. Jaye fired again as the raider ship swung erratically. Her second shot punched a hole through the ship’s engines and it dropped out of the sky with a ground thundering thump. Three ships down but the battle was not over yet. Jaye continued to watch daring the raiders to come closer. None did, her heart went out to those now fighting their foes on foot.

Mark stood and watched helplessly as debris rained down from the sky. Moments before the sky had been alight with tracer fire from the railguns. Raider inaccuracy and the railguns had spared most of Hawthorn. There would be minor damage from the debris and so far no casualties. Mark knew what would come next and he had to be ready for it.

“Prepare for a ground assault,” he told his team not pulling any punches.

“Yes sir!” the team replied.

A raider shuttle flashed low overhead it was starting to descend when railgun drove it off. It landed to the east but it would only be time before the raiders would attack bent to taking what they could.

“Watch the flanks!” he ordered. He had stationed a handful of his team on the roof of the mall. Now they had to wait. He had his orders.

A group of raiders surged down the road towards the mall.

“Hold steady!” he shouted. To his credit none of his team showed any desire to run. As the raiders closed he judged them close enough. “Fire!” he roared.

It was grim business but the raider attack faltered and those still alive withdrew. Leaving their dead and wounded behind. The attack had not been without cost one of his team was dead and several others wounded.

“Get the wounded to the aid station,” he told his team.

The aid station was within one of the stores at the front of the mall. Civilian volunteers helped out. Mark counted his losses and compared his with the raiders concluding that they had won but barely. They weren’t up to another assault like that. He surveyed the mall it hadn’t been that damaged they’d held.

“What happens now?” a voice behind him asked.

Mark turned to see one of his team regarding him carefully.

“We rest up and wait for another attack.” He grimaced. “They’ll try different tactics probe us for weaknesses we have to be ready for that.”

“Yes sir.”

At that moment his comms bleeped. “Stillway,” he said automatically.

“Raiders are attacking the hospital. Send what forces you can to reinforce the hospital.”

Mark’s heart lurched Karasena was at the hospital. “We’ll send what we can.” He looked over his remaining forces. “I want a handful volunteers to come with me to the hospital the raiders are attacking it in force.”

Mark and a few of his team headed for the hospital. Mark dreaded what he’d find there. Karasena was fighting and he needed to be there fighting at her side.

Searo a T’Arni in Karasena’s command sat on the roof of the hospital cross-legged his sniper rifle cradled in his arms his back against the smooth concrete of the entrance from the hospital roof. The door faced west. He was angry that he’d been assigned this position to guard a Human that was operating the railgun. He had little time for Humans as a whole and here he was with one he detested. A Human who should have been locked in a cell not roaming free. Ancients could she talk he’d almost switched off the earphones on his combat armour just so she would be silent. His wife often told him to be friendlier to Humans. But he couldn’t not even those he served with. But this was the worst she was the enemy.

“What is the captain thinking,” he muttered to himself. Suddenly he heard her shout in alarm ranting in barbaric babble she spoke. He got up to give her a piece of his mind when the roar of shuttle engines broke him out of his fugue. He came around the corner to see a raider shuttle hovering just off the edge of the building. Just hovering there taunting them to do something. The Human was fiddling with the controls on the railgun clearly something had gone wrong. The shuttle door slid open and one of the raiders tossed something towards him. His blood froze it was a grenade. It bounced across the roof towards him. Everything slowed as if the world was moving through syrup. The Human leapt towards the grenade as if she was picking up a ball.

“No!” he yelled never having a chance to say anything further.

It exploded flinging her backward blood, guts and bones in a spray as she travelled. The sound of her scream echoed through his brain an unforgettable sound that ripped through his very soul. He jerked up his weapon and fired hitting the thrower. The door behind him slid open and two of his fellow soldiers ran out firing at the shuttle. The shuttle roared off but the damage had been done. A male Human in hospital scrubs had followed the soldiers out. He ran over to the Human on the floor and waved his glove over her. He straightened up and looked at Searo.

“She’s dead,” It sounded like an accusation and the Human was right it was his fault. “Ancients, Olivia will be devastated they were friends,” the medtech said.

Searo listened with growing dread as ‘ifs’ whirled through his mind. They’d haunt him for the rest of his long life. He owed the Human she has saved his life a debt of blood so ancient it went back to when the T’Arni were slaves. He felt ashamed. He was determined to make amends blood must be paid with blood.