The Broken Peace

The group crept to the consulate's wall close to the appointed time. Keeping their noise to a minimum, the woman placed the explosive charge along the base of the wall. The man she shared a bed with last night joined her in setting the explosives. He inserted the detonator into the explosive, priming the charge. "That's got it," he said.

The pair hurried back to the small drainage ditch where the remainder of the group waited for them. All sixteen men and three women prepared to storm the consulate when they punched a hole in the wall. "Alright, you all know what to do," the woman began. "Group One, head for the nearest wall and set the remaining explosives. Group Two: take up defensive positions and eliminate anyone you see. Once we've breached the first floor, move inside, eliminating any personnel. Group Two, when we are inside, join us and begin fortifying the building. We must hold out for two hours; that will give time for the main attack force to reach us. Does anyone have any questions?" Everyone in the group signaled ready. "For Meteora. Light it up."

Sebastian Marquette entered the officer's club at the base outside of Gelenion. It was late, but he knew the club often stayed open past regulation-mandated closing time. He spotted Captain Cazalas sitting alone, nursing a drink, when he entered the club. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Not at all, Ambassador. It's been a while."

"It has been. I've been tied up at the capitol going back and forth with the governor about mobilizing more local forces to combat the MLA."

"It is working. Attacks are down, and our patrols report fewer contacts with the enemy. Maybe the crisis is almost past."

"Maybe. Since that declaration by the leader of the MLA a while back, there has been a decline in activity. They finally went too far."

"I hope so. Anyway, have you heard from your fiancee recently?"

"I got a message from her yesterday. She's worried, but Vanessa is a strong woman. When I get home, I plan to marry her soon."

"Better make sure she has the wedding plans set first. A woman looks forward to a wedding and plans well in advance."

A loud rumble broke their conversation. Neither thought much about it. "Yeah, I know. She-" A second rumble stopped Marquette.

"The weather must be bad outside."

"No, it's not. There's not a cloud in the sky."

Another rumble brought the men to their feet. Marquette rushed to a window facing the city of Gelenion. A flash of light followed by a rumble in the distance told him everything he needed to know. "It's an attack. Sound the alarm and mobilize the garrison."

As they turned to leave the club, the building shook with the sound of an explosion somewhere in the base perimeter. The sound of the base's anti-missile resounded through the walls. Base personnel scrambled to their stations as a missile passed through the base defenses and exploded inside the compound.

Marquette rushed to the command center with Cazalas trailing behind him. General Maddox, the base commander, received reports and dispatches on the unfolding situation. "General, status report," Marquette said.

"Mr. Ambassador, the MLA has launched a major attack. Most precincts in Gelenion report enemy activity. We also have reports that sappers have forced their way inside the consulate and have fortified the building."

"Can we bring troops in from other areas as reinforcements?"

"Negative, every major city is under attack," Maddox called up a situation map on the display showing all the major areas reported under attack. "The MLA infiltrated into the cities. That's why they've been so quiet; the bastards have been preparing for this attack. From what we can tell they wanted to pin us down with the missile attack here while their troops hit targets inside the city. We are spread too thin to respond to every attack point."

"General, we need to retake the consulate. Has the capitol building been attacked?"

"No, sir. At least not yet. They probably think it's too heavily defended."

"Good. I want troops deployed to the consulate within the hour. We'll then take them on block by block if we must. Cazalas, get Admiral Cloudsley on the line, and tell him we need every available soldier planetside."

"Mr. Ambassador, you represent the Assembly; we need to get you to a place of safety. I suggest you take a shuttle to the Queen Berenice and let us direct the fighting."

"General, I do not intend to leave this post until the situation is resolved. You are in command, but as a representative of the Assembly, I must insist the Anatolian Consulate be retaken immediately. Do we know if the governor is safe?"

"Yes, his security detail reported that he is safe in a secured location."

"Good. I want the transports in the air moving toward the consulate. Once it's secured, we can begin retaking the city."

Gelenion shook with each explosion throughout its districts. Machine gun fire echoed in the streets as the hard-pressed Anatolians clung to their positions. Despite their firepower advantage, the outnumbered Anatolians fell back from the MLA onslaught in the city.

Here and there, Anatolian officers organized troops from broken commands into defensive positions, desperate to hold out. With the initial surprise, the MLA managed to take several blocks. Still, resistance began stiffening as they fought toward the consulate. The fighting intensified with each step toward their objective, and many among the MLA began to wonder if they could reach the consulate.

The attack proceeded with great success in the city of Nireos. The MLA managed to overrun much of the city's old interior. Their greatest success was the taking of the broadcast facilities. Once inside, the propaganda arm of the MLA began to broadcast messages throughout the planet calling for all Meteorans to rise against the Anatolian occupiers.

Few Meteorans joined in the General Offensive. Most of Meteora's population watched in stunned silence as the violence began to unfold around them. Many civilians found themselves trapped in the crossfire of the MLA and the Anatolian troops. Scores of civilians were forced from their homes by members of the MLA for use as headquarters and barracks during the offensive.

Those forced from their homes began to collect in various places around the wartorn cities. One such place was the University of Phareos in the city of Nireos. Anatolian troops turned the campus into a strong point and a shelter for refugees. Repeated MLA attacks against the university were repulsed, so the fighting around the campus ceased. However, the campus had little electricity and running water. Food also became a problem as roads into the city were constantly attacked by the MLA making resuppling the campus a problem with few good solutions.

None of that mattered to Captain Cazalas as he flew along at rooftop level in a troop transport heading for the consulate. A dozen more transports followed behind him, keeping low to avoid shoulder-fired anti-air missiles. Occasionally, they took ground fire from small arms. Still, none were powerful enough to breach the hull of a craft capable of operating in space.

The side door to the transport opened as the pilot maneuvered into position. The door gunner began to lay down suppressing fire into the nearest windows of the consulate. Without waiting for the transport to touch down, Cazalas and the sixteen soldiers exited the craft, hurrying for the nearest consulate wall.

When the last soldier deployed, the transport lifted off. The second transport deployed its troops moments later. None of the sappers returned fire or resisted their landing. It became apparent that the MLA wanted the Anatolians to fight them inside the consulate.

"Flash grenade," Cazalas said. The trooper closest to him pulled the pin on the grenade, counted to three, and then tossed it into the window. The grenade thundered and gave a bright flash. "Go, move, move," Cazalas ordered. Two troopers boosted their comrades into the window.

The troopers deployed into a corner office of the consulate. All was quiet as the first three troopers entered the office. A sergeant followed into the office while the men inside took cover against the wall by the office door. "I don't like this, sarge," one of them said. "Why aren't they doing anything?"

On his vidscreen, the sergeant called up the layout of the building. "There's a corner to our right, and the hallway continues to our left. Stay alert. Wilkins, Shep, take the corner to the right. Pines and I will try the hallway to the left. Let's move."

No sooner had Wilkins stepped from the room than a burst of fire swept down the hallway to the left. Wilkins ducked back inside the office. "Fire came from the left, sarge."

"Were you able to make anything out?"

"Not much. It looks like they've barricaded the hallway."

"Damn. Deploy the camera drone."

Shep opened his pack and took out a black case. Inside was a remote control and video screen. The small drone took less than a minute to set up. Shep guided it inches above the floor as it flew down the hallway. Lifting the craft, he spotted his targets. "I've got two gunners. They're behind some overturned desks and chairs." He lowered the drone just as a burst of machine gun fire pelted the ceiling, but missing the drone.

"Pines, I need you on the corner of the hallway. Wilkins, cover him."

Wilkins knelt and then counted to three. Leveling his weapon, Wilkins opened fire. Pines sprinted for the corner of the hallway. He didn't know how he made it, and Pines didn't care. No one shot at him from down the hallway, so he looked for anything he could use to provide cover. Nothing looked promising, so he opted for his sidearm to lend support against the gunmen in the barricade.

The gunmen behind the barricade kept a steady fire on the Anatolians. A stalemate ensued after several minutes. Cazalas climbed in through the window. "Sergeant, status report."

"It's no good, sir. They've formed a barricade behind the last office down the hallway to our left. No windows are close enough to either get in behind or around them. We managed to get one man down the hallway to the right, but that's all the movement we've got so far."

"How many are we dealing with?"

"Two so far."

"We will have to get in close. Deploy smoke and rush them."

"Sir, that'll be costly."

"I'm aware of that, sergeant, but we don't have a choice. We can't use a rocket grenade because of the explosion radius. We'll use hand grenades and chase them with smoke. We may take them by surprise."

"Yes, sir," the sergeant said as three more soldiers entered through the window. "Grenades ready, I'll pop the smoke. As soon as the smoke starts, rush them."

Two troopers tossed their grenades into the hallway toward the barricade. Where they exploded, no one could tell. The sergeant tossed his smoke grenade down the hall. When the smoke began to fill the hallway, the Anatolian troopers charged the barricade.

One trooper fell instantly to the return fire of the gunmen. The burst of automatic weapon fire from the Anatolians found their mark, and the gunman fell dead. The second gunman must have been injured in the grenade attack and struggled to aim his weapon. He received no quarter from the Anatolians.

"Clear," shouted the sergeant.

"Deploy the drone, let's find out where their friends are," Cazalas said.

No sooner than the drone deployed and rounded the corner, the machine took fire from another MLA fighter taking refuge in an office down the hallway. The drone operator zigged and zagged the machine on its return, but it took a hit and crashed to the floor.

"Damn," the operator said.

"He's not barricaded in this time," said Cazalas. "Advance with covering fire and take him out. The first stairwell is just a little further down. I'm willing to bet the majority of the MLA are upstairs waiting for us. Sergeant, when we get to the stairwell, check for traps, and expect trouble. There are three other stairwells. I want them secured before we proceed upstairs. Once all stairwells are secured we'll hit them all at once."

"What about the elevator shafts?"

"Seal the doors. I don't want any surprises coming down them. Also, I want gas sent through the ventilation system so masks on."

"Sir, what about hostages?"

"Use tear gas."

"That could still prove harmful, sir."

"We'll have to risk it. Otherwise, this operation could take too long, and the ambassador wants the consulate secured."

"What about any MLA who want to surrender?"

"There'll be no surrenders here, sergeant. You have your orders."