All That Was Lost

by Robert Byers

  Captain Sidonia called out “Lets move men! Go, go, go!” and jumped down first from her spot next to the exit. She was a leader that led by example, she was the first one of the squad into battle, and the last one out. It was the best way to lead by example and to truly make your squad trust and believe in you.

  The rest of the squad followed suit as they poured out of the gunships and saw their brothers coming from theirs all around the open area. General Brager’s men took aim and began firing at them, some used old slug throwers and others used primitive plasma weapons that would burn holes through normal armor and could even eat through tank armor with a couple of direct hits, but even those were nowhere near the level of firepower Tiberius carried on his person.

  Lead and energy flew past him as Tiberius juked left and right to avoid being hit and dove behind one of the small cars, he dared a peek over the metal and saw one of a different squad laying headless not five feet from his location, the poor sod had lost his head and fell in a heap. It really put in perspective what was happening was real life and not a simulation.

  It also angered him that these men killed a loyal soldier because they were being disloyal to the Emperor. He took aim at the nearest traitor and noticed that they were all wearing fatigues, but no face plates or decent armor, at least not like what the Imperium provided them. He aimed and squeezed off a round and it slammed into the traitors throat. The plasma burned and as it sliced through his throat it cauterized the wound, but he still fell to the ground gripping his throat as he died, unable to breathe.

  It was his first kill since the assault on the Integrity, and he felt nothing, which was odd to him because he assumed he would feel some sort of way about killing another human being. But he just looked to the next and fired taking him in the forehead as he ducked to avoid a shot and still was caught by a deadly plasma round to his shoulder, his armor absorbed the blow and he shrugged it off.

  There was white hot plasma and lead flying every which way as both sides sent death flying around the battlefield. He found two more targets and flipped the switch that determined the rate of fire to burst and sent three rounds at each trying to catch them as they attempted to run from him. Bits of balcony fell around them and five of the trees were cut down from the rate of fire all around them as both sides tried to overwhelm the other with it’s force.

  The traitors tried to focus their fire and attack just two or three spots thinking it would better their chances. Tiberius hit the chin button in his helmet and brought up the map and the suit tried to ping life signs around them to see just who exactly was there. It showed him over four dozen heartbeats, over four dozen targets.

  “Charlie team focus fire on the right corner balcony. Bravo team focus three feet to your left, Alpha will mop up those who run.” It was Captain Sidonia’s voice coming over the radio, he wondered why she hadn’t said anything before and as he turned to focus his fire he understood why. She’d taken a hit to her left flank and was seeing a field medic as she spoke.

  Without thinking they all worked as the Captain had ordered them to and fired at the balcony or to the left of it, a half dozen traitors dropped in seconds as the plasma rounds tore through the thin armor plates they had in their vests, and made short work of the balcony around them, bits of it either falling or vaporizing as they died.

  “You okay Cap?” he asked her over the com once he took a break to chamber a new magazine.

  “I’ll live, get ready for the big push cadet.” She said and he saw her do her best to stand on her own two feet. She changed from the rifle to her pistol in her right hand, he knew her pain tolerance had to be high, and so did her level of crazy. But that made him admire her all the more.

  He turned his head to sight another enemy and saw the few that were left were ducking into the house. The amount of firepower brought to bear on the small rebel hideout made the few dozen left run inside and lock the doors.

  “Push!” was all the Captain had to say for everyone in second squad to rush forward with their weapons aimed at the doors and windows of the large building. It was designed to look like a Tuscan style three story mansion that served as both the Generals home and his headquarters. There were open windows where anyone could lean out and fire at them and one squad stayed farther back and had their scoped weapons trained on those ambush sites, ready to take their shots to make it that much easier for their battle brothers to survive.

  They made it to the first door and Tiberius switched to his shotgun, slinging the rifle around his back and chambered a cartridge of steel. He was flanked by Quintus. Walsh and Ortiz stood on either side of the door frame and when he nodded Walsh tried the doorknob, when it didn’t move Tiberius fired his first round into the spot next to the knob where the wood was protecting the locking mechanism.

  The loud explosion was followed by him kicking the door inwards and the four of them entering one after the other and spreading out to either side of the room, weapons trained in front of them as they scanned the area. The next four came through and did the same, followed by the last three and the Captain, she still didn’t look to be in the best shape, but they could keep her back for a while if they moved forward before she could order them otherwise.

  He could hear the other squads moving in from the other side of the headquarters, at least they weren’t going in alone. “Third squad is behind you, second.” The voice came over his coms and he started a little. It brought a smile to his face that they would have so much backup for this op.

  As they moved through the first room they cleared it without any issues. The second, someone tried to jump out of the closet at them, firing randomly. Quintus put him down with a round to his head. The body fell back into the closet and he shut the door. They moved through their half of the downstairs and found five more enemies that they dispatched in quick succession, and with just as much emotion as the last one.

  At the stairs he looked back at the Captain, she was standing on her own two feet at the current moment. But that could change if she attempted the stairs and that was what scared him, she was their leader, if she went down they’d lose morale quick.

  She noticed him staring at her and she nodded. “I can do this. It’s only a flesh wound.” And she tried to head for the stairs. He put a hand up to try to stop her and she switched to his com only and said. “My ancestors were warriors. It’s in my blood to fight until my death. I’m going up there and if you try to stop me all you’re going to do is make me angry, and make my death less meaningful.” The way his head moved she knew he was worried for her. “The medic already said I’m going to die here unless I get real treatment. I’m going up those stairs.”

  “What happens when you’re gone then. We get left without a leader.”

  “Only for a short time. Walsh has the highest rank among all of you cadets even with your bump. But you show the most promise so you’ll end up in the position eventually. Make sure the rest of the squad sees how well you do when I die. That’ll give you a boost, that’s how I got the position so I know it works.”

  “Sir, why are you doing this?”

  “Because Vesper, this is what my people would have done. And unlike the rest of you my family has not forgotten where we came from. We haven’t forgotten who our heroes are. And I don’t let others die for me when they have so much to live for.”

  She pushed him aside and started up the stairs. “C’mon you maggots, you going to let a wounded woman best you in battle?” and with that she charged up the stairs, pain filling every movement as the analgesic the medic used began to wear off.

  Tiberius followed her quickly and was followed by the rest of second squad and then third. He got to the top of the stairs and saw her open fire on a soldier she saw there, not giving him a chance to surrender, just ending his life before he could end hers any sooner. It gave him pause, she was willing to go into battle knowing she was going to die, not assuming, but knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would be dead before the end of it. And y
et she was still here, still fighting. She truly was a patriot and the best the Imperium had to offer.

  He saw the next soldier coming out of the room to her left before she did, and before she could react the traitor would have killed her with a headshot. Tiberius didn’t think, he just acted. He slammed into the Captain and shoved her forward and to the ground, hard. He covered her as the soldier fired at empty space.

  Tiberius rolled and aimed his rifle at the man, but eight rounds slammed into him from close range and knocked him off of his feet. When he fell to the ground his body looked like Swiss cheese.

  He stood up and offered the Cap a hand, she took it and once to her feet she slapped him along side his head. “I told you. I’ve made peace with going here.”

  She turned and tried to move to the next room when she felt her side rip and a wheezing scream ripped from her throat. She collapsed to the ground.

  Tiberius tried to drop to his knees to check on her when the door to the far room on the left side of the hallway opened and two men fired out of the doorway. He ducked and tried to pull her with him but they were laying on fire thick. One of his squad mates pulled him back in time to avoid a bolt that would have impacted his throat and killed him. He nodded his thanks to Quintus and when he looked back he saw the Captain moving.

  She gripped her pistol and fired at the doorway, her shots were wild and only grazed the one traitor. He tried to aim at the doorway when the one still standing fired three shots quickly into the Captains body, she bucked and fell still.

  Tiberius felt rage fill him and he switched back to his shotgun and charged the door, his vision changing as the gene began taking hold little by little and the small bit of training the Captain did with him became instinct. Rather than push and try to get rid of the rage, he opened himself to it and drew strength from it, his eyes narrowed and his muscles tightened against his skin and his armor. He could feel everyone around him as if they were connected to him.

  The man’s face filled with terror as he tried to close the door and Tiberius fired a shot into the frame where the man’s body was hiding. It went through the wall, and the man fell back. He kicked open the door and saw the man Captain Sidonia winged laying on the ground holding the side of his head. Tiberius leveled his shotgun at the mans’ face and fired from only four feet away, the man’s face was obliterated.

  He checked the room as the rage filled him and he turned to find his squad mates standing there filling the hallway as third squad checked rooms and killed more of the traitors. He looked down at his Captain and felt sadness mix with his rage, it tempered his rage just slightly, but it was enough to stop him. She didn’t deserve this. I caused this when I tackled her, I reopened her wound. I-

  But he didn’t get the chance to think anything else as Walsh grabbed his shoulders and shook him till he looked up and met his gaze. “We fight, we don’t stop. We honor her by surviving this killing field.”

  It was all Tiberius could do to keep moving. He held his shotgun tight and moved along with the rest of them. They tightened up their unit and moved as one. Walsh opened a door and he went in with his shotgun raised followed by Quintus and his pilfered autocannon. They found eight more and mowed them down with quick shots to their center mass, the bodies falling with plumes of red as they dropped like marionettes with their strings cut.

  A door behind them opened and autocannon fire erupted behind them, two cadets were taken out with shots to their heads from the explosive rounds. The rest jumped and dove for cover, hoping to make themselves as small a target as possible. Quintus and Tiberius took to either side of the door they stood in front of just moments before as the gunfire hit the walls around them.

  Tiberius took a risk and looked around the frame, he had a split second before a ricochet sent splinters of cement into his visor and he backed away. “He’s got an autocannon, two of ours down that I can see. And damn he’s quick with that thing.” He took a breath and said, “We gotta take him out before he turns more of our squads into Swiss cheese.”

  “Give me a grenade. I can lob it into there.” Tiberius tossed a frag grenade to him and counted from three with his fingers. Once he reached one he stepped around the frame and provided cover fire, sending burst after burst of his shotgun into the door opposite them in an attempt to keep the other man from firing his autocannon at them. Quintus was a professional Gaol player, he threw weapons heavier and larger than the grenade for fun, and when he threw the grenade this time it was no different.

  “Fire in the hole.” Quintus called across the second and third squads coms so the ones closest could get to some form of safety.

  It landed in the room with their enemies and both soldiers dove for cover away from the doorway as the grenade made a beeping sound and exploded sending debris into their room along with smoke and dust. Moans and screams filled the air and both men looked into the hall and saw the bodies of the two Imperial men farther away from each other, and saw blood covering the far wall of the room across from them.

  They held their weapons at the ready and walked into the other room to find that there were four bodies, or at least the pieces of four bodies. It sickened Tiberius to see the pieces of meat and bone covering the room, he didn’t take joy in killing these misguided men. If they were to renounce their ways and swear fealty to the Imperium, to the Emperor again then he would gladly welcome them with open arms, instead of countless plasma rounds to their faces. But could they truly be trusted since they’d rebelled once already?

  He looked around the room and saw the only closet door was blown apart by the explosion, and tattered clothes hung around the gaping maw that was a door. They exited and looked to the other soldiers as they continued clearing space. Something wasn’t right here. They’d encountered more resistance outside of the building than inside. “We’re clear upstairs.” One of his squad mates called.

  It was deep in his gut that something was wrong. He checked the next room over and saw what confirmed his suspicions. The wall closest to the hall was thicker than it should be, and when he pressed into the wood it was soft, like clay. He pulled the paper away from the wall and saw it was clay explosive, and from the looks of the detonator inside there were only seconds left before it exploded. Tiberius’ eyes went wide and he called out to all channels.

  “Its a trap! Jump from the windows there’s bombs in here!”

  As he dove for the window, along with Quintus, they heard a beep telling them the clay was going to explode.

  Chapter 12

  Admiral Harcourt stared at the screen, the space battle was almost won at this point. Two of the enemy cruisers were gone, disintegrated by the awesome power of the new Imperial weaponry. Their Raptors had none of the upgrades the Imperial’s did, and as such they could only shoot down a few of the birds before they were overwhelmed. He looked at the mission clock on his wrist device, so far it had been twenty minutes since the Sparrowhawks had entered the colony.

  “Sir, the enemy ship is hailing us.” His coms officer said.

  “Put them on screen, I want to see them beg for mercy.” The Admiral was in an especially good mood because they were so close to cutting the head off of the snake.

  The face of the enemy captain came up on the screen as he sneered at the Admiral. “You’ve murdered countless crewmen of mine, what do you have to say to that?”

  “They signed their death certificates when they joined your resistance. So you killed them yourself.” He could see the name tag on the man read Johnson, he was dark skinned and appeared to be exceptionally tall. “Are you ready to surrender and be taken into custody? Or will I need to destroy your ship as well, captain?” he spat the title at him, telling him just what the Admiral thought in no uncertain terms.

  Captain Johnson spat at the ground, “I will never surrender to your false regime. A pox on all of you, and your families.” With that he was gone, the screen went blank and the Admiral was left staring at the battle as that feed came up.

  “Sir,
what would you like done?”

  This time it was his Executive Officer that asked him. And he wanted to tell her they were just going to end the battle here and now. But the way he talked to him, the way that ‘captain’ acted, it required a firm hand, and killing someone meant they couldn’t learn from their actions. Instead he said “Cripple the ship, I want that man taken alive so I can enjoy reeducating him myself.”

  She saw the look on his face and it terrified her, he was getting a bloodlust and she worried it would get the better of him. “Target their engines and void-drive.” the XO called out and the weapons officer began targeting their engines.

  “No, fire the ion cannon, leave them dead in the water.”

  The officer pressed the button to charge up the ships ion weaponry and once it hit full power the officer pressed the firing button and sent a ring of blue energy at the ship, the same as what they used on its’ sister ships. It slammed into the traitor fighters and a few of their own before impacting the terrorists ship at full force and its’ engines went dead, the ship drifted.

  “Status on the enemy ship.” The Admiral asked.

  The officer read the screen carefully and smiled. “Their engines are down sir, the ships’ starboard side has taken damage as well and they have hull breaches on at least three of their decks, I can only surmise some of their ships slammed into them once caught in the ion wave. Void-drives don’t appear to be damaged yet, just offline like the rest of the ship.”

  “Then fire missiles at the drives, we need them dead in the water before they regain power and escape us. I will not play cat and mouse with those traitorous beasts.” The Admiral looked at the XO, “Send boarding parties to arrest their captain. I want him alive, the rest can die for all I care, they signed their death warrants once they allied themselves with Rising Anvil. But I want that traitor alive!”