|Viraliv|[20-14]Sliue-Ececs|Ora’s Eye|Tepi|Tepi-3|
11,163,955,738cy
Terraformer Station ‘Favala’, Low Tepi-3 Orbit
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rhythm of battle was rather slow with sporadic jolts of larger movements resulting in various advantages and detriments for all sides of the fight. And indeed there are many sides to this fight, many remain unengaged in the direct confrontation but all eagerly await for the results of such a conflict. Such factions, most of them anyway, simply bid their time. Hiding in whatever positions within society that they occupy, military or not. However, they do take the time to influence the battle and the various events surrounding it. The result of such manipulations is that the people of the colony have become aware of the massacre that the Favala is currently being subjected to. There is precious little that the colony can do besides twiddle their extremities and hope that whoever comes out on top doesn’t make their life worse. Although a soldier can’t fight against their role in life at least they can fight something, but what can these civilians do?
Nothing much effective in this situation but sometimes it isn’t about that. People rush out into the streets to do various activities, some destructive and some meant to relax the minds. Some can be seen looting and parading about with signs in hand, others can be seen partying, even some children can be seen playing games. The reason for all of these is a general feeling of dismay and the inability to do anything about the situation. Energy is bounding through their bodies with no way to deal with the root of the problem, so they instead dedicate the energy to these activities.
Of course, compared to the energetic displays on board the Favala, these activities are relatively peaceful. Something that paints a contrasting view of life in the colony, of those dying and of those living. None of the chaos in the colony was of focus to the people on the Favala, too preoccupied with their own affairs.
Their own affairs, of course, were the battles going on throughout the station. While most of the conflict was centered around the reactor, many other battles existed around the station. The other factions independently deciding to throw their own lot in while the Captain has his hands full. While this had certainly diverted attention and men away from the reactor room, in the end the Captains faction is simply too numerous to deliver any effective blow to him. Furthermore, unlike the reactor room, they can employ the heavier weapons making the clean-up of the distractions all too easy. As such, the last few days of fighting have noticeably been shifting to the favor of the Captain. Even the various sleep raids, near constant fighting, and the amount of casualties have done little to remove this clear advantage.
That’s not to say that it hasn’t made an impact. The soldiers especially feel revulsion at the idea of being the next to charge into the meat grinder. At the very leasts, they would be spared from the horrors of the first wave though. Now some amount of sizable and multi-layered defensive constructs have been completed allowing them to live a lot longer than those who came before them. This also allows them to apply a steady pressure to their enemies within the reactor room causing many casualties and weakening their ability to fight back. To put it simply, the battle has reached the turning point and victory will be in the hands of the Captain’s faction unless something radically changes the battlefield.
#Point of View of Echo-02
It’s been a few days since the beginning of the operation, that’s to say that the operation is on time for the schedule. I’m sure the other teams are also on-track with the schedule meaning that today will be the end of the conflict. Once we capture our targets of course. Speaking of, we should be entering the main control section of the station now. This area is where most of the critical systems are located. Although auxiliaries systems exist all over the station this section could be said to be the brain of the entire station and is therefore the most protected area in the entire station. Third in importance, only behind the main reactor and the housing complex of the AI that manages the station. Perhaps due to that an unexpected situation has occurred.
Standing in a line shoulder to shoulder a group of people appear, numerous enough to stop anything from getting past them without going through them first. The only way to get past them, besides going through them, is a junction two hours back. Doing so would put us at risk of missing our target if the other teams begin their operations first but it’s worth doing. There’s also the risk that more people are at the other junction in which case we would have to push through them anyway. I’m confident in my team's ability to do that if needed. My team had stopped moving when they noticed that I was thinking about something. With a motion we start heading back the way we came, switching to a redundancy plan to get around the masked people.
#Point of View of Saroxis Ghej, alias of “Tiny”
A tinging noise rains into my ears, another shot glancing off my armor. Bastards are able to fight back now, this shooting range has turned into a proper fight about a day ago. That change happened when they formed a solid defensive line, chock full of the basalts and shields. Even at the rate that our heavy arms are destroying them it’s not doing much except make targets of those with the heavy weapons. The tide of battle has definitely shifted in the enemies favor, morals dipped because of it. And because some people have lost their friends in the long lists of casualties. My team is fine though and that's all I care about. A few bruises and scars will make them stronger anyway.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
At this point we’ve still killed more of the enemy than they have of us but we don’t have as many soldiers. Especially now that the battle has been raging for a while a noticeable decrease in fire-power can be seen from our side. Currently the enemy seems to be focusing on taking down the construction vehicle, that big behemoth can really take some damage. Once that’s gone through the enemies attention will go right back to us. I’m not at the point of giving up and saving my brothers but if things don’t change fast then I just might have to become a party pooper. Luckily we can still hold out longer. Bullets and charges might be whizzing above our heads but the metal barricades are still holding.
Really, all that needs to happen is for the special operations teams to hurry up already.
#Point of View of Echo-02
#Two Hours Later
The redirection took some time but we shouldn't be too far off the target timing now. According to the map I’ve memorized before the mission, we should be reaching the mainway that we tried to reach on the other route. Turning the corner leads to my stomach being turned as well. More of those creepy masked bastards are in the way. At least they aren’t lined up like the other group though. Instead, there are plenty of gaps to move through and I don’t want to make another detour. I signal my team to follow me and we begin to tread through them. Getting a closer look allows me to see that these aren’t the normal soldiers you would expect to find in this part of the station. They are certainly soldiers though, maybe they belong to a different faction? Doesn’t matter though, not as long as we can capture our targets.
We slowly weave our way around the groups and enter the mainway, a long path with many branches that ultimately leads to the target’s location. Skillfully we manage to get through these weirdos and make it to the other side of their throng. From here we can’t see anymore of those masked people but we can’t afford to drop our guard. Them just being here is enough to unsettle the operation. Nothing to do but to keep one’s senses keen and keep moving. The pressure is on though, the forces in the reactor room weren’t expected to hold out for much longer. We can certainly still take control of the Favala even if we lose our soldiers but managing the strife afterward with no soldiers is just asking for another faction to coup us.
Not to mention our various army institutions teach using comradery as a way to strengthen ourselves mentally. “Fight not for yourself but for your kin” is a famous saying in the army. Ha, the navy though, not so much.
Even the most disciplined would find their thoughts wandering after days of simply walking, even so I should focus on the mission. Especially with those masked people around. I decided that we would move slower and more cautiously. This might put us further behind schedule but those might not be the only group of enemies around. Walking along the mainway makes it difficult to be cautious since there are so many paths branching off of it. We couldn’t possibly check each one sufficiently enough to call it clear. If we didn’t have these suits of ours this entire operation would’ve been bones before we even started. However, what puts me on edge more is the emptiness of the mainway.
As expected of the name, this should be a particularly busy path. Logistics would often be seen transferring large amounts of supply to various parts of the station through these mainways, contingents of marines would also use these. And yet, nobody can be seen. Even during a lockdown situation like it is currently would still see some traffic, but besides those masked ones, there’s no activity. Spooky is a word for it. That’s a good name for those masked bastards, spookies.
Speak about them and they shall come. A large group of them come marching out of one of the side paths. They turn in unison and head towards our direction, not towards us though it doesn’t seem like they noticed us, thankfully. I quickly motion for the others to follow me and we hide in the nearest side path. I poke my head out from behind the corner to watch the spookies. They continue marching our way and then stop a few pacings away from us. Then they just stand there like the others did, just standing in a line shoulder to shoulder. Creepy, but there’s not much to be lost from it. Plenty of the side routes end back up on the mainway and wouldn’t take too much time. I motion for the others to start following the side path, leaving the spookies behind; they don’t follow.
The dimmed emergency lights and clinical grey metal of the hallways made the entire situation even spookier. The tension doesn’t help either, there's no way that their movements are random. There must be a spy within the ranks of the officers in the faction that let the information of this operation out. Or a more unlikely situation, they have some rudimentary method to track us. Or, just raw intellect allowing them to predict that such an operation would exist. Regardless of the case, we must push on. In victory none of this will matter anyway, I just need to focus on that.
In the deathly silent halls, the pumping of one's heart becomes one of thunder striking the ears. Every step becomes firm with weight and every breath becomes a tempest of heat. My senses are on edge and the adrenaline is starting to enter my blood, but why? We’ve left the spookies behind, even in that situation my body was not as stressed as now. The answer came in the form of a large silhouette, barely discernible in the dim lighting. My entire team stops in their tracks, not due to the training embedded into their bodies but due to the raw pressure in the air. I can tell that they’re waiting for me to decide the next course of action but I’m as frozen as they are.
Even unmoving, the masked one in the hall exudes a certain pressure on us all. Unlike the other spookies, who were mostly Tarmon with some Egol mixed in, this spookie was a Thelsk. A heavy assault by the looks of the armour and the slab of metal that goes for a shield. A heavily armoured Thelsk in a tight, enclosed space is enough to make one's blood go cold; the average soldier might even faint. Yet this situation is even worse, funneling in behind the first, more of them can be seen. I quickly, perhaps too hurriedly, get the others moving to backtrack. Tarmon are excellent at hearing while Thelsk are good with their noses, such a fact is deadly in this situation. Although the suits don’t let out much smell, we’ve been wearing them for quite some time without the chance to clean them. Even so, the ship also scrubs the air clean so the chance we get found out is minimal, still it’s not worth the risk. Even though I’m not sure where to go once we make it back to the mainway, maybe the spookies will have moved on by the time we get there?
We will only find out in time, but right now I feel like a Fellinnk trapped in a maze filled with its own personal nightmares tormenting it, I’m sure my team feels the same.