Three weeks, that's how long it took for things to change in the war against the Yil’kaa. The Nemesis Fleet executed their duties faithfully and with efficiency, stalling any sort of reinforcements to the frontlines. The Terran Alliance split its forces in two, half going to the front, the other to aid Nemesis. The following week, the rest of the Conclave arrived and began to burn the already lost worlds to ash. It would take time for the Union to rebuild, but they had many new friends to help with that once the war was over.

With the back lines clear, the fleets assembled and began to push into Yil’kaa territory, their governments discussing at length just how far they should go. Many said that the Yil’kaa had left them with no choice but complete and utter extermination. Others suggested that to do that would make them no better in the end. A compromise was found, the Yil’kaa would be reduced to just one planet, the rest put to the torch and left as a warning. The survivors would be stripped of their bio-technology and confined to their planet through non-lethal and lethal means. Any attempts to escape would be destroyed instantly, and if they managed to slip away, then that’d be it. No more second chances, no more mercy, it would be the end of their species.

But first, they had to actually achieve this. First on the agenda was the liberation of planets that were still resisting invasion, the soldiers on the ground in desperate need of relief. And so, once they were all restocked, refueled and rested, the fleets began their assault.

The counter invasion had begun, and the first battle was on Calima.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

Specialist Demina,

Okali 424th Landstriders

Fereot, Capital of Calima

It’s another beautiful day in paradise, if you can even tell that is. My body was starting to get sore and stiff from laying stationary for so long and my bladder felt like it was about to burst. But my combat suit would take care of that, and I tried not to think about where the water I was currently sipping on had come from. Even sipping, I had my eye fixed on the scope before me, my rifle motionless as I peered down at the street below.

Right on time, the Yil’kaa convoy appeared, turning the corner and spraying their nasty goop all over everything they could. Conversion groups like these broke down the stone, plascrete and metals in Okali structures, as well as organic compounds that weren’t Yil’kaa. Essentially, it was a mobile rapid terraforming group, one that was about to meet its demise.

“Targets acquired… Firing solution achieved.” I subvocalized.

“Understood, we’ll go on your shot. Make the call.” Came the response from my team, well below me in the buildings. I took a deep breath, held it as I adjusted my aim, and then squeezed the trigger.

There’s a distinctive sound my rifle makes, I’ve listened for it in the other rifles but it doesn’t seem to be present. They only produce the whip-crack of the shot as it’s fired, mine allows you to hear the teeny tiny rails within spin up and gather their charge before it’s imparted upon the round.

VWIIIP-CRACK

That’s the sound I’ve always heard, and it’s music to my ears. The bio-machine thing - which looks like an overly large dog-caterpillar hybrid - which spewed it’s hungry goop everywhere, exploded as an inch thick shard of metal and high explosive reactant coating slammed into it at two thousand, six hundred and ninety three meters per second. The round creating the classic sonic boom mid flight and the rifle's recoil compensators ensured I barely felt a kick against my shoulder.

Bits of goop, flesh, bone and blood rained down over the Yil’kaa convoy, and then my team opened up on the survivors from either side of the street. Again I took aim, breathed, and fired, listening to that sweet sound as I rather literally evaporated a soldier with my next shot. Honestly, these creatures never seemed to learn, but I suppose that’s alright when you can replace your troops nearly as quickly as you lose them.

Something we couldn’t do… technically. Sure we could conceive just as quickly, but the whole gestation period kinda slows things down. Anyway, back to the killing. Five minutes it took for us to bring an end to the convoy, nothing but goopy remains left as evidence that it’d even existed. I had abandoned my little roost and joined the others down on the street.

“Well done everyone, we’re going to move to our next objective, see if the other convoy is going to keep to the schedule or not. If it is, we’ll take it out, if not, we go back to base and get some shuteye.” My CO said, a grizzled Okali whose name escaped me for some reason. We all hoped that the convoy would wise up and not come out to play, but if it did, it just meant there’d be more dead Yil’kaa soon. “Let’s get moving.” He said, just before a bio-fighter dove for us, its living weapons pounding the pavement around us in a poorly executed strafe.

He didn’t have to say anything, we all just dove for cover, an anti-vehicle weapon raised and fired. The bio-fighter took a direct hit and spiraled down into a mom and pop shop I used to frequent. But the fighter was just the precursor to a retaliatory strike, barbs and acid started to whiz past us and we added to the cacophony of sound with our own return fire.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

There was plenty of large rubble around to use as cover, and so that’s what we did while the CO furiously yelled into the comms requesting either extraction or fire support. But from what we could hear over the noise it seemed as though neither would arrive, the base was under assault… Again. Whatever help they could provide was rendered useless as to divert forces to us would mean we’d lose the base and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.

So we did what anyone would do in that moment, we doubled down and figured we’d make the Yil’kaa pay considerably for every inch of ground they took. We fired and fired and fired, not even really needing to aim there were just so many of them. We knew this was the end for us, there was no help coming.

But the universe thought otherwise. A blinding light appeared overhead as the living curtain that blocked out the sun was torn apart. Light washed over us then, blissful, warm light and then salvation appeared. It arrived as metal rain.

Drop pods slammed into the streets around us, blowing apart to reveal machine warriors inside who stepped out and surveyed the battle. They were not Okali in design, that much was clear. They bore markings that were unfamiliar to us, one turned its attention to us, to me specifically it seemed. And then it spoke.

“Do not be alarmed. Nemesis Fleet forces have arrived. We are allies. Hold your positions, we shall take care of these vermin.” It spoke with such deadpan, emotionless assurance and the way its voice was synthesized only lent it an intimidating, soulless quality. It took a shot to the shoulder, swayed briefly, then raised its own weapon and returned fire as the machines began to walk out of cover and into enemy fire.

More pods began to land around us, these ones sometimes crushing buildings thanks to their bulk and they disgorged larger warforms and weapons platforms. The steady chugging of so called primitive ballistic weaponry coupled with more advanced rail and laser systems soon drowned out the squelching sounds of Yil’kaa bio-weaponry.

The light was briefly blotted out as a shadow fell over us and we looked up just in time to watch a massive mechanical spider tank stride overhead. The cannons boomed, shields flared and it walked on, supported by the machine infantry. As it passed it opened a few hatches, dropping tiny pellets all around us which unfurled into something akin to a Trela-Kal (Or an Earth Centipede as I would later discover), which started to swarm over us.

“Please do not be alarmed. We are medical bots, have you been injured?” They spoke directly into our earpieces, and I noted then that yes, I had been injured. I pointed out the wound and the little machine thing scuttled to it, before it administered appropriate medications and a spray on bandage. In moments I felt good as new, and the machines curled themselves around each of our upper arms, one each. It seems they’d be sticking around for combat medic roles.

“What in the hells is going on boss?” One of my squadmates asked, and our CO merely shook his head.

“No idea, but they haven’t tried to kill us yet, might as well help them with the fighting. Squad, break cover and push forward!”

And so we did, we pushed forward. We walked side by side with the machines and killed everything in our path.

Calima would be ours again.

⫷⟪∞⟫⫸

I watched briefly from orbit as my vanguard forces made landfall, and then turned my attention back to the battle at hand. My starfighters and those of my fleet were forming a screen between the Yil’kaa’s own bio-fighters and their capital ships, protecting the vulnerable troop pods as they screamed towards the surface. They would be escorted up to a point, but after that they were on their own.

As the last pod entered the atmosphere of Calima, we pulled our fighters into close formations with our larger ships and prepared for the next phase of the battle.

“Thor, take your group around the right flank, split their focus. Tyr, traverse down and up below them. Missile boats focus fire on their heaviest hitters. I want their point defense so overloaded they can’t hit a damn thing.” My orders are followed to the letter, and I watch as Mjolnir turns and begins to burn for the right flank with several cruisers in tow. It’s strange, I lived through the war that birthed those ships, now they were helping rather than hindering.

I cleared my thoughts as the Yil’kaa fleet began to crumble and take more losses. A wave of my hand sent our fighters streaming into the fray, deftly dodging our own weapons fire as they worked in a single, cohesive swarm.

My mind drifted just a bit, to relish in the feelings traveling through my hull. The deep, vibrating booms of my cannons, the hum of the lasers, even the tingle of my shields taking fire. It was all so… I can’t give it a word I don’t think. But it felt right, so very right.

My shields suddenly took a series of heavy blows and my attention snapped back fully to what was happening, and I noted that the flagship of the enemy fleet had decided it wanted to duke it out with me. I was more than happy to oblige.

“All ships, I am sending a firing solution, I suggest you clear it.” I say, and I watch as several ships start to drift out of position, more than happy to get out of the way. Thrusters turn me, shifting me to point straight at the flagship as armor plating around the inner surfaces of the hull blades adjusts itself to withstand the rigors of what I am about to do.

A round is loaded deep within my hull, it feels heavy, like when you eat too much and couldn’t stand to take another bite. A tingle builds around that weight, starting to spread forwards towards the nose of my ship. I achieve target lock and smile maliciously.

The discharge is immense, as the magnetic rails that make up my spinal cannon propel the rod of tungsten and osmium at incredible speeds. It even comes with a slight antimatter charge buried within it. The round tears across the void and impacts the flagship, striking with such force we witness the flesh of the enemy flagship ripple and start to peel away from muscle and bone before the antimatter charge detonates. Within a mere moment, it’s reduced to dust.

“Target destroyed, powering down spinal cannon.” I whisper to nobody in particular, then turn my cannons back onto the enemy, watching as they scramble to hold their fleet together and mount a retreat. We would not allow it. They had picked this fight, they could stick around to see the end of it. “Deimos Group, engage.” My voice is cold, almost indifferent as the Alliance battle group cuts off the retreat by dropping straight into the path of the Yil’kaa. The only way for the large ships to go now was either up or towards the planet, but Thor had thought of that already and directed half of his force to cover the upper planes. His group was reinforced by the Alliance ships, and slowly the net closed around the Yil’kaa as they were driven into the upper atmosphere.

No quarter was shown, and soon the ruined hulks of their ships began to rain down on their strongholds on the surface of Calima. The fragments that remained in space would be put to use.

“Nemesis, begin reclamation protocols.” I say, and the ruined hulls of the Yil’kaa fleet are slowly gathered up while the machine ships open and start to break them down like hungry beasts. We’ll get ammo and fuel out of the materials we reclaim, everything we need to use in order to repair and rearm before the next battle. Quietly I watch as Deimos Group begins their own troop deployments, dropping around the few Okali bases that are still functional.

For now, there’s a calm that settles over the ships in orbit, and after I set up picket positions in the event of counter-attack, I lean back and close my eyes, in need of a break. I look upon myself and worry that I might be losing what little humanity remains.

If that is the case… Then I… We need to bring this war to a close quickly. I do not wish to become a monster.