|Viraliv|[20-14]Sliue-Ececs|Ora’s Eye|Tepi|Tepi-3|
11,163,955,738cy
Terraformer Station ‘Favala’, Low Tebi-3 Orbit
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It’s been nearly three hours now since the Captain’s men have made their first push through the shutters. The air is still filled with smoke, the smell of death, weapon’s discharges, and the acrid smell of various races flesh burning fill the nostrils of those present. The smells are matched by the noises, the screams, gun fire, explosions, and general disarray are common everywhere in the generator room. The sight, of course, is the worst of all. Death and gore mar almost every square footage of the room. A vibrant mesh made up of the various species differing blood and guts cover the ground. Accidents of those fighting, stepping on and slipping on the gore are common. Even more common are those running over the corpses of their allies to find some cover or get a shot off at an opponent before getting shot at themselves.
Though it’s apparent which side has taken more casualties than the other, even enough to form unintentional barricades out of the bodies, durable enough to absorb a few shots and save the lives of those using the corpses as cover. Many of those inexperienced can be found dead, those who survived the charge can be seen throwing up whatever mess they ate hours ago. Though for them what happened in a few hours probably feels like a few days. While the Captain’s soldiers have gotten some solid barricades set up during this time it’s not enough to reduce the casualties very much. At least now they can avenge those fallen a little easier. Able to fight back, and avoid getting killed by hiding behind cover, they’ve been a lot more successful in combating the enemy. Not to mention the various shields they’ve even been able to deploy, a few basalts were also deployed. The engineers that set them up were not spared the enemy's fire, in fact they were the focus of it. But still, they self-sacrificingly were able to deploy them before they died. Saving the lives of the many that will come behind them, something that those who survive this battle will certainly not forget.
On the defender's side things have changed to. While they used to enjoy what was comparable to a shooting gallery, with the shift of battle, they too have taken their losses. Now having to sit behind cover and take their chances. The rate of fire coming from their side has lessened, though it has become more focused than before as well. While the cover that their side has access to is just a bunch of scrap, and therefore not very good after a few hits, they certainly have more of it than the enemy. Especially against the few laser-based weapons the metal quickly deteriorates under their focus. The large industrial vehicle still stands paramount on the field, raining down fire wherever it goes. It has managed to suppress most charges the enemy throws at them but it can’t be everywhere at once. Steadily but slowly the Captain’s men are gaining ground. This hasn’t gone so far as to affect morale however. Because, as much as the Captain’s men are gaining ground they are evening the odds by reaping more lives than are taken from their side.
#Point of View of Saroxis Ghej, alias of “Tiny”
A shot streaks past my head, I peek up and take a quick shot. Doesn’t matter if it’s aimed well since ‘Biggie’ is a plasma weapon and it makes a big splash wherever it hits. So long as I shoot in the general direction of the enemy it should do some damage. Still it doesn’t do too well against the Basalts that they’ve set up, it uses material that’s good at absorbing heat. I don’t really know how it works but ‘Biggie’ doesn’t seem too fond of it. Suppose that just means I focus on the shields and the infantry. Though doing that is a little easier said than done now, potshots are the only safe bet now. This suit of mine is great, works better than these barricades, but that doesn’t mean I want to get hit any more than I have to. My brothers are fine, of course, with me here they shouldn't have any trouble. I can’t talk about Iskin since he’s with the other rangers but I’m sure he’s fine. At least Polva hasn’t said anything and I haven’t noticed anything bad happening over there.
Really the only trouble is the grenades. Every one of the enemies have a few of them, various types too. Most of them wouldn’t work against us since we have military gear but it still adds to the chaos and confusion. Some of them throw some types that wouldn’t do anything but use them as cover to throw a few explosive damaging ones. Really the only thing stopping the rains from obliterating us is that the room is rather large so even a good throw might not make it to our positions. Can’t say that my shiny suit is too shiny anymore due to that. It’s just a tad bruised though, no real damage. It’s a shame that our own supply of grenades are to be used sparingly. At least the enemy can’t do much more than grenades, anything with a higher yield would bring risk to the generator.
I can tell the others around me are feeling a bit sore, well the ones that can still feel anything anyway. Fighting for hours without an end, we can’t afford to take breaks so it starts to build up. The biology of Thelsk is more suited for it but the Tarmon are full of fast-twitch muscles and aren't really built for endurance fighting. Still they’re soldiers, they either rise up to the challenge or fall. The sight of battle never changes though, most are veterans that have seen into a dead person's eyes once or twice. Those that hadn’t spent a good while giving up their food to the floor, more work for the janitors. Us Thelsk are raised for war early on, in our youth we fight if we want to eat. No food is provided for us once our claws grow sharp and our scales hard, perhaps due to this Thelsk don’t have as much shock when in our first battle. Suppose that’s the reason why we make such good shock and heavy troopers.
Not like I'm complaining though, not when I get such great tools to use. A little blood and guts are nothing.
#Point of View of Echo-02
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Although it’s been a few hours already we can’t afford to rush this. The station’s big and any mistake made at any junction of it would screw the entire operation up. We have to take our time regardless of how many die. They’re soldiers anyway, same as us, killing and dying isn’t something we can say anything about. I won’t lie to myself though, it’s pretty stressful. Like walking blindfolded but tripwires are everywhere and if you step on one you die, at the same time you have to balance a priceless artifact on your head. The team seems to be holding up well enough though. We were specially trained for these kinds of things and only the best amongst those were selected for this operation. The other ones not selected are doing general sabotage and serving as distractors apart from the main one in the generator room.
We’ve gone through a dozen more gates like the first one. A few other types of traps and sensor ranges as well. They all required delicate and specific sets of actions to get past them without tripping them as well. A few tricky ones were designed not to be disarmed, if you did disarm them then they would be tripped. Most people wouldn’t know where these are and the sensors they have are dummies so if you know about them then you can just walk right by. Luckily our faction is made up of those already on station and we have people almost everywhere so we know about most traps. Most traps isn’t all though so we still have to keep a close eye out, doing that for hours on end is mentally strenuous. As such we take small breaks every now and then, only a few minutes though, not enough to really calm our nerves. I suppose it keeps us on edge though.
Though it hasn’t been entirely smooth, a few groups took on unexpected routes perhaps due to the commotion in the station, a smart choice. Taking them out was easy but it puts a time limit on us, those guards will eventually be expected to report back. Nothing to do about it though, we’re already going as fast as we can while still being careful. Even if they try to hunt us down we should be able to make it to our target just fine, given that they have confidence in their soldiers and don’t move to another location. That’s the biggest risk with this plan. The enemy can just pass through the sensor nodes and gates as quickly as they can move but we have to disarm them first. Taking the main information centers would help us but the other centers wouldn’t cooperate and they are too spread out throughout the station to capture them all. Plus it would allow the enemy to know where we’re located. In the end there’s nothing to do but keep pressing forward.
This really is our only chance of winning, the distraction team is doomed to lose unless this operation is successful. Only then will this nightmare of infighting end and the colony will be allowed to truly prosper when in the control of our faction. The people need a guiding hand to ensure that their democracy does not become corrupted like last time, then they can flourish under the stability and efficiency of the new government. This current Captain is too weak handed with his methods. An authoritarian democracy or even a paternalistic government would be better, something the leaders of my faction agree with. Not many have met with the leaders face to face but the importance of this operation demanded it. Only a few others besides us have seen them, nobody would expect them to be some no-named officers. Shunned for their alternative thinking they kept getting isolated in the Tarmon military, all of their credit stolen and the valor taken, not to mention them being blamed when anything bad happened. All of those above them had hidden away their brilliance. They eventually settled on leaving with the newest terraforming mission with the goal of creating their ideal society in the new world. In the beginning they didn’t do anything but build up strength, somewhat out of respect for Idris, but the new Captain was too weak in measure for them.
Well, back to it. At the current pace we should be in position to capture our target in two more hours. Though if anything unexpected happens, then who knows? Better keep my eyes out.
#Point of View of Captain Simiffin, Located in the Main CIC
A near endless stream of curses have been flowing into and out of my mind since this whole situation has started. How difficult would it be for these various troublesome people to just stop for a few months and let me settle into office a little? But no, they had to start fighting in the colony and even on the station. A bloody fight that will hold the colony back years. I’m beginning to think that I’ve been cursed. At least those around me give me some sense of stability and peace of mind. Regardless, the stress is building up, it might not be noticeable to the others but my vaughts are shrinking up due to all of this pressure.
I slap myself for thinking like this, my soldiers are out there dying for what little authority I have left. I’m being too self-pitying, this is definitely something I should talk about with Shanak’Ti when all of this is over. The others in the CIC looked at me weirdly when I slapped myself but they refocused on their work nearly instantly. After all a battle is happening and if they lose the battle, they’ll probably lose their heads next. I can’t say that I add much to the battle, I might be in the military but I was always an intelligence officer. I let my trusted head officers preside over the actual battle while I simply point out my observation and tid-bits that I’ve noticed. I’m helping where I can but I know my strengths and commanding a battle isn’t one of them. However, choosing the right subordinates for the right job is something I can do. At least, it’s worked up till now.
However it seems that some choices were incorrect. Since the enemies we're facing are our own soldiers it’s obvious that the leaders are some officers or something similar in authority. This has resulted in a bloody confrontation thus far, losing irreplaceable soldiers by the dozens. At the very least I won’t have to personally tell the parents and siblings of those fallen in this battle. They’re likely lightyears away. I’ve seen the view from the various squad leaders on the field, each equipped with their own uplinks that allow us to see the absolute horror going down there. In centuries of time the people that will later roam the halls of the Favala will certainly tell stories of seeing ghosts when nearing that place. The bravery of the soldiers fighting down there will certainly have to be rewarded heavily. Some shoreleave in some of the more therapeutic locations of the colony will have to be arranged, even then It’ll take a long time for the soldiers to trust one another.
Not to mention that regardless of who wins, the soldiers will likely hate them for some time. The officers included but especially the head officers and the Captain himself will be the target of their ire. While they might be soldiers they are also people and people don’t like the idea of charging mindlessly into the meat-grinder that the battle has turned into. If they weren’t able to get the little headway that they’ve gotten so far then, the soldiers might’ve joined hands with the enemy and marched down here instead. Luckily the soldiers understand that this battle affects more than just them, the future of the colony is at stake and they seem content with the current direction its heading, even if it has been a little bumpy.