The Known and Forgotten: War hath come
Prologue:
Five years ago mankind's first colony outside our solar system, began to fall apart.
The genetically altered human/alien hybrids known as the marauders whom were treated like nothing more than slaves, rose in rebellion. They destroyed everything within the colonial walls, the very walls that were meant to defend the colony from the dangerous indigenous wildlife that lived beyond.
They destroyed everything, the mines they were forced to work within, the factories and foundries, the domed farmsteads and the city at the heart of the colony. Thousands died in the first few weeks.
Then when help finally came for the colonists the Terran (Earth) military sent two warships, one cruiser and a transport filled with troops to fight the marauders and defend the colony.
The Marauders fled beyond the wall hoping to escape their former masters. They retreated into the mountains, built themselves settlements, not having to fear breathing the toxic air like humans do, they grew crops and fruits to feed their people and even domesticated the indigenous creatures that the colony feared.
They turned Beetle wolves into war mounts, Giganant (Ants the size of mules) into pack animals, and smaller creatures into animals for slaughter, they survived better than the colony.
With the Marauders in retreat the Military left a small garrison to keep the peace and the warships pulled away back to their station on Charon (Plutos moon).
Without the Marauders the Colony struggled, without any ore coming from the mines, and no one able to breath the toxic air. it meant that no money came into the colony, to survive the human colonists were only able to focus on agricultural production growing what they need to feed themselves. Within the walls life was hard a thriving black market remained unrestricted and no one tried to remove it, people willingly traded what they needed for things they wanted. Food for personal items, books, DVDs, weapons etc.
After five years of constant raiding upon the colony, one day the Marauders, came forth with an offer.
An offer of peace......a peace that shall see the end of the war and quite possibly even trade between the two cultures. But sometimes hate can blind people to a chance for peace.
Chapter 1: A Shrine or Temple
The year is 2429, by a complete mistake a small colonial scientific team found themselves dropping out of sub sonic speed into a section of the United Nations and her colonies that was described as restricted and unsuitable for human habitation.
By necessity they ended up having to land on the planet, knowing the planet had previously held a human colony, one which according to the official records had been abandoned due to a sudden and destructive economic decline which lead to a political uprising of the colonists.
Their small shuttle came blasting through the clouds, jutting and bumping from the winds of a nearby thunder storm. Inside were scientists and a few soldiers for protection as well their best engineer, their mission find the old colonial site and find something that might help ease the situation on their ship up to and including an emergency landing zone should they need to bring the ship into orbit.
On-board was one Robert Jackson, whose ancestor had lived on this planet for a time, the now infamous Maria Jackson who was ridiculed for so called outrageous stories of the political rebellion being a slave uprising. Robert was the chief scientist of the expedition funded by the U.N to find and survey new worlds for possible colonization, yet after no more than few days they had unforeseen complications, a power surge left them stranded without a sub sonic drive.
Robert was close to middle aged, he had approached his thirtieth birthday no more than a few days ago, he had brown hair which he had cut short and combed back across his head, his green eyes were very analytical, constantly analyzing everything around him. But everyone and everything stopped when the shuttle came to steady itself out from the storm, Robert unbuckled his belt and stood up, looking around the long cargo bay of the shuttle holding its ten passengers five either side. He turned up to his left and made his way up a small ladder to the pilot and co-pilot seats, "Any good areas to land?" he asked in a clear firm voice.
The Co-pilot looked at him through his helmet "Nada, just hills, mountains, Valleys and oh look... more hills" he replied jokingly. Robert just shook his head, but from the corner of his eye he noticed something, on the horizon, the landscape was changing. The Forest covered hills began to ease out onto a flat plain and on the horizon a relic of the colony, the wall.
"We've found the colony" he whispered "We can set down beyond the wall and find our way inside any remaining farmsteads" he ordered, both of those in-front of him just nodded and slowly pushed on their controls, sending the shuttle downwards towards the wall.
After an hour, they were set, the shuttle had landed nice and steadily, those in Roberts team were set and ready, their pressurized suits were now securely worn and the guards had their weapons loaded. They were the first out to secure the area, the five of them moving out and then forming a circle around the shuttle, when Robert came out he was greeted by something he had never thought he would witness, open fields of a plant that resembled grass, nothing but miles and miles of it.
With the signal they began to push forward, yet what they came across first, gave them second thoughts. As they came over the crest of a small ridge, they spotted a collection of small cylinder structures, that resembled colonial outpost housing pods. Curiosity got the best of them, interested to see if there were other people here that could help them they jogged down carefully, keeping their eyes open.
Yet when they got there, nothing, the buildings and the site were abandoned, Robert could see from the mess of the site, boxes, ammunition boxes? and other crates and containers were all over the place, some of them were toppled over, others were completely emptied. He could instantly tell that the area had been abandoned in a hurry, he took a knee and closed his eyes trying to allow his mind to figure out what had occurred here, but as he placed his right gloved palm on the wet muddy floor, he felt something, gripping it he pulled it up to have a look, it was a shell casing, he look more carefully on the floor and slowly he started to see through the mud, more and more shell casings, it was now clear the place was abandoned in a fight.
Then a shout "Over here!" a feminine voice went, all ran to the voice, Jane Staner one of the security specialists. What they all came to find horrified them, hanging from a single standing tree, was a fresh body of a human male, what caught Robert was the fact that the body had no real injuries, the only thing wrong was that the skin was incredibly pale and the eyes were blood shot, the way the man was held was so that he was being held by his elbows, the rope was strapped around the crook of the inner elbow so he could move his hands but not untie himself.
"any idea what happened to him?" someone asked
Jane stepped forward and examined him, she noticed in his hands was a simple breathing mask, only meant to go around the mouth and nose, simple and easy for short periods of time in non-breathable air but not good for long periods. She looked at the Gage, "He ran out of oxygen, so he pulled it off to see if he could try and breath the air"
"How long can someone survive breathing this air" A question came from another member of the party, Jessie Mitches, an Archeologist but still young for her field barely 25.
Robert was slow to answer "3 minutes tops....2 minutes for most....... must of felt like a long time" all present now understood, whomever did this wanted him to suffer, the torture of running out of air and then forcing ones self to breath an air that you know will kill you. "Who is he?" Robert continued
Jane again answered "a Pirate, the tattoo on his neck, mark of the Baker band"
Jessie was quick to make a statement "Well... we know who he is... what happened, but I'm concerned with is Who did it?"
A question that puzzled them all, yet they agreed to continue on in search of a place they can scavenge for parts. They pushed harder and harder, until something on the horizon, Robert quickly paused to check his left arm, and the timer on it, they had been going for 2 hours now, meaning they had four hours of air left each.
Yet they pushed on, and began to see and make out more of the structure they had been watching become bigger and bigger as they got closer. Once they stood in front of it though, they stood in awe, this wasn't a normal building, built next a high steep slope was what resembled a temple of some kind, in front of the doorway into the darkness was an immense statue.
It was of a warrior of some kind, the statue was made of metals mostly scrap from they could see as they slowly passed by. They all recognized the stance the statue had been built in, it was a pose of defiance and rebellion, with the figure depicted with an arm raised with a spear in its hand.
Using their flashlights, they moved steadily through the single corridor leading deep into the mountain, at first it was a simple tunnel, but slowly it became more and more structured and organized, the walls became decorated with what resembled columns, and then statues of warriors being stood in human sized alcoves in the walls.
"What the hell is this place, is it a Temple of some kind?" Jane asked
"Either that or a shrine, I mean look at these statues, they remind me of the Terracotta Army" Robert replied
Yet then they came to a large circular dome like room, with stairs on their left and right leading down to a level holding something that was very different to their previous thoughts. "Its not a shrine or a temple" Robert firmly said
"No" Jessie answered "its a Tomb", for in the center of the room, on the level below upon an immense, stone platform was a single solid coffin, built into the rock . They slowly made their way down the stairs and then onto the platform, all except Jessie who looked at the stone work of the platform.
"I wonder who he was?" Jane asked looking upon the solid rock coffin, so solid that despite its age there were no cracks or damages.
Robert then noticed something small sat next to one edge of the coffins base, a small metal plate, picking it up he slowly wiped away the dust and saw not a name or anything he had expected.
But then words from the intrigued Jessie, "Whomever he was, he was a warrior... look here, the platform is engraved with murals and words that tell the story of his life"
Chapter 2:War
The Forest was quiet, the ancient trees growing around or atop of the stone boulders that dotted the entrance to a secluded valley, running through was a small stream of trickling water, no more than ankle deep.
Blocking the valley though was a tall barricade like wall, made of scavenged metals, wood and stone, it was solid and sturdy, built to withstand a beating. Atop were figures none of them wearing anything around their mouths to breath, they wielded simple firearms, old bolt action rifles, long rifles, simple assault rifles etc.
At its base were others making additions to it defenses, working hard to ensure that the Barricade could protect what lay beyond. Then moving carefully and cautiously through the foliage were soldiers, militiamen of the human colony, some of them were not proper soldiers as many of them were simply wearing make shift colonial military clothing.
Even the way they moved showed their inexperience, they were staying too close together, instead of spreading out into smaller groups, to attack from many angles. Taking the lead, an officer gave a series of hand signals to pass on his orders, pointing out what to do, telling each group to ready themselves.
He then took aim and all followed suit, readying themselves and steadying their breathing, finally hell was unleashed as the militia revealed their numbers, showing a small army of at least 300 fighters. They fired directly at those on the barricade and those below, they unleashed every single shot they had, they had been given orders to kill Marauders and that was what they were going to do.
As the Barricade burned and the bullets continued to fly, the officer gave a strong shout "PUSH FORWARD!!", they began to break cover and move towards the remains of the barricade and the few remaining Marauders who fired rifles, randomly not once truly aiming, preferring to keep their heads down, they knew they couldn't win here, so they began to pull back.
The humans pushed further and further forward, not once ceasing their constant firing from their rifles. Then a order came shouting out "Cease Fire" it went "Repeat Cease Fire", slowly they all began to end their endless shooting, the officer among them was waving his hands, as a signal for them to stop and then he thrust his hand forward pointing towards the barricade, clearly ordering them to secure the position.
They all began to move forward in force, but then a whistle like sound, similar to that of a bird, echoed out through the valley. The humans paused looking around at the sloping hills to their left and right, they aimed their weapons carefully, the veterans among them began to prepare themselves, they knew what that sound meant. Then from nowhere a swarm of small thin objects began to fly into the air and then smashing into the human forces, dozens fell as Arrows and bullets began to strike them at great speed.
Looking back and forth, for the enemy, they could see nothing just arrows falling, the sound of gunshots and the screams of the wounded and the grunts of those being killed. The humans ran back and forth trying to organize their response, yet they could do nothing, they were being slaughtered, a third of their number now lay dead on the ground either from being killed by the enemy fire or suffocating from breathing the toxic atmosphere after the projectile pierced their suits.
The Officer finally gave in, "FALL BACK.... FALL BACK, RETREAT!!" this was an order they all heard, but as they ran for their lives none of it was organized, they all just ran, even leaving the wounded screaming and dying behind them.
When the Humans had fled, their enemy revealed themselves, high up on the cliffs of the valleys and the slopes of the hills were hundreds upon hundreds of Marauders.
The Marauder Rebels came down from their positions atop the slopes and cliffs, among them were elite warriors of the Guard of Death, warriors who were veterans of their initial uprising five years ago. Those warriors wore dark black armor and clothing, with masks painted black and carved to bee skulls, as they moved through the human bodies they stabbed them with knives and spears to ensure they were dead.
From the shadows though many of the Marauders began to bow their heads out of respect for a certain figure making his way through. Sev En Fo Too Tray, the leader of the new Marauder Civilization, he lead their defense when necessary and became like a king, deciding laws with the aid of a council, consisting of five members representing five different areas of the Marauder culture.
He came to a warrior and asked "How many?", the warrior did not say a word in response but instead raised his left hand from his rifle and showed five. Sev En knew what this attack meant however, for this was more than a simple raid by the Militia, this was an all out attack, on what laid beyond the barricade, not just a settlement but their capital city.
"Menak" he ordered, a member of the Guard of Death came forward, bowing his head
"So much for forging a truce" Menak scoffed
Sev however paused and reached down, he knelt next too a veteran soldiers not a militiamen but a proper soldier with military equipment and took from his body a set of head phones, placing it to his ear, he began to hear "Battalion 26 do not engage the Marauders have called for a truce", Sev smiled "These soldiers did not know about the truce.... they believed us still at war".
Audio Diary entry of Corporal Damien Vick, Colonial Militia First battalion
Man these ops aren't getting any easier, I could cope with the endless hours of boredom but the constant rattling of this tram is killing me.
This was supposed to be an easy job, protect the colony, keep the Marauders away from the wall.
This mission was simple take the all terrain tram (Tram: similar to a train but does not require a track to follow) beyond the wall, find the Marauders and kill as many of them as we can before we have to pull back, in and out quick and simple.
everything was planned meticulously, every detail, every possible outcome was planned out and prepped for. But it didn't matter for all the planning and all the prep, the fact was that we just weren't ready to handle those Marauders in their own territory.
We've paid for that mistake and...... Hell... we haven't even made it a third of the way back home.... and we've just lost another man.
We found a wall of some-kind, but that didn't mean we had found them, they ripped us apart, even when we thought we had the upper hand. A third of our men dead in a matter of minutes, another third now "Missing in action-presumed dead"
The tram continued its travel down a narrow valley, constantly rattling from the bumpiness of the ground. Many of the cars were simple cargo carriers, no walls or roofs just flat beds originally meant to carry cargo, the few actual passengers cars, were badly damaged, no real doors on them or even windows. covering nearly every space were the survivors of the militia.
Now when most speak of a militia, they think of some elements of military training, but that is not really the case for most of the Militia on Titana. These men and women only wore, simple breather masks around their mouths and noses, connected to the oxygen packs on their backs. They wore simple clothing, some just wore t-shirts, some just wore leather jackets, some even wore cloth hoods over their heads. The only thing that was definitely military was the weaponry, they were all equip with assault rifles similar to those previously used by military's on earth, the closest comparison was the SA80 assault rifle.
They just watched the world go by, most laying back and trying to relax attempting to ignore the constant rattling of the trams cars moving across the land. At the front was the engine, powerful and strong similar to a long retrofitted industrial steamer, the loud engine echoed out across the empty plains and hills in all directions.
When all of a sudden everything and everyone jolted as the tram suddenly came to a stop, everyone both atop and within every tram near the rear looked about, after all the orders were to continue moving forward until they got back to the camp at Fort Summer, the largest militarized fort on the planet and not to stop under any circumstances. Surrounding the tram was very dangerous territory for humans, deep forests covered the hills on their left and right, the one place they were always told to avoid unless they had no other choice which in this case was the only escape route back to the colony.
The Commander pressed his finger to his ear "Victor one... what the hell is going on?"
A response soon came "Just clearing some debris in the way sir"
"Negative... keep pushing...." The commander ordered to no response "Do you copy..I said get this tram moving" Yet again no response, he looked around him to other members of the Militia in the rear sections of the trams cargo and passenger cars, he signaled them with an open hand, then moved it outwards, ordering them to get off and out of the cars and secure the area. He looked and a small squad and pointed his hand at the direction of the Trams engine.
They all piled out of the cars weapons readied, moving forth surrounding the cars they came from. The few selected moved on towards the engine, as they got closer, they expected to find cars filled with other militia, piling out to secure the area, yet no one was out. They peaked inside and saw a blood bath, all inside had been slaughtered, one reaches for his radio, only to hear before he can shout for help gunshots coming from the direction they came from, as well as shouts and orders "Where are they I can't see them", "Watch your flank", "I'm hit", "I can't shoot what I can't see" Other than that they could nothing but screams and shouts, they knew the militia was being slaughtered. They turned to look at the forest and saw what they had expected to see, a group of Marauders riding their Kanga Ants (Imagine a horse sized Kangaroo with a Termites head and plated insect armor, running instead of hopping on its back legs).
Chapter 3: World on Fire
Sev lead the warriors home after a day or two they came to the opposite head of the valley, to the center of the Marauder culture. Their capital city, a city to behold, the size of a small city covering the slopes of a single peak standing as an island surrounded by hills and rocky valleys. A fortress built into the peak, the Marauders had used their history in the mines to build themselves a city not just on the slopes but into the mountains, for now tunnels criss crossed beneath and within the mountain.
The Light from the fires that dotted the city, could be seen even from the distance of the valley. Sev was coming home, they all marched calmly or rode their impressive insect like war mounts, weapons either slung over their shoulders or relaxed in their hands, but then a strange sound.
It was a deep rumble, Sev and the Guard recognized it immediately, they prepared their weapons, loaded their guns, knocked arrows and sharpened spears. They then began to systematically scan the skies, from the south west they spotted them, three flying ships speeding across the sky towards the city. From their position they could all see the defenders of the city firing their weapons and could here their guns firing, but the sight and sound that drove them to forget everything and run for the city, was the sight of the flying craft drop bombs, the sight and sound of the explosions and the fires reaching into the sky.
Sev dropped everything and ran through the burning city, rushing past the residents who were running for safety out of the burning and smoldering city, past those who were trying to fight the fires, towards a face he knew.
"Lina!!" he shouted, and a marauder woman turned to look at him and run to him, she was in her late 20s just like Sev En, she had dark black hair tied back into a pony tail behind her head. They ran into each others arms, both of them crying with eyes filled with tears. But Sev broke the moment, looking around at the fires, "Where.... where's Shadi?" he asked.
"I thought she was with you.... she must still be at home" her response came.
Sev knew straight away where he was needed, for his home was where a bomb had dropped, he ran through the burning wreckage of the city. He finally turned a corner towards his home, more like a palace, he charged forward not even caring that the entire building had been engulfed in flames, breaking down doors and even walls to find his daughter.
Nearly everyone he knew was out side, watching and waiting hoping he would come out alive with his daughter. Yet when they thought they could relax, seeing him walk out with a small child in his hands, they paused, the child was covered in his shirt, he came out into the open and layed the child down, tears filling his eyes. Lina came forward screaming, gripping the child and holding the body in her arms, crying and screaming, yet Sev just stood up look around at the burning city and the body of his young child.
He then looked at the growing audience of Marauders, those who were warriors and those not. He looked them square in the eye and he said one thing "Prepare for war"
Chapter 4: We have returned
It was night upon the wall, everyday these men and women paced the wall between the large guard towers. The high metal wall had changed since its construction, some of the automated sentry guns no longer worked properly, people joked that it was a miracle that the wall was still standing after ten years of raids by the Marauders. These raids had drastically reduced the size of the force defending the wall, before it was several thousand strong, now though it was barely a few hundred.
As well as the raids, the militias attempts to find the Marauders and fight them away from the colony constantly failed in massive loss of life on the side of the militia. The last attempt was the bloodiest, the survivors reported that the attack force lost over two thirds of their number before even finding the Marauders, they claimed the enemy ambushed them and destroyed most of the tram cars.
On one section of the wall a single soldier grudgingly walked the wall, watching his boots scuff the metal floor. He could feel the heat of night within his protective suit, every part of his suit held the air he needed to breath within and the toxins of Titana out. His rifle slung over his right shoulder by a simple leather strap.
Suddenly a strike from behind, he fell to the floor, dazed and confused he got to his knees, looking around back and forth for the cause he couldn't see anyone around, he looked ahead to the next watch tower, atop it he could see a single silhouette. A long bodied reptile like creature with wings similar to those of a bat. Its head was similar to the of a birds, a long hooked beak for tearing meat, it opened its mouth and screeched.
Then from no where a dozen hooks struck the top of the wall. The hooks held ropes, and the young soldier realized what this was, a Marauder Raid. He ran back to the watchtower behind him, shouting "MARAUDERS...... SEND THE ALARM!".
He banged on the doors of the tower, frantically as he turned to see Marauders coming to the top of the wall, wielding all sought of weaponry, swords, axes, spears, halberds, tridents as well as old fire arms of all sizes, ranging from pistols to long sniper rifles.
He decided to forget the door and frantically began to climb the tower, hoping to get to the alarm system at the observation point at the top. Pulling himself to the top he picked himself up from the frantic climb, turned to the alarm panel.
It was there he saw him figure clad in black, the flying creature he saw before sitting upon his right shoulder. The soldier felt fear grip him, for he knew whom it was, yet he knew he one thing to do, he did his duty forgetting the danger he was in, grabbed the lever for the emergency alarm, pulled it downwards and from then the continues sound of the alarms beeping. The figure looked around and saw the many watch towers along either side of the wall light up each of them activating their alarms and those within scrambling for a fight.
"Now the whole the colony, knows your here Sev en fo too tray....." the soldier stated
The figure stepped forward into the light of the single bulb above them, showing Sev en for too tray the leader of the Marauders and instigator of their rebellion. He pulled from his belt a small hand axe, with his bare left hand he ran his index finger across the blade, looking back to the soldier he said only a few words, "We... offered you peace... yet you burn our homes....we offered an end to the war..... you murdered our children"
The soldier stood their in complete shock as from both sides of the watchtower all along the wall he could hear the screams of the other soldiers stationed across the section of the wall. Sev en continued to speak, looking to the soldier. "You say.. they know we're here.... you say it as a bad thing for us"
He looked to the soldier more devilishly now, baring his white teeth and sharp canines ".... I say..... Perfect".
Across on the other side of the colony, within the great domed city or what remained of it, in the aftermath of the Marauder Rebellion, the colony had begun to die. With no ore coming from the mines in which the Marauders were created and enslaved, then there was no money coming into the colony, the people living here were not living they were surviving.
Within the many buildings was a makeshift command center for the new colonial militia, a collection of volunteers from the residents of the city and neighboring domed farmsteads that lived within the protection of the perimeter wall.
The room was brightly lit up, with tables and old boards covered with maps of the colony and the different areas of the colonial sectors as well as maps of the city, beyond that there were people sitting next to desks that were holding communication equipment, such as old radios. people in all forms of clothing ran back and forth some carrying weapons others carrying other forms of equipment, ranging from papers to ammunition crates.
In the center of the room was the commander of the militia, wearing an old military uniform that of a captain, it was black cloth with the different stripes and stars on the right arm. He was looking over the largest of the maps that the room contained, this one was of the colony as a whole. Showing the most important locations, such as the city, the largest farmsteads, the location of the old mines even the location of the forts along the wall.
"Sir..." a voice came, a young man came running in, he too was wearing an military uniform but not an officers. "I presume you know", the commander looked up from the maps and stared him the face.
"About the Marauders storming all over the wall?" He stated, he looked back down at the map, "some think that its merely another raid..... but the alarm has spread across this whole section of the wall"
He began pointing out different areas of the map, most of all a single section of the wall with a red cross marking it. "this is the focus point though....we" he was suddenly interrupted
"SIR!... WE HAVE CONTACT WITH FORT SUMMER!" a radio operator shouted, everyone even the commander began to gather around
"THE MARAUDERS... SEV EN..... HE AAAAAAAHHHHHH" the radio was then covered by nothing but static. Everyone in the whole room felt uneasy, fort summer was one of the largest and most defended of the fortifications on the wall.
But what got the commander was the name that was uttered "If Sev en fo to tray is here then its not a simple raid"
"It doesn't make any sense sir..." the young soldier questioned "I thought the Marauders were offering peace.... why attack with such vigor"
The commander began to think, closing his eyes he entered his mind, trying to figure out what had happened in the time period between now and the offer from the Marauders offering the peace negotiations.
But before he could figure it out, a static ended and a voice came out "For five years we have fought against you..... for five years we have raided you rotten colony.... I did not start this war...... but soon it will end..... I offered Peace.... I offered an end to the blood shed..... but you burn our homes..... you send fire from the sky.... Fire that murdered my Daughter a child of four years.... with your flying craft"
The commander paused from his deep thought, to those words, the militia didn't have any aircraft, they only had armored personnel carriers, so why would he say flying craft. Could someone have bombed the Marauders.
"You think this is your world..... but you fear the air.... you fear the creatures here..... you fear us...... this world now belongs to us..... you think of us as savages...... we are far worse..... To the colonists, I say this.... you are innocent....Our enemy is Mining Company that enslaved us..... stand aside and we shall not harm you..... but fight us then you will die"
The radio returned to static, everyone in the room was now even more terrified, not just from the message Sev en fo to tray had sent but because the message was on an open frequency, so the whole colony heard it.
The commander went straight to a phone "Get me the mayor..." he shouted "Madame Mayor?"
"Commander... please tell me this isn't right?" a woman's voice came
"I'm afraid ma'am.... it is.... the Marauders are on the warpath.." he replied
"What do we do?" she asked
"other than the obvious... prepare the city for a siege, erect barricades.... arm the population...etc" he paused for a second "PRAY!"
Chapter 5: the truth....
For a week, the colony prepared themselves, across the whole city the population was getting ready. People were dragging out furniture and other large objects into the streets and building barricades across streets. Militia members were fixing larger weapons atop them such as heavy machine guns and launchers.
The Commander wandered the streets, issuing orders "Don't bother building here..." he stated to some people erecting a barricade "They will simply take that alleyway to get behind you..... build it further back so you can't be outflanked"
They just nodded and followed the order and slowly began moving all the objects further back to where the street narrowed.
The commander paused for a moment, as a ring came from his pocket, he pulled out his radio. "Commander Polt" he stated.
"Commander, the board members from the mining company want to speak" a voice came.
He sighed heavily, the city was getting ready for what might be a last stand... and some businessmen wanted to see him. "Fine" he scoffed.
An hour of maneuvering around and the through the barricades finally lead him to the most defended place in the city, the location decided for the last stand the square outside the corporate headquarters. He could see the largest of all the barricades in the city high up and strong with heavy weapons dotting the top.
After finally getting through he came to corporate business, a man was waiting for him outside, wearing a tight and fashionable suit. After a quick introduction the suit gave to him a single book, a red one made of leather with some small papers slipping out of the rim.
The suit gave a single request as we walked off "Make sure no one knows about this" he said these words in a very hush hush manner, almost a whisper.
Later that day the commander peeled through and found something shocking, he knew all about the creation of the Marauders, the experiment to create them and then ultimately enslave them in the mines. But what was in this document was something else, something he did not even suspect.
November 12th 2250, the first of the test subjects came in today, Our hopes are high.
Our hopes are very clear although the hybrids that work the mines are all well and good, it does not do much for the colonists already here, if we can find a way to create a synthesis between the two. Then we can begin to "Inoculate" the colonists, allowing them to breath both our atmosphere and the toxic air of this planet.
I don't even want to know what the company told these hybrids, in order for them to agree to take part in the experimentation. Without knowing the dangers that they might face, up to an including to them having to suffer their own DNA destroying them.
January 1st 2251, of the hundreds of hybrid subjects that we started with, none have survived our experiments.
of the replacement subjects we have "Inoculated" we have found that each of them has an different variety in the hybrid Genetic structure. The majority of which have become more and more aggressive, blood tests show that the formula used on subjects ranging from 6981 to 7379, have a higher number of Chimera genes which may result in their aggression.
There might be a chance for us to reinsert more human genetics, however the challenge comes for us being that it proving harder and harder to keep them secure and pacified.
March 10th
More of our subjects are now deceased, there are times I begin to wonder the extent of out experiment and our task. Wondering whether or not we can actually succeed, none of the formulas we have created were successful, is it even possible to created a interim between the hybrids and human genetics.
Our task was clear find a way to take the hybridized DNA of the labor force in the mines and find a way to make it suitable for humans, so that they could breath the toxic air of Titana.
Yet it seems even harder, and we cannot rely on the original hybridized strain, because the labor force have formed a community and their genetic structures have begun mutating and mixing with reproduction.
April 31st
There is one case that seems to give me hope, this subject seems to hold both at least a single strain of the original Hybridized DNA from the original experiments from 3 years ago, as well as the newer mutated genes from years of living within the depths of the mines.
Tests show, the construction of deeper muscle tissue and stronger bone density, he is far stronger and faster in his reflexes. During a talk with him I dropped my pen and He caught it in a second.
He said he could no longer remember who he was or where he was from, all he could remember is the pain and suffering he saw from the mines. Whomever his original name he took he is now the key to a dream, and the hope that all this death will not have been in vain.
Whomever he was, no longer matters he says that his only name comes from the numbers on the Door of his Cell, 7423.
July 20th
An Audit by the company has begun to show that the experiment will soon be getting more funding, the company is intrigued by the fact that he is far stronger and faster than anything we have ever seen. Rumors are they want to incorporate this into the creation of not a labor force but a super soldier program.
August 12th
The Company wishes to alter the experiment, they want to see what would happen if the subject was introduced amongst the other labor force in the mines. I am unsure, he seems to bear a great hatred for us, and a great pain of the miners, audio recordings from his cell depict that he talks in his sleeps, most of which are of anger and pain against the treatment of what he called his people.
November 10th
it began today, it seems I was right in my fears, He has launched a rebellion, the Marauders are now overwhelming the security forces. Our lab is at this moment on the route to the Marauder attack, we are being ordered to destroy all of our research data and remove everything of value.
They said "We don't want the Marauders to know the truth of everything"
November 12th, the Marauder destroyed everything, all my work over a years work gone in flames. I was trying to understand why when I saw him, the Marauder leading everything, the one from cell 7423, he looked at me with anger and hatred, I knew he was looking at me because I felt it, with the flames behind him, he extended his arms and roared into the air.
God help us.
God help us All!
The commander just dropped the document, and sat there in a state of shock and awe, he now truly understood. Sev en Fo too tray wasn't just avenging the pain the Marauders have suffered during the three years of slavery. But also the pain and torture he himself suffered during the experiments the company put him through to try and create something that would make them more money.
Chapter 6: The Surprise
The colony gave everything they had for the defense of the city, every piece of furniture was turned into parts of a barricade, every home was boarded up and turned into a fortress. Some buildings were booby trapped so that the rubble the explosion would create shall block the path of the enemy.
Everyone over the age of 16 was called on to serve in the Militia, they were going all in. In the Colonial Council chambers, the Colonial Commander gave his report surrounded by the dozens of Captains, lieutenants and Sergeants of the militia. The Mayor sat at the center of a long table in front of them, alongside the other elected leaders of the colony.
"No doubt they will breached the main airlock, if they do then our only hope is to hold them there.... prevent them from ever reaching the city...." he paused for a second to catch his breath "If successful then we maybe able to hold until we can call for reinforcements.... if not then our best chance is to use the numerous choke points to slow them down and then make our last stand at the corporate headquarters giving people a chance to evacuate via the spaceport"
One of the councilors, an older gentlemen raised his hand to stop the commander "Just how big of a force are you intending for the defense of the main airlock"
"Half" the reply came "the rest will either prepare defenses elsewhere or assist in evacuations.
The meeting ended rather rapidly, but they all knew that this was going to be a last stand, because once the airlock is smashed open then they will all be limited by Oxygen. By the third day though, the militia continued their work, digging trenches, traps everything they could think of that might slow the Marauders down, most of all at the main airlock
Then from the radio a call came, "Commander.... your going to want to see this" it went.
He dropped his shovel and pressed his ear "Where, the hills?"
"Yes sir.... I see one" the reply came, fearing what was coming the commander ran as fast as his protective suit could allow him too, rushing past the improvised defensive ditches and barricades that the militia had set up to try and hold the city from the outside.
When he finally got to the point he wished, he looked up to the hills, and saw a single figure, standing atop the cusp of the hill, a single silhouette in the light of the evening sun. "Their here" he whispered. As the other soldiers and militiamen gathered around him, at first they thought their commander must be wrong, looking at one man who must be a scout.
But then one by one more shadows and silhouettes began to show themselves stepping out into view. 1,2,3,10,19,25, in a continuous stream along the ridge of the hills peak.
They suddenly realised who that first silhouette was, it was him Sev en.
Who standing atop the hill turned around to see a horde of his people, no longer slaves rising with pick axes and shovels, no now they were an army, with spears, axes, bows and arrows, guns and bullets, giant insects to ride into battle like Giga-ants and Giga-Dragon (Giant Dragonfly).
Looking upon his people he took a deep breath, "TONIGHT WE RIDE..... TONIGHT WE FIGHT..... FOR OUR FREEDOMS" those below him roared and cheered with a great "Hoah" but he was not done "OUR FAMILIES", grabbing a spear from the nearest warrior to him he raised it to the air and with a greater roughness in his voice as one would bear when in a fit of rage and vengeance shouted "FOR OUR PLANET!!!" he then thrusted the spear down pointing to the shocked and terrified humans below. With this signal, the Marauders began their assault,as Giga-Ant, Mega horn beetle riders charged past him and down the hill screaming and roaring like a horde of barbarians, the Marauders riding the Giga-Dragons shot into the skies whooping and roaring with the sense that it was time to take their planet.
Five years ago mankind's first colony outside our solar system, began to fall apart.
The genetically altered human/alien hybrids known as the marauders whom were treated like nothing more than slaves, rose in rebellion. They destroyed everything within the colonial walls, the very walls that were meant to defend the colony from the dangerous indigenous wildlife that lived beyond.
They destroyed everything, the mines they were forced to work within, the factories and foundries, the domed farmsteads and the city at the heart of the colony. Thousands died in the first few weeks.
Then when help finally came for the colonists the Terran (Earth) military sent two warships, one cruiser and a transport filled with troops to fight the marauders and defend the colony.
The Marauders fled beyond the wall hoping to escape their former masters. They retreated into the mountains, built themselves settlements, not having to fear breathing the toxic air like humans do, they grew crops and fruits to feed their people and even domesticated the indigenous creatures that the colony feared.
They turned Beetle wolves into war mounts, Giganant (Ants the size of mules) into pack animals, and smaller creatures into animals for slaughter, they survived better than the colony.
With the Marauders in retreat the Military left a small garrison to keep the peace and the warships pulled away back to their station on Charon (Plutos moon).
Without the Marauders the Colony struggled, without any ore coming from the mines, and no one able to breath the toxic air. it meant that no money came into the colony, to survive the human colonists were only able to focus on agricultural production growing what they need to feed themselves. Within the walls life was hard a thriving black market remained unrestricted and no one tried to remove it, people willingly traded what they needed for things they wanted. Food for personal items, books, DVDs, weapons etc.
After five years of constant raiding upon the colony, one day the Marauders, came forth with an offer.
An offer of peace......a peace that shall see the end of the war and quite possibly even trade between the two cultures. But sometimes hate can blind people to a chance for peace.
Chapter 1: A Shrine or Temple
The year is 2429, by a complete mistake a small colonial scientific team found themselves dropping out of sub sonic speed into a section of the United Nations and her colonies that was described as restricted and unsuitable for human habitation.
By necessity they ended up having to land on the planet, knowing the planet had previously held a human colony, one which according to the official records had been abandoned due to a sudden and destructive economic decline which lead to a political uprising of the colonists.
Their small shuttle came blasting through the clouds, jutting and bumping from the winds of a nearby thunder storm. Inside were scientists and a few soldiers for protection as well their best engineer, their mission find the old colonial site and find something that might help ease the situation on their ship up to and including an emergency landing zone should they need to bring the ship into orbit.
On-board was one Robert Jackson, whose ancestor had lived on this planet for a time, the now infamous Maria Jackson who was ridiculed for so called outrageous stories of the political rebellion being a slave uprising. Robert was the chief scientist of the expedition funded by the U.N to find and survey new worlds for possible colonization, yet after no more than few days they had unforeseen complications, a power surge left them stranded without a sub sonic drive.
Robert was close to middle aged, he had approached his thirtieth birthday no more than a few days ago, he had brown hair which he had cut short and combed back across his head, his green eyes were very analytical, constantly analyzing everything around him. But everyone and everything stopped when the shuttle came to steady itself out from the storm, Robert unbuckled his belt and stood up, looking around the long cargo bay of the shuttle holding its ten passengers five either side. He turned up to his left and made his way up a small ladder to the pilot and co-pilot seats, "Any good areas to land?" he asked in a clear firm voice.
The Co-pilot looked at him through his helmet "Nada, just hills, mountains, Valleys and oh look... more hills" he replied jokingly. Robert just shook his head, but from the corner of his eye he noticed something, on the horizon, the landscape was changing. The Forest covered hills began to ease out onto a flat plain and on the horizon a relic of the colony, the wall.
"We've found the colony" he whispered "We can set down beyond the wall and find our way inside any remaining farmsteads" he ordered, both of those in-front of him just nodded and slowly pushed on their controls, sending the shuttle downwards towards the wall.
After an hour, they were set, the shuttle had landed nice and steadily, those in Roberts team were set and ready, their pressurized suits were now securely worn and the guards had their weapons loaded. They were the first out to secure the area, the five of them moving out and then forming a circle around the shuttle, when Robert came out he was greeted by something he had never thought he would witness, open fields of a plant that resembled grass, nothing but miles and miles of it.
With the signal they began to push forward, yet what they came across first, gave them second thoughts. As they came over the crest of a small ridge, they spotted a collection of small cylinder structures, that resembled colonial outpost housing pods. Curiosity got the best of them, interested to see if there were other people here that could help them they jogged down carefully, keeping their eyes open.
Yet when they got there, nothing, the buildings and the site were abandoned, Robert could see from the mess of the site, boxes, ammunition boxes? and other crates and containers were all over the place, some of them were toppled over, others were completely emptied. He could instantly tell that the area had been abandoned in a hurry, he took a knee and closed his eyes trying to allow his mind to figure out what had occurred here, but as he placed his right gloved palm on the wet muddy floor, he felt something, gripping it he pulled it up to have a look, it was a shell casing, he look more carefully on the floor and slowly he started to see through the mud, more and more shell casings, it was now clear the place was abandoned in a fight.
Then a shout "Over here!" a feminine voice went, all ran to the voice, Jane Staner one of the security specialists. What they all came to find horrified them, hanging from a single standing tree, was a fresh body of a human male, what caught Robert was the fact that the body had no real injuries, the only thing wrong was that the skin was incredibly pale and the eyes were blood shot, the way the man was held was so that he was being held by his elbows, the rope was strapped around the crook of the inner elbow so he could move his hands but not untie himself.
"any idea what happened to him?" someone asked
Jane stepped forward and examined him, she noticed in his hands was a simple breathing mask, only meant to go around the mouth and nose, simple and easy for short periods of time in non-breathable air but not good for long periods. She looked at the Gage, "He ran out of oxygen, so he pulled it off to see if he could try and breath the air"
"How long can someone survive breathing this air" A question came from another member of the party, Jessie Mitches, an Archeologist but still young for her field barely 25.
Robert was slow to answer "3 minutes tops....2 minutes for most....... must of felt like a long time" all present now understood, whomever did this wanted him to suffer, the torture of running out of air and then forcing ones self to breath an air that you know will kill you. "Who is he?" Robert continued
Jane again answered "a Pirate, the tattoo on his neck, mark of the Baker band"
Jessie was quick to make a statement "Well... we know who he is... what happened, but I'm concerned with is Who did it?"
A question that puzzled them all, yet they agreed to continue on in search of a place they can scavenge for parts. They pushed harder and harder, until something on the horizon, Robert quickly paused to check his left arm, and the timer on it, they had been going for 2 hours now, meaning they had four hours of air left each.
Yet they pushed on, and began to see and make out more of the structure they had been watching become bigger and bigger as they got closer. Once they stood in front of it though, they stood in awe, this wasn't a normal building, built next a high steep slope was what resembled a temple of some kind, in front of the doorway into the darkness was an immense statue.
It was of a warrior of some kind, the statue was made of metals mostly scrap from they could see as they slowly passed by. They all recognized the stance the statue had been built in, it was a pose of defiance and rebellion, with the figure depicted with an arm raised with a spear in its hand.
Using their flashlights, they moved steadily through the single corridor leading deep into the mountain, at first it was a simple tunnel, but slowly it became more and more structured and organized, the walls became decorated with what resembled columns, and then statues of warriors being stood in human sized alcoves in the walls.
"What the hell is this place, is it a Temple of some kind?" Jane asked
"Either that or a shrine, I mean look at these statues, they remind me of the Terracotta Army" Robert replied
Yet then they came to a large circular dome like room, with stairs on their left and right leading down to a level holding something that was very different to their previous thoughts. "Its not a shrine or a temple" Robert firmly said
"No" Jessie answered "its a Tomb", for in the center of the room, on the level below upon an immense, stone platform was a single solid coffin, built into the rock . They slowly made their way down the stairs and then onto the platform, all except Jessie who looked at the stone work of the platform.
"I wonder who he was?" Jane asked looking upon the solid rock coffin, so solid that despite its age there were no cracks or damages.
Robert then noticed something small sat next to one edge of the coffins base, a small metal plate, picking it up he slowly wiped away the dust and saw not a name or anything he had expected.
But then words from the intrigued Jessie, "Whomever he was, he was a warrior... look here, the platform is engraved with murals and words that tell the story of his life"
Chapter 2:War
The Forest was quiet, the ancient trees growing around or atop of the stone boulders that dotted the entrance to a secluded valley, running through was a small stream of trickling water, no more than ankle deep.
Blocking the valley though was a tall barricade like wall, made of scavenged metals, wood and stone, it was solid and sturdy, built to withstand a beating. Atop were figures none of them wearing anything around their mouths to breath, they wielded simple firearms, old bolt action rifles, long rifles, simple assault rifles etc.
At its base were others making additions to it defenses, working hard to ensure that the Barricade could protect what lay beyond. Then moving carefully and cautiously through the foliage were soldiers, militiamen of the human colony, some of them were not proper soldiers as many of them were simply wearing make shift colonial military clothing.
Even the way they moved showed their inexperience, they were staying too close together, instead of spreading out into smaller groups, to attack from many angles. Taking the lead, an officer gave a series of hand signals to pass on his orders, pointing out what to do, telling each group to ready themselves.
He then took aim and all followed suit, readying themselves and steadying their breathing, finally hell was unleashed as the militia revealed their numbers, showing a small army of at least 300 fighters. They fired directly at those on the barricade and those below, they unleashed every single shot they had, they had been given orders to kill Marauders and that was what they were going to do.
As the Barricade burned and the bullets continued to fly, the officer gave a strong shout "PUSH FORWARD!!", they began to break cover and move towards the remains of the barricade and the few remaining Marauders who fired rifles, randomly not once truly aiming, preferring to keep their heads down, they knew they couldn't win here, so they began to pull back.
The humans pushed further and further forward, not once ceasing their constant firing from their rifles. Then a order came shouting out "Cease Fire" it went "Repeat Cease Fire", slowly they all began to end their endless shooting, the officer among them was waving his hands, as a signal for them to stop and then he thrust his hand forward pointing towards the barricade, clearly ordering them to secure the position.
They all began to move forward in force, but then a whistle like sound, similar to that of a bird, echoed out through the valley. The humans paused looking around at the sloping hills to their left and right, they aimed their weapons carefully, the veterans among them began to prepare themselves, they knew what that sound meant. Then from nowhere a swarm of small thin objects began to fly into the air and then smashing into the human forces, dozens fell as Arrows and bullets began to strike them at great speed.
Looking back and forth, for the enemy, they could see nothing just arrows falling, the sound of gunshots and the screams of the wounded and the grunts of those being killed. The humans ran back and forth trying to organize their response, yet they could do nothing, they were being slaughtered, a third of their number now lay dead on the ground either from being killed by the enemy fire or suffocating from breathing the toxic atmosphere after the projectile pierced their suits.
The Officer finally gave in, "FALL BACK.... FALL BACK, RETREAT!!" this was an order they all heard, but as they ran for their lives none of it was organized, they all just ran, even leaving the wounded screaming and dying behind them.
When the Humans had fled, their enemy revealed themselves, high up on the cliffs of the valleys and the slopes of the hills were hundreds upon hundreds of Marauders.
The Marauder Rebels came down from their positions atop the slopes and cliffs, among them were elite warriors of the Guard of Death, warriors who were veterans of their initial uprising five years ago. Those warriors wore dark black armor and clothing, with masks painted black and carved to bee skulls, as they moved through the human bodies they stabbed them with knives and spears to ensure they were dead.
From the shadows though many of the Marauders began to bow their heads out of respect for a certain figure making his way through. Sev En Fo Too Tray, the leader of the new Marauder Civilization, he lead their defense when necessary and became like a king, deciding laws with the aid of a council, consisting of five members representing five different areas of the Marauder culture.
He came to a warrior and asked "How many?", the warrior did not say a word in response but instead raised his left hand from his rifle and showed five. Sev En knew what this attack meant however, for this was more than a simple raid by the Militia, this was an all out attack, on what laid beyond the barricade, not just a settlement but their capital city.
"Menak" he ordered, a member of the Guard of Death came forward, bowing his head
"So much for forging a truce" Menak scoffed
Sev however paused and reached down, he knelt next too a veteran soldiers not a militiamen but a proper soldier with military equipment and took from his body a set of head phones, placing it to his ear, he began to hear "Battalion 26 do not engage the Marauders have called for a truce", Sev smiled "These soldiers did not know about the truce.... they believed us still at war".
Audio Diary entry of Corporal Damien Vick, Colonial Militia First battalion
Man these ops aren't getting any easier, I could cope with the endless hours of boredom but the constant rattling of this tram is killing me.
This was supposed to be an easy job, protect the colony, keep the Marauders away from the wall.
This mission was simple take the all terrain tram (Tram: similar to a train but does not require a track to follow) beyond the wall, find the Marauders and kill as many of them as we can before we have to pull back, in and out quick and simple.
everything was planned meticulously, every detail, every possible outcome was planned out and prepped for. But it didn't matter for all the planning and all the prep, the fact was that we just weren't ready to handle those Marauders in their own territory.
We've paid for that mistake and...... Hell... we haven't even made it a third of the way back home.... and we've just lost another man.
We found a wall of some-kind, but that didn't mean we had found them, they ripped us apart, even when we thought we had the upper hand. A third of our men dead in a matter of minutes, another third now "Missing in action-presumed dead"
The tram continued its travel down a narrow valley, constantly rattling from the bumpiness of the ground. Many of the cars were simple cargo carriers, no walls or roofs just flat beds originally meant to carry cargo, the few actual passengers cars, were badly damaged, no real doors on them or even windows. covering nearly every space were the survivors of the militia.
Now when most speak of a militia, they think of some elements of military training, but that is not really the case for most of the Militia on Titana. These men and women only wore, simple breather masks around their mouths and noses, connected to the oxygen packs on their backs. They wore simple clothing, some just wore t-shirts, some just wore leather jackets, some even wore cloth hoods over their heads. The only thing that was definitely military was the weaponry, they were all equip with assault rifles similar to those previously used by military's on earth, the closest comparison was the SA80 assault rifle.
They just watched the world go by, most laying back and trying to relax attempting to ignore the constant rattling of the trams cars moving across the land. At the front was the engine, powerful and strong similar to a long retrofitted industrial steamer, the loud engine echoed out across the empty plains and hills in all directions.
When all of a sudden everything and everyone jolted as the tram suddenly came to a stop, everyone both atop and within every tram near the rear looked about, after all the orders were to continue moving forward until they got back to the camp at Fort Summer, the largest militarized fort on the planet and not to stop under any circumstances. Surrounding the tram was very dangerous territory for humans, deep forests covered the hills on their left and right, the one place they were always told to avoid unless they had no other choice which in this case was the only escape route back to the colony.
The Commander pressed his finger to his ear "Victor one... what the hell is going on?"
A response soon came "Just clearing some debris in the way sir"
"Negative... keep pushing...." The commander ordered to no response "Do you copy..I said get this tram moving" Yet again no response, he looked around him to other members of the Militia in the rear sections of the trams cargo and passenger cars, he signaled them with an open hand, then moved it outwards, ordering them to get off and out of the cars and secure the area. He looked and a small squad and pointed his hand at the direction of the Trams engine.
They all piled out of the cars weapons readied, moving forth surrounding the cars they came from. The few selected moved on towards the engine, as they got closer, they expected to find cars filled with other militia, piling out to secure the area, yet no one was out. They peaked inside and saw a blood bath, all inside had been slaughtered, one reaches for his radio, only to hear before he can shout for help gunshots coming from the direction they came from, as well as shouts and orders "Where are they I can't see them", "Watch your flank", "I'm hit", "I can't shoot what I can't see" Other than that they could nothing but screams and shouts, they knew the militia was being slaughtered. They turned to look at the forest and saw what they had expected to see, a group of Marauders riding their Kanga Ants (Imagine a horse sized Kangaroo with a Termites head and plated insect armor, running instead of hopping on its back legs).
Chapter 3: World on Fire
Sev lead the warriors home after a day or two they came to the opposite head of the valley, to the center of the Marauder culture. Their capital city, a city to behold, the size of a small city covering the slopes of a single peak standing as an island surrounded by hills and rocky valleys. A fortress built into the peak, the Marauders had used their history in the mines to build themselves a city not just on the slopes but into the mountains, for now tunnels criss crossed beneath and within the mountain.
The Light from the fires that dotted the city, could be seen even from the distance of the valley. Sev was coming home, they all marched calmly or rode their impressive insect like war mounts, weapons either slung over their shoulders or relaxed in their hands, but then a strange sound.
It was a deep rumble, Sev and the Guard recognized it immediately, they prepared their weapons, loaded their guns, knocked arrows and sharpened spears. They then began to systematically scan the skies, from the south west they spotted them, three flying ships speeding across the sky towards the city. From their position they could all see the defenders of the city firing their weapons and could here their guns firing, but the sight and sound that drove them to forget everything and run for the city, was the sight of the flying craft drop bombs, the sight and sound of the explosions and the fires reaching into the sky.
Sev dropped everything and ran through the burning city, rushing past the residents who were running for safety out of the burning and smoldering city, past those who were trying to fight the fires, towards a face he knew.
"Lina!!" he shouted, and a marauder woman turned to look at him and run to him, she was in her late 20s just like Sev En, she had dark black hair tied back into a pony tail behind her head. They ran into each others arms, both of them crying with eyes filled with tears. But Sev broke the moment, looking around at the fires, "Where.... where's Shadi?" he asked.
"I thought she was with you.... she must still be at home" her response came.
Sev knew straight away where he was needed, for his home was where a bomb had dropped, he ran through the burning wreckage of the city. He finally turned a corner towards his home, more like a palace, he charged forward not even caring that the entire building had been engulfed in flames, breaking down doors and even walls to find his daughter.
Nearly everyone he knew was out side, watching and waiting hoping he would come out alive with his daughter. Yet when they thought they could relax, seeing him walk out with a small child in his hands, they paused, the child was covered in his shirt, he came out into the open and layed the child down, tears filling his eyes. Lina came forward screaming, gripping the child and holding the body in her arms, crying and screaming, yet Sev just stood up look around at the burning city and the body of his young child.
He then looked at the growing audience of Marauders, those who were warriors and those not. He looked them square in the eye and he said one thing "Prepare for war"
Chapter 4: We have returned
It was night upon the wall, everyday these men and women paced the wall between the large guard towers. The high metal wall had changed since its construction, some of the automated sentry guns no longer worked properly, people joked that it was a miracle that the wall was still standing after ten years of raids by the Marauders. These raids had drastically reduced the size of the force defending the wall, before it was several thousand strong, now though it was barely a few hundred.
As well as the raids, the militias attempts to find the Marauders and fight them away from the colony constantly failed in massive loss of life on the side of the militia. The last attempt was the bloodiest, the survivors reported that the attack force lost over two thirds of their number before even finding the Marauders, they claimed the enemy ambushed them and destroyed most of the tram cars.
On one section of the wall a single soldier grudgingly walked the wall, watching his boots scuff the metal floor. He could feel the heat of night within his protective suit, every part of his suit held the air he needed to breath within and the toxins of Titana out. His rifle slung over his right shoulder by a simple leather strap.
Suddenly a strike from behind, he fell to the floor, dazed and confused he got to his knees, looking around back and forth for the cause he couldn't see anyone around, he looked ahead to the next watch tower, atop it he could see a single silhouette. A long bodied reptile like creature with wings similar to those of a bat. Its head was similar to the of a birds, a long hooked beak for tearing meat, it opened its mouth and screeched.
Then from no where a dozen hooks struck the top of the wall. The hooks held ropes, and the young soldier realized what this was, a Marauder Raid. He ran back to the watchtower behind him, shouting "MARAUDERS...... SEND THE ALARM!".
He banged on the doors of the tower, frantically as he turned to see Marauders coming to the top of the wall, wielding all sought of weaponry, swords, axes, spears, halberds, tridents as well as old fire arms of all sizes, ranging from pistols to long sniper rifles.
He decided to forget the door and frantically began to climb the tower, hoping to get to the alarm system at the observation point at the top. Pulling himself to the top he picked himself up from the frantic climb, turned to the alarm panel.
It was there he saw him figure clad in black, the flying creature he saw before sitting upon his right shoulder. The soldier felt fear grip him, for he knew whom it was, yet he knew he one thing to do, he did his duty forgetting the danger he was in, grabbed the lever for the emergency alarm, pulled it downwards and from then the continues sound of the alarms beeping. The figure looked around and saw the many watch towers along either side of the wall light up each of them activating their alarms and those within scrambling for a fight.
"Now the whole the colony, knows your here Sev en fo too tray....." the soldier stated
The figure stepped forward into the light of the single bulb above them, showing Sev en for too tray the leader of the Marauders and instigator of their rebellion. He pulled from his belt a small hand axe, with his bare left hand he ran his index finger across the blade, looking back to the soldier he said only a few words, "We... offered you peace... yet you burn our homes....we offered an end to the war..... you murdered our children"
The soldier stood their in complete shock as from both sides of the watchtower all along the wall he could hear the screams of the other soldiers stationed across the section of the wall. Sev en continued to speak, looking to the soldier. "You say.. they know we're here.... you say it as a bad thing for us"
He looked to the soldier more devilishly now, baring his white teeth and sharp canines ".... I say..... Perfect".
Across on the other side of the colony, within the great domed city or what remained of it, in the aftermath of the Marauder Rebellion, the colony had begun to die. With no ore coming from the mines in which the Marauders were created and enslaved, then there was no money coming into the colony, the people living here were not living they were surviving.
Within the many buildings was a makeshift command center for the new colonial militia, a collection of volunteers from the residents of the city and neighboring domed farmsteads that lived within the protection of the perimeter wall.
The room was brightly lit up, with tables and old boards covered with maps of the colony and the different areas of the colonial sectors as well as maps of the city, beyond that there were people sitting next to desks that were holding communication equipment, such as old radios. people in all forms of clothing ran back and forth some carrying weapons others carrying other forms of equipment, ranging from papers to ammunition crates.
In the center of the room was the commander of the militia, wearing an old military uniform that of a captain, it was black cloth with the different stripes and stars on the right arm. He was looking over the largest of the maps that the room contained, this one was of the colony as a whole. Showing the most important locations, such as the city, the largest farmsteads, the location of the old mines even the location of the forts along the wall.
"Sir..." a voice came, a young man came running in, he too was wearing an military uniform but not an officers. "I presume you know", the commander looked up from the maps and stared him the face.
"About the Marauders storming all over the wall?" He stated, he looked back down at the map, "some think that its merely another raid..... but the alarm has spread across this whole section of the wall"
He began pointing out different areas of the map, most of all a single section of the wall with a red cross marking it. "this is the focus point though....we" he was suddenly interrupted
"SIR!... WE HAVE CONTACT WITH FORT SUMMER!" a radio operator shouted, everyone even the commander began to gather around
"THE MARAUDERS... SEV EN..... HE AAAAAAAHHHHHH" the radio was then covered by nothing but static. Everyone in the whole room felt uneasy, fort summer was one of the largest and most defended of the fortifications on the wall.
But what got the commander was the name that was uttered "If Sev en fo to tray is here then its not a simple raid"
"It doesn't make any sense sir..." the young soldier questioned "I thought the Marauders were offering peace.... why attack with such vigor"
The commander began to think, closing his eyes he entered his mind, trying to figure out what had happened in the time period between now and the offer from the Marauders offering the peace negotiations.
But before he could figure it out, a static ended and a voice came out "For five years we have fought against you..... for five years we have raided you rotten colony.... I did not start this war...... but soon it will end..... I offered Peace.... I offered an end to the blood shed..... but you burn our homes..... you send fire from the sky.... Fire that murdered my Daughter a child of four years.... with your flying craft"
The commander paused from his deep thought, to those words, the militia didn't have any aircraft, they only had armored personnel carriers, so why would he say flying craft. Could someone have bombed the Marauders.
"You think this is your world..... but you fear the air.... you fear the creatures here..... you fear us...... this world now belongs to us..... you think of us as savages...... we are far worse..... To the colonists, I say this.... you are innocent....Our enemy is Mining Company that enslaved us..... stand aside and we shall not harm you..... but fight us then you will die"
The radio returned to static, everyone in the room was now even more terrified, not just from the message Sev en fo to tray had sent but because the message was on an open frequency, so the whole colony heard it.
The commander went straight to a phone "Get me the mayor..." he shouted "Madame Mayor?"
"Commander... please tell me this isn't right?" a woman's voice came
"I'm afraid ma'am.... it is.... the Marauders are on the warpath.." he replied
"What do we do?" she asked
"other than the obvious... prepare the city for a siege, erect barricades.... arm the population...etc" he paused for a second "PRAY!"
Chapter 5: the truth....
For a week, the colony prepared themselves, across the whole city the population was getting ready. People were dragging out furniture and other large objects into the streets and building barricades across streets. Militia members were fixing larger weapons atop them such as heavy machine guns and launchers.
The Commander wandered the streets, issuing orders "Don't bother building here..." he stated to some people erecting a barricade "They will simply take that alleyway to get behind you..... build it further back so you can't be outflanked"
They just nodded and followed the order and slowly began moving all the objects further back to where the street narrowed.
The commander paused for a moment, as a ring came from his pocket, he pulled out his radio. "Commander Polt" he stated.
"Commander, the board members from the mining company want to speak" a voice came.
He sighed heavily, the city was getting ready for what might be a last stand... and some businessmen wanted to see him. "Fine" he scoffed.
An hour of maneuvering around and the through the barricades finally lead him to the most defended place in the city, the location decided for the last stand the square outside the corporate headquarters. He could see the largest of all the barricades in the city high up and strong with heavy weapons dotting the top.
After finally getting through he came to corporate business, a man was waiting for him outside, wearing a tight and fashionable suit. After a quick introduction the suit gave to him a single book, a red one made of leather with some small papers slipping out of the rim.
The suit gave a single request as we walked off "Make sure no one knows about this" he said these words in a very hush hush manner, almost a whisper.
Later that day the commander peeled through and found something shocking, he knew all about the creation of the Marauders, the experiment to create them and then ultimately enslave them in the mines. But what was in this document was something else, something he did not even suspect.
November 12th 2250, the first of the test subjects came in today, Our hopes are high.
Our hopes are very clear although the hybrids that work the mines are all well and good, it does not do much for the colonists already here, if we can find a way to create a synthesis between the two. Then we can begin to "Inoculate" the colonists, allowing them to breath both our atmosphere and the toxic air of this planet.
I don't even want to know what the company told these hybrids, in order for them to agree to take part in the experimentation. Without knowing the dangers that they might face, up to an including to them having to suffer their own DNA destroying them.
January 1st 2251, of the hundreds of hybrid subjects that we started with, none have survived our experiments.
of the replacement subjects we have "Inoculated" we have found that each of them has an different variety in the hybrid Genetic structure. The majority of which have become more and more aggressive, blood tests show that the formula used on subjects ranging from 6981 to 7379, have a higher number of Chimera genes which may result in their aggression.
There might be a chance for us to reinsert more human genetics, however the challenge comes for us being that it proving harder and harder to keep them secure and pacified.
March 10th
More of our subjects are now deceased, there are times I begin to wonder the extent of out experiment and our task. Wondering whether or not we can actually succeed, none of the formulas we have created were successful, is it even possible to created a interim between the hybrids and human genetics.
Our task was clear find a way to take the hybridized DNA of the labor force in the mines and find a way to make it suitable for humans, so that they could breath the toxic air of Titana.
Yet it seems even harder, and we cannot rely on the original hybridized strain, because the labor force have formed a community and their genetic structures have begun mutating and mixing with reproduction.
April 31st
There is one case that seems to give me hope, this subject seems to hold both at least a single strain of the original Hybridized DNA from the original experiments from 3 years ago, as well as the newer mutated genes from years of living within the depths of the mines.
Tests show, the construction of deeper muscle tissue and stronger bone density, he is far stronger and faster in his reflexes. During a talk with him I dropped my pen and He caught it in a second.
He said he could no longer remember who he was or where he was from, all he could remember is the pain and suffering he saw from the mines. Whomever his original name he took he is now the key to a dream, and the hope that all this death will not have been in vain.
Whomever he was, no longer matters he says that his only name comes from the numbers on the Door of his Cell, 7423.
July 20th
An Audit by the company has begun to show that the experiment will soon be getting more funding, the company is intrigued by the fact that he is far stronger and faster than anything we have ever seen. Rumors are they want to incorporate this into the creation of not a labor force but a super soldier program.
August 12th
The Company wishes to alter the experiment, they want to see what would happen if the subject was introduced amongst the other labor force in the mines. I am unsure, he seems to bear a great hatred for us, and a great pain of the miners, audio recordings from his cell depict that he talks in his sleeps, most of which are of anger and pain against the treatment of what he called his people.
November 10th
it began today, it seems I was right in my fears, He has launched a rebellion, the Marauders are now overwhelming the security forces. Our lab is at this moment on the route to the Marauder attack, we are being ordered to destroy all of our research data and remove everything of value.
They said "We don't want the Marauders to know the truth of everything"
November 12th, the Marauder destroyed everything, all my work over a years work gone in flames. I was trying to understand why when I saw him, the Marauder leading everything, the one from cell 7423, he looked at me with anger and hatred, I knew he was looking at me because I felt it, with the flames behind him, he extended his arms and roared into the air.
God help us.
God help us All!
The commander just dropped the document, and sat there in a state of shock and awe, he now truly understood. Sev en Fo too tray wasn't just avenging the pain the Marauders have suffered during the three years of slavery. But also the pain and torture he himself suffered during the experiments the company put him through to try and create something that would make them more money.
Chapter 6: The Surprise
The colony gave everything they had for the defense of the city, every piece of furniture was turned into parts of a barricade, every home was boarded up and turned into a fortress. Some buildings were booby trapped so that the rubble the explosion would create shall block the path of the enemy.
Everyone over the age of 16 was called on to serve in the Militia, they were going all in. In the Colonial Council chambers, the Colonial Commander gave his report surrounded by the dozens of Captains, lieutenants and Sergeants of the militia. The Mayor sat at the center of a long table in front of them, alongside the other elected leaders of the colony.
"No doubt they will breached the main airlock, if they do then our only hope is to hold them there.... prevent them from ever reaching the city...." he paused for a second to catch his breath "If successful then we maybe able to hold until we can call for reinforcements.... if not then our best chance is to use the numerous choke points to slow them down and then make our last stand at the corporate headquarters giving people a chance to evacuate via the spaceport"
One of the councilors, an older gentlemen raised his hand to stop the commander "Just how big of a force are you intending for the defense of the main airlock"
"Half" the reply came "the rest will either prepare defenses elsewhere or assist in evacuations.
The meeting ended rather rapidly, but they all knew that this was going to be a last stand, because once the airlock is smashed open then they will all be limited by Oxygen. By the third day though, the militia continued their work, digging trenches, traps everything they could think of that might slow the Marauders down, most of all at the main airlock
Then from the radio a call came, "Commander.... your going to want to see this" it went.
He dropped his shovel and pressed his ear "Where, the hills?"
"Yes sir.... I see one" the reply came, fearing what was coming the commander ran as fast as his protective suit could allow him too, rushing past the improvised defensive ditches and barricades that the militia had set up to try and hold the city from the outside.
When he finally got to the point he wished, he looked up to the hills, and saw a single figure, standing atop the cusp of the hill, a single silhouette in the light of the evening sun. "Their here" he whispered. As the other soldiers and militiamen gathered around him, at first they thought their commander must be wrong, looking at one man who must be a scout.
But then one by one more shadows and silhouettes began to show themselves stepping out into view. 1,2,3,10,19,25, in a continuous stream along the ridge of the hills peak.
They suddenly realised who that first silhouette was, it was him Sev en.
Who standing atop the hill turned around to see a horde of his people, no longer slaves rising with pick axes and shovels, no now they were an army, with spears, axes, bows and arrows, guns and bullets, giant insects to ride into battle like Giga-ants and Giga-Dragon (Giant Dragonfly).
Looking upon his people he took a deep breath, "TONIGHT WE RIDE..... TONIGHT WE FIGHT..... FOR OUR FREEDOMS" those below him roared and cheered with a great "Hoah" but he was not done "OUR FAMILIES", grabbing a spear from the nearest warrior to him he raised it to the air and with a greater roughness in his voice as one would bear when in a fit of rage and vengeance shouted "FOR OUR PLANET!!!" he then thrusted the spear down pointing to the shocked and terrified humans below. With this signal, the Marauders began their assault,as Giga-Ant, Mega horn beetle riders charged past him and down the hill screaming and roaring like a horde of barbarians, the Marauders riding the Giga-Dragons shot into the skies whooping and roaring with the sense that it was time to take their planet.
Comments
Post a Comment