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Ladies(If there are any on this forum) and Gentlemen, I give you Chapter 1 of the Treasconi War Epic. Basic introduction to characters, but the plot immediatly takes off from here. I hope it isn't too simialr to Battlezone, the sad thing about it being such an influence on me. Anyway, enjoy, feed back wanted.

The vast celestial divide between stars and civilizations broke with thirty flashes of light for a few seconds before those lights faded back into the terrifying nothingness of space. Now left in the place of nothingness were thirty steel behemoths armed to the teeth with enough firepower to destroy themselves twice over. The orange glow of Ectoclopsys dimly shown as a new day dawned while the light of Hades embraced the planet in its warm glow. The thirty war machines gathered themselves into a protective formation as one of the two largest moved to the center of the large sphere formed by the metal monsters. 20 lights illuminated brightly its side where, in large white letters was spelt out Attila. Within this mighty machine, 5,000 crew, personnel, and soldiers scrambled amongst the various corridors, hallways, and hangers of the massive warship. However, near the bridge, where twelve plasma windows protected the viewers of the new, alien horizon before them, those in the hallway stopped, moved to the side, and saluted. A tall, respected man walked up to the bridge, the electric doors sliding open as the twenty crewmen on the deck all turned and acknowledged the man’s entrance as he took his place at the end of a long extension, stopping at the end, a decagonal platform where there stood a large, shining, metal platform. From this platform arose a small, blue figure, a Mongolian warlord dressed in animal skins, a recurve bow strung on his back and a sword at his side, bowing to the man now standing firmly upon the platform.

“This it Attila?”

“Yes sir, off by a few miles of the exact jump point but still the same needed location.”

“And this is the planet?”

“Yes sir, Ectoclopsys.”

A piece of debris floated past the bridge along with the body of a young woman, quieting the mild chatter that was common to the bridge.

“I assume we are near where the Hudson was attacked.”

“Close sir, the momentum of any explosion will however send the object in question moving at a faster speed then others.”

“Regardless, this is the spot?”

“Yes sir, should I deploy the investigative squadrons?”

“Stand by, try and make contact with the base first. If not, then send down Aldans and Hodges.”

“Yes sir.”

Attila paused a moment, attempting to make contact with Dido base, to no avail.

“No contact sir, should I alert the touchdown squads?

“Do so; alert me if anything interesting happens.”

“Yes sir.”

Attila made contact with the squads as the chatter slowly continued to rise up again in the depression below the decagonal platform where twenty people, one of the people being the center of man’s attention.

“Cooke?”

“Yes admiral?”

“Get me some pictures of the base, I want to make sure there is no obvious trap being set for our men, if one at all.”

“Sorry sir, too much cloud cover, thermal imaging is pretty hot, but that could be taken many ways, we’ll have to rely on the recon teams for camera footage.”

“Damn it. Alright, tell me when we have a video feed.”

With that, the admiral steeped back from the platform, and moved back through the hallway, accepting the formality of all others moving to the side as he made his way to his quarters, entering his code into the console outside, and entered as the doors closed behind him, immediately removing his jacket and throwing it onto the chair that sat behind his desk, filled with magazines, books, briefing logs, and the occasional half filled out report. He took from behind his boot a small canister filed with a fine selection of Scotches, all mixed into one. He took a small swig of the super drink and sat on the chair, relaxing into the fine, worn leather, preparing for the next time, in perhaps the next few minutes when he would be called to the bridge for some form of major disaster of occurrence, as a small beep came from a panel on his desk, indicating he was needed, he took his coat, and once more fastened the buttons, and made his way through the hallways and the saluting people.


Aldans gripped his stomach and groaned slightly.

“Damn warp sickness.” He said.

He relaxed himself in his pilot’s seat, allowing his mind and thus stomach relax to what was the strangely relaxing sound of the Mosquito’s engines humming as the dropship raced through the air of Ectoclopsys. The machine moved at 500 kilometers per hour, quickly making its way to the landing point where Aldans would see a new world for the first, perhaps last time. He let his mind wander in the faintly lit cockpit of his tank, illuminated by the green, red, and other colored lights on the console. His body, coated in Nemean Skin, gripped the slightly sticky steering wheel, gently going over the buttons at the top which would unleash a burst of searing hot plasma upon whatever beings may have attacked Dido base, if it was attacked. Hell, it had been so long since there was any major conflict within Federation grounds that he had forgotten what combat felt like, some in the fleet didn’t even know.

“Well Aldans, what do you think we going up against?”
Aldans let out a faint groan, propping himself up straight in his chair as he prepared to respond to Bissus’ question, one of many Aldans dealt with normally, but did not mind for simply the fact that they kept him awake.

“Doesn’t matter to me at this point and personally the less we have to shoot right now the better. In fact, I’d rather right now someone would shoot me.”

“Warp sickness eh?”

“Yeah, it’s been getting worse for the past few months, doc says that it’s due to increased jumping which isn’t giving the body time to recover.”

“Hoki.” Bissus asked of the young sergeant in the missile tank opposite him, “you have warp sickness right?”

“A bit, but not to the extent the Major has, and as of now I’m feeling fine. I’m more focused on the landing right now more than my stomach, which is a first.”
As Hoki finished, the Carolinian accent of the dropships pilot, Caroline, echoed and shrieked its way into the men’s ears, announcing they were approaching the landing zone with great volume.

“Alright boys, we got ‘bout a minute and a half till landing, get yourselves ready, we’re coming in a bit fast, this heightened gravity is making steering this thing hard as hell.”
Aldans gradually began to feel the growing turbulence as Caroline began to wrestle with the large ship, attempting to slow it down as much, but he knew it was too much, and preferred to remain quiet, aware of what he was in for.

“Steady yourselves people, we’re coming in hot, can’t slow this thing down, get ready for a rough landing.”
Aldans felt the right side of the ship get clipped by something hard, and felt the ship tilt left, his ship, magnetically locked to the dropships floor, did not move, but it still felt the shockwave pass through the dropship as it struck the ground, pausing a moment before it fell onto its stomach. Aldans shook his head, adjusting to the shockwave, and proceeded to talk with Caroline.

“You all right girl?”

“I am, but this old girl ain’t. Poor thing took a nasty one in the starboard engine and I can’t get the lifter engines to start.”

“Can you open the doors?”

“Yeah, hold on, releasing MAG locks and opening bay doors.”

“Alright, everyone out, give the ship a good way to close the doors and stand by for further orders.”
Aldans, Bissus, Hoki, and a young, unnamed private in a defensive turret moved out of the dropship’s cargo bay, making their way to the beginning of a long trench that was their back route to the base.

“Alright, turret one, why don’t you move up to that outcrop of rocks up there and deploy, I want to make sure the dropship does not come under attack while we’re down here. Caroline, I’m afraid you’re just going to have to wait until we can get retrieval team down here to take you back up to the Attila, either that or try and get the engines working again. Bissus, you and Hoki take my 4 and 8; we have a window of about seven minutes to secure this trench before we miss the rendezvous with Hodges at the base. We lose the window, Hodges and his men could be surrounded and cut down before we arrive. We’ll need to move fast. Remember, come under attack, do not fire unless fired upon, we don’t want to be the guys who accidently start a war.”

The various soldiers agreed, and Aldans, Bissus and Hoki gradually made their way down the trench at top speed, keeping a constant eye on their radar, terrified of even the slightest disturbance. Soon after a few minutes, out of sight of their dropship, something did causes terror in their hearts, a contact, 700 meters ahead, large, and with a strong heat signature. They slowed, and approached with caution slowly allowing the structure to come into view. It was in fact two objects, a small, mobile tower, a jammer of sorts as evidenced by how the three men’s radio, radar, and HUD’s became frizzed and difficult to use, the second was a bit smaller, beneath the structure, a turret of some kind, clad in a dark, sea foam green color upon metal, whatever kind it was, four legs stuck into the ground and held it in place, two, purely evil looking protrusions on arms attached to its body appeared to be guns, struck aw into Aldans mind as he tried to get a closer look, if only he could get closer without being seen. No avail.

“Aw hell, Hoki, can you target that thing!?” Aldans yelled amongst the static of the radio.

“Negative sir, that structure is jamming my missile lock on.

“I can’t get a clear shot at this thing, the reflections of those bullets on the shield is causing too much disturbance for me to see straight.”

“I got it,” said Bissus in a proud manner “firing.”

The turret erupted as the fiery plasma tore its way through its hull, ripping it to pieces. However, Bissus did not stop, and continued firing into the structure, melting its base as it fell over with a loud, groaning thud as it collapsed onto the ground.

“Well, I guess this is war.”

“Shut up Bissus. Alright, I guess that’s it, we still have three minutes to close the gap, and 1000 meters to go, let’s get moving, I can already see a smoke cloud coming up from the base.”

“Well, I guess that’s a good indicator of what’s ahead.

“Enough. I’m setting up a camera feed here with the Admiral, deploying birdie.”
A small chip launched out of Aldans’ tank and deployed itself on the ground setting up a live feed to the Attila.

“Admiral, you reading this?”

“Loud and clear Major, continue your scouting of the trench, Hodges and his team are approaching behind schedule so you have an extra minute, but be cautious.”

“Roger.” “Alright boys, let’s get moving.”

The three made their way through the trench, experiencing no more objects, and within two minutes, long agonizing minutes, they stopped, in a sense of awe and fear, as they came to the hill that descended into what was once Dido base. There, 40 crude, new buildings lay charred, bodies covered in Nemean skin lay scattered amongst the ground, what few pieces of military machinery Aldans could see lay smoking and ruined, their pilot’s bodies slowly roasting inside underneath the harsh sun. The EF flag was raised, though tattered and burned, on top of the central command tower. Aldans felt a surge of adrenaline that only comes to people when anger and sorrow simultaneously fill their hearts at the sight of the ruined base. Hoki, after a brief moment, had the courage to speak.

“Uh, sir, I’m, uh, beginning a video stream to the Attila, should we move in?”

Aldans did not respond for a moment, instead looking out onto the base before bringing himself back to himself.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” “Admiral, we are establishing a live feed at the base, permission to move in?”

On the Attila, a large, high definition projection of the base appeared on a panel on one of the bridges windows, the mild chatter of the bridge died down as one by one the various crew members looked up, struck with a deep, inner pain at the sight of the destroyed base. Admiral Jacobs looked at the screen, finding it all of a sudden hard to swallow at the sight. He quickly gathered his wits and responded.

“Uh, no. Not until Hodges and his men start their landing, that way we can have a coordinated approach to hopefully divert any potential enemy traps.”

As the Admiral finished speaking, three heavy Mosquito dropships descended from the sky, heading for the center of the base. Aldans, who felt the faintest touch of irony grasp his mind, led his men down the hill into the base as the dropships made their way back towards the blue and orange sky. He twinged as his stomach once again contracted in pain, only amplified by the sight and smell, which somehow penetrated his tank and made him feel all the more uncomfortable, he had to remember to get that memory foam pad for his cockpit.

“Hoki, Bissus, scout the base perimeter within the compound, make sure we have no possible armored units preparing an ambush and check for any immediately visible survivors. I’m gonna meet with Hodges and arrange how we’re going to secure the base.”

“Roger Major, Hoki, take the right, I’m on the left.”

The two went out to search the perimeter of the base. Aldans did not want them out on the plains yet, and felt that keeping inside the base’s natural walls. The base sat in a natural column of sandstone, molded by centuries of rain, volcanoes, sandstorms, and the like. The narrow passage way into the front of the base was naturally chiseled out of the rock, exiting out onto the salt flats and desert plains that lay all around past the many rock formations. Hitting this base from the front would have been a tough endeavor, if the base was expecting you at least. The only other route to the base was a long trench that Aldans had used to move in, to make sure that there was no enemy trap being set, only, and fortunately, finding the turret. He moved past the burning buildings, his tank hovered gently above fallen soldiers and scientists as the smell of acrid smoke penetrated the cabin. Aldans stomach cringed once again.

“Well well what have we here? Good to see you John, you make it through the trench alright?”

“Fine Hodges, what caused the delay?”

“Eagle picked up several strange objects near our set of dropships, had to perform evasive maneuvers.”

“You get attacked?”

“No, but just to be safe, didn’t want more lost soldiers so early on in the operation.”

“Understood, is Eagle detecting any other hostile’s nearby?”

“As far I know, no, but to be safe I am putting four rhino’s up towards the main entrance, I don’t want a thing getting through before we have this location secure.”

“Wise idea, I have my two wingmen scouting the internal base perimeter. My dropship busted an engine on the way down by striking a cliff, can’t get off the ground, gonna get a haul team down here as soon as possible to get it out of here. I also have a turret back there defending it; don’t know whether I should bring it up here or not.”

“I wouldn’t. Given our situation, a lone turret away from adequate protection would be easily overcome by any potential enemy craft that come along.”
The two continued to talk, straying away from the situation at hand to simple, idle conversation. Bissus and Hoki joined them several minutes after, reporting no immediate threat within the base. However, from out of the black shadows and smoke of a ruined building, an undiscovered figure steadied himself, raising with his arms a long rifle. He paused, aimed down the scope, and took two fingers to the trigger, steadied himself; taking aim at a person within a tank, matching the painted neon green dot on the scope with the person’s head, and fired. Though the brass bullet only fell limp against the shields around the tank, its impact and the sound of the shot was enough to raise interest in the hearts and minds of those around it. Then, as though the shot were a signal, the shadows of the ruined base unleashed a storm of brass and lead upon the group of tanks.

“Holy ****!”

“Open fire! All units, weapons free, weapons free, seek and destroy all hostiles.”
Aldans turned his tank, took aim at where a flash had emerged from the top of a building, and fired from his mighty plasma cannons, effectively exploding the top of the makeshift building, taking with it whatever it was that was firing upon them. He saw Hoki fire a score of missiles upon another building, completely toppling it, and taking another building with it, as well as another sniper. Aldans continued down one of the opens spaces of the base, taking aim at anything that flashed and wherever he heard a crack of guns. As he came to what was once a medical building, he braced as the building behind him exploded, near collapsing on top of him before he could turn and fire his cannons at the falling debris, sending it flying high into the air as he then looked back down to see who fired.

“Who the hell?”

“Sorry John, got a little trigger happy.”

“Damn it James.”

Aldans moved himself away from Bissus and continued his search, though finding nothing of any particular interest, it seemed that what few soldiers were left at the base were now dead. Aldans turned his tank back towards the center as a final explosion erupted at the far side of base. It was official, war. Aldans reported back to Hodges as much of the force reorganized itself at the base’s center.

“What in God’s name was that?”

“Well, given that we were being shot at by a group of unidentified hostiles with small arms, I would say that we were shot by a group of unidentified hostiles with small arms.”

“Well, when you put it that way…”

“Shut up Bissus. I’m contacting the Attila, gonna see if they have any new developments.”

“Attila, this is Major Aldans, we have just been attacked by a group of hidden foot hostiles within the base with small arms, requesting a scan of the area for potential incoming hostiles.”
Aldans never reached the Attila, being cut off by a recon soldier, feeling safe in the calmness of space above the planet.

“Major this is Eagle, detecting ten large bodies beneath the cloud cover heading to your position via the main entrance of the base, thermal scans are pretty hot sir, so I’d expect them to be pretty tough. Look like some form of light tanks, ETA about 3 minutes.”

“Eagle, are you detecting anything near the rear entrance? My dropship is stuck there until we can get a haul team down here and I want to make sure it’s not in any danger.”

“Uh, stand by, widening window of search. Yep, picking up two more similar vehicles about 15 kilometers away from your touchdown sight, ETA to your dropship is about 6 minutes.”

“Alright Eagle, we’ll take it from here.” “Hoki, get back to the dropship ASAP and rearrange the turret to encounter the incoming hostiles. Hodges, how many heavy tanks did you bring down?”

“Uh 6, along with myself and two other standard tanks and four scout tanks.”

“Good, get all your heavy tanks up towards the main entrance with the rest of your tanks nearby to deal with anything that breaks through. I’ll take command and deal with the hostiles when they get within firing range. Bissus, I want you to stay in reserve with Hodges’ men, make sure nothing slips by us.
The various people needed responded as Aldans headed to the main base entrance, arranging the various tanks in the right position to make no area inescapable form the line of fire.

“Eagle, how far out are the hostile craft?”

“Uh, about 1 minute, you should see them in a few moments.”
With that, Aldans did see something, faint at first, and only one, before quickly growing bigger and into a multitude. Ten sea foam green craft, primed with weapons of a most terrifying nature which all seemed to have him in their sights. They approached, 1500 meters, 1400 meters.

“Hold your fire.”

1300 meters.

“Hold your fire.”

1200 meters.

One craft, on the far left, opened fire at Aldans heavy tanks, it shell exploded as it hit the shielding of the tank, the shockwave gently shook Aldans tank as he looked over to see what had become of the assault tank, now clouded in heavy black smoke. Nothing, the shields defiantly had taken a beating, but the tank was still intact.

“All units open fire!”

The many tanks unleashed heavy bombardments of plasma upon the hostile tanks, the blue substance crashed right into the sea foam green objects, when both cannons struck the same target, the impact was enough to simply crush the tank like cardboard. Soon, all the tanks were destroyed or burning on the narrow passage before them, Aldans calmed himself, realizing he had not fired a single shot, and moved his tank backwards to get a better look at the mayhem. All in a matter of minutes, he had taken on his enemy, won, and left an area of destruction before him as the sea foam green hulls burned brightly. One tank, simply fallen on the field and burning, all of a sudden exploded, presumably as some form of fuel store had been hit. His men lay silent for a moment as they looked on at the sight before them. Then, two men in a heavy tank let out a loud cheer, gradually joined by the rest of the men, and eventually Aldans himself. He gathered himself after a brief bout of cheering and turned away from the battle sight as the various tanks began to spread out again, continuing their search of the base.
“Hoki, have you engaged the targets yet?”

“Negative sir, they came within radar range but seemed to withdraw a moment ago.”

“Probably got the signal from the force at this end to not engage, we have no casualties down here, the attack force has been destroyed.”

“Roger sir, should I return to base?”

“Uh, no. Stay there and defend the dropship until the haul team can get down here and get it back into space so it can make its way into the Attila.”

“Acknowledged sir, standing by.”

“Attila, this is Major Aldans, base is secure. Engaged hostile strike force a few minutes ago, no casualties, attack force destroyed. Awaiting further orders and requesting a haul team to get my dropship back into space.”

“Attila reads you loud and clear Major, sending haul team. Colonel Freidman is on his way with extra troops and Gendarmes fighters are now beginning aerial reconnaissance of the area. We are prepping to land your entire company by the end of the day. Juno company will join up with Freidman and Bravo will join up with Hodges later. As for now, continue examining the base for survivors and make sure no hostiles get near, Freidman’s company will be heading out at dusk to survey the ground around us, we want to set up a perimeter of 50 Kilometers in any direction from the base within the next three days.”

“Acknowledged Attila. If you don’t mind, I would like to send out one of my men to examine the main entrance and the general area around the base to see we are not in any immediate threat.”

“Sorry sir, that’s a negative, Admiral doesn’t want us to take any chances with our men just yet. Besides, Gendarmes are already beginning aerial recon.”

“Very well, I’ll be awaiting Freidman at the base.”
Aldans parked his tank and stepped out for the first time, his white armor glistening in the harsh desert sun. He, aware of the danger, removed his helmet and inhaled the warm, dry air. He took the small sidearm inside the tank and began going from building to building, casually viewing the sights of carnage before him. He made his way for the central command station, where the EF still, like the American flag at Fort McHenry, stood, though battered, flapping in the wind. He slid open the door as only the holes in the ceiling g and the faint crackle of failing electronics gave light to the mostly grey building. He stepped lightly, eyeing a young, fallen woman, her now cold, lifeless body lay over a console, a bullet wound in the back of the neck, one of Nemean skins “weak spots”. The electrical wires crackled some more as he drew closer, his hand trembling, lightly at first, stronger as he grew near. A bead of sweat gently made its way down his neck, he felt warm, his stomach once again churned violently. He reached for the dead woman’s neck, his hand still trembling. His hand gently, with the touch of a lover, reached at a metal chain that lay buried deep in the armor, he grabbed it at first feel, and pulled the chain our from her neck and held it in his hand. He began to read, Jennifer..

“John, its Hodges, Colonel Freidman is closing in, he requests to speak with you about beginning to widen our perimeter.”

Aldans gained control of himself as a tear formed in his eye, and stood up, placed the chain around his neck, and made his way back out of the command center.

“Tell Freidman I’ll be waiting Near the main entrance in my tank, Make room for his force to land.”

“Yes sir, he’ll be here in about 3 minutes.”

Aldans made his way back to his tank as the sun grew to its highest in the Ectoclopsys sky, the roar of Gendarmes filled his ears as they flew overhead and the faint speck in the sky that was Colonel Freidman’s dropship gradually grew louder. Aldans stomach churned once again.

Looking good.

If I had to comment in any way, I would offer that you break up the action with an unrelated scene or thought for a couple paragraphs to give the reader a brain breather. You know, the ol' retrospect of love, family or reflection.

Mmmh, definatly a good idea. This is just the beginning, and there will be flashbacks to come, there is a scene here in particular that will be of great interest in later installments.

Ok, been a while since the first chapter, Have been doing stuff and have had difficulty with this last chapter. Some of it is recycled from a draft I wrote a while back, basically before the coversation with Parker, and even the draft has been reworked, though it may not be up to par with the rest of the stuff. I give you the Battle of the Tarback River ladies and gentlemen enjoy and feedback wanted.


“Damn it Folsom! Where the hell are you with that air support?! We are getting our asses handed to us here!”

“I’m sorry Major but my squad ran into a large group of Treasconi fighters about 20 kilometers to the North of your location, we are pretty locked up here. Sorry but you are going to have to fight without any air support on this one Major.”

Aldans swore and turned his tank to the right, fired several shots from his plasma cannons, and moved swiftly to the left, dodging a hail of powerful enemy shells. He fired off a second volley of blasts onto another Treasconi APC, blowing it to smithereens in an instant. Why the hell you would send just one company at a time to attack a massive fortified complex was beyond him. However, this was Omega Company, his company and his to command. He boostered over a large rock into the air where he turned the nose of his tank down to unleash a swarm of cannon fire upon a group of APC’s crossing the Tarback River. While missing all of them, the superheated plasma created a thick steam as it hit the water, giving his men the chance to deal with the massive force they were already fighting before more infantry showed up to harass them, though this did not apply to the various battle tanks that still moved over the river to cause trouble.

“Denson, O’Leary, provide covering fire on the Eastern half, we have several heavy tanks approaching from that direction.”
The two soldiers acknowledged as Aldans fired upon and destroyed a Treasconi tank and headed to the place where his men had exited the gateway between the Tsunami Cliffs into the flat, gray and sandy plain between them and the Tarback River, where some of his troops lay back in reserve or being tended to after being maimed in the fight.

“Bissus, how are you holding up here?”

“Pretty good Major, had a few tanks run an assault here a few minutes ago, managed to fight them off with what we had but if we don’t get some reinforcements we may not get another chance at this.”

“I’m fully aware of that, I’ll see what is keeping Hodges.”

“Hodges, where the hell are you and the rest of Bravo company?! We are getting our asses shoved up our asses here and we have no sign of you! What is keeping your forces?”

“Sorry about that Major but we encountered a large Treasconi force dug into the shallow area where we were supposed to cross and attack the enemy base. We did not want to lose our momentum by engaging them so we are falling back to higher ground to draw the force away from the base. I recommend you get out of there pretty soon though or we may not be in time to help you.”

“Son of a Bitch!”“Bissus, let’s get these wounded out of here, I will try to hold off these assault waves until Hodges and his band of merry men can get their fat tin cans over here.”

“Major, this is General Wladyslaw on board the Attila. I have been keeping an eye on your situation for the past hour. I am landing Golf and Hotel companies at the mouth of the passage between the Tsunami cliffs. I am having Hodges and Bravo Company continue their push against the Treasconi right wing. Pull back your forces to rendezvous with Golf and Hotel where Colonel Parker will relieve you of command of the situation. The dropships will pull Omega Company out once you arrive. Unfortunately, you will need to leave some of your forces behind to allow the rest of your company to escape. It is tough, but if the Treasconi force is not slowed down, it will chase your company down and crush you before you can reach your reinforcements.”

“But sir, can’t you just send the companies up to my position?”

“Negative Major, your area is too hot and in the time it would take to move all those men to your position you would be overrun. I’m sorry but you’re just gonna have to pull back from the fight on this one.”
The Major sighed, pivoted his tank nose up, fired two shots into an incoming Treascon tank, and faced towards the direction where his forces continued in their losing battle with the endless waves of sea foam green monsters.

“Can’t we just wait until Hodges and his men can push through the right?”

“Sorry Major, but looking at the size of the Treasconi resistance I would say that Hodges’ force is not gonna be able to push through without some form of reinforcement, I am having him withdraw as well from the battle, Utah company from the 2nd division is landing behind him to employ the same tactic, now get the hell out of there before you and your troops get over run!”

“Very well General, I will move my faster units out of here once I have the chance, but that support better get here pretty damn soon.”

“Colonel Parker’s dropship is landing as we speak Major.”
Aldans moved his tank forward back into the hellish fray that was becoming a more constant visit for him since he had landed on Ectoclopsys, Hell’s real waiting room. Sorry Florida. He turned to fire upon a group of infantry that had dug themselves into the river bank, as they vanished with the explosion of blue plasma and gray mud.

“Bissus, get the wounded to the available transports immediately, I’m going to try and give our combat units on the river bank a chance to fall back.”

“Got it Aldans, we’re packing up now.”

“All available turrets and assault tanks, this is Major Aldans, reinforcements are on the way but they are holing up at the Tsunami Cliff passage entrance and will not enter combat until our company gets back for dust-off. I am asking you for the last thing anyone would ever ask, or have to do. I am going to need you to remain here and hold off the incoming attack waves while the more mobile units head to the dust- off location. Lieutenant Denson will take command from here on out. Understood Denson?”

“It’s been an honor Major.”

“Likewise.”

Aldans turned back while his battle tanks, scouts and missile tanks made their way for the passage entrance. 194 heaps of blue, green and silver armor soared by his cockpit as the Major accelerated and caught up with them as Bissus zipped past and hooked up on the Major’s tail. They fled, fled like intelligent cowards towards some kind of relief from the relentless waves of soldiers and tanks that came out of nowhere at all times to destroy their efforts, whatever they may be. The Major felt some sense of a loss of pride traveling with his companions, a strong feeling of cowardice that pushed aside his feeling of regret for leaving his troops behind to knowingly die. No, no this would not do, to flee and not return to the battle, leave his men behind to die in vain. An APC went by him, nearly crashing into the wing of his tank, as he turned around back towards the open plain where his forces continued to valiantly hold off the waves of incoming fighters. No.

“Bissus, take my wing and stay close to me.”

“What? You’re going back there?”

“I am still the commander in this situation, and commanding I shall do.”
Aldans noted how the passage between the Tsunami Cliffs got narrow near the center before it opened back up to the entrance. Remember the Battle of Thermopylae?

“Attention all turrets, pack up and make you way to the center of the Tsunami Cliffs pass. Denson, take the assault tanks and contract yourselves into the opening onto the plain and hold up there, then begin to move back slowly until I give you the signal to make a full scale retreat. All battle tanks, scouts, and missile tanks cancel the retreat order and make your way back to the tightest part of the passage. We’re digging ourselves in and re-leading the assault.”

“Major, this is Colonel Parker. I am witnessing your situation from my dropship. What in God’s name do you think you’re doing? You have orders to fall back to my defensive position at once! You have relieved yourself of command, and I am ordering you move your units back at once, they seem to be heading back towards the fight!”

“You are only relieving me of command once I board a dropship, I am still commander of this situation here and I refuse to leave a single man behind. I have a plan to lure the Treasconi forces into a trap, you just need to trust me.”

“Major this is in direct disobedience of an order by a superior officer! I will give you one more chance to get your company to the drop-zone or I will have no choice but to place you under arrest and see to it you are court marshaled on Earth!”
“Listen to me Parker! I know how to defeat the Treasconi; if you don’t let me do this we risk even more casualties and perhaps even defeat. Please, trust me!

“That’s it, Captain Dortmund, I am giving you the authority to place Major Aldans under arrest, and you are now commander of Omega Company, you are to report to the dust-off site immediately.”

“Parker this is General Wladyslaw, stand down. I am beginning to understand the Major’s plan and see it in your best interests to help him trap the Treasconi force. Should he fail, then you may move your forces into attack position and arrest the Major, but until then allow him to carry on in his plan. Captain Dortmund, you are no longer Omega company commander.”

“It was good while it lasted.”

“But general-!”

“That’s an order Parker, and I am your superior, if you resist any further I will be forced to have you arrested and court marshaled on Earth!”
Parker forced himself to hold his tongue and stepped back from the window of his dropship, but keeping his eye on Aldans and the mass movements of his troops. Aldans’ eyes peered everywhere, right left, and ahead as his heavy tanks and turrets raced back towards the tightest part of the passage as explosions fell near them and the crackle of guns continued to break the air. He noticed ESEDF soldiers, their once new desert camouflaged Nemean skin already showing signs of heavy combat, blood, dirt, pieces of things best left unsaid, who had been unable to get on a transport, running quickly and firing blindly behind them, desperately attempting to do as much damage as possible to the Treasconi ships. The crack of their plasma rifles made the air a whirlwind of sound and acrid smells.

“Hodges, how are you doing on the right wing?”

“Since most of Utah landed we have been making good progress, the right wing now seems to be collapsing and, wait, they, yep the right wing has broken and is heading to base.”

“Good, I want you to chase after them and strike at the base.”

“Uh, you sure sir? My men are pretty tired and Utah still has not fully landed.”

“That’s an order Hodges, just pursue them, I have a plan.”

“Uh, okay Major, but this better work.”

“Have I ever steered you wrong Hodges?”

“You mean failed marriage and poor investment wise?”

“Just shut up and hunt down the right wing.”

“Yes sir.”

Aldans maneuvered his ship ferociously to keep control as the shockwave’s of falling shells impacted his ship from all angles. The large Treasconi force continued to press its way into Denson’s weakening line of defense, explosions from beaten tanks and flayed ground gradually becoming a prominent site as Aldans steadied his force into the narrow passage. He readied his missile tanks in front, the heavy guns of his larger tanks behind them, all ready to unleash hell when the order came. Aldans watched with a slight pain as many of his heavy tanks faced down destruction as those infantry that stayed behind continued to run the hundreds of yards towards Aldans position.

“Denson, begin a full scale retreat, head towards my position at top speed, watch yourself, we are going to open fire with blind rockets followed by thermal’s, get out of there quick!”

“Though you’d never give the order, we’re getting out of here.”

“Head for Colonel Parker’s dropships and get out of here, I will cover your retreat and strike back.”

“Roger Major, we’re moving.”

“Hodges, what’s your status?”

“Crossing the river, the right flank is holing up in the base, what few defenders were left are trying to fend us off, but Utah is beginning to breach the base’s perimeter as we speak.”

“Good, get Bravo over to my position as fast as possible by crossing the river from the opposite side.”

“Wait, you mean go through the passage from where I am and attack from the other side?”

“Exactly, we’re gonna trap the main force in the canyon while Utah hits the base, that way there is no way they can help.”

“Got I, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Aldans waited with a bead of sweat calmly, making its way down his face, became caught in the gel padding of his helmet, the coolness from the collected moisture striking his hot face made him shiver ever so slightly as the Treasconi craft and infantry rushed their way towards his position. By this time he getting tired of standing right in front of the enemy as they charged at him, trying to get in range, those soldiers in the 19th century really had it bad. He witnessed several of his heavy tanks erupting in blue and orange flame as the many others continued to rush towards the dropships, they were getting closer by the second. After another minute, as the Treasconi craft began to open fire themselves on Aldan’s position as the heavy tanks finally made it past Aldans blockade and continued to rush for the dropships, their engines on afterburners rushed towards 1,400 men far away further down the passage, eyes fixed on 500 or less facing down 700 or more. Then, in the blink or an eye, the Treasconi stopped, moved back, and began a charge for their base, the plan worked.

“All units open fire, all tanks begin pursuit of Treasconi force.”

“Major it’s Hodges, My force is approaching the Treasconi force from behind, it seems, to be retreating sir.”

“Good, looks like Utah has done its job, just keep charging them and prepare to engage, we can’t let them escape.”

“Roger Major, my company is forming into attack position.”

Aldans pushed his tank into overdrive with Bissus behind him, more soldiers on his left and right as they chased down the Treasconi force, now beginning to break and flee, perhaps as news to the base’s downfall was beginning to reach them. Then, as they saw Hodges and his men begin to drive the rush towards them, they broke entirely, it became every man, well Treasconi for himself as the desperately tried to find some way out of the canyon, finding it hopeless and realizing that they had reached the end of the line. They stopped, and gathered together in a circle of what appeared to be defense.

“Hodges, have your units slow down, I am issuing that order to my units as well, we’ll approach them slowly, I want to try something.”

“Like what, offer these sons of bitches a chance to surrender?!”

“I told you not to read that book on telepathy.”

“John you know I support any decision you make but come on, these things just killed half my company and a good chunk of yours, need I mention that they started this war but a week ago?”

“And need I mention to you Hodges that they have a right to surrender, as you no doubt would wish to do so in their situation. I know your emotional about this Hodges, I am to, but damn it man, if we massacre them , do you have any idea that would look for not only us and the fleets?”

“But Major!-“

“I said stand down Hodges, I am the superior officer in this situation.”

Aldans gently slowed his tank down as the whir of guns died down around him. He noticed smoke coming from the base, and knew the Treasconi noticed it as well. It fell quiet, as Hodges and company slowed down as well and kept out of range. As Aldans felt the energy drain from his legs, and another bead of sweat, caught in his helmets padding made his body shiver, He found in the dark recesses of his consciousness the strength to move forward by himself, alone towards the Treasconi position several thousand meters ahead of him, as the minute of travel without being shot at passed, he set his tank down not 700 meters away and in a feat of ancient strength found the courage to stand up as he lifted the cockpit and step outside, his heavy gear creating dust as he dropped down from his tank onto the semi moist ground. He noticed how several of the tanks and men in the Treasconi position were beginning to move, ever so slightly to the side, as another tank moved outwards, appearing to wishing to join him. Aldans walked towards the Treasconi group, stopping 400 meters away as the Treasconi tank, perhaps the same size as his own, stopped and settled itself on the ground. Aldans looked on as the side of the tank slid into itself as a figure emerged. He, well as far as Aldans knew “it” was tall, perhaps 2 meters even. He was covered in a wide variety of reds, blue, purple and green clothing and armor. Beneath the luxuriously colored façade lay glistening brown skin, well not exactly skin, but what appeared to be a tough type of polished leather, if not harder. He took his hand, with two thumb like protrusions on either side of the five digits in between and removed his helmet that looked like something out of a bad sci-fi novel. His head, appeared initially human in figure, but there were differences. Aldans noticed the eyes were long, yet slightly wide and wrapped around much of the top of his forehead, where above, long, thin, almost porcupine like hairs went down his head and behind him. His mouth was human like but where human lips meet, there were two break away pieces that moved as the Treasconi appeared to grumble to himself, with dull looking teeth on the inside. Aldans felt the absence of all strength in his legs growing stronger as the Treasconi, by now realized to be the commander walked towards him.

“John its Bissus, I recommend getting the hell out of there right now.”

“Calm down James, intervene only and I mean only if something goes wrong.”

The Treasconi commander continued to walk towards him, his two legs covered in pale green and royal purple armor appeared to have lost strength as well. After a minute, he was in front of Aldans, a heavy breath of a n alien smell filled Aldans nostrils as he removed his helmet as the Treasconi figure moved back slightly. It looked into the Major’s hazel eyes with the curiosity that Major had for the Treasconi’s dark purple ones. They both looked so close yet so alien from each other as they looked and studied each other, each of their own characteristics fascinated them as the faint roar of the destruction of the Treasconi base died down in the background. At last, the Major slowly raised his right hand as the Treasconi looked in awe at the only five digits on it, coated in a desert camouflage finish upon a tough gel, carbon armor suit. He slowly gestured his full hand towards his group of soldiers, then turned it forward and raised it, pointing towards Hodges and his men behind the Treasconi. He brought it back to his chest and then pointed it at the Treasconi group, which the Treasconi turned around and looked at himself before turning back to Aldans, after which he gestured his hand downwards, hoping to signify some form of surrender to the Treasconi commander, not knowing how he would react, only hoping that it would be positive. After a moment, the Treasconi commander seemed to get the idea, and turned around, and yelled something into his comms set, after which, the Treasconi tanks lowered themselves onto the ground and the infantry set their rifles down as well. Aldans sighed in relief and turned around back to his tank as he signified for Bissus to meet with him and for Hodges and his men to stand down. The Treasconi began to march in the direction of the base, Hodges and his men escorted them.

“Major, this is Captain Folsom, the Treasconi air support seems to be falling back, we are in pursuit and should be at your position in six minutes, where do you want us?”

“Back on the Phobia Captain, the Treasconi have surrendered, the base is ours.”

“You’re kidding me, uh sir.”

“Negative, I have over 700 military prisoners currently en route to the base recently taken by Major Martel, and I am leading my company back to a dust-off site where I am handing control over to Colonel Parker, now head back to the fleet and get some rest Captain.’

“With pleasure sir, Folsom out.”

“Attila, this is Major Aldans, base secure, proceeding to dust-off site and handing control over to Colonel Parker.”

“Major this is General Wladyslaw, that was quite a show there, I caught it on the cameras up here , I am sending extra ships to the base to take the prisoners up to the London, I want you there to aid in their commander’s interrogation.”

“I’ll be there general. Also, do you know how a lot of the officers like to say how the fleet can hold an entire base of prisoners?”

“I say that often, so yes. Why?”

“Looks like we’re about to put that theory to the test.”

“Ha, seems so Major, now get to the dropships.

“Roger that General, see you ship side.”

Update, not about the book, but me...

I lost my old account when I stopped being automatically logged in and could not remember my e-mail password to teh account I created my account here with, so I have a new acount, same as me, just with an underscore. Chapter three is coming along, started today, different from past two and I think you'll like it.

If that happens, just e-mail GSH.

Already did and am in contact with him at the moment about restoring my old account, but he is worried naturally that I amy be someone posing as Iron Maiden, so he is looking for someone to vouch for me, I don't know who, but someone.