((OOC: Finally have time to get back in the action with this game thanks to Spring Break.
Oh, and one question. Is there still a slaver problem in the Chimera System?))
Heroics
During the Liberation of Sparta...
BLAM BLAM BLAM!
The sound was deafening as the Royal Army shot its way through the bug-infested streets of Sparta. Thousands of soldiers had fanned out through the streets, entering the city from its north side and pushing inwards. Erion was at the front of one of the columns, but despite that, he was in far less danger than the rest of his soldiers. He was wearing a special armor his mother had had crafted for him back on Divitus Autem. The armor was made of pure Autenium, an incredibly rare metal that had only been found in incredibly scarce quantities on Divitus Autem. It was an incredibly strong metal capable of withstanding a direct impact from an RPG, but it was also incredibly late, with the whole suit weighing abut 35 pounds. It was also energy and heat resistant. Erion would have never allowed such valuable resources to be spent solely on him, but it was his mother that had had the armor crafted, and it had been sized specifically for the then-Prince.
Suddenly, Erion's column burst onto a plaza. It was swarming with gigantic bugs the size of hover cars. They charged the Royal Army as it began straggling into the plaza.
"Soldiers, holding formation!" Erana Heart, commander of the Royal Army, ordered over the radio in the soldiers' helmets. The soldiers began to fan out in order to give the rest of the column room to enter the plaza, before digging in and preparing to hold off the bugs. Erion was stationed next to Erana. Despire the fact that he was King, he fully accepted the fact that his forty-one year old commander had far more battle experience and expertise than him, so he allowed her to lead.
"How are you faring, Erion?" she asked as she kneeled and fired well-aimed laser shots into the head of an approaching bug. Erion couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was grinning. She was never more alive than when she was leading the army.
"Doing well," he answered, setting his laser rifle to rapid fire and spraying a group of the approaching bugs. Suddenly, a smaller one burst out of the ground in front of him. He had just enough time to put up his arm before the thing lunged at him. It bit into Erion's arm, causing him to drop his rifle, but its teeth failed to penetrate his armor.
"Holy..." Erion gasped as he drew one of his sidearms with his left hand and fired it directly into the things eye. It began to back up, before being thrown to its side by a burst of energy.
"Soldiers, set your motion trackers to subterranean. It looks like the subways and sewers are crawling with these things," Erana ordered over the radio as she helped Erion up. Almost without turning her head, she fired her rifle, which had been set to what the soldiers called "shotgun" mode, one-handed into a bug that had been about to reach the two.
"I'll never know how you do that," Erion said, his adrenaline still pumping like crazy. He grabbed his rifle from the ground and started firing again.
"You'll pick it up eventually," Erana laughed, switching her rifle back to single-fire mode and firing into the crowd of bugs.
"You guys need any help?" a voice said suddenly from over the radio. A small drone flew over Erion and Erana's heads and fired a pair of mini-rockets into the charging bugs. Two of the things were blown apart and several more were wounded.
"Thanks Belinda," Erion said, a grin breaking out on his face. His sister had been commanding this drone, known as her "Eagle," the entire battle. It was specially created to allow real-time control even from another star system. The "Eagle" flipped around after it passed the bugs before beginning to fire laser volleys into their ranks.
"Someone has to watch out for you," Belinda's voice crackled over the radio. There were some issues with static and distortion due to the fact that she was still on New Autem, but it was still easy to make her words out.
"I thought I was doing a pretty good job," Erana chuckled indignantly. She fired her rifle for the third time at a bug, finally blowing its head to pieces.
Most of the soldiers were in the plaza now. Casualties had been remarkably light, with only two dozen or so soldiers lost in this column since the battle had begun, and that was mainly due to underground attacks. Several of the soldiers, the heavy weapons specialists, were firing rockets, either conventional or energy, into the bugs' ranks. Then, one of them hit a building on the side of the plaza. Erion's motion tracker pinged five moving shapes in the smoke. His first thought was bugs, but then the smoke cleared and he saw who they were.
"People," he gasped, seeing several of the bugs turn towards them.
"Erion don't be a hero," Erana cautioned, guessing what Erion was thinking. Then, they saw three children standing into the smoke.
'Erion, don't- Erion!" Erana screamed as the King bolted out of the line and towards the gap in the houses.
"Belinda, help me," Erion cried out over the radio. He knew he couldn't save the people alone, the bugs were too close. He fired his laser rifle one handed as he drew one of his sidearms and fired it into the bugs approaching the family.
"You're such an idiot!" Belinda yelled, but she turned the Eagle towards the bugs and fired multiple laser volleys at them.
"You would've done the same thing," Erion retorted, blasting away a bug that had turned to him. Suddenly, his pistol jammed. He swore under his breath as he threw it to the side and drew his energy-charged saber. He reached the family just in time to decapitate a bug that was about to reach them. The family, a mother, father, and three children, were huttled in a corner of house behind a make-shift barricade of furniture. There were still about ten bugs moving towards the them.
"Close your eyes, cover your ears, and hold your breath!" Erion yelled to them. He saw them following his directions, so he quickly issued an order to the computer built into his suit.
"Activate: Light of Sol."
The order not only activated systems in Erion's armor, but the armor of the nearby soldiers as well. As his suit began to glow brightly and emit a deafeningly high-pitched sound and overpowering smell, their suits began to recognize and block out what was coming from his armor. The bugs, however, lost all of the senses they need to move forward. They began turning and crashing into one another, some of the biting and ripping into each other. The pulse lasted only twenty seconds, but it would cripple the nearby bugs for about ten minutes. Erion turned back to the family. His suit could only do that once before it needed a recharge, so he needed to get them out of here now. He picked up one of the children while the parents picked up the other two.
"Follow me," he ordered, turning and running back towards his soldiers, firing his rifle with his free-hand.
Unbeknownst to Erion, Belinda had caught his heroic act with cameras from her Eagle. Over the next several days, the footage found its way on to news stations across the Fringe. It added to Erion's already immense popularity on New Autem, but how much it mattered to the rest of the Fringe remained to be seen.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Present Day
Belinda breathed a sigh of relief as she slumped into her chair in the Royal Office on New Autem. Operations with the Valor Fleet had concluded, and her brother was on his way home. He was safe, and their casualties had been thankfully light. Although it was still 2,000 fallen soldiers, it was not too big a blow to the Royal Army, especially compared to the casualties of other colonies. Despite that, a massive ceremony would still be held for the fallen, and all of the recovered bodies would be interred at a new graveyard built specially for those that gave their lives for Arlia.
There was still some business to take care of, however. Belinda stood up and walked over to her computer.
"Prepare a message for the Archduchy," she ordered. The computer whirred for a moment, and then she saw that it was recording.
"This is a message from Princess Belinda Arlian to Archduke Leopold von Back. I was wondering if, in light of some of other previous communications, that you would interested in offering a joint contract to the boost the trade between our respective home worlds. We would be willing to offer 10 million credits if you would be willing to match that."
Belinda hit the key to the end the message, before composing another, general message for all of the residents of the Chimera System.
"This is a message from Princess Belinda Arlian to all residents of the Chimera System. I am requesting any availible information pertaining to the slavers that were recently reported to be in the system. They pose a threat to all of us, and I believe that we should work together to eliminate this threat. Anyone with any information, or anyone wishing to corroborate with us to find and wipe out these slavers, please contact me here at New Autem. Belinda out."
Extranet Report
"The video of King Erion Arlian's heroic rescue of a family from Sparta continue to circulate widely around the Extranet. Also, rumors are emerging that Belinda is seeking to establish a joint-trade contract with the Archduchy, as well as a request to work with residents of the Chimera System to find and deal with the group of slavers that are rumored to be in the system. Finally, we have reports that despite repeated difficulties, Belinda is still attempting to fulfill the New Dublin Accords and incorporate New Ireland into the Kingdom of Arlia, but she still refuses to use force. Upon the Royal Navy's return to the Chimera system, it is also due to continue to explore more of New Autem."
"Wait, this just in! We here that Belinda has just put forth a massive order to bolster the defenses of New Autem in light of the recent slaver, raider, and bug threats. We will keep you updated on this development."
Base Order: The Kingdom of Arlia will again attempt to diplomatically annex New Ireland.
Fleet Order: The Royal Navy will move back to the Chimera system and begin to further explore New Autem.
Also, the Kingdom of Arlia will purchase defense level 1.
There is still time to get your orders in, as I will not be getting to the update until tomorrow. Your primary concern will be selecting a location to settle, i suggest you order your fleet to explore your new home.))
