STR-FOB Ion, In orbit, Classified system, Frontier Defense Alliance territories

  September 3rd, 2505

  It took two weeks for the Spheres of Parsecs to arrive at FOB Ion, a small circular space station that looked almost like a circle with only two docking stations attached on the sides. The station is only known to Special Tactics Recon and their clandestine First Strategic Recon unit as insurance policy. As the Spheres docked, Ranger Grim waited in the airlock for the decompression process to finish up.

  [Identity confirmed. Lieutenant Baker, Taylor. Callsign Grim. Service number, classified] The automated voice module from the Spheres airlock spoke, and Grim chuckled lightly at her service number being classified. In this age of warfare, information can be a powerful weapon.

  The airlock door of the FOB Ion opened, Grim walked inside, where she saw the grime and scratches of the walls in there.

  “Ugh, I feel like I’m gonna collapse.” Grim groaned, while she felt the jetlag and holding her bags. A Ranger with the standard BDU was walking towards her. She stood at attention as he came by.

  “Lieutenant Baker, I’m Sergeant Amin Hajir, callsign Tiger. I’m here to show your way to your quarters.” He greeted.

  “Please do, Sarge.” Grim commented wearily. The jetlag made her feel a bit of migraine and was ready to sleep as soon as possible.

  “Follow me.” Tiger gestured her to follow, which she accepted. Over few minutes of walking, Grim saw the mess hall, recreation area, observation area, and a few more areas that is permeated in FOB Ion.

  Then, they made it to the quarters. Grim saw three sofas near a TV. No doubt it was here to broadcast FDA propaganda given the ongoing conflict.

  Tiger then gestured his hand at Grim’s room which was on the far left and had her name, rank, and callsign tagged on the side. After a laser scan from the top of the sliding door, she entered, put her bags on the floor, threw her half-mask, then collapsed herself on the sofa near the bunk beds. Didn’t even care she was in armor.

  “You need anything else?” Tiger asked, but was only replied with a groan from Grim.

  “Ah, I see.” Tiger deduced what Grim was going through, and left without a fuss. After the door slided back to closed, there was a click which locked it in case an STR Operative is tired after a mission and needs some rest without interruption.

  Over a short time, Grim was sleeping.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Grim’s room, STR-FOB Ion, Classified system, Frontier Defense Alliance territories

  September 4th, 2505

  [Grim… Grim?] A voice whispered in Grim’s mind, her eyes shook for a moment, until she opened them . It was blurry at first, but she was seeing a person with brown skin and dark hair. “Kate?” She murmured.

  Grim’s view got clear and it was unmistakable. It was Lieutenant Kate Hawkins, Ranger Hawk, her friend was sitting on the lower bunk bed. Her lips curved to a smile “How’s it going, sleepyhead?”

  “Kate!” Grim got up and in a rush, she hugged her. “Awww, missed you too, Taylor” Hawk returned the gesture. A minute has passed, then they let go.

  “How are you been holding up there?” Hawk patted Grim on the shoulder.

  “An unpleasant case of jetlag when I got here. But other than that, I’m feeling fine.” Grim answered, though Hawk raised an eyebrow which Grim understood what it meant.

  “Okay, yeah, I’m not feeling good right now. Got someone killed during my mission when they joined with me.” Grim sighed. Hawk’s expression went somber, and knew that her friend was going through it.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Hawk asked, then Grim shook her head “Yeah, nah, I don’t wanna even think about it right now.”

  Hawk nodded, she knew that if Grim didn’t want to talk about something, she was not in the mood for it. While many STR operatives were selected for the right skills, right attitude, or right personality, that doesn’t mean they’re no damaged goods.

  Hawk stood up, “Wanna watch TV with me in the quarters?” She gestured to Grim. Grim raised an eyebrow “Don’t we have a debriefing today?”

  “Nah, the brass decided to put it tomorrow, instead. Didn’t want delirious STR operatives drooling while they’re in debrief.”

  Grim chuckled at the notion and shook her head. Then, she remembered the thumb drive with the data she got from that Crimson Iron base, only to realize she kept in one of her two bags. She perused through them, while Hawk was confused for a moment.

  “What you’re looking for, postcards from some backwater colony?” Hawk joked. “Ah, bite me, Ravenhaired. I’m looking for the thumb drive.”

  “Thumb drive?” Hawk inquired. “Yeah, it got intel about Crimson Iron.” Over the next several seconds, Grim took out the thumb drive from the bag “Here we are”

  She then inserted it to a plug in on a Mobile Server by the table near the small TV. Hawk joined in, interested to see what Grim have brought from her recent mission. After a few minutes of loading, the screen opened up, where it showed the 12 FDA colonies that’d be used as a false flag operation by Crimson Iron against the Tortsinan Imperium through ORUS-Class Nuclear Warheads that are active and ready to be inserted.

  But both Rangers only felt confusion when they saw one warhead with an FDA colony in particular was inactive. Eridani.

  “The fuck?” Grim hissed. “That doesn’t make any sense. Their transponders were all active when I got in the intel.”

  “Me neither. Think those mercs lost it along the way?” Hawk inquired, but Grim shook her head.

  “No way, we already knew they have friends in our territory. And there’s no way FDA’s Special Operations Command got ahead of this without approval from command.”

  Hawk sighed, then rubbed her noise in frustration. “The brass aren’t going to like this, Taylor.”

  “What, the missing warhead or Eridani?” Grim asked.

  “No, Eridani. While they’re still devoted to the FDA and their cause, they keep internal affairs within their homeland and their system to themselves. All hush-hush.”

  “Well… if the warhead is in their planet, they need to let the FDA know, at least. We can’t afford to fight two wars, Kate.” Grim emphasized.

  Hawk nodded, “So what do we do now?”

  Grim sighed “We come clean to the brass in our debriefing tomorrow and see which way the bridge goes.”

  “Yeah, yeah. That can work, as long they don’t throw us to the brig.” Hawk was rubbing her hands, worried how angry FDA Command and STR’s Command might be if they knew. Grim patted her on the shoulder, to ease her worries.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” Grim assured, then Hawk nodded. “In the meantime. Do they have movies or shows on the quarters’ TV? If I have to see any more news, I’m gonna puke.”

  Hawk chuckled, then playfully slapped Grim’s chest “Yeah, the CO let us have movies and shows to watch, 3 days ago.”

  Grim’s smile widened, “What are we waiting for? We should watch Bearers of Tomorrow!”

  “Even after adolescence, you still like it, huh?” Hawk teased, where she met with a playful slap on the arm. “They may not be prestige shit, but they’re still a fun watch.” Grim protested.

  Hawk got up, and gestured with Grim to do a movie night. Though, Grim wore her half-mask, which made Hawk roll her eyes. Still, they left the room together, to enjoy their movie night.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Crew’s Quarters, STR-FOB Ion, Classified system, Frontier Defense Alliance territories

  September 4th, 2505

  Over in the dim light of the Crew’s Quarters, the only sound that was there was the TV playing Bearers of Tomorrow. Hawk and Grim alongside a few Rangers watched the movie with interest, all in their standard BDU. The movie was the 2D-animated kind, and they were already 30 minutes in out of 75.

  [But Bearer Kal, how can we ensure there’s a better tomorrow for the Soluri when there’s no place for them anywhere?] A fellow Bearer questioned Kal of their mission, fighting against evil and injustice throughout the universe.

  [We have to, Eneri. If we don’t fight to ensure a better life for their children, their children’s children, there our mission is for naught!] Kal emphasized his words with vigor.

  “Man, that’s some corny bullshit…” One Ranger was peeved at what saw was seeing.

  “Shh! Keep it down, will you?” A Ranger from her right ordered her to keep it down. Meanwhile, Hawk and Grim leaned forward, their fists on their chins, smiles widened.

  “These two really like this shit?” The Ranger questioned. Another Ranger, on her left, tapped her shoulder, then her face shifted. “If you don’t want to continue watching this, Lid, you can leave.”

  Lid huffed, then sighed. “Fine, I’ll keep watching.” She crossed her arms and kept a neutral face as the movie went on.

  25 minutes had passed, where the emotional climax had reached its point. Hawk and Grim had tissues on their laps, filled with tears they wiped. The Rangers on both the left and right from Lid were shaking their breath, their eyes watered and on the verge of tears.

  [I am… sorry, Bearer…. Kal] With each word, Eneri wheezed. [I wanted to follow your… example. To bear for the future of a better tomorrow.]

  [I am sorry too, Eneri. You deserved better than this end.] Kal shared his mournful words, then Eneri took a final breath.

  Kal’s breath shook, then closed Eneri’s eyes. [Be at peace, Eneri. You helped the Soluri in fulfilling their own fate. And for that, you deserve a place on the fabric of reality]

  Ranger Lid left out her tears, her face went red. She lamented for a character of a movie she didn’t care for, at earlier. She saw Hawk and Grim, their faces red from the tears they shed.

  Meanwhile, the Ranger on her right threw himself to the floor, and wailed in despair.

  “No! Noooo!” He threw his arms around and on the floor. “Eneri had a full life ahead of him! Why did he have to do that? Why he’s leaving Kal all alone?!”

  Lid, the unnamed Ranger, Hawk, and Grim were all confused at him, and couldn’t tell whether he was being honest or just doing an act.

  “Bullet, seriously? Cut this shit out! I mean it!” The unnamed Ranger protested.

  Lid glared at her “Let him go, Iris. He’s emotionally invested.”

  “Wailing and throwing yourself like a fucking clown is not being emotionally invested!” Iris shouted. Grim paused the movie. Didn’t want the last moments of the movie night to turn sour. She could’ve joined in, but decided to see which way the wind will go. Frankly, Grim cared more about the movie.

  “Brynn is right, Elsie. Bullet can be a bit much when he gets invested in entertainment. But he’s still a good Ranger, like any of us.” Hawk argued. Iris flicked her eyes, and hoped to give a counter-argument.

  Lid shifted closer to Iris “I know he might be fucked in the head. But let’s be honest, being an STR means being a bit loose in the head. A lot of us do risky and highly-dangerous missions, so we can keep our homes, our communities, our families safe.

  “Just let it go, will ya? We’ll be shipped to fuck knows where pretty soon, and it’ll be a long time before we have another movie night. Don’t you want this night to be a good one?”

  Iris sighed. Lid was right, no sense in throwing a night like this away over petty arguments.

  “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, Bullet.” Iris apologized.

  Bullet wiped his eyes and tears, then sniffed a few times. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  Grim shifted her face to him. “Got it all out of your system, Adebisi?”

  Bullet nodded. “Elias. And yes, I’m good.”

  Hawk shifted face to face to her fellow Rangers on her side. “Well, guys, we got twenty minutes left for this movie. Let’s enjoy it while we can.”

  “Kate’s right, mates.” Grim commented, then resumed the movie. While the rest were watching, Grim whispered. “Psst… Kate…”

  “What?” Hawk’s face shifted to Grim. “Do you think you’ll be promoted to Captain at some point? Maybe Colonel?”

  “I don’t fucking know, Taylor.” Hawk sighed. “Being a Captain, it’s possible, if I’m given command of a task force or a whole company. Colonel? I’d prefer not to, too much paperwork and not much time in the field.”

  “I’d disagree. There’s some regiments that allow their commanding officers to be in the field.”

  Hawk’s eyes shifted, seeing Bullet, Iris, and Lid all immersed to the movie. “You think I can be a Colonel, T?”

  “Of course, you can. You’re always dedicated to your work. And I know you doubt yourself about your leadership qualities, but you’re doing decent so far. We went together s in the OCS, remember?”

  “Shh! Keep it down, please!” Lid hissed. Both Grim and Hawk surrendered her hands, and smiled at each other.

  Their eyes kept focused on the movie, and enjoyed it as best they can.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Debriefing room, STR-FOB Ion, Classified system, Frontier Defense Alliance territories

  September 5th, 2505

  “You informed us earlier there was a problem from your intel. What was it then?” One FDA officer questioned, he was referencing a message that Ranger Grim informed to three FDA Command officers and three STR Sector commanders ahead of the debrief. The FDA commanders sat on the front desk, while the STR Sector commanders sat on the right desk. The lights in the debriefing were dim, there were no camera nor any surveillance. All for the interest of secrecy, of course. Frontier Defense Alliance and Special Tactics Recon never had a fully healthy relationship. But when the chips call for it, or when circumstances were desperate, they fight together like comrades.

  Grim and Hawk were sitting on the back desk in their battle dress uniform, while Hawk wasn’t wearing a mask, Grim was wearing her half-mask. They were just besides the STR Sector commanders. Captain Emilia Wolf, callsign Raptor, was in the middle and had an inconspicuous file on her person. Hawk wanted a peek, but focused on the matter in hand.

  Grim shifted her face to the sector commanders. “You have the footage from my helmet cam?”

  They all nodded, then one of them inserted a thumb drive that contained the helmet cam footage to one of the three plugs that was connected to the three TV stands in the middle.

  //Thumb drive inserted…

  …

  //Uploading footage from helmet camera

  //Upload complete

  //Play?

  The sector commander on Raptor’s left brought the remote and pressed play. The footage showed the helmet camera perspective from Grim during her assignment in the classified Tortsinan Imperium colony. The helmet cam showed a wide screen in the Crimson Iron base’s command center where it showed the twelve FDA colonies that were on the list of Crimson Iron’s upcoming false flag operation that were selected for the PMC to insert 12 ORUS-class nuclear warheads across, all taped with Imperium serial numbers.

  Elysium.

  Skylis.

  Marv.

  Ram,

  Polit.

  Gav.

  Odis.

  Yuma.

  Jaspar.

  Kialo.

  Esra.

  And Eridani.

  The eyes on the FDA commanders widened, their hands was on their mouths from the shock. They faced the enormity of what could possibly be the most devastating attack on the Frontier Defense Alliance. And worse yet, Crimson Iron work for the interests of UHD. 12 false flag attacks and pinning the attack on the Tortsinan Imperium? That’d give the FDA more than enough reason to wage war against them. It was already hard enough fighting one war, two wars would’ve heavily weakened them, and allow the UHD a crushing advantage

  “Sweet Jesus!” A sector commander cursed out. From what all the commanders saw, Crimson Iron are more than willing to kill thousands, if even millions of the Frontier people, all to ensure the UHD as one and only superpower in the galaxy.

  “Ranger Grim, what you brought us is an irrefutable evidence. We could be facing an attack that will bring us to the brink of defeat, long-term.” Captain Lina Maine commented, her tone was heavy, now that she understood.

  “We will contact the commanders running in the star systems of those twelve colonies for this matter, and deploy FD-SOG to deal with this.” Commander Rachel Stevens chimed in. FD-SOG; acronym for Frontier Defense-Special Operations Group.

  “Commander Stevens is correct. But not only we need to intercept those warheads and defuse them, we need to find any Crimson Iron who smuggled their way to our territories, and hunt down any of their associates. It’s pretty clear they couldn’t have done this without inside help.” Lieutenant Commander Viktor Kullervo

  “We have a few our clandestine units on standby. They’ll be deployed to hunt down Crimson Iron mercs and their associates at your discretion.” olonel Adriana Erckens chimed in.

  “Thank you, Colonel Erckens.” Commander Stevens nodded.

  “You mentioned there was a problem in the intel you’ve got in your thumb drive, Lieutenant Baker. Care to tell us?” Major Walter Tyrone. Grim sighed, and brought her thumb drive and inserted in a plug in her side of the desk.

  //Thumb drive inserted

  //Uploading Crimson Iron’s star chart data for Operation “Tipping Balance”

  //Upload complete

  Colonel Erckens rolled her eyes at the words Tipping Balance. Far as she was concerned, Crimson Iron are deranged. Still, she kept her eyes focused on the screen. The star chart data was real-time. However, there was one warhead dubbed inactive in particular colony that was selected for Tipping Balance.

  Eridani.

  “What the hell?” Captain Wolf asked in confusion. Indeed, all the commanders were confused. Hawk brought her hand to Grim’s lap, to ease her worries.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Eridani… Great…” Major Tyrone sighed. Given the reputation that colony cultivated, this was getting more complicated.

  “If the warhead’s inactive, does this mean…” Captain Maire chimed in to speak, but was interrupted by Erckens.

  “No, inactive means the transponder’s for the warhead was deactivated. The warhead is still armed” She clarified.

  The FDA commanders rubbed their heads,

  “Well, what are we supposed to do?” Commander Stevens asked. The STR Sector commanders looked at each other, then shrugged.

  “There’s nothing we can do.” Major Tyrone commented

  Grim rolled her eyes, unamused by the Major’s blunt directness.

  “What?” Captain Lina Maine gasped.

  “Eridani’s people take the privacy of their homeland very seriously. If the warhead is there, then it’s now their problem.” Tyrone emphasized

  “Of course. But this is a crisis, we can’t ignore that You’re Special Tactics Recon, for fuck’s sake. Do something!.” Captain Maine protested.

  Hawk looked at Commander Kullervo, his eyes looked at her with resentment. She wasn’t surprised, given Kullervo was one of the FDA higher-ups have no love for the Rangers. She dismissed

  “Easy, Captain. I did say we in this room can’t do anything about Eridani. I didn’t say we don’t have our covert assets who can handle this.” Tyrone corrected himself.

  The FDA Commanders understood.

  Yeah, First Strategic Recon. Hawk and Grim mused.

  “Lieutenant Hawkins, Lieutenant Baker.” Colonel Erckens called out both Rangers, and they stood up.

  “You’ll be in a joint operation with FD-SOG to locate the other warheads. We have other covert assets who can handle the missing warhead. Non-negotiable.” Erckens gave her order, and both Rangers saluted their signature salute. Fist bump on chest, two times.

  “If there’s nothing else, we should…” Major Tyrone got up, though was gestured by Commander Stevens

  “Hold on, there was something else you mentioned in your report, Lieutenant Hawkins.” She chimed in to the Ranger, and Hawk focused eyes on her.

  “This group Charybdis, who are they?” As soon as Stevens spoke that name Grim noticed a change in her friend. Hawk’s hand was on her head, felt her brain was relentlessly pounded. Her eyes closed, in an attempt to contain. Herr face contorted, like she was in pain. Her mouth was grimacing, doing her best not to scream out. And as if it wasn’t bad enough, she felt her legs shaking and lowering themselves to the floor.

  Grim saw that happen a few years ago, and picked up her friend by the shoulder.

  “Lieutenant Hawkins, are you alright?” Commander Stevens asked, puzzled at what was happening. Captain Maine was concerned, while Commander Kullervo was curious.

  “Lieutenant Hawkins has a heavy migraine. She needs some rest.” Captain Wolf chimed in, and both Major Tyrone/Colonel Erckens nodded.

  “In that case, she and Baker are dismissed. This meeting had been adjourned.” Captain Maine announced, and both Rangers Hawk/Grim were first to leave.

  The meeting was adjourned and both Rangers Hawk/Grim were first to leave.

  The STR commanders looked at each other, concerns in their eyes. They knew Hawk was going through wasn’t a migraine, but worse. Commanders Stevens/Kullervo and Captain Maine noticed the demeanor, but weren’t in any position to pry, and they had. Far as it is concerned, Ranger Hawk was having a bad case of a migraine.

  Raptor walked her way to the officer’s quarters, then made inside her room. As she sat on her chair by the table, she opened her file, a paper written in the middle. Task Force 7.

  Grim was picking up Hawk from her shoulder, and marched on to the crew’s quarters.

  “Hey, Taylor, what’s…” Confused, Lid saw Hawk being picked up by Grim.

  “Later, Brynn.” She interrupted.

  They both made it inside their room. Grim put Hawk on the lower bunk bed and rested her in the back.

  “How you’re feeling, Kate?” Grim asked warily.

  Hawk groaned. “Feels like a Vernusen Templar just send a psionic wave on my head and got me a bad migraine.”

  Grim chuckled at the joke, but there was still the question in her mind. As soon as the name Charybdis was mentioned, Hawk was not feeling well. It couldn’t have been a migraine. She saw it happen before, around a few years ago. After their first mission, Hawk saw the word Charybdis in a letter they intercepted, and felt a heavy migraine. Whoever they are, they must’ve did something to her in the past.

  “It’s happening again, isn’t it?” Grim asked.

  “Charybdis. I… I think I’ve heard them before. I can’t be sure. But it’s too vague. I..” With each word she spoke, her speech slurred. “I have to know, Taylor… I have to..”

  Grim tapped her on the shoulder “Hey, take it easy. Get some rest. I’ll come back with food and drink when you wake up.”

  “Ahmed… David…. I miss you two so much…” Hawk was lulled to sleep. Grim grimaced, then breathed. When she left her room, she saw Lid, Bullet, and Iris who were concerned and worried.

  “Hey, is Kate okay?” Lid asked.

  “She looked like she got terminally ill or something.” Iris chimed.

  “What’s going with her, Taylor?” Bullet asked, his concern was blatant.

  Grim sighed heavily, “I wish I knew, mates. Honestly, I do.”

  That’s all she could say. Charybdis, whoever they are, Hawk must have had ties with them.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Outpost Defiance, Cauldron Front, Eridani, FDA territories.

  August 27th, 2505.

  It was another day, another patrol shift in the Cauldron Front. Aside from the usual occasion of pirates, but they were pushovers. It was always negative contact, nothing ever happened.

  Sergeant Kali Agrinya stood on her observation post, and watched the lines of the Cauldron Front. There was nothing there, so she had half a mind to leave the post. But her shift was not done yet, and she’d rather not be executed by a firing squad.

  “One of the main reasons why we keep a local communications network, I suppose.” She murmured.

  Eridani’s reason for having a communication network on their planet and not their system was to ensure complete privacy. Of course, that was the official story.

  The real story is that Eridani and its defense force are fanatically devoted to the FDA and their cause. Because their home was located next to the Dominion’s sectors, every person must do their part to ensure their safety of their home, knowing that one day UHD will come knocking. Dissent is intolerable and is met with execution alongside desertion or disobeying orders.

  She brought binoculars to observe further. However, she saw an unknown convoy with four individuals that near the front. She brought a marksman rifle from the perch, aimed, then fired a warning shot. “Hey! Keep your fucking hands where I can see them.”

  The unknown individuals complied and put their hands up.

  [Sergeant Agrinya, I heard a shot. What’s going on?] Her superior, Colonel Hakim Ayan CALLED.

  “Saw an unknown convoy with four strangers near the front, but I couldn’t tell who they…” Agrinya was interuupted by a strong hiss..

  [Sergeant, please bring Colonel Ayani and come to us. We need to talk.] An unknown voice.

  “How.. Who the fuck are you?” Agrinya questioned, confusion washed over her face.

  [There’s not much time. It’s urgent.]

  The strong hiss came again, then her comm came back. [Sergeant, what’s going on? I lost contact for a second there.]

  “Oh? Yeah… Listen…” Sergeant Agrinya sighed heavily. She doesn’t know who these strangers are. But if this was meeting was important, it had better be.

  “Those strangers, they asked us to meet. Told me that you need to come along. It’s urgent”

  [Okay… I don’t like this, Agrinya. But if it is really urgent, then we should oblige.]

  The comm went off. It was time to meet the strangers.

  Sergeant Agrinya and Colonel Ayani made it to the are where those strangers stopped by via their four-wheeled Puma vehicle. They got out of the vehicle, and saw three individuals wore blue-color battle armor and one individual who wore field armor with cloak, and a prosthetic leg. Ayani’s instincts would’ve called for action if not for the X sign drawn over the insignia of the UHD. A hand looming over the Milky Way.

  “Are they…” Agrinya was confused for a moment. “UHD people who defected. They call themselves Defectors of Corruption.”

  “You are correct, Colonel. In any other circumstances, we’d have a conversation, but I fear this matter is urgent.” The individual with the prosthetic

  “It would help if you tell me who you are.” Colonel Ayani commented.

  “Me?” The individual brought his hood off, which surprised Ayani and Agrinya given the fair-skin, light brown hair, and strong face showed who he is. “I’m Prince Evan Werner.”

  “Werner… As in the son of Lord Admiral Richard Werner?” Agrinya asked.

  “Indeed. It is a long story, but safe to say, we don’t see eye to eye.” Werner’s tone was affable, which relaxed Ayani and Agrinya.

  “That’s nice and all, but what about your convoy?” Ayani asked about the convoy, which Werner gestured to his retinue to throw off the cloak that revealed a Warhead.

  “Sweet maker, that’s an ORUS warhead!” Sergeant Agrinya gasped.

  “Indeed, Sergeant. A devastating thermonuclear device used in the devastating second Cyberis War. We want you to take it.”

  “Take it? Do you want to us to smother our home in nuclear holocaust you piece of..” Agrinya was grabbed by the shoulder the Colonel and he looked at her.

  “Stand down, Agrinya.” He ordered, and she followed.

  “I don’t blame you if you’re wary of this. But I feel like your home is the best vector, given its proximity to UHD sectors.” The Werner heir clarified.

  “Go on” Ayani gestured.

  “Of course. But first, let me ask you something: How far would you go to defend your home?” Werner asked.

  “To the last one standing.” Agrinya answered.

  “To the last one standing.” Likewise with Ayani.

  “And what are the chances of your defense force against the UHD sending one of their pacification corp units?”

  Ayani sighed, “Next to zero.”

  “Then…” Werner took his breath. “You understand how this warhead can be an insurance policy.”

  “Insurance policy? How is a nuclear warhead an insurance policy?” Agrinya asked.

  “That’s what you’re mistaken there, Sergeant. An insurance policy can be a weapon. An ace in the hole. A checkmate.”

  “You know something, don’t you?” Ayani asked.

  “I don’t know when, but I do know what will happen. The UHD will send a small fleet of Crimson Iron to your home. Destabilize it badly enough so the UHD can swoop in and take over.”

  “Crimson Iron… I know that name…” Ayani rubbed his chin.

  “Indeed, they’ve been causing trouble to the Tortsinan Imperium and its territories not long ago. Thankfully, their special forces and outside help from Special Tactics Recon have put quite a hurt on them. Their investors are not happy.”

  “Okay, so we know the UHD will send a Crimson Iron fleet against us. Do you really think we can hold them off?” Agrinya asked, and wondered if this Werner heir thought this through.

  “On your own? Probably not. But given we disabled the warhead’s transponder, I’m sure the STR will wonder where it went and investigate.”

  “We don’t need the STR nosing around.” Colonel Ayani huffed.

  Prince Werner narrowed his eyes “Be reasonable, Colonel. Let’s assume the CI fleet was defeated. Is it gonna be a simple victory? Sadly no. UHD’s Command is expecting Crimson Iron to fail their mission. And in that scenario, they’ll blow your home to kingdom come. No man, woman, elderly, and no child will be spared. Eridani will be the vanguard of their campaign.”

  Wenrer’s tone was serious. Colonel Ayani and Sergeant Agrinya glanced at each other, and tried to think of the enormity of what the prince said. If they lose their home, Frontier Defense Alliance will lose. Losing Eridani was out of the question.

  “Alright, what do you need us to do?” Ayani asked.

  “Move the ORUS warhead to the center of your capitol city, Fury. Get it set for detonation if the UHD invades Eridani. And when their forces reach the city, detonate it.” Werner answered,

  “Detonate.. Most of us will not survive. And if, and that’s a big if, if there’s any survivors, they won’t have a home.” Agrinya protested.

  “And without your insurance policy, your entire people will be killed.” Werner shouted.

  “I’m not an unreasonable man, Sergeant Agrinya. But you need to understand the stakes here. Eridani conquered, UHD is at advantage. FDA loses, and the entire Frontier people at the UHD’s mercy. What little there is.”

  “Alright! Alright. Give us the warhead, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Sacrifice a few for the many” Ayani accepted the deal, somberly.

  “I’m glad you understand.” Werner smiled, and gestured his retinue to leave the warhead along with the convoy. “Get some men to lift off the warhead and the gear from the convoy.”

  Werner then shifted his face to Agrinya. “No victory comes without sacrifice.”

  Agrinya looked at him scornfully, but he paid no mind.

  “Now I must leave. I have other matters to attend to.”

  The Prince Heir and his Retinue left their sight, and both Sergent Agrinya and Colonel Ayani were alone with the convoy. A better fighting chance against Crimson Iron.

  “Colonel, how we’re going to convince our people about this?” Agrinya gestured to the warhead.

  “Sergeant, a lot of us trained and cultivated ourselves to protect our homeland. If sacrificing our homeland prevents the Dominion fuckers from taking our home, that’s a price I’m more than willing to pay.”

  “Some of our ruling council won’t like this.” Agrinya shared her a

  “And the Rangers?” That question gave out a sigh from Ayani. “We’ll make it work, Agrinya. I’m not sure if they’ll like this option, but they’ll have to follow it through.”

  Near from their concealed freighter, Prince Werner was in the lead as he came by and pushed button from his wrist to open the ramp. One of his retinues came forward while the ramp came down, Major Kyra Sanders.

  “I hope this gambit pays off, Evan.” Major Sanders commented.

  “I have faith it will. UHD is gripping their control too tightly, it can easily slip away with one major decision.”

  “There’s no reforming for the Dominion, is it?” Sanders asked somberly.

  Werner shook his head, “No. It is corrupt to the core and the system it’s built on works as intended. A new slate is not just necessary, it’s obligatory.”

  Then, the Prince Heir came forward inside the freighter via the ramp and the rest of his retinue followed. Major Sanders looked at the scenery of Eridani one last time. The beauty that it was its environment, soon to turn to ashes.

  But perhaps it had to be. It suffered too much already from the Dominion’s assaults. Sanders was there, 3 years ago.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Eridani Defense Council, Fury, Eridani

  August 30th, 2505

  “You can’t be fucking serious!” One Councilor shouted in protest. Colonel Ayani had figured there’ll be some objections over using the ORUS warhead against what’s coming, so he wasn’t entirely surprised.

  “Colonel, I am sure you are aware there’s a reason why those warheads were discontinued.” A Councilor spoke out

  “I do, Councilor Karim.” Ayani nodded, and looked in the eyes of the Council. Out of the 9, 4 of them were apprehensive. Councilor Adnan Karim. Councilor Nala Tawfiq. Councilor Yasmin Qadir. And Councilor Ibrahim Abass.

  “Orus warheads, when used in a planet, can cause severe damage to the atmosphere. Which in turn, cause devastating damage to our ecosystem.” Councilor Qadir explained, and hoped that EDF don’t go through this. “

  “We use the warhead, our home and our ecosystem are done! Even if we manage to rebuild it, it’ll decades to fix our ecosystem.” Councilor Abass shouted.

  “And if we continue the current course, it’s only a matter of time before the Dominion takes over our home.” Ayani reasoned.

  “We defeated them before 3 years ago, Colonel. And we can defeat them again.” Councilor Tawfiq responded, her arrogant tone bubbled anger to Ayani.

  “Look, I’m not enthusiastic for this option. If there was another way to kick the UHD out of our home for good, I would’ve taken it.”

  “Listen here, Colonel…” Colonel Karim.

  “No, you listen to me!” Ayani shouted. “We’ve been fighting them for over 20 years. Every time we we won and kicked them out, they came back. We’re a huge bargain for these assholes. Our home is next to their sectors, and the moment they take over, they would easily set up supply and logistical for other fleets to attack our neighbors.”

  The five approved Councilors looked at the Colonel with a small smile. He was a true patriot.

  “We barely managed to prevent them to take over the Cauldron Front, three years ago.” Ayani continued. “We had to see our fallen brethren executed. Tortured. Burned alive.”

  Councilors Qadir and Tawfiq looked down, if not in shame, then in sorrow of the fallen soldiers. Councilor Karim was starting to see his point, while Abass was still uncommitted.

  “The next time they invade us? No man, no woman, no elderly, and no children will be spared.” Ayani’s voice shook. “To us and to our Frontier brethren, we’re not people. We’re numbers to subtract at the slightest hint of disobedience. Resources to exploit, then discarded when we’ve outlived their usefulness.”

  Ayani looked down on the floor. Deep down, he hoped those four would see there is no other way.

  “So I plead to your four Councilors, let us show the Dominion that we won’t let them take our home. Let us show that we’ll fight for our home to our last breaths. Let us show to our Frontier brethren that our sacrifice may embolden them to keep fighting against our oppressors! And let us show that Eridani, our home, is our dominion alone, and none can have it!”

  Soon enough, the Council erupted in claps. Ayani’s speech. galvanized them

  “Colonel Ayani…” Councilor Karim. “You spoke with vigor and devotion for our home. When the day comes, we’ll use the warhead. The Dominion will not and will never have it. I approve!” He banged his gavel

  “I approve.”

  “I approve.”

  “I approve!”

  His heart grew stronger, knowing that through the other side, Eridani and its people will not be prisoners. But freedom fighters who died to ensure a dream of a better tomorrow.

  A dream that they will never be able to see, but helped push through.

  “May our Lord see us as martyrs and grant us a higher place in Heaven.” Councilor Karim declared, and the rest followed. “Ameen!”

  “Ameen.” Ayani muttered.