Chapter 04: Frightened Masses

-20 December 2485-

".....Right...there we are, it's recording. Say hi sweetie."

"Hi Daddy!"

A father said in an enthusiastic tone, spending time with her daughter in Highfall dome. Christmas was approaching and festivities were held throughout the indoor city. The snowfall was light with low winds, giving Earthers or those from frozen worlds the familiar feeling of home. Ever since the artificial weather systems had been installed, this was the first for most other offworlders however. Snow indeed was an alien sight to them but no less majestic.

"So why are out here today?"He asked his daughter once more, seeing her hopping and bouncing left to right in obvious enjoyment.

"So we can get mummy a present!"

"That's your daughter Elizah...Can't wait to see you soon." The man mumbled off a little at the end, it being months since the last time the two ever saw one another. They were going to head straight for Ganymede afterwards, where she was working with at a colonial farm. The father was then suddenly grabbed on his free arm, the daughter tugging him along to one of the malls.

The next few hours were spent shop stopping nearly every outlet, brand or stall. They were determined to get something truly special for her. Eventually they would drop by an antique store, there being a professional locket maker. One of his options was perfect, a locket which allowed one or more worlds engraved onto the metal exterior. On the inside would be a one of a kind coloured, holographic projector.

"You made a good choice kiddo, mom's gonna flip when she gets this."

"You really think so?"

The father smiled behind the camera he recorded their whole trip with, opening his mouth to respond to her. But the mood soon went south. Throughout the dome numerous warning sirens began sounding off. People had a wave of expression plstered on their faces, some were confused and even annoyed by the siren but those that recall the Second Solar Rising had fear.

"//PROCEED TO YOUR LOCAL BUNKERS. THIS IS NOT A TEST. I REPEAT, PROCEED TO YOUR LOCAL BUNKERS. THIS IS NOT A TEST//"

"Shit....we need to go!" The yelled before picking up her daughter, holding her up with an arm while the other kept recording.

She clung tightly onto her Father, the young girl afraid of what was occuring. They ran along with thousands through the streets, many getting trampled or shoved aside. An elderly man was seen lying on the ground, bloody and wounded, not having a chance against the stampeding hordes filled with the fear to survive. The bunker in this sector of the dome was just ahead, the massive alloy-plated entrances being opened. But the flow of citizens were too much, slowing the process by minutes.

"//WE HAVE CONFIRMED STRIKES INBOUND TOWARDS THE DOME. SEEK SHELTER IMM-//"

The first slug slammed through the central support tower of the dome, decimating it and along with the five blocks surrounding it. Despite not beinh caught in the blast, everyone outside the bunker was hit with deadly tremors and the shockwave that followed after.

"Daddy, I'm scared..."

"It's okay sweetie... We're gonna meet mummy. I promise that."He said with tears welling up in his eyes, having to tell her daughter a lie in their final moments.

The recording ended with a cracked screen, the last thing it recorded was a frightened father holding his terrified daughter from the blast. The source of the strike was the work of the Union battleship, Melancholic Autumn. The mounted railgun then fired three more strikes, landing and pummeling the dome into barely what it once was.

"Shit.... holy fucking sh- Admiral Helixil just fired upon the dome Laza-!... u-uhm... High Admiral." Percy yelled but soon stammered and changed his tone. Lazaris couldn't blame her either, shock and confusion had punched them both in the gut. Percy had relayed the order to not destroy the domes, an order from the High Admiral herself.

"Get...the Admiral on the line immediately."

She said through restrained anger and fury. The tightening of her leather gloves showed just how furious she got, looking at the holo-display which showed a massive crater over what used to be Highfall. Percy nodded quickly as even he fumbled over his screen, fearful to see her in this mood. Admiral Helixil appeared on screen as the High Admiral began to question him, having cooled herself before that.

"Admiral Helixil. Need I remind you that I specifically ordered you to not aim for the dome? Please tell me what we're going to report to Command?"

"Oh no, High Admiral. You see, I have received your order. It's just that Command made me do the opposite. Why do you even care for them? The Coalition has detroyed a hundred of our domes. What makes you think that the 60 Million lives we lost. Union lives, during the First and Second Solar Risings can go unavenged?"

Lazaris closed her eyes and gripped the handles of her seat firmly upon hearing his response, she motioned for Percy to cut the transmission. He did as told, leaving the High Admiral able to groan out in annoyance, realising that she wasn't fully in command. She was alertes however, observing the Martian map once more. She saw a Federation naval fleet converging with what was left of the Coalition.

"All vessels move into evasive perimeter. Maintain a 2000 kilometre gap and fire your railgun volleys. Strike group Zesta-5 break off from the fleet and initiate a slingshot flank."

She broadcasted out as her fleet followed orders, firing their reversed thrusters as they began moving away from the incoming fleet. The current statistics of both the Lazaris' and Helixil's vessel numbers stood at only a hundred and seventy. Coalition vessels were reduced to only to only a hundred and twenty, losing a two-fifths of their fleet. But with the Federation fleet joining them, their combined numbers would be double of that to the current fleet Lazaris had.

"Zesta-5 is enroute to burn point. Firing up main afterburners, we'll be back in ten minutes."

The captain of the strike force detachment announced back to the High Admiral. The small flotilla consisted of a few frigates, corvettes and strike craft, more than enough to catch them by surprise. In response the Federation fleet sent out their own flotilla to chase after Zesta-5, changing their orbital trajectory to meet them head on.

"They took the bait..."

She said with a smirk, informing the Captain further on her plan. However the opposing fleet came closer and closer, eventually breaching the two thousand kilometre gap. Numerous reports of torpedo launches were relayed from trackers, railgun slugs following shortly after

"All cruisers fire single warheads! Form an alligned detonation point of 800 kilometres!"

Lazaris gave out the order, the next ten seconds followed were stressing. All cruisers launched out a single fusion warhead, propelling themselves to reach the detonation point. However the volley of projectiles would soon arrive, striking several corvettes and frigates.

"All helm officers report to your varied terminals. I need battle information stat, project it." She said with haste, hopping over her own console as she made her way to the war table in the centre of the helm.

Point defence cannons spewed out thousands of rounds to try and intercept the volleys. Lazaris had a complete projection of the naval battle which was occuring this very moment. She examined both projections of her fleet and theirs, paying attention as well to the two flotillas on a course with one another.

"...Any moment now...Detonate!"

The warheads exploded in a spectacular show of colours. Fusion streams imploding but soon expanding out enough to scramble the navigational systems of the enemy fleet. She was smart, using the warheads to trick them into thinking that she was going for a full nuclear assault. They had already launched their second volley torpedoes to intercept them, but were surprised to find that they detonated before they could even hit them. Their volley was all but lost or deactivated and they were left to fly blind.

"All vessels charge up spinal railcannons. Burst fire-....Fleet Tygris where are you going? Admiral Helixil! What are you planning?"She demanded as she saw a chunk of the Union fleet leaving, containing mostly of the Helixil's flotilla.

"Command informed Fleet Tygris to make planetfall, hold off the fleet for us. Good luck High Admiral." He said with quite an obvious smug, looking down at his superior before cutting off transmission.

With that the whole of Fleet Tygris went communications dark. This leaves Fleet Mariah, her own fleet. She cursed under her breathe as the cowards sought easier battles. She broadcasted to all admirals and captains under her wing, telling them cut reverse acceleration and burn the main engines. The ships were silent at first, thinking it would've been suicide to do such an act. However one voice peaked its head out from the herd.

"UNC Killbane, ready on your call." Silence followed after the broadcast. Suddenly, another broadcast was received, the cycle repeating itself. Numerous vessels began showing their loyalty, standing by the lady they served.

"UNC Yellowmaze, reading you loud and clear High Admiral."

"UNC Kamarov fights on, High Admiral!"

"UNC Eclipsed, our trust is with you."

"UNC Joker, we stand with Fleet Mariah."

It kept going on an on, until the current broadcasts peaked at ninety-five. Percy turned to look at the High Admiral, giving her a nod of appreciation. She then ordered for maximum burn acceleration, wanting to use the dark zone she created with her warheads as an advantage. For the next few hundred kilometres, Fleet Mariah traversed towards the opposing fleet.

"All vessels fire out torpedoes, prime your spinal guns and load your cannons. Keep your engines on overdrive!"

She commanded before the comms went dark, they had entered the electromagnetic field they created. They already logged their individual targets long before that, starting to fire away diverse munitions and projectiles. It was a gruelling two-minute window, shooting past the blackout line when information began pooling into the Bloody Spring's database.

"High Admiral! We have the battle report. We lost an approximate 8 Corvettes and 5 Frigates. 3,500 casualties. The enemy....they have been reduced 40% of their fighting capacity. 14,500 casualties! Sat feeds indicate they're organising a retreat."

"This is Captain Blinz, Zesta-5. We have suffered 20% losses but managed to hold out. Making rendezvous to the fleet in 2-minutes, requesting medical and repair."

The Captain asked Lazaris, coughing in his display which showed him having several scars. In his background were helm officers using fire extinguishers to put out the flames which were from the overload.

"Good work Percy, keep me notified. Captain Blinx you'll have engineering freighters ready on the go, Command will be pleased with our victories today."

-21 December 2485-

Back on the ground, Kasey rubbed his palms nervously after seeing Highfall dome being decimated. He swore he could hear the screams of the trapped and the damned. Both Sabre and Spear had already reached their assigned underground garrison, along with a company of soldiers mixed in from the Coalition and Federation. The two squads were trying to make the time pass until deployment orders were called in.

"Boom, I win Zayed." The leader of Spear Squad, Jack, said smugly as he placed his cards down.

"What?! How?...You gotta be kidding me..." Zayed groaned out as he tossed his cards forwards.

Everyone chuckled in their quarters, them playing several card games to pass the time. Of all the squads, Spear was one Sabre could get along with fairly well. They used two empty supply crates, having a few lukewarm beers. Kasey on the other hand didn't see the point of this, the anger from attack still affecting him greatly.

"Why are we even here you guys? We should be out there fighting! Not here, slacking and drinking. We aren't SRU for nothing." Kasey said as he placed his magazine aside, busy carving in engravings into his bullets.

"I agree with Kase." Ramiel responded simply, almost everyone looking at her since she rarely talked. But she ignored it, downing her beer like it was nothing.

They had to find some way to cope, after the losses of the Highfall's railgun networks as well as the defeat in orbit. It would take a four days before reinforcement fleets would arrive from Earth and Venus, Ceres if they were lucky enough. That meant that Coalition Armed Forces and Federal Defence League were on their own, planetside. Kasey's wasn't, they really were Mars' line of defence against the Union menace.

"Well Kasey, you just got me in the mood to spill some Union blood. Been awhile since I've hunted one of 'em."

Jack agreed with a smirk on his lip, standing up as Kasey followed. The rest looked at one another before doing the same as their Leaders. They all unanimously walked out from their quarters, strutting towards the communications room of the garrison.

"What's the plan Boss?" Zayed asked, looking towards Kasey.

"Moving on an operation to take back the Yesuri Spaceport. Admiral Zhang already briefed me earlier on call, the Garrison's Colonel will relay the instructions."

"Yesuri? Heard the Union's already set up shop." Jack chipped in, raising a brow to the mention of the spaceport.

As they chatted amongst themselves, Kasey walked up to the locked door of the room. He moved to the side before aiming his eye towards the mounted biometric scanner. A low-density hologram was seen beaming out, checking his eye until a green blip was shown. They all swiftly entered before stepping up a platform where a massive war table resided.

"Colonel, we need to send reinforcements to the third regiment. They won't hold the highway much longer with the fire their under."

"We all do respect Lieutenant, but I've already lost a wing of dropships and 3 quarters of our Mech squads. Yesuri Air Base is currently top priority. Ah, you must be the SRU teams stationed here. Sabre and Spear."

The Colonel inquired to which both squads stood at ready and gave him a greeting salute. Once told to stand at ease, he walked over to the longer side of the war table which projected out 3D map of the battle.

"Here's the sitrep, our forces are currently defending the 67A Highway. This specific highway is vital for our evacuation efforts. Union forces are attacking from the East and Northeast. They're using the captured Yesuri Air Base as an FOB for their ground attack as of now." The Colonel took a deep puff of his cigarette, cooling off his nerves which have been on edge since the invasion began.

"We need to infiltrate and sabotage the refueling and munitions depots, moving onto the landing pads and hangars afterwards. Drop flares to signal your success and I'll have a dropship come to exfil. Afterwards you make your way to 67A to reinforce the defence. Now saddle up, both your teams leave in twenty."

With the colonel finishing off briefing, both teams would be dismissed, quick to change into gear as they donned on their combat rigs, enhanced soldier platforms with built-in exo-skeletons. Both Sabre and Spear made their way over to a pair of large assault dropships, a pair of rapid IFVs, with disposable thrust vectors around its base, being loaded into it's cargo hold.