Sorah Dammi: Conquest - Obstacles

COMMAND CENTER, OFENIAS WARSHIP,

COMMANDER SORAH'S ASSAULT FLEET,

PLANET SIRIUS'S TASUSPHERE.

Sorah walked into the command center of the Ofenias from his personal chambers, wondering why the assault was not yet concluded. Looking at his chronometer, it showed that over forty planet-minutes had passed since the assault began. It should have been a smooth and swift victory, except he had been misinformed.

Ten Hexoni years ago, the Emperor assigned him to the Xentan conquest, following the move of his arch-rival, Dunesin Agemon, to the planet of Earth. At Domeran, Sorah strove to defend the captured regions his predecessor had won as well as win new regions for the empire, however, it had been a frustrating and disappointing start. The climate was so unfavorable and his troops couldn't adapt quickly to the arid environments of the planet. It seemed as though he would the fail and his brilliant and flawless military career dented with defeat. Yet, he proved the heads of the seven houses and his critics wrong and cemented his claims of being a great strategist and tactician.

He stopped using Crugi troopers in his battles, depending solely on the Crubots, machines created by the Crugi, in the conflict. Though inferior to the Mechs, but, they served their purpose of existence effectively; obey and kill, without question. Coated with Imperium armor, the AI robotic machines were difficult to destroy and they cared less for the environment. In less than a year, over half of Domeran was Crugi occupied.

Pleased with his success, Sorah turned his focus towards Sirius, the next Xentan-controlled planet, untouched since the beginning of the war. After two years of trying to invade the planet and being repelled on each occasion, an opportunity unveiled itself. One of the Xentan captives was coerced into revealing details about a certain neglected base and its merger population of troopers. With the knowledge, Sorah decided to attack the base himself to prevent the mistakes of his subordinates. A third of his military fleet was sent to distract the planet's SpaceGuard while he led the rest to quickly annex the unprotected base.

When he entered the command center, all the Crubots and troopers halted their movements and actions and gave the military salute of an outstretched arm bent inwards at the elbow.

"Carry on." He said as he walked towards the ship's control hub. The soldiers and machines alike, saluted again and continues their random actions, passing orders, communicating with other vessels, updating the battle logs and receiving information on the warship's main monitors.

"Dumus Falia, I need a battle report. What's going on down there?" He asked one of the junior officers behind the monitors.

"Dunesin, the shuttles are having a difficult landing. The base's turrets and artillery cannon blasters are preventing them from landing. Now, we had just gotten word that a Xentan Destroyer was sent out of the base's aerodome and is doing heavy damage to the first batch of shuttles. As we speak, we've lost twenty-two shuttles and all the Crubots that were in them. No successful landing, yet."

"It will take another hour before the Xentan Neomeris realize that they've been outsmarted. We should have captured the base and drop down from the Tasusphere before that happens."

"Should I inform the shuttles to land outside the base?" The trooper asked him.

"No, that would lead to a siege. A siege would give them the advantage of fortifications and would take time, which we do not have. Proceed with the original plan."

"Yes, Dunesin."

"Summon Keron Soto and his unit," He turned away and ordered one of the Crugi orderlies standing guard. He watched as the tall lanky soldier rushed off. Sorah turned back to the screen and saw another military shuttle being blown apart to smithereens on the overhead monitors.

"Dunesin, you summoned me." A voice called out to him.

"Keron Soto, can you tell me why your unit is not out on the airfield?" He asked, still staring at the huge monitors.

"Dunesin, you gave word that we were not needed in battle since this base had no spacecraft," the pilot defended himself.

"I did. But, were you not informed of a certain Xentan Destroyer that is in the airfield as we speak?"

"I....I was, Dunesin," he stuttered.

Sorah sighed and closed his eyes.

"Get your unit out into the airfield and take out that destroyer."

"As you command it, Dunesin," he saluted and hurried off. The Destroyer was laying waste to the military shuttles, but something was queer about the vessel as he stared at it. He observed the Destroyer for a quarter of an hour and was able to deduce why the vessel was bothering him. The cannon blasters at the sides of the Destroyer were not firing, only those at the wings, which were only fired by the pilot. That was it.

The Destroyer was obviously flying solo, with no crew on it. Sorah didn't know if he was meant to be happy that he had discovered the Destroyer's weakness or if he should be angry that all the fuss was created by a single Xentan pilot who was brave enough to defy the odds and fly a Destroyer without a crew. With a crew on board, the military shuttles would stand no chance of landing and even the unit of cruisers he had just deployed would have had a difficult time before they could shoot it down. The knowledge that only a pilot was in the Destroyer made the chase boring and uninteresting.

"CC-UNIT 01 of the Ofenias exiting the command ship." The warship's AI system announced around the warship. Sarah watched as twenty cruisers flew out of the ship's spaceport.

The cruisers were smaller, faster spacecrafts modified for atmospherical warfare, flanking, target destruction and quick strikes. Flown by a single pilot and with no single crew onboard, the vessels were lighter and faster than a Destroyer.

"Dumus Falia, get a direct communications to the unit's leader," he ordered, again. The soldier jammed some controls and the Keron's helmet-clad face appeared on the main monitor.

"Dunesin," Soto saluted.

"Keron Soto, get your unit into B6 formation. The Destroyer is flying solo, so it wouldn't be much of a contest. Lead five other cruisers and deal with that Xentan Destroyer immediately. The rest of the unit should attack the turrets."

"Yes, Dunesin. We'll act immediately."

Sorah watched the monitor as six cruisers separated from the unit's flying formation and zoomed towards the Xentan Destroyer.

"Alert me when the obstacle is out of the way." He told the trooper.