Jeti: Skirmish at the West Tower

The Rollas' icon was blinking on his radar towards Kosh, tailed by three cruisers. Anxious, Jeti wondered why Krak choosed to fly away from the base. Suddenly the icon vanished from the radar. The Rollas was destroyed. Their last hope and friend was gone.

Feeling pity, he turned to look for Lonsoh and found him staring at his gauntlet's radar as well. The tears forming in his eyes ascertained the fact that he knew of the automaton's death. Jeti walked up to him and patted him on the shoulders. He wished to console him but didn't know which words to use to pacify him. There was no time either, as Crubots were inside the base. In some few minutes, they took could be sent into obliteration. A Lohis behind one of the turrents notices their idleness and yelled at them.

"You two! Get over here and help!"

"Come on, Lonsoh. We have a base to defend." He steered Lonsoh gently towards the turrents. Lonsoh allowed himself to be prodded, albeit reluctantly and entered into the machine. Jeti made to follow but the Lohis stopped him, looking at his badge.

"You are a Pandin?" His surprise was not concealed.

"Yes." Jeti answered angrily.

The Pandins were a special type of troopers that used Imperium coated sabers and shields with advanced nanotechnology. It was a favorite discipline for intended soldiers, awed by the tales of legendary Pandins, but very few always passed the rigid and difficult training procedures. Many died and many others failed and were moved to other military departments. It was quite rare to see a young Pandin since the average age of graduates were usually around thirty-five to forty, every year. Jeti's stats and feats at the Sirius' military academy had impressed the tutors that he was a natural Pandin and he was able to finish the ten-year training program in six and a half years.

When he was transferred to Sirius, he became the Keron's favorite owing to this feat, and at the same time, he attracted contempt from the older troopers and higher officers. This Lohis in particular could not believe that Jeti had a Pandin sigil on his badge, but he finally let go of his arm.

"So, you're the 'young wonder'? You should be at the West Tower. Intel is that Crubots are swarming around there and the Pandins are making a last line of defense."

He knew the Lohis wanted to get rid of him but he didn't let his anger show. The soldier was his superior and insubordination was not tolerated in the Xentan military, even in the face of battle. Saluting, he raced off towards the west end of the base.

There, he met a fourth of the base's remaining troopers and the other three Pandins of the base, waiting patiently as Crubots were breaking down the inner wall towards the West Tower. A Dumus stood in front of them, shouting orders and trying to raise their spirits and battle morale. Jeti unsheathed his saber and joined the frontline of Pandins and found himself standing next to Lohis Dètras, his idol. Dètras smiled at him and asked if he was nervous to which he answered in the negative.

"Good. Stay close to me." Dètras patted his shoulder and activated his shield, looking keenly at the cracking wall.

Jeti smiled and decided there and then, to impress him.

Finally, the wall tore down and the first three Crubots emerged, running forward towards them but got gunned down. Others followed and soon the two sides clashed.

"For Xentans and Sirius!" The Dumus yelled before rushing to meet the machines. His chant was taken up by the rest of the soldiers as they pressed against the invaders. Jeti was amongst them, running and chanting, his saber raised and cutting through Imperium armor of Crubots. He would seek and pick an opponent, engagebwith it and after annihilating the machine, would look for another. A Crubot several metres away raised it's IMM-blaster to shoot at his midsection. Jeti quickly closed the distance and the Crubots lost its head to a powerful swing. Another Crubots replaced it and soon suffered the same fate.

He moved swiftly with his saber, hacking away at mechanical appendages and destroying enemies.

As he fought, he saw that more Crubots were advancing through to the inner wall. He scanned around and found a pulse grenade. He ducked low and picked it up. He then activated the detonator and tossed it overhead into the crowd of oncoming Crubots. The ensuing blast blew away majority of the Crubots to bits while others lost limbs and parts, rendering them unable for combat.

"Nice job, Jeti," Dètras called out to him, removing his blade from the body of a Crubot.

Other soldiers hailed him as they went round finishing off the Crubots that were still functioning.

"Jeti!" A voice called out to him. Turning around, he saw Kiben, who was strangely alive. He was walking towards him with three other troopers behind him.

"Kiben? Where were you at? Keron Prebs sent men out to look for you."

"I was held up. I went to the hangar and the XAD-1173 was missing. What happened to her?"

Jeti looked at him suspiciously. It was very odd that Kiben was not alerted that the Destroyer had left the hangar, since it's systems were linked to his gauntlet as the pilot.

"Krak flew the Destroyer."

"The automaton? Where is she, then?" Kiben asked, searching the skies.

"Blown up." He answered solemnly.

"Oh....." Kiben looked away.

Jeti stared at him silently. The fighting has shifted to the outer wall, as the Xentans pushed the Crubots back and were terminating the damaged bots.

"Look, that Crugi shuttle has its hatch open. We could take control of it and then I could fly it," Kiben said suddenly, calling his attention to a shuttle near the inner walls. By 'we', Jeti knew he meant the trio of faithfuls behind him.

"To what purpose?" He had to ask.

"I could pretend that I'm Crugi and possibly shoot down some more before I get detected. It could buy us some time," He shrugged.

"Want me to help in its capture?" Jeti asked hopefully. He knew at least there could be a pilot or a Crugi trooper inside the shuttle.

One of the Xentan troopers behind Kiben snorted audibly at the request.

Kiben accessed him for a second, and seemed to want to let him but he was nudged by another trooper. He shooked his head and smiled.

"No. I think we'll just be fine on our own. Besides, you will be needed here." He motioned to his friends and they crept stealthily into the opened hatch.

"Wish me luck, Jeti," He made to leave.

Keri grabbed his hand, rather too fiercely in his haste and the Lohis was startled at this. It occured to him that Kiben was afraid of the Imperium saber that was in his left hand. There was this emotion in his eyes that Jeti could not discern. It seemed like a mixture of fear, anxiety and weak courage.

"I wish you good fortune, Kiben. Be safe," Jeti said finally.

"The wishes are mutual. Stay alive, Jeti. May we meet again." Kiben replied and ran off and entered the Crugi shuttle.

Jeti was tempted to follow them to help out, but the fighting had gotten more fierce as more Crubots were exported near the west tower end. He turned back to aid his comrades and once again pushed himself to the front line.

"We can't hold them back!" A trooper yelled.

"Don't give up! Stand your ground!" The Dumus commanded as he fired his blaster.

"I thought there were reinforcements coming? What's taking them so long?" Another trooper close to Jeti shouted rhetorically. Jeti knew that the morale of the troopers would be weakened and he decided to do something. Anything.

"They are coming," He answered quietly, not even believing himself. The trooper turned to look at him.

"Send word that they should hasten up or they will only find our corpses." The trooper told him and moved away.

"Look out!" Someone yelled.

Jeti looked up quickly and in time and saw the cruisers diving towards them. He quickly activated his Imperium nano-shield and ducked as the blasts struck. The base floor trembled with the explosions and he dug in his knees to keep his balance.

When he straightened up, some seconds later, the Xentan troopers had retreated in a bid to find shelter from the blasts. Those who were unfortunate were sprawled on the ground, either dead or dying. The trooper who has asked about the reinforcements lay a few feet to his left. He was screaming in agony as flames engulfed him, burning away his uniform and scarring his reddish hue flesh. His arms trashed about as he fought to overcome the flames. It was, however, a lost battle.

A droning sound alerted Jeti and he was brought to the realization that he could suffer the same fate. He turned away from the dead trooper to look at the direction of the sound. Another cruiser was prepping for another dive-blast, again.

Glancing around, he saw a heavy IP-launcher that lay beside its dead owner. Running as fast as he could, he approached and picked up the weapon. Activating it, he raised and aimed at the incoming cruiser. His shot was precise and the cruiser went down, instantly.

He got up from his kneeling position and looked around. There was no living Xentan in sight and somehow, there were no Crubots in the area as well. It seemed the Crugi had decided to dive-blast the west end of the base and land their Crubots on the east end.

Raising his left arm, he contacted Lonsoh on his gauntlet. The screen displayed an error in connection. Anxious and worried, he quickly contacted Sedekï, a mutual acquaintance, using his Holograph. The trooper's hologram appeared on the device, cradling an IP-blaster and crouching behind some damaged bricks as cover.

"Jeti! How is it going, friend?"

"Sedekï! It is terrible."

"Where are you at?"

"West end. You?"

"East. All the shuttles are now landing over here. Intel is, the Crugi Carriers are exporting Battlewagons at the base's north gate. The Crubots are trying to take control from the east end. It is basically chaos over here," Sedekï was panting.

"Their cruisers are blasting at us, here. They are trying to surround us." Jeti realized.

"I see. They want us to have the south end to our backs like a dead end. So they will have the advantage of pressing us."

"Sedekï, have you seen Lonsoh around?" He asked and waited as Sedekï raised his head cautiously and scanned his environs.

"No. With all the action going on, I haven't had a chance to be that watchful but he is not here."

Jeti felt downcast. And it seemed evident to Sedekï because he continued talking.

"Don't worry, Jeti. I believe he is alright. We need you over here, though. The other Pandins are trying to rally up a last line of defense," He got up from his crouching position and started shooting.

"I will be there shortly. " He ended the connection and began running eastwards. He passed troopers running in the opposite direction with mobile turrets, obviously to tackle the threats of the overhead cruisers. Lonsoh wasn't amongst them.

He checked every Xentan trooper he came across, dead or alive, for his friend. He however, saw familiar faces of comrades who had been alive a few hours ago; The body of Qüan, the same Pandin who ran beside him as they exited the dorms when the attack begun, the severed upper torso of Fibirün, the trooper who always led the daily morning drills and others.

He was near tears when he saw the mangled body of Trason Detras, twisted in a grotesquely manner on the base floor.He had received news just recently that he was a father and now he was dead. His son would never know or meet his father and the same could be said for the late Pandin, who would never see the boy he sired. He was gone.

A Crugi battlewagon drove into his view from his left, coming from the north gates. Once it sighted him, the battlewagon picked up speed and its firing cannon spun in readiness of firing a blast. Jeti raised the IP-launcher that was still in his possession and aimed at the approaching vehicle. He fired the weapon and nothing happened. Startled, he checked the weapon and was dismayed that the weapon had run out of explosive charges.

Panic-stricken, he tossed the weapon aside and raised his left arm to activate his Imperium nano-shield as the battlewagon's cannon opened fire, shooting a blast of Imperium plasma at him. His shield was not fully merged and formed when the blast hit him. The force of the blast flung him backwards and he collided against the base's brick wall. He realized he was losing consciousness before he even landed on the ground.