Chapter 15: Chapter 14

Star People

Chapter 14

Battlefield

Feb 5^th, 12 AE…

The Planet Ravager was completely merciless as it and its mechanoids killed everything in their path. Whether or not it was sentient did not matter to the soulless, crystalline murder machines. Plants, animals and people were systematically eliminated and their remains used as materials to build more of them. Euracon villages and towns fell with horrifying ease as the Planet Ravager and its swarm took the most direct course toward the capital city of Vandania.

At this point, the entire Empire of Euracon was on alert as thousands of soldiers were mobilized to counter this threat to their nation. And they would all prove to be nothing but fodder for the mechanoids to slaughter. Five divisions were sent out to defend the outer perimeter five miles from the walls of the capital city. None would survive as the Planet Ravager and its minons completely wiped them out.

At his palace in the center of the city, Emperor Xerxal watched in horror from his magical viewer. The crystal monsters were tearing through his soldiers and magical artillery as if they were made of old parchment. Their numbers seemed to increase exponentially with every man or beast that was slain.  With every magical spell thrown at them, they would absorb and grow stronger. They seemed unstoppable as they steadily marched toward the outer walls. Within minutes, they killed all the men posted at the main gate and started to tear through it. Magically-reinforced iron and stone proved to be no obstacle as the mechanoids absorbed the magical energy and systematically began breaking the barrier down.

Just as he was about to summon his Royal Coach and planned to evacuate the city himself, his Magic Viewer Mirror then received a priority call and began displaying the image of the Council of Prime Directors.

“So you have finally come to your senses, eh? You’ll finally give what’s rightfully mine, right? Send a hundred, no a THOUSAND OF THOSE GIANT SOLDIERS IMMEDIATELY! SEND IN THAT FLYING BATTLESHIP AND THOSE IRON DRAGONS! THEY WILL DESTROY THIS MENACE AND WILL BELONG TO EURACON!”

“You misunderstand us, Emperor Xerxal.” Director Benjamin said simply. “We are not contacting you to give what you demand. We are just letting you know that we intend to enter the Vados continent to deal with this crisis, and we are giving you this final opportunity for negotiations. We would prefer to have permission to enter your region of the Vados continent, but we intend to cross those borders in any case.”

“Ridiculous! To enter Euracon without divine permission, my permission, would be a declaration of war!”

“And you are not in a state of war now?” Director Nasaak pointed out. “We warned you not to use magic on the Planet Ravager! You chose not to heed our warning! And now you demand that we just give you our technology to handle a crisis that your people had caused in the first place?! If I were you, I’d throw away your greed and pride and think more on what to do to save your citizens and your country!”

“This is your last chance, Emperor Xerxal.” Ben stated. “With or without your permission, we will be entering the Vados continent to deal with the mess that you made! Your answer?”

At that moment, the mechanoids broke through the wall, allowing the Planet Ravager a clear view of the Royal Palace. The front of the monstrosity opened up and began focusing a huge amount of energy within it. The ground and air around it started to vibrate as it prepared to unleash its attack. With a horrifying screech, it let loose with a huge beam similar to one of the Missouri’s anti-proton guns.

As the beam of annihilation came toward his palace, Emperor Xerxal screamed out his last words.

“All right! All right! I give you my divine permission to enter Euracon…”

The entire palace and just about every part of the capital city were engulfed in a massive explosion. Virtually everyone in Vandania was erased from existence. All that was left was a smoldering crater.

After detecting no organic life in the area, the Planet Ravager and its swarm moved on towards other populated areas on the continent. At this point, they had tripled in number.

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Polaris City, Council of Prime Directors Conference Chamber…

After the main holo-viewer went blank with the demise of Emperor Xerxal Shilor and the Euracon capital of Vandania, the atmosphere among the Council became somber.

“As annoying as that idiot Xerxal was, I wouldn’t have wished that kind of death on anyone.” Nasaak said.

“Yes, it was most tragic that an entire city was wiped out. Not to mention numerous villages and towns, as well as thousands of soldiers. However, we cannot delay any longer.” Nerto said.

“Indeed. Now that we have official permission, from the late Emperor Xerxal, we will now commence with the operation to contain and eradicate the Planet Ravager and its Mechanoid hordes.” Ben announced.

“General Kurdo just announced that Commander Vandelin and the 472^nd Battle-Mech division are ready to deploy. They’ll be launching from the Yorktown along with the 251^st Heavy Fighter Wing as air cover.” Anida stated after receiving a message.

“Kurdo? Wasn’t he retired again after the Sath campaign?” The Catian Prime Director asked. “Not that I’m complaining, since he has quite a bit of experience in dealing with a Planet Ravager.”

“He wasn’t officially retired after our war with the Empire of Sath.” Viska explained. “He wanted to see how the reconstruction was proceeding, so we held off removing him from active service. We were planning on retiring him by next month, but then this crisis came up. And you’re right, it was because of his experience with a Planet Ravager that we fully re-activated him. He’ll be in total control of all ground forces against the Ravager.”

“Excellent! And what about the other nations, especially the Kingdom of Naran?”

“We’ve contacted them and showed them the footage from our surveillance satellites and drones, as well as from the Star Hawk sensors. There’s no doubt among the nations of how deadly the mechanoids and the Planet Ravager are.” Nerto stated.

“So that means…” Ben began but the Velor cut him off.

“However, the Kingdom of Naran still insists that they’ll be able to handle any of the mechanoids or the Planet Ravager, should they cross the border from Euracon.”

“Damn it!”

“Apparently, like the Sath and Euracon, they have the same problem of underestimating the enemy and overestimating their abilities.” Viska said.

“And they’re also as blind as a Skyreet.” Anida commented. “Did they not understand that the mechanoids and the Planet Ravager feed on psions, aka magic? We found out the hard way on Katyron.”

“Unfortunately, pride has been known to override common sense.” Nerto let off a sigh. “And it looks like the Narans are about to get a hard lesson.” The Velor gazed on his holo-viewer and noticed a large number of blips were heading toward a sector near the Euracon-Naran border. “The Planet Ravager just released a large flight of those Flying-Type mechanoids toward the Kingdom of Naran. It’s most likely they’re scouts, but they’re just as dangerous as their Ground-Type counterparts. We’ve already scrambled two squadrons of Star Hawks in order to intercept them, but they won’t be able to catch up to the mechanoids until after they’ve entered Naran airspace. It also looks like Naran has launched their own air forces to deal with the threat.”

“Those poor fools.” Nasaak said while shaking his head.

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The Kingdom of Naran…

At an altitude of over 17,000 feet, near the most distant point of the border between Naran and Euracon, Captain Visteria led her flight of Sky Blade fighters. After receiving confirmation of the approach of the Flying-Type mechanoids, she and her squadrons were immediately scrambled to intercept and destroy them before they could reach any nearby settlements.

She had no doubt that her fightercraft was up to the job. It was the most advanced magic jet ever devised by the Kingdom. It was a sleek and graceful craft with straight wings, an enclosed cockpit, and its tail sported two tailplanes mounded on top of the fin, forming a T-shape. It had twin engines mounted in the wingroots, near the fuselage. It was armed with two magic autocannons with 1,000 rounds each. And best of all, unlike the crude fighters of Atlans, the Sky Blade needed no propeller. It was capable of speeds of over 600 km/hr and flew by using a magical wind spell to suck in air, and a fire spell to ignite the fuel and blow it out the exhaust ports. It was considered the most advanced aircraft in the world and the envy of all other nations. The Empire of Euracon had made several claims that the aircraft belonged to them and several attempts to steal it.

There was virtually nothing on this planet that could compare to it. Nothing that flew that could match it.

Until now.

As the twenty-five Sky Blades reached the interception point, Captain Visteria saw in the distance several tiny dots that reflected light from the sun’s rays. Then they quickly came into view at murderously fast speeds. What was even more unbelievable was the way they moved through the sky. When they came close enough, Visteria could make them out as shaped like five-pointed stars. They seemed to be made of some kind of blue-white translucent crystal. They were approximately 2-3 meters in diameter and each one had a red orb within its center.

She couldn’t tell what was keeping those things aloft and assumed they were using some kind of levitation spell. As she flew in to get a closer look, the swarm of fifty crystal starfish suddenly broke formation and began speeding toward the Naran fighters on what appeared to be kamikaze strikes.

Then the carnage began.

“I’m hit! I’m hit”

One of the newer pilots screamed as one starfish used its hard body and sharp edges to slice off the tail of his fighter. As he desperately tried to regain control of his craft, two more starfish slicked through the cockpit, killing him and causing the rest of the magic jet to explode. The flying mechanoids emerged unscathed and began hunting for their next target.

“Evasive maneuvers! All units break!” Visteria shouted over her communicator as she put her jet into a tight, banking turn. She narrowly avoided a trio of crystal stars as they just missed her jet’s underbelly. As she swung about, she saw another of her pilots die in a fiery explosion as two crystal stars ran headlong into the fighter and ignited the magical fuel tanks.

As she put her Sky Blade into another tight turn, she managed to get one of the flying mechanoids in her gun sights. She fed magical energy into her controls and pulled the trigger on her control stick.

Leading her target, she fired a short stream of magically-enhanced projectiles at it. Each round was enveloped in an aura of magic, which allowed it to slice through the air at supersonic speed and impact with great force. Against normal foes, the rounds would have been as effective as 20mm armor-piercing explosive ammunition. However, against the mechanoids that fed on various forms of energy, including magic, the rounds were practically useless.

The squadron leader was shocked as she witnessed the glow of her magic rounds immediately wink out before they struck the target. The projectiles harmlessly bounced off the crystal starfish’s shell. Over her communicator system, she heard her wingmen’s screams of horror and death as they were being picked off.

“I can’t shake it!”

“Someone, anyone! Get these bastards off my tail!”

“I’m shooting everything I’ve got! Our magic guns aren’t working against them!”

“I’m hit!”

“I’m going down!”

“AAAAAHHHHHHH!”

“NOOOOO!”

All over the skies, Visteria could see her comrades perishing in fiery explosions or crashing to the ground, trailing flames and smoke behind them. In less than two minutes, twenty-five Sky Blades had been whittled down to a paltry five. As she tried to gain altitude, the Naran pilot saw a trio of mechanoids diving toward her cockpit. She wouldn’t be able to evade in time. It seemed like this was the end.

Then suddenly, a stream of kinetic autocannon fire lanced through the three stars, piercing their shells and destroying their cores. The mechanoids lifelessly fell away from her view. Shocked that she had survived the encounter, Visteria looked about and saw a strange-looking craft coming down towards her before making a barrel roll to avoid crashing into her jet. As the two passed by each other, she saw a glimpse of the pilot as he gave her a two-fingered salute.

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“Star Hawk Prime to Star Wing! Pair off and take out all mechanoids! Protect the Naran fighters!” Captain James Wittens gave out his orders as he and his wingman, Lieutenant Kojiro Tanakato, peeled off to shoot down another trio of crystal starfish.

What was nearly a total defeat for the Sky Blade fighters suddenly reversed as the Free Land Starfighters began shooting down the horrors with surprising ease. The surviving Naran pilots were astounded at how fast and nimble the Star Hawks were, making their Sky Blades seem clumsy and plodding. And the Free Land weapons were able to destroy their foes with incredible accuracy and power. In less than a minute, nearly all the crystal starfish were cleared from the skies.

As the crystal remains of the mechanoids fell all around, Wittens and his wingman locked onto the final quartet of the Flying Types. Both Star Hawks fired off a single missile, which tracked the targets as they tried to evade. As the missiles got close enough, they each exploded into half a dozen smaller warheads. The so-called Scattershot Missiles obliterated the last of the Planet Ravager’s scouting group.

As one squadron peeled away, the other squadron of Star Hawks began flying in formation with the Sky Blades. Patching into their magical communications frequency, Captain Wittens hailed the surviving fighters.

“This is Captain James Wittens, Call sign Star Hawk Prime. To the Kingdom of Naran fighters, please respond. Are you all right?”

Visteria was still in a state of utter shock and amazement, as were the other Sky Blade pilots. Here they were, flying in formation with highly-advanced fighters that made their Sky Blades look like toys. She began to suspect the identity of their rescuers as she opened a channel to them.

“This is Captain Visteria of the 21^st Sky Blade Wing. Kingdom of Naran. We thank you for your timely intervention. Unfortunately, we’re the only survivors. May I assume that you are from Free Land?”

“That’s right. We’re from the 124^th Star Hawk Fighter Wing.”

“Star Hawk? Is that what you call your magic jets? They’re quite amazing.”

“Thank you. Will you be able to return to base under your own power? Do you require an escort?”

The Sky Blade leader thought for a moment, and then replied. “We should be able to make it back safely. No escort is required.”

“Well then, perhaps we’ll meet again, Captain.” Wittens remarked as he signaled for his squadron to head back to base. He decided to give Visteria an old-style pilot salute that dated back to World War 2. He flew out ahead of her and rocked his Starfighter’s wings before peeling away to join his squadron.

As the Star Hawks disappeared over the horizon, Captain Visteria began to wonder about the gentlemanly fighter pilot who had saved her life.

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Thirty minutes later…

On the ground, just a few miles north of where Vandania had once stood, the Planet Ravager was churning out more and more of its murder machines every hour. At this point, the swarm had increased to nearly 600,000 individual units. Over one hundred villages and small towns had been completely eradicated and the next target, the trading city of Vigaro, would mean the demise of over 1 million people.

However, the mechanoids and the Planet Ravager soon came up against very stiff resistance as a flight of Byatta fighters appeared from over the horizon toward them. They were also several squadrons of Star Hawks as well. The Ravager immediately sent out dozens of its Flying-Types to intercept them.

In the cockpit of her starfighter, Commander Miriyo armed her plasma cluster torpedoes. The other Byatta pilots did likewise. Since their weapons were calibrated on wavelengths that the mechanoids and Planet Ravager could not absorb, they would be highly effective against them.

The escorting Star Hawks immediately shot forward to engage the Flying-Types. As they started downing the crystal starfish, their Kyteeri counterparts let loose with a torrent of torpedoes at the waves of crystal spiders and crabs. Hundreds were blown apart as the projectiles exploded into multiple showers of ionized bolts. However, the Planet Ravager simply shrugged off the lethal rain like a duck shedding water off its back. Then its maw opened up and pointed toward the sky. As it began charging up, the Sky Hawks and Byattas began to scatter.

 The Ravager let loose with a huge screech as it unleashed another huge beam of annihilation. Many of the crystal starfish were caught in the blast and were vaporized. Most of the Star Alliance fighters were able to evade the attack, while a few received glancing blows. Fortunately, their deflector shields kept them from being destroyed but that forced half a dozen Byattas and a dozen Star Hawks to head back to the Yorktown for repairs.

As the hordes were preoccupied with attacks from the sky, a flight of ‘Bot-Haulers’ appeared onto the scene and dropped their modules. As the front hatches opened up, the 472^nd Battle-Mech Division began deploying themselves. Leading his squadron, Commander Vandelin ordered his men to begin a flanking maneuver on the left side of the Planet Ravager. His Star-Gladiator began laying down a barrage of 65mm and 100mm shells from his Vulcan guns and Machine gun. His subordinates in their Hunter Mechs did likewise. Hundreds of mechanoids were reduced to crystal shards when their cores were damaged.

The Battle-Mechs started blasting through the first two waves of spiders and crabs as they slowly pushed toward towards the center of the hordes. However, the sheer force of numbers of the mechanoids, and the Planet Ravager continuously making more was quite the problem. Furthermore, the ground troops had to keep the Cryterian monsters from spreading out towards other inhabited areas.

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Overhead, the Byatta and Star Hawk squadrons continuously made strafing and bombing runs on the masses that were defending the Planet Ravager. In her own fighter, Commander Miriyo lined up her targeting computer and released the last of her plasma cluster torpedoes. The area where she had aimed for was especially thick with crabs. Once her torpedoes detonated, the amount of pressure on the Battle-Mechs lessened, allowing the ground forces to move closer to their main goal, the Planet Ravager. She had also been picking off several dozens of Ground and Flying-Types whenever the opportunities presented themselves.

Her console then started to display some warning alerts, indicating that she was running low on ammunition and her beam weapons were nearly depleted. She had no more ordinance left and her positron cannons’ energy reserves were almost gone. Several other pilots of her squadron also indicated that they were running out of ammunition as well. She had no choice but to signal to her squadron to retreat back to the Yorktown.  As the fighters began vacating the battle zone, they used up whatever remaining rounds and power charges they had to destroy any enemy units they came across. As they streaked across the sky, a second wave of fighters came in to pick up where Miryo’s fighters had left off. At the front of the new flight was a Star Hawk squadron that she knew very well.

Captain Wittens winked at his wife as their starfighters passed each other. Miriyo gave her husband a salute, and then turned her attention to the Yorktown as she approached it. Guidance vector-beams shot out to bring in the Byattas safely to the hanger decks. In under a minute, the entire squadron was aboard and was brought down to the lower levels in order to be re-armed and replenished.

The Kyteeri pilot decided to take this opportunity to relax a bit as she exited her cockpit and climbed down the boarding ladder. She hadn’t felt this much stress since the war with the Cryterians. Taking off her helmet, she shook her head to clear it. Her hair was a light purple and was done up in a simple ponytail. She then walked over to a nearby water cooler to get a drink.

As she took a sip from her cup, she watched the maintenance crews buzz about as they replaced power packs, refilled ammo belts and reloaded ordinance. Starfighters that had sustained considerable damage were taken to the repair bays and their pilots were assigned replacement craft. According to the latest reports, the fighter wings had sustained 2% causalities, but fortunately, they were all non-fatal. However, the upper brass was worried that they may have not brought enough of their forces to handle the Planet Ravager.

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General Kuro was once again on the bridge of the Missouri as he looked over the tactical map on the main holo-viewer. He frowned a bit, as he didn’t like the look of the data being displayed. Beside him, Captain Delan and Lieutenant Commander Harken also saw that the overall situation was becoming grim.

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The Battle-Mechs were making progress toward the Planet Ravager, but they were sustaining heavy damage and reports had begun trickling in that some pilots were sustaining injuries and had to be evacuated. Furthermore, the mechanoids were just barely being contained in the battlezone and the Ravager had just started creating Heavy Assault-Types, shaped like giant lizards and bears. As a result, the Star-Gladiators and Hunters would need more support artillery to counter them. Using the Missouri’s guns and that of the destroyers and cruisers might endanger the Battle-Mech divisions, so he opted to deploy more direct firepower.

“Signal to the 215^th Artillery Mechs that they are clear to deploy. Have them engage the Assault-Types and the Ravager at sectors Alpha, Beta and Epsilon.”

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Some twenty miles from the front lines, the Artillery Mechs moved into position. Unlike the Battle-Mechs, which were meant for direct combat, the Artillery Mechs were bulkier and sported dual-mounted, long-range railguns and photon cannons mounted on their shoulders. Their primary mission was long-range, indirect fire and support.

Inside his own Mech, Sergeant Sean Blevens adjusted the angle of fire of his railguns and photon cannons. After getting the coordinates from satellites and surveillance drones, he prepared to fire along with his fellow Artilley Mech pilots. As with every mission, he turned on his speakers and began playing an old musical piece from Earth. It was the last minute of the piece known as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture on a repeating loop.

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Then things got loud as the Artillery Mechs, known also as Slammers, began launching volley after volley of heavy kinetic shells and ionized disrupter bursts. The Mechs on the battlefield felt some of the pressures being relieved as waves of Assault-Types were being pulverized. Even the Planet Ravager wasn’t immune to the assault as it was pounded by thousands of projectiles. Although its main body was virtually indestructible, the constant impacts and explosions were forcing it back. Furthermore, its legs were not made of the same material as its body and were targeted. Several kinetic shells scored direct hits on the three legs on the left side. They were damaged enough that the Ravager could not remain standing.

The huge monster came crashing down on the ground, causing the area to tremble as if it was being hit by a small earthquake. As it writhed on the ground, the Battle-Mechs took full advantage of this opening and began flanking maneuvers, cutting down more mechanoids and getting closer to the Ravager. One squad in particular found a gap among the crystal forces and rushed through it. The three Hunters, along with one Star-Gladiator, got to a ridge that allowed them a higher viewpoint of the battlefield and the Planet Ravager. At this point, it had regenerated its legs and stood up again.

“Sir? Would you mind telling us why we have taken this position?” Coporal Wizer asked.

“At the rate we’re going, we’re not going to be able to get past that monster’s thick hide.” Jerry explained as he unloaded the cargo pack mounted on his Mech’s back. As he set it down on the ground, the container opened up to reveal a specialized weapon, broken down into its key components.

“Sir, even if you use the 240mm, you still won’t be able to penetrate the Ravager’s outer shell.” Corporal Vanx pointed out.

“We’re not going to shoot at its shell.” Jerry corrected as he directed his Mech to begin assembling the 240mm Sniper Cannon. “We’re going to ram a few rounds right down its throat!”

His second, Lieutenant Gracs, immediately understood Jerry’s plan. “Sir, that’s a very risky plan.”

“It’s the only feasible plan we have to stop that thing. There are no openings in that shell, except at the front when it opens up to fire that anti-proton beam. So if we can get it to open up to fire in our direction, we might be able to send a couple of rounds down its barrel. We can’t hurt its outsides, so we’re going to try to wreck its insides.”

“And if it fires its beam at us before we can hit it?”

“Then we get vaporized.” Commander Vandelin said simply as he finished assembling the Sniper Cannon and had his Mech take the prone position like a human sniper would. Gracs took up the position as Jerry’s spotter, while the two corporals acted as Forward Observers and transmitted the coordinates to the Artillery Mechs. Several other Battle-Mech squads also began setting up Sniper Cannons near their position after Jerry’s plan was transmitted to them.

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On the Missouri, Kurdo nodded as he was told the details of Commander Vandelin’s strategy.

“It’s very risky, but it could work. I remember the same type of plan being used on Catlana. Hopefully, we can pull this off without suffering casualties.” He turned to the communications officer. “Lieutenant, transmit these order to the Artillery Mechs. They must focus their fire those coordinates. We have to force the Ravager to fire its beam at those Battle-Mechs.”

Lieutenant Visera nodded as she began transmitting his orders.

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After receiving their orders, the Artillery Mechs moved to their new positions and aimed their weapons skyward. Again, they let loose with a murderous barrage that rained down on the Ravager without mercy. They focused on the front of the massive weapon, causing it to open its maw in retaliation. The inside began to glow as power started building up. As it turned in the direction of the attack, the Mech-Squads manning their Sniper Cannons, found themselves right in the line of fire.

Jerry took a deep breath as he synched the targeting computer of the cannon with his Mech’s as Gracs monitored the readouts. As the maw of the Ravager glowed blue-white, the energy levels were at their peak.

“Now, Commander!”

Vandalin pulled the trigger continuously, firing off all ten rounds of the Sniper Cannon’s magazine in rapid succession. The other Mech-Squads did the same with their Sniper Cannons.

Amazingly, every shot entered the maw of the Ravager’s beam weapon before it could fire. There was a huge series of internal explosions heard within it as its insides were being torn apart. As it fell forward and continued to tremble, other Battle-Mechs seized on the opportunity to toss grenades and demolition charges into the still-open mouth.

The Ravager began to tremble even more violently, as energy readings began to spike. Sensing the imminent danger, all Mech commanders ordered their squads to fall back. Byatta and Star Hawks began to clear the area.

Thirty seconds later, the entire front of the Planet Ravager exploded, releasing a thick swarm of Flying-Types. Hundreds flew out over the coast while the rest scattered outward toward the northern side of the Vados continent.

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“All anti-air guns and batteries, open fire!” Captain Delan shouted. “Don’t let a single mechanoid escape!”

The Missouri’s anti-aircraft and secondary guns opened fire, along with the missile batteries. The cruisers and destroyers did likewise as they aimed to shoot down every one of the Planet Ravager’s minions before they could cross the oceans and wreak havoc on the other continents. Byattas and Star Hawks also joined in to shoot the crystal abominations down over Vados.

On the ground, the Battle-Mechs had finally begun to get the upper hand on the Ground-Types, now that the Planet Ravager seemed to be dead. After two more hours of intense combat, the last of the mechanoids were destroyed.

It was finally over.

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Five hours later…

“All right, give me the bad news.” Kurdo said as he let off a long, tired sigh. He, Captain Delan and Lieutenant Harken were in the Captain’s Office of the Missouri.

The aide nodded as he held up a datapad and announced the results of the battle. “Overall, we have suffered twelve percent casualties among our forces. All non-fatal however, so we are very fortunate. About two percent have suffered near life-threatening injuries, but are now stabilized. Approximately twenty percent of our Battle-Mechs in Vados, have been redlined or destroyed. The Starfighter groups have suffered minor injuries and no starfighter has been lost, though about twenty are undergoing considerable repairs. We have suffered no naval causalities or loss of ships.”

“Make certain that all mechanoid and Battle-Mech remains are collected.” Delan said. “We can’t have a single shard or circuit remaining on Vados.”

“Yes Captain. That order has also been sent by the Council.”

“And what about the Euracon casualties?” The Catian General asked.

The aide took a deep breath before responding. “With the loss of their capital city, we can estimate their total fatalities to exceed 2 million. A hundred and ten villages and small towns had been completely ravaged with no survivors. We managed to stop the mechanoid hordes before they reached any other major city, but the damage to their overall infrastructure and military is extensive. The Kingdom of Naran has reported the loss of twenty pilots when that scouting group crossed over into their territory, but the squadrons led by Captain Wittens were able to shoot them all down.”

“So the big problem is that the Empire of Euracon is now leaderless.” Mark commented.

“That is incorrect, Sir.” The aide countered. “Apparently, the late Emperor had three sons. His eldest died with his father when Vandania was destroyed. The second son perished when the mechanoids attacked his entourage during an inspection tour. The youngest son was in another city during the attack and has been recognized as the new Emperor.”

“Well, let’s hope he’s a lot more sensible than his father was.” Kuro said.

“Unfortunately, that is not the case.”

“What do you mean?” Harken asked, though he, the Captain and the General guessed at the answer.

“The Council of Prime Directors had just found out that the rotten apple didn’t fall very far from the equally rotten tree.”

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Polaris City, Council of Prime Directors Conference Chamber…

“And here I thought Emperor Xerxal was a bad egg.” Benjamin Rodera said with a sigh. “Apparently his children are also stinkers.”

The Prime Directors had just finished with their first holo-conference with the newly-crowned Euracon Emperor, and just about all five had been left with either a migraine or an upset stomach from the encounter.

The new Emperor, a 17-year-old brat by the name of Xerall Shilor, wasted no time in accusing Free Land of declaring war on Euracon and stating that the Planet Ravager was a secret weapon of the Star Alliance. The destruction of Vandania was a Free Land plot to destroy the Empire’s government and to display their military might to the world. This of course was completely untrue, but the new ruler of Euracon used this excuse to demand that Free Land give his nation Battle-Mechs, Starfighters and the Missouri as war reparations for this vicious attack against the Empire.

When the Council simply refused his outrageous demands, the Emperor then began spreading rumors and fake news to the other nations. One such tale was that Free Land used a spell to summon the Planet Ravager and that the Council used the blood sacrifices of thousands of innocent Euracon citizens to create the mechanoids. He had also claimed that Free Land’s weapons and technology were too powerful for them to possess and petitioned the other superpower nations to join Euracon in confiscating and claiming them to ‘ensure the safety of the world.’

The Nation of Atlans immediately refused and plainly stated that they had no capability to go against a nation that had such firepower. The Kingdom of Naran simply considered the ravings of the new Emperor as a child that was throwing a temper tantrum when he was denied new toys. In any case, the Naran owed a debt to Free Land for destroying the mechanoids that had crossed over the border. The other superpower nations also viewed the new Euracon ruler as nothing more than a rude and spoiled brat.

“In any case, the Euracon Empire has suffered more damage, than the Sath did during our war against them.” Anida stated. “When mechanoids are programmed to destroy all organic life, that includes all fauna and flora as well as sentient beings. The Euracon farmlands were devastated and hunting is now scarce.”

“And as you know,” Nasaak commented. “The new Euracon Emperor is demanding that we give his country an unlimited supply of Instant Ration Packets, and he refuses to offer anything in return. He also wants us to repair and rebuild every town and village, his capital city, plus give him advanced technology. In other words, he wants us to foot the bill to rebuild his nation.”

“That’s about the long and short of it.” Nerto replied. “The Emperor has denied all responsibility to this entire event and is placing all the blame on us for how his nation is now suffering.”

“And we’re supposed to just give him what he wants and smile about it?” Viska asked with frown. “No, I don’t see that happening.”

“Indeed.” Ben nodded. “The former Emperor brought this calamity upon his country with his greed and ignorance. First he sent agents to try and steal our technology, and then he tried to use extortion with the Planet Ravager. We did offer him some compensation before. He turned it down, and ignored our warnings, so we really don’t owe him, his heir or his country anything.”

“Actually, they owe us for all our efforts in containing the Planet Ravager threat.” The Catian Director growled. “If it wasn’t for us, they’d all be annihilated by now.”

“Have we received any word from the other nations near Euracon? Did they have any input about this whole event?” The Velor Director asked.

Anida nodded as she read another report. “The Kingdom of Naran and the other countries near the Vados continent all agree on the same idea. They’re simply going to leave Euracon as it is. They’re taking a ‘wait-and-see’ outlook on the matter. Aside from Naran, none of the other countries share any borders with Euracon and the Empire’s military is almost non-existent at this point.”

“So either Euracon is able to rise up on its own, or it will fall into ruin.” The Terran Director said.

“More likely the second scenario is going to occur.” Viska stated. “We’ve already been getting reports of massive numbers of refugees trying leaving the country. Most of Euracon’s ports are crowded with citizens attempting to immigrate to either one of the island nations or even the Merdov continent.”

“At the rate they’re trying to leave, I doubt Euracon will be able to stabilize itself.” Anida remarked. “I’d give it six months, maybe a year before the entire Empire ceases to exist and breaks apart into smaller countries or states. The Kingdom of Naran would probably be able to pick up new territory easily when that happens. It’s also a possibility that Euracon will become a wasteland.”

“In any case, we won’t involve ourselves any further with Euracon’s affairs of state or national policies.” Ben announced. “Once we’ve collected the remains of the Planet Ravager, we’ll be pulling out of the Vados continent. Our mission to destroy it is done.”

At that moment, the main holo-communicator system alerted the Council to an emergency transmission. When the main viewer activated itself, they beheld the image of General Kurdo.

“Greetings, General Kurdo. To what do we owe the pleasure of speaking with you today?” Benjamin said as he and the other Directors saluted him. “Have the salvage teams finished with loading the Planet Ravager’s husk?”

The Catian officer saluted the Council before his expression became serious and grim. “Unfortunately, Director Rodera, I have some bad news to report.”

----------

Flashback to an hour earlier…

Inside the huge and mostly burned-out shell of the Planet Ravager, Sergeant Franco Bertelli shook his head as he sat in his Engineer-Mech. It was a specialized Mech-Frame that was built for the Combat Engineer Divisions. It was smaller than the normal Battle-Mech and was equipped with various construction tools and sensors. Of course it was capable of combat and was armed with dual-shock cannons and pulse blasters on its arms.

He was currently inspecting a section of the Planet Ravager near its center and saw that a certain component was missing. He then scanned the entire area and found no trace of the object he was looking for. As one of his subordinates approached him in another Engineer-Mech, Franco raised him on the communicator array.

“It’s not here!”

 “Sir?”

“The main core of the Planet Ravager is not here!”

“Maybe it was destroyed during that last battle? The 251^st shot a lot of kinetic rounds and explosives down into it.”

“If that was the case, then we’d be detecting the core’s remains. I did a full sensor sweep and I found nothing.”

“So where is it?”

Franco fell silent for a full minute as he considered all possibilities. Then he snapped his fingers as he realized what had happened. “Son of a bitch, it got away!”

“Got away?”

“During the last attack, the Ravager released a whole slew of Flying Types at us. We all thought it was some kind of last ditch move. But what if it wasn’t?”

“What could it have been?” The subordinate asked.

“It was a diversion.”

“A diversion, sir?”

Franco made his Mech point to a device near the opening. “This looks like some kind of launcher. When the Ravager shot out all those mechanoids at us, we were so preoccupied with destroying them that we didn’t even notice that the brain of this thing was also being ejected to safety!”

“Sir, are you telling me that the Ravager’s core is still out there?”

“Very likely hiding somewhere and repairing itself. If it’s able to create mechanoids from inorganic and organic matter, who’s to say that it can’t build a new body for itself? Our battle with the Planet Ravager isn’t over yet.”

To be continued…

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