romuluzJoin Date: 2010-04-12
Post Count: 18124 |
A/N: This has been redone to better fit the new prologue.
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One year later
On board Razor class Interceptor "Deceit"
In high orbit above Riforia.
In a room decorated with red banners of the imperial Nafarian government sat a lone Nafarian officer. He was clad in the standard grey battle armor issued by the imperial military, red lights shown on the shoulder pads of the armor and down the front, indicating it's operation. The man sat, his hand over his helmet, his red eyes fixed, staring out a window port next to him, staring out into the space above the doomed planet. Husks of once powerful human ships drifted through space, their hulls glowing a dull orange. The Nafarian invasion armada lay, like a herd of sharks around the planet, their roguetonium power lights gleaming in space, waiting for the orders that would begin the invasion. The man was nervous, yet prideful as he fidgeted with different components of his armor. This would be the first attack in which he would command a regiment of soldiers, a high honor within the Nafarian military, that brought much respect to a Nafarian's name shall their campaigns been successful.
The previous space battle has lasted no more than an hour, they had caught their defense fleet off guard as planned and the remainder of their fleet quickly had jettisoned back into the safety of the planet as soon as it was obvious that victory would not be a possibility. He was soon caught off guard as the door to his quarters opened with a mechanical groan. A young looking trooper walked into the room, formed a crisp salute and addressed the man.
"Captain Raze sir! Colonel Vextrus needs you on the bridge ASAP!" He said.
"At ease soldier... do you know why he wishes for my company?" Raze asked, rather curious as to why a man of such importance, a man who commanded an entire battlegroup would wish for his counsel so close to the invasion.
"No sir!" The trooper replied.
"Ah, very well then, return to your post trooper" Raze said as he slowly stood from his seat. The trooper quickly disappeared from the room, jogging briskly towards the hangar bay.
Raze walked from the decorated room into the bare halls of the ship, rouguetonium power veins pulsated through the ceiling of the ship, and small viewports gave Raze glimpses of the activities of the fleet outside, he watched as reserve ships began to jump into the system, their grey and red masses quickly forming into battle groups behind the main fleet. Raze continued to walk towards the doorways that marked the bridge, two honor guards stood next to the large doorways, their heavy red armor creaking as they shifted in place. Both the honor guards jumped to life at the sight of their commanding officer, each brining their free hand to their chest in the form of a fist, the salute commonly used by Nafarian soldiers, as they eyed Raze through their red glowing visors. Raze returned the salute as he walked through the doors into the circular bridge, men at various stations of the ship, tapping commands into the red holo consoles, a red carpet led to the command chair, and next to it stood his lieutenant and right hand man. His attention was brought directly towards the large holo screen at the front of the bridge, the voice of the colonel boomed through the room.
"I understand your concern, lieutenant over the reduction of ships and men, but this city is thought to have little defenses, and the recourses are needed for raids on key fortresses that must be taken to ensure our foothold on the planet." He stated calmly.
"Ah, captain, excellent, I trust your troops are ready for combat?"
"Aye, our ships are awaiting your order sir." Raze said confidently.
"Good, good." He stated. "There are, however a few slight changes to the capture of Auchyut." He began. "First off, your battle group has been reduced from seven Razor class interceptors, four Inzidion class destroyers, and one Dreadnaught class cruiser, to only three interceptors." Raze grew tense as he heard the words resound off the walls of the ship, for he now had less men to spare, and less air support to cover his men. "Secondly, you have been relieved of primary command for this op, and instead, Colonel Krypka Ras'Vael will be heading your men into combat." Raze's world nearly collapsed at the sound of the second bit of news and his body began to be filled with anger. He knew very well who Krypka was, an arrogant dreadnought, a class of upper crust soldiers within the military, and part of the royal family. She was famous for her victories at the costs of untold numbers of lives, he held much hate for her and her ways and could barely stand the thought of having to serve her.
"Sir! There has to be some form of mistake, or-or joke behind this." Raze began "I mean Colonel Ras'Vael has been known to have lead many Nafarians to their deaths for mere inches of land, and to lesson our battle group on top of that, it's.... it's absurd!" He exclaimed.
"I am afraid not Captain, these orders come from Supreme Field Marshal Kenzmon himself, there is not a thing I can do to change these orders." Vextrus stated smoothely. "And the cities defenses appear to be less than what we thought them to be, and there are no defense fleet ships within miles of the city, there is no need for that many ships to take this city." He said.
Raze remained silent, his gaze fixed on the screen, his hands curled into fists.
"Think of it this way Raze, this attack will be a cake walk for your men, and while Ras'Vael's tactics aren't the most conservative, they are proven to be effective, this easy victory will look good on your career captain, and the emperor will be most pleased with the taking of Auchyut." He stated again.
"Yes sir" Raze said, not able to say any more.
"Very well then, Colonel Ras'Vael will be arriving on board your ship within ten minutes, prepare your soldiers for a swift debriefing before combat, I will see you planetside captain, Vextrus, out" The screen turned blank at these words and lifted into the ceiling of the bridge.
The viewport was now visible and the planet could now be seen in it's entirety. Nafarian ships and ship husks orbited the planet. Blue seas covered a good portion of the planet and green continents floated on top of them. Lights from the planet's cities were mixed with glowing craters on the planets surface from early bombardments of the planet. Sword shaped Razor class interceptors passed by "Deceit" and headed straight for the planet. Scout groups could be seen entering the planets atmosphere, their shields flickering from the intense heat. Raze turned to his lieutenant.
"Marcus, I want the hangar bays left open for our little guest" he said bitterly as he turned away from the bridge and began to walk out of the bridge.
"Yes sir." He said.
Raze walked through the halls of the ship as he placed his helmet over his head, the red visor flashed a greeting and began to monitor his vitals, a targeting rectical appeared on the center of his HUD. He brushed past soldiers and maintenance workers as he walked through the halls, this time ignoring the view ports. He approached the doors leading to the massive hangar bays and walked through them, his eyes soaking in the vast hangar. Legions of soldiers marched their way to their assigned dropships, which hovered row by row slightly off the ground. Supply boxes lay cluttered across the ground and soldiers were moving from box to box, equipping themselves with arms and ammunition for the coming fight. Tanks and other vehicles drove to various locations about the ship, being loaded into heavier dropships. A group of technicians could be seen outfitting a tank for battle, testing it's operations and loading it with the proper ammunition. A clearing at the end of the hangar had been prepared for the colonel's arrival, and two lines of soldiers stood, awaiting her arrival.
Raze walked by soldier after soldier, ignoring their salutes and greetings as he headed towards the clearing, and it was not too long after he arrived and inspected the ranks of the soldiers before the dropship arrived, containing the colonel. The ship banked about the clearing, avoided flights of wasp class fighters as they zoomed to their launch positions and out of the hangar to escort the Razor as it would soon be entering the planet's atmosphere. The dropship soon landed in front of the boarding ladder provided for it's arrival, it's hatches opened and it settled onto the ground. Krypka stepped out onto the top of the ladder, nearly her entire body was clad in the infamous red, ornate armor the marked that of a dreadnought, the only bit of skin showing was her face, jet black hair fell down slightly past her shoulders, framing her narrow face. Blood red eyes scanned the ranks before her as she walked down the boarding ladder, her hands locked behind her, her chest puffed out in a prideful manner and her head drawn back, her eyes narrowed and her pupils shrank as she adjusted herself to the bright light of the hangar bay, the soldiers saluted her as she walked down, even those who were simply passing by. She stopped before raze, looking him up and down before speaking.
"You are the commander of this vessel, yes?" she asked arrogantly.
"Indeed" Raze said briskly.
"Then I would expect you of all people to salute a superior...." she began, an air of disappointment in her voice. "Even you're soldiers know when a superior officer is on deck."
Raze scowled and reluctantly gave a crisp salute, his fist clanging against his armor.
"Better..... at ease" she said. She then turned her gaze to the rest of the soldiers in the clearing. "Greetings, soldiers, legionaires of Nafaria." She said as she walked up and down the line of soldiers. "I am Krypka Ras'Vael, and I shall be leading you all in your campaign here..." she said with a grin growing on her face.
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