File 13.1 - Delayed Revenge

Thunderous explosions shook through the earth. Metal rattled and groaned twisting. Hissing released from steam bleeding off melting plates. Shouts drowned out over the powerful clashing. It felt like everything would shatter. A precarious balance managed to hold on a knife edge as the entire world crumbled under destruction. Nothing could be heard, not even the cries of the dying. Only the darkness with a twisted and gnarled transparent hand existed clutching to the last embers of life gleefully ready to extinguish everything.

Nothing would remain.

Flames suddenly erupted everywhere filling the darkness. The void was gone, but an inferno replaced the cold. No comfort came from it. It burned and destroyed just the same. Screams poured out from the fires barely surfacing.

Out of the flames a partially burned face appeared with half of the skull exposed. Seemingly lifeless eyes came alive through exposed muscle and bone with piercing gazes. “Avenge us!”

“Commander!” Schir shouted, throwing herself out of her bed covered in sweat. Her bed sheets hung around her feet with the floor pulling aggressively for a share. A hand pressed against her face and pushed back stray hairs.

There was no escaping it. She sighed heavily as she was awake now. Walking over to her bathroom, she turned on the shower. Staring at the mirror and the digital clock embedded into it, her head dropped down. “Only three hours…”

Stepping into the shower, she washed off the sweat from her nightmare. ‘Thought I got past that…it must be the air here…’ She pounded her fist into the smooth white surface of the shower. It only gave a little to her force, but mostly just sprayed water back. It had not only him that she saw.

Back at her seat, the desk in her private quarters displayed all of the recent reports from the battle. The rest of her team finished their battle reports from their maiden mission against the Four Devils. Staring at the screen, she had to swallow the painful reality of what she saw. ‘Petty Officer Darlen Rath, Petty Officer Irena Vennour, Warrant Officer Lown Tekkin…’

Schir leaned back, getting her eyes away from the screen. Her team was a mess, each lost roughly half of their members. People that they worked with and some even went through the academy together. They were dead. ‘I knew this would happen, but it still doesn’t get any better… I’ve known them for less time than…yet I still…’

Her mind only continued to spin about on needless things. It was breaking her focus. She didn’t have the luxury as a leader anymore. Schir walked out of her quarters and went to the lift. The short ride up brought her just outside of the bridge.

Light from the late afternoon day caught her eye. The cloud cover didn’t seem to be as thick in the upper parts of the world, though still gray and heavy white clouds hung everywhere over the white wastelands. Their position on the far edge of the continent left her unable to see what had been their target, the city and Capital of the HOPE Organization. They knew attacking it would draw out the Devils, it was their home base. Had they managed to win, they would have been able to capture the government command structure and completely secure their victory. Their battle would have ended.

Now they stalled and retreated, licking their wounds.

Pushing forward, Schir stepped onto the bridge where Commander Effuna Tallous and Lt. Commander Lothun Rebbin led the fleet. The Devil Hunters, while a specialized team with a specific task, still reported to Tallous and were assigned to the Fifth Colonial Fleet, formally the Orbital Fleet. Tallous had a modest career in the ECF mostly earning herself a name for surviving hopeless battles and being a shield of the fleet. She served as Commander of the Dauntless during the War of Unification. Her fair and rational command made her well respected by her crew following any order she gave. Thanks to her efforts in the Battle of Comets, she gained notoriety for winning against the odds.

Even with the war only being a few years ago, Schir felt like she was seeing someone of legend before her. She read and learned about her tactics at the academy. It felt like seeing someone out of the history books.

Effuna looked over her shoulder at the back of the bridge, noticing Schir’s entrance. “Already awake, Ensign?”

“Yes, Commander. What’s the situation?” She stepped out alongside the Commander’s chair. Ahead through the glass of the bridge was the front of the ship followed by the snow and ice of the continent. As her eye turned to the holographic tactical map projected from the ceiling, she got a sense of where they were in the post-battle formation. In the event capture of the Capital was a failure, a blockade of the city would be established. The continent had an overwhelming size to it that still took some getting used to, but because of the size the fleet had not finished encircling the city.

“They’ve remained silent, if you’re concerned about the Devils. While we suffered most of the losses, damage to them was not insignificant. It’ll be a while before they attack again. You’ll need it.” Schir figured she pointed to her machine and team. She had not seen the damage of all of the Bishamon, but it seemed unlikely that they came out with one unscathed. Even with their Kami reliability it was going to be trouble having even minor damage for Skins.

“And the rest of the world?”

“Fully under our control. The reports from your team made capture effortless.”

Schir turned back to the horizon. “So all we have left is this.”

“Yes, though Admiral Hostin and myself are in agreement that we won’t make a move until your Devil Hunters are ready. A cornered animal is unpredictable and dangerous, we’ll need your team on the frontline if we want to secure a victory.” The battle over Antarctica proved to everyone like the Commander said before how powerful the Devils could be. Significant losses were sustained just from the landing operation, hundreds dead in minutes.

Having learned everything that she needed, Schir walked back to the lift. “I’ll be on my way to the deck then. I’d like to be back in space before this month is over.”

“Don’t forget your rest, Ensign. Personal health is as important as your machine’s.”

“I know,” she replied before the lift closed. “But my revenge won’t be complete if I lie in bed either…”