The Nature of Managed Democracy (4)

***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM SUPER EARTH***

Major Order Victory

The once-undemocratic planets of Venlil Prime and The Cradle have now been liberated thanks to the heroic efforts of the helldivers. With the beachhead established, the Federation of Super Earth can now conduct its operations against the False Federation unimpeded. SEAF Civilian Enforcement teams, alongside Truth Enforcer units have been deployed to each planet to ensure maximum cooperation from Super Earth's newest citizens.

***

Operation Fields of Prosperity

In order to ensure that our righteous mission can proceed uninterrupted, permanent factories must be constructed in order to produce sufficient food and medical supplies for all of Super Earth's loyal citizens. The Ministry of Humanity has requisitioned us two of its mega-corporations; Permacura and C.O.B Genetics, headquarters of which are to be established on the planets of Colia and Leirn respectively. Helldivers are to deploy to each respective planet and liberate them post-haste, so that our new galactic friends may bask in the endless bounty of Managed Democracy together.

Major Order Objectives:

• Liberate Colia*(In progress)*
• Liberate Leirn*(In progress)*

Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command

Date [Super Earth Standard Time]: September 26, 2136

It was all over. The Cradle was gone.

The burning visage of my homeworld stared back at me as I gazed out the viewport of my ship. The predators' underhanded and cowardly tactics had won them the fight. Somehow, they had found a way to bypass the Cradle's outer defences entirely and managed to strike us directly at our heart.

My soul ached as I stared at the remnants of my planet. Sweet, unbidden memories of happier times intruded into my mind. Of my wife, my sweet daughter Hania as she ran into my arms. Back when we thought the predators couldn't possibly ever harm us.

Then the Arxur attacked our home. My home.

I still vividly remembered the screams of my Hania as the Arxur ripped her apart. Of how desperately I yelled into the phone as her pleading cries echoed through the speakers.

And then the humans came. The second punch to my face that this Protector forsaken galaxy has decided to throw at me. They razed my home to the ground, finishing what the Arxur couldn't. Billions upon billions were dead and now their angular ships sat waiting above the Cradle's ruined atmosphere, like mocking effigies of their victory.

Rage, white hot began to course through my veins and I screamed.

I was alone on the bridge but I screamed regardless, hurling every curse I knew at the monsters that had taken the only things I had ever loved away from me. After what felt like hours, my voice grew hoarse and I collapse onto my knees, exhausted.

Then I heard the whirring of the door opening behind me and out stepped Zarn, the Takkan doctor who had told me all about the humans and their savage ways. No doubt he had heard me screaming my lungs out from halfway across the ship.

He cleared his throat, "My sincerest apologies for what happened to your homeworld, Captain."

His voice was low, spoken in a tone that was clearly meant to provide some measure of comfort. "I had known the humans to be conquerors but not to this degree. Rest assured however, that it was not your fault. If that bleeding heart Piri hadn't sent us on patrol duty, we might have saved your planet."

His words washed over me but they did nothing to numb the pain.

"No," I muttered. "It was my fault. I should have done something the moment I felt something was wrong. I should have disobeyed Piri's orders. I would have taken a hundred court martials over letting billions of innocent Gojids die. I abandoned them when they needed me the most."

When the humans were attacking our planet, many of them operated in close proximity to civilians and friendly units. I had wanted to attack them then and there, despite knowing that civilians would get caught in the crossfire.

Piri had vehemently disagreed with my proposition, despite my protests. She cited that my tactics would result in an 'unacceptable loss of life' and that we should just wait until reinforcements from the Federation arrived.

I had lived through such invasions before, the Federation never came on time. By the time they arrived, the only thing they were good for was burying the dead and the mangled corpses of what the Arxur couldn't finish devouring.

When she finally had enough of our bickering, she reassigned me to patrol duty on the outer edges of our system, as far away from the action as possible. Now she was likely being devoured by the humans, or being crushed beneath rubble as the cities burned around her.

Bitterly, I thought back to the day I had led a suicidal charge at an invading Arxur force, intent on joining my family in death. The Federation had crowned me a hero that day, a figure of bravery and inspiration for all of prey-kind to look up to. I scoffed at that memory. What kind of hero was I, who abandoned my people when they needed me most. Who couldn't even protect those closest to him.

Zarn paused for a few seconds, then approached me.

"Well, if you truly feel that the loss of your homeworld is your fault, then you should be focusing on redeeming yourself."

I looked at him puzzled.

"Redeeming myself, how?"

"In a few weeks, the Federation will be holding a summit at Aafa. Tell them of humanity's return. Let them know of what they did to your home. With the full support of the Federation behind us, we'll crush their worthless kind and eradicate them from the galaxy and you can finally have your revenge."

Revenge. The word sounded sweet in my mouth. Justice for Hania, for the billions so callously gutted by the humans. While it didn't exactly ease the pain, something inside me burned a bit brighter.

"Come," Zarn said. "We'll warp to Federation space immediately. You should get some rest while you can, think carefully about what you're going to say."

"Thank you, doctor," I replied as I trudged off to my quarters, taking one last look at the remnants of my home.

Along the way, my mind replayed the footage of the predators captured by ground troops during their final moments. The humans killed with uncanny precision. Their ballistic weapons, honed to perfection after centuries of warfare had torn through our ranks like paper. With every attack they faced, they responded by sending strange beacons of light into the air, calling down immense firepower from their ships above in low-orbit.

I vividly recalled one predator, with a nuclear bomb strapped to its back, throwing itself through the closing doors of a reinforced bunker, detonating the safe haven and killing an untold number of people inside.

Another one had punctured the suits of an exterminator squad who were fighting desperately to keep civilians away from the predators' clutches, only to be burned by another flamethrower wielding human.

My blood boiled once again at their tactics. They would sacrifice their own lives just to ensure our destruction, targeting innocent people and children for nothing more than cruelty and fun, just like the Arxur.

The fact that they used fire too made the indignation near unbearable. Fire was supposed to be our tool. The light in the darkness that would keep the predators away. That they would pervert its true purpose and turn it against those it was meant to protect spoke to the endless levels of depravity the predators possessed.

I would make them pay. We would all make them pay.

Once the Federation became aware of the second scourge now loose inside our galaxy, we would wipe out humanity from the galactic map once and for all and return our focus to the Arxur.

The doors to my personal quarters hissed open as I staggered over the threshold, only now realising just how exhausted I was. With a single yawn, I collapsed on my bed's mattress and drifted off to sleep.

Once we reached Aafa, I would have a message to deliver.

***Error - Memory transcription interrupted: Loss of Consciousness Detected***

First | Prev | Next