22 years ago...

It is the year 2469, the Coalition is about to fall.

> TEIKOKU BASE IS III

> PLANET RAIDEN II

> SECOND COMMAND POST OF THE COALITION 

The control room was shaking, the soldiers working the transparent screens frantically issuing orders to their subordinates. Meanwhile, the commanding officer's gaze was fixed on the main screen, which showed what was happening on each of the battlefields.

But were they really battles? No, it was a one-sided annihilation.

The incoming reports from the battlefields flooded the screen, and the feeds from the still functioning satellites, support drones and All-Terrain Battle Suits, ATBS for short, emphasised the hopelessness of the endeavour even more...

One of the countless feeds showed:

>…

</> PLANET BALSIMAS III

> SECTOR II

> POPULATION: 35.126.293

>…

</> STATUS REPORT

>…

> UNDER ATTACK

> CASUALTIES: 9.800.000 rising

…

> EVACUATION IN PROCESS…

<>

UNDERWAY...

<>

Balsimas, once a jewel of the Alliance, but not much was left of it. Satellite feeds showed explosions on the planet's surface, large enough to swallow whole countries and push the clouds aside. The cities that were not swallowed up by the explosions were obscured by the smoke from the battlefields. There was almost no light. Even the space above the planet was a battlefield. Some people trembled at the sight, and at the thought of what it would be like on the planet itself.

White beams of light flashed past the screen, slicing whole ships in their path as if they were made of paper. The ships that took direct hits were torn to pieces by the explosion that followed. A huge cluster of explosions could be seen in the distance. Only the camera feed could reveal what was happening over there, and what was about to happen to the ships at the front. A single word: LOST.

The ships were wrecks from the moment they entered the battlefield. How could an evacuation be successful in the face of such superiority?

But where were the attacks coming from that were tearing the ships apart? Not even the satellite feed could give a clear answer. All it picked up were magical circles and symbols clustered around a blurred malfunction on the screen with the word ERROR.

It was as if whatever was hiding behind the glitch on the screen was able to disrupt the satellite feed.

Another ATBS feed from Montario III, a metropolis on the planet Rou VI, showed the situation on the planet's surface. The feed's report showed what could only be guessed was happening on other planets at that moment.

> PLANET ROU IV

> CITY MONTARIO III

>…

</STATUS>

> CASUALTIES: 1.456.973 RISING…

> DESTRUCTION 12%

> 26 UNITS IN BATTLE

> 8 UNITS M.I.A

…

> REQUESTING BACKUP 

The ATBS pilot seemed to receive a new order as he flew over the city. A series of explosions amidst plumes of smoke covered the city like a curtain of death.

"Roger, I'm going to sector 47-T," the pilot confirmed.

One could only hope that the third-generation ATBS would last longer than the second-generation ones on the other screens:

> SECTOR 24C

> UNIT 14A

</STATUS>

> DEFENSE OF EVACUATIONPOINT 4

-<REQUESTED BACKUP>-

> TIME UNTIL EVACUATION: 45 MINUTES

> …

<< ENEMY APPROACHING >>

> NUMBER OF ENEMIES 231XX RISING

> ESTIMATED TIME OF RESISTANCE: ~18 MINUTES

Another feed of a battlefield on the ground showed the full horror and fear of the soldiers.

>CITY: RIAS II

> SQUAD 358

> ATTACKING...

"Where's the backup?"

"There's no more backup!"

"Keep firing! Don't let them get through!"

Amidst the loud noise of the cannons, the three ATBS pilots could be heard trying to hold off the attack with two tanks. The ground was cracking open and the wreckage of buildings lay everywhere. You could only pray that the men would hold out.

> PLANET ILLUEN III

> CITY: NEO CHENDAN

          > FIRING UNIT ZULU

                    > CASUALTIES: 75%

"DIE, DIE, DIE!"

It was the last ATBS in his fireteam. Its left arm was missing, and sparks were coming from the remaining connections and wires. The destruction of the ATBS was considerable. It was twisted and scratched, and even the weapon had deep cuts. Despite the damage, however, it continued to fire relentlessly as it retreated from the sector, which was now nothing but ruins and rubble of once-tall buildings. One would hope that the ATBS would make it to one of the few remaining evacuation points.

> PLANET DEDER II

> CITY RAVOUS III

> PLATOON 8-32

          > CASUALTIES: 35%

"This way!" was heard in the next feed. A magical shield lit up the screen, the runes arranged in a circle and shining like a beacon of hope for the soldiers. Not a soldier, but a single mage tried his best to hold back whatever seemed to be behind the shield, to allow his comrades to retreat. If he hadn't worked his magic, he wouldn't have stood out in the crowd of soldiers in his standard uniform.

A soldier at the back, supporting an injured comrade, shouted: "I need help". Every single person who saw the feed wished that the wizard could hold out a little longer.

But the particles of light began to shatter from the shield as if it were made of glass. It shattered. Was it because of the mage? Or was whatever was behind the shield simply stronger than the shield that was trying to keep it out? "I can't hold out much longer!" the mage shouted, blood running from his mouth.

...

The sound of sirens could be heard from a newly appeared feed.

> SIRAN III

> CAPITAL CITY KUTAR

> UNDER ATTACK

          > EVACUATION IN PROCESS

Another planet had fallen victim to the war. In the distance, plumes of smoke darkened the sky. One wondered how many more planets would be attacked. The screens were already overloaded with feeds from various battlefields. Of course, these were only those in the Second Command's area of responsibility. What about other sectors? How was Earth?

The last transmission indicated that Earth had already been attacked. Despite the colonisation of distant planets, most humans still lived on Earth, which had been under the control of the Ginga Teikoku since the Colony War. Of all the human planets, Earth was the best defended. The planet had already survived three world wars, several uprisings and the Colony War. Considering the destruction the soldiers of the Second Command were facing, it was debatable whether Earth could withstand or even survive the attacks for long.

If humanity could survive...?

The next feed appeared:

>…

</> PLANET HYPAR IX

> SECTOR III

> POPULATION: 6.248.236

>…

</> STATUS REPORT

>…

> UNDER ATTACK

> CASUALTIES: 76%

…

The next line killed any hope of saving even one person:

> EVACUATION ABORTED …

</>

Six million people were lost.

A hand passed by a camera, but it was nothing more than that. The person the hand belonged to was probably sucked into the vacuum. Maybe he tried to hold on to something before he was pulled into the cold space. A sense of dread filled the control room. One of the soldiers following the feed had to throw up. The panic in the still shaking control room was almost palpable. On the one hand, there was something reassuring about this moment. The fact that there were still things you could understand, like gravity or the vacuum of space. On the other hand, it was clear how little they knew when a huge magical circle appeared on one side of the planet. Each rune decorating the outer edge of the circle was as large as a country. Soon after, two smaller circles appeared above the giant one. No matter what kind of magic this was, or who was using it, the size alone would make no one doubt the abilities of this particular mage.

In the distance, more explosions could be seen, as if to decorate the magical circle. Were these the evacuation ships that had made it off the planet? Or the ones that came to rescue the people and never reached their destination? Whatever it was, all life in this system was lost.

All the feeds. All that destruction and despair. But where did all the feeds come from? Why should the drones and satellites still be working? Wasn't it common practice to jam the enemy's communication systems? To keep the enemy in the dark? To deprive them of any means of planning countermeasures? So why all this?

It was as if a higher power wanted to make them aware of their powerlessness.

"SAVE US!"

The transmission from one of the control panels brought the Commander to his senses. He looked around. The control room was barely lit by the monitors. The shaking had damaged the main lighting and parts of the ceiling, leaving wires and bits of pipe hanging down. The devastation was evident on the faces of the few soldiers who remained by the control panels. One cry for help after another reached their headsets, one cry for help after another that they had to turn away, hard as it was. What could they do?

The connection to the other command stations had been lost.

All backup had been used up.

The command post itself was under attack.

The tremors grew stronger and stronger, the sound of artillery could be heard in the distance, the smell of gunpowder and burning metal spread through the damaged filters in the room.

The display on the main screen at the end of the control room switched to its strategic position view setting. Feeds of the battle gathered around the map of an area. In the centre was the command centre. Individual circles and triangles outlined the troops in the area on the map, which was divided into tiles. Some of the units were in areas covered in countless red tiles. All these units were marked with: LOST.

The red tiles, the lost areas, moved in a circle around the base. Everyone knew what it meant. The base was completely encircled. Individual units were completely isolated and surrounded by enemies. The circle around the base was getting smaller by the minute. Red letters appeared above it:

-WARNING-

A massive tremor shook the base and the light from the alarm turned the room a dark red.

The commander put on his hat with trembling hands.

Motivated by the commander's sense of duty, the soldiers asked what to do, what the next order was. They asked anything that would give them a sense of relief. But the commander remained silent. His eyes were fixed on the screen.

By now, all the feeds surrounded a map of the galaxy showing the last status of the battle before contact was lost. Nearly every human-like colony on the southern edge of the galaxy was either destroyed or under siege. What was the current status?

How long before the attack would have reached all human colonies?

How long before the Wizard's shield would fail completely?

How long before the spell on Hypar IX would activate?

How long before the source of the tremor that shook the command post would reach them?

How long before all of them...

With still shaking hands, the Commander reached to the side of his leg and opened the safety catch of his pistol holster.

"It's hopeless..."

"Sir?"

"Unit Phy is requesting backup!"

"Sir! What's your command?"

"Unit 34 Sigma is being overrun!"

"We lost contact with unit 4 Delta!"

"Sir!"

Shakingly the commander put his weapon against his head.

"Forgive me...."

A blast drowned out the soldiers' lamentations, which was followed by the quiet noise of a cartridge case falling on the ground.

⬢