The Battle of the Bloody Gulch

Another three months passed by as the war between the Germanic Star-Empire and the Dvrakian Consortium reached new levels of intensity. While the Dvrakian armed forces had resorted to mass conscription of its male population, as well as breaking open old storehouses filled with centuries old weapons to engage with the enemy, the Germanic Military seemed fresh, and undeterred. As if each battle was a chance to prove themselves as a warrior to which their society revered above all other pursuits in life.

The war was recorded by the Germanic media, who proudly displayed the gruesome scenes to its population, as a proof of the strength that their Empire possessed. With each passing hour, new footage from the Dvrakian worlds which were under siege was spread across the Empire, and in doing so igniting the nationalism that its people felt.

Currently, one of the most popular reporters in the Empire, who was a relatively young woman by the name of Hedda Andersson, was on board the carrier which housed Erich and his comrades. She was going throughout the ship while interviewing soldiers on their thoughts about the war, and just so happened to come into contact with Erich, who had just climbed out of the showers, while wearing nothing but a towel. He was headed back to his bunk to change into a flight suit in preparation for his shift when he was ambushed by the reporter. Something which he did not take kindly to.

A group of small cameras orbited around Erich like a flight of dragonflies, filming his appearance for the entire Empire to see, where Hedda immediately asked him a question which he was not prepared to answer.

"You there! Mutant! What role do you fulfill on this carrier?"

Erich's expression immediately turned sour as his image was filmed and broadcasted across the Empire, where he then answered the reporter with a rather cold tone in his voice.

"I'm a fighter pilot. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to get ready for my shift."

The woman was not deterred by Erich's response, and kept pressing him for an interview, which only further got on the man's nerves.

"Just a moment of your time is all I ask, and your thoughts regarding the war?"

When Erich heard this question, he scoffed at the very notion. He had spent the last four years, spending twenty hours a day in nothing but combat. What did he think of this war? What an absurd question to ask! And who in their right mind wanted to hear what a combatant thought about the war they waged? He was visibly upset by the question, something which the cameras buzzing around his face only further added to, and thus, he responded with a rather vicious tone in his voice as he spoke the honest truth.

"You want to know what my thoughts are about the war? Okay, fine, here's how what I think, and every other poor soul who has the misfortune of flying a starfighter. We have to work twenty-hour shifts every single day. We get a thirty-minute lunch break, and just enough time to shower and brush our teeth so that we maintain proper hygiene.

Other than that, our life is nothing but combat. In order to cope with the overwhelming fatigue which occurs about twelve hours into our shifts, high command has decided it would be a brilliant idea to pump all of its pilots full adrenals, so that we maintain peak performance for our shifts!

Then, after I have spent the last twenty hours fighting for my life, I get to come back to my bunk, only to find that twelve other people have slept in it over the past 24 hours. By the time I wake up, I am covered in the sweat, blood, and tears of a dozen other men, where I proceed to take a shower, to which I am accompanied by twice as many men.

After I finish cleaning the muck and grime off of my body, I make my way back to my bunk to prepare for my next shift, which by the way has someone else sleeping in it, only to be harassed by a reporter who wants to know something as stupid about what my thoughts are on this war. Now that you know my thoughts, how about you get those fucking cameras out of my goddamn face!"

After saying this, Erich took a swipe at the cameras, and knocked them down onto the ground, where they were dismantled by the impact. The image of the silver haired mutant lashing out at the female reporter who was just doing her job, went about as viral as one would expect it to, especially after people realized that the man in the video was the same guy who just a year ago had caused so many controversies at the naval academy.

---

All over the grid, angry comments about Erich's behavior spread like wildfire, burying those concerns about the living conditions that the starfighter pilots were forced to endure. And while there were many people upset with Erich's behavior, the most unlikely source of reason came to support him. Having just finished a performance for her girl group, Erika Krieger took to the interstellar network during her break, where she saw the video of the man whose life she had once ruined snapping at a female reporter.

It was abundantly clear to the pink-haired beauty, that the man was suffering from extreme amounts of stress, which judging by what he had said during his brief interview was only made worse by the chemicals which the military was pumping through his body so that he could maintain his focus on the battlefield. Which she was quick to give voice to via her social media account.

"So many people are quick to condemn this man for his actions. However, how many of you have ever been in his shoes? As far as I am aware, the Military has never forced its pilots to work twenty-hour shifts for months on end. This is unprecedented!

While our species has been enhanced through centuries of genetic augmentation, we still require more than two hours of sleep to function properly. I can't imagine the sheer volume of stress and fatigue that our servicemen are currently enduring, all because the Admiralty is pushing for a swift victory against an enemy which poses no threat to our borders.

After four months of nonstop combat, I too would be on edge, especially if I were ambushed by a reporter when I am half naked and trying to begin my next shift, where I could die at any moment. Our soldiers deserve better than this. Shame on Mrs. Andersson for forcing an interview out of a man who clearly did not want to participate!"

Erika's comments quickly washed out the fire which was raging across the interstellar network, and instead placated the masses who were quite upset over Erich's behavior. As for Erich, he did not even notice that his actions had caused another controversy, because he was too busy flying over the skies of another world, dropping a substantial payload on the enemy.

---

In four months, Erich had proven himself as one of the most talented young pilots in the Germanic Starfighter Corps, so much so that he qualified to fly several types of spacecraft. Whether that was the basic light fighter known as the Dagger, or the high-speed interceptor known as the bolt. Erich performed well in all roles he was given.

Thus, it did not come as a surprise when he was selected to step in on behalf of the other members of his unit, who had perished in battle, and were currently recuperating in a cloning facility several hundred light years away from the front lines.

At the moment, Erich was flying a Heavy Bomber designated as the "Scimitar", which looked like a futuristic version of the B-2 "Spirit" Bomber from the United States Air Force during the 21st century of Earth's history. Like the B-2, the Scimitar had stealth capabilities, and thus the sensors of the Dvrakian Military could not detect him as he flew through the skies of a world known as Skia'an.

The world was a winter wasteland, of which the Dvrakian species only managed to settle its surface via the use of subterranean bunkers. And while the Star Marines were currently engaging on the surface of the snow covered world, Erich was tasked with dropping an anti matter bomb on a nearby shield generator. If he managed to eliminate the shield generator, then the defenses which protected the subterranean complexes would be all but defenseless against the onslaught of the Germanic Military, who despite their superior technology, were struggling in their assault.

The bomber flew through the air at breakneck speeds while Erich looked through his windshields, gazing upon the battle which was being conducted below. In the snow, which looked almost like white sand dunes, the Germanic Star Marines rushed towards a Dvrakian fortress, as their power armor and personal energy shields tanked the electro-magnetic projectiles which the enemy fired upon them.

There was approximately one five kilometers of distance between the Germanic Armored vehicles which acted as a cover for the Star Marines, and the Dvrakian fortress, which was protected by the shield generator. If not for the shield generated, which protected the Dvrakian stronghold, then the Germanic Tanks would have steamrolled through the area hours ago.

What emerged through after hours of battle was a gulch which sat between both sides, and was filled with the corpses of both armies. While the Germanic automatic plasma rifles tore through the primitive body armor of their enemies with ease, the railsguns which the Dvrakians used slowly pierced through the power armor and energy shields which the Star Marines wielded. And while the pile of corpses was heavily dominated by those of the Dvrakian Army, more than a few bodies belonged to the Star Marines.

Sensing that the battle was turning into a stalemate, with both sides hiding behind their cover and exchanghing fire between the bloody gulch. Erich desperately scanned his surroundings with his sensors, searching for his target, which had yet to reveal itself.

After significant effort on his part, he eventually found a large structure, concealed within the natural frozen landscape, to which he immediately ignited his engines, sending his Scimitar barreling towards its target where once hovering above it, he dropped the payload, before absconding from the scene of his crime.

The explosion of a 1,000 kilogram anti-matter bomb was like those that were dropped upon Nagasaki, and Hiroshima, but without the radioactive fallout, and because of this, the two armies that were fighting several hundred kilometers away, had witnessed the mushroom cloud as it rose through the air, along with the accompanying thunder of the weapon's detonation.

Almost immediately after the explosion occurred, the shockwave spread throughout the tundra, creating a pseudo avalanche which buried both armies beneath the snow, and while the soldiers of Germanic Star Empire dug their way out of the mess, the Dvrakians were buried alive with no way out.

The end result of the bloody battle which took place in the bloody gulch was an overwhelming Germanic victory, as the Star Marines secured the area and eliminated what few of their enemies survived. Giving them a substantial foothold on the frozen world to which they would begin their conquest.

As for Erich, he was ordered almost immediately after the successful completion of his mission to return to the Carrier which sat in orbit above the planet, where he would receive a verbal thrashing from his superior officer for the interview he had given to the female reporter.