Shield (Part 2)

"Defending the weak is the greatest show of strength."

- Tiberius Nyxaris, First Hero of Callisto

"Please, don't go." cried the woman, "You can come with us. You can leave this place."

"I can't, Amelia." the militia fighter said, "You know I can't. It's my duty."

"Fuck your duty, Rob." Amelia yelled, "You have a duty to your son. Do you want to leave him fatherless? He won't even know your face."

Rob looked down at the child Amelia was carrying. He couldn't have been more than a few months old. Rob fought back his tears as he grabbed his son's small hand. For a moment, all the commotion around him stopped. He could no longer hear the people shouting and pushing each other onto the transport ships. He couldn't hear the sounds of the engine or the barking of his officers. A thousand images of alternate lives filled his mind. He could have a better life. But he knew the consequences.

Rob swallowed the clumped saliva in his mouth before speaking, "I need you to go, now. Get on that ship and go far away from here."

"Didn't you hear what I said? You-"

"I can't leave!" Rob shouted, cutting Amelia off, "The Gendarmerie will find me. Sooner or later they will and they will kill me anyway. It's better if I stay."

Amelia cried, "You say it like this death is better."

"At least you won't see me die."

This made the tears worse. There was no good word to say here. No reassurance. No promises to make. As Amelia's cries continued, Rob held her in his arms, his right hand around her back and his left on his son's head. He looked his love in the eyes and kissed her forehead.

"Be strong. For our boy." he said and then kissed his son's head, "Be strong. For your mother. For the future. You have the blood of Callisto. The blood of ancient warriors. You are unbreakable."

Rob was about to leave but Amelia grabbed his hand.

"Promise me you'll live." she told him, almost as an order, "Please, promise me."

He said nothing. He couldn't. He wanted to but the words clumped in his throat and choked him.

"Catell!" a man yelled in the distance as he walked closer, "The Colonel is calling an assembly. We don't have much time left."

Giving Amelia one last glance, Rob let go of her hand and walked off. He didn't turn back as he walked off and as she was pushed into the ship. Her cries were carried through the air but they never reached him.

"What'd you promise her?" the soldier asked.

Rob said nothing as the two men walked away from the landing platforms and toward the entrance. When they walked past the parked APCs, they could see the makeshift headquarters where the officers gathered. The room wasn't large nor were there many people in it. The most imposing figures were Colonel Veridian Christos and Captain Xenophon Artus. Next were Major Podrick Shane and Lieutenant Atalanta Carter from Avalon. Rob and Corporal Ajax Marion were the only ones representing the militia even though there were a few higher-ranking officers.

"Private Rob Castell, sir." Ajax introduced him.

"Good." Colonel Veridian said, slightly turning his head in their direction, "We can begin."

The table in the center flickered and several holographic images appeared. One showed the fleet fighting in orbit. Another showed ships leaving Callisto with civilians. The others were filled with sights of carnage and destruction. Xurug hordes ravaged towns and slaughtered everything in their path. It brought a sense of pride to the soldiers when they saw pockets of resistance against the savagery. Even though most would not survive, it showed that the human spirit will not break in spite of the horrific sight before them.

"We're losing this war." Veridian said, "Despite the valiant efforts of the void fleet and the defense platform, the xenos keep swarming the planet. Though many of them seem to be leaving the system seemingly due to lack of interest, there are still far too many for us to handle. The best we can do is fight and keep our people safe."

"What about the ships on the platforms?" Major Shane asked and the holograms flickered again. This time they showed the three ships outside, which were marked with numbers. One and three were painted green while two was red. This caused confusion and slight fear.

"One and three are fully operational and stable. Two on the hand not so much. It was damaged on its way to the valley and the drives aren't capable of taking it out of the system. The few engineers we have left are trying to fix it and they say it will take between two and three days. We don't have that kind of time."

Once again, the hologram flickered. And once again, the sight caused fear. A horde of Xurug was rampaging toward the valley. Thousands of them. The Avalonian officers grimaced at the sight, their fists clenching and their eyes glaring at the images.

"They will be here in six hours." Veridian continued, "Private Castell."

"Yes, sir." Rob responded.

"You are greatly respected within the militia's ranks. I'm putting you in charge of it. You'll occupy almost half of our fighting force so don't disappoint me."

"I won't, sir." the private said, pride and anxiety filling his heart.

"You'll be holding the primary entrance alongside the Avalon rifles. Six out of the seven Grimlock APCs will be at your disposal. Use any means necessary to hold the line."

"What will you do, sir?" Atalanta asked.

"The shields will hold the secondary entrance." Xenophon answered, "It's only narrow enough to fit one APC so it'll be enough to support us."

A nauseating feeling filled the room's occupants as they realized what he meant. Shane was the first to voice it.

"You're not actually considering-"

"Of course not." Veridian cut him off, "The Shields will hold."

No one dared to oppose his word. Even the Avalonians knew not to question the fortitude and determination of the Shields. They protected the people of Callisto for nearly two centuries. They would do so again.

"Honor in life." he began.

"Glory in death." Xenophon, Rob, and Ajax finished. No further words were spoken and the soldiers got to work.

In a few hours, they had prepared a defensive perimeter at the two entrances. The nature of the valley and the surrounding area gave them an advantage. While in great numbers, the Xurug couldn't maneuver through the rocky paths properly and their machines even less so. Coupled with the cliff sides and walls surrounding the valley and the aliens had no choice but to break the line. Something no one planned on allowing. But to say everyone had hope for victory would be a lie. Most of them, especially the militia, were not looking forward to the battle. Understandable fear and anxiety gripped their hearts as they checked their weapons and prayed. Although there were men in high spirits, they couldn't lend it to their comrades, who hoped that all of this was just a nightmare.

"Hey, Castell!" one of the soldiers called out, "Think you can pull another miracle out of your ass?"

Rob smiled despite the tension, "This isn't like Magpie. Things are different."

"How so?"

"They're the ones coming over to us."

"Still, you think we got a chance?" Ajax asked.

Rob pondered the question. Do they? On paper not really. But nothing is ever determined there.

"I think we do." he answered, "The shields are with us and we have the Avalon Rifles as well. Even if we die, it'll be a hell of a fight."

In hindsight, a pretty poor choice of words, Rob thought to himself. But it was the truth. And in the end, hopeful lies don't change much. Not in this theatre.

"What do you think, Lieutenant Carter?" Rob asked the woman that obesrved her commanding officer as he barked orders.

"It's just Atalanta." she replied, "I want to say we'll make it out of this. I'd hate for this place to turn out like Avalon."

Rob nodded solemnly, "Ground zero? Must have been horrible to witness. I'm sorry."

"Save your pity. It's war." she said and looked down for a moment, "But thank you."

As they prepared themselves, Captain Xenophon and three other men climbed up to one of the observation posts of the valley to prepare the mortar emplacement. One of the militia fighters took out his long sights and looked out into the distance. His jaw dropped when he saw the writhing red mass that was approaching.

"We're all gonna fucking die here." he said.

The Captain took the sights from his hand and saw the horde for himself. But unlike the terrified young man, the old veteran smiled grimly and widely.

"What's so funny?"

"I've fought my whole life, boy." Xenophon said, looking down at the soldier, "But never before have I faced a foe of such magnitude. I don't expect you to understand now. But I hope that once the battle begins, you'll get to see it the way I see it."

Hours passed once again. The setting sight shone over the hills and peaks, illuminating the valley's entrance. A beautiful yet unenjoyable sight. Loud roars and yells echoed in the distance and a horrific thought filled everyone's mind. It was time. Mortars fired and their shells filled the landscape with fire. Still, the roaring persisted. Shots fired off in the distance and bullets bounced off the stone walls and armored vehicles. Those with better aim fired back and blew the aliens' heads off. As the horde got closer, more and more defenders opened fire until the air was filled with bullets and screams of the dying. No two xeno were of the same size. Some were smaller and thinner while others had longer heads or thicker arms. Each was carrying some kind of crude firearm as well as an axe, maul, or anything they could grab and use to beat someone to death. None would get the chance as the APCs shred through their ranks like a knife through paper. It quickly got to the point where the attackers began to tumble over the dead bodies and body parts of their comrades but this didn't seem to faze them.

"Make your shots count!" Shane shouted. All was going somewhat well. So far there weren't any big things to worry about. And that was what worried him.

As the xenos were falling, Rob squinted and looked in the distance. He saw black smoke rising from behind the charging horde. At first, he thought it from the mortars but that thought quickly changed as a massive, bloated beast lumbered toward them. Their grotesque, fat bodies swayed from side to side as they tried to balance themselves on their stubby legs. Thick plates of iron covered their skin and they carried large slabs of metal in their flabby arms. There were around four or five and Rob could see parts of their bodies were scorched. If they survived the day, he'd have to thank the mortar crews. Still, they were a problem that couldn't be ignored. The APCs aimed their guns at them and one fell after a few moments of sustained fire. But then one stopped firing. Its turret exploded and shrapnel punctured several defenders. Behind the bloated monsters were the brutes, wielding large blocky cannons. Each shot caused significant damage to the APCs and the defense line. Another of the trolls was killed but the soldiers were losing men.

"Rocket launchers, quickly!" Rob shouted, "Focus fire on the cannon brutes!"

The Avalonians listened to his advice first and aimed their high-powered railguns at the brutes. Several of them fell but the others were smart enough to take cover behind the trolls. Rob fired a rocket into one of the swollen beasts, blowing its chest open and causing it to fall backward. Now in the open, more brutes fell and more defenders reached for their explosives. Soldiers fell but for every one of them, a hundred xenos died.

"A real shit show we got here!" Ajax yelled.

"Let's hope the Colonel is doing better!" Rob said.

At the secondary entrance, however, things were not much different. Hundreds of aliens fell to energy fire while grenades blew large groups apart. Those that somehow managed to get past the lines of fire slammed into a steel wall held together by sheer willpower. None of the Shields wavered nor did they give an inch of ground. With guns and blades, they cut down their opposition like twigs. As they slowly advanced, with dozens of corpses left in their wake, they roared back at the alien savages, who still showed no signs of slowing down. This made no difference to the defenders.

"Honor in life!" Xenophon yelled as he blew three xenos apart.

"Glory in death!" the others shouted back, firing and stabbing as they moved forward.

"Give them no quarter!" Veridian yelled, slamming his shield into two aliens, pushing them to the ground, and stomping them to death.

"Show them no mercy!" he yelled again, scorching several more foes with his pistol.

"For Callisto! For the Union! Let none live!"

"For Callisto! For the Union!" the Shields roared and their battle cry echoed through the valley and mountain pass. Xenos died by the dozen all around and their numbers quickly dwindled. But things soon changed as one of Veridian's warriors fell to the ground and an animalistic growl filled the air. Turning around, the Colonel saw the source of the noise. Dozens of large Xurug appeared behind a thick smoke screen and charged at them with mauls and bulky guns. The gunners of the group fired at the Shields, their projectiles hitting with enough force to knock the warriors onto the ground. Their melee fighters weren't much different. Each blow that landed on the defenders' shields left dents and caused them to stagger. A few of them were quickly overwhelmed and beaten to death.

"Form a line!" Veridian ordered, "Give them no opening, stick together!"

The Shields did just that but instead of retreating, they formed a double-layered defense. One line of shields was jabbed into the ground while another was held above them and locked in place with powerful magnets. Each shot and swing that came from the Xurug, while powerful, couldn't break the wall. The problem was that the wall would hold so long as the magnets held and the warrior wielding them couldn't let go without risking an opening for the enemy. It seemed like a stalemate.

"Daxos!" Veridian shouted and the Shields lowered their heads. The APC stationed behind them rolled into view and fired at the gun-wielding xenos, blowing them to pieces in a series of explosions.

"Break!" Xenophon yelled and the defenders that were in front of the Xurug fighters opened up the wall. Behind them came a dozen soldiers carrying long, thick, gray, and white guns with glowing blue energy rotating in the middle. The xenos had no time to understand their predicament as the Gauss cannon tore through them, splitting their bodies apart and scattering them along with their oozing blood. The energy fallout scorched anyone unfortunate enough to be near it, filling the air with a cacophony of screams and screeches. Those that could, ran away while others were cut down or shot.

"Our allies need help, sir!" the Captain said, drawing Veridian's attention to the firefight at the main entrance.

He smiled, "Then let's lend them our strength."

The Shields charged the already weekend lines of the Xurug invaders and after a brief period of fighting, they were slaughtered to the last.

No quarter. No mercy. A fine start.

The battle was followed by fierce battle cries and taunts. Officers and soldiers alike celebrated their victory. Those that died would live on in memory and be avenged. And those that lived would fill their hearts with newly-found vigor and tenacity. The alien hordes were vast and brutal but no foe would deter them from their victory.

End of Part 2