Destruction of Frilnais

Author: Ninavask

Original post: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1F9AO4JUo0ZPZlhN1Lw39bYmXk4rBYC7vIfAQSA0XJ10/pub

Entry for the YC114 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest in the Eight Thousand Suns in New Eden category.

Evaulon Solar System
Sovereignty: Gallente Federation
Date: 11/29/114YC

His eyes took in the sight, and at first awe filled his being. However, after a moment, it was replaced with horror as his mind began to comprehend what he saw before him. Dark shapes amongst the brilliant blue sky, streaking down through wispy clouds. At first it looked like a federation navy patrol from the nearby base. Then he saw how many there were, all driving right for the city. He didn’t know military ships, but even with his lack of knowledge something seemed wrong.
There were hundreds of them. And they weren’t alone. Small nimble craft streaked amongst the sleek dark vessels that fell from the sky. When the first brilliant violet beam of light appeared from one of these nimble craft, and struck the ground he understood. The city was under attack, truly under attack. The rest of the craft began to fire and smoke belched into the sky from where they struck, and the clouds of vessels behind them began to split up. Shifting towards different parts of the city, mostly the eastern districts. However some made for the western. It wouldn’t come to his mind that Combined Harvest facilities were present where they were going. In fact, there was no time for him to imagine this.
Out of the sky a blinding burst of light, the finger of God reaching down to smite humanity, struck the building across the street from his apartment in the southern district of Rilnais. The release of the plasma from the strike itself vaporized the gallentean man instantly, as well as five city blocks around the impact zone, another ten afterwards being leveled in the concussive wave. Two other mirroring strikes hit the central district of the city. Leveling blocks of infrastructure in an instant, administrative buildings, emergency communication relays, anything that could get the message beyond word of mouth. Few would understand what happened, but the Serpentis had made due on their promise. Their offer of cooperation had been turned down.
Rilnais would burn, to be a message to everyone. No one turned down Salvador Sarpati.

City Of Rilnais Emergency Broadcast System: Evacuations in Progress. City Under Siege By Serpentis Assets. Requesting Assistance From Federation Navy Command.

This was like a damn shooting Gallery, and Shukutsu was loving every second of it. The Caldari turned mercenary for the Serpentis Cartel was having the time of his life, laughing and shouting curses as him and the squad sprinted alongside the armored division of the attack force down a wide double laned road through the city. The tanks rolled over hovercars and crushed them like paper, while the trigger happy gunners fired Antimatter Plasma Rounds into the first thing they saw that moved amongst the buildings. Eagerly emptying as many rounds into anything that moved, especially civilians.
Hell, at one point a small crowd of Gallenteans came running out of a convenience store alongside the bulletin begging for mercy and to be kept alive. Whoever was running that gun had good aim, as the plasma charge hit the lead Gallente, an middle age woman in a stylish and skimpy little outfit, right in the chest. The explosion vaporized her, and the two nearest her. The rest where throne like little dolls across the street. Over the squad comms laughter could be heard from the others as they continued their relentless charge towards the Combined Harvest Warehouse a dozen blocks away. It was as if the civvies wanted to die, and they were more then willing to oblige.
When the second volley of orbital strikes came down it was like fireworks. The concussion blew out windows and nearly took the marines off their feet, cusses and laughter echoing over the comms as the cloud of smoke rose into the sky. “Holy shit!” One Shukutsu laughed. “That must have hurt!” He laughed and others echoed his sentiments with snickers and slurs.

Combined Harvest Emergency Broadcast System: Defenses Overwhelmed! Multiple Orbital Strikes Knocked Out Facilities Across the City! We Can’t Hold Out! Please! Oh God! They’’re Here! Someone Please Hel-[Static]

Shukutsu and the other marines laughed amongst themselves as the MTACs that had been brought along with the armored column began loading the product into the dropships around the warehouse. After the air had been cleared and any security handled, it was a cakewalk dealing with all the scientists inside. Orders however were to kill everyone, no matter how tempting the offers from even the most attractive of scientists. Oh well, the boss had promised drinks and tail on the big boss tonight so no real complaint.
He was watching one of the mtacs load a 200 kilo crate into the cargo dropships when things seemed to slow down. A high pitch whine caught his ears and a brilliant streak of light cut across his vision, striking the MTAC in the center of the armored chassis, the operator was dead before he knew what happened as the rocket exploded and gunship fire streaked across the field.
“HOLY SHIT! Get down!” He roared over squad comms as his HUD lit up with as he threw himself in a hasty dive behind a pile of product crates. Plasma rounds pinging across the metal walls and flooring of the facility as the attackers opened automatic fire. More explosions and everything in Shukutsu screamed to get out of there before a lucky rocket found him.
His feet caught up with these thoughts and the mercenary began to run, scrambling to his feet and sprinting across the towards the nearest heavy large container for better cover, noting at least three of his guys had already been killed. He slid behind cover with a curse as automatic fire met the plating just behind him and pressed tight to the product crate. Not, rifle in hand his anger reached a boiling point and with a stream of shouted expletives he fired blinding around the corner.
As if his curses had summoned one of the HAVs from outside burst at full throttle through the wide open doors of the warehouse across the landing field. Cannons opening fire wildly as enemy fire turned on it. Heavy duty plasma rounds crashing through shields and biting into armor and to his shock it went down faster than he imagined possible. The first sign it was doomed was plasma spilling out of the superstructure, and when it started accelerating and trying to turn away from the attackers, he knew they were fucked.
He began to run when the tank exploded and as resisting fire began to die down he managed to dart into the administrative tower that sat just off the warehouse. The 100 meter tall structure smoking but stable enough that he hoped he could make it through and away from the killing field, for the moment he didn’t care what the hell had hit them. He just wanted away.
As he shot down the entry hallway he turned to make sure he wasn’t being followed, and that momentary distraction kept him from seeing the white coated egghead that he ran into full tilt. The both of them spilling to the ground with shouts and grunts.
Shukutsu managed to collect himself quickly, and turned towards whom he had run into, a man with reddish hair. Gallente and his face now smeared with blood from his cheek hitting his body armor. He snarled angrily at her, an incomprehensibly vile curse as he grabbed him, hauling the geek to his fit before hitting their face so hard with a cross hook that he felt bone give way and heard the definite crack of it breaking.
With another curse and a kick as the body fell the Serpentis Marine grabbed his rifle and ran again. Making it to the street and with a darting glance across the ruined boulevard he chose to head east, where they had already secured the city.
He didn’t make it quite as far as he had hoped. Before he realized it Shukutsu was on his back staring at the twisting columns of smoke above. A fist the size of his head reaching under his vision and hauling him up by his throat, and he stared into the black and gray faceplate of death itself. His own armor reflected in the tinted glass of the visor.
As his airway was blocked off he realized he was a good half foot off the ground, and the scope of his attacker came truly into perspective even as his vision began to narrow. The figure was massive, seven foot tall and looking like a mountain covered in armor that looked as if it weighed more than the Serpentis Mercs standard gear plus him combined weighed. And this guy lifted him off the ground like a toy, all 113 kilograms of him.
As his vision narrowed to a pinpoint he realized the figure was saying something, but his brain couldn’t understand what as a huge fist raised up and struck him square in the face. He didn’t even recognize the shock that followed as the fist shattered metal and glass and smashed bone. Consciousness faded before he could feel the third blow, and he couldn’t have been more relieved to not feel the blows that followed.

Scope News - Live Report: Serpentis forces retreat after massive strike on Rilnais. Entire city burning - widespread devastation reported.

The world came rushing back to Shukutsu in a sickening blast of awareness. Blood came spilling from his lungs as he rolled over, blood and mucus spilling from his face onto the pavement below him, mixing with the thick coating of ash that he could barely see. He stayed there for a moment, coughing blood and his mind screaming for death before he managed to see the world around him, his head slowly, achingly turning to take in his surroundings, deaf to the world as all he could make out was a thunderous ringing.
The entire boulevard was covered in ash and the skies were black with smoke. His eyes surveyed the ruins of the buildings all around, it looked as if they had been scorched, destroyed while he had been out.
Slowly the mercenary managed to get to his knees, then staggered to his feet. Nearly falling again as he vomited blood down the front of his suit. The pain he felt made him want to curl up and die, but one thing gave him a desire to stay alive. The sight of the heavily armored figure that had broke him several feet away. On the ground with a dozen burned holes in the back of his armor, he was facedown in a dune of ashes.
With an incomprehensible yell that hurt more than it helped Shukutsu lunged at the corpse. Kicking it as hard as he could, the pain irrelevant in his fury filled mind as he tried to get revenge on someone who had already died, and still didn’t know who they were or who had made them attack. It was only as he managed to roll the hulking being and remove their helmet so he could beat their face in that the ringing began to lesson and the voice of the operational commander for all serpentis forces came over the comm system of his helmet, which miraculously was still functional it seemed.
“Confirming 100% successful extraction of Product. Mission Accomplished.” More voices came over the communication frequency.
“I am assuming ground forces are away. Because I am about to open up on the city”
“Confirming all ground forces are clear. Burn Rilnais.”
Shukutsu wanted to scream, and did so even as he opened comms. “Hold on! Hold On Goddammit! I’m down here! Wait!” However it was too late, even as he looked to the sky. Three simultaneous beams of light ruined what little vision he had left as the siege cannons met the city.
In that brief moment, that infinitesimal moment of time that separated thought from feeling, Shukutsu decided he should not have signed on with Serpentis as the blast from the Three Moros in orbit vaporized him, and a good fifteen kilometer section of the city. A wall of plasma rushing outward from ground zero and swallowing the city, and any survivors that may have been in it. For thirty minutes the firing would continue into the already ruined and destroyed city.
Finally, by 21:12 New Eden Standard Time. The City that had been Rilnais, was little more than 200 square kilometers of smoke and choking black dust, a column of smoke that rose nearly 40 kilometers into the sky, and within hours would stretch across two thirds of the continent. A black stain upon the temperate world. A message from Serpentis that all could understand with little difficulty. Their government had failed them, and more importantly, the capsuleers who had professed desires to protect them had hardly lifted a finger.
The Galaxy would know, you did not turn down an offer from the Serpentis Corporation.