Fighting for our Place in the Galaxy IC (Fox and Pendragon)(M)
Planet Haven
Two weeks earlier
The attack came quickly, the Order’s newest ships suddenly dropping out of hyperspace around Haven, intent on taking out the elite soldiers that the Federation could use, and purging what they considered unclean technology, namely the cloning, genetic engineering and AI laboratories. Tayla Redmont and the rest of Seraph Squad Alpha were meeting in the Seraphim HQ as the orbital bombardments began, the surface-to-orbit defences being hit, along with many civilian centres. “People of Haven, the Order of the New Dawn has launched a surprise attack, please make your way to the evacuation zones, take only what you can carry. All soldiers and militia members are to report to the armouries immediately!” Tayla said over the public broadcast system, just before communications were jammed. She got into her armour and grabbed her rifle before heading outside with the rest of her squad just in time to see the first soldiers of the Order landing in the street; gunning down civilians, using plasma-based flamethrower weapons on one of the nearby cloning facilities, yelling about purging the wicked. The battle raged on for the better part of the night, until the Alliance fleet managed to break the blockade, and more troops were dropped to help clear out the Order forces. It all came to a head when all members of Seraph Squad Alpha found their way into the Order’s forward base. Tayla and her second-in-command, Hanna, both made their escapes, but the other four members were trapped. “This is Kelly, head mechanic of Seraph Squad Alpha, we are trapped inside the enemy’s base and cannot escape, calling for Ascension Strike on our location,” one of the members of the squad said over the radio. The fleet fired on the location of the enemy base, while the trapped Seraphim fought and held out until the last one of them died. Tayla and Hanna would mourn their loss, but not until after this war was finished.
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Space station above Haven
Present Day
Tayla stood in front of the Spirit of Redmont as supplies were loaded onto it. In the past two weeks she had been responsible for the rebuilding effort, and choosing the replacements for the four members of her squad who had died. She had chosen members from all over the Federation, including two from Earth, one of which was more or less foisted on her by his own father, much to her displeasure, and based on his personnel files, he seemed like a spoiled brat.
As she stood, signing off on various crates of supplies, she eyed one box. Attack drones, they had finally come through with her request for personal attack drones. She was happy, especially considering they were Fenris-class attack drones, loyal to the last, willing to jump into the battle to protect their master or mistress, and most importantly they were relatively sentient thanks to their sentient AI, so they would be smart and not stupid, and highly customizable with different weapons, and sensory attachments. One for each member of her squad, and she knew exactly what she would do with her one. She then watched as the personal lockers were brought up, which meant her squadmates would be not far behind. And so she waited for them, Hanna and the others who would be joining them, her team, her newest battlefield family.
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