On the far-flung planet of Hayveon Blaze, a plucky army commander, is fighting a seemingly hopeless battle. In a universe where empires span solar systems, a great war has split the galaxy into three. UCEF, the Union of Creature Energy Force, is an alliance of aliens fighting for freedom and justice. But set against the Cosmaratic Empire and the Barrens, an empire with mind-controlled citizens, UCEF must achieve the impossible in order to win peace.
“Fall back!” Blaze screamed, hammering the recharge switch on his energy rifle. He flung himself flat against the unforgiving ground as a flash of movement caught his attention. There followed a thundering explosion as a shell landed far too close for comfort, obscuring the trenches in a cloud of choking smoke.
Blaze scrambled to his feet desperate to escape before the Barren troops overran his position. A pair of crackling bolts of blue energy flashed through the tortured air, striking the battered walls of the bastion behind. Staggering backwards, he picked his way between the bodies of the fallen; there were far too many of them, the cold white faces of the dead Dinno soldiers with their accusing and lifeless stares. He had failed. He was the commander of Legion R12 tasked with holding the northern front of the bastion, or what was left of it.
“Commander sir! What should we do?” A nervous soldier queried, as another huge explosion shook the very world itself. Blaze glanced at him; red uniform, rifle clasped firmly, pale rabbit-like face concerned but determined: the true picture of a Dinno soldier.
“Come with me! We’ll fall back to the northern gate and try to hold them from there. We’ve lost the battle here,” Blaze ordered.
“Yes sir,” he replied shortly.
Blaze cast a glance over his shoulder; the previously picturesque plains that had stretched into rolling hills were now swarming with Barren troops and tanks. Hundreds if not thousands of them advanced like hideous blue clad army ants, an unrelenting swarm. The hated foe was advancing, like a flood tide ready to crash upon the bastion walls. There was a lightshow of vicious proportions being played out as energy blasts from both sides hissed across the shrinking gap between the two forces. The crash of heavy guns was punctuated by the bangs of artillery and mortars. Snarling, Blaze turned away. Bent almost double ran, he along the communications trench and back towards the bastion. His boots squelched in the mud and dirt beneath him running more of a challenge. Acrid smoke caught at the back of his throat and the air stank of death.
“Help! Over here!” A desperate voice called out. Blaze turned his head to the speaker and saw a Dinno knelt beside a fallen comrade, who was clutching a brutal leg wound. Without even thinking he ran over, any thoughts of self-preservation swept aside by the urge to help his troops. Some of the members of Higher Command said this made him a weak leader, that he should be directing his troops not attending to them. Blaze, however, saw it as being a real commander.
“The Barrens will be in the trenches within minutes, we need to get back to the bastion,” Blaze said urgently, he knew they didn’t have long and the Barrens would show no mercy.
“He’s too badly wounded, he can’t walk!” The injured Dinno’s friend objected.
“Then we’ll carry him! Come on buddy, let’s get out of here!” Blaze retorted slinging his rifle over his back. He knelt down by the wounded Dinno and, as gently as he could, took hold of his legs while his comrade grabbed his shoulders.
“Barrens are in the trenches!” Warned the first of the Dinno soldiers he’d met. Blaze uttered something foul and hurried forwards, doing his best not to jolt the injured Dinno too much, his groans of pain indicated he was not doing too well.
The roar of a rapid fire energy weapon split the air with its vicious cacophony. Blaze’s large ears twitched uncomfortably at the loud sound as it assailed his senses.
Fighting exhaustion, Blaze led the way up the hill to the once white walls of the bastion. The walls rose about five metres from the ground, surrounding the base, which in turn was nestled on top of the hill like a keep from the days of old. Four large gun batteries sat perched along the nearest wall, all but one had been destroyed. None the less it still looked imposing; valiant UCEF soldiers fought back from it with volley after volley of energy blasts. The trenches might have been lost, but hope was not.
“Nearly there!” Blaze encouraged redoubling his efforts. Shouts and footfalls sounded behind them, the Barrens were after them. The selfish and primal part of his mind screamed at him to drop the wounded Dinno and run before it was too late, but he would not bow to its wishes.
“Sir they’re gaining on us!”
“Keep going, it’s not far now!” Blaze replied doing his best to inspire confidence and hope. He had not achieved Level Ten in his Grade Six military training for nothing.
He flinched as a sniper bolt blew pieces out of a broken barricade, barely a metre from his head.
“Sir!” The first of the soldiers cried in warning, as if Blaze needed telling they were under fire.
The northern gate was only fifty metres away. Two concentric rings of barricades stood as sentinels around the gate, which was manned by three squads of Dinnos, all of whom were firing away madly into the advancing Barren masses.
“Keep them back boys!” Blaze yelled as they rounded another corner and ran on. His arms were starting to tire; a fully grown Dinno soldier clad in battle gear was not the lightest thing to carry. Yet, Blaze knew there was no other option.
Clods of earth and dirt sprayed from the side of the trench as the sniper made a last desperate attempt to bring the fleeing Dinnos down. However either his aim was off or he was firing too quickly as neither shot came close.
With a sense of the utmost relief Blaze saw the first ring of the defences just ahead. The barricade blocking the trench had been pulled aside and a Dinno was madly beckoning at them.
“Come on lads, a few pesky Barrens won’t stop us!” Blaze cheered with bravado as they staggered into the relative safety of the defences. But, despite his words, he knew this was far from over.
The other Dinno hastily replaced the barricade as soon as they were all inside.
“Med team!” The Dinno carrying the injured soldier shouted, as he and Blaze carefully placed the wounded Dinno down. The Dinno in question groaned and leant back against a crate, eyes closed. Within moments a pair of medics hurried over and began attending to him, quickly administering powerful drugs and painkillers. Seeing that the soldier was in safe hands, Blaze turned to the others.
“Glad to see some of you made it, report soldier,” the Dinno who seemed to be leading the defences ordered.
“Blaze, commander of Legion R12,” Blaze replied, banging his right fist against his chest twice in the standard UCEF salute.
“Oh! Sorry sir! I didn’t realise who you were sir,” the Dinno apologised and returned the salute in a fluster.
“At ease Dinno…” Blaze instructed.
“R318 sir, squad commander,” he replied relaxing and Blaze simply nodded. The Dinno race was a very logical one and deemed names unnecessary, having code numbers instead. Blaze was a rare exception; one he prided himself on being. He had earned himself the name after the battle of Oredon in which he had overseen the destruction of a battle army belonging to the Cosmaratic Empire. He had lured their forces into a valley that had been soaked with rotherium, a near odourless fuel. It had been high summer and the grass and shrubs had been bone dry… the resulting blaze had earned him his name in recognition of his victory.
“What’s the situation?” Blaze demanded. In answer to his question a burst of heavy gunfire sounded from above and a stream of blue energy blasts flashed overhead.
“Barrens advancing on almost all fronts! We’ve got about a hundred heading our way sir,” R318 reported. Lowering his own voice so only R318 could hear, Blaze asked his next question,
“What are our chances, honestly? If the situation is hopeless we will fall back into the bastion.”
“I’m not sure sir, now you’re here with those other two that puts us at thirty six battle ready soldiers. Your lot did a good job of slowing the Barren’s advance in the trenches, so they shouldn’t have anything heavy moving this way, yet,” R318 replied in an undertone.
“I lost a lot of good soldiers out there,” Blaze lamented. “Casualties were high, very high.” In his mind’s eye he saw the fallen, lying slumped in the trenches, every one of them was a painful loss.
“I am sorry sir, but you played your part, you’ve broken the order of the Barren’s front lines. However if we fall back we’ll be leaving the bastion’s northern gate vulnerable.”
“Then we fight, we need to break their advance or like you said they’ll hit the bastion with everything,” Blaze decided casting a glance backwards. Another set of defences stood before the bastion, made out of large sheets of metal bolted together to form a sturdy wall and walkway. This second ring was smaller than the one they were currently in and would act as a secondary layer of defence should the first fall. Behind this second defensive ring stood the northern gate to the bastion, zarnk doors firmly shut. The tough metal had been imported from off world to strengthen the defences.
“Yes sir. All able bodied fighters to the walls! Let’s drive the Barrens back!” R318 shouted. The Dinnos who had been resting or recovering picked themselves up and made for the defensive walls. Their position consisted of a two metres high wall with a walkway near the top, currently all that stood before Blaze and the Barren army.
Blaze paused as his eyes fell on a nervous soldier, his paws shaking slightly as they gripped the stock of his gun. Dinnos were a powerful race, ‘mutant rabbits,’ that was the description he normally heard. They were roughly humanoid with rabbit heads and long white ears, commonly tucked into helmets. Their legs were almost permanently bent but their sturdy muscular bodies were straight. While you would not exactly say they had hands, their paws were a close approximation, with short digits and opposable thumbs like Humans. However physically impressive Dinnos were, when Blaze looked into the black eyes of this soldier he saw fear.
“What’s your name soldier?” Blaze asked calmly.
“R3298 sir,” he replied looking timidly at his superior.
“Is something wrong R3298?” Blaze continued gently.
“I… I’m scared sir, sorry,” he apologised. Blaze half smiled, as if being scared of an advancing Barren battle army was something to be sorry for.
“We all are, but we’re not going to let them see that,” Blaze said the volume of his voice building as he spoke. “We’re only going to show them the barrels of our guns and the edges of our blades! We are soldiers of UCEF, the Union of Creatures Energy Force! And who are these Humans to push us from this world? For UCEF!” Blaze roared,
“For UCEF! For freedom!” Chorused the assembled Dinnos from the surrounding walls. Blaze turned back to R3298, the echo of the war cry still ringing.
“Come on R3298, let’s show them who should be afraid!” Blaze cried.
R3298 perked up, inspired by the fiery rhetoric of Blaze, a sense of pride building.
“They should be!” he answered with conviction and renewed vigour, tightening the grip on his gun he grabbed the ladder that led up to the defensive wall.
“Indeed they should!” Blaze replied following R3298 up onto the walkway, R318 clambering up after him.
Blaze narrowed his eyes and unslung the energy rifle from his back. It was a long and powerful standard issue weapon, capable of firing thirty shots before recharging. Many a Barren had met his end looking into the barrel of this gun. Kneeling by the parapet he leant his gun on the edge, peering down the sights into the trenches, now overrun with Barrens.
The fight was on.
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