Tales of Diodes

Tale 5. Dawn of Destiny

The rumble of tank engines as they appear over the valley is unmistakable. The Terran Cross on the side of the tank signifies that they are here to stay. As part of the Rech Agreement, Terran troops would occupy the Rechnung and Porshan Capitols, and it just so happens that day was today. Behind the tanks came trucks filled to the brim with soldiers, ready to begin the occupation. On the sides of the street Rechian Citizens cry in fear and sadness at the fact foreign troops are occupying their once impenetrable city. Children cry and Men jeer at the trucks, some throw rocks, others cry in despair, but the result is the same. Harsh crackdowns and brutal oppression become the regular for the citizens within Rechnung. Not to mention the blatant Xenocism against the civilians by the occupying army. Soldiers grab anything they can get their hands on and smuggle into their barracks. Bread, wine, paintings, ect, are stolen from the populace to go back to funding the war effort. Xeno men fit for duty are conscripted to fight within the Expeditionary Xeno Unit, or EXU. The women and children are forced to do labor until their husbands and fathers return home, scarred by the countless wars the Imperium is fighting across the galaxy. Meanwhile, in the underground, a resistance group arises. The Terran Military has been trying to root out who the members of this resistance are, but to no avail. They destroy railways, bomb caravans, set fire to factories, and more, in an effort to free Rechnung from their brutal human oppressors. From the human perspective, they were liberators. The Rechnung Government was made up of Xenophobes, scared and terrified of humans, so they became extremely Xenophobic, enforcing Anti-Human laws and oppressing any human within their Empire. Whether they were liberators or oppressors, one thing was the same. Rechnung would be occupied for years on end.

~Two Years into Occupation~

My boots crunched the gravel beneath me as I kept my head down. I felt the cold metal of a bomb on my hand as I hid it from sight of the soldiers outside  the checkpoint that sits in front of the City Hall, The soldiers, who were human, glared at me as I passed, until their faces turned to fear as I hurled a grenade towards them. They scrambled to cover as it exploded, flipping a truck over. Gunfire erupted as Rebels fired on Terran Soldiers. Screams of freedom erupted from the rebels as they fired, the soldiers beginning to yell to each other. The Main Street was in chaos. Civilians ran as bullets whizzed by, trucks exploded, roads cracked, and blood was split. The soldiers of the Rebellion, known as the Rechnung Reclamation Army stormed the City Hall as well as the National Museum of History. 500 people were killed in the opening hour as the Siege of Rechnung begins.

The ruined city was only comparable to how it looked after The War. Bodies laid in the street as I looked around the corner, clutching my rifle and checking for danger. With a flick of the wrist the squad sprinted across the street and entered a building. I stepped carefully up the steps and kept my finger close to the trigger. I tripped a bit and held my breath, but it was just a loose floor board, not a trip wire. I released my breath and continued up the steps, debris scattered around and the smell of sulfur immediately stormed my nose. Bullets rang out as I hit the floor especially hard, bullets whizzing by my head and screams erupted. "Move Move!" " Get the Commander!" A man screamed as I began to be pulled. I only realized I was shot when I looked down and saw a pool of blood gathering in my pelvis area. I looked up to see a recruit no older than 20 smiling down at me. "Hang on sir, I got you!" He said to me in the midst of the battle. "Combatant down. Commander are you ok?" My second in command, lieutenant Jorgi Zerov looked at me with a stone cold face, but his eyes told concern. "I'm fine." I said, attempting to stand up the jolt of pain that was sent up my body told a different story. I looked at the recruit with panic in his eyes as my vision darkened.

Commander Gregor Bresnov of the Rechnung Reclamation Army, KIA.

"ENEMY PLANES DETECTED, ALL PILOTS ENTER PLANES AND PREPARE FOR BATTLE." Said the intercom as plane engines tumbled and men yelled over the running of the crew and pilots. I jumped into my cockpit and readied the plane, a few minutes I was in the air facing an enemy squadron of bombers heading towards the city below. The metal machines looked like dragon in the sunset as the bullets whizzed by and I jolted the joystick, chasing an enemy plane across the sky. AA batteries fired on the bombers as fighters dealt with fighters. Smoke and explosions filled the sky as the bombers dropped the payload. Pressing a button, a hail of bullets fired on the enemy plane, making it smoke then explode. A few hours later and the bombers flew away, losing a third of our forces. The pilots were anxious and couldn't get sleep which led to their poor performance today. The next day the alarm sounded again, I ran to my plane, and engaged the enemy. But these were different, they weren't focused on protecting the bombers. It was only after shrapnel pierced my leg did I realize that their objective was to wipe us out. I rolled and dodged a hail of bullets but then my right wing exploded into a ball of fire and flew right off. I panicked and began using evasive maneuvers until I felt myself losing strength. In a desperate attempt to save my self I ejected, the plane falling straight into the forest and I looked at the battle unfolding in the sky, the expert pilots of the Rebellion destroying the remnants of the Air Force protecting Rechnung. I fell into the forest and quickly grabbed the pistol on my side before a patrol of RRA soldiers found me. I surrendered and was taken.

Air Brigade Commander Vladimir Openie, MIA.