Humanity Endures

Part 12 - Bravery and Bloodshed | Chapter 8

His cubical fighter's hull shimmering in the light produced from the atomic fires of battle around it, Theten, with what remained of his squadron following closely behind him, weaved through the brutal anarchy of interstellar combat with near grace. A stray gauss round pulverized one of his less-fortunate pilots; a trio of Nahmatiixian fighters strafed his formation and cut through two of his other ships; despite these losses, Theten, his cohorts, and every other fighter that had belonged to the Ruthless continued to advance towards the planet of Nahmatiix, below the atmosphere, dust-clouds, and wrecked towers of which lay the Loyalists' only hope at victory. The fate of the human race lay in their hands, and they did not intend to let it slip.

After nearly eight minutes of flight, being fiercely harried by hostile fighters for most of the way, Xertaza's fighters eventually arrived at the viciously beleaguered Loyalist blockade above Nahmatiix. The Ineffable could be seen, its titanic, gilded hull putting all others to shame, and its vast armament putting many others to death, as the ship held its position just behind the main Loyalist line; this formation was led by the Steadfast and a number of other highly-recognizable Tehkria-class from across the Loyalist empire, their hulls bathed in both the crimson effulgence of Nahmatiix's star, and the deathly radiance of the raging nuclear inferno that consumed thousands of ships every minute in the battle's front line. Beyond these formations, an endless tide of Traitor warships attempted to force their way through the Loyalist navy, at great cost to their foe, and at catastrophic cost to themselves; the Loyalist force had deployed formations leading all the way down to the surface of the world, preventing any Traitor warships from maneuvering behind it, though this did not stop it from being attacked on all sides. Underneath this bloody spectacle lay Theten's target: the aurora-touched, dust-choked surface of Nahmatiix, bathed in the lurid light of the surrounding battle, and on whose surface the future of the galaxy was to be decided.

Not wasting a moment, Theten and Xertaza's other pilots descended on the world, being shielded from hostile fighters by Loyalist warships nearby. Their minds gripped by MECS, none of the pilots even felt a pang of apprehension as they soared towards what very well could have been their deaths — Leselah even seemed excited, though Theten had the suspicion that she would be this way even without the influence of combat drugs.

As his fighter began to penetrate the artificial atmosphere of the world, a sickening, uneasy feeling briefly overcame the influence of MECS and gripped his gut; Theten was leading a squadron of fighters to attack his own homeworld, with the objective to slay his fellow Nahmatiixers and to put to death the man who had arguably improved his own life greatly when he had lived there — it was difficult to not feel consternation. As he descended, however, Theten recalled how Heralax's war had divided humanity just when it had been confronted with extinction, how it had cost the lives of billions of humans on both sides already, how it had directly led to him being shot by his own squadron and then thrown out into the Remnant to die; lastly, he recalled how Heralax's actions had brought a catastrophic war to his homeworld and had claimed the lives of billions of his fellow Nahmatiixers. In that moment, any doubts Theten might have had about his motivations or allegiance were crushed by his own past experiences, and a well-placed dosage of MECS. As he plummeted towards the shattered, blood-stained cityscape of a planet he once called home, Theten resolved to bring death to the man who had brought his beloved world to such a state.

While Theten's highly un-aerodynamic vessel shook and rattled under the force of atmospheric entry, and continued to strain as it moved against air, compared to the buffeting winds of battle Theten had been subjected to mere minutes ago, this mild discomfort was hardly noticeable. Though the shape of his fighter would impede the maximum speed of his craft in-atmosphere, the heavier weaponry it allowed him to wield, and the increased protection it offered him, ensured that Theten was at least not entirely damned by what could be considered a mostly stylistic choice.