Phoenix

[AztecWarrior]

Prologue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NC Stronghold City
NC Stronghold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Military food had a reputation for not being very high quality. This was necessary, however, under the stresses of war. Quantity overcame quality.

This is one damn good steak! thought Lt. Major AztecWarrior. It wasn't every day that one could indulge in one of them. His date, Black Widow, was enjoying pasta just as much as he enjoyed his steak. The wonders of restaurants. It almost felt as it they were back in civilian days.

"I feel like I was still an engineer at college!"

"Those were scary times."

"Yeah. Riot cops shooting up your buddies, people disappearing..."

"...they took my best friend. She was walking to campus one morning and the riot cops came. They took her away. That was the last time that I saw her."

"Another time, I was walking home, and they raided one of the dorms for no reason! They shot three of us, and they walked away empty handed."

"Damn Terrans..."

He began to get flashbacks of his CDL imprisonment. He saw Terrans, surrounding him. He was staring down eMa's three-barreled Mini-Chaingun. His blood ran cold. His heart started beating fast. He started to sweat. He reached for his Suppresor. It was gone!

"What are you doing?"

"....wha....they're gone!"

"Are you feeling OK?"

"Of course, of course."

He had told her the story of the invasion and bombing of Esamir on the way to the Stronghold. The troops in the Galaxy listened in awe. Nobody was supposed to have come back alive from that gate. Yet there he was.

They finished their meal and left. They both enjoyed it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vanu Sovereignty main base
Vanu Sovereignty Stronghold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four scientists gathered around a table. Helios' Fury had been a huge success. The invasion force was on the way to attack. However, they still had a bit of U-235 left. Not enough for a large atomic bomb like the one detonated on Esamir, but perhaps, a small one to take out a base.

"So, Edison, do you favor using the remaining U-235 for another weapon?"

"Well, the consequences of Helios' Fury so far have been positive to the Sovereignty. I am in favor of such an act."

"Is there any objection?"

None of them raised their hands.

"Very well. This bomb will be much smaller, perhaps mounted as the warhead of a Decimator rocket. What base should we target?"

"Well, there was one surivior of the first attack. 'Mayan warrior' or something along those lines. If we can kill him, then we have a complete propaganda victory."

"We could also strike one of the exit gates from Esamir, rendering escape impossible."

"Watson, recent reports show that most of the troops in immediate danger have left. The island is almost completely vacant."

"All right. Does anyone have any other ideas? None? Fine. We strike Ceryshen."

Outside, an invasion force similar to that of the New Conglomerate was being assembled. The plan was for Aztec's base to be nuked by a small commando squad, then for the main force to take over the entire continent.

[AztecWarrior]

Aztec knew that there was a problem as he stepped off the Galaxy onto the base. Flashbacks don't just happen in normal wars- this war must have been really grinding on him!

Just as he got off, it happened again.

He saw the Vanu Galaxy.

Pull right!

He pulled right.

Fire rockets!

Two hit the Galaxy. The Galaxy went down, spinning, and, Oh my God, the bomb is out.

Get away, get away!

BOOOOOOOM!

He then appeared on Ceryshen.

"Are you sure that you're feeling all right?"

"...I'm going to medical."

He spent the night in medical. They studied him for sleep disorders. They found one.

He woke up in the middle of the night, screaming. When asked what was wrong, he realized that it was a nightmare- he was being shock tortured.

He went back to sleep. Sure enough, 2 hours later, he woke up moaning. Another nightmare- he had been shot by a Vanu.

The next morning, he saw a psychologist. He told the doctor everything, all his experiences and inner thoughts from college to Esamir. He was diagnosed with flashback syndrome. Continued visits to the psychologist and medicine would reduce the frequency of his flashbacks, but they would never disappear.

The main problem was the torture. It force-fed his brain that he was responsible for his fate. And he believed it. It would take a while to purge those thoughts.

He knew it. He would never be the same ever again.

[AztecWarrior]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tau-17 Research Facility
<<classified>>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Decimator rocket launcher lied on a table in the depths of the primary Vanu tech plant on all of Auraxis. It was re-painted in Vanu colors. It had yet to be loaded.

The rocket had to be put together. It looked the same as a normal rocket. But inside was a small nuclear weapon. While it would not do the same damage as Helios' Fury, it was enough to completely level a base. The rocket was enlarged to make room for extra rocket fuel- obviously this could not be fired from the maximum normal range. The rocket was designed to be fired from up to 2 miles, terrain permitting a clear shot at the base. After firing, the firer had to get into the nearest Galaxy and run. He had about twenty seconds to move away, at which point the EMP would anull the Galaxy, so engineers were on board, and the pilot was ordered to fly no higher than ten meters.

After the launch, swarms of 'Stalker II' Mosquitoes would fly in. Unlike the Stalker I disaster, the Stalker IIs had dual Omega-Lancers and quicker regenerating laser shields. The dual Omega-Lancers had a combined fire rate of 60 shots per minute, or one every second. Of course, cloaking was still availible.

"Edison, are you done loading it?"

"Yes. Bring me the launcher."

The missile was loaded into the Decimator launch tube.

"As of now, this weapon is loaded."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radar Tower Alpha
VS Stronghold
One hour later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[WNC]UndeadFenix was bored, sitting in his chair, attempting to draw a good picture of FIRE! He loved fire. But they day had been boring. His clan had not gven any orders. He had been in the tower all day. A Galaxy came in and landed next to the tower. Omega came down.

"Are you UndeadFenix?"

"Yeah. It's you!"

"Yeah. You've been selected to do something that I can't say right now. Would you like to do it?"

More laser beams? Laser=Fire! FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE!

"HELL YES!"

"Good. Come into the Galaxy."

The Galaxy had two pilots, Omega, and a bunch of engineers.

UndedFenix was wearing Reinforced armor and not his usual MAX armor, so he could use the Decimator that was given to him. However, he was full with his Force-Blade, his AMP, his Beamer, his Lancer, and his Pulsar..

"Here. Take this Decimator."

"My load's full."

"Drop your Lancer. You'll be able to pick it up later."

The Galaxy took off. Omega spoke again.

"Ok. Now I can tell you what's going on. That Decimator has a nuclear warhead on the rocket..."

"NUCLEAR?!"

"You heard me right. We're flying to Ceryshen. There will be a base. We're landing about 2 miles away. The object is simple: shoot the rocket at the base. It's been modified, it has the range."

"Why me?"

"I can't do it. I have tried, and not even simulated have I been able to pull the trigger. Sit tight. We're going through the gate."

[AztecWarrior]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ceryshen
30 minutes later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aztec was not happy. As he lined up for lunch, all he could think of was the doctor's diagnosis: Flashback syndrome.

Black Widow was out on another classified mission. Aztec had a new Eagle Reaver. No offensives were planned for the day. The Esamir victims were all alive again, but lacking armor. There was a weapon shortage. Vehicle spawning was rationed. The New Conglomerate armies would not be ready for another offensive for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Black Widow was cloaked on her Wraith. She was looking at the warp gate. Any minute now, a Galaxy was inbound. She was briefed on a moment's notice: We may have another nuke inbound for Ceryshen. Go to the northernmost gate and, when you see anything that could be carrying a nuke, alert base.

She was there. Even though her Stealth suit was partially insulated, it was freezing. A snowstorm was expected later that day.

Peering through her Range Magnifier, she saw the gate. It was under Vanu control. Suddenly, a Galaxy appeared over the gate. Alone, with no escorts. She radioed base.

"Black Widow to base, do you copy?"

"Loud and clear."

"Galaxy inbound for the base, dispatch fighters."

"Roger that."

As Aztec was poking and prodding what appeared to be meatloaf, the intercom came on.

"Base, we have a nuke-carrying Galaxy inbound, I repeat, a nuke-carrying Galaxy inbound, all units, scramble! I don't care if you are driving a Basilisk, GET OUT THERE!"

Aztec had never seen such chaos.

People were running everywhere, mounting any availible vehicles. Everyone was rushing to get their guns. Aztec always carried his.

He jogged down to his Reaver. The cockpit closed and the heater started. Mmm. Heat. The MFDs lit up. One single Galaxy was seen, ten miles from base, going one mile per minute.

"Oh, my God." he said aloud.

There were no callsigns. There was just a horde of vehicles all going for one Galaxy.

He turned on his radio. Suprisingly, it was mostly silent.

"Everyone- this seems like a trap. I can't believe that they would send just one Galaxy...keep observing."

"Base to everyone, there is a snowstorm inbound, we need everyone out of here now. If that thing gets into the storm, it's over."

He flew off. It was already beginning to snow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10 miles away
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are we there yet?" asked UndeadFenix.

"NO! Stop asking!" yelled one of the pilots.

The co-pilot gasped, and tapped on the pilot. He turned, and stared dumbfounded at the radar screen. Huge amounts of units, of every type, were coming in!

"Specters, be careful. We have units from all over coming in."

"Roger that, Intelligence 1."

Little did the NCs know that it was a trap- fifty cloaked Stalker IIs surrounded the Galaxy.

Aztec could now see the Galaxy. He flew up to its height, again, extremely high. It would be a quick head-on fight. Behind him were about ten Reavers and fifteen Mosquitoes. Behind them were ground units of all types, ready to give the Galaxy AA fire.

None were Mark II units. Those had to be built from Mk Is, and there was an armament shortage.

Aztec was within rocket firing distance of the Galaxy when, suddenly, fifty Mosquitoes uncloaked.

"HOLY SHIT! ALL FLIGHTS! IGNORE THE MOSQUITOES AND GO FOR THE GALAXY!"

The Galaxy crew decided to eject. A wise choice. All twelve of Aztec's rockets were fired off at once, and ten hit the Galaxy right after the last pilot got off. There was a fireball but no nuclear explosion. Who had the nuke?

UndeadFenix was new to jumping out of Galaxies. He had only been in one three times, and now he had had to jump out again, making a 2:3 ratio.

He was very high, and the kinetic dampeners had a lot of time to stop him. He hit the snow and did not lose any health. He got up. The base was almost 2 miles away. He started to run.

Mosquitoes were EVERYWHERE. Aztec got on the tail of one and gave him a long burst of chaingun. He exploded. Two got on his tail. They fired all of their Omega-Lancers at once. Two missed. Aztec was at 33% aircraft integrity. He did a barrel roll, and cut engine power. The stalkers flew right by. He blew up both. With the Stalkers off his back, he flew down, looking for the nuke.

UndeadFenix noticed that one Reaver was heading down, fast. He then realized that he had a Decimator in his hands. He was about to fire, then realized that the target was the base. He took out his Pulsar and shot at it. It flew by at a high speed, kicking up the lightly packed snow.

Aztec found it odd that he had put away a missile launcher to shoot at him with a Pulsar. He then realized that it must have been one special missile launcher....

It clicked. The nuke was inside.

He turned around. UndeadFenix kept on firing the Pulsar. The shots weren't doing much damage, but the volume of fire and low armor of the Eagle made it important. He fired, with his cannon, at UndeadFenix. The shots missed. UndeadFenix was now within sight of the base. The inbound ground vehicles were also within sight.

Aztec's world went into bullet time. He pulled a 360 to find UndeadFenix aiming the missile. Aztec fired. No, the reticle was too high! He pushed it down. Now too low! He kept on firing, and pulled up.

He had missed. He snapped out of bullet time. He had missed. UndeadFenix now had a clear shot at the base.

UndeadFenix began to pull the trigger. Then he stopped. He heard a buggy coming straight toward him.

Black Widow turned, took out an AMP, and shot at UndeadFenix from close range. She had been cloaked. Now, because she was shooting, she uncloaked.

UndeadFenix dropped the Decimator and pulled out his Pulsar. He shot up the Wraith. Black Widow jumped off milliseconds beforfe it exploded. She landed and rolled behind it to take cover.

She reloaded the AMP with armor piercing rounds, rose up, and hit UndeadFenix. UndeadFenix tossed a grenade. She caught it mid-air and threw it back. It detonated right over UndeadFenix, causing him to fall over.

Black Widow ran up and shot him again with armor-piercing bullets, killing him. The AMP's high rate of fire made his body shake as the clip emptied. Her AMP's barrel smoked after the clip was done.

"Black Widow to base, the nuke is secured."

She took the Decimator in her hands and began the two-mile run back to base.

Aztec was in serious trouble. Two Stalker IIs had come down. They were going at a high rate of speed. He pulled up and killed one as it came down. The other broke its dive and pulled level. Aztec got on its tail, but he had far less speed. The Stalker dived, and so did he. Aztec fired off a burst, hitting the Stalker. The Stalker pulled straight up. Aztec gave it its second and final burst. He then applied full afterburner and joined the dogfight occuring up there.

The Stalkers had taken down fifteen NC aircraft. However, they were down to six. Aztec managed to get one. The Stalker was on the tail of a Mosquito when Aztec, like a shark, came up from the bottom and attacked.

That's when the ground vehicles arrived.

The Vanguards aimed up and fed the Stalkers 150mm shells. When one of those hits a tiny Mosquito, it explodes immediately. They got two. Eventually, the rest of the aircraft got the last three Stalker IIs.

Fragments from the Stalker IIs were analyzed at base. Ordinary cloaking does not work well, as the Mosquito moves all the time. That and the large mass make a cloaking unit need a huge amount of power. Apparently, the cloaking effect came from 'artifactizing' an ordinary rock with a certain Vanu artifact that can't be synthesized. The rock was then placed in the Mosquito. When fed energy, it would cloak anything around it for ten meters.

The ship's energy unit, though powerful, was maxed out with the dual Omega-Lancers and laser shields. The shields came at the expense of hull armor. The cloaking and shields could not work at the same time, it would max out the energy unit.

But the main thing was that Ceryshen had been saved. Like a Pheonix rising from the ashes, the New Conglomerate was now far from dead. Morale skyrocketed when news of the win reached the troops.

[AztecWarrior]

STALKER II:

Original aircraft: Common Pool Mosquito
Armament: 2 x Vanu 'Omega-Lancer' beam weapon
Top speed: Equal to that of Mosquito
Hull strength: Very Low
Handling: High
Special Abilities:

Has laser shield that activates when a projectile gets near. It can only take so much before the shield unit deactivates.

Able to cloak, rendering it invisible along all spectrums, including light, infra-red, and radar.

Cloaking unit and laser shield can't be activated at the same time.
Other: First seen during the nuclear attack attempt on Ceryshen.

EAGLE:

Original aircraft: Common Pool Reaver
Armament: 2 x 20mm Rotary Chaingun, 12 armor-piercing rockets
Top speed: Equal to that of Reaver
Hull strength: High
Special Abilities: none
Other: Special version built for Lt. Major AztecWarrior. Retains Mk I body, just with new armament. Never produced in large numbers.

[starrider]

cool

[AztecWarrior]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vanu Sovereignty HQ
VS Sanctuary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir, we've just recieved a report from Ceryshen." said the aide.

"Well, let's see it." said the general.

"Basically it says one thing: the nuke has been captured by the New Conglomerate. It has not detonated."

The general froze.

"Well, there goes Plan A. Resistance will certainly be higher. Give the order to invade, anyway."

"Yes, sir!"

The plan was not to retake Esamir- radiation levels were still too high. The plan was a continent-hopping invasion- take Ceryshen first, then the next continent, then the next, and so on.

The invasion fleet was ready. On the word, they mounted their vehicles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ceryshen
Hyksos Tech Plant
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Debriefing was in progress.

"Preliminary analysis of the rocket launcher makes it apparent that it fires a small nuclear warhead- enough to take out a base, but nowhere near what happened on Esamir. It's a good thing that it was captured. We've asked the government to use it, we are awaiting a reply. It should arive shortly. Aztec, do you want to add anything?"

"Well, I'd like to thank everyone for getting those 50 enemy aircraft down. I've written a report based on info of the prototypes. The Mosquitoes that we were facing were not ordinary. They had 2 Omega-Lancers, laser shields, and a cloaking device. The shields and cloaking device can't be activated at the same time. This should be availible in the refrence section of the data library..."

"Aztec, I'm going to have to cut you off, the response is coming in. Decrypting...done. It reads...oh, my God....'Use it against the inbound Vanu invasion fleet.'"

And they were inbound.

A NC sniper moving towards the warp gate saw the fleet come in. He radioed NC Command and counted the units. Fifty Galaxies, fully loaded, had come through the gate. Thirty Stalker IIs. Twenty Reavers. And a long armored column with MAG-Riders, Theshers, Sunderers, you name it, was inbound.

Doomsday had arrived again.

Just as the e-mail from NC Command came in, the alarms started blaring from radar towers on Ceryshen:

"INVASION FLEET INBOUND! ALL UNITS, MOVE OUT!"

All the pilots got out. The base was doomed. Everyone knew it. They could simply not withstand that many enemies.

An idea popped into Aztec's head- scorched earth.

He went up to the general.

"Sir! I think I know how we can maximize enemy deaths, but it will cost us the base."

"Keep talking."

"Set up the nuke to remotely detonate when the base is taken."

"It's risky. I'll keep it in mind as a last resort."

He ran down to the hangars. He jumped in his Eagle. It started flawlessly. He rose up to full height. He wanted to fight with full speed, so he would use a technique he called 'Boom and Zoom.' It is flying above your target, gain speed as you dive onto your target, and give him everything that you have in a head-on pass.

The left Multi-Function Display showed Galaxies inbound. Reavers were present, but no Mosquitoes. He radioed all units:

"All units, this is Aztec, we have cloaked Mosquitoes inbound, we are not sure where."

That's when multiple Stalker IIs appeared right behind him.

"WHOA! THEY ARE HERE!"

Aztec dove, narrowly missing an Omega-Lancer. He then pulled straight up. The Mosquito got closer and closer. Aztec cut his throttle. The Mosquito zoomed by. He fed it a rocket. It fireballed.

The Vanguards arrived on scene and started shooting upward in an attempt to nail a Mosquito. And they did.

Within a few minutes, the Stalkers were down, but the main force was still ahead. Aztec had taken an Omega-Lancer, so he was at 66% armor.

"Aztec, this is base. Considering the odds, we approve of the plan. We are evacuating all personnel."

"All units: we are moving the base to an AMS south of the base. I repeat: all units, we are moving the base to an AMS south of the base. Your DNA is safe."

Aztec regained his height. The radar informed him that the Galaxies were ten miles away.

He took a deep breath. This would be probably the hardest flight he had ever had.

[starrider]

NOOOOOOOOOOO DONT NUKE MY VANU BRETHERN!!!!!!!!!!!!


cool story any way

[AztecWarrior]

Originally posted by starrider
NOOOOOOOOOOO DONT NUKE MY VANU BRETHERN!!!!!!!!!!!!


cool story any way

We wont. They will.

[starrider]

do you mean they as in the story version of the NC or that my vanu breathren will nuke themselves??

[AztecWarrior]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ceryshen
CDL base
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hamma was not happy. He had been killed, twice, by two of his arch-rivals. Due to the savage NC attack, they would be stationed on Ceryshen while their base was being repaired. He was in the barracks, thinking, when Manitou came in.

"Hamma, don't worry. It happens to the best of us."

"Well, sir, maybe you have a point."

"Maybe? I'm sure! I was contemplating suicide after..."

Manitou's beeper went off. He read the number: it came from the radar tower. He ran over there. Short of breath, he burst through the door.

"Sir, we are not sure why, but the entirety of Hyksos base just left."

"That's Aztec's base, isn't it?"

"Well, he's not the highest ranking officer, but yes, he's there. Why would they leave?"

"We've got a scout on the way. We should know in a few minutes where the beef is."

"Who's the scout?"

"Incompetent."

Incompetent was actually anything but incompetent. Incompetent saw the dogfights in the sky. Vanu. Why would a few Vanu cause an evacuation? The Basilisk continued. Eventually, the Vanu invasion fleet appeared.

"Incompetent to base, we have a huge Vanu invasion fleet inbound. I recommend that we evacuate or scramble everything. I count at least forty Galaxies, same amount of Reavers and Mosquitoes, and a huge armored column."

"We're not evacuating. We are going to let the NCs deal with them and then we'll go in. Incompetent, come back to base."

"Yes, sir!"

Manitou's voice came over the intercom.

"All personnel: A huge Vanu fleet is inbound. Remain calm. The NCs are attacking them. Once they are dead, we should have a better chance of destroying them. Man your vehicles but do not take off. I repeat: Man your vehicles, do not take off. All troops to defensive positions."

CDL was a bit more organized, so the chaos that occured at Hyksos was not repeated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ceryshen
Hyksos base
10 minutes later
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, how does it work?" said the general.

"Simple. Once a Vanu steps into the control tower, the nuke will activate. This one's tiny. The control tower will be vaporized, the base completely destroyed, but that's it. The EMP should dissipate three miles out, radiation should be only in the base area."

"I like it!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ceryshen
10 miles away, 300m up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aztec was in the biggest dogfight that he had ever been in. He accepted that he would die. There was no way that they could win. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Freedom Corps and New Dawn were on their way, but they would not make it in time.

He approached a line of Galaxies flying one after the other. He fired off three rockets for each. That did the trick. He downed all four. However, he had exhausted all his rocket stores.

Two Reavers were flying side-by-side to his 4 o'clock low. They were going for the ground units. Aztec dove down, gained high speed, and got them both. However, he noticed one thing: the lack of Stalker IIs.

Three Mosquitoes got on his six. Aztec dove down to just a few meters off the ground. He then went straight up, and to everyone's surprise, went back down. The Mosquitoes leveled off, thinking that he had levelled off, then igninted his afterburners to escape. Two of them learned the hard way as Aztec got them from beind and below. The third pulled a hard right. Aztec followed suit. Aztec stalled. He pulled out of it inches from the ground. The heat from his engines melted snow. He lost the Mosquito.

MAG-Riders began to appear. They were not as effective in flak as their beams did not explode, so they drove on to engage the NC's tanks.

Aztec took a hit from an Omega-Lancer. Where did that come from?

Fifty Stalker II Mosquitoes decloaked. At this moment, there were:

Ten Mosquitoes
Five Reavers
50 Stalker IIs

against

Ten Mosquitoes
Seven Reavers.

"Command AMS to Aztec, retreat. Fly over the CDL compound so that they start shooting at them. We need what's left at the AMS."

"Yes, sir! All flights! To the AMS!"

[starrider]

NOOOOOO MY BREATHREN DO NOT GO IN THAT TOWER IT SPELLS CERTAIN DOOM FOR THE ENTIRE FORCE I REPEAT THE ENTIRE FORCE!!!!!!!!!!

again good chapter

[AztecWarrior]

The general retreat was a success.

Most of the ground units managed to get away. The battle was not easy. Lots of Lightning tanks were lost as they do not have a turret which rotates independently of the movement. Vanguards simpley turned the turret around while the driver kept on going. The MAG-Rider's light armor made each individual one easy but the sheer number and speed made them hard. However, the tankers managed to do it. Infantry battles did not occur, as there was no time to exit the vehicle.

The air retreat was a success in name only. Yes, the air units got there. There were three left. All the others were downed by enemy aircraft. Aztec was one of the ones who made it. The aircraft was on fire when he arrived. There were large holes in the hull. Multiple AMSes were there, and reinforcements would be arriving soon from Freedom Corp, New Dawn, and the respawners (they respawned at the Sancutary.)

However, the escape trick worked exactly as planned. The enemy air units, seeing the enemy base, decided to go for it instead of three measly NCs.

The Vanu eventually took heavy losses from attacking the CDL base, so they decided to take Hyksos instead. They were overjoyed to find Hyksos empty.

Aztec talked to the commander of the base.

"Well, sir, it feels good to actually land after a mission, albeit burning."

"That's a good sign. Should give you self-confidence. You can't underestimate..."

Everyone saw each other's bones for an instant. A tremendous explosion came from Hyksos and a small mushroom cloud appeared in its direction. The NCs started to cheer.

The Vanu lost 3/4 of all the forces that they had used in the offensive.

The sattelite imagery revealed that there was nothing left of the base. Even the subterranean bunkers were destroyed 100%.

CDL observed the blast. They too had lost huge amounts of forces in the Vanu attack. They started to cheer also.

"It's the first good thing that the NCs have done for us!" observed Squeeky.

The news reached as a shock to NC command. The general was court-martialed. The NC had vowed not to use nuclear weapons, and some crackpot general had just did it. If the Vanu had any more, the Stronghold could be the target. Again, NC command was moved into G-7. The general was brought to G-7.

"Why did you do that?!"

"Well, Lt. Maj. AztecWarrior suggested it. It sounded like the only way to stop the offensive, so we did it."

"What were you thinking?!'

"Shouldn't he take some blame?"

"He suggested it. You outrank him greatly. You didn't have to obey him."

[starrider]

oh great they went and did it. CURSE YOU DUMB BREATHREN!!!!!

its that dumb general of ours....

[AztecWarrior]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vanu Sovereignty HQ
VS Sanctuary
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sir! The invasion has been STOPPED!"

"What do you mean stopped?"

"The invasion force gathered at Hyksos base. The nuke was there, and it detonated. We just lost about 3/4 of our invasion force."

"We don't have enough left to even take Ceryshen...We've got no reinforcements...repeat the invasion when all the troops have respawned."

"Yes, sir!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CDL Base
Ceryshen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Manitou was in the command center when a hot-line from the TR Sanctuary came in.

"Commander Manitou?"

"Yes, sir, this is him."

"Prepare your base for an influx of forces. The NCs and Vanu are doing the same. This will be the mother of all battles. We expect about 6,000 troops on Ceryshen."

"Sir, our facilities may not be adequate for such forces..."

"The discussion is over. We must counter-attack."

"Why don't we go for the weaker defended continents?"

"We need to prove the might of the Terran Republic here and now. You WILL walk away from this a champion and a victor."

"Yes, sir!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Conglomerate AMS stations
South of former Hyksos base
Ceryshen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Dawn was arriving. Mass amounts of units ranging from infantry to armored to aereal, arrived. Freedom Corps arrived just after. Despite not having a base, that part of Ceryshen was the biggest force on the island. Aztec decided to talk to one of his old friends from college: MrVulcan.

"Vulcan! Long time no see!"

"Aztec! In the flesh. You're one of the heroes now."

"Yeah, I've heard. I have been through a lot..."

He had another flashback right then and there.

He was on Ceryshen. A rocket was flying straight at him. All of a sudden he was outside of the cockpit, falling. He started to scream. He noticed that his legs were missing! He hit the ground hard.

Galaxies were landing all around him. He looked at their clan labels: CDL.

Oh SHIT! These were the elite Terrans! A female figure walked up to him, pulled out a Repeater, and said these words:

"Life's a bitch. Her name is {{eMaGyN}}."

He came back to reality, screaming.

"What's wrong?"

"Aztec, slow down!"

"Call a medic!"

He was taken, screaming, to the medical station. He was connected to an IV and he eventually calmed down. Despite it being freezing, he was sweating.

Black Widow came up to his bed.

"What is going on?! This isn't the first time! Are you nuts?!"

"I've lost it. I've been through so much....After we got back from the Stronghold, I went to the psychologist. We took tests, and I've got flashback syndrome."

"Oh...sorry."

"It's okay."

She couldn't think of anything to say. She just stared at him for a while.

Aztec was released after a few hours. He did eventually get to talk to MrVulcan. A lot had changed since college. He eventually lied down next to his Reaver and slept. It was nighttime.