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| - OCTOBER, 2507 ELYSIUM CITY ERIDANUS II, 82 ERIDANUS SYSTEM After he put the chatter down, he looked up at the sky. It was brilliant; it looked as if someone had ignited a second star above the planet, but that’s not what happened. His men were successful, if only. Two tortured and killed by those Office of Naval Intelligence fucks who had turned one of his lieutenants. That lieutenant didn't live very long. Current estimates for casualties during the bombing included six Naval Special Warfare operators and fifty civilians who couldn't evacuate in time. The nuclear explosion's EMP took down eight of the evacuating craft, forcing them to crash into the surface of the planet. That added another three-hundred casualties to the list. Hell, even the newspapers were calling it a major psychological and propaganda victory for the United Rebel Front. Meh, he thought. They'll never get it right. He was the former Marine Corps Colonel named Robert Watts, formerly assigned to M-EDF 4/13/3. They had gained their place in Marine Corps history for brutally suppressing the Far Isle rebellion; despite the fact that the rebellion was actually ended with the nuclear and kinetic armaments of over two-hundred fifty naval ships. He was there when they did it. He had looked out of the main view screen on the bridge of the UNSC Trafalgar as they fired their nuclear payload at the planet. That beautiful planet, with all its life, was destroyed within two hours. He also watched as the cocky Longsword pilots indiscriminately targeted the evacuating freighters. All of those had been packed with fleeing refugees, mainly those who had nothing to do with the rebellion, and yet, they had been destroyed in cold blood. What pissed him off the most wasn't that they had destroyed the fleeing ships; what pissed him off the most was that they joked about it. The ship’s crew joked for weeks about how the colony’s atmosphere and water boiled away, the pilots always bragged about how many undefended ships they shot down that day, and even the Marines under his command bragged about torturing the rebels they had caught. After that, he made up his mind. When the fleet came back to Reach for rest and relaxation, he had packed a small duffel bag with only his most valuable belongings. He destroyed anything that would let ONI track him down, and boarded a ship for Tribute. From there, he went off the grid, and was classified as MIA by the UNSC until he resurfaced in 2503, this time as the leader of the UNSC's most feared enemy: the Secessionist Union. The Secessionist Union had always been a thorn in the side of the UNSC; even since 2494. They had made several attempted coups against the colonial government of Eridanus II, but those were always put down by Naval Special Warfare. It was even rumored that they had been put down by what they called the "Special Special Forces" – super soldiers. Those were just rumors though, night-time fairytales to strike fear into the hearts of the naughty children so they could repent. He had taken the reigns of the organization in 2502, after the targeted killing of his superior. Whoever had pulled off that shot was an amazing sniper; he had killed the former-Major Ander and his body guards with a single bullet from quite a distance away, while Ander and his goons were in a fast-moving vehicle. It was after the resulting change of command that Watts stepped up to the plate and began to reform the Union's assets. He pulled their Harvest branch; at the time it was the more centralized the better. He rooted out and personally executed every traitor who had sold out to ONI, and cut off the useless ties to terrorist groups that were going nowhere, the ones that were all talk but no action. He had set up a series of secret meetings with The Generals, the three men and peculiarly woman who led the United Rebel Front. The Union milked the URF for all they were worth, using its intelligence gathering department for information on targets of opportunity, as well as funneling arms and funds through the URF’s many corporate fronts. By 2505, the Union became the most powerful faction within the URF, even more so than the Mamore Independence and Liberation Front and the Unified Rebel Front, a collection of smaller terrorist groups that constantly pestered the UNSC and UEG with bank robberies and the kidnapping of the random low-level dignitary. Even though they offered a much needed service – they were another problem for the UNSC to get caught up with – they were hugely unprofessional and seriously inept. However, as long as they kept up the steady stream of attacks, the pressure was off the Union, and it was needed. He had something big in the works. There was no way this would fail, and it could not… no, it would not go the way of the Union’s past attempts at control. Watts was smart; he had turned politicians to his cause. Not just any politicians either; he had turned the big ones. Their protective details were not law enforcement or private contractor; they were under the protection of his soldiers. The policies they made were gradually leading up to the planet splitting from the control of the UNSC, and public opinion was on their side. It was only a matter of time. *** SEPTEMBER 14, 2525 ERIDANUS SECUNDUS, 82 ERIDANUS SYSTEM One moment, he was looking at his newest shipment of contraband - a crate of champagne and cigars, and the next he was looking at a black-clad intruder armed with a suppressed weapon. The intruder was clearly UNSC, and automatically he raised his M6 pistol to bear; his guards did the same with their hefty submachine guns. They all opened fire, and with a speed and agility he had never seen before, the intruder dove to the right. After expending the ammunition in his magazine, Watts instinctively ducked while pulling out a new mag, and a second later he watched as his bodyguards fell with precise shots to the forehead. They were definitely special forces... could they have been the super soldiers that were so feared? Never mind that, he thought. I have to stall for time while every single man in this rock comes to my aid. "Stop! My men are coming. You think I'm alone? You're all dead. Drop your weapons," he screamed while formulating a battle plan to at least buy some time, but it was already too late. A barrage of fire and a nearly dislocated shoulder later, he was on the ground with a broken finger and a broken thumb. As he attempted to resist, the black-clad man nearly choked him into unconsciousness. The last thing he felt was the feeling of a needle stabbing him in the throat before passing out. *** NOVEMBER, 2507 TERIBUS ISLAND ERIDANUS II, 82 ERIDANUS SYSTEM The weapons they had uncovered were numerous and varied; several makes of submachine gun, more than a few SRS, an assorted selection of grenades, ranging from fragmentation to stun, even rocket propelled grenades. They were new and were still covered in the cosmoline oil that had covered them ever since they had left Misriah Armory a few decades prior. They were hidden by a small militia, reserved for the tremendous honor of being issued to the men that would finally stand up for their liberty. That time was now. Aiden Bradley was done cleaning off his personal selection of weapons, and he had carefully filled their magazines with ammunition; mainly armor piercing. He had taken those mags and placed them into their holders on his plate carrier, and he had carefully checked and rechecked his submachine gun to make sure that it would fire when it had to. Around the room, Aiden saw the faces of his six-man strike team. All of them were scared, nervous, and even excited. They were finally going to avenge their brothers, those brave martyrs for the cause. Of course, most within the Union had avoided the usage of the term "martyr" in reference to their fallen comrades; they had specifically attempted to separate religion from their cause, believing it to be a burden to absolute liberty. But Aiden didn’t care – they were martyrs, men who chose to die for what they believe in rather than deny the cause – - That noble cause, the cause that men had fought and shed their blood for over the past few millennia: freedom. Their plan was to hit the assembly hall right when they had begun their debate over whether or not Eridanus II should or should not secede from the control of the Authority and the UEG. It was a hotly contested debate, only drawn out by the careful political maneuvering of the Union’s leader, Colonel Robert Watts. They had bought out the highest politicians, but there were still some who would attempt to delay the vote for as long as possible while the UNSC readied whatever response it would bring. Rumor had it that if any colony seceded from the UEG, they would be nuked. Of course, that wasn't entirely rumor – Aiden was one of the Colonial Military Administration soldiers that were on Far Isle when it was destroyed. He knew the risks, and he accepted the consequences. If it meant that he would be killed in a hail of gunfire, so be it, so long as it meant that someone else would rise up to fight for the cause. He was determined to be an inspiration to generations, and this was to be his crowning achievement. He checked his watch. The time read 0534, which meant that they had three hours to surround the assembly hall and block any legislator's method of escape. There were going to be at least eight vans, each with six men each – a forty-eight man strike force was going to take some of the most powerful politicians on this side of Epsi and kill them as an example to the others. There were other vans, as well. They were going to take out targets of opportunity, raid the military bases on the planet, and storm the ONI safe house that was somewhere in Luxor. He carefully put on his plate carrier, holstered his M6 pistol, and slung his submachine gun. He carefully did a run through of his ammunition. Four mags for the magnum; that makes... thirty-six shots, he thought to himself. Eight magazines for the submachine gun, that makes... over one-hundred fifty rounds of ammunition. It was a necessary precaution for a perilous operation. One of Aiden's soldiers slung a rocket-propelled grenade launcher over his back, and he watched as another shoved the grenades into a rucksack. At approximately 0559, they boarded the unmarked white vans and headed for Elyisum City. *** NOVEMBER, 2507 ELYSIUM CITY ERIDANUS II, 82 ERIDANUS SYSTEM The security guard thought the scene was surreal, and even then he found it funny; six men had stormed his post wearing fatigues and carrying a hodge-podge armory of weapons. They were also wearing ski masks, a precaution that was archaic and was only seen now in history shows that appeared on the public access COM channels. He knew that raising his weapon would mean certain death, but he wasn’t going to raise his sidearm anyway. He was on their parent organization's payroll. He turned off the metal detector and didn't activate the panic button that was underneath his desk. One of the men immediately recognized him and tossed him an assault rifle, just in case the local law enforcement managed to mount some sort of response to their activities. He also rearranged the furniture at his post, creating a barricade of sorts – if anyone had attempted to come through there now, they wouldn’t make it past three steps, if that. Aiden continued with his men into the bowels of the assembly hall, converging on the door that they were going to breach along with the other teams positioned around the main meeting room. Over his SQUADCOM – formerly used by the Colonial Military – Aiden heard the sounds of the other teams stacking at their entry points, readying stun grenades, breaching charges, and shotguns. Aiden’s brogue filled the SQUADCOM as he began the countdown. "Prepare to breach in five..." "Four..." "Three..." The other assault teams joined in on the countdown. "Two..." "One..." "Go, go, go," yelled Aiden as one member of his team detonated the charge positioned on the main door into the meeting room. Even though the shock of the explosion should have been enough to stun such persons whose only combat experience was an attempted assassination by some whacko, they quickly tossed in stun grenades after the door was blown off its hinges, and used the element of surprise to storm into the assembly hall. Aiden came through, and saw that one of the politician’s bodyguards had raised a weapon. That made him a threat. Aiden unloaded on the man with his submachine gun, tearing ragged, bloody holes into the man’s suit. He staggered back; and his finger depressed the trigger. The man was wearing body armor. The first shot the man fired went wild, and the second and third shots hit Aiden square in the chest, knocking him over. The other members of his team aimed their weapons at the body guard and fired; a few shots entered the man’s skull, causing it to explode, which scattered brains everywhere. After making sure that there were no other bodyguards who would resist, the teams went through and searched everyone for weapons. The whole take-down took about three seconds. Aiden walked up to the center podium, and the others wheeled in transmission equipment while their hacker managed to crack the encryption on a communications satellite, taking over every COM channel in the 82 Eridanus System. After placing his submachine gun at the base of the podium, Aiden reached into a pocket of his plate carrier and pulled out a sheet of paper. On that paper was the names of the dignitaries they were going to execute publically due to their allegiance to the UEG, not the cause. Aiden looked up and saw as their communications technician made a sign with his fingers that meant “five” – they were going to begin their broadcast in five seconds. He swallowed the spit that had accumulated in his mouth, cleared his throat, and began. "Greetings, my fellow Colonists. You may know me; you may have seen my face on several wanted posters put out by the authoritarian pigs that used to run this colony..." The first name he read out was "Walter Sawyer". The man looked petrified, and he was forcefully picked up off of the floor by one of the larger men in the room, and unceremoniously dragged to the front of the podium. Anyone who was watching the scene probably would have changed the COM channel at that time, only to find that there were no other COM channels. Then they probably would have turned off their COM sets. But the execution proceeded anyway. Once Sawyer reached the front of the podium, he attempted to squirm away, only to be shot in the knees by Aiden. Aiden kneeled over Sawyer, and looked at the man who was touted to be the one of the most powerful politicians in UNSC controlled space. He was pitiful, crying, begging, and pleading for his life. "Oh, you stood so fervently by your cause, but when it comes to the time to die for it, you wish to remain with the living? You’re just a pussy," taunted Aiden. He honestly thought that the man was a coward, someone who wasn’t going to put his life on the line for what they believed, a lesser man than the martyrs that had died for the cause of freedom. The camera panned to the sight, and Aiden cocked the slide on his M6. He pointed the weapon at Sawyer, and said a prayer that had been passed through his family for generations. "And shepherds we shall be, for Thee my Lord, for Thee. Power hath descended forth from Thy hand; that our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command. We shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." He pulled the trigger, and the fifty caliber round entered the man’s skull right in front of the ear, and continued through before exploding out the back. For the next thirty minutes, the executions continued, all publicized on the public COMs until Section II finally censored the broadcast and pushed out the hacker. But the damage was done. Eridanus II was now under the control of the UNSC's mortal enemy, and there was nothing they could do about it.
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