Before reading this, please read Tartarusian clans and what they do.

WARNING, SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR 8-A, ALL CONTAINMENT TEAMS ARE TO ENGAGE IMMEDIATELY.

The message repeated itself. Mixed with the blare of the warning sirens, the noise was deafening. Erik Camelli was scared. He wouldn't admit it of course, but the fear was undeniable. This wasn't supposed to happen! his thoughts were interrupted by a scream. Erik froze, sweeping the hall with his rifle. Suddenly he was pulled upward and before he could even think to cry out for help he felt claws rake across his throat, tearing it open. Then he fell, Erik Fermia Camelli was dead before he hit the ground.

CHAPTER 1

A Camelli soldier burst into the throne room. In the center of the room was Regalia Camelli, Queen of Ymir, fourth princess of Tartarus, sitting casually on her throne flanked by her royal guard. “What news do you bring that would concern me, Queen of Ymir?” she asked. The soldier spoke, “Your Majesty, research facility 1835-C sent a distress call early this morning. Third princess Sororitas said we had to get your approval before sending troops.” “Very well, I give my approval, you will send a strike team immediately.”

“Yes, your majesty.” The soldier hurried out of the room. “Well” said the queen, “This is very unfortunate, Captain Gerod. I expect you to keep me up to date on the situation.” “Yes, my queen.” Replied the captain.

As the strike team prepared to breach, Captain Lolay Gryllus looked around him. The squad was clad in black polymer armor and wielding energy weapons. Silhouetted against the snow they looked like shadows come to life. “Breaching in 3, 2, 1” BOOM! The explosion rocked the captain, and once the ringing in his ears went away he led the squad through the breach and into the maze of hallways. The halls were painted white and were illuminated by fluorescent lights. The walls and floors were immaculate. As the strike team moved through the facility they found desks abandoned and workstations empty, and the captain bent to look at some papers a trooper yelled.

“Sir, I found a body!” The squad huddled around the corpse, it was wearing a security uniform and had a laser rifle next to him. The captain bent down to read the nameplate, which said “Security officer Erik Camelli''. The body had been savaged. The throat had been torn out completely and his upper left arm had been ripped off. Blood was everywhere, staining the white walls a dark green. “My god, what could have done this?” Exclaimed one of the soldiers. “Nothing good, soldier, nothing good,” said Captain Gryllus, trying to hide his fear. “What could have done this?” he thought. All of a sudden there was a scream. The squad ran toward the noise but they were too late. One of the men was dead. his throat torn, one of the soldiers began firing his rifle up at the ceiling and then he died too. Blood sprayed everywhere and the shooting started. His men were dying, limbs torn off and throats slashed seemingly by nothing. when the chaos stopped all but three of his men were dead. All captain Gryllus could say was “We need to leave” the men began to run. When they got to the breach the transport pilots were dead. Throats torn just like his men. “Do any of you know how to fly a transport!?" the captain yelled. “No sir.” they replied, captain Gryllus pulled out his radio and yelled into it“ This is captain Gryllus requesting extraction! “Copy! We’ll be at your position in 15 minutes tops, do you have the data core?” No. The mission failed. My team is dead and we need help! “ 3rd princess Sororitas does not take kindly to failure.” “We need extraction!” “We’re almost there!” 5 minutes later, a condor class hovor transport landed and extracted the captain and his remaining men.

Third princess Sororitas’s antennae twitched nervously. As commander of Ymir's defense force, the security of the planet was her responsibility, and she had failed. Her mother was not going to be pleased. No, the captain had failed, not her. And he would be punished. Captain Gryllus entered the third princess’s chamber. It was sparsely decorated and the third princess Sororitas was sitting on a simple stool. “So, Captain Gryllus, I see you have failed me.” she said. "My sincere apologies to your majesty, my squad was unprepared-” “Silence! I will have no excuses for failure! How dare you interrupt me! You are stripped of your command.” Lolay was shocked. Your majesty, are you really considering this?! He stammered “Yes and my decision is final '' she replied. As the captain left the room, Sororitas relaxed. “Messenger, report the captain's failure to my mother.” She barked at one of her guards.

Regalia Camelli was bored. She had no interest in mating and her daughters were handling everything except facility 1835-c. She would have to find something to do. “My queen!” A messenger had entered the throne room. It was a beautiful room, One of the walls was made of glass giving a glorious view over the tundra, the other wall was covered in carvings and inlaid with spectrite. Behind the throne was a massive portrait of Regalia. She addressed the messenger. “What news do you bring me?” He stammered a reply, something about a research facility. “Why would this concern me?” Another voice cut in “You heard him, mother.” the last word spat out like venom. Regalia responded by forcing a smile “first princess Thoria, I've missed you.” Don't flatter me mother, I know how you really feel, and I must say it's mutual. The queen smiled, “how disappointing you feel that way, however I have business to attend to”.

The men assembled near the breach, a laser gate had been set up to seal it. The rest of the camp consisted of two landing pads and a large fence. Assembled before him were two companies worth of black clad strike troopers. One hundred in total. Then the sergeant spoke, “Alright men, this is the day. Company #1 will go through the breach. Company #2 will go in through the main entrance, is that clear?” The response was instant “YES SIR!!” All right, the sergeant said, “I myself will assist company #2.” Company #2 marched to the elevators and one of the men hit the button “It’s no use, powers out” said a soldier. Ok, said the lieutenant. We'll take the stairs. The men rushed up the six flights of stairs and entered the building. The first thing they noticed was the blood, so much blood. It was everywhere, pooling on the floor, splashed on the walls and even dripping from the ceiling. The next thing was the bodies. They were scattered across the room, most clad in lab coats and a few wearing security uniforms. It had been a massacre, many had clearly been trying to escape, but to no avail. One was slumped over a desk, another dead trying to open the doors. But the blood was dry, this was an old scene. The room itself was spare, a desk in the middle. It seemed to be the reception room, there was a potted plant in one corner that, on closer inspection, was revealed to be plastic. The walls were originally a brilliant white but were now stained dark green with blood. The room had one hallway leading out. The room had a drop ceiling with three tiles knocked out. “Sir, look.”One of the troopers was pointing at the ceiling in the hallway. The hallway's drop ceiling had been riddled with bullets and there were dozens of holes in the tiles. “What were they shooting at?” wondered a trooper.

Queen Hemiptera was laughing. She didn't laugh much these days, but the sight of Lycos with a colander on his head was just too much. She was in Lycos’s playroom. It was warm and humid, about the size of a football field. She was especially proud of the trees. She had them shipped directly from Silvanus. Lycos was sitting in the little nest he had built, a smug grin on his face and a colander on his head. Queen Hemiptera laughed so hard she was tearing up. at the same time. She loved to spend time here with Lycos. None of her daughters had been able to spend time with her. She always wondered about the fourth princess Camelli. She was the night skeg of the family, even before she ran off to Ymir to do who knows what. And another happy moment ruined, the queen sighed as she got up. She had always had to be a queen first and a mother second. Some of her daughters had done well, like Nika and Hexpoda. Others had striand against her, like Pendal and Regalia. She could never be the mother they needed her to be.

The first company went two at a time through the laser gate, setting up motion activated cameras near the breach. Their goal was the data core, a sort of black box for the facility; they contained security footage, research logs and a full record of everything that happened on the last day of operation. The core would be located in the server room. “Squad #1 heads for the server room, Squad #2 will go with them. All the rest of you set up cameras and try to find more evidence.” “YES SIR” the two squads sent to retrieve the data cores only had to walk for three minutes before they found the first body. The squads huddled around the corpse, it was wearing a security uniform and had a laser rifle next to him. The captain bent down to read the nameplate and it said “Security officer Erik Camelli '' The body had been ravaged. The soldier's throat had been torn out completely and his upper left arm had been ripped off. Blood was everywhere staining the white walls dark green. One of the men shuddered but the troopers kept moving. “The server room should be just ahead,” said the captain. One of the men piped up “do any of you hear the scratching in the ceiling?” WHAT? Screamed the captain. The men pointed their guns up at the ceiling.

Back at the entrance. The men began to drag the bodies out of the building. And brought up some cleaning supplies. One of the men put down a motion activated camera. And two more began to assemble a laser gate. One of the squads offered to try and find a way to get the power back on. The lieutenant begrudgingly approved them. When the men returned they looked pale and afraid. “You look like you've seen a ghost,” joked a trooper. One of the men responded “Half the other company is dead. We saw the bodies, it looked like something came from the ceiling and killed them all” what do you mean they're all dead! They're all dead, that's my report. We should tell the lieutenant.

Regalia Camelli had sent three planets to war with the stroke of a pen. She looked up from the declaration of independence knowing she had set her people free. She knew Texon wouldn't get involved unless the Hemiptera called in some favors. And the I.P.A. could try for a thousand years and never breach the orbital defenses. She was free. Her mother and her pet monstrosity could go fuck themselves.

The lieutenant was shocked, “Dead!? What do you mean dead!?” We saw the body's, sir. “We need to find the data core. We need to find out what's in here.” The base was finished, a laser gate had been set up in the hallway and the room had been cleaned thoroughly. A rack of laser rifles was set up on one wall. Reinforcements had been brought in.and the company was moving in. their mission, retrieve the data core. They moved fast, passing body after body. The server room doors had been barricaded. “We need breaching tools!” called the lieutenant. three men lugged a plasma cutter up to the door and fired it, the blast doors melted like butter. BREACHING! Yelled the lieutenant. And the men ran in. The barricade hadn't saved the people inside the server room, it had doomed them. All the occupants were dead, they had realized their mistake too late. bodies were piled up against the doors. frantickly clawing at them, trying to escape. The room was painted dark green with blood. “The data core should be on the center console.” said the lieutenant “is this it?” one soldier was holding a large red cylinder “yes that's it! That's the data core!” The troopers ran back to base with the data core. When they arrived there were troops with the queen's symbol on their uniforms “give us the data core” one said. “where are your credentials!?” one of the men replied. But before the lieutenant could intervene the royal agent rised a las pistol and shot the soldier in the head, another agent grabbed the data core before it hit the ground. Don't get in our way the agent said, or you'll end up like him, he gestured to the dead soldier. As the agents boarded the transport one of the soldiers overheard a snippet of conversation from a phone call “Yes we have the data core. No casualties. Yes capitan Gerod.”

The transport touched down at the Ymir Intelligence Agency headquarters. The Y.I.A headquarters was an imposing steel edifice with the motto of the Y.I.A ”whatever it takes” emblazoned above the doors. agent Lorps took the data core to the vid room and placed the data core in the vid player.

Cam 125: 2 people run through a hallway. suddenly one has their arm torn off, the other one freezes before he’s decapitated by an invisible force. Cam 126: An empty hallway. Cam 127: An office space, one person is huddled in a corner. He then draws a pistol and shoots himself in the head. Cam 128: 3 security personnel run towards a sealed door. one of them bangs on the door. The other 2 open fire on an unseen enemy. The first man's throat is slashed by something invisible. Then the camera is then hit by a stray bullet Cam 1-124: tapes have been wiped. Cam 129-150: Exterior views.

“So the cameras were useless.” the agent questioned “Yes, but we now know for sure that this is big. If we don't know what's going on then this must go straight to the top. The queen has to be involved somehow!”

Captain Gerod was reading research log 045 “the new genome was successful, the subject was able to camouflage totally to its environment.” He put down the report. So far the data core has revealed jack shit. He thought to himself. All we know is that some kind of camouflaged monster had broken out and killed everyone. But what was it? And how did it get out? He would have to find out. But first he was going to bed.

CHAPTER 2

Queen Regalia was in her war room. She had already sent her mother the article of succession declaring Ymir and the Camelli clan's independence. The papers were a formal rejection of the excessive tarifs, regulations, and micromanaging. Now she had to see it through. The room had no windows and was dominated by a table projecting a 3D image of the Corundum system. All the strategists were wearing gloves laced with motion capture technology allowing them to interact with the projection. Regalia slipped on a pair of the gloves and walked to the table. The strategists snapped to attention as the queen walked towards the projection and zoomed in on 3 Gryllus battlecruisers near Ymir. “Order the stations to open fire on the enemy ships," the queen said, now we will put our plans into action. Up in orbit, a gunner received the order and fired an infrared laser at the lead ship. When the lazer hit, the hull was flash melted. Onboard alarms blared and blast doors closed off the area to stop air from escaping. Fires were snuffed out before they started. More laser shots destroyed the engines. As the other ships tried to escape, the disabled one offered its surrender. In exchange for the other ship's safety. The Camellis agreed and allowed the other ships to flee. The Camellis also sent a shuttle to evacuate the crew before the ship was towed to the shipyards. 32 Gryllus and Fultony crewmen were dead, and first blood went to the Camellis.“Queen Regalia, we appreciate your presence but you have third princess Sororitas to manage the army.” said one of the strategists. The queen snapped, “This is my war. I started it and dammit I'm going to see it through!”.

The Gryllus fleet was mobilizing. Three battleships, eight cruisers and fifteen other support ships. All called to Silvanus for one mission, they would beat Ymir into submission. Fourteenth princess Gryllus was given command of the fleet. She was excited for her first command. It was a good omen for her career that she had been entrusted with such an important assignment. As the fleet began the six week journey to Ymir. She left the bridge and went to her cabin to think. She would need her rest.

Third princess Sororitas stood on the bridge of the main orbital station, watching the damaged cruiser undergo repairs. Her agents on Silvanus had alerted her to the inbound fleet. But knowing the enemy plan and stopping them were very different things. So far she had been shoring up the defenses and doing maintenance on some of the ships, but in order to stop a Gryllus fleet she would need to do much more than that. Her mother was so obsessed with her pet projects that she had been neglecting the fleet. Ymir's orbital defenses were 12 years out of date and would need to be brought up to speed, the fleet would need to be rearmed and their crews would need new training. She highlighted some of the information her spies had gathered on the enemy fleet on her data pad. The flagship was the battleship GSS Warforged, armed with six mass accelerators, four infrared laser turrets and twenty eight point defense batteries. It was more powerful than anything in the Camelli fleet. The other ships were no less formidable. The Gryllus were not pulling any punches. Her fleet was outgunned but her orbital platforms were formidable.

Fourteenth princess Gryllus was preparing for combat. The fleet would arrive in 28 hours. She had to be ready, she thought to herself as she entered the bridge. It was a utilitarian space with dozens of blinking monitors and computer readouts. There had been a cameli sigil engraved on the floor but she had it scratched out before they left. She was wearing a smart Gryllus uniform with a saber strapped to her side and a custom autopistol. She went over the plan one more time with her crew before leaving for her cabin, she had to get some sleep. She woke up twenty hours later, ate a nutrient bar and took a shower. She didn't need to clean herself, her carapace did that for her, but she enjoyed the feeling of water on her skin. After that she went to the bridge to take command of the fleet, they would arrive in six hours. and when they did. she would be ready.

Third princess Sororitas looked out the viewport at the points of light, shining like new stars. But she knew what they really were, the Gryllus. The lights were the engines of their starships as they decelerated. The plumes of superheated gas thrown out by the reactors that allowed their ships to move, gliding through the cosmos like great fish in a sea of stars. They would arrive in six hours. And when they did, she would be ready.

The first salvo was fired as soon as the Gryllus fleet entered orbit. Mass accelerators punched holes straight through foot thick armor and infrared lasers warped and melted hulls. One shot from a mass accelerator tore a gaping hole in the bow of the GSS Warforged. Air rushed to escape the confines of the ship, pulling several unfortunate crewmen with it. Fourteenth princess Gryllus ordered the damaged section sealed off, dooming all crew members inside. Other ships launched drop pods at the shipyards, deploying Gryllus troopers directly onto the stations.

Capitan Lolay Gryllus ran through the corridors of one of the orbital shipyards; alarms were blaring and he saw Camelli soldiers rushing around. He had been making plans to go home to Tartarus when Ymir declared independence, trapping him here. And now he was caught in the middle of one of the largest space battles in history. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of melting steel. He looked at the source of the sound and saw the tip of a laser cutter drawing a circle in the hull. He froze, transfixed by the sight as the hull section fell away and a squad of stormtroopers rushed in. One of them was massive, eight feet at least. Lolay watched in horror as the massive trooper grabbed a soldier by the neck and slammed him into the floor hard enough to smash his carapace with a terrible crunch. The other troops opened fire on the Gryllus squad with little effect. The shots simply dispersed off their armor. The hulking Gryllus soldier charged Lolay. Tossing him aside like a ragdoll. He felt his carapace crack and his ribs were clearly broken. He lay slumped against the wall, unable to move as one of the Gryllus raised his pistol to Lolay’s head. and fired.

Third princess Sororitas watched the enemy cruiser break in half. The battle was going well, of the three Gryllus battleships only one was left and the enemy cruiser squadron had been decimated. Her thoughts were interpreted by an explosion that rocked the room. The blast had blown one of the doors straight off its mounting. She turned, and opened fire with her autopistols just as the Gryllus squad rushed through the doorway. bodies hitting the floor with a satisfying thud as Sororitas held down the triggers on her pistols, gunning down soldier after soldier. Splatter colored the walls and floors dark green as the Gryllus fell. When the last enemy had fallen, Sororitas reloaded her autopistols and wiped the blood off her crown. She would not let them hurt anymore of her subjects. Then she noticed the bullet in her leg.

Fourteenth princess Gryllus was planning to surrender. Her fleet was in ruins and her troops were dead. She had no choice but to surrender. She had been taught that living another day was important. So she offered her unconditional surrender to the Camellis, and was accepted. She had failed.but she and her remaining men would live. She thought as she was led in chains to a P.O.W. camp on the surface of the planet.

CHAPTER 3

Queen Hemiptera was furious. The Gryllus had said that Ymir would have no choice but to surrender. “Now the fleet they said was more than enough to cow Ymir had been annihilated!” She yelled at the messenger. “Leave my presence!” she ordered. As the messenger slipped out of the throne room, Lycos entered, wearing the colander he liked so much. and climbed up to his nest in the rafters. He always came in at the perfect moment, the Queen thought. It was almost like he could sense whenever she was upset or angry. She loved when he would sit in his nest observing her meetings and discussions. He always helped her calm down. She looked up at him. His speckled gray skin glistened and he wore a goofy grin on his face. She loved it when he smiled.

Third princess Sororitas fired one of her autopistols into the head of an injured Gryllus soldier. She then turned around to address one of her soldiers, “Execute any Gryllus who refuse to surrender” she told him “Of course, your Majesty” he replied before running off to deliver her order. Now she stood alone in the corridor. She glanced down at the bandage on her leg. Before surveying the room once more. Bodies lay scattered around the hall, blood pooling in the low points. She put a new magazine into her autopistol and sighed, glancing out the viewport at the debris field. She jumped as a body drifted past the view port. She hated that she had flinched, she was a soldier, not a child.

Queen Regalia sat on her throne, looking out at the tundra. there were no buildings to block the views as she had ordered that nothing may interrupt her view of the wilderness. She had been informed of the victory by her daughter. She knew Sororitas was capable of anything and now she had her proof. Now, she hoped, the other clans would leave her alone. She had already struck a deal with the Lampyridae so she would have power until she got her reactors up and running. Her only worry was the Gryllus army. The fleet was dead, but she knew more would come. And she would have to be ready.

Private Mara Gryllus was ready to fight. It would be his first deployment and it would be a big one. The Hemiptera had ordered the Gryllus to take Ymir, no matter the cost. 5 battleships, 12 cruisers and 8 support ships. The largest battlefleet ever assembled and Mara would be with them. He found his bed quickly, giving him time to explore the ship. Mara’s exploration was interrupted by an E.S.S,one of the skegs that typically worked on large ships like this one. The Skeg waved to him and then moved on. When Mara found the exercise court, he decided to work on his marksmanship. Two hours later, all soldiers were called in for a briefing. The auditorium was packed with soldiers. A 3D hologram of Corundum was projected near the wall. Mara watched as it zoomed in on Silvanus and a voice said “The current plan is for the fleet to assemble on Silvanus before traveling together to Ymir. You will be deployed by drop pod." The soldiers remained silent as the 3D projection changed to a close up of Ymir. “You will be deployed to the planet directly, the stations will be handled by others.” The projection vanished and the soldiers resumed their regular activities.

It would be two weeks before the rendezvous on Silvanus and another three weeks before the fleet arrived at Ymir. Time passed quickly between training and mission briefings. Mara always liked to keep busy. His schedule obliged, having him work and train fourteen hours a day. When the fleet assembled above Silvanus, he stared out the window at the ships and the planet itself. His family had visited Silvanus when he was very young, and he had always wanted to go back. Sadly, the soldiers had not been permitted to go planetside. So his vacation would have to wait for another time. Still, he was happy just to see the planet once more even on such poor terms.

Isack Camelli stood on the hill and looked up at the fire of burning ships. The night sky brightened as the ships burned upon reentry. “Isack! Come here” called his father. “Coming dad!” Isack called back. He liked to watch the soldiers when they boarded. He knew about the battle in orbit. The Camellis had won and now they could decide their own bedtime! Isack had tried to tell his dad, but dad had just laughed. One day Isack would be a soldier, fighting for his friends. His dad was supportive. After all, he had been a soldier before Isack hatched. Isack looked up once more at the trails of fire in the sky, before running back to his dad.

Captain Gerod entered the forward outpost at research station No peeking! . Since the data core had been useless and most of the soldiers had been transferred, he felt like the Queen had been neglecting his department. He would have to come up with results sooner rather than later, and these results would have to be substantial. He would need to do more research.

CHAPTER 4

Aker Vespid crouched in the shadows of a cargo crate in the storage hold of one of the Camelli orbital stations. His mission was to kill 3rd princess Sororitas. However, he hadn't been able to get close to her. She was far too well guarded. The telltale patter of footsteps shattered his contemplations. Instinctively, he slipped further into the darkness in between the crates, drawing his blade as he did so. But the Camelli workers passed him right by. Breathing a sigh of relief, Aker scrambled up the side of a crate. He positioned himself so as to look down on the Camelli workers. He slipped off his backpack and opened it. Sira, his night skeg slipped out and looked up at him expectantly. “I need you to kill them, discreetly,” he said to her. She smiled and swung up to one of the roof beams. Sira had proven a valuable asset against Aker’s targets. As Sira took care of the workers, Aker slipped into the elevator and hit the button for the command deck. Putting in the false credentials he had been supplied with. The elevator doors opened to reveal a blindingly white hallway. A large potted plant sat in one corner of the hall and there was a vent cover on one wall. Aker seized this opportunity. He quickly scaled the wall and pulled open the vent cover. The inside was unusually clean and spacious, so he crawled inside. After opening up his tablet to check his location, he began to crawl towards the station's bridge. Twenty minutes later, he was directly on top of the bridge Aker looked out through a ceiling grate. The princess wasn't in sight. So he waited, and waited, and waited. Finally someone vaguely important looking passed below him. Aker dropped down suddenly, pining his target to the floor. Aker looked up at the two gun barrels pointed at his face. “I seem to have attacked the wrong person,” Aker said.

Third princess Sororitas was late for her meeting. As she walked through the halls with her chief strategist ahead of her all she could think of was the battle. Her hands kept going to her autopistols at the slightest disturbance and she flinched at loud noises. As she entered the bridge a soldier fell from the ceiling, pinning her chief strategist to the floor. She drew her autopistols as fast as lightning. The soldier looked up at her and said “I seem to have attacked the wrong person.” Suddenly something black and angry fell on her. The assassin yelled “Sira! You are getting so many extra treats!”. dropping her autopistols, Sororitas pulled the thing off of her. It was a skeg, a black one. She yelped as the skeg raked its claws across her face, Sororitas clutched her wounds, dropping the skeg, and grabbed for her autopistols.

Aker ducked around a corner just as the tiled floor where he had just been was swept with bullets. Sira had saved his life by attacking Sororitas and now she had paid for it. Aker peeked around the corner. Sira was dead, her round body torn apart by autopistol fire. Aker shed a tear for his longtime companion and began to run for the elevator;he could mourn later. but as the doors opened they revealed not a sanctuary but a squad of camelli soldiers. Aker muttered a curse as he felt the energy pulse char his carapace and stop his hearts.

Mara sat idly in the rec room. The room had many soft red couches and a long rack of VR glasses in the corner. They were three days out from Silvanus and Mara was already bored out of his mind. He had kept busy working in the simulator room to train for the drop. But he had gone through the simulations until he could do it blind. The workload had substantially lightened. The programs clearly hadn't been designed with the dedication of the Gryllus in mind.

Mara's squad had completed the one week course in two days and now had nothing to do but sit in the rec room and watch videos on the viewscreen. Some of them had tried to play with the E.S.S. but it ignored them. Alcohol was strictly prohibited and the simulator rooms were reserved for training that most everyone had already completed. Some of the soldiers had set up a gambling ring using the dessert bars as a universal currency. Mara had heard the going rate was 150 Tartarus or 100 Silvanus shards for one dessert bar. He had considered joining just so he could have something to do but he had no desire to waste his hard earned money.

CHAPTER FIVE

Fifth princess Gryllus hated these meetings. She should be commanding her troops on the battlefield, not sitting in a conference room. But this time she was okay with it. Ymir had rebelled, the cocky bastards. The Gryllus would show them their place in the clan hierarchy. She stood up “By my life, Ymir will fall!” she yelled. “So we have a volunteer,” said Queen Maria.

Queen Maria Hemiptera entered the airlock of Lycos’s playroom. It was a miracle that Tartarusians could survive in Silvanus' atmosphere without ill effects. Sadly, Skegs were not so lucky. If left in the Tartarus atmosphere, skegs would dehydrate and die within a few months. but short stints were fine, allowing Lycos and skegs like him to roam the palace. Maria felt the warm humid air on her carapace as the airlock opened. Lycos dangled from a tree and waved as she approached. She waved back at him. The playroom was a marvel of engineering, it was as big as a football stadium and hosted a lake, forest and cave. The trees and even the dirt had been brought from Silvanus. Lycos had plenty of room to play, that was for sure. Lycos swung over to her and cooed at her. He was her only true friend, he didn't care about staying on her good side, he didn't flatter her, he was authentic. She picked him up and squeezed him to her. She was happiest in here, where she could be herself.

Third Princess Sororitas boarded the shuttle. Its walls were eggshell white and gave off a sterile atmosphere After her mother got word of the assassination attempt she recalled Sororitas to Ymir. Sororitas had pleaded with her mother but she had insisted. So now she boarded the shuttle through the airlock. Her command was taken over by her chief strategist. The Gryllus would arrive in five days. She hoped her mother would come to her senses before that happened. As the shuttle weaved through the debris field, Sororitas turned her attention to strategy. If the stations fell, so would Ymir, and if the Hemiptera hired Vespid assassins, It meant they were getting desperate.

Mara practiced boarding the drop pod for the umpteenth time. The fleet would arrive in two days, a full seventy two hours ahead of schedule. Everything was going better than expected.

Mara was excited to finally see combat. The only thing he had difficulty with were the snow skegs his squad would be working with. The snow skeg was more wild than domesticated and would require a Formici handler to control. Mara hated to admit it, but he was terrified of the little monsters. They seemed like they were sizing him up. The timetable had been made so they would arrive at three in the afternoon, so they had plenty of time to prepare. Mara woke up and headed to the mess with his squad for a breakfast of nutrient bars. After breakfast, the squad headed to the simulator rooms for one last training session. Then the loudspeakers kicked in “All squads, please come to the auditorium for briefing.” When the men arrived and assembled, they were each given a tumbler of mushroom liquor. It was an old tradition, liquor to steal the soul, one last drink before you die. The soldiers drank quickly and dispersed to board their drop pods. As Mara strapped himself into his seat he saw a snow skeg in a cage being loaded into the pod's cargo locker, Mara shuddered as it was loaded in. “Can I have some help?” The voice jolted Mara out of his stupor, and he looked over at the Formici skeg handler who was struggling to strap himself into his seat. “Oh, yeah, let me help you with that.” replied Mara as he reached over to help the handler strap in. A few minutes later, the pod sealed as the fleet neared Ymir. And then, the pod launched. Mara was surprised how gentle it was, except when the pod entered Ymir's atmosphere and caught fire. The pod rattled and shook as it went, Mara felt as if he was being shaken apart. When the chute deployed, he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. The pod hit the snow and slid across the tundra before opening. Mara was shocked by the freezing air; it was colder than he could imagine. Snow sprayed across his face as he unclipped his harness. Mara's armor did little against the chill. He looked out at the tundra as the squad grabbed their weapons and the handler let the snow skeg out of its cage. Mara watched as the Formici handler fed the snow skeg a large chunk of coobi meat. The skeg shredded the portion and began to feed. Mara was horrified, he had never liked skegs, but seeing one feed, staining the snow pink terrified him. Mara quickly looked away, before he panicked. He wanted to fight the Camelli, not watch one of the Formici’s monsters do it for him.

Mara hefted his standard issue pulse rifle and checked the charge, a full five hundred shots. “Let’s move out men!” called out Squad Commander Roro. Mara hurried towards his commander. “Alright, our assignment is to destroy an airfield. It's two clicks north of here so let's get moving.” said Roro. A few minutes of walking later, the men joined up with three other squads who shared the same assignment. The soldiers walked together towards the airfield. As they got closer, Mara noticed that the airfield was silent. Not just quiet, but completely silent. As the men entered the airfield, Mara saw a snow skeg feeding on a body under a plane wing, and then he passed out.

Sororitas gunned her snowmobile as she sped across the tundra towards one of the viper silos that was under attack. If this was destroyed, then the capital would be vulnerable. She needed to get there fast. As she approached the compound, she was forced to swerve around a drop pod. She ditched the snowmobile at the gate and ran into the courtyard, guns blazing. Her first target was a snow skeg that was gorging itself on the dead. The skeg exploded in a shower of gore as round after round hit home. Sororitas paused and surveyed the scene, the bodies of Camelli and Gryllus alike were scattered around the courtyard. The building itself was a concrete block built into the hillside. With a large courtyard enclosed by high walls, the doors had been blown open allowing access to the interior. Sororitas put new mags in her autopistols and headed inside.

The cold jolted Mara awake. One of his squadmates had dumped snow on his face, waking him up. The skeg was gone, as Mara looked around he realized he was on the tarmac of the airfield. He had passed out. Mara stood and walked over to the corpse, the throat had been torn out and one arm had been partially consumed. Mara’s squad commander, Roro called out, “The enemy is on the move”. Command says an armored column’s headed our way. The fleet took a beating and retreated to Fritz, so we're on our own.” Mara was instructed to take up position in the window of the control tower with a rocket launcher. Roro had told him to shoot any tanks he saw coming. Mara was freezing up here. Then he saw the enemy, two skeg tanks running across the field, their long looping strides seemed unnatural for machines. Mara took aim and fired. The rocket trailed smoke across the sky as it streaked towards its target, hitting one of the tanks in the left leg. The leg burst into thousands of wires as the rocket impacted. Mara grabbed another rocket and began to reload. But he wasn't fast enough. The last thing he saw was a brilliant flash of light as the shell detonated in his face. Then it all went black.

Roro Gryllus saw the tower explode. Debris rained down on the soldiers. Roro heard screams from between two of the hangers and ran towards the sound. When he got there,he saw that a small group of Camelli soldiers had attempted a flank. Unfortunately for them, a snow skeg got to them first. Blood and body parts were everyware. Roro had no time for this, he thought as he hurried back to his men. As he turned to look down the runway, he saw a snow skeg tank looming over them. Roro watched as it sprayed the soldiers with gunfire, hitting several. Blood sprayed across the rubble. Roro tried to run to a rocket launcher but as he got there he saw Mara! Mara was crouched behind a chunk of cement holding his side. As Roro ran to help Mara, he saw that Mara’s uniform was stained dark green and a spreading puddle of blood was at his feet. Another burst of gunfire hit just as he ducked behind cover. Mara looked up at Roro and smiled.

CHAPTER SIX

Queen Pendal of Silvanis walked through the grounds of the Formici palace on Silvanis with her skeg, Fillbi, by her side. She had been thinking about the Camelli war. It was a sign that independence was possible, and if it was possible, she wanted it. Her mother had always been controlling and nosey. She wanted more privacy and more freedom. She wanted to be free from her mother’s yoke. It was decided, she would declare independence as soon as she got her army ready. The garden was beautiful, flowers in all shapes and colors bloomed, their fragrance wafted on the breeze. Fillbi was playing with one of her friends as Pendal walked back to the throne room.

She contacted General Scoro and told him to prepare his men for a declaration of war. She asked if her soldiers were up to the task. “We can be ready in one week if you so wish, your Highness.” Scoro responded. Pendal would have her victory, she would have her freedom.

General Scoro was preparing for the uprising. The Formici troops were loyal to Queen pendal above all. The Gryllus however, would be a challenge. Scoro had positioned a battalion of skeg tanks to keep an eye on the main Gryllus barracks in the capital. His forces were ready now, the uprising would commence tomorrow.

Darcon Gryllus and his squad were on patrol when it happened. The Formici squad that assisted them turned their guns on their Gryllus allies. Darcon’s armor absorbed the pulse that hit him in the back. He turned and shot the Formici in the chest, the soldier dropped and Darcon saw his squadmates die, shot in the back by their allies. Darcon hid in an alleyway and took out his radio, “Command, this is Squad Commander, Darcon. My squad has been attacked by rogue Formici soldiers. "Squad Commander Darcon, this is Command. We are under attack by Formici tanks. We are attempting to contact general Scoro.” Darcon was interrupted by the thudding footfalls of a skeg tank as it strode down the street only feet away from Darcons hiding spot. The Formici diplomat ducked as Maria Hemiptera threw a large vase at her head. “Please I am only a messenger” she cried out as the vase shattered against the smooth stone wall of the throne room. The queen only calmed down when Lycos came down from his nest in the rafters and curled up in her lap. The Formicis wanted to be autonomous, not independent, the messenger told her. So she signed the papers. Silvanis was now still controlled by the Hemipterans but could self govern to an extent. The queen didn't need another crisis on her hands, she could punish Silvanis another time. Pendal would not get away with this.

First Princess Thoria lay on her bed and watched the news on the wallscreen. It was bad, the Gryllus had landed on the surface and were wreaking havoc across the planet. She would have to put her plans into motion soon.

The soldier climbed out of the jeep to pick up the datacard. He stood and looked out at the vast Sholoc plains. The data card had been left here by a sympathetic insecta.It was vital the Camellis receive the information. The data card contained a Gryllus code book, with this the Camellis would be able to win the war easily. As the soldier brushed off the data card, he heard a roar. He turned and saw a Xirilo charging across the plain. The soldier clambered into the jeep and turned the key, the jeep sputtered. And died, the soldier paled as he saw that the tank was near empty. Then the Xirilo rammed the jeep and flipped it,grabbing him in its jaws and biting him in half. Dark green blood sprayed everywhere as the Xirilo feasted. The data card lay on the ground, small drops of blood speckling its surface.

The first thing Third Princess Sororitas saw when she entered the silo was the body of the receptionist. He was dead, his heart stopped by an energy pulse. As Sororitas walked deeper in she heard a noise in the vents. She swore. There had to be a skeg up there. Sororitas aimed her autopistols up at the vents. And braced herself for a skeg attack that never came. Three minutes later, she realized that if there was a skeg in the vents, it was long gone. So she kept moving. she encountered a dead Gryllus slumped against the wall. Sororitas paid the corpse no mind. The first thing she encountered was a skeg feeding on a corpse, two rounds from her autopistols and the skeg exploded in an eruption of gore. Sororitas knew the gunfire was going to attract enemy soldiers so she took cover in the doorframe and reloaded her guns. After five minutes passed without any sign of the gryllus, she decided to move in further. She rushed down the hallway. The first thing she registered was the pain, shrapnel scraping her carapace and cutting through her flak armor and deep into her torso. She felt herself falling backwards onto the floor. She saw the casing of a ripper mine at the end of the hall, she had walked right into their trap. The basterds had tricked her! She saw the Gryllus soldiers rush towards her before the world faded to black.

First Princess Thoria walked to the spaceport and boarded a shuttle to Station Sixteen. Her plan was simple: she would reach the station, board a cruiser that was loyal to her personally and defect to the Gryllus fleet. She hoped that she would be able to keep some of her status and maybe get the hemiptera to back her claim to the throne. When the shuttle docked at Station Sixteen she was given an escort of Camelli soldiers. She and her escort were led through the maze of identical corridors that made up the station. When she was ready to “inspect” the cruiser she began to run to the airlock that the warship had docked at. Her escort opened fire on Thoria as she ran with all her might down the hallway and managed to get into the airlock and shut the blast door behind her. As the door closed, she looked back and saw her sister, Second Princess Imperialis. She wore a sealed helmet, suit and magnetic boots allowing her to clamp onto the deck, with a black cloak giving the appearance of a pair of bat wings. If you crossed Imperialis, you would never be seen again. She was head of the Ymir Intelligence Agency. Thoria felt icy dread spread through her body as Imperialis drew her custom autopistol and fired a round at her. Thoria opened the door to the ship as the explosive round breached the hull of the station, exposing them both to the vacuum. The blast pushed Thoria over the threshold as the pressure sensors sealed it behind her. She was safe on the ship. That is if they could make it to frits without being annihilated.

Fifth princess Gryllus’s tactics were working perfectly. The First Princess of the Camelli was already on her way to defect and enemy morale was down. even though one of the light cruisers had crashed on syvei, not ideal for a first contact. The I.P.A would have her head for that. She wanted to go and lead her troops on the ground, but for now commanding the fleet would have to do. She wanted nothing more than to hop in a shuttle and head to the surface to annihilate those who dared to defy the Queen of Tartarus. But her request had been refused and that was that. She was disappointed but she could not defy a direct order from the Hemiptera. She was loyal and willing to follow orders. She would have to get ready for her new campaign. She had been authorized to use vipers on Ymir, but her transports couldn't bring the missiles until the enemy fleet was cleared away. And her fleet needed repairs before they could engage the enemy. Her ground troops were making progress but supplies were being depleted faster than expected. She needed to attack before her resources were exhausted. She saw the display that showed that an enemy cruiser was approaching, it must be the defector. Her ships were moving to intercept but were not firing on the cruiser. She hoped she was right about First Princess Thoria.

First princess Thoria watched as her ship approached the Gryllus fleet, she was nervous that they would simply fire on her. As her ship approached the fleet, she saw one of the massive Gryllus battleships glide towards them, weapon arrays bristling. “Your Highness we're being hailed” said one of her bridge crew. “Send our response at once.” Soon the ship was ordered to dock at the Gryllus flagship. When the airlock door opened, Thoria was face to face with Fifth princess Gryllus and her guard. Thorias hand went to her autopistol but before she could draw, Fifth princess Gryllus had a blade to her throat. “Drop it” she hissed. Thoria dropped the autopistol, it fell to the ground with a clatter. She saw the Gryllus soldiers hesitantly lower their guns.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Queen Maria had two problems, the first were the Camellis and the second that she couldn't hit anything with the new autopistol her daughter, Queen nika Gryllus, had given her as a gift. The autopistol wasn't the problem. The gun was beautiful, with a wooden grip and gold filigree along with the perfectly balanced frame and a crisp trigger pull. The problem was that she had never even held a weapon in her entire life. Let alone fired one. She was ill suited to war, she was a Hemiptera, a diplomat, not a soldier. She fired again. The autopistol boomed as the round exited the barrel. She put down the gun and turned to leave the armory, exasperated. Before she closed the door she shot a glance back at the target, it was a miss, her shot hadn't even reached the rings. She sighed and shut the door behind her. As she walked through the corridors of the palace her servants and staff prostrated themselves before her. She hated it. She was humble to an extreme so having her subjects bow down to her or call her “your majesty” was like a punch to the gut.

Mara Gryllus should be dead, or at least that's what he thought. The autopistol round in his gut seemed to be proof enough. His armor was soaked in his blood and partially charred by a shot from a pulse rifle he had taken earlier. His squadmates were all dead, cut down by the tank. He leaned back against the slab of concrete he had sheltered behind with Roro. He could hear the lethal drumbeat of the skeg tanks' machine guns as they hammered on the rubble. He wanted to give up, to stop fighting, to accept his fate. But he could not give in. his queen needed him. So Mara sat up and began to bandage his wounds. Today was not his day to die.

Roro sat next to Mara as he bound his wounds. Mara was hurt badly, he could tell that much. Roro peeked over the concrete and took a shot at the tank with his pulse rifle. The shot dispersed harmlessly on the tanks armor. “Sir, what are our options?” asked mara. Roro jumped, he hadn't expected mara to be in any condition to fight. “Well our options are to run and hope the tank doesn't see us. Or, we can shoot it and hope it dies.”

“ I prefer the shooting plan,” said Mara. “The shooting plan it is then.” replied Roro, he gestured at a spectrite beam rifle that lay on the pavement. See that, that should have more than enough firepower to cripple the tank” he told mara. “Well, let’s go”. Mara jumped for the weapon, launching himself at the weapon. He slammed into the concrete barrier, clutching the gun to his chest. The tank saw the flash of movement and fired its cannon at the barricade, blowing it to pieces. Mara was thrown like a ragdoll, tumbling along the concrete runway. He felt his lower left arm break before he rolled to a halt. burning with adrenalin he sprang to his feet and pulled the trigger on the beam cannon, sending a lance of high energy plasma straight through the skeg tanks hull. The tank exploded in a multicolor fireball, raining shrapnel all over the runway. As the wreckage burned, the rest of the gryllus coashous emerged from their hiding places.

Second princess imperialis was furious. Her older sister had slipped through her claws yet again. She stormed into the Y.I.A headquarters and went to her private office. The room was spacious, yet sparse in decoration. There was a picture of her and Sororitas when they were kids, when they were a family, and a couple of trinkets. She felt her feet sink into the plush carpet she had put in. She locked herself in her bathroom and drew a bath. It was her only pleasure. She made the water as hot as it would go and picked up her datapad. She sat on the marble counter, answered a few messages, and sent new orders to her agents while waiting for the massive tub to fill up. She smiled as the room filled with steam, and began to slip off her uniform. Once she was undressed, she immersed herself in the scalding water and continued to work on her datapad. It was waterproof, after all. She relaxed in the tub until the water began to cool. Then she got out of the tub and let the airjet dry her shell. She put on a clean uniform and put the old one in the laundry receptacle. As she stepped out into her office she felt refreshed, a hot bath always made her feel better. She reached for her gun belt and strapped it on. It was made of coobi leather and had been a present from her younger sister sororitas. She also fastened her necklace, it was a simple pendant carved from a chunk of a Xrilo’s shell. She preferred simple jewelry and clothes, not her mother's flash or her younger sister's uniforms. Something she had in common with Thoria. She hated to think she was once so close with the traitor.

CHAPTER EIGHT

War was hell. Quilix Aramax was sure of that as he stood in the blackened ruins of the town his unit had just destroyed. The platoon of Camelli soldiers the Gryllus had been tracking were entrenched in the village, so Quilix and his men had been brought in to flush them out. They had shelled the town with thermite cannons for three hours and when the bombardment ceased there was nothing taller than two meters left standing. Quilix kicked a chunk of scorched concrete away from him. The whole place smelled like burning rubber and hot metal. The houses had been reduced to blackened concrete foundations and piles of smoldering rubble. The enemy soldiers had been burned to ash. Quilix walked towards the burned out shell of a Camelli tank, his every step disturbing the layers of snow and ash. He stopped as something crunched under his foot. It was a skull. Quilix sighed and continued on towards the tank. It was an AWLG tank, parked between the chard husks of what had once been buildings. The armor was cracked in several places and Quillix could see the glow of the burning interior through the fissures. He turned and rejoined his squad. They were needed for the assault on silo 2752-a, b, and c, a cluster of fortified missile batteries thirty clicks northwest of their current position. Quilix’s artillery was needed to disable the heavy weapon teams that guarded the silos. Three hours and a lot of hard work later, the cannons were disassembled and ready for transport. The pieces were packed in containers and loaded onto a captured railcar. Quillix pulled out his datapad but found he was getting no signal. The Camelli must have locked the network again. The train suddenly lurched forward out of the station and began to pick up speed. Quillix felt the cold bite through his coat and chill his carapace. He retreated to the warm glow of the heater that had been set up to keep the guns from growing brittle in the cold. He watched the barren white landscape speed past as he steeled himself for the fight to come. When the train began to brake, jostling Quillix and his equipment, he hopped off and felt the damp cold of the snow on his feet. He began to direct the unloading of the cannons, pitching in himself when some of the more delicate components were concerned.

Third princess sororitas woke in her hospital bed. She quickly used one of her arms to shield her eyes from the blinding led light that sat directly above her bed. Suddenly one of the nurses came in, he dropped the tray he was holding with a clater before he bowed and began to babble about her diagnosis and how she was awake so soon. She cut him off “bring me my uniform and my weapons and get me passage to the command station.” b-but”no buts, now where is the armory?” Three hours later she was onboard the css reolar, a new spectrite beam pistol in her holster and a magma saber on her hip. It was a flight of less than an hour so Sororitas decided to explore the ship. While she was walking through an unadorned steel corridor she saw a flicker in the corner of her eye but ignored it, until she heard a footstep coming towards her. She drew her beam pistol and saw the flicker again! She pulled the trigger and a blinding beam of multicolored energy lanced through the head of the trinnian stealth operative, killing them instantly. Bits of helmet, skull, and brainmatter sprayed in all directions as their head exploded violently.Sororitas sounded the alarm and locked down the ship, “guard the escape pods and the hangar bays,don't let them escape!” a spray of buckshot shattered the relative calm of the corridor. Sororitas turned and saw a trinian brecher, weapon raised. With a single fluid motion she drew and emptied her autopistol into the brecher with noticeable affect. Their armor was clearly not all it was cracked up to be. Tossing the gun aside she lunged at him with her magma saber, slicing the shotgun in two. She could hear gunfire and orders being shouted nearby as her soldiers engaged the enemy. The trinian was fast, slugging her hard in the ribs. Sororitas, seeing the trinans focas was on her saber, used her lower arms to place her beam pistol the the trinians gut and fired, slicing a hole clean through the trinian and out the other side. Sororitas lept away from her cripled opponent, ignoring the cries of protest from her ribs, some of which were broken. Gunfire racked the hallways of the ship as the trinians waged a fighting retreat. They had remotely launched all but two of the escape pods. The trinians had taken cover behind a number of large crates, hammered by fire from pulse rifles and ballistic weapons. The trinans retured fire with there weapons but were running low on ammo. One escape pod had already launched with the non combat focused personnel aboard. Suddenly the abandon ship alert blared. Casting an eerie red light over the battle “warning, reactor critical. Abandon ship " Sororitas was lucky, she had been limping past the shuttle bays when the alarm sounded. Still she insisted on waiting until the shuttle was full to capacity before launching. She watched from the window as the Reolar broke apart behind them.

Unit 22 after action report CSS REOLAR FORCES INVOLVED -2 breechers -3 stealth operatives -1 electronic warfare operator -1 comms officer CASUALTY REPORT -2 breechers -2 stealth operatives FINAL ASSESSMENT Casualty rate-unacceptable Primary mission-accomplished Secondary mission-accomplished Princess sororitas-presumed dead. Mission failed. Families of the dead to be awarded 25,000 trins as consolation.

CHAPTER 9

Third princess sororitas limped out of the shuttle and into the pristine metal hanger of the orbital ring. A medic was waiting for her, but she waved him away”im fine, im fine” she repeated like a mantra as she limped away “ i-im… fine” and then the world went black. She was awakened by the beeps and clicks of monitors and medical equipment. She lay in a hospital bay,there were straps around her, presumably to keep her from moving or reopening her wounds. A doctor entered the room and sat on one of the white chairs beside her bed. “Are you awake?” he asked in a leval tone. “Yes” sororitas grounded in response. “How long was i out?” she muttered. “A little over a week your majesty.” the doctor said respectfully. Sororitas relaxed and sank into the soft sheets. “When can i get back to the front doctor?” she asked. The doctor figited and looked up at the blindingly white ceiling. “My apologies your majesty but even with the stem cell therapy it will likely be months before you will recover, if you are even able to.” sororitas spoke only once she was able to maintain her composer. “Bring me my datapad, i will not abandon my duty as commander.” the doctor looked at her before replying. “No” his response stuned her “you dare defy ME!” She roared at the doctor. “With all due respect your majesty, I have orders from sec- sororitas scowled “you tell my sister to go shove her orders up her ass!” “Your majesty, I mean no disrespect.” the doctor stammered .

[a]book mark [b]book mark [c]to be clear they are wearing stealth armor [d]why would families of the dead be paid? Death is an inherent risk of being a soldier.