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Hours Across the Battlefield - Part 1

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00:00

Planet Turo is finally in sights. I wish we had some sort of cover as we slowly approach. Sadly, our limited resources gives our fleet barely the means to make it. The war has taken a huge toll on all of us, especially technology and supplies. Jumba has done what he can, but even he is only a single person. Thankfully, we come at the darkest time of night for the planet. We should only appear as stars until we’re close enough to be caught on radar. And after that, the few squadrons that do have cloaking will make their approach as the battle begins. This single moment of reprieve… the calm before the storm. My mind drifts to my friends and family in the ships beside me. Our main supply ship looms far behind me, hopefully out of the danger of the initial battle. I can’t help but worry about Lilo, completely out of my sight. I can hear the routine statements made over my ear piece. If I had some way to privately speak to my love I would. I said everything I needed to say before though. Now it is time to be prepared. She can take care of herself. I know that much. And she has strong soldiers at her side…. It’s just sad to know, that this could be the end. It could be the end for all of us. Everyone has fought so long and hard. We’ve lost many along the way. I won’t let their deaths be in vein.

01:00

It pains me to know how much joy these sounds used to bring me. Even now I can feel the adrenaline rush through my veins. Plasma canons firing, ships exploding, general chaos and possible death laying out around with me dropped right in the middle of it. In some ways, the entire cause of it. One. Two. Three. I count the ships I shoot down as I fly closer and closer to Turo, hoping with all my heart that my comrades are making it with me. By the sounds of it, the groups that were cloaked have made it down and are already beginning their missions. And soon, I too am also touching solid ground. Sound doesn’t travel in space, but there is no denying that you can hear the sound of war when you’re in battle in the empty void. And the sounds are even worse on the ground. I once walked this path before all of this happened. And now the scenery has become evil and twisted. It also appears we are still labeled as the enemy by some United Galactic Federation forces. It’s easy enough to distinguish the Leroys. We attack them without hesitation. The RODENTs are a bit trickier to spot, but we don’t use lethal force unless we are absolutely sure the target is not innocent. That was the one rule I gave to each and every soldier before we set out for this battle. But deep down, I know there will be innocent lives lost today.

02:00

We’ve managed to push through most of the forces. Dawn is still far from breaking on the horizon. It seems that coming in the darkest of night was the best plan after all. Citizens are nowhere on these streets and I can see the United Galactic Federation building straight ahead of me. Cover is also easy to come by. It seems while we’re doing our best to keep damage to a minimum, the RODENTs are not. And why would they? Anything that happens, if they win, can be blamed on us and used as a part of their victory speech tomorrow. I won’t let that happen. I’ve heard reports of injured soldiers on both sides. Our medics are doing their best to keep up, and I’m grateful for it. There hasn’t been a single report of a death yet. Though, I hope that is truly not because there wouldn’t be anyone to report it. Lilo keeps giving me words of encouragement, not knowing that it’s her safety that I’m most concerned for. Or perhaps she does know it, and that is why she is constantly talking to me. Her sweet soothing voice is what’s keeping me going right now. I’m uninjured, but I feel like the weight of the galaxy is on my shoulders. Reuben put a supportive hand on my back. His encouraging slap stung a bit, but it ultimately let me know I’m not alone. Which is really what we all need the right now.

03:00

Finally reaching the front door the United Galactic Federation building, I can’t help but gawk at how intimidating it is. Not just due to size, but the sheer scale of defenses it has. Not once had I ever seen the building taking on an army, nor dispatching an army. Perhaps I should have looked over the records and history of the UGF during my time there. I was foolish. Too excited to get to the Big Red Battleship. And again, too eager to leave this last time. I wanted to be done with the war so much and so quickly I didn’t even stop to prepare for what I should have seen coming a mile away. Still, auto turrets, manned turrets, shields, dispatch areas… too many things to count in my short seconds before the first wave of attacks fall me. As I take cover, I hear that the infiltration team finally makes it in. It looks like I’ll need to hold up here until they are able to do their job and take them down from the inside. Already, word of injury is spreading over the radios. The medic teams are handling things nicely, but a quick calculation in my head tells me there’ll be too many for them to handle within the next hour or two. I don’t know how long this siege will last. I’m not expecting a quick victory like I had hoped at the start of all this. This time, we’re in it for the long haul. And I made sure to prepare for it.

04:00

The air is filled with nothing but mortar ash and dust. The sky is no longer lit with stars, but of battleships locked in an endless stream of fire. Honestly, I’m amazed at how well our forces are doing. It’s been an hour since the first wave of injured reports and since then nothing. What surprises me the most out of all of this though, is that we have yet to take any lives; how is that even possible? I was sure that after at least some hours I would end up with more blood on my hands. Yet nothing. Not even at the hands of the Leroys. Not yet anyway. The UGF defenses are slowly being dropped. Out teams have yet to be discovered. I imagine that has something to do with Click and Glitch managing to stop any pursuers on their tails. I’m glad for at least one lucky break. As crazy as it sounds, the safest place is inside the building. And I’m slowly watching our soldiers make it inside as my team covers them. Once in they each have their own jobs to do. Lilo’s already on her way searching for the prisoners. It’s my hope that she’ll end up in the least amount of battles. Not like the forefront that I’m facing. Truly, most of all. I just don’t want her to see me like this. Like the destructive machine I was meant to be.

05:00

We were able to get the last of our troops inside. The sky squadron is slowly leading the enemy ships away from the city. Now that we no longer need air support, I don’t want any ships debris to fall on an unsuspecting citizen houses. Though, I suppose they’re no long unsuspecting. This battle has gone on for five hours. Surly, everyone on the planet has heard of the battle against the United Galactic Federation. And again, we’re being painted as the bad guy. Perhaps we are, or at least will be. History is written by the victors. If we fail, we’ll forever be known as the group of rebels that broke away from the Federation when we were needed the most, and attacked it out of cold blood. I’m not willing to see that future come to fruition. So we keep fighting. The medic team made it inside to help with anyone caught in the cross fire. Unfortunately, there are a lot of staff in this building that won’t know what to do in the face of danger like this. It’s their job to help them. Chopsuey was the last to get inside. He gave me a thumbs up as he ran passed. I’ve tasked both him, Reuben, and eventually myself, with the job to find the RODENTs leaders and capture them once and for all. They are all here and they are the key to ending all of this.

06:00

Not all the air ships followed our squadron out of city limits. Enough stayed back to keep us company. I’m sure our pilots know this, but they have their orders. I’d rather have our whole squad out there, then for one brave soul to come back and try to help in vain. As nice as some air support would be, we can watch the ground and skies at the same time. At least, most of us were. A loud band ruptured a few yards away from me. I thought we were clear. But as soon as the ringing stopped in my ears I hear a terrified voice filter through all the updates and orders in the communication device. “Gandall’s down. I repeat Gandall’s down.” One of the first men to join our ranks. Reuben fought with him a couple of times in joint missions. And just like that, dead silence over the radios.  I look to my side, stealing a glance. Unable to make anything out in smoke I switch my vision to find his heat signature. Nothing. Gandall is completely gone. I order my squad to stay back, keep to their positions. One of the soldiers didn’t listen. And it was the last thing he ever did. Just as he reached Gandall’s position, another shot fired, leaving nothing but dust and smoke in his wake. I feel the two loses as if they were actually a part of me that are now gone. I knew these men. I knew what they have at stake. But I don’t have time to worry. I have a job to do.

07:00

It was a miracle we had only injuries suffered so far. But the two deaths seemed to break the dam. One after another more reports of lost men and women started to report over the radio. My breath starts to slow, and I feel nothing but responsibility. I hear Lilo’s voice try to calm me over a private channel. Reminding me that this isn’t my fault. That I can’t let it eat at me. But her words are cut short. For a good fifty minutes I hear nothing from her squadron. I tell my team to fall back into the building. It became apparent that there was no point in staying out anymore. Too many RODENTs and Leroys managed to slip past us. And missing two men made it even more difficult to keep up. Especially with the onslaught from above. The destruction on the street is nothing compared to the entrance hall. Pillars and statues lay in rubble on the ground. If anything is left standing it would be a miracle, and we don’t have time to start looking for anything. Now that my team is inside, it is our duty to join Reuben’s and Chopsuey’s squads as fast as we can. The RODENT leaders could be anywhere in this building. Reuben has gone below, Chopsuey has gone up. After discussion with the surviving members of my team. We go up.

08:00

Reuben reported in shortly after my team started up the many floors of the building. Gantu has joined his group and slowly we’re getting the UGF soldiers on our side. It seems some of them had been suspicious of their orders for a while now. And Gantu’s word was all it took for some of them to decide to convince some of them to join our fight. Some. But not all. We’re still being warry of those that stay true to their orders. Or believe that we’re the enemy through and through. Maybe we are. I still don’t know how this is going to go. Chopsuey has reported finding the first member of the RODENT leaders. Hamsterviel quickly made himself known, believing they will be victorious no matter what happens. Somehow, he managed to escape us. But Chopsuey is adamant in catching him as quickly as possible. Other commanders have made report on progressing nicely. Defenses are slowly being taken out, telling me that our infiltration teams are still managing to do their jobs, despite having to sneak through the building undetected. I gave an order saying to try to disable the ships outside, but that would require them reaching the control bridge. I know it won’t be an easy task, but they are willing to try. It fills me with confidence to know I have so many willing and capable fighters at my side. It’s through their hard work and sacrifice that we even have a chance at winning this.

09:00

All communications have been brought down. I can only hope that everyone is still okay. Sadly, we stumbled across a team that had been nearly wiped out by a group of Leroys. Only two of the ten remained. Their commander did not make it. She sacrificed herself for the final two to make it out alive. We took a brief moment to try to find any remains, but nothing survived her thermal detonator. All that remained from her final act of courage was a hole large enough to see outside, revealing that the sun was already started to get high in the sky. If there was anyone that didn’t know about this attack during the night, they surely knew by now. We now have to officially worry about reinforcements coming. I can only hope that we have kept the soldiers here too preoccupied to call for help. But any citizen can throw out a distress beacon. Most likely, every member of the federation now knows what is going on here on Turo. By Jumba’s calculations, it would only take three hours for the closest fleet of the UGF to reach Turo once they hear distress. Meaning, that at any moment we could be in big trouble. Already, we are outnumbered. Our moment of searching has to end, solely because we don’t have the luxury of time. My team’s two new additions are reluctant to leave. But even they know that they have to go. Their commander won’t have died in vain.

10:00

I don’t know if I can say this battle is going well. I also don’t know if I can say this battle is going terribly. One second, it feels like we’re winning. Like we’re slowly dwindling the enemy forces and getting closer and closer to the captured citizens. And then the very next second everything is going wrong. Some of our teams have been captured. I’ve ordered the strictly experiment groups to help out those that are being held captive before anything bad happens to them. I’ve only heard stories of what the RODENT forces do to their captured enemies. And if the truth is only half as scary as what truly goes on, then I don’t even want to begin imagining the outcome. Slushy and Melty’s teams we’re the closest, so they agreed to take on the task. This is a setback though, meaning the momentum we gained is slowly going to be lost. I myself have only reached a quarter of the way up the building. Far from my goal of the final floor, where I can only imagine being where I’ll find the leaders. Leroy after Leroy keeps appearing from what appears to be nowhere. Honestly, I don’t know what Chopsuey is doing since these ones should have been handled by his group, but we are more than a match for them. It’s just starting to take its toll on us and our time. Just how many Leroys did Hamsterviel make?

11:00

Lack of sleep is starting to affect our forces. I’m created for this sort of destruction, and even I have to admit my vision is going hazy every so often from exhaustion. That’s our true enemy in all of this. Perhaps it would be different if there weren’t so many Leroys. Even if ‘Aloha O’e’ can be used against them, singing is probably the last thing we have time to do amidst battle. Every few bars and I’m assaulted with blaster fire, physical attacks, or the threat of falling debris. One of the main tasks of the infiltration team is to take a copy of the song to the administration branch and broadcast it throughout the entire building. Before they even knew what hit them, they would all be rendered useless. Sadly, that was slated to happen a few hours ago. Every free moment I have, I try them on the radio. No luck. Lilo has also stopped contacting me. As has Reuben. Perhaps the distance is starting to affect our communications. Or, more likely, the RODENTs have something blocking long range communication devices. The teams close by I can contact just fine. But this does bring a problem to us. Coordination is our best bet in winning this war. And without it, there isn’t much hope. I can work with that. I can almost work with anything. I’m made for it. My team is not. And what they are especially not made for, nor were any of them were ready for, was just three simple words over their communication devices from the scout team just a floor above us. “Enemy reinforcements inbound.”

12:00

The real battle begins now. We’re far outnumbered than when we started. Even defeating vast amounts of UGF soldiers, RODENTs, and Leroys wasn’t enough. I barely risk taking a glance out the window to see the number of battleships looming in the sky. I took note that I could no longer see our own ships. I mostly hope they fled. But I can only assume the worst. Knowing that we’d soon be receiving opposition on our tail end, I urge my team to press on. A few offer to stay back and hold off any enemies, but that is more or less suicide. I can’t imagine the reinforcements being too merciful. I finally stop dead in my tracks when I see Chopsuey, team missing, fighting a lone RODENT, who is wearing a different type of uniform. The uniform of a lead-..tejljjh t ehkha eh 4 66 erajhjerahlkhlj j;…………. Efafekajrae!!!!!!jk fjea;d;fsk 65465486 fdsfnsdhfjkshdjhfdshjfkdsh


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The war against the RODENTs was fought long and hard. Many casualties were during the struggle against an enemy that camouflaged as their own. We know that Stitch was victorious. But we don't know what happened during those hours of the final siege. Those who fought, those who one, and those who lost. Until now. Part 2 of the "Across The" series.
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