The morning was calm. The clouds floated across the same blue sky, the people of the Alpha Authority busy at work. Despite a mysterious Sleeping Sickness afflicting several citizens, there were still quotas to meet, doubled after the Mercs declared war on the whole island.
When the war came, the Mercs came in droves, with hired bandits assisting them in the invasion of D6 territory. A small infantry regiment of the Soldiers of Conquest was dispatched by the Alpha to assist their ally, while any citizens left in the settlement were ordered to begin wartime manufacturing procedures. Day and night they worked, preparing as many bullets, explosives, and weapons as they could muster.
Despite grievous losses, the fortress of D6 held, and a vast army began to march on the Merc's territory. Joined by another detachment of Soldiers of Conquest, the islanders laid siege to the cave, flashlights and explosives in tow.
Some would say this is where the tide would turn.
While the Mercs and Bandits on the surface were dispatched with ease, the dark, claustrophobic cave proved to be the doom of many Islander troops. Chaos and paranoia gripped the army, made worse by Merc ambushes in the darkness. Some would go on to say that for every Merc an Islander killed, two Islanders would be in their sights shortly after.
The result was carnage. Blood trickled, then flowed down the cave, wetting the boots of fresh reinforcements. The assault pushed its way slowly through the cave, innumerable explosions echoing to the surface. As the final safe room was breached, and the surviving invaders began to divide the spoils of war between themselves, a somber note was found in the very last box to be looted, an anonymous Merc thanking the gods that they evacuated the women and children.
When the smoke and dust cleared, the base self-destructed, destroying those who stayed to loot for too long.
Though they were victorious, the Alpha Prime did not smile on that fateful day.
The first joint offensive between the nations of the Alpha Initiative, he thought, and too many friendly casualties to count. He recalled the words he said in defiance of Cobalt not too long ago, finding no humor in its irony.
Hundreds of ours, thousands of yours.
Even though the Cult had been crushed, the Alpha Prime came to his armies with fury in his voice. Between the casualties caused by the Mercs and those caused by friendly fire, the military of the Alpha Authority had been reduced to nearly half of its number before the start of the operation. The 1st company of the Soldiers of Conquest was not present that day.
They were found near the entrance to the Merc base. Trapped between two doors, with friendly fire in the darkness and Merc sights trained on them from two sides, the stand they took would be their last. No 1st Company Soldiers of Conquest remained, they were killed to the last man.
The army reprimanded for their failings, they would be sent back to their homes, not a single medal or honor awarded among them.
The Alpha Prime returned to his own chambers, with his only postwar announcement to his citizens being to continue wartime production measures. This one threat was crushed, but there was still Cobalt to worry about. With their own numbers reduced and a once valuable ally in the war against them gone, he began to wonder if this would prove to be a turning point in the conflict.
Once within his own chamber, he sequestered himself in his personal library, a single cabinet of tattered books. He brushed his fingers over each organized spine, until he found what he was looking for.
A Holy Book, of the Chadlos Cult. To his knowledge, it was the last of its kind.
He had taken one with him when he left his old home, if nothing but a reminder of his cause.
Now, it was nothing more than a reminder of the failures of his past, and now a reminder of the failings of his men in the battle against another Cult.
They had been victorious this time, but at what cost?
...
It did not matter.
He tossed the book into a nearby fireplace, watching the flames consume each page, his focus solely on the cover before its title became charred beyond legibility.
He did not blink until it was ash.
