The War of Haranthia

The Fields of Kalo: Town Defence

Haranthia had been at war for almost three decades at the point that our story begins. It had raged across countless countries, even planets. The galaxy was at war for a reason not many could even remember. All they knew was they hated each other. Two planets had been utterly obliterated, and that had only happened in the last two years. The year was 2903. The human race had spread to the far reaches of the universe, but Haranthia was the most populated galaxy, though it was quickly losing its population, due to the amount of lives the war took every day. At the beginning, over 12 trillion had lived on about 34 rather large planets. Now, there were much less, though how many, no-one could count, as every second, more died. Kalo was by far the biggest battle that the war had witnessed. It had been raging for over a year, and more than a billion lives had been lost. There weren't two sides, there were several. It wasn't planetary, either. There were countless teams, and all had converged on Kalo. The war was reaching its boiling point, but it wasn't over.

Kalo was a farming planet. It had been peaceful, and unconcerned by the war, until the first faction had bombarded it. Hundreds died in a matter of hours, and the people took up arms, taking their various sides. A year on, all production had stopped, and the entire planet was a battlefield. Continents in flames, countries made into dust, towns levelled and razed to the ground. And the galaxy stood in awe of the battle. Billions of soldiers massed, and horror unfolded. Countries were taken by factions, those who still stood. Women, children and men taken prisoner, forced into slavery simply for choosing the losing side in a battle that was no-one's fault. Everyone claimed someone else had dropped the bombs, and no-one was quite sure who had. There was distrust, even among fellow factioners. The players took their places. The pieces were set in motion.

Oliver Ratnik was 14 years old. He had been a soldier for three of those years. 11 was the age of consignment for his particular faction, The GLP, or Galactical Liberation Party. He had never had a choice about signing up. He had been orphaned at three years old. He'd been told by Katharian Polso, a lieutenant in the GLP, that, when they'd liberated Oliver's village, his father was found dead in the rubble of his house, and his mother had handed Oliver to Katharian with her last movements. He'd been placed in a GLP orphanage. Until he was 11, he had been raised, fed and cared for in the orphanage, which was situated on the planet Kethos, GLP's capital planet. He had seen countless kids saying they couldn't wait to get in the fighting, that they were going to be the biggest, best, most fearsome warrior in all of the GLP. He'd seen those kids go out to fight, and he'd seen them come back in a box, and seen countless names on the memorial wall in Faradan, the city where the orphanage was held. Remembered on that wall were those who had lived in the city before their deaths. He'd made one friend there, a boy named Jaki Olden. Like Oliver, Jaki was cautious about joining the GLP, and they'd bonded over that. When they were forced to consign, Jaki and Oliver had the luck not just to be together in a unit, but to have that unit''s second-in-command be Katharian. Their first fight was the fight of GLS. Harreath, a cruiser situated over Kethos. The Harreath was Jaki and Oliver's first assignment. It was invaded by a rival faction, the EIT, or Earth Intelligence Taskforce. As the name would suggest, this faction had originated from Earth. In fact, they had been the first faction to assemble. The GLP repelled the EIT, and order was restored. They had seen several battles since then, too many to think about, though they did, frequently. Now, the boys were feared warriors, and even adults were terrified of them. The boys had discovered they could fight, and GLP legends put it that they defeated two dozen men, just the two of them. The boys were now in Kalo, called in specially.

"We should be on the front lines!" Jaki shouted at the commander of the town. Jaki pointed at the holomap in front of him. "The GLP is getting pushed back further and further! Why call our unit in, if you just want to put us behind desks?" He demanded, fury in his eyes. Oliver and Katharian were stood a little away, near the back of the commandeered town hall. The rest of the unit were asleep, in improvised bunks in any building they could find, partially destroyed or not. Jaki, Katharian and Oliver had been called in, hardly two hours after leaving the transport. The CO had explained that the unit was simply there in an advisory capacity, enraging all three.
"There is no front line!" The CO retorted, snarling. "This is happening all over this damn planet!" He roared. "It's all we can do to keep this godforsaken town!" The CO turned to Katharian. "Control your soldiers." He said, scowling.
"He makes a point, doesn't he?" Katharian said, indicating Jaki. "Why call us here if you just want us idle?" He asked, sighing. Jaki laughed scornfully.
"Because he's scared. He knows we're his only chance to keep this place. But he doesn't want to admit it." He said, then rounded on the CO. "You're placing your pride above the lives of thousands of men?" He asked, growling.
"Watch your tongue, soldier." The CO said, anger flashing in his eyes.
"Or what?" Oliver asked, piping up. "You'll put us on a charge? Give us a dismerit? You know for a fact this unit's record is impeccable. It'll never hold up. Even if it does, you think the GLP will be willing to let go of this unit? The unit that singlehandedly saved the Harreath?" He asked, keeping his gaze steady. "Fact is, you're losing this town. Whether you like it or not, we're you're only chance."
"You think very highly of your unit." The CO said, though his anger seemed depleted.
"As does the GLP. This unit has several commendations and medals. We're your only logical choice." Katharian said, shrugging casually. "You say you're having trouble defending this town?" He asked, walking over to the desk, behind the holomap. The CO dropped the anger, getting down to business.
"Yeah. Soldiers on the walls are only kids." He said, then glanced at Jaki and Oliver. "No offence." The boys simply nodded, the mutual annoyance gone. The CO pointed out several points on the map, red dots appearing. "Thee positions are the hardest to hold. Few weeks ago, a tank got a shell through. Killed five. We fixed it, though. Had to replace the men quickly. They're hardly trained." He said. Jaki nodded.
"Call them off. Six of us'll guard that bit of the wall." Jaki said. He looked at Katharian. "Kath. You, Terrets, Simone, Loken, Garred and Kaley take that wall." He said. Katharian nodded. "Any other weaknesses?"
"The gates." The CO said. "My name's Robbins, by the way." He said. Jaki nodded.
"Alright, Robbins. What's wrong with the gates?" Jaki asked.
"They're standard Terranium, but... Again, the guards." He said, running a hand through his greying hair.
"Yeah, I saw that. I wandered around a bit." Katharian said, frowning. "Volunteers, I assume?" He asked.
"Yeah. Untrained, hapless and too enthusiastic." Robbins said, sounding weary. "A convoy came through about a fortnight ago. The transports showed their ID, but the 'guards', and I use that term loosely, decided to point guns at them. Two soldiers and three volunteers died before the volunteers were detained."
"Man. Two soldiers?" Oliver asked, looking at him disbelievingly.
"They got lucky." Robbins explained, sighing. "They were dead before they knew what happened."
"You put them against the firing squad?" Katharian asked.
"No, I don't believe in it." Robbins said. All three of them immediately had more respect for Robbins.
"Good man. Right, Jaki and I will take the gate, along with Jonda and... Lorda?" Oliver asked, looking at Jaki.
"Yeah. Jonda and Lorda are a good team. Boyfriend and girlfriend, but a really effective team." Jaki agreed.
"These are kids?" Robbins asked, looking at them, slight doubt on his face.
"No. We're the only kids in our unit." Jaki said, sighing. He ran a hand down his face, and rubbed his eyes. All three of them had spent an unmentionable amount of time awake. They were exhausted. Robbins looked at them all in turn.
"All of you. Go to sleep." He said, smiling softly. "I'll inform my men of the change tomorrow. Be ready to be at your posts at midday." He told them, and they nodded. "Your units bunked in the old library."
"Thank you, sir." They all mumbled. Robbins nodded, and they left.