Star People

Side Story 1

Through the Eyes of Sath Soldiers

Aug 2^nd, 11 AE…

Several hours after the Star Alliance had landed on the Merdov northern coast…

Corporal Hednar stared at the hot meal in his hands as he sat at the table with the others. He couldn’t believe how well he was eating as a prisoner of war. As a soldier of the Sath Army, he had gotten used to the stale and often rancid rations of hardtack, dried meat and fruit. And he didn’t expect food for POWs to be any better.

And here he was, holding a bag of hot, delicious food in his hand. All he had to do was add a little water. The packet immediately expanded in size and became hot enough inside to thoroughly cook the food. And it smelled so good! Inside the pouch, there appeared to be some kind of sauce, noodles, meat and cheese. The Free Landers called it ‘la-zan-ya’ or some such thing.

“Hey, if you’re not going to eat that, I will!” One of the other prisoners said as he finished off his meal.

Not wanting to give up his meal, Hednar began eating his dinner. If he had known he was going to be eating better than he ever had in the army or at home, he would have surrendered immediately. What was even more surprising was the fact that he wasn’t going to be tortured, beaten or sold into slavery. The beds were comfortable. The latrines and showers were clean and sanitary. There were no rats or other vermin. His captors made no mention about ransoming officers and even said that once the war was over, he was probably going to released to return home.

This made him a bit sad to know that he was going to leave a place that gave him three hot meals a day. Compared to the daily drudgery that was his life in the Sath army, this POW camp was paradise. He could only hope that his fellow soldiers out in field would do the sensible thing and surrender to Free Land.

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Aug 3^rd, 11 AE…

The Kilgari plains…

“Monsters! They’re monsters!” A soldier screamed, just as his position was hit by a 100mm round. He and all his comrades disappeared in a fiery explosion.

Standing in file with his regiment, musketeer Randat was thinking the same thing. Just what did his superiors believe they would accomplish against such enemies?! The giant iron soldiers that were advancing towards them were virtually unstoppable! The magic cannons were worthless against them! The strongest spells that the battle-mages could muster were ignored! Wyverns and their riders were being shot down with ease! And here he was standing with a musket that would be as effective as tossing pebbles at a mountain!

As soon as the Iron golems got within 200 meters, the regiment commander gave the order for all musketeers to ready their weapons. Randat took a deep breath and raised his musket up and pointed it at the approaching enemy. Due to the fact that the golems were sixty-feet tall, there was little chance that his musket would miss, despite its poor accuracy due to its smoothbore barrel. There were at least three dozen muskets aimed at each golem. With so many shooting at once, the massed volleyfire would cut down any normal line of infantry.

However, these golems were not any ordinary infantry. As they got within 50 meters, the commander shouted out.

“FIRE!”

Randat pulled the trigger. His musket went off with a loud bang and a puff of grey smoke erupted from the end of the barrel. His musket ball, along with hundreds of others, sped toward their target. But, much to the horror of every soldier, the barrage simply pinged off the metal skin of the giants. They didn’t even bother to lift their shields. Then the golems began to raise their metal staves again.

“RELOAD!” The commander shouted.

Several musketeers desperately reached into their ammo belts to pull out fresh cartridges and powder, while others rammed down their charges with their rods. Randat however, saw that this was an exercise in futility. Why reload a weapon that didn’t even work against such a foe? Not even caring that he would be branded as a cowardly deserter, he threw down his muzzle-loader and began to run.

After seeing Randat flee, a few others decided to join him and also deserted. This began a domino effect as more realized the uselessness of fighting an opponent they couldn’t possibly win against. As the entire regiment began to fall back, other groups also started to waver in their resolve to hold the line. Despite threats from the higher officers to execute all deserters, there was no stopping the line from collapsing completely as the Battle-Mechs launched another barrage of 100mm and 65mm shells. The strategic withdraw became a total, panicked rout.

Randat would later be captured as a POW as the Free Land forces moved inland.

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Aug 5^th, 11 AE…

Fortress Argint…

Commander Xero Faulk bowed his head in shame as he dropped his sword and surrendered. The battle had been so lopsided that the fortress had fallen into enemy hands in less than 15 minutes. Even if the enemy hadn’t used those giant golems, the fortress would have fallen quickly enough when those armored soldiers appeared.

No arrow, no musket, no spear, no blade, no magic could defeat them. They couldn’t penetrate the armor and each Free Land soldier was armed with some kind of rapid-firing magic staff. They had been carried into battle by an equally armored and fearsomely armed horseless carriage. The Empire of Sath had nothing that could stand against them.

Were they fighting mortals or deities?

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Aug 6^th, 11 AE…

During the conference between Princess Locra and the commanders of the Sath military…

“So what do you think is going on Paulus?”

“I don’t know, Arcrit. All I know at this point is that the war is going badly for the Sath.”

“So all those stories about the Free Land Metal Giants are true? And what about those Iron Dragons? And that we have lost three Dragon Fleets? It’s all true?”

“The other officers are trying to hide the truth, but with our armies falling back and losing more ground, one cannot help but acknowledge that we are losing.”

“This cannot be! We are the mighty Sath! There is no other nation in this region that could challenge a superpower such as us!”

“Then what would you call the Battle at the Kilgari Plains? How about the fall of the Fortress of Argint? How about the fact that the Emperor had just moved more than half of all the forces from the South, East and West Main bases, just to defend the capital?”

“Are you saying that this fledgling country, this Free Land is so formidable that the Emperor is driven to such measures?”

“I couldn’t believe it myself, but I heard that the orders were given just an hour ago.”

“So what are the Princess and the generals discussing in that room?”

“I think they might be planning to overthrow the Emperor.”

“Overthrow the Emperor?! Are they mad?!”

“Wouldn’t you call the Emperor mad for starting this war?”

The soldier named Paulus could only respond in silence as he and his compatriot continued to guard the entrance to the conference chamber.

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Aug 7^th, 11 AE…

Everyone stared in complete and utter shock after the Missouri had fired its anti-proton beams and destroyed an entire mountain range. And in every soldier’s, noble’s, commoner’s and slave’s minds, the same thought echoed in their heads.

We’ve lost!

After the image of Princess Lexina and General Snee were projected in the skies above, the soldiers of Sath did the unthinkable in their long history of military conquest. They dropped their swords and muskets to the ground and surrendered.

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Aug 8^th, 11 AE…

“That’s it. You’re free to go.” The Free Land colonel said to the crowd of POWs.

The highest ranking Sath officer, an admiral, stepped forward and spoke for the men.

“You’re saying that we’re free to leave?”

The colonel nodded. “That’s what I said.” He pointed toward a waiting transport craft. “Get all your belongings and get on board. That shuttle will take you to the Sath capital and from there; you can catch a ride back to your homes or bases.”

“We’re… not going to be held for ransom?”

“Why would we do that?”

“I’m… a high-ranking officer. My ransom alone would be a fortune…”

“Again, why would we do that? Just because ransoming is done by your nation, doesn’t mean we have to do it. The war is over. Go home.”

With these words, the colonel gave him a salute, and then walked off, leaving the admiral and the rest of the POWs confused, but at the same time relieved that there was to be no heavy price to be paid for their release.

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Aug 15^th, 11 AE…

Both soldiers and civilians watched as the parade of supply vehicles made their way through the streets of the capital. Things had begun to change at a rapid pace after the Empress had signed a treaty with Free Land and had petitioned for food aid for the now devastated Empire and the territories that had seceded from it.

At first, many thought that this would be an occupation. After all, that’s what a conquering nation did when it defeated an enemy. Some even thought that the whole Empire would be annexed by Free Land. However, the Free Landers again surprised them as they had no intention of annexing the Sath Empire. They were actually supplying all cities, villages and towns with food, water and medical supplies. Thought the Sath were now indebted and subservient to Free Land, their conquerors were not imposing their will upon the citizens. In fact the people were treating them like conquering heroes, not conquerors.

Corporal Serial watched with envy as the crowds welcomed the Free Land soldiers and military personnel with cheers and applause. Some offered the Free Landers bottles of wine and bread. Several prostitutes came up and said they would gladly sleep with the soldiers for free. All these offers were politely declined by the Free Land military men.

 Serial would have never thought that the people would celebrate the arrival of an occupying army. They had never acted this way with their country’s soldiers. Then again, as he thought about it more, the Sath people had little to celebrate about their country’s warriors. Though he himself had never done such things, the list of atrocities the Sath military had done to the citizens was extremely lengthy. People feared the Sath soldiers rather than respect or idolized them. There were many officers and soldiers that regularly took bribes, and brazenly stole from the commoners. Some would kidnap women and brutally rape them. Those who tried to speak out or fight back would almost always be dead or thrown in prison on false charges. There were cases of blackmail, extortion and murder on a frequent basis.

In fact, it was because of these atrocities that Empress Lexina had the entire Sath military investigated. As she had done with the corrupt nobles, many high-ranking officers and their subordinates were found guilty and were dishonorably discharged, before being sentenced to prison, a life of hard labor in the mines, or executed. After visiting New Pearl Harbor and Polaris City in Free Land, she also began instituting new reforms in her nation’s army and navy. She wanted the Sath military to be more like the Star Alliance and protect its citizens, rather than oppress and exploit them. She wanted her people to be proud of their soldiers, not fear or hate them.

Serial could see that many changes were coming in the future for the Sath soldiers.

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July 17th, 12 AE…

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! PING!

After the final round was fired and the en bloc clip ejected itself, the Free Land Drill Sergeant lowered his weapon and turned back toward the group of Sath soldiers. All of them were awestruck at the accuracy and firepower of the rifle in his hands. More than 50 meters from them was a small metal target, in which the sergeant had hit near dead center eight times.

“What kind of magical weapon is that?” One soldier asked. He was a new recruit named Vardel Keets.

“This isn’t a magic weapon.” Drill Sergeant Roy Varns replied. “This is what one of the generals of my world called the greatest battle implement ever devised, the M1 Garand.”

“Ga… rand?”

“Yes. This is what we call a rifle. It’s called that because of the spiral grooves in the barrel, which spins the bullet and makes it more accurate than those old muskets you guys had before. I could shoot a fly from a thousand yards with this weapon.”

“But, I didn’t see you load any powder or ball down the barrel.” Another recruit named Shorin Keegs pointed out.

“I don’t need to do any of that muzzle-loading crap!” Roy reached down to his ammo belt and pulled out another clip. To properly demonstrate the M1 Garand’s capabilities, he was dressed in a replica uniform of the United States Army during World War Two. He held up the clip. “This is called a clip. It holds eight rounds of 30-06 ammunition.” He removed a round and held it up. “This is a round of 30-06 ammunition. The tip is the bullet. Inside the casing is gunpowder. And the back here is the primer. The bullet, the powder and the ignition charge is all in one package. You don’t need to mess around with powder or waste time loading it into the rifle. Just load up the clip, and then load it into the weapon.”

Roy then demonstrated the process of loading and firing the Garand at the target. After the clip pinged out of the rifle, he quickly reloaded and fired all eight rounds again. After the second clip pinged out, he lowered the weapon and turned back to the recruits.

“I just fired 16 shots in less than 30 seconds. That means by the time you’re finished loading your musket, I just killed you and 15 of your buddies! The Garand is rated at 40-50 rounds a minute. So it’s possible for a single man to kill 40-50 men in a minute.”

The recruits all stared in awe.

“From now on, you and everyone else in this Sath army are going to learn a new way of fighting with this new weapon! You’re not going to be standing in lines like before! You’ll be fighting as squads! And the name of the game is called fire and maneuver!”

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“OW!”

Shorin grimaced as the bolt of his Garand slammed onto his thumb. He opened the bolt and freed his hand from the weapon. He blew on his hand while shaking it.

“I warned you before, Private!” Sergeant Varns called out. “Keep that palm flat against side and the back of the hand against the charging handle! Unless you want have the ‘Garand Thumb’ again?”

“Yes sir!” Shorin acknowledged he continued to blow on his sore digit.

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Aug 7^th, 12 AE…

“So those are the new Armored Wyverns?” Captain Larno asked as he observed the formation flying above them.

“Yes, Captain!” The technician replied. “The new polymer armor is coated with a substance the Free Landers call Kevlar. It should give the Wyverns added protection and is so light that the beasts don’t even feel it. And each rider is equipped with a new breathing apparatus, which will allow him to ride his mount to higher altitudes!”

“That’s all well and good, but I still feel that we should retire the Wyvern Corps. We should follow the other nations and switch to those mechanized flying machines.”

“Nonsense! With the new weapons and equipment, our wyverns are the equal or superior to the biplanes of Atlans! We can still hold our own in the skies!”

I just hope that notion won’t be put to the test any time soon!

Little did Larno know, that the Armored Wyverns would have their trial by fire in less than 6 months.

 

Author’s Notes

This will be the first in a series of side stories that I will be writing while preparing for the next chapter of the main story. Hope you enjoyed it!