The soldiers on the Osiris Ace aircraft braced themselves as they took off from the academy base, ready to embark on a mission to the moon where the Palace lay in ruins. The thought of the potential violence they were facing weighed heavily on their minds.

The tense air filled Toni's lungs, if only momentarily, before he let the anxiety filter through the rest of his bones. He knew he had been hovering over the two pilots assigned to them for this mission, old habits dying hard after the fall of one of the most secure places between Earth and the moon.

As he gazed at the monitors, he saw multiple ships prepare to leave for the chaos on the moon, while others, loaded with medical personnel, headed to other bases to handle the influx of wounded and dead.

"On route," the pilot confirmed, breaking Toni's chain of thoughts. The female's head swung, reaching her shoulder, past her brunette locks. She noticed the way the man stood in his black fitted uniform rigidly to his spot. "ETA is fifteen minutes for the departed regiments, sir. Osiris Ace will make landfall in twelve minutes."

Toni nodded to the younger, experienced pilot, and the pixie-white-haired co-pilot that had everything in order. The Osiris Ace left the atmosphere of Earth, followed by ships of the elite soldiers on their tail, which meant he could head back to where the others were debriefing.

Leaving the two pilots, Toni made his way along the aircraft haul and entered the small room where his friends had been hauled up. He sat in the small meeting space, leaning back into his chair around the six-person table.

He watched the multi-panromantic viewed screens, which highlighted in different sections the current decayed structure of the Palace. The Commanders and Elite staff on the ground had re-laid the information.

What they knew from the current intel told them that the moon had practically been levelled with the attacks. A vast number of casualties were slowly dying on them, while the mass of the dead reached vast numbers. The four crammed bodies had been trying to gauge what a plan of attack would look like when they landed on the moon. The bodies shifted between the tablets in front of them. The filtered reports were endless, and understanding where to begin left them at an impasse. 

The group was interrupted by a quick knock on the door. "Come in," Matthew called out. Immediately a younger male soldier appeared, an almost excited look on his face.

"Commander, Sawyer sent me. There's news from one of the reporters in Isadora. The feed is being broadcasted as live coverage over the network," the soldier announced.

Matthew nodded to Richie, who was nearest to the tablet, and he began to search for the feed on the channels. The soldier then left the room.

"What do you think it's about?" Jesse inquired, inquisitive at why Sawyer thought it was necessary to watch.

The screen changed from its standby feed to show a rough, grainy feed from a camera in the hub of the business district of Isadora. A dishevelled single male reporter displayed on the screen, his camera crew behind him. They were standing amongst an immersed crowd of screaming protestors and rioters, waving the Isadorian flag.

None of them were prepared for what they saw on the screen when they saw a mock-up doll of Ezra being burned by the protestors, with posters being waved between the camera to show their distress.

"This is Douglas Frydenberg, Isadora's Daily News, live in the heart of Isadora's Business precinct! Reporting directly from the scene of this widespread manic chaos that has just begun amid the news on the attack on the Palace and royal family." The reporter quickly shouted, ducking as one of the set alight's fake doll bodies flew past his head.

"The situation with the latest attack has sent the city into a frenzy. As you can see behind me, we have protestors convinced that now is the time to attack. War has been cited. We can report a few militias have taken towards the eastern borders to bring the fight to them-"

"For fuck sake," Matthew snapped, rising from the table. He grabbed his communication device to find the closest Academy principals to deter the militia from the suicide attack and exited the room.

Jesse, Toni, and Richie remain fixated on the news coverage.

"Could you recap what's happening for those who have just joined us?"

The group heard another voice from the studio, and Douglas pressed the earpiece further to his ear.

"Sure, Steve," Douglas replied. "Roughly forty-five minutes ago, we received word that the Palace of the two worlds had been attacked. While the eastern border until Ezra's control has not established that they led the attack, it has not prevented the residents of Isadorian's capital from retaliating upon the news.

We have no confirmations yet on the death toll count from the Palace on the moon; our leading journalist Meiko is en-route as we speak. Considerable Elite soldiers from the Academy bases have already been dispatched to the moon. Those that remained have set up guard bases on the off chance that Ezra chooses to launch a second attack.

The devastation is said to be an extensive loss of life with the residents on the moon. Even fewer survivors said to have survived the attack inside the palace walls, that inclu..."

The reporter had been cut off as a pair of civilians dressed, ready to fight, rushed in, moving between him and the cameraman, one stealing the reporter's microphone.

Matthew entered, leaning against the door, still on the communication device as he watched the news feed.

"This means war!" the civilian hollered, "those bastards think we're going to roll over and die! We are not letting a repeat happen. We are not going to let our children suffer in this war! We need to take a stand! Our Academies need to launch a full-scale attack against the borders!"

Douglas Frydenberg reappeared, wrestling with the microphone as other news crew rushed in, grappling with the two overeager civilians.

"They're going to get themselves killed," Toni muttered before looking to Matthew, "what are the academies saying?"

The blonde moved the communication piece away from his mouth, "they're on it but may need reinforcements from our base if more keeps heading their way."

"Morons," Jesse muttered, "like there isn't enough to deal with without raging a militia war on the eastern border."

It took a few moments to sort things out on the screen before them, and Douglas regained control of his equipment.

"As you can see in the studio, Steve, things are rather crazy around here. None of the academies has yet to make an official report on the matter, nor has the royal correspondent been able to make a statement on the mat- Hey! Get those guys away from the camer..."

The visual ended, and the sound cut off.

Matthew was caught standing between the door and the hallway; he watched as the soldier returned, scamping along the ship to the soldiers.

"Commander, Sawyer has confirmed reports of reapers and Hyports."

"Just fucken fantastic," Richie leaned forward, having heard the soldier's update. Hitting the tablet on the table to show the reports from already arrived tacticians, "creepy android fucks."

He flicked through what was appearing on his screen, and his voice lowered, the intensity of the situation heightening.

"Yea, Matthew, there are numerous reports reflecting the same thing. Creepy, feral fucks."

The Commander nodded to the soldier, who broke down the corridor and back to the front of the ship.

"Most of them are dead, ambushed," Richie continued. Matthew returned his attention to the man, even if his mind had been running rampant.

Matthew, like Jesse, excelled in defence, weaponry, and technology, knew the kind of defence and weapons on the moon.

They understood the Palace had been fitted with the best of the best defence systems that were built. It raised quite a red flag that it had been obliterated in this attack, which meant that someone had been working on the inside to bring it all down.

That told Matthew that they underestimated the offensive tactics of their enemies. They underestimated the kind of reach and pull their enemies held to launch this attack, which meant that they were blindsided in a way he had been fucken furious with.

"Matthew?" Jesse's apprehensive voice pulled him from his thoughts.

He moved the communication device from his ear, and his annoyance that one of the Commanders had him on hold rose.

"We can safely assume then that she has allegiances on both sides now." Toni proposed.

"You really think she held these kinds of loyalties?" Jesse pulled her attention to Toni, who had sat pulling the collar of his uniform from his neck, and the trail of his tattoos poked out.

Matthew pushed off from the door frame, snapping the communication device shut.

"Case in point," Richie pointed to a screen showing the Isadorian emblem instead of the coverage back on Isadora. "They attacked the moon. Someone had to be working with them to bring the defences down."

"Three minutes upon entering the atmosphere of the moon," the computerized voice of the Osiris Ace's system alerted the soldiers.

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