The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) (54 page)

Fillip watched the move. He knew what was happening behind the barricade. So did his men.

He turned to Zoran.

“It is time. Go.”

The soldiers attacked fast. There was no mercy and they took no risk. Grenades flew over the barricade. Kal Shar knew that this will come. As the grenades flew at their positions he and his men jumped and attacked. It was surreal.

Sixteen legionaries attacked a group of almost two hundred men. As they jumped the humans watched them for a moment stunned and admiring. They knew that what they watched was a way of dying that had honor.

A moment later they opened fire. A hail of bullets struck the dacarians. The firing stopped after a minute.

The humans stepped forward to check the bodies. Fillip led them.

Kal Shar looked as the humans advanced. They were moving slowly, checking the bodies. He could feel his body loosing strength. He received at least twenty wounds and he was bleeding heavily. He noticed the human who spoke to him approaching. He used his entire strength to raise his body and stand on his knees.

Several humans turned to him but he noticed their leader stopping them.

He approached him. Kal Shar took his kerasa out of his scabbard. He knew that the human will know the meaning.

Fillip watched as the legionary rose and pulled his sword out. His body was riddled with bullet holes. It was a miracle that he was still alive.

He approached him.

Kal Shar raised his sword with his hands and looked at the human. As he watched the human pulled of his helmet and looked back.

“It will be an honor to die by your hand.”

Fillip kneeled and looked at the Dacarian. He could see the pain he felt on his face.

“You can still live.”

Kal Shar smiled. It took an effort.

“No I can’t. Even if I wanted the wounds are too deep. I will be dead soon. But I would like to die the death of a legionary. The same way my master did and by the same hand.”

“Do you have anything you would like to give me, anything you would like me to carry on?”

Kal Shar struggled for breath. It was getting harder to breed.

“I…I have a son and a family. Keep the kerasa for them.”

He pulled a data pad from his belt and a small medallion.

“It will be an honor.”

He took them.

“His name is Kaled, Kaled Shar al Mach.”

“It was on honor knowing you.”

“And you.”

Fillip left the items before Kal Shar and stepped behind him. As he did Kal Shar rose and said his prayer all the time looking in to the data pad and the medallion. In his mind he was looking his home in to the face of his son. He closed his eyes, and as he did Fillip struck with the sword. The blade penetrated down the neck all the way up to the hilt. Kal Shar’s body twitched as the blade penetrated.  A moment later he fell to the side dead. Fillip picked up the items, pulled out the sword and the scabbard.

He placed the sword in to it and kneeled next to the body.

“May the gods grant you a safe passage in to the afterlife and may they know you died with honor Kal Shar.”

He closed his eyes and rose.

“Call it in. Tell them that we had to eliminate everyone. “

“Yes sir. And sir…”

“Yes Zoran?”

“You did good sir. I don’t know what he said but it was honorable.”

“Yes it was.”

The group slowly moved away. They picked up the bodies of their dead and started moving towards the shuttles. As they left the wreck other soldiers were arriving.

Half an hour later Fillip and his unit were back on the Argus.

Johnson looked at the reports. The rescue teams managed to find hundreds of survivors on the destroyed human ships. The teams that tried to take control of the several hulks that had survivors and prisoners also reported success. They suffered casualties. Ninety six men died and hundred and fifty were wounded.  But they managed to capture about two hundred prisoners. Most of them were wounded and those that weren’t were found unconscious.  Those that were found alive fought to the death and many wounded took their own lives. It was crazy but he expected something like that. From the talks he had with Anaya he knew that they always fought to the death. But the most important part of the mission was connected with the data chips that they managed to collect. He was sure that they will find valuable information’s from them.

“Anaya send a report to Earth that the mission was a success. Tell them that we have the information’s that we wanted.”

“Yes admiral.”

“And set a course for home. We have the fleets under admiral’s Levin and Macintosh here to keep watch. The rescue operations will continue. There might be survivors there still.”

“Yes admiral.”

The battle was finally over. Johnson looked at the sight once more as the ship turned and started moving away. As he watched tears rolled on his cheeks. Humanity won but the price was high. Thousands of men died in the past day and millions more died on Earth. And he knew that this is only the start of the war. He hoped that those chips and the prisoners will reveal something. Because if humanity wanted to survive he knew that they will have to go somewhere out there, somewhere among the stars and find their enemy. To strike at their backs, strike hard. The war had to be fought as far away from Earth as possible.

Earth and humanity managed to buy them self some time. Now it all depended on them.

                                     CHAPTER NINETEEN

30 June 2019 12:30

Earth Arlington National Cemetery 

Virginia United States of America

Carter looked at the gathered soldiers and people. There were hundreds of thousands. And people were out on the streets all over America and the world. Today was the day that no human wanted to stay at home, when the happiness was mixed with pain and sorrow. Today was the day that humanity buried its heroes. Today was the day that they said their last goodbyes.

The funerals had to wait because of the search that was conducted in this system and in Proxima Centaury.

The battle was finally over. There were no more enemy ships coming. At least not right away. The initial fear after the disastrous bombing that took seventy million lives there was a constant fear that it might happen again. That was the reason for the search. But now three days later humanity finally could stop and rest.

The battle was won.  As he looked at the thousands coffins before him he remembered the last speech of his predecessor, the last speech of Unary Samba. He called the people of the fleet those few brave men.

As he watched today he knew that they were much more than brave. They faced the enemy and they didn’t back away.

Of the almost three hundred ships that went in to the battle half were lost. And all the others were damaged. Hundred and four thousand men and women entered in to the battle. Eighty four thousand nine hundred and three gave their lives. They were people from all nations.

Forty one thousand were Americans. And they were all here now.

All over the world presidents were doing the same thing today. Billions were saying goodbye and paying their respects to these brave men.

And he knew he felt sorrow as he watched, but he felt it not just for them but for the ones that will come as well. Mankind was at war. There may be peace now but everyone knew what the future will bring.

He cleared his throat and stepped on the stage.

“One hundred and fifty four years ago during one of our greatest tragedies and our proudest moments the Arlington Cemetery became the final resting home of our nations heroes. We all know them and we are all proud of them. Today … today after the greatest battle that we fought, after the battle and the events that united us as not one nation but as one civilization, a civilization of man, Arlington will become the final home for forty one thousand  more of our sailors, pilots, soldiers … and marines. I know that they will have a proud company. They died not for our country, not for our proud nation, because we are that, but for our world, for our civilization, they gave their lives for our future.

June 27 2019… a day that will always remembered, a day when hundred and four thousand men and women took upon them self the mantle, a day when they flew high in to the heavens, a day when they became our Spartans. That is the day when a new legend was born.

Eighty four thousand, nine hundred and four of them died.  Forty one thousands of them were ours… forty one thousands of them are here with us today.

I know, I feel the pain that you their families feel, but I say to you, be proud, cry for them but feel joy in your heart…

“Be proud my mother, be proud my father,

Be proud my sister, my brother,

Be proud my darling,

Do not hide the tears when you say good bye,

But do not stop the smile when you look in to the sky,

Remember me with joy, light a candle every night,

Say a prayer in my name…

And live and know that I will always be there…

Close by, by your side and in your heart.

I love you.”

This was the letter of one of those that never came home. He wasn’t an American, but one of ours brought his letter and his body home.

He was a human just as we all are.

I say to you we are proud, proud of you, proud of what you have done, proud of the way you lived. Proud of the way you died.

Thank you and God be with you.”

As he finished his speech gunshots erupted and planes flew high above.

Even in space the fleet and the space station, the satellites, they all fired three shots, they all gave their final salute.

All over the world, every nation buried its heroes. The letter Carter read, the message it send was the same each president, general or soldier read.

Three years ago the world said goodbye to seven thousand four hundred and thirteen soldiers and two hundred and forty civilians, the day before it said goodbye to seventy millions and today, today it said goodbye to its final heroes, to eighty four thousand nine hundred and three soldiers.

The day passed and the world and life continued. Slowly the rebuilding started.

And all over the world soldiers returned to their homes.

Each country greeted its heroes.

Both on Earth and in space the rebuilding of the fleet started. New ship models, models that were planned but couldn’t be completed in time were started. The repair on the ones that survived also continued.

7 July 2019 13:00 hours

White House Washington DC USA

Carter looked at the men gathered in to the office. They were both men from the military, from the ground forces and the fleet, and politicians.

In a way it was a meeting of the new leadership of the federation, and the military. If Geneva was still standing the meeting would have been held there but it wasn’t. The new capital still wasn’t selected. But the new leadership was. Carter was the vice president and after the death of Unary Samba he stepped in to his new position. He felt confident that he will perform it well.

He sat on the table as the last member arrived. It was Anaya who through a console that was brought was able to be present to the meeting that would decide the future of mankind and the war.

“Ladies, gentlemen…Anaya welcome.”

“Mr. President.”

“As we all know the battle was won. We paid a high price but we survived. The question is what now?”

“We rebuild, we strengthen our defenses and we increase our fleet.”

Carter looked at Shang Wei the Chinese representative.

“Yes Wei we will do that. But some new information’s that we have may show that we might need to take a new course of action.”