Gabatrix: The Terrorists of Batrice

There were brief moments that his hearing produced thumps as if it was his own heartbeat. If people were yelling at him to stop, then he wouldn't hear them. He was still in an absolute daze. His brain would have told him that it was stupid to leave the building, but nothing was working anymore. The body was moving. It was driven to find his cousin.

He mouthed the words "I got to save her," but he couldn't hear it. Another staff member saw him and tried to get him, but he brushed past him.

He blacked out again as he now stood in the hallway. The round had clearly left a sizeable hole where it bashed through. It crashed from the top floors and worked its way down till it reached near the second classroom. Debris was everywhere. Bodies......

A teacher stood in shock as she went to go to one of the students. She looked into the classroom that Mizu had run in. Mizu looked and only remembered the brief flashes that his mind understood.

The scene was grizzly to behold. The hypervelocity round had hit the edge of the adjacent classroom. The concussive shockwave and blast blew the wall into the next class where Keiko was located. Students were crying for help, but Mizu couldn't hear them. He was relying on his eyes to help him.

"Got to help......" were his empty words as he saw piles of bodies of students. Each one was in a different shape. Keiko was on the other side of the impact area. She was closest to the restroom, as he remembered. He stumbled as he walked. The sliding doors had been punched clean through from the blast as he entered inside.

There was no fire in the room, but Mizu's body was struggling to operate. His eyes seemed to betray him at times. He would look and see a child that was dead or barely alive. Most appeared to be unconscious, or at least that was what he was hoping. There was blood, however. He even recalled seeing a limb of an arm.....

"Keiko.......cousin....." he said as he tried to call out, but his ears still didn't function correctly.

He wanted to save them all. Every child was precious, but he was one man trying to help dozens. He tripped over a piece of shattered debris from the wall as he spotted her. Keiko was unconscious as she had been slammed into the wall from her desk. Apparently, the desk had performed its job deflecting some of the blasted objects, but it wasn't enough. There was just so much force that was exerted from the impact that it took its toll on everyone.

He couldn't remember much as he scooped up Keiko in his arms. Her right arm and leg were broken entirely from the savage impact. He had no idea how he had the strength, but he began his trek stumbling out of the room, almost tripping over another student's body.

His mind was going in and out. A part of his hearing on his right was returning as he was still bleeding from his left ear. Mizu had only one destination to go towards as he could see a staff member that tried to help him. As far as Mizu was concerned, it was as if the person wasn't there at all.

Once again, things seemed to go in and out for him. He was like a walking zombie that was cradling something that was priceless. Mizu that was at least coherent enough to know of the environment, had surmised that he would most likely die after this. If he could get Keiko to the emergency teams quicker, maybe it would be the difference between life or death.

Blood continued to drip from his sides onto the floor. Finally, it appeared that he slowed down enough that he could feel her body was lighter. The whispered words of "I got her.....go get help....." were just enough to be registered in his right ear. He was near the exit as he could see that one of the pedestrians had taken her from his hands. He couldn't see the man's face, but it was enough that he was doing his best to help.

Another pedestrian that had run into the building had taken hold of Mizu. He felt his body get lighter as it appeared to be a woman of some sort. He reached the school's exit as more and more people were coming and going in the pandemonium. There was enough of the scene to indicate that the students had been safely evacuated from the building. Teachers were doing headcounts, but Mizu's vision suddenly went black again. He was completely powerless as he tumbled to the ground. Other people rushed to him as he ultimately passed out. His job and task were complete as the last thing he saw were Keiko being gently placed to the ground as emergency response teams were coming in.......

*******

It had been ten minutes later as a white limousine that had the Batrice flags of red, blue, and green on it pulled in. Emergency vehicles were everywhere at the school as more and more paramedics were coming to check the wounded. A couple of other students with severe injuries were being brought out. Small hover trays held by two individuals dressed in white with a red and blue cross were standard. A few of the injuries seemed minor. A few scratches and cuts could be seen on a girl, but others were more graphic. Paramedics teams had been checking out Chuang and Mizu. Mizu was focused more upon as his injuries seemed way more aggressive.

Stabilizers were placed on Mizu's chest cavity and head. His left side was cut up badly, but the bleeding had been stopped. The left side of his head registered the most significant impact, and he was nearing a coma.

Keiko was coughing as she was still recovering. Stabilizers were placed on her body as the paramedic teams placed grafts and other casts on her busted limbs. She was the first to be brought to an ambulance vehicle along with another unknown injured student.

A figure that was dressed in a blue formal shirt and pants stepped out of the limousine. He was a man in his forties, with a slightly bronze complexion to him. He had short black hair as his sneakers touched the battered cement and metal slab of the ground. He seemed to be a man of importance as others gave a look of shock and surprise.

The man kept a calm composure as he was obligated to do one thing and one thing only. He marched to the front entrance of the school. A few of the paramedic's teams tried to hold him back.

"Prime Minister!" One of the emergency teams responded to him. "Let us take care of this."

"My daughter!" the leader of Batrice replied to them. His voice was booming but showed an act of grave concern. "Let me pass! I must see my daughter!"

He put his hand to brush them away as he walked into the school. Students, teachers, staff members, pedestrians, and every person that was at the scene watched in awe as they continued to help one another.

Minutes passed by as they watched the most horrific scene that would become forever engrained in the history books of Batrice. The scene seemed to come to a halt when the Prime Minister slowly came out of the school building with his daughter. Cradled in his arms, the little girl that was Channery Chanvatey was long dead. Her crumpled body and right arm had been completely severed from the crushing explosive impact from the second railgun round fired from the Itrean ship. Death had been apparently quick for her.

It was as if the life had been ripped away from the Prime Minister as the people around him gasped. Some of the women had their hands to their mouths in pure shock. Students had their mouths open in dismay. A few of the staff even began to have tears roll down their eyes at the sudden realization of what had happened. No one was spared from the attack. Even the daughter of the leader of the colony was no exception to this rule.

It seemed that each second would be like a minute as Heng Chanvatey was mustering the strength to say something. A few people turned on their augmented arms. A few pulled out their tablets to record the events. He just stood there as people felt powerless about the whole event. The few emergency teams continued to help others as the Prime Minister took a deep breath. A tear was rolling down his eyes.

"People of Batrice!" the Prime Minister addressed everyone. "The events of the attack on Batrice have been one of tragedy. Right now.....I have been told that thirteen are dead.....several are wounded. The attack made by the Itreans was one done out of an act to terrorize our people....." he paused as he took a deep breath. "The people of this colony have had to endure great hardship.......we dug the soil......we built these cities......we built them with our bare hands. Our blood.....our sweat.....our tears.......we built this magnificent city and surroundings."

He paused again as if he was summoning the words from the heart. He gave a look of anger as the crumpled body of his daughter remained in his arms. "We, the people of Batrice and Gillan, come from a proud history and legacy. We lived while others tried to control us. We lived as we had to abandon the world that we called Earth. We lived as we fled to Mars. We lived as we went to these two great worlds. The Itreans come to threaten us. They came and murdered my daughter, and they murdered our children. The UWA.......they don't do enough to protect us from those that want us dead. They say that to know a person of Batrice, you must first look at the ground......the dirt we struggled to turn into these magnificent homes. Then you look up. All of you look up!"

Those that weren't helping others replied as they began to look up straight into the sky.....straight at the dome and above. It was here that they beheld that of the great monolith. Even from this far below the ground, the ten kilometers long Fort Batrice could still be seen enough by the audience and viewers. Even the people recording and the Prime Minister did the same thing as they pointed their heads up.

"The Itreans wish to get to know us!" the Prime Minister said as he looked back upon the people. The people all began to look at their leader. "We will have a military more powerful than the UWA will ever see! Your government failed this day......I failed you......." He paused a little bit. "I failed to do enough to protect us to prevent this.....but no more. We will have a place and world that will protect us! We will have a society that is safe for all of us. Your government will protect you! The Itreans will know of our might! We will be stronger than Mars......we will be stronger than any force has ever seen. We will make the UWA safe from any future harm! Look upon that great space station. It is the shining light that will protect all of us. For Batrice!"

"For Batrice!" The crowd of people replied almost in unison. Some of the adults raised their fists into the air as the students tried to understand what was happening. The rest of the gathering crowds began to applaud as another tear ran down the Prime Minister's face. He kept his composure as he could see the people were invigorated. Mizu could almost hear the distant sounds of people applauding from his right ear as he struggled to open his eyes. Looking from the ground, all he could do was momentarily look upon the great Fort Batrice that lies above him. He promised himself that if he lived through this, he would join the military and work at the great monolith in orbit.

Chapter 2: August 25^th, 2350

"Are you serious?" Mizu replied to his divisional officer. He showed an expression of frustration and anger on his face.

"I am afraid so," the commander replied in a Southeastern Asian accent. He sat at his desk as he put his hands together on the table.

It had been almost over a year and a half since the deadly attack on Batrice. Many things seemed to have changed as Mizu was a little bit older now. He was standing in a small luxurious office. Compared to over a year ago, Mizu's attire was much different now. He was now wearing a UHN jumpsuit. The familiar red and blue colors of the uniform and black magnetic boots gave the testament that he had succeeded in his mission. In the center of his uniform was the rank insignia of a petty officer 3^rd class. He was a little bit stockier now, with more muscle tone to his body. Even his hair was cut short a little bit more to fit military regulations.

"Ugh......." Mizu waved his hand at his divisional officer. "What? Did they make you bend over backwards and serve the rest of the COC for this?"

The commander seemed used to the somewhat playful antics of Mizu that he didn't take the comment too seriously. Mizu was used to this room. It was a pristine place. It wasn't a large room, but the office consisted of a luxury style red and blue carpet. The finely metal-crafted desk was positioned in the center, with several chairs lined throughout the area. Throughout the walls were several displays that depicted the live feeds of surrounding areas, including the vast hangar bay of Fort Batrice. One of the displays was a wall-mounted rotating picture display that showed photographs of most likely the officer's family and achievements. The typical officer's room depicted the fantastic luxuries of being a high-ranking official of the station.

Standing in a relaxed composure next to him was a woman that was taller but also wearing a military UHN jumpsuit. Being skinny, she was lankier in appearance. Her facial features were more reminiscent of a person whose bloodline followed from places such as Malaysia or Indonesia. Her skin complexion was darker than Mizu's paler face, and her hair was also cut short so drastically that some would mistake her for a man by accident. It was a common issue for people with longer hair. Gravity got in everyone's way, and the military rules were final. To prevent hair from getting into a person's face, the hair had to be cut down or tied up. Women generally suffered the most because of this rule, and they had to choose between having it cut short or tied up into a bun. This woman decided to have it almost taken off her head completely.

"Sir....no offense, but what the fuck?" the woman almost angrily replied in a thick Southeast Asian accent to the commander. "We are pilots. We take up the roles and responsibilities of helping move the shit around this station. Now you are asking us to take up this role too?"

"I am afraid so, Hamiza," the commander replied to the woman as Mizu looked upon him. The commander was a seemingly understandable person that Mizu knew well. Even for the rank of a high official, Commander Trai was a person who started as an enlisted and worked his way up. He once claimed that his family descended from both Vietnam and Cambodia back on former Earth. His facial features even showed a hint of this as well. Unlike the other two, he wore a prominent red and blue officer's attire. He had a large handlebar mustache that he properly kept maintained as he looked upon the other two.

"Are you going to be informing the other pilots as well?" Hamiza asked with annoyance in her voice.

"Yes, I will, but that will be for tomorrow's plan of the day," Trai said.

"I can't believe that you are going to do this," Mizu commented as he waved his hand at him. "Being a pilot is hard work as it is. Now you are asking us to start taking up duty section watches?"

Trai simply sighed. "Look.....I will have to inform all of my personnel of the sacrifices they will have to perform. We have been lucky we made it this far, but there are over a hundred in my section that works with the hangar section. I am responsible for the logistics chain, but even with Fort Batrice completed, the rest of the crew and staff are overtaxed as it is."

"We know, sir," Hamiza replied. "We already take up ten-hour shifts.....but this.....this is bullshit."

"Hamiza, that is enough. I have done as much as I could to defend our position, but the COC is crawling all over me. They see this department as free hands to start taking up additional watches as they try to resolve the technical problems on the station. Even if Fort Batrice is completed, they still need to work out the issues involved."

"Do they want us to suck their cocks too?" Mizu asked.

"Heh...." Hamiza laughed.

"That is enough from the both of you," Trai remarked. "Look....I sympathize with you two. Even I have to start taking up additional watches too. You are not the only one. I sympathize with the whole team that works on Fort Batrice, but my hands are tied on this."

"Is that why you asked us to come here? Sir?" Mizu asked.

"Partly. I asked you two to come here because you two will be the first to take up the watches. You will be taking up the night watches and providing assistance to the MAs in station security."

"Security?" Hamiza asked.

"Yes. Tomorrow, the T'rintar clan are sending their ambassadors to talk to the Prime Minister."

"Again?" Mizu almost chuckled. "Now they want us to play guard dogs as we fly the shuttles back and forth to the station?"

Mizu thought about it as he heard the words being spoken. Being told that he was going to be taking up night watches was one thing, but the fact that the T'rintar clan was coming to the Batrice system annoyed him. Hamiza herself was even more agitated.

Hamiza herself shook her head. "It's such....."

"I don't want to hear it," Trai interrupted. "I am not much in the mood to hear the news either. They are sending their best ambassadors to the capital of New Phnom Penh to talk to Heng Chanvatey. After they finish, they will fly their shuttle to come and check out the fully operational status of Fort Batrice."

"We are letting the enemy come and check out one of the most powerful battle station that the UHN ever saw?" Hamiza asked.

"Well....they aren't precisely our enemy......for the most part," Mizu remarked. "More like having a bank robber come to a children's birthday party."

Hamiza gave a scornful look at him, but she understood its meaning enough that she dropped what she was going to say.

"Tomorrow," Trai explained. "I want the both of you to make your regular trip to the Batrice Shipyards. Your schedule will be somewhat close to the arrival of the ambassador's shuttle."

"What landing pad are they coming into land?" Hamiza asked.

"Pad 2. You guys will be landing at pad 1. I have to make sure that my staff are well prepared for the whole event. The supply department is promising the best meals that the ambassadors could ever have," he cleared his throat. "I expect you two to be on your best behavior. Remember.....whatever we think about the Itrean clan, it is up to us to stay out of politics as much as possible. That attitude.....even if it is mutual.......must be contained."

Trai's words were circulating in Mizu's mind. He remained a little bit quiet at first as he considered the news. So much had happened in one year alone, and so much more information was available now. The enemy aliens known as the Itreans had three clans.....the T'rintar, Aksren, and Shal'rein. The human race had chosen to ally with the T'rintar clan to have their protection against the other Itrean clans. There were insane rumors that the Itreans came from planet Earth and that they were the surviving descendants of long-dead life forms known as dinosaurs. Whether it was true or not didn't matter. What did matter was that the ambassadors were simply carrying along with a peace treaty like it was nothing. His opinions only seemed to be tainted as he saw the mysterious group of alien women that began to show up on the space station. The wives of UHN personnel on duty were questionable of their true motives. As each day passed, more and more of these reptilian-like people were coming aboard the station. Hamiza's opinion was even more aggressive.

"Fine....orders are orders, sir," Hamiza said as she waved her hand. "But, I would like to have my complaints on file of the situation. With us getting less time to sleep, this puts our flying skills into question. It endangers the lives of personnel on the station."

"And you are one of our best pilots," Trai consoled her. "That is why I am happy to see you help train Mizu with your abilities. I want you two together sharing the same responsibilities of everything. If the COC has to start forcing my people to work in other compartments, then I can at least try to keep my people together regardless."