A deep dive into 'The Attack' mission from Split Fiction's Wrath of the Imperium. Learn about Galtain's struggle and the alien Imperium's brutal assault.
Fiction:Wrath of the Imperium
This is a non-canon piece as far as things go
Following another spell of "Do I underestimate my own fiction?", I decided on this short story to see if I can pump some power back into them. This is an exercise to get the imperssion Draconis in particular are fearsome opponents and is told through the perspective of an alien soldier
Contents
- 1The Attack
- 2Brief Respite
- 3The Tower
- 4Hotel Radio
- 5Armoured Core
- 6Office Raid
- 7Talk of Splendour
- 8Hazardous Flying Object
- 9Army of Ghosts
- 10Navigation
The Attack
Welcome to Garada, colony of the Torian Confederation. You'll see people migrating to the cities for days, driven out by strange killers from less well-defended areas. Private First Class Galtain is one of the soldiers watching this unfold. Food supplies are running low, and nothing's coming in from the farms because something's raiding them. Your only access to food is what's grown within the city.
The next day, while on patrol, a desperate woman bumps into Galtain begging for food. He has his ration pack but is under orders not to give any to civilians. Times are tough. News spreads that other systems are going dark – war is on the horizon after a failed raiding attempt on alien colonists who planned to settle on a world the Confederation claimed.
As the woman begs, a roar fills the sky. Bolts of energy impact the city's shields, and everyone panics as the beams make tremendous impacts. Shots are also fired, detonating on the shield. Everyone runs for shelter, and Galtain guides them, ever vigilant of the sky.
The shields flicker as the beams erode their energy supply. About 20% of the population makes it inside fallout shelters when a beam breaks through, hitting a tower block. A deadly fireball erupts on the upper floors, incinerating the structure and shattering every glass window. Glass rains from the sky. Screams are heard as more shots are fired, causing more destruction. People run in panic from the glass. Through the hellfire, aircraft approach the surviving rooftops. Flying with them, the sky is filled with small strike craft moving in swarms, shooting at allied aircraft and anyone foolish enough to stand on the rooftops.
Galtain pulls his rifle from his shoulder, grips the handle tightly, and aims upward. Using his scope, he identifies the craft. His heart sinks when he sees a symbol: a three-clawed hand gripping a planet. It seems to symbolize what's happening.
The city burns around him. He has no time to think and fires his gun, hoping to down a few dropships. The bullets bounce off their armor. He has to take shelter as, within minutes, plasma rains down on his location from the rooftops. He runs for cover, and one of his squadmates' skulls explodes like a watermelon from a thunderous explosion. The shot entered the back of his head, smashing the area of his visor. Galtain's heart races as he ducks behind cover, narrowly missing a similar shot that splits a chunk of fallen concrete.
Galtain hides behind the makeshift concrete barricade. Other soldiers join him. He reloads his rifle and ducks as shots pass over him. After a few deep breaths, he looks at the other soldiers. They all know they have to get to the fallout shelter on the other side of the block. They have to work together. Nodding, they climb out of the barricade and dash for more cover while under fire.
There are soldiers of many shapes on the ground, clad in smooth ceramic armor. Shots impact their energy shields, and they look at their targets with a faceless stare. Instead of a visor, their helmets are solid chunks of material shaped to conform to their skulls. The shots fired by Galtain and his allies hit the shields and do little damage, while the rifles of the alien soldiers kill in a few shots with deadly accuracy.
Galtain's makeshift squad thins as they head towards the fallout shelter. As he ducks under a shattered piece of road, he pulls one of his allies with him, who was shot in the leg.
Ertham - _Argh, my leg!_
Galtain - _Easy, easy. Keep calm, let me see to it._
Ertham - _It hurts!_
Galtain - _Stop moving, I need to see how bad it is._
Galtain pulls out a medkit from his survival pack and tears away the fabric of Ertham's combat suit, using a knife to cut at the tougher materials. The shot created a burn wound that went right down to the muscle tissue. The exposed muscle is mottled, and the blood vessels are cauterized. As he tends to the wound, Galtain feels a few thumps from above. His heart skips a beat; he panics, wondering what's out there. It's still chaos above him.
He freezes as, jumping in front of the entrance to the shelter, he sees a pair of enormous muscular legs ending with three large clawed toes, all plated in armor. Pounding sounds are made as the creature moves away from the shelter. Before he can breathe a sigh of relief, he sees the feet turn around, directing themselves toward the shelter. Galtain's eyes widen. He uses the butt of his rifle to push an emergency hole out of the concrete as plasma hits near the entrance. Ertham's legs are blasted away. Galtain has no choice but to leave him behind as he breaks through. He squeezes out and narrowly misses several plasma shots as he runs to take cover behind a wall.
With 10 shots left in the current magazine, he has to do something. Switching to an armor-piercing setting, he takes several deep breaths. As he does, he ducks as the alien soldier finds him and runs to shoot at his cover. Galtain ducks inside a building, catching a glimpse of large wings and a huge frame. The soldier cannot fit inside the building's doorway, but Galtain doesn't hesitate. He runs to find cover upstairs. Looking back, he sees the wall around the door shake as the soldier attempts to force his way in. As he moves up a few floors, he hears strange vocoder-altered sounds coming from above him. He panics again and runs to find somewhere to hide. There's a "smash" as the alien soldier creates a hole he can fit through.
Galtain finds a corridor. He has no choice; he pulls out a frag grenade, primes it, and throws it behind him. The corridor collapses. For now, he is safe... But for how long?
Brief Respite
Galtain rests uneasily. Soldiers could come through any moment looking for him. After some time, he reasons that the fighting must have died down. He checks his equipment and finds he has only one clip left. Finding some tape, he ties the spare magazine to the currently equipped one and heaves himself up, discovering he scraped his knees in the chaos. There's a crackling over his communicator.
Command - _Anyone on this fre---ncy, please res--nd_
Galtain - _Private First Class Galtain here, signal is bad but I read._
Command - _..._
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