//------------------------------// // An Old Foe // Story: The First S.P.E.A.R. OF ORION Colony // by Silver Centurion //------------------------------// The sound of a dropships jets broke through the silence that reigned now that General Salvador was dead, and SPEAR forces were nowhere to be seen. The dropship was aprroaching its destination, a small space aircraft carrier. "Matthews, take inventory of how much ammo we have left, I'm gonna pick some up for everyone once we get into an orbital carrier." Commander Corde spoke with a bit of weariness showing " Roger that, Blackburn how many clips you got left?" "Uhm, 3 for my AR, and 5 for my shotty. No grenades left, and my repair tool still is working" replied the tall armored soldier. Matthews scribbled down something on a holopad with the tip of his finger hastily. "Here you go captain, this is all me and Blackburn have got left. I'll come with you to pick up the supplies, it looks like your gonna need help carrying it all." Matthews said as he handed Corde the holopad. "Alright you can come with. As for you Blackburn, ready a dropship and requisition 3 mechs. That's all I can think to do right now. Just resupply and get ready for another fi-" Corde was cut off by a loud explosion that shook the whole dropsip. "SHIT! Looks like the SPEAR ain't done with us just yet! Brace for impact!' Blackburn shouted over the explosions. The dropship plummeted at an alarming rate down towards West Eden. Closer and closer they came to the ground as the men inside quickly secured their helmets and readied themselves for what was to come. It came only seconds later. Corde tumbled around a bit before coming to a stop just a few feet away from the wreckage. He quickly jumped up from where he lay and began scanning for Blackburn or Matthews... Until he was tapped on the shoulder from behind. "Ah, Matthews, it's good to -" Corde wasn't able to complete his sentence as he turned away from the smolderin wreck to face the soldier behind him. It was not Matthews. "Hold on don't shoot! The commander wanted me to give you this!" said the ARM soldier that was standing face to face with Corde. Corde hesitantly reached out and grabbed the holopad, knowing he was in no state for a fight right now. " There oh and sir. One more thing, if you don't beleive me about what I'm about to tell you. Take a look at this." said the faceless soldier gesturing towards an anti-air battery operated by SPEAR soldiers. Commander Corde in all his years of service had never seen such a thing as he beheld dozens of ARM forces swarming the battery and killing off the few SPEAR operators. "What? Wh-" Corde sputtered out befrore being interupted. "The ARM OF ORION has abolished our treaty with the SPEAR , we are hoping that we can band together to destroy this threat. Commander... will you vouch for us? The ARM is truly ready to become the USIF's ally." Corde was more than stunned. He was at a loss for words so all he did was nod slowly. After witnessing the brutal raid on the AA guns there was no doubt in his mind that ARM had split from SPEAR. "Where are my men?" Corde said with a hint of concern. "Oh, uh, hold on, we'll bring them right over." the ARM soldier said before dissaperaing behind the wreck of the dropship and returning with several other ARM soldiers carrying Matthews and Blackburn on stretchers. "Oh, sorry, it appears they both took a concussive blow to the head on impact, but not to worry, they'll be fine." the armor clad soldier said to Corde. "So now what?" Corde said not knowing what else to ask. "Now..." the ARM soldier said " Open he holopad, and you'll have the info you'll need to find SPEAR. In the meantime, ARM forces are deploying on a SPEAR colony world to take out all enemy forces. I trust you will assist us as soon as possible commander." "But wait why woul-" Corde was cut off. " The holopad will explain it all commander, as for you getting to your ship, we have a spare dropship that will pick you up in 20 minutes and bring you to the carrier right outside Eden. Good luck commander. The ARM is at your service." the soldier said before the other soldiers set down Blackburn and Matthews and walked off into the distance until they were out of sight... Corde had a million thoughts to what just happened. A trap? Or was it really the ARM defecting? He didn't know , and the only way to find out was to was to see what the holopad had in store. Corde settled down next to Matthews, well enough away from the wreckage and opened up the holopad. An audio file began to play as various images of a strange planet that resembled Old Earth flashed on the screen. A gruff voice began to speak, " This is Corporal Aquilla of the SPEAR OF ORION , we have been ordered to retake an old SPEAR colony, now that Salvador's dead, we have to retreat to any planet still avalaible, and this was the closest one. All I was told during breifing was that this was apparently the first planet to be terraformed by the SPEAR, before they abandonded it for some unknown reason. Engineers think they're might be life on the planet below, I think thats a bunch of shit. Well looks like it's almost time to Burn-In, looks like this is just gonna be another boring mission. This Corporal Aquilla of the SPEAR OF ORION signing off. There David I did the freaking audio tape, oh wait ths things still on? Oh haha,..." The audio cut off abruptly, and then the screen of the holopad showed a set of numbers in dark red, over the Earth looking planet. Corde figured it must be the coordinates for a slip space jump. Perfect.' The SPEAR can't run for much longer..." Corde thought to himself as the engine of a dropship roared in the distance. "Hey, Blackburn, Matthews, wake up, rides here." Corde said shaking each of his men awake. "Wah? huh? Oh man, I must've tak-" Blackburn began before pausing mid-sentence looking at the approaching ARM dropship. "Corde? What's going on?" Matthews said as he also noticed the approaching former enemy dropship. "I'll explain on the way to the carrier, for now you've just gotta trust me on ths one. Just board the dropship." The men tried to argue but before they knew it Corde was already on the dropship before it even landed, so seeing that their commanding officer was on board with, well whatever was going on, they hastily boarded the dropship and took off in the direction of the carrier. "So captain , what the hell is going on? Why are you all of sudden trusting ARM? And why the fuck are we on an ARM dropship?!!?" Matthews aked slowly losing his composure in disbeleif of what he was expereincing. "Ugh, where do I begin... " Corde said as he pulled out the holopad and began to explain everything after the audio had finished. Several dozen minutes later the dropship appraoched the carrier, and Corde hailed the ship to not open fire on them, he lied that they had commandeered the ship. The dropship came to a rest right inside the cargo bay as the thunderous roar of the lift-off engine could be heard as the space carrier began to ascend farther and farther up into the atmosphere. Corde was the first to step off the dropsip into the wide cargo bay area, which was crowded with dropships. A fe soldiers ran over to greet core with their weapons pointed at the ground. This son changed as they saw the ARM step out from the cockpit. "Halt! Corde, what the hell is he doing here?" a random soldier exclaimed as he was poised to squeeze the trigger. "He, is our ally soldier." Corde said as he grabbed the barrel of the soldiers gun and yanked it away from him. "Corde, you can't be serious!" Another soldier shouted as he lowered his machine gun. "Oh, I am, you whoever you are, come with me, we have to talk to General stone about this proposed alliance, Blackburn, Matthews, stick to the orignal plan, I'll meet you in the cargo bay in an hour be ready." Corde said as he gestured the ARM soldier to follow him. Several minutes later a large door slid open and Corde entered. "Corde, how good to see you. What do you have to, Corde, what is he doing doing here?!?!" General Stone exclaimed pulling out his handgun. 'Hold on don't shoot! He's on our side now! Just take a look at this and hen you can explain what exactly is going on.' Corde said handing Stone the holopad and gesturing towards the ARM soldier. "Settle in captain. This may take a while..." Corde said as he took a seat. And for the rest of the hour the 3 men sat around an imaginary campfire, General Stone asking the occasional question, and Corde answering as best as he could. However the ARM soldier remained quiet until the end of the hour when a familliar voice came through his com, just as Corde was about to leave. " Captain, I know you have no reason to beleive me or, you Stone, but I insist you consider an alliance with the ARM OF ORION, it's the only way we can defeat SPEAR on their own terms on their colony. Do you accept Stone?" "Thorne? But, Corde told me you died, what in god's name is going on around here? Corde?" Stone said in disbeleif. "I think I can answer that question General." Thorne said. " You see... when you sent Corde after me, I hid in a sub bunker beaneath the real one, causing me to be able to escape after the 8th had moved on. As for my apparent demise, that was an ARM spec-ops soldier utilizing our latest bit of cloaking technology, thankfully you ddn't stick around long enough to see the body revert Corde. As for the allaince, I know it may seem obscene after all these years of war, but General, hear me out. The SPEAR is not to be trifled with, especially on their own turf, imagine it. It would be impossible for either of us to take on SPEAR alone on these terms. That is why I am suggesting a temporary alliance , at least until the last of SPEAR has been disposed of." Thorne held out his hand to shake Stone's. "Truce? For now?" Stone looked to Corde who nodded hesitantly. "Truce. For the time being. Corde prepare your men, we're going to make a slip space jump to the SPEAR's coordinates. Thorne alert your men as well, get them deployed, and let's make one thing clear, I'm in charge from now on, you report to me." Stone said as he shook Thorne's hand firmly. "Fair enough..." Thorne said as he exited the room. "Corde, do you really think we can trust ARM after all they've done?" "I don't know General... I don't know..." Corde said as he looked out a large window to the increasingly small planet of New Madrid. "Quiet down Oscar, I see the town it's show time."