Smalltown, Texas

Jefferson Ablar looked down at his phone. The U.S. Government and the United Forces of Earth were issuing an evacuation advisory, for the entire state of Louisiana and several surrounding counties.

"Hard to believe it's really come to his." Jefferson's best friend, Logan Weathington, said, looking up at the sky. "Who would have thought that we would ever have a war with the Martians?"

The two teens were standing on a hillside, looking up at the sky. Logan sat on the hood of Jefferson's truck, while Jefferson stood a short distance away.

"It's not really so surprising." Jefferson said. "They tried once before. They've been biding their time up in the Satellite Belt, gathering their strength and waiting for an excuse to attack."

"Still." Logan said, shaking his head. "It's just so massive, you know?"

On Jefferson's phone, a map showing the power grid of the entire continental United States, zoomed in on New Orleans, suddenly went black.

"The Castle is down." Jefferson announced. "According to those documents Christina got us, they should be commencing the preparatory bombardment now. Shall we see how they're doing?"

"Yes." Logan said. "Let's"

Jefferson turned up the volume on his cell phone, and opened an app turned to a military broadcast frequency. They listened to static for a few moments, occasionally punctuated by a sharp whine.

"Jamming?" Logan asked, after some time.

Jefferson nodded. "Has to be. Christina sent me something about the Martians loving jamming in the First War. That fits with something I heard about-"

"OH GOD." A voice screamed over the frequency. "THEY'RE KILLING US. WE CAN'T BEAT THESE GUYS. WE'RE INSECTS TO THEM! INSECTS!"

Abruptly, a crashing sound issued from the cell phone, and the broadcast returned to static.

"That doesn't sound good." Logan said.

"No." Jefferson said. "And I just lost a couple bars of signal. There's something fishy going on here. Call the gang. We need to figure out what's going on here."

[x]

"I don't know what's going on here." Christina said. "The internet is in pieces, and I can only find a couple of bullets on the secure Continental Security Network."

"What are they saying?" Lucinda Thompson asked, passing out drinks to the seated members of the group.

"Nothing good." Christina said. "I can't find any casualty reports, and they're ordering a whole Army Group to Louisiana."

"That can't be a good sign." Jefferson said. "I think we need to get out of here."

"What do you mean?" Lucinda said. "We're more than two hundred miles from the Landing Castle. I think that we'd get plenty of warning before the Martians showed up."

"I think Jefferson is right." Logan said. "If we wait until the Evacuation Advisory goes out, we'll be swamped with other refugees. If we get clear now, we won't have to worry about that."

"Guys?" A previously unheard voice said. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" Jefferson said. He owned the house and lived there with Christina as refugees from the Heavens Fall, so it wasn't like their parents could be waking up.

"It's-"

A whooshing sound, like from an airplane zooming overhead, filled the room. As it faded, a massive crash filled the room, shaking the glasses on the table.

"Martian Kataphrakt!" Isabella Maxwell shouted. "We have to get out of here!"

Jefferson bolted to his feet. "Take all three cars. Christina, you ride with me. We need to get the Hell out of here."

"But what about our families!" Lucinda said. "We have to-"

"There's no time." Jefferson said. "We can call them and warm them on the road, but we need to get out of here. Plus, I doubt they missed that."

Christina snapped her laptop shut and started rolling up her charger. "I'm ready to move. We need to get out of here!"

"Fine." Logan said, pulling out his phone and dialing. "We should raid the gun safe before we go. You never know."

"True." Jefferson said. He reached under his shirt and pulled out a key. "Let's go."

[x]

"Remember." Logan said, over the radio, as the cars backed out of the driveway. "Don't use your cell phones once we're on the road. There is a chance they could track them, and they probably won't be much good anyway."

"Got it." Christina said, as Jefferson pulled the car out onto the street.

"Where are we going?" Lucinda said. "I mean-"

"We're heading to the Robert E. Lee National Forest." Logan said. "We'll hit the sporting goods store on the way there and get some camping supplies. We can hide out there until the war is over."

Jefferson reached over and cut the radio microphone. "I don't think that's going to work." He said, glancing at Christina. "You showed me the report. I don't think we're beating the Martians."

"What are you saying?" Christina asked.

Jefferson looked out at the road. "I don't know."

"Then-"

A crashing sound filled the air. Jefferson looked at the rearview mirror. A house behind the convoy exploded, and a Martian robot stepped onto the street.

It was green, and solidly built in a humanoid shape, with glowing silver lines covering its body. It stood at least fifteen meters tall, and had long, clawed hands.

Jefferson slammed on the gas.

The Martian Kataphrakt stepped forward and swung its hands at a house, demolishing it. Then, it turned toward the group of vehicles, its eyes glowing white.

"Scatter!" Christina yelled into the radio as the group approached an intersection. "You know where to go! Don't say it over the radio! Stay alive!"

Jefferson spun the car around a corner, tires screeching. Lucinda's vehicle went the other way, and Isabella's and Logan's vehicles went straight ahead.

As the other vehicles vanished from sight, the Martian Kataphrakt broke into a run. It moved to one side and held out its hand, smashing another house as it ran. It turned the corner after Jefferson and Christina.

"It's following us!" Christina shouted.

"I noticed!" Jefferson said, flooring the accelerator. "We have an edge in straight-line acceleration, but-"

The car slowed down as Jefferson whipped it around a corner dangerously fast. The Kataphrakt also turned the corner, slowing substantially less.

"We need to lead it away from the rest of our friends!" Jefferson said.

"What about us?" Christina asked.

"I'm working on that." Jefferson said. "Is there anything you can do?"

"I can try?" Christina said, opening her laptop. "I'm inserting reports of an enemy Kataphrakt in the area. I'm not sure what it's going to do, but-"

A screaming sound flew by overhead, followed by several explosions. The Martian Kataphrakt in the mirror was engulfed in an explosion, then it vanished from view as Jefferson took the car around a corner.

"What was that?" Jefferson said, as a statico sound, like a repeated electrical discharge, filled the air, followed by more explosions.

"I think the cavalry is here." Christina said. "The military has diverted some attack aircraft to this location."

"I wouldn't count on it." Jefferson said, as the electrical discharge sound returned, along with more explosions. "It doesn't sound like our side is doing very well.

Christina turned on the radio. "Is everyone alright?"

"Rattled but alive." Logan said.

"I'm alright." Lucinda said. "What was that?"

"I'm good." Isabella said.

"That was a Martian Kataphrakt." Jefferson said. "It's like a UFE Kataphrakt, but far more powerful. I think it just wiped out a whole squadron of F-35s."

"How do you know that?" Isabella said. "I mean, they always said at school that-"

"We found something called the Tanegashima Report a couple of years ago." Jefferson said, voice low. "It had been disregarded and thrown out, but we found it while digging through a- Nevermind. Point is, it detailed the power of two Martian Kataphrakts, and described them wiping out a tank battalion, with little difficulty."

"Is that what we're up against?" Isabella asked.

"Uh huh." Jefferson said. "And I think the Martian invasion is going to be successful. And you know what comes after an invasion."

"An occupation." Logan said.

"Right." Jefferson said. "And if there's going to be an occupation of the good old U. S. of A., I'll be damned if I go down without a fight. Now, having seen what we're up against, who's with me?"

"I am." Logan said immediately. "Fuck those Mars bastards."

"I'm in." Lucinda said, after a moment. "I think we need to fight."

There was a long pause.

"I suppose I'll do it." Isabella said. "It's not like we have anywhere to go back to."

"I'm glad to work with you all." Jefferson said. "Now, we need to meet up and make a plan. I propose..."

[x]

"There's definitely a roadblock." Christina said, walking back into the women's restroom of the rest stop. "And they're definitely Vers. They have a troop carrier aircraft I don't recognize, and they're carrying guns that look weird. They've turned back three separate vehicles since I started watching."

"How do we know they don't have death rays?" Isabella asked. "You saw that Kataphrakt. I don't-"

"I saw them used." Christina said slowly. "A family didn't want to comply. They shot them all, including the children. They're regular gunpowder weapons, or closed enough."

"Okay." Logan said, hefting an assault rifle. "How do we beat them?"

"I think I have an idea." Jefferson said, looking at the cell phone pictures Christina had sent him. "Simple ambush tactics. They're set up to block people coming down the interstate, and they're got barricades to protect them from fire coming from that direction. But it doesn't look like they're very prepared for fire from there directions. And why would they be? The whole army is headed to Louisiana to fight the Landing Castle, and there aren't any comms up around here."

"So, how does that help us?" Lucinda said. "They've still got that big plane thing."

'It's a transport." Jefferson said. "And we have this baby."

He hefted his sniper rifle. It was a massive affair, with a .65 caliber barrel, a recoil dampener array, and a (pre-Vers) military grade scope.

"It was pretty cheap to get this thing, what with Kataphrakts being all the rage these days." Jefferson said. "And I'm willing to bet that it can put a hole in the engine of that flier. We'll attack from behind, outside the firing arc of its guns, and take out the engine so they can't take off and strafe us."

"That's... crazy." Logan said. "How are we going to-"

"Did I mention I have a few rounds of AP ammo?"

There was a moment of silence. "Where did you get that?" Isabella asked.

"A girl has her ways." Christina said.

"Fine." Logan said. "So we snipe the engines. That takes care of the plane. What about the Vers soldiers?"

"They aren't wearing rigid armor on their faces or the edges of their chests." Jefferson said. "I'm willing to bet that that won't stand up to the AP rounds from our high-caliber hunting rifles, and it won't stop the kinetic force from any form of bullet. Hit them there, and we should be able to take them down."

Logan whistled. "That's quite the gamble. I mean-"

"I've seen all of you shoot." Jefferson said. "I think we can do this. If we can't clear that barricade, everyone will be trapped in Vers territory. So we have to do this."

"Alright." Logan said. "You've convinced me. Anyone else got any problems?"

[x]

Jefferson's crosshair hovered over the thrust port of the Vers flier.

"Remember everyone." Christina said. "As soon as you hear a shot, start firing on the Vers soldiers. We need to drop them before they know what's going on. If we start taking heavy return fire, retreat."

"Rodger."

"Got it."

"Understood."

"I hear you." Jefferson muttered. "I'm taking the shot in five seconds.

There were about twenty-five Vers soldiers manning the roadblock, spread out across the interstate, standing or crouching behind barricades, rifles at the ready.

In the wrong direction, of course.

Jefferson considered what he was about to do. He and his people were, in three seconds, going to kill. Not human beings, according to the enemy propaganda, but everyone knew that was bullshit. They were people, just like everyone else, and presumably they had souls, too.

Jefferson really hoped they had sous. If they didn't, he couldn't send them to hell.

It takes 37 muscles to frown. And 22 muscles to smile. And three to make a proper trigger pull.

At that moment, Jefferson used twenty-six muscles.

The gunshot rang out, and the bullet left the barrel of the rifle at more than one thousand meters per second, and struck the engine nozzle of the Vers flier before the sound of its firing reached it.

A cloud of sparks shot out of the engine nozzle of Sky Carrier, along with a whine of tearing metal. As the action of his rifle cycled and ejected the casing of the first round, Jefferson readjusted his aim and fired at the same engine nozzle a second time.

Moments after he opened fire, the rest of his friends did as well. Two Vers soldiers dropped like dolls with their stings cut, as armor piercing rifle rounds punched through the flexible material of the armor covering their necks. Another man fell, three rifle rounds piercing his helmet.

As the Vers soldiers shouted in confusion and moved around, looking for new cover and turning their rifles on the new threat, Jefferson adjusted his aim and fired on the second engine nozzle.

As four more Vers soldiers went down, the remainder brought their weapons to bear on the group of teens. Their fire was surprisingly poorly aimed, and none of it came very close to hitting any of the group. The teens were engaging from more than half a kilometer using telescoping scopes dialed in for the range. The Vers soldiers were firing at muzzle flashes.

One of the Vers soldiers walked down the ramp of the Sky carrier, carrying a heavy machine gun. Jefferson adjusted his aim and shot the man in the center of the chest, his .65 caliber round punching straight through the man's advanced body armor.

He dropped, and another Vers soldier scrambled for the gun, mouth working frantically. Christina shot him in the face with her hunting rifle.

Within a few seconds, there were only five surviving Vers soldiers. Then the Sky Carrier started its engines.

"Take cover!" Jefferson shouted. "They're taking off!"

As the group began to scatter, Jefferson put one last round into the engine of the enemy aircraft, then began to retreat.

The group of teens ran away, and the engines of the Vers Aircraft began to cycle upwards. Purple energy began to jet out of the engine nozzles as the aircraft began to lift off of the ground.

But something was wrong. The engine pressure was far below what it was supposed to be, and so was the exhaust velocity. The pilot frowned, then turned up the energy of the drive.

Heat began to spread throughout the engine, and the engine pressure skyrocketed.

Then it exploded. The blast ripped through the engine compartment of the troop transport sky carrier, sending the wings pin wheeling through the air as the cockpit and troop compartment crumpled like tinfoil. The blast washed outwards, smashing the concrete of the interstate and vaporizing the bodies of the Vers soldiers.

Jefferson blinked as the sound of the explosion washed over him. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. He swung his sniper rifle to his shoulder and raised is radio. "All units, sound off."

"I'm alive." Logan said.

"I'm good." Christina said.

"All clear over here." Lucinda said.

"I'm alright." Isabella said.

"Thank God." Jefferson breathed. "We did it. We took them out."

"Watching Vers motherfuckers drop." Logan said.

"But I don't think that we can get the cars through that." Christina said. "What are we going to do?"

"We have to take the cars as far as we can, then continue on foot." Jefferson said. "We need to bring as much supplies as we can carry, then see if we can find another vehicle on the other side."

"Roger that." Logan said.

[x]

So the group walked. They returned to their cars, took them down the interstate to the still-smoking crater, and then unloaded as much food and ammunition as they could carry and took off on foot. Twice, they saw U.S. Jets screaming toward the combat zone.

They never saw any aircraft returning.

They didn't talk much as they walked. They had just killed people. Jefferson kept his eyes down as he walked, considering.

The Vers were invaders, and they had stated several times that they believed that the Terrans were inferior vermin, and that they deserved to be ruled by the Heirs of Aldnoah, best case scenario. Some of them called for the extermination of all Terrans.

Jefferson didn't see how everyone couldn't see it. It was like Hitler and the Jews, and the Vers wouldn't stop until they had conquered the inferior lifeforms, or were stopped by force. Every single person on Earth should be standing ready to fight the Vers, not preparing to run, or lie supine before the invaders.

It was tragic that he had taken a life, but for Jefferson, that paled in comparison before his anger at what the Vers had done. They had caused the Heaven's Fall, killing half the population of Earth. Now, they were coming to finish the job.

The group was in a lightly inhabited area outside Smalltown, heading for the sporting goods store the next town over. Now, however, it would take them days to reach it on foot, days that they might not have.

Jefferson had lead his friends into this, and he was responsible for what happened to them. He needed to figure out a way for them to survive, or at least do some damage before they-

"Hey, do you see that?" Isabella said, pointing at something in the forest to the left of them.

"What is it?" Lucinda asked, looking at the white covering spread between several trees.

"I think it's a parachute." Logan said.

The group ran across the road, into the forest and toward the object. As they drew closer, they saw that there was an object handing a few feet off the surface of the forest, suspended by several lengths of cord.

"I think there's a person in there." Christina said.

Jefferson raised his rifle and approached the downed pilot. There was a U.S. Air Force star emblazoned on his helmet, and he appeared to be unconscious. As Logan and Christina advanced towards the pilot, Jefferson stepped up to the man and began undoing his straps holding the man to his seat.

As they undid the straps, the pilot groaned and began to stir. Christina had him out of the ground in a flash, and Isabella was taking his vitals.

"Ouch." The man muttered. He opened his eyes and looked around. "Who are you guys?"

"We're friends." Lucinda said. "You're American, right?"

"Of course I am." He said. "But why are you people picking me up. Shouldn't that be an Army job?"

"The army has bigger problems." Jefferson said. "Like the fact that the Vers are kicking our assess."

"They are?" The pilot said. "Damnit. I hoped I'd be shot down for something. How soon can we get back to friendly lines?"

"That... may pose a problem." Logan said. "See, we just shot up a Vers roadblock a few miles back.

"They've come this far?" The pilot exclaimed. "How?"

"This looks like an airmobile operation." Jefferson said. "As near as we can figure, the Vers smashed the initial response force, and then sent a Kataphrakt and ground forces out to secure the area."

"Worse than I expected." The pilot said. "I'm Major Tom Kapperman. Nice to meet you all. I wish it could have been under better circumstances."

"Likewise." Lucinda said.

"Do you people know where we are?" Major Kapperman said. "Because... well, where are we?"

Logan pulled up a map saved on his phone and zoomed in of east Texas, then again on the area north-west of Smalltown. "Somewhere around here." He said.

"Really? Are you sure?" Major Kapperman said. "Because if we are, then I might just have something that can help us."

"Can you walk?" Jefferson asked.

"I'm fine." Kapperman said, standing up out of his handing seat and taking a step forward.

He didn't look too drunk.

"Ok." Jefferson said. "So where are we going?"

"South-west of here." Kapperman responded. "It should be about five miles away."

Jefferson rolled his eyes. "Let's move out, people."

[x]

Robert E. Lee National Forest

It is important to note that, of the five members of Jefferson's group, none of them were accustomed to long walks with heavy loads. Thus, when Kapperman finally called a halt, all of them were exhausted.

"Are we there yet?" Isabella asked.

Jefferson had a similar sentiment, but he didn't say anything. For everyone's sake, he needed to stay strong.

"It should be right around here." Kapperman said, pulled a device out of his pocket.

The group was standing in Robert E. Lee National Forest, miles away from the nearest road. The group looked strangely at Kapperman as he walked through the forest, making adjustments to the small device he was holding.

"Here it is." Kapperman said, pointing at a gap between the roots of a tree. "It's a bit of a squeeze, but we can make it. It gets wider. I should go first."

Kapperman dropped to his hands and knees and started crawling into the gap. Within moments, he had disappeared. "You can come in now." He called, his voice echoing out of the hole.

Jefferson was next. He crawled into the hole. It was dark, but it did widen rapidly as he advanced. Then a door irised open in front of him, revealing Kapperman, his flight suit slightly dirty, standing in a well-lit corridor.

Continuing forward, Jefferson found himself on a sort of slide, which deposited him gently on the floor of the space. He looked around.

He was standing in a concrete lined space, with tile on the floor, like the inside of an office building parking garage. "What is this place?" He said, looking up at Kapperman.

"I've heard about these, but I didn't think we ever actually built any." He said. "This is a Werewolf bunker. It's intended to enable guerrilla operations in case of an enemy occupation."

"What?" Logan said, as he slid down into the underground base. "What about guerrilla operations?"

"This." Jefferson said. "Is exactly what we need. Let's take a look around."

[x]

Eight flights of stairs down, they found the main hall of the Werewolf base. It was a large space, filled with crates stacked nearly to the ceiling. Tables were set up with chairs stacked on top of them, and smaller crates underneath them.

"Wow." Lucinda said, threading her way through the maze of crates and boxes. "What is all this stuff?"

"Food and weapons, mostly." Christina said, looking at some files she had downloaded on her phone. "There are four armories with more stuff off this room, a medical center, a training room, a larder, a motor pool, and more."

"How are we supposed to get vehicles out of here?" Logan asked.

"There are tunnels." Christina said. "Apparently, this is a hub base. There are more, smaller catches scattered throughout the area, and other bases like this scattered throughout the country."

"Wow." Lucinda said. "How did they build all of this?"

"I don't know." Kapperman said. "But someone put a lot of time and money into making sure that we'd be prepared to fight on our knees."

"And we should make use of it." Jefferson said. "But first, I think we need to eat and hit the sack. Plus, we want to hit occupying forces, not the main Vers line of battle."

"They'll still be here in the morning." Kapperman said. "I'll take first watch. You guys get some rest."

[x]

New Orleans, Vers Occupied Territory

Count Rhlelotam of the Vers Empire looked at his assembled Kataphrakt pilots. Eleven of the twelve of them were present, and all had distinguished themselves greatly in the past eighteen hours since his castle had made planetfall.

He possessed a truly extraordinary number of Kataphrakts, thanks to the vast personal wealth his father had invested in the Vers Empire prior to its split from Earth. It was for that reason that when he had claimed the right to conquer this once-great nation, he had not been contested by any of the other Counts.

The pathetic primitives had opened their assault on his castle with an artillery barrage from hundreds of tubes, lasting nearly a quarter of an hour. His point defense officers and systems had performed superlatively, intercepting upwards of ninety-seven percent of the shells directed at his Castle. The thick armor and powerful shields of the Castle had seen to the rest, with only minor damage.

When the Americans had launched a massive naval missile strike on his Castle, actually piercing his shields in a few places, he had finally ordered his pilots to sally forth and destroy the enemy.

When he did, the enemy's resistance was even more pathetic than expected. His men and woman had only destroyed a few hundred enemy machines, many of them obsolete tanks. It was not doubt that the now-weak Americans were afraid of facing the full might of the Vers Empire head-on.

Whatever it was, it was working against them. He had conquered most of the state of Louisiana and southern Mississippi, and his pilots were even now carving a chunk out of Eastern Texas.

He opened a map of North America. It was clearly scared by Heaven's Fall, with small chunks missing on both coasts, a large lake in the center of the 'Great' Plains, and almost no people in the coastal region. Once boasting a population of over three hundred million, it now barely had a population of two hundred million.

Still, they were capable of raising a large, if not formidable, army. Most of which was still intact north, east, and west of his position.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Vers." He said, turning to face his pilots. "We face a large task if we are to dominate this continent and enslave the vermin who inhabit it. However, I believe you are all capable of completing this task. Out Kataphrakts are the best and most numerous of all the Orbital Knights, and we face a weak, pathetic enemy."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "Once, they stood astride the globe. They discovered the Hypergate, and they believe that many of us trace our heritage to their nation. However, now, they lie, weak, before our invasion force. They tremble, refusing to meet us in their full strength such that we may destroy them. Even now, Alaish and his Gordii rampage through the greatest state of the Union of Fools that opposes us, Capturing territory as he pleases."

Rhlelotam turned to face the youngest of his pilots, a well-endowed young woman with long blue hair and beautiful, delicate features. "Linaurulotla!"

"Yes sir!" She said, snapping into a salute.

"Go forward to the area Alaish has captured, and ascertain the strength of the enemy, and then destroy them!"

"Yes sir!" She said again. "Rules of engagement, sir?"

Rhlelotam burst out laughing, actually doubling over in a manner most unfitting a Count of Vers. He continued for several seconds, until he began to get the sense that his pilots were feeling that the situation was awkward.

"Whatever gave you the notion that there were such things as rules in warfare?" Rhlelotam said.

"It was just something I read." Linaurulotla responded. "There was this group called the Nazis, and they-"

"Enough." Rhlelotam said. "If it's Terran, kill it. Are those sufficient rules of engagement for you?"

"Yes sir." She said, glancing away. "I will perform your will upon the battlefield."

"Very good." Rhlelotam said. "You are dismissed. The rest of you may rest. We resume our offensive on the marrow."

[x]

Linaurulotla, or Lin, as she preferred to be called, stepped her Kataphrakt forward and on to the carrier platform of the Sky Carrier. He Kataphrakt, Avernus, stood thirteen meters tall, barely taller than a UFE machine.

However, size wasn't everything. Her Jet-black machine had an overpowered Aldnoah Drive, capable of powering a potent motive assembly and energy joints, as well as an array of thrusters allowing it to make long, sweeping jumps. It could even run along the side of a skyscraper for short period of time, and it was protected by an energy shield that was capable of absorbing a large amount of damage before being overwhelmed. A pair of Energy Knives and a powerful array of energy cannons rounded out her arsenal.

She sighed. She wished that life were more like one of the stories she had read as a child. True, she was the pilot of a nigh-invulnerable war machine, but there were no heroes in the world. Or at least there were no heroes on the Castle that was her world.

Ever since she was old enough to think about such things, she had wished for a gallant knight to sweep her away on horseback. However, as she grew, she had come to realize that she was the closest thing to a Gallant Knight there was among the Knights of Vers. She was on her own, and she always would be.

As the Sky Carrier launched and sky opened up before her, she looked around in awe at the world around her. The Earth was so beautiful, so different from the Castle where she had lived her life. As the blue sky opened up around her and she saw a sunset for the first time in her life, she wondered what the people of Earth were like.

It was a shame that she would have to kill them.