A Memoir from the Fall of Sothea
Everything took an unexpected turn for the worse in the city of Voerendal, ever since the day the cowardly Baron Mulkes surrendered to the heathens. The heathen Warmaster they call Shines-in-Moonlight arrived at the Ato system five days ago. Admiral Osmund ten Bruggencate and his fleet of six-hundred-eighty warships took off to stop the Azakayanese fleet. From what I could tell through hearsay at the time was that Admiral Bruggencate was faced up against an overwhelming fleet of over nine hundred seventy warships. For four long gruelling days, Admiral Bruggencate held off the heathens. During the night, you could see bright flashes of the superheated hard-light in the heavens as Bruggencate's warships fought the Azakayanese above us. I heard that on the third day, Bruggencate managed to destroy two hundred ships of the Azakayanese Warmaster’s fleet. At the same time, Bruggencate only took hundred-sixty-six losses. By the fourth night, we believed that Bruggencate would ultimately push Shines-in-Moonlight out of our system.
When I turned on to watch the news, I was horrified to hear when Rijkscommissaris Gerwin Vrijheer van Mulkes had ordered Admiral Bruggencate to surrender to the Azakayanese forces. I was furious when the Rijkscommissaris surrendered the Ato system to the Azakayanese. What an absolute fool I thought; Bruggencate could have held them off long enough till Rijksadmiraal Wolfina's fleets arrived to relieve our system. The living hell started at daybreak the following day, as the Rijkscommissariaat overrode all screens for an emergency broadcast onto our screens. I watched in horror as a bloodied Admiral Bruggencate was brought before the camera, with Vice-admirals Nivaldo van Rouwendal and Elco van Dorth beside him. The three of them were all on their knees, flanked by armed guards. The camera turned towards a lean, silver-haired, clean-shaven, bronze-skinned Azakayanese man with his hands behind his back.
The man loomed over the shoulder of Admiral Bruggencate, who was in the centre of the trio of Verathic admirals. A faint frown appeared on his face as he spoke in an ominous tone. "Twelve years ago, when Admiral Wolfina's offensive reached my homeworld, she brutally annihilated the Azakayanese fleet there. Just like Rijkscommissaris Mulkes did, they ordered a surrender. When they surrendered to Wolfina..." Shines-in-Moonlight turned to the three men knelt before him, signalling his men who promptly executed the three elves in the back of the head with their sidearms. A loud bang sounded. Bruggencate and the two other admiral's bodies made a sickening thud as their bodies hit the floor. I gasped in horror as I stared at the screen to Shines-in-Moonlight face, mortified at what he had just ordered his men to do. The Azakayanese broke the moment of silence as the Shines-in-Moonlight continued where he left off. "She did what I just did twelve years prior. Today I will avenge every world that was put to the torch by her." I could almost see the absolute hatred in Shines-in-Moonlight's eyes towards my people, the Verathi before the screen faded to black.
I was still shaken at what had occurred yesterday. I didn't want to believe that the Rijksadmiraal was capable of doing atrocious war crimes. However, my disbelief was quickly set aside as I heard the crackle of gunshots in the distance. When I peered outside my window that morning, I was greeted by one of the most horrifying scenes in my life. Voerendal, my home was being set aflame by the Azakayanese. I noticed that those barbarians were ransacking the bank just down the street. A few moments later, I saw several of their soldiers dragging a couple from their house before executing them; they were the lucky ones. The next home to the dead couple's, the Azakayanese soldiers threw at least five grenades through the window, setting it ablaze. I could hear the screams of the family trapped inside of the house as the soldiers fired upon the windows, making the fires burn brighter. I stood petrified as the Azakayanese spotted me. What did my neighbours or I do to deserve such a fate?
As they came closer, I was frozen in fear—my legs were not responding to my desperate need to escape my home and flee. I closed my eyes as I began praying to the gods in this hour of need. "Lady Astrild, I have never acted selfishly. I have always done what I could for those in need; please, I am not ready to go to Aetherius. Lord Merovech, please, I beg of you to save me from the fires of war. I have never wronged anyone in my life. So please, Lord Merovech, Lady Astrild, spare me." With every ounce of my being, I swear, I tried to move a single muscle to break free of my bindings. I could hear noise coming from my neighbours just across from my house. I could tell they were getting closer. My neighbour was begging for them to spare her before a loud echoing boom came from the Azzies' gun. I winced at the thought of being burned alive in my house or being executed in the streets. Just as I was about to lose all hope. I heard someone shouting something in Verathic, followed by the sound of gunfire. This time it wasn't coming from the Azzies; it was something else. Maybe the Army or the Marechaussee is still putting up a resistance? The Azzies returned fire at whoever was shooting them, I heard perhaps a few hitting the ground. I took advantage of the Azzies being distracted at something in the distance to finally move.
As I finally regained the ability to move, I immediately began to run towards the back door, swinging it wide open. I sprang out of the house, landing on the soft grass before I took off in a dead sprint away from the gunfire. I was ashamed of what I did running away. But what else was I supposed to do? I am no warrior; there was nothing I could've done. So I ran, I ran until I couldn't run anymore. I must've ran about two-hundred metres before I stopped to catch my breath. I could hardly see my house through the trees when I looked back. Relieved that I had just escaped that situation, I fell to my knees, sobbing as my brain finally processed what I had gone through. When I finished crying, I came to the realisation that to survive, I had to go back. If the Marechaussee or Army is fighting against the Azakayanese in the city, maybe they will also be evacuating civilians off the world. If there was any chance that I could escape this hell; I had to take it.
Looking upwards, I saw one of the five space elevators that connected Voerendal to the spaceports that rose thousands of kilometres above my head. As I looked at the space elevator more, it almost looked like a needle as further as it extended the thinner it appeared. The sheer size of the space elevator would be my guide, my Polaris. However, there was one problem. The nearest space elevator to me is located in the harbour, the very centre of the city, maybe about six and a half kilometres from me. Driving there was out of the question. Having Azakayanese soldiers firing upon me wasn't something I was willing to risk. The safest option left for me now was to go on foot. If I walk fast enough, I might make it within an hour and a half. I just hope when I arrive at the space elevator that I'll be greeted by Verathic faces and not the enemy's.
As I was walking towards the space elevator in the empty streets of Voerendal, I could feel a chill down my spine. It was surreal days ago; these streets were filled with people. Now there is not a soul besides myself. The strong smell of smoke filled the air. The fires the Azakayanese started still raged. Just a few blocks ahead of me I see a huge black plume of smoke rising in the air. Forty-five minutes in my walk towards the space elevator, I heard gunshots just a few blocks from where I was. I instinctively ran towards cover. When I was safely behind the cover of a nearby pillar, I decided to peer around it to get a better view of what was going on. I couldn't look away from the exchange of the red hardlight bolts from the Verathii and the blue flashes from the Azakayanese. As the firefight continued to rage on, it was noticeable that the Verathii were pushing the heathens back. The sound coming from the Verathi soldiers were coming closer to me, in the distance, I could hear the racket of armoured vehicles making their way down the streets. The Imperial Army; they're finally pushing the enemy out of the city! Maybe the remnants of Bruggencate's fleet is putting up a resistance, or perhaps the Rijksadmiraal's fleet has finally relieved the planet! In a moment of carelessness, I ran out towards the Verathi soldiers, relieved that this was coming to an end.
Running towards the Imperial soldiers while they were still in combat was perhaps the stupidest thing to do. However, if I could change a single thing from that day, I don't think I'd change anything that I did. There were countless things I could've done differently, maybe I could've saved my neighbours if I acted sooner. Perhaps then I wouldn't have to watch my neighbours be trapped inside a burning building. The only thing that I know for sure is that Astriel—the goddess of fate—smiled upon me that day. After I ran towards the Imperial soldiers, they stopped me and directed me towards the space elevator. I was right; the Army was helping evacuating civilians off-world. Seeing my ticket off Sothea and out of the Ato system, I ran towards the space elevator. Running as fast, I could go towards the space elevator. When I grew near, I noticed there was a queue for the shuttles in the parking lot. Directing civilians into the shuttles and guarding the perimeter was the Imperial Marechaussee. When I was in the parking lot, I felt a sense of comfort that I haven't since this whole thing started. Being within the presence of the armour-clad Marechaussee gave me a sense of protection. The Marechaussee directed me to board one of the shuttles. When the shuttle doors closed and when everyone was strapped in. The shuttle began to shoot off into orbit towards what remained of the Ato Fleet. When I looked out of the window to take one last look at Voerendal I saw a bright flash appear in the sky. The Azakayanese were beginning to glass the city. That was the last I saw of Sothea my home, before the Azakayanese glassed rendering it uninhabitable.