Looking anguished, Psy Eyzen stood alone in a dark room, where faceless voices echoed from a handset. He had been ordered to report on the attack on his unit and two others. The words struggled to come out of his mouth, but he knew he had to tell everything, reveal the truth about this tragic night.
"Say your last name, first name, and unit," says a male voice on the handset.
"Eyzen Psy, 25th Earth Armies Regiment.
"Mr. Eyzen, do you understand why you are here?"
"Yes," he answered, his voice slightly shaky.
"Can you explain?"
The tone of the interrogators was cold and distant, leaving no room for sympathy or understanding. They wanted to hear his story, to know the details of the incident that had led him to be considered a murderer.
"I am here to report to you on the attack we suffered two rotations ago, and to explain my action."
"A move that led you to be seen as a murderer."
"I'm not a murderer!" Eyzen exclaimed.
"Mr. Eyzen, please lower your voice," said a female voice in the receiver.
"Excuse me."
Psy Eyzen was a respected and admired man, a high-ranking soldier, but everything had changed with this tragic event. Now he found himself in this pseudo-cell, desperately trying to get his side of the story heard.
The interrogators asked him to talk about the beginning, to describe the events leading up to that fatal night. Psy Eyzen took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts.
"My unit and two others were dispatched to Mars for a reason that remains unknown to us. Our Superiors told us that it was safe, that we just had to…"
"Which units?" cut off the male voice.
"The 23rd and 14th Regiments," Eyzen replied. "Our only mission was to patrol the city of our Martian Colony. A simple mission."
"When did you realize there was a problem?"
"Right from the start. If it was a simple patrol and surveillance mission, why had the three best units of the Earth Armies been dispatched to the scene? Regiments, moreover, specialized in the defense of sensitive points. There was something wrong with that, but we said nothing and carried out our mission for over an Earth month. Until the night before last, there was no alert, we were starting to think we were wrong and there was no secret sub-mission or whatever. We had left for a second all-nighter... it was inconceivable. My men hadn't slept for two days, how do you expect to be effective in such a situation?" said Eyzen, his voice breaking with emotion. "All of this doesn't really matter, my unit and the other two are dead. There is no one left to order…"
A new silence settled in this dark room. Psy Eyzen felt more alone than ever. In addition to being seen as a murderer by everyone, his Superiors, and the hierarchy, he had lost all his unity and would soon lose his mind.
"Please continue," the female voice continued.
Eyzen gathered his thoughts and launched into his story.
"So we were off again for a second sleepless night. The men were tired but ready to do their job. As was the norm, we redid the groups and mixed the units together. This allows us to stay more alert and awake than when we patrol alone or in pairs. Each group had a district, so the city was divided into thirteen districts, so we had thirteen groups."
The female voice then asked him about the time of the attack, and Eyzen replied that it was around 9:00 p.m. local time.
"Night had already fallen and our patrols had already begun. We heard a lot of shooting coming from the 5th district, then the proximity alarm sounded all over town. It was chaos."
The male voice then scolded him to describe what he had seen, what he had done. Eyzen took a few seconds to collect his memories, trying to organize his thoughts as best he could. It was a night of turmoil and misfortune, he had everything in his head but it was very difficult for him to put everything back in order.
— We began to receive attacks from the 3rd district, the 10th and the 7th, in addition to the 5th. Despite our efforts to communicate with each other, neither group was able to identify the attackers. No one was quite sure who we were up against. And what was even more inconceivable, there was no one but our units to defend this city. Yet it was a city of settlers, our settlers. Why was no one protecting her?" Eyzen explained, his frustration echoing in his voice.
"Why?" repeated the female voice, trying to understand.
"How should I know? I'm just stating the facts. If you want to know the reasons, don't ask me."
The male voice asked when they had been able to see the attackers and when Psy Eyzen replied after a moment of reflection that they had but only three hours after the start of hostilities, he seemed surprised. The female voice then intervened, curious by so many delays.
"But why did you have to wait so long?"
Eyzen's response was tinged with grim reality.
"The power had been cut, plunging the city into utter darkness. The inhabitants mysteriously disappeared as soon as the proximity alarm sounded."
"What did those attackers look like?"
"They were men, ma'am, simple men dressed in suits similar to those of the Special Forces," Psy Eyzen declared in a resolute tone.
"Are you saying our own men carried out this attack?"
"I mean, this attack was looking more and more like a trap. After nearly 20 years of service in the Army, I can recognize a trap when I see one. The inhabitants disappeared as soon as the proximity alarm was triggered, and men dressed as Special Forces were responsible for this attack. It's not just a guess, you know that. I know you are currently checking to see if I am lying, and you are surprised that I am telling the truth. Their objective was to eliminate us, our three Units."
Ignoring Psy's revelations, the male voice spoke bluntly.
"Continue. What happened next?"
At that moment, Psy Eyzen was in the grip of a captivating duality. Between indomitable determination and deep anxiety, his tormented mind navigated the meanders of growing loneliness. He stood there, perceived by all as a murderer. The devastating loss of his unit mingled with the imminent threat of losing his sanity. Yet a spark of resilience lingered in Psy Eyzen's gaze, reflecting a fierce desire to uncover the truth and ensure just retribution for his fallen brothers and sisters in arms. Deep within him, an unshakable determination and a burning thirst for redemption dwelt in him. He was ready to face all obstacles, driven by the hope of exposing the sinister machinations that had led to this tragedy.
"I managed to find a quarter of the men, from the three mixed Units. We fought... no, we survived as long as we could. Around four o'clock in the morning, we managed to make our way to the Command Center. The shooting had stopped half an hour earlier, and the assailants had no one left to target. It was my idea, but we should never have gone..."
"Why?" asked the female voice in a calm tone.
"The first thing to do in the event of an attack is to warn our Superiors, our famous Superiors who left us alone on the spot with a single mission order. To warn them, we had to go to the CC [1]. The attackers weren't stupid, they knew our procedures, our orders. They were waiting for us there... I drove those men straight to death," Eyzen admitted in a weary voice. "We separated, one group made a diversion while the second, under my direction, went to the CC to send the message to the Superiors."
Psy Eyzen was a seasoned fighter, he had already lost many comrades since his commitment to the Earth Armed Forces. But this time it was different. His unit, along with the 14th and 23rd Regiments, had been decimated by the Special Forces. He knew it was retribution for the actions committed on Ahlem, the last colonized planet, now lost. However, Psy Commander Eyzen had survived the attack and he would make his attackers pay for it.
"Mr. Eyzen, how many were you?" asked the male voice.
"There were only three of us. Netves Hebdy from the 14th Regiment, Reasdt Lima from the 23rd Regiment, and myself, Eyzen Psy from the 25th Regiment. We went to CC. Hebdy and Lima watched the hallway as I tried to send a distress signal. But these men had jammed our communications, I had to find a way around the jamming. It was taking longer than expected, and we were running out of time. Lima and Hebdy were rushing me, the enemies were now at the other end of the corridor, they had spotted them and were starting to shoot. It was five o'clock in the morning, the sun was soon to rise, ending our second sleepless night... and ourselves."
After deftly maneuvering around the jamming, Psy Eyzen and his men found themselves in a tense situation, their weapons still firmly gripped. Facing them stood the attackers, having temporarily lowered their weapons in a sign of truce. In the room, an electric atmosphere floated, imbued with mistrust. The gazes were piercing, each eyeing the other with suspicion. It was then that the leader of the assailants broke the silence, his voice echoing in the confined space. Psy Eyzen felt a thrill of recognition, a familiarity that gripped him. However, it was impossible for him, at that time, to identify the precise origin of this voice. It wasn't until the leader of the attackers revealed his face, that the revelation flashed through his mind. An oppressive tension set in, announcing an imminent confrontation.
"Who was it?" repeated the male voice.
"General Adjer Tylus. Look at my heartbeat, look at anything you wish, see that I'm not lying."
His statement was accompanied by a sense of urgency, a desire to convince that every beat of his heart testified to his sincerity. He wanted his interrogators to grasp the truth in his words, to understand the magnitude of the situation he was facing.
"Are you sure?" asked the man quickly.
"The man who led the attack on our Units was General Adjer Tylus."
"What happened next? Don't forget any detail."
"He spoke. He told us he was surprised that three of us survived, but not that surprised since we were the best of our Units. He said we should never have come here and sent a message. That when the reinforcements arrive it will already be too late, that we would be dead and they would be far from here. That there would be no one left to testify. "
"Why tell you that? It was your General, wasn't he there to save you?" asked the male voice.
"Did you even listen to what I said?" Psy Eyzen got angry. "General Tylus had not come because we had sent the S.O.S., he was there before, he was leading the attack against our Units! Tell me that I am lying. Go ahead."
A heavy silence fell before the male voice resumed.
"Let's say it's true, that your three units were sent to this city to be trapped by the Earth Armed Forces, why would they do that?"
"Because of what we did to Ahlem," Psy Eyzen replied bitterly.
"The last colonized planet, recently lost?"
"Yes. We were in charge of protecting the first site and we failed. We were the best, but because of us, Earth lost its colony... They needed a way to make us pay for it, court-martial was not an option, because we were only guilty of Nothing. So we were assigned to protect this town. It was a decoy, the Special Forces launched their assault once the inhabitants were away from here and safe."
"Finish your report. We'll see the conclusions later," ordered the female voice.
Psy Eyzen took a deep breath before continuing, his voice clear and clear.
"General Tylus wanted us to follow him, to end our lives with dignity, but we weren't ready to die, certainly not by their hands. Our survival was now crucial to revealing the truth. Reinforcements were to be close, or so we hoped. So I took a flash grenade and threw it in their direction. We were able to flee while they were disoriented."
"If you managed to escape, how come you're the only survivor? How did you end up with General Tylus?" asked the male voice, perplexed.
"Only General Tylus was following us closely. We managed to get out, but he chased us. Before I could take cover, Lima and Hebdy fell."
"But you don't?"
"They were behind me, they fell while I still had time to protect myself," he explained frustrated by all these questions.
The voices were silent for a moment and Psy Eyzen's tension only rose a level. Then finally the male voice resumed, demanding to know what happened next.
"I fought General Tylus. He told me that there was only us left, that his men had already left, and that after my death, no one would know what had happened, and that the Earth Armed Forces would be left alone. It was too much for me... Unexpectedly, I shot him. Exhausted, I fainted. The rest, you know it, you found us, you found me next to the General whom I had assassinated with my own hands," concludes Psy Eyzen.
Psy Eyzen had finished his report. Now that they knew the truth, they would move to disband the Special Forces and court-martial all those involved in the slaughter of the three Units. A heavy silence settled. The door opened, letting a man and a woman enter the room, each with a gun in hand...
[1] : Command Center
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