Hammer of the Scots

    Times were tense, life for Colin hadn’t changed that much, it was just something you could feel in the air.  Everyone was uneasy, as if something could happen at any moment, the current situation had become precarious very quickly.
    When a group of rebels took over the Scottish Capital on the 26th of September no one had any idea what to make of it, this had just been so unexpected.  The police could do nothing to stop it because they were never trained to fight an army, which is what this group had become.  The sight of hundreds of fully armed rebels successfully taking control of all buildings of authority in the city was certainly daunting to all the figures of authority who were supposed to be in power.
    What emerged after this infamous night wasn’t really a dictatorship or a despotic government.  No one was telling anyone what to do, there was no oppressive regime, people were basically just left alone but nothing descended into anarchy.  Over the next month or so there was a massive evacuation of the city of Edinburgh, well over ninety per cent of the population fled the city by car and foot to the newly set up refugee camps that had recently been built over the border in England.
    This was due to the fact that, although this new organisation, which now ruled the city, weren’t exactly murdering people in the streets, they were by no means a cogent governing body.  Even though electricity and water still managed to function reasonably well for the time being, all businesses and internal public services ground to a halt.  The capital of Scotland had become a ghost town, home to only the small handful of citizens who chose to stay behind, couldn’t leave due to monetary or health factors and the soldiers of the ‘Scottish Militia’.  These rebels made regular patrols throughout the deserted streets and those people that still lived within the silent buildings did have to dodge these patrols whenever they ventured outside.
    All food and supplies had to be scavenged from vacant shops, this was how Colin survived.  Victoria, himself, Ian and Clark never really made a conscious decision to stay behind, that was just how the situation developed around them.
    At the start of this conflict, the media had used many different labels to describe the ‘Scottish Militia’.  Some of these were, ‘Rebels’, ‘Militiamen’ and ‘Paramilitary Soldiers’.  This had eventually led to a new term being coined, ‘Para-militia’.
    Colin and the others still lived at their own respective homes but they were spending more and more time together at the funeral home, mostly for the general feeling of security.  They spent most of their time watching the news on the TV; they watched all the important milestones in this national crisis.  They saw the attempt at negotiations during the first few weeks after the incident and they saw them all fail.
    The Para-militia had not taken up the old Scottish Parliament Building as their ‘Base’ as was expected.  They made announcements to the outside world occasionally but no diplomats had yet found a way to contact them and get a successful dialogue going.  The problem was the Para-militia weren’t interested, they ignored all forms of communication, as if they were just planning to hold the city for long enough until the government accepted that they now owned it.  They were acting like squatters, just on a much grander scale.
    For the more than two months, debates took place to decide what was to be done about this situation, after all forms of negotiation had been exhausted after this time; the only resort that was left untried was a military solution.
    When Colin’s group saw the announcement of these plans on the news, they grew very worried indeed.  They had good cause to, on the 30th of November; British soldiers entered the city of Edinburgh.  The operation was commanded by General Edward Wilson and involved an army of soldiers that greatly outnumbered the Para-militia forces taking back the city by whatever means necessary.
    It was not known exactly where most of the Para-militia forces were located, they moved around a lot and most of the plan was to do with searching the city in attempt to hunt them all down, if possible arrest them and return the city into a habitable place.  This invasion was scheduled for the 30th of November 2031, by this point in time the news had reached global proportions.
    This conflict was famous because it was the first time that a new type of weapon would be used.  It was the latest in mechanised warfare; they were called Cerberus tanks and were the most expensive tanks available at the moment.  The reason why these machines were worth so much wasn’t because they were the largest or the fastest tanks; they didn’t even have the best weaponry.  The reason why these tanks were so prized was because they were the most advanced, they could be piloted by only a single man who drove it and controlled the main cannon.  The tank was also equipped with one machine gun on either side; each controlled by a highly advanced computer, Cerberus computers.
    These computers were the latest technology; each one had a sophisticated scanning device that could immediately evaluate the current environment faster than any human could.  Every soldier in this army was equipped with a type of pulse beacon on their person that would emit a radio signal at very fast intervals.  When one of these computers detects movement they immediately attempt to detect these radio waves, if they receive none, they open fire.  All these calculations can be none in extremely small fractions of a second meaning their reflexes are vastly superior to any human’s.  These tanks were so expensive that only two would be sent to Edinburgh along with the soldiers.
    This war had another revolutionary aspect, one that would prove to be extremely controversial.  This conflict would be the first opportunity to introduce a new type of soldier, an experimental group known as the ‘Penal Company’.  This would consist of about 75 men drafted into service from the overcrowded prisons.  A convict army designed to undertake the most dangerous assignments so that less expendable soldiers didn’t have to.  They had all been convicted of violent crimes, lured into joining this company with the promise of more privileges and reduced sentences where they were given weapons, basic training and unleashed upon the enemy.  Most of them were complete psychopaths so they very open to the suggestion of committing random violence.  
    They were led by a man named Jude Barrow, a professional killer from London sentenced to life after being found guilty for the murder of nine people.  He had dark blond hair and he joined the Penal Company mostly out of boredom, he had really enjoyed his old work and had been looking for some excitement.
    The day that British soldiers marched into Edinburgh was supposed to be an uneventful day.  They were supposed to enter the city, set up a base and begin the hunt for where the Para-militia forces were hiding.  What actually happened was completely unexpected.
    On the morning of the 30th November, several teams of soldiers entered the almost deserted city from various points.  The main body of the army, which General Wilson travelled in, was marching up a wide road.  At the front was one Cerberus tank, followed by the Penal Company who were trailed by the rest of the soldiers.  The other Cerberus tank was bringing up the rear at the end of the column.
    The soldiers were all dressed in urban grey and black camouflage with dark helmets.  The Penal Company ahead of the normal troops were also dressed in the same uniforms except they were given no helmets and forced to wear bright yellow armbands.
    The Cerberus tank ahead of the Penal soldiers trundled along, its side monitors making thousands of scans a second of the local environment, always prepared.  The reason why the Penal Company followed immediately after the first tank was so they would take the brunt of the force if they were attacked from the front and so the other soldiers could keep an eye on them.  They were permitted to shoot them the moment they showed the first inkling of insubordination.
    This was the largest of the several military groups entering the city that morning and they never expected it to come under attack, so that’s what happened.
    When they arrived at a crossroads, they were ambushed.  Almost the entirety of the Para-militia forces had amassed for this assault; several important people were present such as Aden herself and, more importantly, Dominic.
    It began with two groups of Para-militia, all dressed in blue and with most of their faces covered.  One each charged from both directions of the crossroads, this was when the Cerberus tank had just arrived and its computer systems reacted instantly.  As soon as these hostile soldiers appeared, the tank began to fire on both groups simultaneously with its twin machine guns, killing many almost immediately.
    When this happened, the Para-militia took cover as best they could amidst the now damaged buildings.  One soldier, equipped with a rocket launcher, dared to pop out from behind his cover just long enough to fire at the tank.  As he did this, the tank targeted him at once, firing just as the rocket was launched.  A spray of bullets hit him in the chest, killing him; he fell to the ground as the rocket began to shoot towards the tank.  The reactions of these computer-operated guns were so great that they had time to target the rocket itself, they fired and struck the missile, detonating it before reaching the tank.
    The Penal Company advanced forwards, taking up position around the Cerberus tank.  A fierce gun battle ensued between the men of the Penal Company and the Para-militia forces, which the Penal Company was winning with the assistance of the front tank.  The Penal Company weren’t really soldiers, some were so insane that, rather than taking cover, they charged towards the Para-militia troops, screaming and firing their rifles erratically.
    The Para-militia forces took up defensive positions, the sight of the shouting Penal Company was distressing but not so much when the truly mad ones charged in front of the guns of their own tank, and were torn apart in the crossfire.
    It was clear who was winning this battle.  General Edward Wilson, who was remaining at the back with his troops, away from the fighting, was asked what his orders were by a subordinate.
    “Let the Penal Company handle it,” he said.  “That’s why they’re here.”
    So his forces remained at the back while the battle raged on, neither side advanced on the other, they just stood their ground firing at one another.  Aden was leading the attack on this army but what was strange was, she was in neither of the two groups doing the fighting.  Right now, she was looking down on the rest of the British forces in reserve from a window in an adjacent building along with a lot more of her soldiers.
    The opening attack was a distraction, she gave the signal and then the Para-militia troops hidden in the buildings on either side of the road opened fire from the windows on the British soldiers down below them.  They began receiving heavy casualties from the Para-militia soldiers and scrambled for as much cover as they could get.  Whereas the Cerberus tank that was with them began firing back on them as soon as their presence had been announced.
    The main target of the Para-militia was the General, they were under the impression that if they killed him, the entire army would just leave them alone again.  The General was currently shouting orders, trying to regain control of the situation.  He grabbed a nearby soldier, he wasn’t even sure of his rank.
    “Call in air support,” Wilson shouted.  “Now.”
    The street was full of corpses now, the Para-militia were taking casualties also, mostly from the tank, but the buildings were providing them with excellent cover.
    Aden, pistol in hand, was firing down upon the soldiers, who had fallen back slightly to a better position.  She took cover as a spray of bullets from the tank was shot in her direction.  Dominic was in the building on the other side of the street, also shooting at the enemy.  The main cannon of the rear Cerberus tank was aiming at a group of Para-militia troops on the floor below him.
    It fired, killing every person it had aimed at and taking the wall with it.  The floor under Dom’s feet gave way and he fell down onto the hard concrete below him, he landed on his shoulder.  A couple of nearby British soldiers who had been separated from their group during the ambush were taking cover on the other side of the road.  They saw Dom moving and aimed at him, but Dom managed to reach for his rifle and shoot them both dead before they had a chance to finish him.
    In pain, he crawled behind a wall and lay there for a while as the clamour of battle echoed all around him.  There was a sound that he could hear over the gunfire and explosions, it was a helicopter and it was heading this way.  The black helicopter reached the battlefield and began hailing bullet after bullet at both of the buildings, raining down hot casings over the fighters.  In the midst of battle, the General saw this and said to his soldiers, “Good, the gun ship’s here.”
    At that point, a Para-militia soldier appeared at one of the windows, wielding a rocket launcher; he fired it directly at the helicopter, hitting it.  It exploded in a bright ball of fire before it crashed to the ground in the middle of the battle.
    “They’ve got RPG’s,” Wilson said incredulously.  “Where the hell did they get these weapons?  It shouldn’t be like this.”
    The battle raged on for a few more minutes, inflicting heavy casualties on both sides.  Then the units fighting the Penal Company realised that their part in this was done and began to retreat, they took off down the roads that they came from.
    The front Cerberus tank and the Penal Company didn’t pursue, instead they turned round and headed for the buildings that contained the rest of the Para-militia.
    Aden, noticing this, signalled the retreat to all her soldiers.  They scrambled out the back of their buildings and ran away from the battle.  Even Dominic managed to get to the gaping hole the tank had made in the side of the building before the Penal Company arrived and joined his comrades in the escape.
    The British soldiers looked around and waited a while, to see if they had truly left.  Eventually they ventured out from their places of hiding and joined together on the road.  General Wilson looked around and began giving out orders.
    “Quick,” he said to some nearby soldiers.  “Go see if there are any survivors on that helicopter.”
    “Should we go after them sir?” a nearby soldier asked.
    “No,” the General responded.  “We’ve got too many wounded; we need to set up our main camp first.  Call in the other units from around the city as well, we shouldn’t be separated.”
    This had been the first and largest battle of the war, after the very open confrontation the Para-militia took to hiding more, as they had been expected to from the beginning.  They relied on the same ambush tactics, just on a smaller scale, separating off into small teams and waiting throughout the city.
    In this first altercation both sides had been damaged significantly, but the British had suffered more deaths than the Para-militia.  The advantage they had, however, was that they kept getting steady streams of reinforcements whereas the Para-militia were isolated; they were going to have to fight alone.