The Shepherd’s Path, Part 14: A New Course of History

A dozen armored vehicles moved across the muddy road towards a small unassuming village. Each vehicle was either outfitted with guns or carrying troops in full combat gear. Gorris looked ahead and behind him to check that all the forces under his command were proceeding smoothly. His central position gave him an ideal view of the column. Today, which some other Jerusalemites called Christmas Eve, was going to be a good day. The town ahead had refused the Collective of a New Canaan’s offer of protections, and would pay the price. His troopers were ready, and he had heard that morning that many were excited for new plunder. The town was defenseless aside from maybe a few locals with rifles, so this was going to be easy.

The convoy moved into a depression as it cut through a small forest. No animals could be seen, the ones that lived there had probably long since run away at the noise of the approaching raiders. Gorris looked down at his map to see how far away they were. There were only 8 kilometers to go until they reached their target. As he was rolling up the map he was almost knocked over by a shockwave as an explosion went off ahead of him. Looking up, he saw the lead vehicle in the convoy, a 6 wheeled armored car, was burning, reduced to an unrecognizable heap of slag.  Gorris opened his mouth to start giving orders when a second explosion went off. This one came from behind him, and Gorris looked back. The armored car in the rear had also become a blazing ruin.

“Fire! Fire, you bastards! Vehicle 2, find a path around the wreck of vehicle 1!” Gorris yelled over the radio. Gunfire erupted all around him, firing into the trees in every direction. Gorris looked around again and quickly realized no fire was coming from the trees. As another vehicle went up in flames, Gorris had an idea. He looked up, trying to spot any artillery or rocket trails in the sky. Instead, he saw a massive object right above him. It took him a split second to realized it was coming down very close to him. A  second realization hit him as he noticed dark specks in the sky surrounding the object. It wasn’t alone.

“What the f-“ was all he got out before the Sanctuary combat walker‘s feet landed right on him.

On 2 Shvat 454 (Christmas Eve 5871, a day chosen for its symbolism), a strike force of combat vehicles from the Collective of a New Canaan was dispatched towards a small hamlet. Their intent was to destroy the town and slaughter its inhabitants in retaliation for a dubious ‘crime’. Unknown to the strike force, Sanctuary command deemed this assault the first victim of their interventions. When the convoy was spotted by the locals on Christmas morning, panic ensued. There was no question in their minds what the assault force’s intent was, and the town had no means to stop the impending massacre. Just before the lead vehicle could move into range of the town and fire its first shot, it exploded in a ball of fire. Caught off guard, the convoy began to shoot in all directions, unsure of what direction they were taking fire from. Within a few seconds, two more vehicles went up in flames before they realized the fire was coming from above them. Looking up into the sky the attackers were horrified. Sanctuary combat walkers landed in and amongst the strike force, trashing vehicles left and right. The survivors tried to flee in terror, only to walk into the waiting guns of infantry and heavier assets positioned for just such an eventuality. There were no survivors, no townsfolk were injured, and the only Sanctuary ‘casualty’ was a corporal with a sprained ankle. The Sanctuary forces pulled out almost as fast as they arrived and quickly disappeared, leaving the bewildered townsfolk to clean up.