Duratai adjusted his formal jacket. The medals hung thick on his chest from the years of service. Finally he added his hat. This was a part he hated, but duty came with responsibilities. The box in his room stood open humming slightly. He stared at the contents and closed the lid with a smile. He tucked a box under one arm and exited his dorm. The clock indicated that it was still pre-dawn. He walked down the corridors of the pre God War era bunker. It was much nicer than the bunker he had been in command of before the acquisition of the gem and shards. The walls were concrete, now stained with some water damage. Some of the walls still had their wooden trim. Duratai stroked one in thought as he walked past. The floor was still metal and his boots clanked as he strolled along the length of the base. Troops were moving around also. Each on saluting him briefly with a hand to the chest. He would nod to each out of habit. He was certain his head would fall off from all the bobbing eventually. He changed to a more formal march entering the main briefing hall. It was already filled with the area commanders that were invited for the day.
"Good morning High Commander!" it came as one voice. This never failed to bring a smile to his face.
"Good morning everyone. I trust your accommodation here is adequate." He knew it was. There was no other facility the resistance controlled that had better living standards or higher technology.
He made his way to the end of the table and placed the box down. The preparations had been made. The gears turned the clock hand inexorably to the hour of his total command. His palms were sweaty and he could feel his stomach knotting. He had not been this tense since the ancient bunker raid some months earlier. But he had spent his time well.
"Now before we begin I want to acknowledge that nobody in this room had ever been my greatest supporter with my rise to High Commander. Today I will demonstrate why my position here is justified. He nodded to a soldier at the opposite side of the room who closed the door and latched it. This drew nervous looks from the assembled commanders.
"What I am about to show you commanders, cannot leave this room." He opened the box and tilted it to show the table the inside. It was filled with some electronics, an aerial, and one blinking light that was placed in for effect only. The room filled with confused murmurs.
"What is the meaning of this Duratai?"
"Did you invite us here to waste –"
"Commanders! You all have opposed my rank as High Commander since my promotion." Duratai stated firmly.
"You mean coups!"
Duratai laughed. It was a laugh that sounded like someone walking on gravel. He waived his hand to calm the room as he sat.
"Now now. We've had our differences in the past. But I promise you all that that comes to an end today." This calmed the room.
"You see this radio beacon goes directly to my contact on that bastard Kez Visat's island. With my rivals destroyed as he attacks this base, your martyrdom will secure my plans for the resistance." As he spoke he nodded to the captain in the back of the room again. His words were still sinking in when he pulled an automatic weapon from under the desk. He and the captain sprayed the table with bullets sending up smoke and blood under the noise of fire and death. A few seconds later Duratai nodded satisfied. He took aim one last time and fired at the captain catching him by surprise. He spat on the nearest dead commander.
"Oppose that you daft cowards."
He lit a cigar as alarms started wailing. Calmly he walked to the back of the room and entered a hidden door which closed behind him leaving no trace that Duratai was ever there.
Not ten minutes later a veritable fleet of carrier craft landed near an unremarkable cliff. A few additional aircraft flew over firing missiles directly at the rock wall blasting a huge hole. Inside the base men and woman of all ages were thrown like rag dolls. Kez Visat's troops marched into the base firing indiscriminately. There was a mild counterattack but it was failing under the sheer size and aggression of the attack. The Seer's troops seemed to take damage and keep going. Only massive damage stopped them in their tracks. The all too human resistance had no such advantage. Fires broke out and the bodies piled up.
Duratai drove down his escape tunnel calmly examining the display on his wrist. The stolen island tech showed him his distance from his besieged base. Then almost at a whisper.
"Boom." The undisputed High Commander pressed a button on the device. For a moment nothing happened as he continued down the tunnel. Then the earth heaved and shook. Explosives placed throughout the base in secret all blew up at once. The resulting wave of heat and fire collapsed the base and the surrounding area. Everyone in the base, regardless of alignment was turned to ash in an instant. The landing craft outside were torn to pieces that lost any resemblance of their previous use. The tunnel Duratai drove down collapsed for kilometres and would never be found.
When the roar died down Duratai opened communications to the nearby outpost.
"Resistance troops. This is Supreme Commander Duratai. Come in. Headquarters was just attacked by the chosen forces. No survivors expected."
He let this information simmer as he smiled content. His plans were coming together nicely.