RP [1st EXAMF] Prologue: Murder

[Acewing13]

Ukk, Badlands

“Idiot!” Ozzie facepalmed himself as the Ozymandias roared towards the NMX tankettes. “Idiot, idiot, idiot!”

Ice Queen’s eyes stayed on her screen, but her brow furrowed as she aimed and fired another round of HESH at the Squids. “What? Are you finally going to give me AP rounds to shoot, sir?”

The sergeant disregarded his second in command’s remark and turned to the ID-SOL. “Load HEAP rounds from now on, Earthquake.”

“HEAP rounds, yes, sir!” the loader replied, smiling while loading the new munition. “How many holes have we made?”

“Not too many,” the Jiyuuianresponded absent-mindedly, carefully lining up her next shot. “Hopefully these new rounds will do the trick.”

“I’m hoping on the coax,” Ozzie said, ignoring his crew’s remarks. “Now that we’re close enough that the bullets will actually hit something.”

“Yeah,” the driver shouted, joining in the conversation, “totally not because your scores at long distance shooting suck.”

“Shut up, Deacon!” the tank commander responded, but the rest of the crew just laughed and the Ozy joined in with the main cannon firing its first HEAP round at the Flayers.

 

[FrostJaeger]

Ukk, Badlands - 1-5 Double Penetration

"Damn it Fireball! I told you this pedazo de mierda novato was gonna fre-"

Loco's outburst was cut off as, whether by chance, tactics, design, or some combination thereof, a pair of opportunistic Flayers decided to focus their collective firepower in the direction of the Penny - the results of which became fairly evident when two balls of high-energy plasma smashed into the HMBT's foremost Shield Barrier.


Fortunately for the crew of the Double Penetration, the barrier transformed the first ball into an anemic ghost of its former, destructive self - thus turning what would've been a rather...painful blow into a light tap.


Unfortunately for the crew of the Double Penetration, the barrier collapsed in a spectacular flash as the second sphere of superheated plasma blasted through the already-weakened defensive screen, boiling away a decent-sized chunk of the Penny's forward glacis as it did so; worse, however, was that upon collapsing three of the VSP's four projectors sent a nasty back-surge through the tank's power distribution systems. As designed, surge protectors clacked into action, stopping the first two surges before any further damage could occur; the third, in contrast to its other two ill-fated brethren, was just barely able to slip through the terminal that connected the projector and the tank's Number 5 Power Transfer Trunk.


With an ear-piercing electronic screech that completely drowned out the platoon commander's voice over the radio (followed belatedly by the AI's announcement of "Alert: Vehicle Shield Projector System compromised."), the wiring almost directly next to the sobbing form of Izumi Nishino exploded in a shower of white-hot sparks as the aforementioned surge pushed them light-years beyond their intended thresholds. The physical damage inflicted upon the Private was, thankfully, minimal - but the same couldn't be said of the psychological damage.


Izumi yelped as the explosion finally pushed the poor Jiyuuian past the (metaphorical) point of no return, then began screaming ("Mama, watashi wa kuso mō kore o okonau koto wa dekimasen! Watashi wa yūkan ya tsuyoi ka to ane to papa no yō ni sumātode wa nai ndesu yo! Sore ga teishi suru dake ni shite kudasai! Chōdo sore ga subete teishi shite kudasai! Onegaishimasu!"); once she'd finished her outburst, the youngest member of the Penny's crew began bawling as she did her best to curl up into the fetal position.

"Puta, you better not fucking s-"

"Ease off, Loco."

"Shit, Fireball, the putana's ob-"

Felix growled as he interrupted the driver. "Ease off, PFC Lopez."

Said driver clamped his mouth shut upon hearing that - for when Felix Luna addressed you by rank, it meant that you were either A) a member of the brass or B) that he was extraordinarily pissed at you, which was (for several good reasons) a Very Bad Thing.


The tank's CO let out a sigh as he fired off another burst at the oncoming wave of enemies, noting the rapidly-dwindling reserves of ammunition in the RWS; truth be told, though, that wasn't the primary reason he was pissed off. Instead, it was the fact that he, unlike every other male in the compartment, was fluent in the language known as Yamataigo - thus he'd been able to understand just what the loader's frantic screams had meant. "Mama, I can't fucking do this anymore! I'm not brave or strong or smart like you and big sister and papa! Please just make it stop! Just make it all stop! Please!" .........Shit, I've fucked up. Should've fucking known this was going to happen and said something before she lost it...I mean, hell, she's practically goddamned head case at this point. Brilliant job, you dumbfu-SHIT!


The Penny rocked like a thing possessed as another azure-colored orb scored a direct hit on the tank's turret, tearing deep into the HMBT's armor.

"Can't take much more of this cagada, man!"

"Sergeant."

Izumi - having finally ceased her tear-laden cries of primal, unfiltered fear, merely whimpered.


Fucking...screw it. If what I'm about to do makes her go completely bonkers, so Fucking. Be. It. I'm not going to die here, damn it! Scowling, the CO looked at Izumi, then (as Ghost, lacking anything else to do at the moment, fired a few short, surgically-aimed bursts once more) spoke in perfect, nearly flawless Yamataigo with a deceptively calm tone. "Puraibēto Izumi Nishino wa, ki jū o rōdo suru ka, watashi wa kojin-teki ni anata ga sutā-gun no ichibudearu koto no tokken ni ataishimasen kachinonai, orokana meinudearu koto ni yotte sorera ni fumeiyo motarashita ka no anata no kazoku ni tsūchi shimasu." Private Izumi Nishino, load the damn gun or I will personally inform your family of how you brought dishonor to them by being a worthless, stupid bitch that doesn't deserve the privilege of being a part of the Star Military.


Said Private turned to look at the CO, her tear-stained features pale and her red-rimmed eyes wide in horror.

As the tank shuddered from another near-miss, Felix gave the loader his widest, most frightening smile. "Saigo no chansu, misu Nishino. Anata no gimu ya anata no kazoku - anata ga yori ōku no o osorete imasu ka?" Last chance, Miss Nishino. Your duty or your family - which do you fear more?


Felix chuckled at the conflict he saw raging within the soul of one Izumi Nishino - demonstrated perfectly by the shock and terror plastered over the Jiyuuian's features being replaced with those of confusion and (better yet) anger. He didn't care how pissed she was. He cared about surviving.


Felix grinned as he saw the brief, violent conflict come to an equally violent conclusion. With a long, drawn-out howl of "HOTTOKE!" a hate-filled glare that promised the inflicting of vast amounts of pain onto one Felix Luna, and the resumption of her sobbing (albeit a bit more quietly then before), the Private threw herself into reloading the Penny's 155mm SG Cannon, practically a blur as she slammed a HEAT shell into the firing chamber. With a heartless, machine-like voice that was cracking from the strain of crying and screaming, the newest member of the tank's crew replied "C-C-Clear;" then proceeded to unload and reload the co-axial gun just as fast as Ghost sent a round sailing through the planet's shit-filled excuse of an atmosphere.

"Firing. Loader, HEAT."

Loco's jaw dropped several inches. "Dios en el cielo...what the fuck did you say?"



The CO's jaw also dropped. Holy shit, that was almost as fast as Jumbo! Laughing, he replied "Evil things, Loco. Traverse right, 5 deg. Light up that asshole that's been fucking with us."

"HEAT, a-a-aye." 4.1 seconds passed between the cannon's shots as the teary-eyed blur loaded said round. "C-Clear."

"Firing."


As the SG sent its lethal payload flying in the direction of said target, Felix shook his head in amazement while laying suppressive fire down with RWS. Yeah, she wants to kill me...but god-fucking-damn, she's good. A bit more practice, and she might even come close to Jumbo......holy fuck, we might actually survive this murderous shithole!

 

[Gunsight1]

Misha

"Good shooting, comrade!" Sasha cheered as the tankette they had fired upon exploded. She would be adding at least one more kill mark to Misha's scoreboard when they got back to base.

The return fire that smattered in her tanks direction was, so far nothing to write home about. Saha called out a new targer, and as soon as a new HEAT round was loaded, she ordered it fired. As soon as the projectile was launched, Sasha ordered Misha to advance and keep up with the rest of Second Platoon.

The tank rumbled forward, pausing momentarily in it's advance to fire its main gun battety, flames spitting from the gun tube each time it sent a round in on an NMX tankette.

 

[Foxtrot 813]

Ukk - Badlands

As the battle continued to rage on without respite, it was clear to see that the battle was shifting in favor to the Nepleslians, and soon their combined arms with the powered infantry they were ferrying started to prevail over the numerically superior NMX tankettes. On the First Platoon's side of things, the tanks quickly racked up kill after kill after forming a firing line, with the powered infantry taking cover behind them finishing off the enemy vehicles that survived the initial 150mm punch or disabling them so that the Maximuses could easily deliver the killing blow as the Plasma bolts and energy beams flew wild in the midst of the dust storm.

It was imperceptible at first in the chaotic scenario of the battle, only when Mitchell noticed that the volume of fire being returned at them had dramatically diminished to the point that he assumed the enemy had fled, but quickly changed his mind when he saw all the burning wrecks laid from as close as 50 meters to his tank and as far as 500. Before he could assert anything else, however, the twice-elected platoon commander had to close his eyes shut when the monoeye camera that was transmitting to his visor flashed in a bright, migraine-inducing white as a plama bolt melted it away. To his front, his gunner continued to yelp every time the main gun fired and scored a direct hit, while somewhere to the side the last NMX tankette was hit simultaneously by two different tanks, which made it explode violently and bloom into a formidabble mushroom cloud. For each tanker it would seem that the battle had taken hours, while in truth it hadn't even taken them five minutes, which seemed to break the spell once they could stare at the twenty or so funeral pyres that each NMX tankette had become in the end.

That didn't mean, however, that the fight had been easy. As much as the Maximus -especially the newer model- was superior individually against each Flayer, being outnumbered meant that the tanks from the first and second platoon soon started to take flanking fire from the tankettes, which easily overwhelmed the taxed shields and started melting through the armor, but the structural strength of the HMBT was more than enough to take the hits and keep on fighting, while the tankettes slowly were put out of commission one by one. That also didn't mean that the older model was any slouch on the task either, and only exarcerbated of how it was really the crew that mattered when the Double Penetration had been the tank to rack up the most kills at four tankettes destroyed; the feat was clear to see from the way that the tank looked battered, still with white-hot spots from the plasma hits and molten metal slowly running down the frontal glacis and onto the dirt.

"Otto, shut up, I don't care," Ross said, pulling the visor of his helmet up and kicking the back of his gunner's head to emphasize the point. Still blinking away the white spots from his vision, the lieutenant pressed a finger against the side of headset to transmit to the other tanks. "All units, cease fire! Enemy Destroyed." was his message as he unlocked and opened his hatch to stare at the outside with his own eyes.

The sight was one to behold.

The tanker signaled an 'ok' to the infantry around it, which prompted the PAs still standing to break off from the cover of the tanks or the shields of the remaining Devastators to prepare to move out again. They still needed to secure a bridgehead after all. The last sight that Mitchell took before he buttoned down again was a squad retrieving the head jars from the marines that died, which would've been a repeating sight all over the two platoons.

"Okay people. Quick system check and then sound off, we've still got a job to do and it's keeping the entire fleet waiting," Ross radioed as one of the cables inside the turret compartment shorted out and showered his gunner's helmet with the sparks.

 

[Gunhand4171]

Wraith 2-3

"Cease fire!" called Conrad as the last shot was fired off from the Wraith's massive cannon. He slouched in his command seat and sighed. "Well how bout that for a first engagement?" He asked no one in particular. "ACE, status report?" He asked glancing at his HUD.

The ACE complained how the outer hull was pockmarked with weapons damage and some emitters were offline, but over all it wasn't much to worry about.

Conrad opened his comms. "1-1 this is 2-3, we are a little shaken up over here, but we are ready to rock and roll. Just give us the word." He said closing the comm looking to his team. "How are y'all holding up?" He asked.

Mina slouched in her seat now that the adrenaline was finally leaving her system. She started to shake violently. "I...I am..."

Conrad placed a metallic hand on her shoulder. "Calm yourself Corporal. Combat shakes are normal, just breath." He said soothingly as he looked at the others.

Myra looked up at Conrad. "All good down here Boss." she replied wiping sweat away from her brow.

"Good. See if you can repair some of the damage to the shield emitters. If you can't then reroute power from those emitters to the others." Conrad replied as he removed his hand from Mina.

"Ahhhh man!" called Rex from the drivers seat throwing his hands in the air.

"What's wrong?" Conrad said looking down at him.

"Boss, there are no more targets... You said I could run one over." Rex replied with a toothy grin.

Conrad smacked himself with his one good hand. "You are are the dumbest person I know."

Rex faked a frown "Boss, I can't believe you would say such a thing. I am telling the Lieutenant on you." He quipped.

"Oh shut up and get this bucket of bolts moving again. We need to pick up our marines." He said kicking Rex in the back of the head.

"See Myra! He abuses me too!" Rex said looking over to Myra.

"Oh shut up. I would have hit ya first if Sarge hadn't done it ." Myra shot back.

 

[Born-On-Board]

Ricketts blinked away, flinching from the dark interior of the tank as contrasted to the monoeye screens he'd been glued to for the duration of the short scrap. They'd proven entirely, utterly victorious, the Maximus RUSE and even the venerable Mk. 2's destroying the tankette hordes with almost effortless ease.

This one was easy, but would they all be?

No need for that now, Ricketts thought. A soldier was as good as his last battle, and by all accounts, they were pretty damn spiffy.

"All stations, status check." the sergeant said, rubbing at his eyes. "Tell me what I know, what I don't know, and what I should know. Dmitri, get on re-loading those HPAR's, I know those things must be thirsty."

"Roger sergeant." Dmitri said, moving to one of the numerous ammo boxes strewn about the cramped interior of the tank.

"Sanders, Martinello?" Ricketts said. Dmitri handed him two magazines of Coin rounds from over the breech of the main gun, which Ricketts gratefully accepted. He'd don his mask and goggles and replace the mags on the RWS in a few.

"We're good Sergeant." Sanders said.

"Everything's fine down here." Martinello provided over the intercomm, "Safest seat in the house, I was behind the berm the whole time!"

"Yea yea." Ricketts said. He keyed the Consumption's radio. "Manslaughter, this is Consumption. Everything is situation normal, and shields are re-charging according to spec. Ready for orders, over."

 

[ShotJon]

Wespe sat back and took a deep breath. The battle was over. The commander checked her screens and it looked like the tank took to enemy fire well. Of course the shields were down, but they will recharge. Using the mono-eyes, the abwehran checked her tank, looking for damage that did not show on her screen. Few spots of the hull and turret were hit by the plasma and melted a bit, but there were no holes or any big damage that was good.

"This is one-three," Wespe reported back to the Manslaughter. "We are fine, tank took only superficial damage. Shield are charging up as we speak."

"What is the ammo-count?" Wespe asked her crew when she was done with the report.

"We are good, fired bunch of HEAT, but we still have plenty." Wojtek reported.

"Yes we made kills!" Wolflord said happily. Wespe had to remind herself that the kohanian lived for the battle. As far she was concerned this was okay fight. But it was not anything too tough really.

Wespe called up Manslaughter again.

"1-1, this is 1-3." She said. "Is it just me or were they just screening us? Just tankettes? Where are the Ravagers, Renders, captured Yam troll tanks. I don't like this very much boss. I think next fight is going to be much much harder."

 

[Lamb]

Independent Cruise
The Indies sat quietly checking their systems and stations for a moment before a chorus of murmuring broke out in the compartment, low noises something close to an affirmative. Everything was just as good or just good enough. A few things seemed to be better, some of the thick and nasty dust shaken out of the nooks and crannies by glancing blows from other vehicles.

"Mister Kaibe, bring us back into formation under full press of motor." Said Smythe, adjusting his sabre. The ornament had at some point in the confusion ended up in the Sergeant's lap, and he carefully returned it to his hip hanging down between his seat and the hull as if it were made of crepe paper instead of Yama-Dura. "Mister Davish, port your turret and keep an eye out as best you can, I'm going over the top."

The hatch flipped over and Reginald poked out with his mask up and visor down. In BYE 122, there had been a great battle in a desert. After the battle, Smythe remembered the account that soldiers who hadn't been dragged away by artillery fire were dragged away by the sandstorm. He watched with some interest as the Marines hopped about collecting the head jars that'd popped off of his comrades like party favors with streaming confetti and cork guns. Those would've been useful in BYE 122. Still...

Smythe threw a quick and sharp salute to the fallen men as the Indie Cruise tumbled along to fit back into the jigsaw puzzle of tank formation with just a bit of solemnity. Those men, if their brains were intact would have new bodies grown for them and there was a fairly good chance they'd get on just fine. But death was likely painful for them, and it took a lot to make the sacrifice no matter what the true costs were. And if they found themselves a few Hostiles short when it came time to establish a bridgehead, the sacrifice would be felt one way or another.

 

[FrostJaeger]

Ukk, Badlands - 1-5 Double Penetration

Felix "Fireball" Luna grinned as yet another one of the surviving Flayer tankettes exploded into flames (courtesy of a well-placed 155mm shell aimed by the tank's gunner, Lucas "Ghost" Mattock, and fired by the - at this point noticeably hot - dual electromagnetic rails of the Penny's SG Cannon), then began scanning for the Double Penetration's next victim - only to slump back into his chair with a sigh of relief as the all-clear signal was issued by the platoon commander. Fuck, it's over already? Goddammit...I was finally starting to have fun, too...... "CHECK FIRE!"

Ghost, stoic as ever, merely nodded. "Acknowledged. Confirmed kills on four Type-33 Tankettes."

Fabio "Loco" Lopez, as usual, was a bit more...energetic in his response. "OORAH!"


The Penny's commander laughed - "Badass as always!" - then frowned; Izumi Nishino, a last-minute replacement for the vehicle's recently-deceased loader - and painfully unaccustomed to the soul-shattering horrors of the battlefield - had yet to say anything. Oh, fuckberries...shit, if you let your Jiyuuian ass fucking die on me, I swear... "Izumi, you still among the living?"


Silence-wait, no, a faint sniffel. Oh, you've got to be shitting me......


The Sergeant rolled his eyes in the general direction of the heavens above. Goddamn pussy-ass kids these days, I fricking swear... With a voice that would've done drill sergeants everywhere proud, the aforementioned Sergeant bellowed, "PRIVATE NISHINO!"

For the second time that hour, the private in question damn near bounced off of the cramped compartment's ceiling. "HAI?!?!?"

There we go......you know, I probably should start recording these for shits and giggles or something. Felix chuckled, leaning back in his seat; with a tone practically covered in sarcasm, he replied "You...you're alive? Holy shit!" - a pause, then, his voice its usual, slightly-less sardonic self, he continued - "Anyhoos, reload the SG and the Co-ax. Ghost?"

"HEAP."

"H-Hai." The loader's voice was, for better or worse, still subdued and rather mechanical-sounding as she carried out her assigned duties.

So she's partially broken. Felix shrugged. Oh well.....time to remind our fellow dumbfucks that we're too fucking awesome to die from some weak-ass squids. "Loco, get this fat bitch back into formation."

"Formación, aye."

The tank's commander stole a brief glance at the Penny's console, wincing at just how many of the formerly emerald-colored lights were now a brilliant scarlet; a few seconds later, he toggled the tank's radio. "1-1, 1-5. Took a few hits, lost VSPs, another Monoeye, and a PLA; still lean, mean, and ready to make those fuckers scream." Pause. "Over."

 

[Acewing13]

“Cease fire, cease fire!” Ozzie yelled, trying to do one last scan of the surrounding area before he growled in annoyance. “How many monoeyes did we lose? I can’t see a dang thing on our right side.”

“You’re telling me?” Ice Queen replied, turning the tank’s turret to sweep the area. “I’m relying on the turret monoeye. As far as I can tell though,” the Jiyuuan continued as she looked in the tank’s blind spot, “all the Flayers are down.”

“Too easy,” Earthquake said, slamming another HEAP round into the breech before he looked at his commanding officer. “Should I grab some more reloads?”

“Hmm..,” Ozzie said, turning off the shields and checking the other systems of the tank as he pondered the loader's question. "I'll ask," he replied.

"1-1, 2-4 Ozy here. We've lost vision on our right side, repeat, lost vision on our right side. We're also wondering whether we're going to stop to reload the ready racks or just keep going. Over."

Ozzie leaned back in his chair and sighed. "Get a move on, Deacon. Let's not get left behind, like that one time you fell asleep in maneuvering exercises."

"Oh, come on! You were the one that kept me up until 4 in the morning one of your stupid bar crawls!" the driver shouted in reply.

The tank commander smiled in response as Ozymandias got rolling again. "That was a good night. Now, if you'll excuse me," he said, putting his rebreather back on. "Now that we've lost vision on our right side, I really need to see what's going on with my own eyes."

"Uggh!" everyone else replied as they quickly grabbed at their masks as the desert sand started pouring in through the hatch once again.

 

[Gunsight1]

Misha


And it was over. The order to stop firing had come and now seeming as soon as it had, the action had ended. After taking stock of her crew and her tanks condition, Sasha radioed in to the command tank that they were still fully operational and their remaining ammunition levels.

All in all, a nice little quick action to warm up with. As usual, Sasha was pleased with how her crew had done. She had little concern for how they would do in battle. The crew of the Misha had been together for a few years now and had seen their share of action.

Sasha settled into her seat and slipped her helmet off, dropping it into her lap, then grabbing her thermous of hot tea. "Bring us back into the formation" she said and opened the container and took a drink.

In monents heavy tank Misha was trundling back into position wth the rest of the group, beside and just a bit behind Independant Cruise.

 

[Foxtrot 813]

Ukk - Badlands

After the first encounter, both platoons assumed a small, drawn-out advance to cover the infantry as they advanced. They couldn't risk having them on top of the tank in case another patrol found them, which would hinder their response time. Over the next two hours, nevers were brought to the limits as each tank commander had to maintain a state of vigil due to the low visibility and constant threat. The gesture was taxing on their minds, but only two marine casualties were sustained when they were ambushed by a group of thralls wielding anti-tank missiles.

Finally, after the wind started wail like the scream of the dead against the tank hulls, it suddenly ceased, as if the tankers and marines had reached the eye of the storm, literally and figuratively.

Ahead of them, was the NMX base.

"Look at that," Ross said, noticing how his driver had also stopped the tank to gaze at the object ahead. By then, his body had gotten accostumed to slow rumbling of the pace due to the speed that they had to move on, otherwise the infantry would be left behind and wouldn't keep up. He noticed it, but the it didn't bother him enough to look away from the object that had just become visible from his tank's monoeye.

Two kilometers away, looking as tall as if his tank was parked right next to it, was what he assumed to be the cause of the DIoN's woes in that Area of Operarations. To his left, his ID-SOL loader retched and spit at the turret floor after the massive metal tower sparked with a loud, electric clap that could be heard and felt from inside the tank, making the crew's hair raise and causing their teeth to vibrate inside their gums, setting them on edge.

The building itself resembled a skyscrapper with how tall it was, it looked to be as big as an escort vessel was horizontally, and aparently just as armored given the thick, meter long metal plates that were hapzardly scattered across its surface, protecting the machinery that could be visible inside from where the wind had torn off the thinner plate cover. The way that the dust storm circled around it, creating some sort of safe haven inside the hell that was Ukk left little to discredit the theory that the structure was directly responsible for what had destroyed the previous spearheads.
Around it, dwarfed by the several hundred feet tall and dozens of feet wide structure, were a few domed structures that most likely housed the garrison to that base. The complex wasn't walled, but a few vehicle-grade turrets were scattered around the perimeter and directly pointing at the tanks, just waiting for them to come in range.

"That thing's got shields, commander," Otto, his gunner spoke out, traversing the Maximus' turret and zooming in on the complex. Ross Mithcell cursed; that took out pounding it into dust from afar, they would have to get in close and personal and dirty

Their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed either, already, Ross could see through his thermal sight several small sillhouettes running, uncaring for the dust storm that, for all intents and purposes, sandblasted their raw skin. There was no doubt about it, those were the enslaved fanatic thralls that fought for the NMX, they would jump at the tanks with explosives if their masters ordered it. Slumbering with methodical motions behind the thralls, taller sillhoettes of the NMX power armors started to take position, and Ross didn't like how the reinforcements didn't stop coming; at this rate, they were already outnumbered, but the enemy didn't seem to have armor, nor fighter support.

They had to act before they lost momentum.

"All platoons, listen up," He spoke into his helmet's microphone so that all the other tanks could listen. "This is it, our main objective is to knock out that tower- all other concerns are secondary. I repeat, the enemy tower is our main priority. If you get hit you're on your own." The fusion engines hummed louder as his driver engaged the first gear and started moving.

"We will support the marines until we reach the compound, your first target are to put those turrets out of commission and then provide support to our powered infantry," Ross said as the Hostile and Devastator-clad marines behind him, moved in concert with his rolling fortress. The latter raised their metal shields and emerged from the sides, while the former took cover behind them and aimed their HPARs at the amassing enemies. "There will be no finessed, we'll cut through their defenses and go straight to the generators, then signal the fleet if- once this storm of shit ceases," he continued, but paused, feeling as if he had something else to add; a good commander would have had something to say right off the bat, but he mulled over what to say next, which would invariably make his words have less weight in his head. "And gentlemen, I am tired of being shit on by this planet. Manslaughter out," he finally added.

 

[FrostJaeger]

Ukk, Badlands - 1-5 Double Penetration

The absolutely breathtaking discharge of electricity several kilometers away had......varying effects on the Double Penetration's crew.


Private Nishino Izumi, as one might expect of someone of her age and inexperience, yelped as she instinctively did her best to curl up into the fetal position; the past two hours had fortunately provided the girl with a much-needed respite from combat - though, as her reaction demonstrated, she was far from what could be considered "normal."

Private First Class Fabio Lopez, somewhat older and somewhat more accustomed to the battlefield, merely swore - "MIERDA!" - as he was momentarily flash-blinded by the sheer intensity of the blast. "Maldita, that's some freaky shit......"

Corporal Lucas Mattock, the second-most experienced occupant of the tank (and, in all honesty, probably the most experienced overall), didn't even blink as his hair stood up on end for a split-second.

Sergeant Felix Luna whistled in awe - then, once the platoon commander was finished giving a semi-decent prep talk, grinned like, well, a madman as he flipped the switch controlling the Double Penetration's radio functions. "1-1, 1-5. Fuck up ALL THE THINGS!, copy that." A pause. "Over." Hell fucking YES! So. Many. Juicy. Targets! After toggling the radio, the Geshrin cracked his knuckles and, with his features still wearing that same terrifyingly disturbed grin, began issuing orders - his mood greatly improved now that there things to do, places to be......and enemies to kill. Now, let's fucking dance, bitches! "Loco, forward full, show these jokers how it's really done. Ghost, what's chambered? HEAT?"

"Copy...subiendo!"

"Correct."

"Fuck a turret, then it's your discretion. Personally, I'm into ladies, but hey......to each his own, you know?"

The Penny's driver burst out laughing.

The Penny's loader blushed slightly, despite being scared out of her wits.

The Penny's gunner fixed the tank's commander with a glare that would've done the Ice Queen - the one serving in the Star Army, that is - proud. "Really?"

"Really."

A sigh of exasperation was the Corporal's reply - followed, surprisingly enough, by an almost-uncharacteristic scowl. "Accuracy may suffer from the wind shear."

Shit...... "Shoot them anyways. If it misses......oh, fuck it, you know what to do."

"Acknowledged." - a pause, then, as the battered (yet very much alive) hulk of the Maximus (RUSE) Heavy Main Battle Tank lumbered its way forward - "Firing."


With a KA-THOOOOM!, the fifteen-point-five centimeter main gun of the Double Penetration sent a rather......strongly-worded message of Nepleslian justice hurling towards the enemy at a little over two kilometers per second.


"Loader, HEPDP."

"H-H-Hai, HEPDP..."

Felix had to resist the urge to reach over and throttle the loader in question as she went through the motions of reloading the aforementioned 155mm SG Cannon - for although the Jiyuuian wasn't a nervous, sobbing (and completely worthless) wreck, neither was she the cold-blooded, lightning-fast machine she'd been before, back when they were exchanging words with the Tankettes. For fuck's sake......don't tell me I'm going to have to fucking break her before every goddamn battle! Not that I'd have any trouble doing it......but shit, where's the fun to be had in something as boring as that?

 

[Lamb]

Independent
Cruise
Reginald had dipped into the compartment for just a moment to have a breath of not-as-recently recirculated air. Here, with the tail end of a cigarillo he'd started earlier and stubbed out on the back of his glove a few times, he heard the speech and decided to be as inspired as any man listening to a commander with ten times the wisdom and twenty times the experience. That is to say, he translated things in his head into a language more like that from the books he'd obsessed over as a child at home. 'Being shit on by this planet' was turned into 'will tolerate our savage foes no longer' and 'If you get hit you're on your own' became a more powerful 'Every man must lend his hand and give his fair share'.

And so, with a look of fire and steel, Smythe addressed his crew. "Alright chaps, we'll go in fighting or we'll come out dying. Mister Kaibe--"

No order was needed. 'Advance' was the one thing the driver knew how to do best.

"Mister Kilik will load as Mister Davish names his targets. Use your sense, and keep the great gun blazing. I'm going over the top to help our boys on the ground."

Immediately, Davish and Kilik shared a look-- a look that apparently meant 'Load HEAP', for that's what Kilik did while Davish sighted in the meatiest looking defensive structure with a glare that threatened to puncture its armor before the shell could. Seeing his plan in motion, and feeling the Indie Cruise also in motion; Smythe let out a smile and a farewell of, "Gentlemen."

And then he ascended with hands reattaching his mask.

The Independent Cruise emerged into the clearing wind with a roar of its engines and flattened a mound of dust with its turret angling on the first in the line of turrets. At first, there was only the chatter of noise from its coaxial HPAR lashing out at the distant forms of brain-slaves darting across the planets' surface. Then there was the first great crash-- a staggering blow roaring from the main gun for a nearby structure with an almost instantaneous impact and the chorus of infantry support fire joining in to create a full symphony of murderous, glorious fire.

 

[Born-On-Board]

The tower drew up into view, and all the crew could feel was dread. There it was - in all of its awful glory, the very citadel of the enemy they fought. The first of many. It was beautiful, and it was sickening.

As it came into view, a passage from an old book his mother used to read from echoed in his head - a forlorn old passage, from some book that was allegedly older than Yamatai or Nepleslia, a book humanity had always carried with it throughout the ages.

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see!

They were going to die. This citadel would be the death of them, and for the first time in this campaign, Ricketts felt real fear, strong, brain-seizing. He wanted to get out of the tank and hide, hide until it was all over - who could topple such a thing? Who could throw down such a formidable bastion? His eyes widened. Sweat broke out in every pore, instantaneous, the stink of fear permeating the inside of the tank. Ross wanted them to go forward but the words wouldn't come. How could they, when Death loomed over them all?

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.

Every pulse, every thunderclap that came from the tower was a whisper in his ear, turn back, turn back. You can save the lives of everyone in this tank if you turn back. Give in. He blinked, blinked, and rapped his fists against his head. Sanders looked back up at him.

And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

"Sergeant?"

It snapped him out of his reverie, like a drowning man breaking the surface of the water, life returned to him, life and sanity. He gasped. He hadn't been breathing. He looked down, to Sanders directly in front of him, his face framed by the ubiquitous AVCU helmet. Sanders' normally attractive, heart-shaped face looked as sick as him. Ricketts smiled, despite everything.

So he wasn't the only one.

"Everyone else is moving out, Sergeant." Sanders said, "What are your orders?"

Ricketts wiped his mouth. They'd beaten the NMX before. Nepleslia had won. They'd won before, and under far worse odds than this. So what? So what if the devil from the old books was lapping at their heels and had all the demons of Hell with them? Hell wasn't any planet he'd heard of.

"Driver. Forwards." Ricketts said, eventually, his voice sounding stronger than it ever had before. "Crack that fucking citadel open... We're gonna tear down that fucking tower! Marines!"

Sanders blinked.

"Marines!" Ricketts shouted again. "Kill!"

It was ridiculous - this was boot camp shit. They were a bunch of retards from the Tank Corps, the only combat arm that managed to less glorious than all the other options - the joke being you only sent in a tank when you wanted it to sink in a ditch to make a bridge for the infantry. They weren't the poster-boys, the power-armored infantry, but today was their day.

Today was their day. "I don't hear you!" Ricketts shouted, loud enough to be heard over the tank. "Kill!"

"Kill!" shouted Sanders.

"Kill!" shouted Dmitri.

"...Yea yea, I'm going. Kill kill." Martinello buzzed from the intercom.

The Conspicuous Consumption, one of the first Maximus RUSE's to be issued to the unit, shot forwards, catching up to the tanks that had left it behind. All the HPAR's were chattering, cutting down the slave-thralls that made up the bulk of any NMX ground force. The turret wheeled around, firing a deadly HEP-DP shell at the nearest turret emplacement, blowing it to kingdom-come.

"Sanders, keep hitting the turrets! Dmitri - only Plasma shells!" Ricketts barked out orders now, his earlier fears forgotten. It seemed he was tempered now, his first gut-check passed. He would either die here, or the NMX would - failure was not an option. "After the turrets go, then we support the infantry as they take the base! "

Ricketts dialed all the available power for the VSP's to the front arc, and with resolve in their hearts, the tanks went forwards.

 

[ShotJon]

1-3 The Bone

Wespe frowned as the tanks stopped and they could see the enemy base in front of them. It was kind of majestic, in a sadistic evil way. I large spear aiming at a sky, ready to kill anything that came close to it. Still right now, it was the tankers job to kill the spear. Wespe sat back, watching her screen. She took off her mask and lit a cigarette, not really caring too much. Bone's filters would take care of the smoke anyway.

"That is some A-grade evil fortress of Doom right there." Wojtek said as she watched her screen.

"Yeah, and we are the knights in rusty, muddy armour coming to take it down and slay the evil," Rum quipped from the drivers position. Wespe could once again hear a bit of fright in his tone.

"Well Fastclaw," Wespe said, pausing to blow the smoke out. "You wanted to kill a lot today, I think your change just came."

The wolfman remained quite though, only looking at Wespe and giving her a slight nod.

The abwehran commander of the tank was pretty sure that her whole crew was scared right now. Well even she was nervous as she saw enemy massing its forces for defense. Amoured turrets, Thralls and power amours. All of those could be very dangerous. If a Ripper would get on top of a tank, it could wreck havoc.

Luckily the tanks were not alone. Wespe looked at corporal Stark and his soldiers getting ready to fight. She realized those men and women had it even worse. The fighting they were all about to go through would be tough. The toughest they all went through as a unit so far. That was pretty clear. Trial by fire in a way.

"All right, load HEAT," Wespe broke the silence, that was creeping through the tank. She put the cigarette out and tossed it on the ground, putting her mask back on. "we take out the turret first. We will be firing on the move."

"Rum I want you to stay side to side with Consumption. That way we can cover them and hopefully they will cover us. Keep us moving steady, don't fall out of line. Wojtek I hope your muscles are ready as much. I want to you cram those shells inside as fast as the gun sings."

"Yes ma'am," came the response from the crew.

"All right my fellow aliens. Let's show the neppies, that we can put as much of a fight as they can." Wespe added with a grin and took controls of the HPAR turret.

"Hell yeah," her crew responded again. Fastclaw moved the control and turret rotated to take aim at a turret, no other tank lased yet. Wojtek prepared another HEAT shell in her arms.

"ADVANCE!" Wespe said. The tank lurched forward into movement and settled right off the The Conspicuous Consumption.

"Hey, Ricketts" Wespe radied the commander of the tank to her side. "I got your sweaty back covered. Let's go kill some squids."

 

[Born-On-Board]

"Is that Wespe?" Ricketts shouted into his horn as the tank rocked again, sending another plasma-impregnated shell spinning towards some unfortunate enemy position, "500 DA Conspicuous kills more than BONE! Cover be damned, I won't let that old jalopy outperform the brand new floor model!"

The interior of the tank rocked again, but this time a with a loud, metallic clonk! noise that signaled that the tank's armor had just reflected some monstrous piece of enemy ordnance, no doubt with the aid of the VSP shields in front. The armor was taking a pounding, but the turrets and hulls built by Nepleslian Armaments and Munitions held firm, a testament to the rugged durability of the Maximus-class vehicle.

"Sanders, get hot on that gunlaying." Ricketts shouted, alive with the fury and noise of combat. This was the most animated anyone had ever seen him, a stark contrast from the usually milquetoast, shuffling creature everyone knew. "I'll be damned if I lose to that Abwehran lesbian!"

Combat, it seemed, brought the best and worst out of everyone, and it was surprising sometimes just who passed the test.

 

[ShotJon]

"That little...." Wespe said to herself and then grinned. She called the man back. "You are on! You better the money ready!"

The tank shook as Fastclaw fired a shell at the turret. Wojtek quickly opened the breach and slammed the next shell into the gun. Keeping the aim on the turret, the whole time the wolfman fired again as soon as he got all clear sign on his targeting screen. The kohanian growled as he fought.

"Wojtek, as soon as Fastclaw gets the turret, slam Ap in. I want as many of the Power Armours dead as possible." Wespe said. "Just shoot the ripper shweinhungs between the eyes."

With that Wespe grabbed the control of her Dual HPAR gun turret and aimed it at the closes power armour. She did not wait and unleashed a barrage of coin-shells at the enemy.

 

[Gunhand4171]

2-3 Wraith

The came to a halt with the rest of the column as the enemy tower came into view. Rex crossed his arms as everyone stopped. "Sarge, you need to look at this..." He stated rather calmly for the loud and boisterous man.

Conrad pered at it through the one of the monoeyes. "Damn..." He said as he started receiving orders. "2-3 copies all sir." He replied as he sat back in his chair. "All right, our job is to protect our marines. Get this bucket moving so they can follow behind us."

Rex flashed a wolfish grin. "Yes sir, let's get some more kills." he said as the Wraith roared to life pulling ahead of their marine detachment.

Conrad opened his comms to his group of marines. "Listen up boys and girls, follow us into the eye of the storm!" He said closing the comms and turning back to see his targets. "Myra, load HESH rounds continuously until I say to switch!" He said as Mina already began firing away with her coax drummed away at the enemy turrets.

"HESH loaded Sarge!" Myra called as she prepped the next round. "Let's kick some ass!" She called to her sister as Mina began sighting the target.

"Fire one!" Mina called as the HESH round was discharged. She sighted in the turret again as Myra loaded another round. "Fire one!" She called again as the cannon roared.

"That's it! Wraith advance!" Conrad called, taking up the duty of manning the coax. Spitting machine gun fire at the enemy combatants headed for their vehicles.