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[NSMC 309th] Mission 1: Finding Hope

Legix

Legix

Well-Known Member
The air shook around the cargo-module, everyone strapped down or in at one of the various positioned around the module. A single Hray carried the lone platoon, the others remaining in atmospheric and sub-space orbits to cover the descent of the other. While those atop the tank had nothing more than walls to watch, the tanks internals were showing a shared video feed. One that Juno himself was certainly watching as they cut through the cloud and moved lower by the moment. Violetta's Assets, a grand stretch of plains and grasslands with megacities standing like trees in a field with the stretches of slums that made up much of the gaps between them. Blue skins and green grass indicated the light hadn't made much of a difference in the growth and development of the habitable world, distant mountains growing to block some of the visage. They had to be somewhere near the western front, choosing one city in particular that seemed nestled between three massive bodies of water.

The ship rocked powerfully, the motion doing little to disrupt the people inside thanks to gravity manipulation, but it had to adjust its course as it came down. Skyscrapers spewed industrial smoke and were lit-up even in the morning sunlight. The Hray flew slower and slower as it lowered, passing one of the tallest buildings as it rounded around toward a massive military complex on the water's edge. Compared to offworld military hub-worlds, New Bernese's capitol garrison was small... but it was still quite the place to arrange and help manage the planetary defenses from. Juno smirked, his metallic hand clasping the radio transfeeder as the ship descended. It was speeding up even as the rooftops grew closer and it made its close flying path, a clear sign that was explained as the feed showcased an explosion along the base's northwestern perimeter.

"Reds attacking the local military," he paused while the radio cackled its transmission to all of the platoon rather than just his crew, "Going in hot. Planet's governor is down there with locals. Let's make them understand the difference between militia and the real Marines."

Rather than just wait humbly, he secured himself into the commander's chair. The Hray flew down into its final stretch, hovering and the sounds of bullets and explosions sounding as the shields protected it from stray fire in the conflict below. The box lurched for a moment, the metal module dropping a few feet with an almost deafening boom. Not but a minute passed before the module hissed and readied itself fully to release the platoon. Grasping the radio and keying in the planetary comm-codes, he reached out over their channels to the local military's feed.

"Governer Abraham, this is Lieutenant Juno Rickett," he paused, the largest door to the front of the tank slowly but surely opening upward to reveal a base filled of wounded soldiers missing limbs or covered with blankets to indicate death. The death toll had to be high, based on the body count alone. The command barracks, a two-floor building that appeared styled after some ancient primitive ranch with steel plating, indicated the name of this base as Fort Puckett, within the city of Puckitall.

"Our support staff are going to assist with wounded and move to the command barracks. We're moving to support your local riffraff."

After a moment, a feminine voice picked up with the sound of gunfire around it. It seemed the Governer wasn't in the safety of the command barracks, nor was it an apparent male like the name might have implied!

"Very well, L-Lieutenant! W-We need help on the Northwest Wall! These bandits have some rocket rifles that we don't have anything to match!"

"Well," with a smirk, the man turned out of the hatch and motioned the infantry to ready themselves before barking over the radio once more, "That's why we're here! Three-Oh-Ninth, we're deploying! Private, get us moving! Take the base's supply roads to avoid any wounded!"

Fort Puckett

The outside of the cargo module was a hellscape. The bodies that filled the northwestern courtyard that led toward the command base was only one part of the fight. Fires burned and people screamed from the northwest wall as large blast doors continued taking beatings. The door was thick enough to stop traditionally found equipment, but it was more than soft enough to go down if they put a proper HE round into the sucker. The sounds and hissing of slug-throwers and energy weapons made it clear that this probably wasn't the average group of thugs attacking a planetary capitol's base.

"Infantry, I want you to dismount once we reach the wall. The turbo-lifts appear operational near the gatehouse, so take those up and assess the militia's status. Support us from the walls. Corporal, make sure we're set to HE rounds for maximum effect. Fuckers are going to learn why our Division used to be a menace to spot on the battlefield!"
 
Tim began to live up to his nickname, ordering an HE round to be loaded into the chamber. As the loader worked mechanically, the Corporal began to pull safeties on the guns, readying to blow shit up. "Got one in the chamber and it is hot, hot, hot!" He laughed maniacally like a giddy school girl. He looked over his equipment and took hold of the gunner control, bobbing his knee up and down as he looked through his scope.

"Coaxial and Main are ready, Left-tenant, just give me something to show off to." He gave a combat fueled grin from behind his scopes.
 
The ride down didn't instill much confidence in the driver. Ella spent most of the ride down, clutching the small figurine and muttering in a mixture of Trade and broken Yamataigo. She closed her eyes and waited for the rattling and shaking to stop. She could see herself in a field, far away from any warzone or claustrophobic tank. At the other end of the field, she could see the most splendid figure. She began to mutter herself: "Hanako-"

Then the she heard the Lieutenant barking at her, the dream collapsed, and she was back inside the steal box of death. "Damn you..." She muttered to herself and she brought the tank roaring to life. "R-Roger that, sir." she said more normally before rolling the massive tank out of it's container and down the roads.
 
"Orders received, sir."

The tone was immediate and steely, but Fang Yin had lost that subtle 'v' smile representing their internal optimism, even during the claustrophobic container ride down from orbit. Wasn't the place of some rookie private to question her superior officer, but she would have preferred to remain on top of the tank, where she could give them better eyes-on the foe. Enemy probably couldn't penetrate the armor, but that didn't mean they were immune to being tracked... Did the friendly locals even have anything able to tow them back to base?

She also had a myriad of grenades attached to her chest, and using them was something you didn't have to worry about when your friends were all safe inside a metal box. Oh well. Sometimes the river of life just flows where it flows.

After giving Private Mallan a rather concerned look, Yin began to talk to not some tiny plastic figurine, but the tank itself. A prayer for excellence in stability and protection, bidding the ancestors of the brave chariot to imbue it with their fiery immortal power. After saying a few lines of such text, she then produced a sharpie and leaned to one side, writing three large seal runes directly onto the upper right side of the turret.

The full ceremony with all the candles and incense would have to wait for later. A weapon did not truly gain its own soul until it was imbued with blood.
 
Fergus gave a nod to the air and commed in, "Yes, sir."

Though they weren't moving in the ship, but the butterflies in his stomach still fluttered around. The mix of nervousness, anxiety, excitement that squirmed inside of him threatened to lose his breakfast. He held on though. Relinquishing one hand from his rifle, he fished out a single folded up photo and opened it up. It showed an older woman and large man smiling at the camera. The woman was aging far gracefully than should be allowed, and the man with still so much muscle and youth in his body that it betrayed his older visage. Private First Class Fergus Mallan smirked at the picture of his parents, now reassured of his duty and put it back in his pocket.

With the spirit of Nepleslia and the heart of an ID-SOL revived in him, he placed a hand on Fang's shoulder and gave her a gentle pat. "We've got this. 'Good vibes', right? Nothing to worry about, trust in the Lieutenant," was all he could muster before the tank roared to life and chugged forward.
 
Fort Puckett, Northwest Wall

The rumble of the engine filled the crew's ears as much as the ones of the soldiers above. Of course, not as much as most of their sound-proofed comm-units. With his hand on the commander's controls, his eyes watched through their displays as the tank moved closer to a sealed gatehouse. The marines would no doubt hop off, leaving the tank to rumble alone with just the crew... but the Maximus was far from ill-prepared. Militia at least had enough basic training to understand that, the gate opening wide to allow them to a site of carnage. Nepleslian-backed miliita, marked by their green uniforms and some silly cowboy-like black dusters and hats, were holding trenches and pillboxes carved into the hard rock and concrete that had made up much of the base's surrounding terrain. Energy and kinetic weaponry alike hissed and smacked the area around them, small dings and sizzles sounded as fire harmlessly bounced off the massive tank's face. An old beast or a powerful Neko woman, the Maximus was a bastion that immediately changed morale as militia looked back to sight it. The bandits, a hodgepodge of outfits and guns more so than even the local defense force, fired a rocket toward the tank... but it never reached it. The Maximus deployed one of its shields ahead, the energy flickering as the explosion rolled around it like water over a rock. The shield vanished from sight, having done its job easily, and left the scorched earth ahead as a reminder to the now uncertain opponents that this wasn't just a world they could pick on anymore.

Juno clasped his radio, the display showing the origin of the still-shocked attacker. It was a small hill that had been littered with debris as impromptu cover... ideal for an HE round.

"Two hundred meters, seven degrees to the left and one degree down. Knock that hill out from under them and let's push forward."

---------------------------------------------

Fort Puckett, Atop the Northwest Wall

Back on the wall, Fang and Fergus came to an at least decent site. Wounded were clutching open wounds and severe burns, a shortage of medics trying to tend to them. The wall had almost castle-like shielding to protect shooters... but all their weapons looked like they were from an ancient time where weapons weren't even able to hurt power armor. A small cluster could be seen atop the gatehouse, a mortar in the back being argued over. It seemed that these cowboy-like trench warriors had been so unorganized that the backline support stopped providing mortar fire. It had likely been the reason many of the rockets had been able to get put on target and knock cracks or even holes in the upper sections of the wall. There was a firing pit ahead of the mortar, positioned above the gatehouse where the heavy armor stood. From there, they could scout the battlefield and get to work... and maybe get some punches in and get this rabble organized!
 
From the moment that Fergus had patted her on the back, things quickly seemed to become much more euphoric. Any shy attempt to respond to him was blunted by the explosion hitting the forward shields, after which Fang-Yin snapped back into the mindset of her training and ran completely on autopilot.

A pulsing heart guided her boots across a crunching field of gravel, and soon enough the infantry team was within the battlements of some ancient castle type structure. Difficult to remember the uniforms of their allies when her chest was such a barrel of fire, but the insignia on some dumped kit looked about right.

"Nepleslia, 309th!" She bellowed at the nearest passing partisan, hoping that he would summon their own commanding officer more than anything. "Are those weaponized T-shirt guns still working, or are they just for show?"

It was actually a genuine question, and not just a joke. She had never seen a working mortar in person, no more so than black powder cannon. Only museum pieces.
 
Fergus was off of the tank and was waiting for Fang by the tank when the shell hit the tank's shield. Shoulder-to-shoulder, he stayed with her intent on not leaving a comrade behind. Storming up the steps of the wall, he leaned forward to use his weight of the power armor to use it's momentum. Skidding to halt on top of the wall, he turned on the safety of his rifle and slung it to his side, confident he could have it ready and used at a moment's notice.

After their demolitions expert announced their arrival, Fergus grabbed the person running by their shoulder, and held on pulling them in front of Fang. "Spare a moment of your time." Giving her a final pat on the back, a smile and a thumbs up, he ran up to the wall where other shooters were stationed. Putting his shoulder up against the wall, he shouted at the neared man, "Nepleslia, 309th, Private First-Class Mallan! What's your situation?"
 
Tim leaned into his scopes, his hands moving the controls to the turret. The great beast's tube turning to face the designated hill, he lowered the gun by a degree before he set the targeting system up. He aimed the barrel with an extreme taste of accuracy. Finally once he felt that the aim was true enough he did his prefiring spill to inform of his actions for 'safety' though it was more of 'Hey-You, I'm shooting the big gun.'

"Lasing...on the way."

He squeezed the aim system's trigger and sent a High Explosive round out from the tank with a loud *BOOM* and a shock wave that kicked up the dust around the tank. The autoloader began to emit a loud rumble and roar as it began to load another round from the magazine and into the main gun breech. A small red light was on McClosky's screen telling him that the gun wasn't ready to fire, after the shell was slammed home and hidden by the closing of the breech, the light turned green. He cue'd his microphone and reported as he looked into his scope to see if he hit his hill and how much damage he did, "Gun UP!"
 
Ella kept the tank stopped and stabled as Juno yelled out a target to the gunner. She counted to herself, not the time it took for Tim to fire, but every audible ping, tink, and hiss of some peashooter hitting the tank. The driver folded her arms and seemed to scowl through her sights at both poorly equipped sides, wondering if the bandits would eventually end up chipping the paint at some point.

Then as Tim's shot rang out and shook the tank, Ella decided she'd rather not wait to find out and roared the engine before moving the tank forward gently. The tank looked like it prowled among the lines as she drove along the road from the base, carefully stalking between the pill boxes and trenches as it waited for it's crew to pick another dumb bastard to wipe out of existence.
 
It was easy to think that a bunch of pea-shooters from the local militia and rebel dissidents were a joke when watching the battle from afar, but when a tank arrived on the field with power-armored support beside it they suddenly became a very big focus for those 'pea-shooters'. Lead rounds came zipping their way and meeting paint and shields as the whole unit moved for the fort itself.

Because of course they hadn't been able to drop the infantry element inside the walls where they were going anyways, Slon lamented in his mind. No that would make too much sense! Though maybe that was his nerves talking as even through his armor he could hear the familiar cracks and whistles of firearms going off and bullets in the air. He didn't mind the cracking sounds - he knew that just meant a weapon was being fired.

He knew what the -zip- meant too. Those ones bothered him.

Fergus and Zhou were already moving to where they were best-suited. Demolitions and general bullet-slinging.

Plus they had already announced them all twice over and Slon felt that being the only fellow in a hulking suit of power armor approaching the gathered wounded and dead made it fairly obvious he was a Marine medic. He found the senior-most looking 'professional' among the militia tending to the wounded.

"Hey! You!" He barked out, "Who's in command of your triage? Where are your meds?"
 
Fort Puckett Outer Grounds

The roaring explosion of the round was all it took to invoke the wrath of Nepleslia's war gods upon the pirates. It had acted out with a junk missile and had been rewarded with what might as well have been a strike as powerful as a Neko's spanking. Earth burned and was thrown around, the fiery hell obliterating multiple pirates in a messy mix of flame, blood, and metal. As Ella began to maneuver them, Juno smirked at the sight of a detached arm smacking the shielding comically.

"Good hit. Targets are deader than my last relationship."

His eyes scanned through the target possibilities as they moved forward. The road beneath them wasn't designed to hold the tank, so it was practically a mess as the Maximus threw ground and rock around them. But there was carnage even without the main cannon going to work. The laser defense arrays were prepared, waiting as they wafted forward for the occasional pirate to get bold and try to run up on them. The result was a nearly breathtaking laser zipping out and disintegrating chunks out of their body so fast they didn't realize they were deceased until they fell to the ground. It meant they had to be a bit more precise in using the anti-personnel defense, Juno handling the controls, but it also gave them plenty of time to look for new marks.

"Load another HE. Ella, there's an enemy-controlled trench and pillbox... roll over it and crush it. The natives don't need it anymore."

Fort Puckett, Atop the Northwest Wall

While it wasn't proper power armor, the sight of the Golem armor had resulted in more than a handful of locals looking at the behemoth-like armoring. The crew around the mortar looked to her, just as another man came running along the wall to rejoin the small crew around the old weapon. Setting down a crate, he popped it open as one of the grouping secured a new and somewhat modern type of ammunition. It was likely locally made, more modernized tracking software likely linked up to a tablet beside one of them.

"It's working, but... w-we can't get the tracker to function right! This far out, we can barely afford much better, but-"
"Ready!"
​
With the mortar quickly packed, they cleared the firing end just in time for the detonator to go off and fire the shell skyward and into the clouds. Its tail opened as it flew skyward, a booster kicking off as it sailed even higher... and then the pad was picked up. The man tapped at what appeared to be the distant trenches, the thump of a booster going off instantly. A terrifying shriek sounded across the battlefield, the round sailing down and slamming just beyond the trench into the dirt. It was likely not calibrated... but the large explosion blew out chunks of the enemy-controlled trench even with a near-miss. It was certainly powerful!

Not far away, however, the man near Fergus pointed at all the bodies with a scowl.

"This! They've got some crack shots out there and are taking away our best cover! We need to keep them suppressed so we-"

A high caliber round tore through the wall's defensive parapets, striking the young militiaman through the neck in a fantastic red mist and dropping him in an instant before the blood even began to properly gush from his body. The shot had come from somewhere out in the enemy line, but the instant boom meant that this "sniper" likely wasn't too far... but weapon was punching through the defenses like it was made of paper. If it wasn't found, it'd likely make similar work with a few well-placed shots at the Maximus... but, even with death, there was some hope. Slon found an older woman, her hair streaked with grey and blonde in equal shares, with her hat off and an age-old cross-shaped medical insignia as she tended to a woman gasping for air with a few bullet holes in her armor. Her body suggested that despite her aged face, she was probably quite the morale booster when not covered in blood from the elbows down.

"Our proper triage was lost when they siege'd the walls initially... behind and on the walls is all we have now. Our remaining meds... well..."

She rose up on her knees from where she worked, pointing outward to a currently inactive bunker not too far from where the Maximus and its crew had recently obliterated a few criminals.

"That bunker was where we had extras stored... the rest are either gone or being used up now. The Governer called for more, but damn if it's not paying off right now... we need the ones over there or else we're going to lose a lot more than some expensive pieces of equipment. I hope you proper grunts can either get us ours or put these bastards down..."
 
As Juno demanded it, the tank roared loudly as its driver switched gears and thrusted the tank forward towards the pillbox. There was a slight jerk inside the tank as it rolled forward, kicking up a plum of mud behind its tracks. Ella seemed to have a devilish grin herself before she noticed how some of the Hanako photos starting fall onto the ground from some of the vibrations. She tried to keep wait remained to the wall with one hand and steered with the other.

"20 Kph.... 30 kph..." She muttered over the radio. "40 Kph..." Is 50 going too fast? She thought to herself.

Then the tank slammed into the pillbox. It wasn't much of an up-&-over deal as it was more of a through-&-through act as the tank tore through the pillbox. Ella couldn't really hear any screams over the sounds of broken concrete and roaring steel as she drove the Maximus right through position.

Oh.
 
Parapets of not-so-much-life

Blood splattered over the torso and face of Fergus, shocked and forced down his breakfast. Not going to do me much good all over the ground, he thought. Turning he looked back over the field, giving a quick scan before ducking back underneath cover and immediately moving away so that he wouldn't give away his position. He keyed over to the tank's communication channel, "Lieutenant Juno, there's a sniper using anti-tank weaponry at West-Southwest of your current position." If the tank's ballistics didn't take care of it, they may have to rely on some careful artillery shots. He made his way over to where Fang was to fill them in on the situation.
 
Tim queued up another High Explosive round, the autoloader whirring with angry noises of mechanical prowess. He had just watched it get slammed home before the tank lurched as it hit the pillbox. His head rammed into his sights, which while padded were not enough to not hurt, and audibly complained while leaning over to look at the driver's compartment, "He said run it over, not give me a concussion!"

He leaned back into the gunner's seat, quietly adding, "Fucking boot drivers..." He checked his readouts and gave a confirming command,

"Gun's up!"
 
Space Castle Battlements

Fang-Yin whistled after observing the display of mortar shells, appreciating their tremendous shriek, and the impressive flash they made upon impacting the enemy positions. Despite her ignorance, using primitive armaments like this did impress her. Her own job was a basically just being a glorified grenadier...

The momentary lapse in concentration was shattered upon the eruption of sniper fire, and the burly woman reflexively swung her head towards Fergus, immediately realizing that they were now both a target of priority. He wasn't the one who was hit, but the splash of gore from a fellow soldier still left her with a bad taste.

Boots briskly made their way over to his position, catching both the end of his report, and part of the bunker explanation from the native female medic.

"Permission to advance and secure the bunker ruins to the west of the compound, sir?" Spoken out loud, in order to assure her comrade they were also aware of the situation. "I get the feeling standing around idle will bring bad portents..."

Felt awkward taking the initiative at her rank, but that was the task armored infantry were supposed to get lumped with. The tank got the open streets, and the footsloggers got all the nooks and crannies.
 
Within The Beast

With the destructive path of the Maximus, they outright devastated the pillbox in a show of dusty debris and smoke. The machine roared, pushing over the hill at Ella's command as it continued its trudging crawl of war. A mess of gore and rubble behind them had made it clear the enemy position hadn't had survivors within the construct. Or, rather, that anyone who survived was crushed under what hadn't been sent outright airborne. Juno had jerked, but reinforced hand had ensured there was no jerking from his command chair.

"Stop your belly-bitchin', Corporal."

The man's eyes looked among the displays, the pings and shimmers of their shields making it clear that the Maximus was still far from in any sort of true danger. But the relayed information of an anti-tank rifle did interest him, his hand raising as he grasped the controls for the array to deliver a nasty blast of searing laser to one bandit that had foolishly stood up in the trench behind them.

"Understood. We'll hunt the sniper. Have these locals push for the bunker with you. Show them what a true Nepleslian soldier is like."

Releasing the infantry comm-line, he'd retap the tank specific one and call out over the hum of their giant as it lumbered into its newest section of the enemy lines, well and truly on its own but having no reason to fear thanks to its disintegrating defenses.

"We have a sniper somewhere to our left on the west-southwest. Adjust our angle directly west and begin scouting for any sniper blinds. Station us down for now and take over the defense system while our gunner searches, Private. I got support to call in!"

Fort Puckett

"You spacers really are insane if you're going to run out there," the medic grumbled, turning her attention to the groaning individual beneath her, "But if you're going to go... there's still a few full squads out there. One in particular was holding our west-northwest line. A bunch of special snowflakes the governor has been overseeing, but they've not had any casualties against our superior numbered foes. If you can get to them, they'll help you reach the bunker and get the supplies back."

She'd duck down as a chunk of the parapet walls went flying away again, the sniper's booming weapon thankfully missing anyone as he seemed to be trying to hunt down buried targets. The thump of the mortar and its whistling sounded once more, the shell soaring upward... but this time it was different. The weapon's shell broke mid-flight, dispersing a small grouping of smaller and more powerful charges. The result was a nice show visible from even the wall as the mortar team delivered a smaller carpet bombing of the enemy-controlled trench.

"At least those idiots are getting better at aiming and using that thing... it's what we get for having our governor be so damn idealistic!"

The woman rose to her feet, turning her back to the pair of soldiers as she ran off and left the now silent soldier. Another dead, even with the mulching of the enemies in the trench. It was clear the militia was paying in spades for being underfunded and under-prepared... so if there really was a squad of them holding off without casualties, it had to speak leagues about their skills. But the hum of lasers hitting metal and the ping of bullets would keep the infantry duo on their feet. It was time to get moving!
 
Tim began to turn the turret to the west side of the tank, idly tapping his fingers on the controls and feeding careful movements and counter movements to scan for anything. He was glued to the inside of his optics, and was looking through thermals for heat and would switch between them and the regular ones at different intervals. All that could be heard from these changes was the *Click* of the switch that toggled between them.

The tank's turret turned towards the west-southwest, the coaxial 30mm Chain Gun ready to unleash hellfire at anything that looked remotely like a sniper's nest. The gunner's eyes were searching.
 
Ella pulled some levers and the tank slowed to a halt before she engaged the parking brake. There was a bit of a slide going from 60 kph to nothing but hopefully not enough to throw off Tim's aim. The little figurine seemed to tilt a little before quickly reached up and grabbed it before feel over. "Such a little mischievous neko..." she whispered to it before pulling out her datajockey and watching through the cameras around the turret with it.
 
Fergus hit the deck with the medic as the sniper fire came through, the feeling starting to become a little too natural in this environment. He nodded at the woman as she gave her advice and left them. The Infantry Cook turned back to Fang, "It seems we have our orders and a heading. We need to get moving soon, but see if you can't get the mortar team to support us. Perhaps have them concentrate on any reinforcements heading toward the bunker." He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, "Good vibes remember?"
 
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