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!