Guard Dog
Inactive Member
(my first short story in the SA setting, although I did want to also make it over the top in terms of crazy action bits)
The rain descended through the air and permeated it with a thick humidity before beating against the shattered remains of buildings that protruded through the thick forest canopy. The audible pattern of the rain coming down ever gracing the air as the sound of wind rushing and whipping about abruptly became more notable, from the broken walls of the structures tiny stones and fragmenting pieces fall free into the air, some landing in puddles that had accumulated below creating a subtle splash and a circular ripple in the liquid that spread outwards. The broad trees surrounding the nearby landscape swaying with the motions of the wind as the dark clouds looming above shifted rapidly across the sky. Inside of one of the nearly broken building contained a cozy room in while a band of soldiers chose to take a rest, they were seated about a circle together chatting rather under their breath, everyone expect for the lonely mercenary seated at the end of all their crouched frames. as they spoke of where they were going to go the masked mercenary slowly turned his head and looked out towards the only visible exit to the structure, outside a small drone silently flew by for a fraction of a moment and the mercenary abruptly rises to his full height as the long flowing cloak waved about his body, reaching over and plucking up a massive recoiless rifle, finagle's revenge. The soldiers who were clearly now more notable as mercenary with their prevalent lack of power armor looked to the man expectantly but when he simply walked out in silence they returned to their conversation.
"..This conflict escalation doesn't leave much room for maneuvering with our craft destroyed"
"Damn right it doesn't" cried another more rambunctious one "We need to get our asses off this planet if we want to profit off this work"
"Where's the boss going" asked the third who retained an unshaven face
Walking silently as he held the rifle effortlessly in his right arm alone the mercenary strides out of the confined space and beyond the corner to where he had seen the drone only briefly, looking about from under his mask his mechanical digits tighten against the weapon at his side before he turned to then peer slowly back over towards the group; then off to the distance once more, casually and silently leaping up from the ledge as a distorted optical cloak formed about his body; the rain was a harsh mistress to that brand of technology there was barely enough light out to make it viable at all although rain greatly reduced It's practical aptitude.
....War.... War is hell, in a world where war can turn into fortune. Some try to turn the disorder of others into grace for themselves by joining the battle. But war..
War is hell
Not a moment after the mercenary leaped did a sizable hole get bashed through the opposite end of the room the soldiers had gathered in with a quick sequence of cracks as a three hundred milometer gauss cannon barrel is protruded through the wall; the circle of the uniformed men gathered turn in what was a fraction of a moment trying to push themselves up onto their feet and run in the opposite direction but it was to late as the barrel released a single cannon round with a bellowing detonation and hiss, It blew out the opposite wall completely as large chucks of debris were thrown into the forest, a distance away you could see several trees in a long line tilt over with whining cries of defiance as they impact the forest floor, in the even farther distance when the round impacted the ground it kicked up a massive burst of soil.
Back in the room all of the soldiers now lied on the floor with blood leaking from their corpses; none of them had even been in the direct line of fire from the weapon yet the raw pressure of the cannon round escaping the barrel had proved lethal to every member of the band it seemed. A few of the closer ones to it had even been disfigured by the raw level of the force, the ceiling on the farther end of the room started to give in shortly afterwards with audible cracks to couple with the beat of the rain as stones descended and started to bury the bloody faces of the men who once served as privateers.
The colossal cannon barrel slowly withdrew from the side of the structure as a the figure of a forest camouflaged M3 could be seen now, the massive monoeye lowering to gaze through the hole in a brief crouch as the gigantic frame shifted next to the structure with relative silence in contrast to the audible decent of the rain. It then took a single step backwards against the forest floor, water dripping down across the exterior armor of the Gekido while the head turned and It's systems searched about, it appeared to not be content with the result of the surprise attack or simply cautious. However not a long moment afterwards did the shields of the frame become prevalent as a round shot in return impacts them and is deflected off the armor of the right shoulder afterwards in a loud clack before eleven more rounds impacted the mounted missile launcher hardpoint sooner than the machine could even turn to face that direction, filled with flaming shrapnel it glowed red briefly before it detonated into the air marring the right shoulder heavily as the remainder of It's shield potential dwindled briefly, the M3 now reacted more briskly as it leaps back against the ground this time while emptying the remaining missile pod in the direction of the shots fired. A hundred meters away the mercenary "seemingly" holding the belt feed recoiless rifle leaps with uncanny dexterity through the branches of the trees as chaff danced through the air behind his frame, the missiles hissed through the air as they arched the remaining way over and burst impacted the forest floor as fire roared up and consumed a few trees, the rain hissing as it graced their blaze. Avian flocks could be seen rising up from the forest now to try and escape the madness below and back near the Gekido mech it appeared to compensate the loss of one of the shielding points to try and deflect the speed of the projectiles that were being fired, the pilot raging inside the cockpit at the fact that not only had he failed to kill the commander in his initial attack but he appeared to have separated himself from the men intentionally to produce a trap; he couldn't have been that far away. The advanced sensor package going quickly to work again as they discovered the mercenaries location atop the tree ridge not far from where the missiles had impacted, meanwhile the mercenary worked to line up his next shot, both boots spread on the vertical as he balanced on the branch, aiming down the sight at the mech who prepared to dispatch him but not from where it thought. The beast of a Gekido decided to heave the wounded right arm up and prepare a shot with the 300mm gauss cannon, the targeting solution came within only an instant and as the weapon fired the rain descending about the front of the gekido was scattered away as if the torrential downpour was suppressed momentarily; for that instant the pressure tossed the liquid aside as the cannons projectile roared into the forest not only "seemingly" destroyed the commander but also the tree he called his perch and the next several trees behind that till gravity dragged the projectile to the ground some half mile further on It's splintering journey before falling to the forest floor only to kick up the ground and plant matter alike in a distant eruption.
Yet just after this shot the pilot of the Gekido would quickly realize something was wrong as both the monoeye and his local sensors were showing the mercenary commander to still be present on that branch forward of him still and yet there was no longer even a tree there; this was simply impossible. The pilot remained unaware of the dart sticking out of the back of the machines head or of the fact that it had been providing false signals to the machine since the shield power was lowered just previous to the right pods destruction, he wouldn't have even remained aware at all of the fact that now something seriously going wrong with his hardware. Assuring himself that this was some sort of palpable trick at first he focused the sensors on the distant target and realized that instead of an individual two drones were prevalent down in that direction; no, then were was the mercenary located?.. Could it have been...
Bursting from the forest brush below the long cloak of the mercenary sways behind him as his mostly mechanical body runs with uncanny speed across the ground, the Gekido turned and shift It's head as the ultraviolet lasers released a rapid burst fire in a broad sweep that aimed closer towards the mercenary. Tiers of symmetrical holes being punched into the ground behind him before the weapon appeared to stop just short of where it would have turned It's opponent into a fried stain, the pilot roared with anger as this weapon system just decidedly failed in a critical moment of the battle as well a statistical impossibility for his origin frame. Knowing now that something was seriously wrong here but in a depth of rage the massive arm of the M3 beast came hurling down towards the forest grass only for him to see before his sensors that he should have crushed the mercenary right where he was visibly, and yet but an instant afterwards they now registered him sprinting up the arm of the frame carrying the recoiless revenge. In a panic the pilot engaged anti gravitational systems and the entire frame was launched up into the air briskly, the masked mercenary grasping against the shoulder plate with metal tipped fingers scraping against the alloy as they rise farther up and up and up into the air till they beat against the dark wet clouds which had been scattering the rain down against them, in a moment even beyond those clouds themselves as in the distance the star remained shining past the green frame and the deranged mercenary who held onto it above the clouds even.
Three.... Two... One....
The neural silhouette was now completed being conflicted with by the dart and control to the systems was rendered utterly unpredictable and useless as the head of the machine spasms and twitches about, the artificial intelligence that was supposed to increase pilot reflex and aptitude now worked against the operator as the quantum computer was thoroughly infected, control to the gravity systems were the first to die as they paused in the midst of their arc just reaching a few hundred feet over the cloud for the stars shining light to reflect across the machine and the many droplets to roll free, the mercenary released the shoulder in the middle of the air as he flew only a little bit farther while they lost momentum together, electromagnetic fields generated on the bottom of the mans artificial limbs allowed him to catch the machine under his boots and start to "surf" it down with rifle in hand. The long cloak whipping wildly behind his frame in a streak.
A pilots worst nightmare all happened at once as the machine detected a false command to release the cockpit, but just as the cylindrical cockpit became intertwined from the armor in a hissing spinning motion and before the hatch could even open the mercenary raised the end of the massive red finagles revenge and sent six rounds at point blank range through the cylinder which all punched holes in it effortlessly, saving the remainder of his belt now that the pilot was thoroughly turned into paste his chaff could be seen dancing in a long line behind the descending mech as it broke back down through the dark clouds. Just before that however the cylindrical cockpit was ejected from the frame in one of the conflicted neural commands provided by the dart. Sending it alone far up into the air still above those dim clouds to continue reflecting the glorious light of the closest star as blood streamed from the jagged holes...
War, war is hell.
The rain descended through the air and permeated it with a thick humidity before beating against the shattered remains of buildings that protruded through the thick forest canopy. The audible pattern of the rain coming down ever gracing the air as the sound of wind rushing and whipping about abruptly became more notable, from the broken walls of the structures tiny stones and fragmenting pieces fall free into the air, some landing in puddles that had accumulated below creating a subtle splash and a circular ripple in the liquid that spread outwards. The broad trees surrounding the nearby landscape swaying with the motions of the wind as the dark clouds looming above shifted rapidly across the sky. Inside of one of the nearly broken building contained a cozy room in while a band of soldiers chose to take a rest, they were seated about a circle together chatting rather under their breath, everyone expect for the lonely mercenary seated at the end of all their crouched frames. as they spoke of where they were going to go the masked mercenary slowly turned his head and looked out towards the only visible exit to the structure, outside a small drone silently flew by for a fraction of a moment and the mercenary abruptly rises to his full height as the long flowing cloak waved about his body, reaching over and plucking up a massive recoiless rifle, finagle's revenge. The soldiers who were clearly now more notable as mercenary with their prevalent lack of power armor looked to the man expectantly but when he simply walked out in silence they returned to their conversation.
"..This conflict escalation doesn't leave much room for maneuvering with our craft destroyed"
"Damn right it doesn't" cried another more rambunctious one "We need to get our asses off this planet if we want to profit off this work"
"Where's the boss going" asked the third who retained an unshaven face
Walking silently as he held the rifle effortlessly in his right arm alone the mercenary strides out of the confined space and beyond the corner to where he had seen the drone only briefly, looking about from under his mask his mechanical digits tighten against the weapon at his side before he turned to then peer slowly back over towards the group; then off to the distance once more, casually and silently leaping up from the ledge as a distorted optical cloak formed about his body; the rain was a harsh mistress to that brand of technology there was barely enough light out to make it viable at all although rain greatly reduced It's practical aptitude.
....War.... War is hell, in a world where war can turn into fortune. Some try to turn the disorder of others into grace for themselves by joining the battle. But war..
War is hell
Not a moment after the mercenary leaped did a sizable hole get bashed through the opposite end of the room the soldiers had gathered in with a quick sequence of cracks as a three hundred milometer gauss cannon barrel is protruded through the wall; the circle of the uniformed men gathered turn in what was a fraction of a moment trying to push themselves up onto their feet and run in the opposite direction but it was to late as the barrel released a single cannon round with a bellowing detonation and hiss, It blew out the opposite wall completely as large chucks of debris were thrown into the forest, a distance away you could see several trees in a long line tilt over with whining cries of defiance as they impact the forest floor, in the even farther distance when the round impacted the ground it kicked up a massive burst of soil.
Back in the room all of the soldiers now lied on the floor with blood leaking from their corpses; none of them had even been in the direct line of fire from the weapon yet the raw pressure of the cannon round escaping the barrel had proved lethal to every member of the band it seemed. A few of the closer ones to it had even been disfigured by the raw level of the force, the ceiling on the farther end of the room started to give in shortly afterwards with audible cracks to couple with the beat of the rain as stones descended and started to bury the bloody faces of the men who once served as privateers.
The colossal cannon barrel slowly withdrew from the side of the structure as a the figure of a forest camouflaged M3 could be seen now, the massive monoeye lowering to gaze through the hole in a brief crouch as the gigantic frame shifted next to the structure with relative silence in contrast to the audible decent of the rain. It then took a single step backwards against the forest floor, water dripping down across the exterior armor of the Gekido while the head turned and It's systems searched about, it appeared to not be content with the result of the surprise attack or simply cautious. However not a long moment afterwards did the shields of the frame become prevalent as a round shot in return impacts them and is deflected off the armor of the right shoulder afterwards in a loud clack before eleven more rounds impacted the mounted missile launcher hardpoint sooner than the machine could even turn to face that direction, filled with flaming shrapnel it glowed red briefly before it detonated into the air marring the right shoulder heavily as the remainder of It's shield potential dwindled briefly, the M3 now reacted more briskly as it leaps back against the ground this time while emptying the remaining missile pod in the direction of the shots fired. A hundred meters away the mercenary "seemingly" holding the belt feed recoiless rifle leaps with uncanny dexterity through the branches of the trees as chaff danced through the air behind his frame, the missiles hissed through the air as they arched the remaining way over and burst impacted the forest floor as fire roared up and consumed a few trees, the rain hissing as it graced their blaze. Avian flocks could be seen rising up from the forest now to try and escape the madness below and back near the Gekido mech it appeared to compensate the loss of one of the shielding points to try and deflect the speed of the projectiles that were being fired, the pilot raging inside the cockpit at the fact that not only had he failed to kill the commander in his initial attack but he appeared to have separated himself from the men intentionally to produce a trap; he couldn't have been that far away. The advanced sensor package going quickly to work again as they discovered the mercenaries location atop the tree ridge not far from where the missiles had impacted, meanwhile the mercenary worked to line up his next shot, both boots spread on the vertical as he balanced on the branch, aiming down the sight at the mech who prepared to dispatch him but not from where it thought. The beast of a Gekido decided to heave the wounded right arm up and prepare a shot with the 300mm gauss cannon, the targeting solution came within only an instant and as the weapon fired the rain descending about the front of the gekido was scattered away as if the torrential downpour was suppressed momentarily; for that instant the pressure tossed the liquid aside as the cannons projectile roared into the forest not only "seemingly" destroyed the commander but also the tree he called his perch and the next several trees behind that till gravity dragged the projectile to the ground some half mile further on It's splintering journey before falling to the forest floor only to kick up the ground and plant matter alike in a distant eruption.
Yet just after this shot the pilot of the Gekido would quickly realize something was wrong as both the monoeye and his local sensors were showing the mercenary commander to still be present on that branch forward of him still and yet there was no longer even a tree there; this was simply impossible. The pilot remained unaware of the dart sticking out of the back of the machines head or of the fact that it had been providing false signals to the machine since the shield power was lowered just previous to the right pods destruction, he wouldn't have even remained aware at all of the fact that now something seriously going wrong with his hardware. Assuring himself that this was some sort of palpable trick at first he focused the sensors on the distant target and realized that instead of an individual two drones were prevalent down in that direction; no, then were was the mercenary located?.. Could it have been...
Bursting from the forest brush below the long cloak of the mercenary sways behind him as his mostly mechanical body runs with uncanny speed across the ground, the Gekido turned and shift It's head as the ultraviolet lasers released a rapid burst fire in a broad sweep that aimed closer towards the mercenary. Tiers of symmetrical holes being punched into the ground behind him before the weapon appeared to stop just short of where it would have turned It's opponent into a fried stain, the pilot roared with anger as this weapon system just decidedly failed in a critical moment of the battle as well a statistical impossibility for his origin frame. Knowing now that something was seriously wrong here but in a depth of rage the massive arm of the M3 beast came hurling down towards the forest grass only for him to see before his sensors that he should have crushed the mercenary right where he was visibly, and yet but an instant afterwards they now registered him sprinting up the arm of the frame carrying the recoiless revenge. In a panic the pilot engaged anti gravitational systems and the entire frame was launched up into the air briskly, the masked mercenary grasping against the shoulder plate with metal tipped fingers scraping against the alloy as they rise farther up and up and up into the air till they beat against the dark wet clouds which had been scattering the rain down against them, in a moment even beyond those clouds themselves as in the distance the star remained shining past the green frame and the deranged mercenary who held onto it above the clouds even.
Three.... Two... One....
The neural silhouette was now completed being conflicted with by the dart and control to the systems was rendered utterly unpredictable and useless as the head of the machine spasms and twitches about, the artificial intelligence that was supposed to increase pilot reflex and aptitude now worked against the operator as the quantum computer was thoroughly infected, control to the gravity systems were the first to die as they paused in the midst of their arc just reaching a few hundred feet over the cloud for the stars shining light to reflect across the machine and the many droplets to roll free, the mercenary released the shoulder in the middle of the air as he flew only a little bit farther while they lost momentum together, electromagnetic fields generated on the bottom of the mans artificial limbs allowed him to catch the machine under his boots and start to "surf" it down with rifle in hand. The long cloak whipping wildly behind his frame in a streak.
A pilots worst nightmare all happened at once as the machine detected a false command to release the cockpit, but just as the cylindrical cockpit became intertwined from the armor in a hissing spinning motion and before the hatch could even open the mercenary raised the end of the massive red finagles revenge and sent six rounds at point blank range through the cylinder which all punched holes in it effortlessly, saving the remainder of his belt now that the pilot was thoroughly turned into paste his chaff could be seen dancing in a long line behind the descending mech as it broke back down through the dark clouds. Just before that however the cylindrical cockpit was ejected from the frame in one of the conflicted neural commands provided by the dart. Sending it alone far up into the air still above those dim clouds to continue reflecting the glorious light of the closest star as blood streamed from the jagged holes...
War, war is hell.
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