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[NSMC 309th] Mission 1: Finding Hope

Outside the Fort: The Death Field

Looking at the cyborg and then back to the smaller form of the doctor, Fang Yin just cursed under her breath again. A second sniper could pop up any minute now, from any number of roof tops. And there was no guarantee that those mortar rounds she called in wouldn't land on their own heads, by accident...

Patting themselves down in a desperate search for just some kind of wire or string, the soldier was just drawing a complete blank. Golem armour wasn't much of a fabric-heavy outfit. They had their axe ready in hand, but nothing to cut...

...nothing, except...

"Medic, please cover me!"

In one quick motion, Fang snapped open their chin strap, removing their helmet whist the gas mask stayed in place. A pair of densely braided pony tails clattered against the side of her metal-clad face, before being immediately grasped and severed by one careful slide of the axehead. Tied together, they were just enough to reach around the man's burly torso, which she tightened by spinning the weapon's hilt to form a twist-tie.

Helmet back on, with a head feeling strangely lighter. All that was left to do was hold up her palms to the other woman, as if to say, 'I don't think I killed him, that's the best you are getting!'
 
Outside the Fort: The Death Field

The response Fang got though, was the bark of Fergus's rifle as he stood up from his crouched position behind her and covered for the demolady. He was busy reloading and counting shots after that assault, while they attended to the wounded.

While he got his hands dirty cleaning animals, and cooking meat, he had no stomach for human flesh and knitting it back together. It was the line between life and death that seemed to lock him and make him uncomfortable. Thankfully, his assignment was cooks...well support more or less. So support he would do.

He alternated between standing up, firing, ducking back down, moving to a new location firing more, then repeating this maneuver with a few variations to keep the sniper on their toes. Whether it was moving farther than he had before, staying in that same spot, firing longer, or firing shorter he did his best to make himself unpredictable while the others did their jobs.
 
Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

The stitching red lasers tore into the pirates, one moment the large group standing there and the next they were simply gone. The tank was saved, Juno was safe, and then the beast of Nepleslian hardware churned with life. The engine block roared behind Ella, the machine's systems changing from red and yellow warning signs to all-clear greens. Step-by-step, the tank rebooted and the Maximus finally let out a roaring whine as the beast's turret came to life. The clunking of Juno along the outside could be heard, the man opening the hatch and dropping down not too far from Ella as he brought the hatch shut and locked it.

"Good job... sleeping beauty might not be able to handle the gun, but you sure as hell are keeping us in the fight, Private. Now get back to the driving block. I'll take control of the gun remotely from here."

The booms outside the tank were just as distant now that the Maximus was operational again, though the pirates were definitely wavering after that light show of death.

Outside the Fort: The Death Field

The large native simply grunted after the hairniquet was in place, hefting his gun up. The call for support hadn't gone unheeded... but it had come without any radio back. The shunk-hnnnn~ of the mortar's round could be heard, the sniper's boom sounding as one of the distant natives far beyond them vanished into a fine red mist. The non-injured man could be seen rising up along with the other locals almost immediately, their weapons sounding loudly as both shot and slug flew and pelted one of the hills. Only but a moment after, the hiss of the mortar on its descent could be heard, smashing into the hill and throwing something clear.

A suit of power armor, makeshift in design, was skittering into the air on the back of shoddy thrusters. The pirates had based it off the design of the VOID, based on its looks... but unlike the Nepleslian suit, it shimmered away with the help of some sort of camouflaging stealth technology. And as fast as they had been revealed, they vanished just as the other machine gun barked up at him. They were running, likely unable to fire without breaking the technology... but that meant they had time. And as the mortar's destruction had smashed apart a hill in the once-urban warzone, they could finally see it.

Through the devastated landscape, not but a hundred meters away, was the supply bunker. And the pirates were banging on the door trying to get in still. The sight of it had the three females and the still uninjured man up and moving out of their cover in the same formation with the large hulking figure at the front and the trio in a low combat stance moving up in a wedge behind him. The armless male was even hefting himself up, slinging his M2 around his body despite the missing limb. Nestling it in the crook of his arm and giving a grunt, he got up and out of cover to hustle up and into the rear of the formation.

The locals were going to push for the bunker, through a suppressed group of twenty based on the rifles and such visible above the trenchlines. It was time for the 309th to step up and put a boot to these pirates. The Power Armor-wearing sniper was still missing, the lack of his weapon taking lives oddly quiet... but it was drowned out as the group's tank roared to life once more and the commander's turret opened up. Juno had turned out, the male grasping the gun and giving a blitzing strafe of the gun along the enemy's back. The trio of men at the bunker were punished and pummeled against the wall in a bloody display, crumpling down and rolling as his voice barked along the comms.

"Let's pick this up. I want that bunker! Command just came in and told me there's an Aggressor in there! Private First Class, you're going to pilot it and put a stop to that fucker with the big gun with the support of those locals and those other two! Nepleslia forever, got it?"
 
Outside the Fort: The Death Field

An aggressor, huh? Now that was more like it. Hopefully they wouldn't get there and find out it was still in packaged bits.

Fang Yin bolted upright, seeking to follow the cyborg natives in assistance of the 309th's own glorious rumbling behemoth. Using the sling to hold her rifle in one hand again, a plasma grenade was readied from her belt. Thundering along towards the enemy, instead of just hiding in some hole, somehow made her feel a lot less vulnerable... Still, it didn't stop her from thinking about that bastard power armor popping up and turning her inside out. Right now the best thing they had going for them was still the distraction caused by the tank.

"Private Zhou here, I'm advancing!" A short, snippy burst towards both Fergus and Lieutenant Ricket. They might tell her off, but initiative was initiative. The bout landed with the slam of her shoulder into a brick wall further up the street, upon which she took a look backwards in order to cover the others as they moved up. Didn't know the medic's name or what her orders were, but Fang was hoping she'd come along too. "No contacts yet, but I got overwatch!"

Bunker was so close she could taste it...
 
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Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

Breathing and sweating heavily, Ella sat in Juno's seat for a solid ten seconds before finally registering what the Lieutenant said. She simply nodded, grabbing her little Hanako before moving up to the driver's seat. Her hands were still quivering as she reached for the controls, the mental images of the pirate's evil grin replaced by the faces they made as they were struck with the LPA. The faint screams she could hear through the console and the thick hull of the tank rang in her head.

This is the first time she'd kill.

Ella looked over at Hanako for some sort of guidance or cheery word. The doll just stared and smiled at her in response. There was a intense stare off for that hung silently for a moment before the Private nodded. "You're right. They were bad guys. They needed to die..." She mumbled to herself before grabbing the controls and getting the tank moving, her hands much more steady.
 
Outside the fort. Death field en-route to bunker.

Releasing a breath she didn't know she'd been holding after the distraction, Minnie started jogging up to the injured militiaman, frowning as she matched his pace and looked at the tourniquet. She couldn't argue the thought logic, Hair had enough tensile strength to stay tight enough. She never would have even thought of it herself! but it still gave her a shiver down her spine and the brutalist simplicity of it.

"Um," She started. "When we take this bunker i can repair some of the damaged tissue until you can stop by the HQ that we set up back in the fort, so i can fit you for an augmetic." She increased her pace, passing the man ever so slightly to take scan for her fellow female marine who had struck on ahead, and the other Golem armored marine who had provided the distraction earlier.

"It could take a couple weeks for all the parts to come in after we take measurements, And we'll need to fit a machine-glove and repair whats left of your arm after all. And since they haven't told us our operating budget yet it could take a little time."

Noticing the marine starting out ahead of the others Minnie took off at a quicker pace, but not before yelling behind her to the injured militiaman "Just have your commander send the right forms to a doctor "Valentine". And a lieutenant "Janus", that's our CO's name!"

Her comrade had finally stopped ahead of her, taking static on an overwatching position gave Minnie the time to throw herself into cover beside her.

"Doctor Valentine, 309th surgical support." she nodded, catching her breath and double checking her carbine to make sure she wasn't doing anything foolish like running around with the safety on. "But my friends just call me Minnie, Or Doc."
 
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Death Field

"Yes, sir!" Fergus relayed back over the comms once given the order. Seeing Fang and their newest recruit run ahead shouting behind her, Fergus put a hand on the remaining shoulder of the man that thoroughly impressed him. "Neplesia's here for you, we'll get this shit straightened out."

Arming himself with his gun, Private First Class Fergus Mallan ran forward, with Fang covering him, towards the bunker that his lieutenant cleared ahead. The cook kept his head low as he ran through the suppressed group of gunmen. Nearing the door his vision began to tunnel , the viscera the tank left behind falling to the way side as the door became the only clear object before him. Digging in his heels, the Golem-bound half-ID-SOL, all heart of Nepleslia put every bit of his strength into charning. Bracing up his shoulder and bicep, Fergus barreled into the door hoping to knock it open.
 
Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

While Ella had her resolving conquering of scoring her first true kills, Juno was acting as a staunch beacon to the squad and the elite locals as the Maximus lumbered forward. Specifically, he lowered back into the tank and took full control of the turret atop the tank with his commander's panel. His voice boomed from tank's internal microphones just above the warm-up of the chain-gun turret.

"More pedal, Private! Enemy entrenchment, left of the hill! Ram them back into the fucking dirt!"

The high-pitched whine and 'Fart of Nepleslian Freedom' sounded even louder as it covered the charge from Fergus. The suppression was brutal, forcing pirates to clutch their weapons and hug dirt. One poor bastard popped out to try and fire what looked like a laser artillery piece, but a push of a button had ensured a different death than the one they would expect. A swap to the reserve ammunition ensured the incendiary rounds impacted him and sent him down into the trench... just before the popping and white cloud of phosphorous erupted upward and out of his hole. Men came rolling and screaming, their bodies doused in flame as they tried to find refuge from the chemical burn. It was a massacre, but one that wasn't without answering. The thump of a familiar sniper rifle smashed the shields along the Maximus' right flank, the array flickering and giving warning signals within.

"Right turn, emergency stop at forty degree shift!"

Outside the Fort: The Death Field

The progress of the tank was likely to be shorter pressed, while Fergus simply barreled ahead of the more cautious squad. The suppression had kept him safe, both Fang and Minnie watching him vanish within the bunker as the door gave way to that half ID-SOL strength. While the other locals moved around the sides and flanks of Yang's shove, the women darting to and fro as they made an augmented mess out of anyone they stumbled into the same hole as. The other ID-SOL let out a yell as he rushed ahead beyond them, his machine gun roaring almost as loud as the cannon that supported them. Three pirates poked out from a foxhole to meet him, their guns pumping enough lead into the large brute that it seemed to be fatal... only for him to throw his large rifle right at one of their heads. It broke his neck with a pop and a horrible bend, the local leaping ahead to deliver a brutal front kick to one of the others. The last pirate was screaming and cowering in fear, Fang able to line up a shot through her covering attempts just as the large militiaman crushed the head of the unfortunate pirate against the slope of the deep hole like it was some rotten potato. It only took a moment for Fang to snag a kill if she wanted... though the uninjured of the giants was turning to attempt to take it.

Before his head simply exploded into a horribly large red mist to the bark of the anti-tank rifle. His form simply stood there for a moment before he fell down and atop the pirate, crushing him beneath the sheer weight of his body no doubt. The armless ID-SOL, moving alongside the pair of 309th members, strangely only scoffed.

"This is why there needs to be more of us... if the rest of the locals were ID-SOL, then this battle wouldn't have needed better guns."

Hefting up, he lined up a few bursts along the nearest trench to the medic and Fang, clearly trying to offer them the chance to take the enemy's right flank!

Outside the Fort: Storage Bunker

Now inside the prized bunker, Fergus could see why it had been so vital. One entire wall of the building was lined with medical supplies of various capacity. Corporate bought, more than likely, but easily on par to some of the best emergency field gear any traditional Star Army had. Another wall was lined with more of the local's dusters and Nepleslian combat vests, likely meant to arm more of their elite troops. It was simple to deduce that the lack of it being fielded meant there were likely no elites within the militia forces to protect the planet capital until the NSMC or the NSN arrived. The only ones who were around seemed to be assisting them now...

But the real prize was the massive, crouched down Aggressor 1B with an AOP locked in its massive fist. The suit was large, almost like an Origin mecha... but it was the greatest power armor that came around in terms of Nepleslian combat power. It looked operational, even sporting the ERS systems and plasma chaingun turrets on its shoulders. The sickly vibrosaw knife was in its sheath upon its chest, the suit's minimal layer of dust indicating that it had likely been put here to act as a training system to the militia to teach them the principles of PA and vehicle operation. One oddity, however, was that it didn't have a very standard paintjob. Its greens were up to regulation, while the chest plate bore what looked suspiciously familiar.

Across its chest was the hooded cobra, mouth open to bear its fangs. And on its left shoulder, the black star with gold trim of the NSMC was printed beneath a bold '309'.

Among their various assets redistributed across Nepleslia, one of the original Aggressors that belonged to the Armored Division had ended up on the colony world. It seemed that the stretching of the 309th might have been a lot more than just its personnel and equipment to other groups... but the battle now was the time to focus. The Aggressor might bear angry-visage of Whooper the Friendly Cobra, but above all it was a warmachine that had the missile packs and deadly drum-fed weapon to smash the hell out of their pirate foes.
 
Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

Ella kept the tank chugging forward as her thoughts went over the images of the killings. The looks of shear awe and surprise before the terror and pain of being struck with a bolt of pure energy occupied her thoughts as she mindlessly shifted gears and began speeding towards the entrenchment Juno had pointed out. As much of the lives she had extinguished, Hanako was right. They were bad people intent on doing bad things. If they had gotten to the tank...

Her train of thought was interrupted with thud against the tank's shields and Juno's yelling. Ella's hands flew into a fury she halted the tank's charge. the tracks on the tank itself slowed down but the slippery mud and blood kept the tank moving. "No no no no no no no..." The tank driver continuously muttered as she tried rotating the tank hard to meet the sniper. The sudden rotation caused the tank almost drift and tip slightly, kicking up a small wall of mud to rain down on the entrenchment before settling back flat in front of the entrenchment.

Ella let out a sigh of relief. She somehow didn't flip the tank. She looked to Hanako for her approval but her usual perch on one of the consoles was empty.

"Shit."
 
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Outside the Fort: The Death Field

Fang Yin took the shot on the last straggler, assault rifle sounding like a glorified popgun in comparison to all of the heavy ordinance flying about. The allied cyborg who had charged in there was turned into a similar cloud of red mess just a moment later, and the cumbersome woman was on her belly again, expecting another close-range assailant that never materialized...

...Minnie?... Did that conversation actually happen somewhere inside of this malestrom, or did she get hit harder in the head than she thought?... Fang thought she had replied at the time, but now realized in hindsight that that the words were completely inside her head.

The gorilla was on total autopilot. The mask pressed to her face disconnected her from reality, telling her that this was just some sort of video game, nothing more. A thundering heart, burning lungs and numb fingers were all just a part of this otherworldly experience. The bits of intertwining gore littering the concrete all around her were just a dream, definitely not fact....

On her feet. A look back to the medic reassured them they weren't alone in this mess, at least.

Charging forward, capitalizing on the opening that the cyborgized local had offered her. Another plasma grenade was thrown forty-five degrees to her right, down into the trench. Axe was out again in their left hand immediately afterwards, mindful of the logic that they were going to end up on top of somebody running from that blast...

Once they were in, a full auto burst would leave the remaining stragglers nowhere to hide, trapped in a straight line of hard earth and wooden barricades.

Or, that was the plan, anyway.
 
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Even with the goggles and mask obscuring her face, Minnie still shrank back when the woman shot up to her feet and looked back at her. An almost savage radiance wept from her, creating a knot in the poor medics throat as she croaked a barely audible apology, and forcing her to avoid eye contact at all costs or risk somehow provoking an attack from someone that a moment ago she was sure was her ally...

And yet at some point, Minnie realized. When she was first deployed from the HQ. Minnie had been prepared to simply find and secure this bunker as if it where a sure thing, That it might be as simple a task as showing up and scaring off some scavengers with her modern weaponry and armor. But now, she discovered as she slowly got to her feet as well. That she was overwhelmed by all the explosions, dismemberment, and oversized adrenaline jockeyed grunts.

Gathering her courage, and risking a glance back up, Minnie found herself alone as her counterpart charged onward, Axe in hand.

Suddenly being left with only her own company to rely on after her revelation forced her forward, Slaved to her terrifying counterpart. The only logic being that either through pure skill or pure luck, The two marines Minnie found herself enthralled by had made it this far. So motivated by a strong sense of fear and duty, Minnie shouldered her carbine and forced herself to keep pace a safe distance behind the berserker towards her objective.

Her carbine darting left and right on a swivel as if she could somehow cover every angle, Minnie at least took some solace that her weapon was shorter and designed for mobility and close combat. and her size, even amplified by the golem armor, still provided a smaller target compared to her allies. She might just make it out of this in one piece if she allowed the pure embodiment of "shoot at me" to draw all the fire while she stayed safe in her shadow and provided covering fire, Or at least she hoped...
 
Heavy Metal Nightmare

Tim's vision had not yet decided to return, everything ached. He felt pressure on the right side of his body, as if he was being pushed against the bulkhead beyond all reasonable doubt. He felt for his arms and legs, and their pain and numbness told him that they were still there. He tried to lift his right arm to feel at his face, but instead numbly slapped himself.

The feeling from his hand registered something wet, and still somewhat warm. It didn't smell like piss, and was very metallic feeling to him as he registered what it was. Everything in his mind was beginning to turn back on slowly, and suddenly he coughed and groaned. His eyes floated lazily open and the gunner for a mere second wondered where he was.

There was another loud cough as the gunner came to, "FUCK!"

McClosky was now ignoring his pain, his bleeding, and all sorts of other things as he ducked his head back into his sites, saw the lack of anything in the tube, and threw himself off his seat. His legs were near jelly, which lead to him banging his arm on the gun breach and bouncing against the back magazine door. He let out a sharp grunt and turned around and smashed the open switch.

Once the door had cleared the magazine tubes, Tim pulled out one of the shells marked with white letters that said 'HE' before flipping it in his arms and shoving it into the open gun breech. He pulled his right arm out of the breech and smashed the closing switch with his left. As soon as the audible metallic click of the breech door shut, and the noise of the gunner throwing himself back into his seat and optics did his voice ring out again,

"Main gun, High Explosive, UP!"
 
Outside the Fort: Bunker

Fergus keyed over his com to the group, "Sir, I found an Aggressor. I'll ask for forgiveness later, but I'm suiting up. I'll com back over when I've reestablished the link. Mallan out." With that he killed his com, found the quick releases on his Golem armor and watched as his leggings and armor jettisoned off of his body. Removing the DataJokey from the remains of the Golem, he made his way over to the Power Armor.

Removing the helmet to the Aggressor was easy enough, his training had kicked in and his fingers flew through the outer rim with a dexterity that surprised the cook a bit. Once the helmet to the Power Armor was released, the sound of pressure releasing from the suit as old dusty air came hissing out. The chest of the Aggressor lowered itself, as Fergus coughed through the dust and waved his hand clearing the air. But he wasted no time as he heard the battle raging outside. Sliding into the cavity for a Nepleslian, Fergus adjusted himself and begun the start up procedures. Though he was far more familiar with a Hostile, the Marine would manage easily enough with the standard training they all had.

As the Power Armor flickered on, and Fergus got the com access codes in from the DataJockey, he stored the slab in the chest cavity in front of his own body. I'll have to store some snacks in here later....if I get the chance to get in here again...Picking up the helmet for the PA with it's hands, he donned it and started speaking to Lieutenant Juno "Sir, I'm in the Aggressor and it's--" Just then the words on the heads up display flashed the words "GOLIATH" then stabilized followed by "ONLINE" flashing before steadying a second then disappearing. "Fergus and Goliath online, rejoining the battlefield."

Picking up the AOP, he looked over the ammo it carried in his HUD, saw the wall before him and made his own door out onto the battlefield.

Seeing the older Medic attempting to make a distraction for Fang, he offered his own distraction in the effect of unloading the Plasma Chaingun Turrets in the offending direction, careful not to hit any friendlies. While he set the Monoeye Sensory System to be on watch for a power sniper shot that would most likely be aimed at him, then primed the AOP to have a missle ready to blow that damned sniper to oblivion should they reveal themselves.
 
Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

"About time sleeping beauty," Juno's voice cut out loud even over their communication devices as the male blistered another barrage of phosphorous rounds along the enemy trenches opposite of the infantry, "We got an enemy trench line gasping for any sort of air! Drop it on them like a Yamataian call-girl's ass on a lap!"

The destruction outside, while they were unknown to the driver's no-doubt soon-to-be-freak-out, was enough of a distraction. Though the pinging of their shield arrays sounded loudly as it was put through continued stress of just the sheer amount of fire that the pirates form their conflict and the surrounding fields of fire were throwing at them. Juno's metal hand reached out and secured the just-awoken gunner's shoulder with a firm grip, the commander raising himself up to the actual commander's periscope for once.

"Ten degrees beneath the horizon, to our eighty degrees right. We're near one of the trenches, but I want you to fire the instant you see you hear the next pop of the rifle. We'll smash one of the nearby hills with so much debris, even an invisible power armor will be highlighted among the dirt!"

Outside the Fort: The Death Field

The destruction from within the tank might have been quiet, but the arrival of the once-mighty Aggressor in the hands of another member of the 309th had resulted in a fierce break of enemy morale. They'd been firing at Minnie's position in a roar and shower of chipped cement and scarred rock, only for the bunker's wall to explode outward and outright kill one man with a rebar through his neck. One of the men had turned and tried to fire, the shots peppering the Aggressor without any form of true threat. Fang's grenade went off and fine-powdered his companions in the trench segment beside him in such a manner that he was left standing nearly head-to-toe in blood. Her axe punched right through his breastplate, digging into bone and flesh and catching on the armor despite the space-age alloys that made the weapon capable of such a mighty task. His weight dragged Fang all but a step forward, her immense stature letting her withdraw it before he tugged her to the hot and plasma-splattered trenches where it ate away at him almost immediately.

Others had tried to rise up after seeing the Golem-wearing woman get such an open kill, but their chests had new cavities seared through them with the Aggressor's very aggressive covering fire. The MSS had no hesitation determining friend from foe, scanning for the tell-tale stealth flicker. And when one shot smashed his shields and deflected downward into the dirt with an explosive breaking of earth near the right foot, it locked onto the moving signal quickly. The missile whirred to life loudly, hissing off and into the air as it chased the fading signal. The suit was already glimmering back into invisibility, however... and it was all reliant on finding contrast if they wanted the missile to land.

Minnie, however, wasn't completely devoid of fun during the engagement of the sniper suit. The few survivors of the pirate forces trying to hold the bunker could be seen to her far flank, the ones that were positioned near the trench Ella had driven the Maximus right up alongside. They were readying their weapons and starting to climb up and onto the tank, so close that Juno and the crew likely hadn't been able to pick them up. Their backs were to her, the lives of four men hers for the taking... and a challenge from fate itself to see if the doctor could do more than just save life now that she was joining her skilled murderer allies.
 
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Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

Tim nodded and lowered himself back into his seat, he ran a quick check of his station as if to make sure everything still worked before he slaved the coaxial and main guns back to his console. With a little icon flashing on his screen, he had total control of the gunnery again. He nodded to himself before orientating himself to look at the current turret degree.

Leaning into his optics, Tim followed the direction callout. Once the turret stopped eighty degrees from where it was, the gunner dropped the barrel down ten degrees. As soon as the barrel settled, Tim made finite alterations to make sure that this HE shell would detonate the hill, anyone on it, around it, or otherwise kick so much dirt up that the missiles would have to be blind to not see.

Listening, the gunner got quiet. One ear was listening to the outside, waiting for that gunshot that would signal death.

Pop...

Tim grinned as his finger glided onto the firing switch, "Go fuck yourself."

BOOM.
 
Outside the Fort: Death Field Flambé

The cook in the cockpit changed the MDSS over to active mode after having found the signature of the sniper, and turned to follow the direction the missile from the AOP was heading. Preparing to fire 200 DARTs to compound the damage, the tale-tell sound of a KRAKOOM was heard and felt from the tank. The Aggressor rocked and shifted a bit, but Fergus got it back under control and took out the PA's Vibrosaw Knife ready to go hand-to-hand with this bastard should he have to.

The cook armed the mini-missles nonetheless, then waited for the reading from his MDSS itching to fire at a moment's notice. "Where are you, you son-of-a-bitch," he whispered to himself, "I'm ready to flip you over like an over done burger."
 
Outside the Fort: The Death Field

Shambling backwards from the burning husk before her, and then belatedly ducking as a thunderous salvo flew over her head, into the renewed enemy waves at her back, Fang made a horrifying wheeze through the mask of the combat armor. Just catching her breath sounded like some monstrous abomination rising from the underworld.

The thing was, the Golem blocked impacts, scalar waves, pressure shock, and bright lights... but not heat. Fang's adrenaline fueled sweat was nothing compared to the plasma fire and hot metal exploding all around her. Not to mention the armor was also caked in half-burnt blood.

Elements of sanity swam in and out, as she tried to figure out where to go next. Was that Fergus' voice over the intercom? Where the hell did he manage to find a power armor? Where had the robotic native that had helped her out gotten himself too? Fang wasn't so sure there was an enemy left to flank...

"...Minnie?... You still in one piece?..." The deep voice of the woman spoke through parched breaths. Had to put the axe back into the sling to reload her rifle, backing up just slightly, so that they would be shielded from view inside an empty machine gun parapet. "That spray gun didn't get you, did it? We got cover down here!"

Of course, their cover inside the trench meant they also couldn't see what the medic could see behind them...
 
Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

With no orders currently being barked at her, Ella decided to scramble out of her seat and looked around for the little doll that she held so dear. Despite the small size of the driver compartment, the nooks and crannies between the consoles and controls left a multitude of places for the little to fall in to. She checked around the pedals and levers first to make sure she wouldn't get any mud on Hanako if Juno wanted the to move. When that failed, she checked around the consoles to make sure Hanako wouldn't get tangled and torn among the wiring and edges of the consoles. When all else failed, she looked back down the small corridor between her and the rest of the tank to make sure the others weren't within reach to defile Hanako.

But all her searches yielded nothing. Her inconsistent cursing was cut off by the sound of the main gun firing. She was about to turn and curse when the little Hanako revealed herself as she feel from atop one of the higher consoles as the tank shook.

"Stop doing that!" She hollered at the little doll as scooped it up and returned to her seat.
 
Outside the bunker

Stop, Pivot left; Gun up, Clear and move.
Stop, Pivot right; Gun up, Clear and move.


Minnie had been following the basic tract drilled into her by her training. She glanced occasionally to ensure she wasnt falling off track and keeping a wide berth from the carnage,
Things had been going rather uneventfully, mostly consisting of her getting startled at objects that looked vaguely human shaped in her peripherals until the terrible sound and pull of the allied power armors secondary armaments overhead forced her instinctively to the ground,

"Holy shit!" She squeaked, pulling herself shakily back to her feet. "Why didn't we use that in the first place, We could ha-"
Minnie paused, her cybernetic eyes hyper enhancing to their limit as details usually distorted by distance or interference sharpened to uncomfortable detail of the 309th's Maximus that had been deployed in sortie before Minnie and the other HQ staff.
The tank has pulled into her line of sight, and up alongside a trench line. And while she might have lingered on the mighty Nepleslian beast for a moment in any case, It was movement in the trench that had drawn her attention more so as a small team of enemy infantry seemed to materialize from the trench and had started scaling the tank, unannounced to its occupants and crew.

Minnie, out of earshot keyed up her mic and communications but found herself un synced to the 309ths proximity or command net, and with inadequate time to do other than scan she let her training take over and dropped herself to one knee, shouldering her carbine and sighting down.

The thought of shooting someone in the back made the bile rise in her throat. She had thought to fire a single round; a warning shot, to scramble or pull the groups attention from their action. But upon pulling the trigger, the carbine opened up cyclic, forcing her to let down a salvo of fully automatic fire, her finger locking on the trigger while she fought to control the pull of the weapon and keep it on target.
"S-Shit!" She cursed when the weapon clicked empty. She fumbled with a magazine, and performed a very poor gross motor skill reload before sighting down again. The muzzle flash and gas disruption had unfocused her cybernetic eyes and hidden the outcome from her, But as they re-adjusted she found the tank unmolested.

She focused without thinking on a blood spot on the side of the tank and fought the urge to vomit when something behind her that sounded like her name suddenly registered and pulled her attention gratefully from the scene.

The grunt had finished her spot of carnage and might have called to her, she assumed.

"Yes?!" Minnie shouted, the sudden realization that she was in the open and completely without hard cover forced her towards the larger woman and into the trench line with her.

"I think im going to be sick." Minnie mumbled as she slid in beside her, a soft click and a connected icon on her goggles onscreen HUD let her know it had found the 309ths Comm Frequency.
 
Outside the Fort: Sōkō Neko

The explosion of heat from the tank barrel was followed with immediate destruction, the high-explosive shattering the hillside and spray dust over the battlefield as Minnie and Fang found their place in cover. But inside, while the gunner seemed to be slipping back into unconsciousness while Juno looked through the periscope, a more loving reunion was occurring in the driver seat.

A small, smiling doll was being cuddled tightly to its owner, the mini-Hanako plush seeming to know all-too-well the wanton destruction of non-Neko life going on around the tank. Within the belly, the roar of the powerful engines was so deafening that there wasn't any way to identify that men had been gunned down alongside its hull. But the doll knew. And as Ella return to the seat, she'd feel the warmth of the engine almost like the fabled embrace of her hero.

And, of course, notice something dead ahead. A vehicle, a slow-moving and custom-made tracked APC. It was angling a gun at the Maximus, likely some small 40mm cannon based on its size and the mounting around it. The crew could be seen in its open top, their fronts only slightly shielded. The other vehicle was small enough and likely lacked the type of tonnage to resist her mighty machine. And the smiling doll made it clear, beckoning with its black eyes.

It wanted blood. And so did Juno.

Outside the Fort: The Death Field


The streaking of DARTS, the explosion of earth, and the overall carnage was making the battlezone into a hellscape for the two Golem-strapped ladies. They could see the streaks of mini-missiles as they were shook off their chase, crashing into various rock formations and zipping into the heavens with futile detonations as they passed. A steady stream that worked in tandem with the initial shot and the disorienting HE shot to do one thing. Bring the sniper to them.

The large ID-SOL male returned to the pair just as a shimmering form came flying out through the dustcloud toward the Aggressor. The smaller suit was wielding a large, powered axe of some horrible garage-quality that smashed the Aggressor's shoulder with enough force to cut through a concrete wall like it was butter. The Aggressor's 309th tags didn't even spare a chip in the paint, but the mobile PA brought the weapon around as he spilled low like a cat facing a bear. A desperate slash of the weapon clinked off the hardened armor of the Aggressor's hips, giving the cook a warning alarm at last. The systems seemed almost to be possessed by some ecstatic marine's spirit, whirring to the max despite the obvious down-time. Nepleslian machines were built to fuck shit up for years without even taking a break. And sitting around on the job hadn't slowed this beast. Fergus could read the pirate's desperate acts. Just like a cat against a bear, it was the hopes of someone desperately unable to keep escape but simply hoping for an opening. It would only need one hard, focused thrust of the massive sword-like knife to punch through a suit as light as the custom-rigged one the Pirate donned.

But while the pair of PA were locked in an absurdly close scuffle, Juno was booming out over the radio as the main turret turned and began to fire its phosphorous payload around the incoming pirate armor.

"Private, forward! Infantry, I want you aboard the tank! We'll shield and ferry, you shoot and bury!"

Though he couldn't hear it, the one-armed militia member gave the pair a look before resting on the shaken doctor and the amazon axe-wielding grunt.

"We need to keep pushing," he paused briefly as one of the females from earlier appeared from the dust cloud with her weapon raised but immediately lowering it, "The reports are that the pirates are breaking. The missile strike hurt them and this is breaking their backs. If we can push just a bit more, the Fort will be secure... and then we can worry about checking who's dead and who's alive."
 
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