Operation Kozan Ch 1: Heat Lightning

[ShotJon]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

Kaede took a deep breath. She way annoyed by all that chatter on the radio-line. Why were they chatting so much? Wasn't it clear that they had no explosives? Wasn't it clear that SeonJi-san's grenade launcher was for heavy support? Why all that chatter. It just steal focus. What if suddenly enemy troopers landed in front of them. Kaede found how both Itto-hei and Nito-hei were not concentrating a bad behaviour from a soldier. They had those ranks. And if the Itto-hei was explosive specialist, he should take some himself while still on the ship.

"How bothersome," Kaede could not help herself and said out loud.

 

[raz]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

If the crosstalk was bothersome, what they were in for next would elevate the feeling so far beyond reason that the squad’s entire existence would be put on edge. Personal frustrations, for those who felt them, would give way to a jittery, ever-present nervousness only amplified by adrenaline rushing through their bodies. It’s a mix of excitement and dread — alacrity and butterflies — that only combat can bring a person.

But that wouldn’t come for a while now as they continued to sprint toward the treeline. Their comrades from the XII Legion ahead were at that point, though, crashing through the creeping foliage under the heavy barrage of retreating NMX soldiers. Enemy fire grazed Daisy armor and bounced of personal shields in one instant and penetrated the Star Army protection of some in another, disemboweling Nekovalkyrja and civilian volunteers with such ease that they’d never get a chance to become veterans. The lucky ones would get another chance after Soul restoration in a new body up in the fleet.

By the time the makeshift unit following Takeo reached the edge of the jungle, the sand stretching out near its periphery was soaked a deep, muddy red. Armor lay writhing or completely still, scattered on blood-slickened leaves. Ahead, not 500 meters into the brush and vines and death, the advance seemed to have stopped. The Yamataian war cries had ceased and been replace with the din of weapons fire once again — silent if not for the plasma bolts, the murder, and the heavy anti-air fire thudding beyond it all.

“Eyes open — stay alert,” Takeo said, even though the chatter had died down by the time they were entering the jungle’s edge. She slinked through the brush at point, motioning for the others to fan out in a echelon from her right. The heisho’s rifle was at the ready and always moved with her scanning sways. On their maps, the unit could see a spot where the Star Army battle line broke, turning inward toward the jungle from both sides — it’d be a perfect place to make their breakthrough and sneak to the objective. A risky place, too.

Takeo began moving faster, carrying her gun at the hip as she jogged. “Let’s hustle!” she ordered as the sounds of combat grew more present. A gentle slope rose in their path and enemy fire could be seen spilling into the air at its crest. All of it was focused on a single signature, clear in the entire unit’s HUD. The heisho’s pace quickened, even in her march up the hill, of course made easier by the Daisy’s capable machinery.

With Aoi, Sakura, Seonji, Kaede and Takamori at her heels, she ended up with a crash right next to the hunkered-down Star Army ally. His identity signature registered as they came upon him: Santô Hei John Blair.

“Looks like you could use some help, hei. You’re going to come with us,” the heisho remarked as she pointed a thumb up at the blue enemy bolts searing the air and canopy above them, her steadily huffing breaths audible over the comms. She turned a helmeted head to SeonJi, just a few meters back down the slope.“Baek-hei, indirect ordnance on the aggressors. Air burst. Ute!”

 

[Revolver]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

As ordered, SeonJi knelt down and aimed her Type-35 into the air in front of them, seeding it with a quick burst of concussive grenade fire. The automated airburst ability of the weapon sent signals to detonate the ammunition as it neared the NMX units. With a second quick burst as the Daisy's finger pulled the trigger, more grenades were lobbed through the air at their enemies' position.

 

[raz]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

The Nekovalkyrja grenadier’s canisters soared into the air, tumbling over themselves as they arced up and over the forested slope’s ridge. Blue NMX bolts kept coming in their ceaseless deluge for a time longer and continued to send clumps of scorched mud flying around the Star Army soldiers. But things that go up inevitably come down. The grenades — Type 33 fragmentation shells programmed with an air burst sensor — exploded seconds after they’d come from the business end of SeonJi’s gun.

With a thundering, scraping boom, the deadly orbs shred into their targets with instant effect. The fire keeping them from advancing ceased and lifesigns blipping in each Daisy’s HUD blinked out of existence. Billowing ash, dirt, dust, and chunks of organic matter — trees or otherwise — came over the ridge now, following the sharp boom that caused it all.

Takeo stayed down for a few moments before rolling from her laid-down place to one where she could crawl. After she peered over the edge, she chimed, “All clear! Good work!” and then slid back, planting her armored butt in the forest mud again. With distractions absent, they could all see the felled remains of John’s comrades, motionless in their cold armor shells.

“Take a minute to collect yourselves,” she allowed, crafting a line through the topographical readouts of the area, which she subsequently sent to the squad. “We’re going this way. Going to stay quiet, too — active camouflage up when we’re out — and weapons cold.

“Anything unclear?”

 

[ShotJon]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

Kaede hit the dirt right next to Heisho and waited for SeonJi to do her work. That grenade launcher sure seemed very very deadly. Kaede wished she could have LASR with SLAG attachments she used to train with in Basic. That weapon was very simple and ammunition reliant, but SLAG was some thing that could really help out in a pinch. All those various grenades. Though grenade pouches would get in her way if she had to draw her sword. And she could not carry sword on her back, that was just utterly silly. Whenever she saw someone carry a sword on their back in the movies, she wanted to strange them.

When there was no more NMX, thanks to many explosion from many grenades. Kaede slowly crawled to man her HUD identified as John Blair. "Hello Blair-hei," she said in greetings. "I am Kaede Tamahagane, but feel free to call me Ojou. Everyone does. Are you okay? Aren't you hurt?" She asked him.

 

[Revolver]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

"Understood," the grenadier responded to the heisho as she lowered her weapon, staying there with one knee in the mud as she took her minute of rest. It surprised her how badly their side seemed to be doing so far. A lot of dropships not making it and a lot of good soldiers losing their lives. It was a little unnerving to be a part of this assault onto a position the Mishhu seemed quite prepared to defend. Still, as long as the 12th Legion was giving more than they got, SeonJi's spirits remained high.

"See?" the nito hei commented to Saito on the performance of her AGL, "That was good, right?" The nekovalkyrja was clearly fishing for a compliment from the yamataian, getting a few more words in before they had to get up and proceed silently.

 

[Warriorx1]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

John couldn’t believe his luck. In the briefing they had told him that this would be a simple mop up operation. “The enemy doesn’t have much fight left. We are going to hit them with overwhelming numbers and that will be the end of it.”

Well that certainly didn’t hold up. His Heisho were cut down as soon as the dropship door opened, leaving the remaining Santô Hei to fend for themselves. John suggested that they follow their last set of instructions before everything went to hell. After a very short discussion they pushed forward into the jungle. The enemy fire was much more intense than they had hoped and many of his comrades were cut down. As they got off the beach and passed into the jungle, John realized that only a few of them had made it that far. Unfortunately the NMX batteries fire didn’t let up as they tried to advance further into the jungle. John watched helplessly as his remaining squad mates were cut to pieces by the entrenched guns of the enemy.

John fired back, wildly, not wanting to expose himself too much to enemy fire that he had led them all into. He was brave, but not stupid. On his first combat drop, he was left alone, to fight a very determined enemy. This was not how he had planned to start his Star Army carrer. As rounds continued to blast the canopy above him, John found what little cover he could and hoped someone would show up to help him. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too long for help to arrive.

Looking up he saw six Star Army soldiers coming up behind him.

“Looks like you could use some help, hei. You’re going to come with us.”

Before John could respond one, the Heisho began to give out orders to her squad. They quickly compiled with a barrage of grenades. Seconds later, the area was silent, no more plasma bolts and no more screaming, at least for now. John breathed a sigh of relief.

As he gained his composure, one the newly arrived soldiers greeted him.

"I am Kaede Tamahagane, but feel free to call me Ojou. Everyone does. Are you okay? Aren't you hurt?"

John quickly checked his armor, and silently nodded his head negative. “…..No….I’m fine. Thanks for asking…” John slowly looked over to where his former comrades had been fighting and was sickened by the site. He quickly shook off the feeling and regained his composure once again. “Santo Hei John Blair. You can call me Johnnie, my friends do… nice to meet you... Thanks for saving me, if you guys hadn't come along I would be toast" John said in a very thankful tone.

The formalities were cut short when, John checked his HUD as the Heisho gave out new orders. “Understood! Ready to move out” responded John as he checked his gear preparing to move out. Hopefully his new squad would have better luck than his previous comrades. John wasn’t sure if he could watch another squad get shot from under him.

 

[Sigma]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

Takamori was still smiling beneath his helmet. "Not bad for a beginner, Baek-san. But those weren't NMX power armors. All of our evidence suggests that they pulled as much of their mechanized units here for a final stand. It is quite possible that there are Rippers, Mindies, Daisies, even Ravagers and Renders here. We'll see how well we fare against those," the young man replied. He kept his two forearm weapons charged. In these close quarters, they were more reassuring to him than the LASR and its SLAG.

These battlefield conditions were more suited to that forest loving bum of a friend, Honda. The man had been a Forest Ranger! He was so much better for this job than the one-time actor who now found himself trapped as a mere walking communications hub.

The Yamataian still found it strange that, standing at an even six feet in his Daisy. Their newest addition sounded like a Nepleslian. His accent and name seemed to suggest it. Yet the man was shorter than a couple of the girls. Weird.

 

[Warriorx1]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

John listened as the large Yamataian male talked. His confidence sank as he thought about the implications of what he was saying. "Excuse me Hei, but did you say that they're weren't any enemy power armors here? So we got tore up by regular infantry units?"

John wasn't sure what to think. If that was the case, he had really chosen the wrong occupation. Perhaps he should have stayed in school and become a physics major like his aunt wanted him too.

 

[raz]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

“This place is crawling with Reaper armors,” Takeo-heisho stated, remembering back to the beach and keeping up with command reports that were feeding constantly through her mind. "Just ask Ojou here! One almost got her!

“Haven’t seen any of the old stuff like Rippers yet, no, but battle stats coming in are showing that about a third of the NMX here are Nekovalkyrja in Reapers," she relayed, taking an unnecessary moment to fill in the squad. "So don't get too comfortable! The light infantry are armed with the same guns as their armored sisters, in any case.”

 

[raz]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

ON: SeonJi's Advance

The minute Takeo had given the group for rest was just about up. John, the newcomer, seemed good to go — if not good enough — and the others had either confirmed their readiness verbally or done so through their silence. And their progress couldn't wait much longer. The small hole SeonJi's grenades had expanded in the battlelines would likely fill up soon, so the heisho gave an assuring, bouncy nod and prepared to burst forth once again.

"Alright, listen up!" she shot, rocking back up off her rear to take a knee. "We're going to move out in ten second intervals with active camouflage activated. Oh, and don't stick exactly to the path I've laid out. Improvise. Just get to the end point! That'll keep us stealthier; remember that it's only a visual mask and they'll still be able to hear us trudging through the leaves and branches. And hope the Nekovalkyrja among them don't decide to switch to infrared vision!"

Takeo pointed a finger at SeonJi, her arm fully outstretched as she activated her own optical stealth and melted away from view. "You're first, Baek-hei. Be fast. Go!"

Bursting out first as the heisho gave the word, SeonJi engaged her suit's camouflage and hoofed it through the rough terrain. She entertained that flying might be quicker and some measure of quieter, but her Daisy would light up on any sort of real sensor equipment and the flare from the jets wouldn't be covered by her camo. With a bright cyan overlay on her HUD of the area, the red-eyed neko was focused on following the route laid out — but with the way the ridge was sloped, a longer path around might be safer and less likely to get her into trouble if things went south.

After crossing over the slope's ridge, SeonJi could see the destruction she'd wrought. The trees where their NMX assailants had been were as shredded as their pulpy, smouldering remains. If she wasn't so busy crossing the jungle at the fastest speed her armored legs would take her, she'd probably catch one of the two Reaper armors among the slain gurgling its last grim breath.

It wasn't lightly that she made the decision, both due to the fact that an easier route might be more well patrolled and the fact that SeonJi had a habit of wandering a bit too much when she deviated from an established route. Still, Takeo-heisho had wanted her to improvise. If they all took the exact same route, they might also be more likely to be spotted by the NMX. In any case, with baited breath the Nekovalkyrja slid down the easier path and headed into unknown territory.

Branches snapped beneath her feet and she felt the crunch of foliage, even though her heavy boots. It'd been eight seconds now — not long enough for another one of her squadmates to follow her yet — but already she'd crossed an impressive distance that put her out of sight of where she'd started.

At twenty-five seconds, a blip lit up on the proximity sensor in the corner of her HUD. It was large and moved slowly. No weapons were being fired too close nearby, but the thing's energy signature was significant enough to make the Miyamae Nekovalkyrja's mind run wild with the possibilities. It didn't really stand in her way, but SeonJi would have to be careful to avoid it as she passed. That is, if she didn't intend to fight it.

Avoiding a fight was what she had intended, but the massive energy signature was just too much of a curiosity for the Nekovalkyrja to leave alone. The best plan, she figured, was to pass it by and then come up behind for a peek — or at least what she could judge was behind from the direction it was moving. As the branches and ground gave way to her Daisy, she slowed down her pace to hopefully cut down on the noise. Let's see what you are, SeonJi thought as she stalked whatever it was.

When the thing came into view, she was more at its side than back. Now that she saw it, SeonJi realized that it could probably move much faster than it currently was as it tore and chopped through the jungle with its spiked zesuaium claws and smaller set of arms. But the metallic, glistening green Ravager heavy armor she now spied took its time for some reason that'd probably remain a mystery to the Daisy-clad soldier. It rose almost seven meters in the dense forest. Its superstructure and protruding weapons caught on vines, snapping them as they became taut against its resistance.

And then it stopped. Through her suit's audio feed, SeonJi couldn't hear anything but the sound of the mech's smooth hydraulic movements, its joints and pistons whirring in the quiet forest. The Ravager's four, beady green eyes that hung more on its chest than anything recognizable as a head narrowed, moving toward the area where SeonJi was and its entire mass tilted a little to follow, but just barely, like a predator carefully weighing whether it was worth the effort to divert its attention so much.

Releasing the mag lock on her zesuaium shield and hooking it to her arm, SeonJi slowly brought it up in front of her as she watched the sensor suite on the front turn towards her, followed by the rest of the massive machine. There was no way it didn't see her now. Camouflage or not, SeonJi was probably a nice juicy target for the insectoid machine. She didn't even consider that it might have a more important and significant mission as she raised the barrel of her AGL along the side of her shield. I can plenty take on powered armors, she told herself as she pulled the trigger, launching a volley of ovoid explosives at the Ravager.

As the grenades launched, the red-eyed neko engaged her thrusters for a short burst, throwing her to the side and hopefully out of the way of any reprisal fire. A small flip to get herself upright and SeonJi dug her Daisy's boots back into the muddy earth.

Just before SeonJi's finger compressed around the trigger she could see the behemoth armor's green eyes turn a bright, bloody red. The next thing she saw was a wild explosion — more brilliant and fiery than the experienced grenadier thought it'd be — and the Ravager was wholly engulfed in it. Flames hung in the air and lit the forest itself ablaze. But through the firestorm she could see the result of her work.

The NMX Ravager remained.

Despite all of the fire and all of the flames, the big robot carried on, standing immaculate as the intense heat around it warped SeonJi's visual perception. From its forearms, which were still raised in her direction, she could see its heavy shield generators glowing a hazy blue and extending protective energy barriers in front. That explained the oversized explosion, too, and all of its abnormally dazzling colors.

Still protected, the mech lowered its arms and let out a bellowing shriek from the Mishhuvurthyar within. The sound pierced SeonJi's armor — even past the Daisy's automatic sound dampening regulators — and seemed to fan the blaze around it in flickering, dancing waves. And then its cry ceased and the Ravager snapped back to a steady position on its monstrous pilot's command, poised with mechanical precision. The two gatling guns right above its chest-face began to whirl, as did a larger version of the same affixed to the heavy armor's fat, bulbous tail. Then, without pause or warning, the beast fired.

Though it hadn't reacquired the Nekovalkyrja grenadier's position yet, it poured munitions downrange anyway. The ceaseless burp of high caliber rounds heralded the void it would leave in the forest before it, turning the dense jungle growth into mulch in an instant. From its starting direction, the mech swept its weapons to the side, still holding down whatever triggers were within the Ravager's control area.

Not a second remained for SeonJi to think before the bullets crossed her position. She would have to act or die.

The explosion was much too big for it to have been a direct hit, SeonJi reasoned as she dashed around toward the Ravager's side. The pods on her armored calves opened to reveal a suite of subspace detonating minimissiles. A small volley of two missiles from each leg pod spread out to the sides, separating themselves from the area of the Daisy before zeroing in on the Mishhu powered armor.

Holding her shield up in front of her, the Miyamae Nekovalkyrja changed trajectory, dashing now straight at the Ravager, chasing her missile volley with another round of grenades aimed at her enemy's center of mass.

SeonJi's approach came from the monstrosity’s right flank after she'd positioned herself there with a dashing move to avoid its tearing fire. The two anti-shield rockets launched from her leg pods whizzed through the air ahead of the subsequent grenades, cutting little eddies through the heated atmosphere. If the enemy had a lock acquired, the missiles would have been no match for its gatling defenses. But without that protection they hit their mark, homing in on the smooth black shield generator extending from the Ravager's right arm and causing its blue energized protection to flicker.

Now she definitely had its attention. With the fury in the suit's eyes bright, the Ravager targeted the incoming Daisy, lunging at her as she dashed toward it. Whether the NMX pilot didn't notice or didn't care about SeonJi's three incoming grenades, though, was unknowable as they blasted into the arm with weakened shields and wracked its workings with ease. Still, this enemy suit was an amazingly fast construct. Before she knew it, the thing's hulking form was upon her and was close enough to swat her aside with a backhanded stroke of its right utility arm as she darted in, luckily in the place of the now-dangling combat claw she'd disabled.

Even inside a heavy Daisy armor, the grenadier could feel the hurt. SeonJi wasn't dead, not by a longshot, but was sent barrelling through the foliage and straight into a nearby tree. Her active camouflage flickered with the impact, forcing her into plain sight for a moment before the system recovered. Even in training, the Neko felt that back injuries in powered armor felt the worst. It was like the blows jostled the SPINE interface too much causing undue feedback and discomfort. The Ravager's speed had surprised her again and it was clear that trying to confuse it by staying close was not the solution.

With a quick fusion burst, SeonJi propelled herself upwards and released another small volley of missiles at the Mishhu from her legs, supporting another launch from her AGL. Aiming for a high branch to land on, the Miyamae Nekovalkyrja planned to use it as a launching point to evade the Ravager's next move.

The hei's ordnance found its mark again despite the enemy's gatling weapons belching more rounds in her direction. The missiles and a few of her latest grenades were torn apart in mid-air, but at least one explosive shell found its way in, hitting the already-damaged part of the Ravager mobile suit as its pilot threw its wounded appendage in the way. The thing roared again in anger and perhaps pain. In any case, SeonJi had riled it enough to force its hand. Now, it would end this irksome skirmish.

Suddenly, the great missile hangars on the NMX machine's back flipped open and the Star Army girl's HUD flashed with active lock warnings. Before anything launched from them, mini missiles sprayed from the Ravager's clawed feet, hulking body, and oversized ordnance carrier and filled the underbrush with their streaming, zipping rocket trails.

But something in SeonJi's Nekovalkyrja mind clicked in the fractions of a second that passed mercilessly into history, slowed and compartmentalized by her artificial brain. It wouldn't be another two-tenths of a second before the thing's full sized anti-fighter missiles were loosed from their weapons pack. But in that time, the launch bay doors hung temptingly open — even in the face of the Ravager's explosive darts singing through the air.

SeonJi squeezed the trigger, the trajectory calculations having been completed at lightning fast speed. A grenade lobbed just right at the gigantic anti-ship missiles situated in the long pods on the Ravager's back. There wasn't any time to think — just pull and hope to Yui that she wasn't laying down her life for the safety of the rest of her unit. As she fired, the Nekovalkyrja had instructed the IES to loose the MFMA spikes from the Daisy's leg pods. It was the only way she could think to possibly survive such a massive barrage of missiles.

As the chaff and aether countermeasures spilled out around her high up near the jungle's canopy, SeonJi's single, perfectly-aimed grenade entered the Ravager's weapons and propulsion unit through a missile launch tube. Before it could react, the grenade exploded, detonating the armed missiles ready to launch at its Yamataian harasser. Simultaneously, the mini-missiles buzzing at her diverted to the MFMA spikes that had just fired and engulfed SeonJi's Daisy in plasma heat without scoring a direct hit. But it was enough to momentarily knock out her sensors and cause her armor's life to flicker.

And so she fell, sailing down from the forest's highest foliage like a heap of rocks — that is to say, 'straight toward the ground' — as the Ravager itself erupted. The jungle washed with a superheated fireball fueled by all of the machine's ordnance and power sources. Inside, its NMX pilot hadn't the time to feel pain and let out another shriek, but even with her sensors disabled SeonJi could definitely tell that the world was burning around her as a sensation so intense it felt like nothing engulfed her back.

One-by-one, the Nekovalkyrja's Daisy's subroutines came back online. First, thankfully, life support reactivated and let out thousands of milligrams of painkilling treatment before her advanced body had a chance to recognize the pain. Then sensors. And then visuals and her HUD. And then comms finally returned along with propulsion. If she didn't want to continue to be cooked, SeonJi would have to leave, and leave fast.

Not 120 seconds had passed since she first encountered the Ravager — she still had a mission to accomplish.

With everything ablaze, the red-eyed Neko hurried to her feet. She returned her shield to the mag lock on her back while using short-ranged assisted leaps to clear the rampaging inferno and get back on-track. The fire itself would draw attention, and the rest of her unit would hopefully take it as a sign to stay away from the area. SeonJi instructed her IES to bring back the bright cyan arrow that pointed towards the nav point Takeo-heisho had set, then re-engage the active camo — and finally to display all damaged systems and armor points that she'd suffered in the attack.

Hoping that there would be no more encounters until she was reunited with everyone, SeonJi couldn't help but feel elated at managing to claim victory over such a terrifying opponent. There was a measure of satisfaction in showing proof of her capabilities and worth as a Ketsurui Zaibatsu Ningyo Heiki Model 29.

END

 

[Warriorx1]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

John anxiously replayed the instructions in his head. "Camo on, wait 10 seconds, move out along the route. Right Got it!" He thought to himself as he counted the seconds in his head. When it was his turn, he jumped up and over the tree he had been crouching behind. He moved forward, scanning the path ahead.

His heart raced as he made a split second decision to go left through an embankment which seemed to offer cover. Stealth was not John's strong suit but he tried to anyway. As he moved forward, he cursed himself as he stepped on a large twig which made a rather loud crunching noise under his armor. He paused for a second and scanned the area, hoping that no one had heard him as he clumsily made his way through the jungle.

After a quick visual scan of the area, he started moving again. Remembering his training, he made more precise moves as he waded through the jungle. He moved forward through the embankment until he reached a small clearing. He could see the objective marker on his HUD and realized that it wasn't too much further. Confident that he was almost there, John proceeded forward through the clearing, hoping his camo would conceal him long enough to make it through the other side.

 

[raz]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

John’s Advance

Wide beam tracers could be seen still tearing through the sky as John sprinted across the clearing, an immediate reminder of the carnage that still prevented more support from coming down. The coast had been clear when he started his dash, but without warning, a single lightly-armored NMX soldier stumbled into his field of view. On instinct, John stopped in his tracks and remained motionless as the vibrant green knee-high grass in this place swayed around him.

She didn’t move fast, but it seemed like she had a purpose. Her rifle was slung over a shoulder and a hard satchel hung from a thin strap over the other. Without a helmet, the dark-skinned Neko looked much less ferocious as the ones John had seen in battle so far. As he examined her, it became quickly apparent that the girl was hurt based on the way she held her side and the pained expression on her face that seethed through clenched teeth.

John had a decision to make: Let her go, kill her, or try and take her prisoner. The first two would be easy. The third likely impractical. Based on what he’d been told in training, she’d probably take his life if the situation were reversed. But at the moment, it was up to him. Something in the back of his mind itched at her presence. What could a lone NMX soldier be doing here?

 

[raz]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

ON: Kaede’s Advance

Kaede waited for the time when she should head out. With the broken helmet she had now, she had no HUD, but at least comms worked fine. She still could only believe her senses. She could still operate the suit, but all targeting help or scanners were out. The member of Tamahagane only had her eyes and ears. Ojou still knew where to head, at least to some point. They trained her to not only rely on the equipment anyway. With that in mind and her camo online, as her time came, she headed out into the jungle making sure to stay on the direction she needed to go.

If SeonJi had taken a very roundabout path, Kaede's was more focused and kept closer to the battle raging off dozens of meters to the left. Her pace was quick as she bounded through the jungle, using her eyes to keep watch for enemies that'd come in her path. For the longest time there were none. Unimpeded, she continued through the vines and the brush. But without a HUD and its sensors to advise her on NMX signatures around her, it was only a matter of time before the Tamahagane soldier came upon a group of light infantrymen passing through a ravine she hadn't been able to predict until she was upon it.

Ojou was luckily able to halt herself at the tiny canyon's edge and cease the crunching noises that came with her advance. Looking down, she could count eight of them moving in a column that placed each about two meters apart from another. They all appeared to be armed with Impaler rifles and, like her, were sneaking somewhere. In all likelihood they were trying to connect the two battlelines that Takeo's squad intended to traverse. From what Kaede could tell they hadn't noticed her yet, and she could probably let them pass without conflict.

Kaede had a little time to space, but the order was gun cold. Speaking out loud was risky, but Kaede could not use telepathy, because she could not see Takeo around her. If they would intercept her telepathy it would be bad. If she whispered, they might not hear them. That said, Ojou could not attack them. Heisho ordered cold-guns, so unless it would be in self-defense, attacking right away was out of the question. So it was either to let those Neko go, or report them and asked permission to attack them.

Kaede sighed in her mind and whispered over comes to Takeo-heisho. "Ma'am I have intercepted a small unit in a ravine. Eight members of enemy infantry moving through, trying to link the battlefields. Permission to engage?" She kept watching those eight Neko sneaking under her. "Amaterasu please don't let them hear me, please don't let them hear me." Kaede prayed in her mind.

The comm opened back up in Kaede's ear with a dull, low white noise that reigned for more than a few seconds. "Ryoukai," the heisho's voice finally answered. "You have permission to engage if it's required."

Then Takeo's voice was gone. Kaede could easily allow them to pass, yes, but there was no telling how long she'd be delayed if she did. Nor could she say that they wouldn't come upon one of her squadmates later. She watched as they slowly crept through the trees and hanging vines, only a few meters from each other but worlds apart when it came to on-the-ground awareness. From here, she could pick off one or maybe two of the evil Nekovalkyrja soldiers before they saw through her volumetric stealth, pinned her, and outflanked her.

Kaede had but a moment to spare. If she wanted to attack now was the time. And she indeed wanted to attack them. They could kill her, but what was worse, they could take one of her teammates by surprise. Or, and that would be even worse, they could flank the attacking Yamataians and deal some damage there. Kaede could not let that happen.

The Minkan woman took a breath, placing her rifle on her back. Her fingers wrapped around hilt of her PA katana. It felt as such a familiar move. She trained with that weapon often, while in basic training. It was heavier than normal sword, but that did not matter in her Daisy armour. Shooting them might have been easier, but last thing those NMX Nekovalkyrja would expect would be a crazy Yamataian 'ninja' swordswoman jumping at them.

With that Ojou lunged. She meant to land just behind last Neko in the column. That way she could attack with no worries about being attack from behind, while no more than one or two enemy soldiers could attack her. Unless they would not mind risking friendly fire. They only had Impalers and she had full shields. Who knew what kind of morale, those enemies had, but she hoped for low one.

Kaede landed just behind the Neko, her hand on the sword's hilt started moving. A simple iaijutsu move. Attack straight from drawing one's sword. Simple, yet deadly and surprising.

The crunch of foliage under Kaede warned the NMX soldier that something was nearby, but that did the unfortunate enemy no good. With a swift motion, the Tamahagane cut down her target with the bulky mass of her reinforced katana as her armor's optical camouflage flickered in its struggle to keep up with the quickness and variables of combat. Her strike clove the enemy from hip to shoulder and its hemosynthetic blood sprayed in a thick, splattering stream, drenching the jungle trees of HX-13 a bright red. The rest of the NMX unit was immediately alerted, not because of any dying breath — the slain Neko's lungs were no good for that now — but because of the ruckus.

"Contact! Contact!" one of them cried from behind its mask, trying to get a bead on Ojou. The santo hei would have enough time to strike again. But even if her next attack hit it would be hard to follow with another direct cut without being riddled with blue Impaler bolts.

Kaede was prepared to be shot at though. Her body started moving forward, just as her blade left the body of enemy neko. She crouched a little and caught the slashed body, hugging her with her free hand and picking her up, creating an ex-living shield out of her. It might make any sword attacks harder, but Ojou did not have only her sword. The sword arm went around the dead body, aiming at the closest neko. "Banzai!" Kaede shouted and fired her forearm gun, while still moving forward. Be fast and hit hard. That was what she had to do right now.

Fire from the Daisy's pulse energy weapons shredded the light soldier's helmet as it tore deep across its face. A sporadic, defiant burst from the NMX foe's weapon thudded against the body and straight through, striking Kaede's armored shoulder. She was lucky that it passed through her meaty torso shield and wasn't well aimed — the Impaler was meant to kill power armor, after all — but she felt the next hit more directly.

A shot stung on her left side and searing pain burned in her torso, aimed from one of the enemy squad members nearby. Carrying the dead enemy may have helped momentarily, but the volumetric camouflage did little to hide it hanging in the air like a puppet. Kaede realized that the Nekovalkyrja arrayed against her, if they were smart, would probably have switched on their infrared vision by now and could see her clear as day.

Kaede gritted her teeth. Finger on her left hand grabbed belt of her dead meat shield. She tossed it generally in direction of closest enemy and then hit her thrusters. Ignoring the Neko with a dead comrade flying at her, Kaede went right at next one in the column. She grabbed her katana with both hands and slashed at the enemy downwards as she landed in front of her. Speed. Her Daisy gave her that advantage, time to use it well. That was what Kaede thought about, trying to ignore pain in her chest.

The discarded body sailed at its former ally with the extra force that Kaede's Daisy gave her. Down they went in a heap, bloody limbs and ichor tangled with living, squirming resistance. The Tamahagane's next katana strike came down quick after that, slicing the terrified NMX infantrywoman down her center as she screamed in horror. The cut continued down through a fallen log, cleaving easily though flesh, light armor, and the forest's organic growth with equal ease. At the end of her strike, Kaede's flickering image was fully gone again from visuals but her assailants still saw the hot splotches of blood contrasting against her comparatively cool armor.

Three killed. Only five more to go.

"Concentrate fire!" Ojou could hear one of the enemies command just before more enemy shots splashed against her form. If she still doubted that they could see her, now she definitely knew. Even without a HUD to tell her the shield level, she could tell it was dwindling quickly. Kaede would have to finish this quickly if she hoped to live, especially with her head exposed once all energy shielding was depleted. Nearby, the soldier she'd knocked down with the body was beginning to get up and two groupings of two enemy soldiers stood standing to either side of her.

Speed. More Speed. As Ojou's blade went down, she turned and slashed at head of the neko who was hit by dead body. After that Kaede needed to be faster, her shields did not have time to recharge. The Tamahagane girl crouched a little and engaged her thrusters again. The blade of her weapon went sideways next to her as she tried to fly above waist-level to another Neko in line. Attempting to slice her as she flew by, Kaede planned to ram shoulder first into yet another Neko.

More blood spurted across the jungle leaves as the dazed enemy's head went flying just after she managed to recover and stand up. The next thurster bursts helped her get to one of the last groupings of two without much trouble and her blade cut cleanly through the first target, causing the upper torso to fall to the ground before its legs, guts and the mess that once gave the Neko spilling to the forest floor.

The other one was nailed squarely by the Tamahagane hei's bullrush and quickly pinned against the trunk of a large, wicked looking tree. Kaede could hear the Neko's ribcage crunch and the girl gasp for air under the scary NMX infantry mask she wore. A burst of shots impacted against the heavy shield mag-locked to her back, for now only hitting the parts that were covered by its extra protection.

Kaede's breath was as fast as one could imagine. The adrenaline helped her focus and ignore the possibility of death. She felt the impacts against her back and was glad she had that shield there. Kaede moved backwards, firing her forearm weapon at the hurt Neko pinned against the tree to finish her off. Just a short burst and then the girl turned and hit her thrusters again, going up into the air, hoping to make harder target for last two Neko. Her blade was tilted sideways as she prepared to land roughly in between the two Neko, all flight correction made on the go. The plan was to land roughly in front of both enemies and then do wide slash, aimed to kill both of them. It was a gamble, but no risk, no gain. Empress and Amaterasu protect me! Kaede though as she flew.

As she soared through the air, blue enemy shots traced the distance between them but none managed to hit. Her hard landing sent bits of bark and mud up with its impact and Kaede absorbed the shock with a spring in her knees as she made her final cut, catching the first Neko in its path with an easy deathblow. And though her attack followed through, it didn't slice into its last target.

Ojou could see the final enemy's tunic under her light armor adorned with a line of Star Army rank pins — no doubt spoils of war — as the NMX Neko leapt back with frighteningly fast reflexes. Two shots rang out and struck Kaede squarely in her Daisy's stomach and caused her fall to one knee. From the pain, the Yamataian could tell that her shielding had been broken with the last and could feel fluid expanding inside her armor.

Now, the enemy Nekovalkyrja took her chance and stepped forward, putting another bolt in Kaede's off-shoulder while she was down before throwing the Impaler aside and drawing the Type 31 saber that hung at her hip. All of her sisters had died and her mission, whatever it was, had become a failure because of one Star Army santo hei. She wanted to make this as painful as possible.

At this point in the short skirmish, Kaede was tired and every part of her body throbbed and protested. It seemed ready to give itself in to exhaustion and pain and injury even in spite of all the willpower she could muster. And as the NMX officer raised her own blade, the Tamahagane infantrywoman felt the Daisy's medical relief kick in. All of the sharp pangs in her gut and arm disappeared in an instant, filled by a sense of false normalcy brought on by the galaxy's most advanced pain treatments.

Kaede took a breath. This was it, she will probably die. At least that was how she felt, before her armour saved her yet again. With pain going away, Ojou felt new energy. She willed herself to get back into fight. Time stopped. Kaede's eyes watched enemy Neko with her saber raised savagely high in a single hand. In a second that blade would fall on Kaede's unarmoured face. But the woman, trained by Tamahagane samurai did not give the Neko that second.

Lightning fast, Kaede jumped from kneeling position to standing, her hands gripped the Katana for the last time slashing upwards. The blade cut off the enemy Neko's arm in the elbow, letting the saber fall backwards with fingers still wrapped around its hilt. The NMX officer looked rather surprised as Kaede lowered her blade and attacked for a second time, using a stabbing motion now. The tip of sword went through the body-armour the NMX light infantry wore. Good enough to stop a bullet from an assault rifle, but not a blade meant to cut into Power Armours. The sword ran right through the NMX Neko, impaling her through the heart.

Her arm gone and her effort extinguished, Kaede's last foe fell limp on her family blade. Bright crimson hemosynthetic blood sprayed from around her katana's entry and exit points, covering her armor and the jungle in death. She remained in her final position for a moment, letting the dead infantrywoman fall to the ground. With the NMX patrol defeated, there was not much left for Ojou to do but move along toward her objection or wait and contemplate the scene.

As the dead NMX Neko fell to the ground, Ojou made a few steps back staggering. She fell backward on the ground, breathing heavily. All those Chemicals might have killed the pain she felt, but the girl was still tired. Sitting there, she let her blade fall on ground and looked around. That was when it hit her. She just slaughtered eight Neko. Almost in cold blood. The view was horrible, bodies slashed open or even cut in half in few cases. Entrails everywhere. Kaede could not help but to cover her face with her hands. She felt the cold metal of her gloves and something sticky on them. Putting them away, she saw they were red, completely covered in blood of her enemy.

Shaking her head, Kaede quickly grabbed her sword. Sheathing it, she crawled to the dead Neko officer. The girl grabbed the Star Army pins stolen from dead Yamataian comrades. Getting back to her feet then, she moved on. She wanted to get out of there and fast.

"This is Tamahagane-hei," Kaede opened line to her team-leader. "I am continuing on route. Enemy was vanquished." It was just few words, to the point. But her voice did not sound so strong as it was before.

END

 

[Warriorx1]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

John wasn't sure what to do as he aimed his weapon at the enemy soldier. He had a good shot and could probably easily drop his wounded prey. But there was the possibility that the rifle fire would give away his position and bring any straggling NMX units to him.

Letting the prisoner go would be the best, easiest option. However he wasn't so sure that it was his only option. John lowered his weapon and began to creep behind the NMX soldier. She wasn't moving too fast so John figured he could keep up with her and stay in cover. If he got too far off the beacon or ran into trouble, he would break off his pursuit and head-back to the rendezvous point. It seemed like a rather good plan. Hopefully it would survive contact with the enemy.

 

[Gunsight1]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

Sakura had kept pace with the others as they advanced on the devastated jungle edge. When they had arrived at the bloody border between the beach and the jungle she had thought she was going to be sick. So many of her sisters lay dead there, killed horribly. Who knew how many were lucky enough to have a mental backup in the fleet?

She did not join in the conversation ongoing between the others. She couldnt talk right now, she had to focus on the tasks at hand. As they came up on another newcomer and Baek-Hei suppressed the enemy with her grenades, Sakura kept hunkered down in cover, then listening as the Heisho issues new orders as soon as the deafening explosions from the grenades subsided.

She prepped her active camouflage and made sure it was ready when her turn to go came. She watched the others go ahead of her, gripping her rifle tightly, anxious to get this stealth move over with. The idea of moving out solo without cover or support, even with the help of her armors active cammo, didn't sit well with her one bit.

Sakura watched as Baek went first, followed by the newcomer, John, then Kaede were directed to go. Her turn would come soon. She took a deep breath, calmed and centered herself as she awaited the Heisho to call her name.

 

[Sigma]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

Takamori ran a systems check on his thrusters. Active camouflage was all well and good if their enemy was simple infantry. Against units like the Reaper, which undoubtedly had radar systems, the camouflage was useless. The system didn't prevent radar detection; rather it only threw off visual detection.

He might as well forego the added energy drain and use it to power his thrusters and shields. Takamori also wondered why, if they knew where the enemy troops were, he hadn't been asked to call in a preliminary bombardment to soften and confuse the NMX infantry. It had seemed fairly stupid to just charge straight into the enemy fire. And now they were running off, one by one, with their leader behind them rather in front, leading the way. What kind of farce had he landed himself in? "Just go!" he shouted at Sakura and Eikan-heisho.

With a sudden burst from his thrusters, he shot past the heisho and Sakura, following the path taken by that random guy who had just joined them.

 

[Warriorx1]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

ON: John's Advance

Even for all his slow pacing and careful sneaking, John wasn't by any measure being extremely stealthy. Still, the NMX soldier he pursued didn't notice him as he got closer and closer. Her mind was elsewhere as she fought against her body's urge to lay down — the mission she was on kept her going beyond what even her Nekovalkyrja body could sustain.

Only when the Daisy-clad Yamataian was right upon her did she lurch to a halt. John's footsteps through the high grass rustled enough to make her spin in place, though she didn't bring any weapon to bear. Her head darted back and forth as she looked around, behind her and in front of her, not seeing John for all she tried. Her breath hastened in fright. All the while, she'd kept moving — slowly, foot over foot. But the attention she frantically paid to the unseen Star Army soldier distracted her enough that she tripped, inelegantly falling to the ground with a squeak.

John froze as he realized that he had been detected. He watched as the NMX soldier hastily began to fall back. John contemplated raising his weapon and taking the shot. However he wasn't sure if that would give away his position. John instinctively froze, some of it out of training, some of it out of fear and waited. He watched as the NMX soldier staggered back, looking intently into the jungle.

When John saw the NMX soldier tripping over a branch and tumbling over to the ground he seized the opportunity. He raised his weapon and quickly sprinted over to where the NMX soldier landed. Dropping his optic camo, he pointed his weapon at the NMX soldier and shouted, "HALT! DON'T MOVE!" hoping to take her prisoner.

The wounded enemy immediately began scrambling back, terror in her eyes as she bore her feline teeth and quickly drew her sidearm. Without warning, she leveled it at the now-visible Daisy armor and fired, putting three shots into his shielded form as she skittered through the grass. Her finger kept squeezing the trigger while she continued retreating and many of her blasts missed. This lamentably wounded Neko seemed to be paying more attention to scratching away than hitting John, and was clearly in survival mode as she wildly put rounds in his direction.

John staggered backwards, taking the first few shots. He was caught off guard by his counterattacking opponent. As the rounds hit his shield, he was instantly reminded of his own mortality. After the first few seconds of terror passed, John remembered his training and his original thoughts of capturing this enemy had instantly vanished. He only wanted to kill her to save himself from death.

Aiming his rifle at the skittering NMX soldier, he hesitated for another second as more rounds streaked passed him. After what seemed like an eternity, John finally returned fire. Rapidly squeezing the trigger on his rifle, sending hot plasma rounds toward his target.

The Yamataian's plasma hit their hapless target, felling the Neko with ease. Her lifeless form lay smouldering in the grassy clearing now, the life gone from her eyes even though the fright remained frozen in them. John could see her left hand tightly clutching the satchel she carried, which he noticed now was a hard mag-locked item with three clasping mechanisms that glowed red to show they were secure. Whatever she carried was probably the reason for the girl's frenzied defense, and the concentration that caused her to miss John's sneaking almost certainly was spent protecting the item.

John looked down at the dead soldier. He had never killed anyone up close before. The look on her face was chilling. He certainly didn't think the image of his first kill would ever leave his mind. Pushing aside the horrible scene, he noticed the satchel in the NMX soldier's hand. It all began to click as to why she had put up such a valiant defense of it.

John knew that this item, whatever it was, was probably very important. Thus he began to examine the clasping mechanism that was holding it in place. He carefully looked over it, applying his tech training to make sure that the item wasn't bobby trapped before attempting to remove it. His careful movements could be the difference between success and failure. John hoped he wouldn't blow himself up in the process of removing the satchel but knew that it was worth the risk.

The Daisy soldier's gingerly removal of the satchel was immediately successful. John was easily able to slide it around the NMX enemy's lifeless form. A stiff gust blew through the clearing, carrying with it the booming sounds of nearby fighting through rustling leaves and grass. It reminded John that he should get going back toward the objective marked on his HUD. He wouldn't be able to open the stachel to see its contents now — at least not with the time and equipment available — if he was to make it to Takeo's rally point. From what he could tell, though, it was safe to carry with him for now.

John picked up the satchel and marked a path towards the rally point. He secured the little bag against his suit and began to make his way toward where Takeo had ordered. With all the recent fighting in the area, he decided that he shouldn't draw more attention to himself. He re-engaged his stealth camo and headed towards the rally point as quickly as possible.

END

 

[Gunsight1]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

ON: Sakura's Advance

"Mendokusai!" Takeo barked when Takamori engaged his thrusters and burst off. Without looking back, she scrambled up the ridge's lip and engaged her Daisy's own thrusters to go after him. "Suriyama-hei! Yamashiro-hei! Go!" she tagged before disappearing into the canopy after the idiot ittô hei that was giving away the entire squad's position.

With the order to go given, Sakura engaged her active camo and broke left as she began her push forward. She wanted to remain as undetectable as possible as she advanced. There had already been enough attention drawn to them, no need to draw anymore. Anyways, she didn't feel like getting shot up. She kept her rifle ready in case she needed it as she moved deliberately and maybe just a bit cautiously.

Sakura may not have been advancing as quickly as some of the others, as she took care not to draw attention to herself. She reached out with her armor's sensors, scanning ahead for any sign of the enemy so she could have plenty of time to avoid them rather than get into a confrontation.

Eventually, the dusty blue-haired hei came upon a burning rut torn through the forest. At its end, the wrecked hulk of a dropship lay. Charred remains of Star Army personnel littered the area and the jungle itself was burnt black from the havoc wrought by the crash. This ship must have tried to get away and make a break for orbit again.

As Sakura methodically crunched through the underbrush and crossed the hellish scene, a single lifesign entered her Daisy's scan range. The readout on her HUD placed it right where the dropship's ruined cockpit was, though she could see a massive, splintered tree trunk had bored through its windshield. Signs showed a strong reading and it was friendly. If she remained too long she might not make the rally point on time. Still, so many had died today. Even one more was unacceptable.

Taking a quick moment to make sure no enemy were around, Sakura quickly moved to the front of the ruined dropship, keeping her active cammo up for now as she tried to establish communications with whoever was inside the cockpit. She peered in the smashed canopy, trying to see the occupant and see if they were seriously wounded or not.

"This is Santô Hei Yamashiro Sakura to whoever is inside, are you alright?" she asked over a tight beam communication that she hoped they were able to pick up on.

She could see movement within and hear rustling over her external audio pickups. "Y-yeah!" came a groggy voice as a purple-haired Nekovalkyrja wearing a standard issue jumpsuit appeared from behind the dropship's one intact pilot's chair. She was short and wore a Twelfth Fleet santô hei pin on her left breast. The other seat a tree smashed straight through where it should be, and grisly blood splatter marked the cockpit around it.

"I-I-I'm glad to see you, Yamashiro-san!" the shuttle pilot piped as she crawled up toward Sakura. "The name's Ume, same rank as you. I-I don't see you, where are you at?"

"I have my camouflage turned on," Sakura replied. "It isn't safe here," she added and tried to pry her way into the cockpit. "Do you have spare armor you can get into?"

Sakura's form flickered as her volumetrically-hidden armor interfaced with the cockpit's edges and Ume gave a little gasp, but continued to move out. "I see ya, don't worry about coming in here," the pilot said. "And no, I haven't got an armor. I'm not meant to leave, you know?" she added that last bit with a shaky smile in her voice, trying to make as much light of the situation as possible.

"You didn't happen to see any survivors out there, did you?" Ume asked as she slid out through the place where the craft's windshield used to be. "I hid after we crashed. Those who didn't get killed on impact ... I don't know what happened to them. I heard some screaming but it went silent pretty quick. I'd been here for almost an hour until you showed up."

"It doesn't look like anyone else made it," Sakura replied, she paused. "If anyone did they did not stick around... What series are you?" she asked the pilot.

"I'm an NH-33, why's it matter?" Ume shot back as she peered around the wrecked, burning forest. Her scan passed the direction that Sakura had come from then quickly shot back in a double take. "Oh, you're not alone! That's good. Thought just one Daisy had come upon me," she chirped with a genuine smile on her face.

When Sakura looked where Ume had her eyes trained, she could see another Daisy from the XII Legion standing on the charred field. It was upright and facing them up near the cockpit, which had come to rest after the crash at the top of a little embankment. The soldier's gun was still mag-locked to its armor and its pose was very slouched. Oddly, the new armor didn't show up on her proximity device with a Star Army signature.

Ume craned her head back toward Sakura, still smirking that some saviors had come. "What's her name? Or is it a guy?" she giggled.

"Ume, get behind cover and activate your optic camouflage. It's not safe to be visible right now" Sakura said as she imposed herself between the newcomer and Ume. "Identify yourself!" Sakura demanded as she dropped her own active camo and brought her rifle to bear. Something didn't sit well with her. The other had not said anything and that slack pose wasn't one a Star Army soldier would stand with on the battlefield.

Sakura intensified her sensors on the other power armor, scanning for the pilots life sign and any ID. She also immediately deployed both tactical drones from her left shoulder.

The pilot girl that'd just come out of the dropship did as she was told, frightened by Sakura's sudden worried hostility. "I don't have camouflage ... they got rid of that as a standard system with the NH-29!" she cried, drawing her NSP sidearm and crouching near the cockpit.

For its part, the strange Daisy craned its head to the side and began a first lurching step toward Sakura and her new friend. After that shaky start, the armor picked up speed and moved more quickly and normally at them. Sakura couldn't read any Star Army ID from the armor still, but her HUD zoomed in on the newcomer's painted-on rank insignia that identified them as a heisho.

"Ah," came a groggy female voice through the jungle. It wasn't over comms, though, but rather the other Daisy's external loudspeakers. She was about half way to Sakura. "I'm Tachibana Inoue," she said, the cracks in her tone dissipating a bit. "Glad to see some friendlies."

Sakura let out the breath she had been holding, letting her rifle dip just slightly. "Heisho, are you alright?" she asked, relieved the other didn't seem to be infested with a parasite, so far. "You're armor is damaged?"

The one who'd said her name was Inoue began picking up speed, breaking into a run toward them. "My armor seems to be fine," she said as she came at Yamashiro-hei and Ume. "I'm feeling a strange urge, though," Inoue added when she was within ten meters.

"I really want to kill you."

As she said it the Daisy leapt toward Sakura, an arm lifted above its head. Inoue didn't use thrusters to make the jump for some reason and simply relied on whatever strength she had. From behind, Ume squealed a shrill scream.

Sakura cursed as she snapped the rifle up and squeezed the trigger, aiming for center of mass as Inoue jumped at her, sending a stream of fire at the incoming Daisy. She slid her left foot back, bracing herself to to take the impact of the incoming armor.

A burst of plasma spewed from the Star Army soldier's gun, hitting her assailant right where she aimed. The impact stopped the attacking Daisy dead in mid air, causing it to fall back on the ground. Sakura couldn't see any flicker of energy shields as was normally expected and instead spied four massive holes in the felled armor where her shots hit.

Inoue-heisho lay motionless for another moment, the meaty craters on her chest bubbling with blood and heat as she lay there. After what seemed like an eternity — an eternity that couldn't have been more than five seconds — a labored arm pushed against the ground, hefting the wounded Daisy soldier's torso up. An unintelligible mass of sounds cracked from Inoue's speakers as her thrashed body tried to form words.

Then, from the corner of her eye, Sakura could see more rustling back where she'd come from. Motion detecting sensors deployed in her drones confirmed what she was seeing. The dead armor she'd passed on her way to the cockpit began to stand or crawl. Some of them, at least. What Sakura had suspected was probably true: Parasites were in the area. That explained why Inoue, face down and grasping to pull herself toward them, didn't have PANTHEON access to communicate via radio or engage her Daisy's functions.

Ume let out another squeal and Sakura heard the distinct discharge of an NSP heavy bolt. Her sensors showed movement near the pilot and then none, and if she turned to see what had happened, she'd witness a now-headless Daisy collapse to the ground near Ume. "We need to get out of here!" the pixie-like pilot shrieked, her dark violet hair now specked with hemosynthetic blood.

Sakura quickly spun about, locking her rifle on its mag lock and scooping up Ume in her arms before vaulting away from the crash site, using her thrusters to propel them rapidly away from the zombies. She set her drones to a defensive mode, having them follow behind to let her know if anyone was following quick enough to catch up.

"We have to move fast," Sakura said. "We can make it to the safe area." She cursed herself for not leaving with Ume quicker. The whole plan of reaching the rendezvous point with the others stealthily was rapidly going out the window.

Her escape was easy enough to make. Ume, though frightened, remained silent after being picked up and spirited away. Once she'd reached about 300 meters, neither Sakura's sensors nor her drones picked up any movement from the crash site. It'd be a good idea to inform Takeo-heisho once she got where she was going, but for now she could slow down and trudge through the jungle at an easier pace.

END

 

[raz]

Re: Chapter 1: Heat Lightning

For SeonJi, Takeo-heisho’s final waypoint was in sight. She’d covered almost 600 meters since the sergeant had ordered them here and even though she was a supersoldier in a powered armor, the behemoth she’d battled combined with all of the running to create a very tired Nekovalkyrja. But she had to keep going. The combat and hell all around her pushed her mind and body to heights that only the threat of death could.

On her HUD, the guideline disappeared right as SeonJi stepped up to an impressive bamboo forest that stretched toward small hills on either side. Behind it — obscured by the thick, stocky trunks — she could hear the thudding of NMX anti-air emplacements while their operators skittered about and shouted orders at each other. Above, mammoth tracers covered the blue sky and shed bright blue illumination through the canopy.

Soon, three friendly signatures appeared in the Miyamae Neko’s close-range scanner. John, Sakura, and Kaede would arrive soon, bounding through the jungle just as SeonJi had.