The Major stumbled through the passageway inside the down transport, moving spilled containers, the occasional body, and dropped wiring conduits as he made his way toward the front of the craft and hopefully the weapon’s control. His larger frame enhanced by the power armor making this a task that he’d rather not repeat as the semi-experienced officer cursed under his breath. He keyed his COM again, invisible radio waves reaching out to the only other active survivor of his unit.
“Corporal what's your status and what's the status of our driver?” He nearly hissed as he squeezed through a compressed section of passageway.
“She’s stable Major, but she won’t be fighting in this battle.”, she replied as she picked up Paulina’s tall form and moved her to the inside of the Berko. Vianne quickly maneuvered her way through the cramped insides of the vehicle and placed Paulina in a comfortable resting position. After which, she turned back and exited the tank with her Modular Armor Plasma Rifle sighted. After scanning the exterior surroundings, she ran to take cover behind one of the many dune ridges.
Once she was in a prone position behind the ridge, she switched to her rail sniper rifle, sighted it, and, scanned the horizon for oncoming enemies.
How she ended up in charge she’d never know, luck? The curse of being the last ‘veteran’ alive among the odd band of mismatched uniforms, species, and other oddities that marched or churned along the desert floor. The NMX neko didn’t even have a name, just a numerical designation her creators had genetically stenciled into her right cheek. It read ‘257-53, or the 257th NH-29 of batch 53 of a long destroyed cloning facility somewhere back in Yamataian space.
She like most of her kind had a darker complexion but was somewhat tall for the average at 5’9”, her eyes were also odd being a bright shade of yellow. Maybe it was defects in machinery far overstretched by the war, it didn’t matter to the neko now as she rode in the commander’s coupola of her NMX tank. All that mattered was getting away from the death dealing machines that had reduced her near regiment sized unit to less than forty souls. Those uncaring eyes drifted down to see the various mottled yellow and brown uniforms, some were riding in either military or stolen civilian style vehicles, others, mostly her sisters, ran along side them. Then she felt a tap at her leg, looking down into the tank the red eyes of a male human thrall stared back up.
“Commander, radio signal over the next ridge, it isn’t one of ours.” He said, passing a tablet up.
A predatory grin began spreading across the neko’s face, the report of a downed transport had passed over their net, or at least it had tried from the intense jamming the bloody invaders were pumping into the airwaves. Were there survivors? The grin grew wider.
Lifting a headset, the tank seemed to lack anything that she could ‘talk’ to with her radio telepathy. “All units halt!” She said, raising a fisted right hand over her head to signal those without radios to do the same. Then with a hand signal…. The entire horde of human, neko, and alien began moving directly toward the last ridge between them and the crash site. Most speeding up to combat pace, revenge in all their minds as dust clouds began to rise.
All that Vianne could see through her scope were dust clouds, but she could also hear the sounds of marching and the rumble of various combat vehicles. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw the outlines of the vehicles through the clouds.
Her first priority would be to protect the Berko. If that position was compromised, then Paulina would be trapped behind enemy lines, and she could potentially be executed. Vianne’s rail rifle would help her to thin out the advancing enemies, but she knew that the sound would quickly compromise her position.
Making a quick tactical decision, Vianne crawled backwards. Once she behind the crest of the ridge and out of sight, she stood up and sprinted towards a different position on the same ridge. Although this new position was further away from the Berko, it gave her a good sightline towards the oncoming enemies.
Vianne hoped that her new position would fool the hostile vanguard into thinking that there was nothing of value within the Berko, so that they would not be tempted to explore the inside of the tank. However, if they got too close to the vehicle Vianne would have to storm it in order to ensure Paulina’s survival.
The major had been forced to break his knife to edge open the final pressure door between him and the cockpit, the space now somewhat crunched and open to the air. However both the consoles were still active even if… he paused for just the briefest moments over the pilot, the body was cold on the thermal and he wasn’t moving. Pulling the dead from his seat, setting him onto the walkway with some care before hand, his hand grasping the pilot’s stick. While the bird would never fly again the contact cybernetic link was still active, his cybernetic mind reaching out to the various sensor images that where just barely active as well as other sub-systems. Then his threat warning system went off…. Just as the first mechanized and human shaped objects crested the southern ridge nearly eight hundred meters across the sandy valley floor. The cockpit, its jagged open and damaged windscreen, faced them, he keyed his COM.
“Corporal what’s your position?” Of course he knew, her small blue icon hovering behind off on the crest of the northern hill, it was however far better to check her status as the first wheeled vehicle began sliding down the hundred foot high dunes slope. Several troops, most in body armor but none that seemed to be in power armor followed it, weapons in their hands.
“I’m one-hundred meters away from the Berko. I’m going to storm it if they manage to reach it.”, Vianne screamed out over the comms.
Vianne had only twenty shots to fire off with her rail rifle. By the time the first hostile had crested over the ridge, her eye was sighted to the rifle and she was prepared to fire. Her goal was to keep the armored leg infantry from reaching the downed Berko. Most likely, they would attempt to utilize the position as cover.
Vianne took a deep breath, lined her crosshairs up on the target, and, fired. She repeated the same procedure for each individual target in an effort to maintain a constant stream of lethal sniper fire towards the enemy.
The topographical map, or at least the best one his sensor data could produce splayed out before him in his mind’s eye. The Berko was a football field or so behind its downed carrier, a second smaller ridge on the inside of the valley, somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty or so meters off the valley floor was the Corporal’s present perch. The five hundred meter expanse between them and the valley’s southern rim was littered with smaller rises of sand and the occasional jut of solid rock.
The first unlucky trooper, perhaps human, caught the round intended for anti-power armor used directly in the gut the slight shimmer of the desert heat throwing off the Corporal’s aim ever so slightly. It matter little however as his body between his groin and his chest practically evaporated into a mixture of red mist and jellified flesh. His masked face hiding the look of deathly horror as his two halves went careening down into the valley floor. Another fell, nothing left above his chest, then another began screaming as a large percentage of his right hip vaporized separating his leg. These leg infantry began running faster, a few of them, more lithe and clearly something else began to hover with speed, all breaking for whatever cover they could find. Both vehicles, a crew member in the back of the strange two wheeled trucks, began to fire at anything that looked like it moved. The vapor trails of the Corporal’s rifle fading faster than they could perceive.
The enemy had failed to return fire to her position. If she was only worried exclusively about her own livelihood, then she would have stayed in her position and continued to rain down a hailstorm of sniper fire on the hapless leg infantry. However, she had to keep Paulina alive. For one more time at that position, Vianne held her breath, positioned her crosshair slightly in front of her target to compensate, and fired her rail rifle at the one hovering target.
Vianne picked herself up from her prone position and slide-sprinted towards the Berko. In an effort to cover her movement, she fired two of her shoulder-mounted mini-missiles at the advancing enemies. Her goal was to take cover by the vehicle and continue to rain down sniper fire at the enemies, so that she could hold position by the armor itself.
The hover target let out a shriek as the 12mm rail round evaporated its shoulder, the creature falling to the ground as red blood like fluid splattered across the sand. Overall so far eight bodies lay in varying states of death and dismemberment, another two were simply missing limbs including the unlucky not-human. The two 42mm missiles lanced out, having accelerated to a high velocity after ejecting from her shoulder launcher. One found a bunch of three or four enemies, its secondary warhead bursting at shoulder height and reducing the small bunch to meat and mist. The other caught the front wheel of one of the odd trucks, shattering it and sending it end over end, the unlucky gunner flying forward, ending his life into a rock. The first wave of ten or so infantry finally pressed forward into cover, most screaming at the sandy dunes beyond with promises of revenge, the handful of more lithe ones among them stayed silent. Soon two tracked vehicles crested the hill, flanked on either side by more wheeled vehicles of a more combative nature, all playing host to more infantry riding on to whatever hand hold they could manage.
The Major watched all of this as his eyes followed the slow but steady charge of the dropship’s capacitors, the fusion generator was dead and the RTGs where the only thing supplying him with power. But what he needed was time, “Corporal, get inside that track and get on the gun!” Her ammo status sat on his HUD, he also knew she was nearly empty then he heard the first thump of hostile fire. The dropship shuddering as part of the tail shattered in globs of molten metal and explosive force from the energy weapon mounted on one of the tanks.
Vianne did not hesitate to follow the Major’s orders. With little else but a sharp intake of breath, Vianne dove into the Berko and closed the entrance behind her. At this juncture, she would be risking her life if she attempted to operate the weapon systems through a mind link. She needed to be active, so that she could defend the vehicle if the infantry managed to break down the doors.
After she positioned herself by the controls, Vianne made a quick decision to shoot at the two tracked vehicles that had already crested the hill first. They represented the biggest threat to the Major at present. It would take a longer time for the oncoming infantry to break down the doors than it would for Vianne to lay waste to the two hostile vehicles.
Outside the Berko, the twin 30mm plasma cannons began to light up the two tracked vehicles. The ATGM launcher fired a round at the tracked vehicle that was closest to the downed carrier, while the twin plasma cannons focused fire exclusively on the second one.
The corporal would find she’d have to track in on the first before being able to fire at the second, the gun turret on top being a single unit. Up until the moment the missile popped free from its container and ran down the relatively short range most of the assaulting force had assumed it was disabled.
The Strela ran its course in less then a second, attempting a top attack maneuver on the targeted twin gunned tank. The troops crouched and following behind it, having survived their way onto the valley floor, had just enough time to see the flash of its launch. One had even had a moment to yell as the missile arced up and detonated directly over the turret, the tank’s shields flashing for but a moment as the armor piercing jet lanced through the upper weak point and vaporized the vehicle commander in her seat. The secondary fragmentation sleeve shredded the small five man unit around the vehicle, only one surviving long enough to see his salvation turn into a molten volcano as the interior power systems were breached and plasma flooded outward.
As she swung to the other target however the corporal discovered the plasma cannon wasn’t quite up to the task of simply blowing through the shield, though it shimmered under the impacts and clearly started to give it lacked the sudden death as the tank stopped. Its contingent of five or so infantry taking cover nearby and starting to shoot back as those two guns leveled toward the Berko…
Another ATGM missile launched out of the Berko to hopefully deliver the finishing blow to the second tank. As the Berko launched the missile, Vianne turned the attention of the 30mm cannon onto the infantry which had targeted the tank.
As the Berko unleashed it’s payload on the surrounding hostiles, Vianne glanced at the entrance hatch and looked to see if the hostile infantry had managed to penetrate the Berko’s armor with explosives or some other manner of hull-cutting weaponry.
The 30mm diameter plasma bolts reached out like the fingers of the grim reaper herself, bodies simply exploding into a mixture of flash boiled gore and carbonized equipment and ash. Those outside of the lethal splash radius found themselves being burned from the continuous near impacts and cut by flying shards of glass from the sand being melted by the impacts. Unlike the first tank however this one was facing frontally toward the threat, its point defense systems where active. The missile flew straight and true for the first half until it shuddered mid air, lancing off the side and detonating ten feet to the left of the tank’s hull. However it did manage to throw a track, immobilizing the threat for now….. However it responded, those twin energy guns flashing with the loud crack of vaporizing air. The right side of the Berko facing the threats flashed red for a moment as the shield gave under the punishing blow. Rocking the interior and increasing the temperature inside.
Vianne was already sweating profusely inside of the Berko. The sudden rise in temperature only alerted her to the precariousness of the situation, especially given Paulina’s injuries. She countered the hostile tank’s cannon fire with her own barrage of 30mm plasma cannon fire and light missiles. It was clear that the Berko would not escape from this engagement in good shape. However, whether Vianne, Paulina, and the Major would escape with their lives was still in active and lethal debate.
NMX neko stared in absolute anger through the transparent tank copula, thirty bodies lay in both pieces, and scattered remains in the first two hundred meters of the valley floor. The blue plasma bolts still came in even after her shot but now she was immobilized, but her force was far from out of the fight even as the second wave of the accursed APC’s weapons came in. Smaller than the first pair of weapons, the light tanks point defense plucked them out of the air until the remaining ones spent themselves on the tank’s shield, though managing to drop it to a dangerous level. Then the hose of fire returned to her, the sounds of the lighter projectiles sizzling against the barrier enraging the neko as she watched the capacitor climb back to levels that would allow her to shoot. Finally she pulled up her reserve, seven humanoid armored figures cresting the ridge and flying down it at speeds far faster than a human could manage…. These were power armor as well.
Vianne had to think fast. It was of paramount importance that she protect the Berko from a hull breach which could put Paulina at risk. When the flying power armors came into view, for a brief moment, Vianne aimed her 30mm cannons at the two Daisy armors. In her mind, those were likely to be the fastest moving threats.
Through her mind link, Vianne ordered the tank to focus the plasma cannons on the tank after the two armors were neutralized or the Daisies moved out of the cone of fire. Before exiting the APC, she ran over to Paulina, took up her plasma rifle, 50mm mini-missiles, and her magazines. After she had reloaded her own ammunition, she switched her plasma rifle to the heaviest setting, stepped outside of the Berko, and closed the hatch behind her.
Taking advantage of her defensive position, Vianne switched to her monstrous rail rifle. Utilizing the Kortik’s advanced targeting systems to time her shot, the petite and solitary marine fired an ambitious 12mm projectile at the head of the approaching Render mecha. After taking the shot, she took out the plasma rifle and fired a barrage of rounds at another one of the Reaper power armors.
One daisy responded the instant the pair of over under plasma cannons oriented toward it, the other was a moment to slow catching a burst of bolts from its helmet to its chest. Its shield sizzled and failed under the long burst and the pilot boiled alive as the multitude of high velocity bolts drilled through its armor in less then a second. Just as the other reached cover the unfortunate one plowed into the sand… dead. The surviving Daisy popped up, revenge in its mind as it lofted several mini-missiles toward the offending turret. The air was briefly alive with lasers as the overtaxed point defense of the Berko tried but failed to catch them all, the turret exploding with a bright blue flash as plasma escaped from its containment into the sky.
Fragments from its death pinging off of the Corporal’s shields even as she sighted in and all the hostiles began to converge on her location, firing a mixture of energy and kinetic weapons. The Berko’s systems responded in kind, lasers reaching out to ping against shields, 50mm point defense missiles reaching out. The effort soon exploded a pair of the more alien looking power armor, even as the sole Kortik operator took her shot. The mecha seemed to lurch backwards slightly in its forward movement before one of its energy weapons fired a long burst at where the shot had come from….. Filling the area with sizzling energy and exploding globs of molten sand as the hostiles got within a hundred yards of her.
Vianne utilized her Kortik’s jet pack to fly clear of the globs of molten sand and glass shards. With a few quick motions, Vianne stowed her rail sniper rifle and switched to her plasma rifle: A weapon that would do her more good in this particular situation. While still airborne, she fired a lethal barrage of plasma bolts at the closest power armor, making the reckless decision to engage the power armors in a dogfight with the goal of distracting the enemy from the Berko.
“Major! I could use some reinforcement!”, Vianne yelled over her comms, her senses heightened within the heat of battle as she launched one 50mm mini-missile at the approaching Render mecha.
Two of the Reapers greeted her offering, rising on their own means of flight drawing wicked looking melee weapons, the other surviving one, its counterpart in two pieces from the Berko’s point defense began to level its weapon. The Daisy, still behind cover, also began targeting the flying light PA. The Render however had stopped, its operator’s attention suddenly drawn to something else…. A very high energy reading.
The Major stared through the targeting optic in the cockpit, the capacitor was charged, and he could hear the leg infantry stumbling through the hold below. With one hand aiming a monstrous revolver at the sealed hatch, the other manipulated the manual controls.
Outside a dented and damaged metallic cover on the heavy dropship’s nose shuddered and finally blew free, the quad 50mm heavy plasma cannons inside revealed to the attacking force as they rotated and aimed at the flank of the attacking force near the Berko. None had time to react as the Major squeezed the firing trigger and all four spoke at a combined rate of six thousand bolts per minute. Designed to kill tanks the cone of death saturated and scoured the ground in front of the Corporal, all inside of it flashing white under the plasma impacts before simply combusting into slag and ash. Finally the capacitor dinged red, the guns falling silent and the sole surviving PA, the daisy behind cover, standing in the open… seemingly frozen.
Vianne was desperately kiting the power armors when they exploded behind her in an explosion of red mist. While a more excitable and optimistic individual would have let out a celebratory yell, Vianne scanned her radar and fired two of her 50mm mini-missiles at the frozen Daisy. She dedicated the rest of her missile payload to the tank, a flurry of missiles flying from her armor and streaking towards the tank.
The Daisy would move almost as soon as the missiles left her launchers, firing at the incoming projectiles with an energy weapon and plucking both out of the sky before freezing again. The tank, more then likely to her surprise was also being abandoned even as her missiles reached out. One of the three figures was caught in the open as a pair of surviving missiles struck home. Then the flying Kortik’s sensors triggered… a friendly IFF behind her as the roar of a gunship filled her audio sensors. Two Strela ATGMs lancing off to either side of her flying PA and finding the tank a moment later, exploding it with three thunderous blasts.
Briefly distracted by the friendly gunship behind her, Vianne turned around and pressed her attack on the lone Daisy. Utilizing her Kortik’s systems to compensate for her movement and the Daisy’s, she fired a few pulses of plasma bolts at the lone armor.
Her target weaved and dodged, plasma licking at its feet as it returned the favor with energy fire of its own and a pair of mini-missiles before darting behind a large rock formation. Steadily making its way back to the ridge, even as the gunship bored in, plasma fire spraying and exploding another of the odd two wheeled trucks as infantry scattered and ran.
Vianne set her sights on the the lone Daisy. The farther the Daisy ran, the quicker her options for the elimination of the armor depleted. She changed her course and flew towards the Berko, firing a few plasma bolts at the leg infantry as she did. In a final and desperate move, Vianne landed next to the vehicle and took out her 12mm rail rifle. Just as the Daisy ascended the top of the ridge, Vianne fired three consecutive rounds at the retreating power armor.
A few managed to dodge to the side, seeing the rapidly moving shape, most however didn’t, their lives ending in a flash of blue white. Though the gunship seemed to seize its firing as it came into a hover directly over the Berko, its gun training on several targets as hands started to come up. Maybe it was a chance moment, or simply dumb luck but the Daisy looked over its shoulder just as the Corporal pulled the trigger. The three shots lanced out and struck her target just between the shoulder blades, the first popping its shield and the last striking the armor throwing the PA forward and out of sight.
Vianne fired out the last few rounds of her plasma rifle at the remaining infantry before standing and looking over the battlefield with an exasperated expression on her face.
“Major. I’m at the Berko.”, she reported in a characteristically low tone as she walked into the Berko and picked up Paulina.
Two medium lift dropships had materialized over the southern ridge of the dune valley, moving in that whale like fashion they were known for. Overhead two of the large Pact gunship designs slowly side slipped, their guns tracking every bit of movement as weapons were tossed from behind cover and hands were coming out. The battlefield was strewn with death and half melted material, but they’d done it even if the Berko was more then likely a write off.
Radio chatter was quickly filling the channel as the local net busied itself with the half dozen army units that were about to land, the Major clicked it off before throwing the sole breathing humanoid over his shoulder. Enemy or not, whatever he or she was they weren’t a combatant now, a moment later he was in the sand again. Slowly walking over to the pocked, damaged, and lightly smoking Berko before leaving his living load on the front of the APC.
Walking over to the staring Corporal he unsealed his helmet, looking out over the carnage they’d both wrought with a strained frown before pulling a small pack from a chest pocket offering the corporal one of the thinner cigars.
Vianne also unsealed her helmet, unveiling her pale-skinned face and cyan hair to the hot desert air. Ever the paranoid and tense soldier, Vianne glanced at the outstretched cigarette with a tense expression on her face.
“Bad for your lungs, Major.”
“Suit yourself newbie.” He said, lightly grinning before popping the cigar into his mouth, chewing on it lightly before lighting it. “Either way, I’d say you did good, even with this cluster fuck.” The tone was much darker this time, his eyes darker.
Vianne remained grimly silent, turning to look at the ruined Berko before glancing back at the gunships within the air. In a singular moment, Vianne processed the presence of the friendly gunships, and the tension seemed to exit from her body while her muscles relaxed.
And like that they sat, surrendering hostiles collecting in a singular spot some fifty yards in front of them as the first transport landed and disgorged a platoon of army troops in light exo-armor. The Corporal would get to relax and slowly unwind as a medical team extracted their driver, just getting to watch as the Major walked away, the command circuit connected to his DNI…
