RP: Lorath Shards Of Unity - The Fall Of The United Outer Colonies

Continued From Colonial Bug Out.

Jiyuu System

A solid defense had been established over the days which had passed since the evacuation order was given, and Lorath, United Manufacturing, former Peacekeeper Forces, and even Yamataian ships went about ferrying out the civilian populace of the former central hub of the United Outer Colonies, which had 'formally' been absorbed into the Yamataian Empire. That fact though, was up for debate within the ranks of the Lorath Self Defense Force, and the Lorath Matriarchy, as they formed defensive perimeters around key Jiyuuian assets, really though, their defense was a hold over from the Black Coat uprising not too long prior. Replacing the light blue flags of the UOC, were either the Yamataian flags of red splashed blue in areas where they had managed to establish a foothold, or the white marked blackness of Lorath flags where they had set up their defensive lines.

With the use of construction modules, and the left over hulks of blasted out Peacekeeper Forces ships which were left over from the Tange uprising, the LSDF engineered a series of 610mm artillery turret platforms, which aimed off into the skies over head, along with the smaller L-Mark-Two units, along with various point-defense weapons which were primed and ready to pick the NMX out of the skies. If they could not intercept them with weapons, shield modules had been set up throughout the abandoned Jiyuuian cities, drawing power from the grid which would otherwise be dormant due to the absence of a populace.

Yugumo Cluster & Nearby Colonies

Similar defensive encampments to those established on Jiyuu sprang up all over the former United Outer Colonies, as the Lorath worked with the multi-national taskforce which pushed to save as many lives as possible. In their effort, the Matriarchy pushed to mainly evacuate civilians, though, that left some of the more industrialized colonies short-handed in regard to support. One of the main points of worry though for the Matriarchy, was the star fortress Leo, which they saw as an asset which needed to be kept in the hands of the fragile remnants of the United Outer Colonies, for the sake of protecting those which would not abandon their homes.

Part of the Matriarchy's efforts to secure the former United Outer Colonies' assets, was to establish a military presence where ever possible, and Leo, was counted as a priority, where the Matriarchy determined that conventional ship operations would only falter, they commissioned the most recent of designs to be deployed to secure the fortress, and remove any potential threats which would move to attempt to possess the asset. They chose to dispatch a quartet of the TX-01 Tarantula.

Elsewhere, the Matriarchy dispatched Whirlwinds to set up ground defenses around UOC assets, as well as to stand guard upon UOC orbital platforms. Along with the Whirlwind units, TX-01 units were distributed to the Kokukotsu, Asura, Shugosha, Jiyuu, and Miyamae systems to enhance their defenses against possible NMX heavy infantry or landing ship threats. Fighter and bomber squadrons swarmed the space of the five key systems which the Matriarchy had every intent of securing. Though, the Tange system was handled entirely differently. A blockade of LSDF and former Peacekeeper ships was established, while ground defense was left to the recently discovered Tange military presence, which the Matriarchy determined could handle their own planetary affairs until the conflict for the former colonies was completed.

Asura System

One of the systems which the Matriarchy determined as prime real estate to build into, the Asura system once served as a tourist hub for the United Outer Colonies, as well as a heavily populated system due to the presence of two favorable worlds in which life could be sustained without terraforming efforts. Upon the jungle world and the desert world of the system, a pair of TX-01 units were deployed to skim along the atmospheres of the worlds, ready to take on potential intruders which would threaten the evacuation of the last of the civilians present. Along with the TX-01 units, a full division of infantry was split between the two inhabitable worlds, as well as a pair of power armor wings, a mechanized brigade, and two air-and-space combat wings comprised of various starships.

Here, on the edge of the shattered Colonies, the first big thrust from the NMX would be made, with the intent of stabbing into the colonies from their flank. It started with a multitude of hyperfold jump terminations, causing the LSDF space combat wing to instantly be on the alert, as Gallus-Class defense drones surged into life, establishing a defensive perimeter along with the formidable numbers of spacecraft which stood toe to toe with the NMX attackers which appeared. Flurries of high velocity solid munitions rushed from the LSDF's ranks, as torpedo barrages flew from the NMX ships. Though, among those torpedoes, some of them exploded in sensor-blinding bursts of energy, as several groups of infantry carriers and a number of additional units dropped out of hyperfold behind the LSDF's lines, rushing for the pair of terrestrial worlds, with the intent of landing, entrenching, and beginning efforts to undermine the defense of the system as well as to round up assets, equipment, and personnel.

A majority of the intruding infantry carriers landed upon the planet dubbed 'Ishikawa', where Peacekeeper Forces were still entrenched, their intent was simple; capture the military assets to use upon Asura III, as well as hopefully subvert the medical compound of the military installation to begin the production of NMX-Jiyuuians. Typical NMX landing ships made up the bulk of the forces which landed, though, mixed into their ranks were several 'Megamishhu', though, notably, a single 'Gigamishhu' touched down upon a field of sand and dunes, nestling itself into the soft grains, obscuring itself from sight as it began to spew battlepods from its interior, along with the full compliment of 'Gunboats' which it carried. It seemed... the true threat to the system was the carrier which had landed, while the NMX ships which squared off against LSDF forces in space were there as a distraction.

This left the defense of Ishikawa to the brigades of LSDF personnel present, along with the entrenched former Peacekeepers, along with the in-atmosphere power armor, fighter - bomber, and mechanized presence which had been established. Their defenses though would be met with their first challenge though, in the form of a Megamishhu, which led the way in attacking the primary Peacekeeper fortification, along with a brigade worth of vehicles, infantry, and four squadrons worth of air support, which began to hammer the installation's shields from afar with a steady barrage of ordinance, it seemed, if the LSDF and Peacekeepers were to want any hope of holding out, they'd have to take the fight to the NMX forces beneath the scorching sun which loomed overhead and bathed the battlefield in the harsh white glow of desert noon.

It was time. The UMC had finally finished the first production series of the new TX-01 Tarantula superweapon, a heavy support platform for both space and land, and this was going to be its very first sortie. The NMX forces encroaching on the installation on Ishikawa could not detect the Tarantula's presence at first. Using a full suite of ECM systems combined with optical camouflage, it had effectively hidden itself among the sandy dunes, just like the gigamisshu.

"Activating Psionics Scrambler," said Ga'ryd, the vehicle's technical operator. "Good. They'll be in disarray for a few moments, and then we'll hit 'em." replied Kryth, the Tarantula's commander. A voice came over the FTL communications receiver, the voice of the Tarantula's designer, Sa'Ryl Emolia Misalngt. "Your target is the Mishhuvurthyar supercarrier, Model 32. Infantry paratroopers are on standby, they'll land as soon as you commence the attack." "Roger that. Align the rear cannon and fire the strike package."

A few moments passed, and the Psionics Scrambler activated, instantly disrupting communications across the entire NMX ground force. The Tarantula's abdomen rotated slightly and the gammatron cannon came to life with a low hum, then fired directly at the NMX's supercarrier. Simultaneously, the smaller gammatron guns on the Tarantula's torso let loose a volley of fire toward it, and ten SWARM missiles fired downward, then immediately turned, exited from between the Tarantula's legs, and zoomed toward the carrier with malintent. It wouldn't be long before the Gammatron guns calibrated to its shields and the Tarantula could move in for the kill.

There were some problems with the attack upon the Gigamishhu carrier, first of all, the presence of atmosphere served to slightly hinder the TX-01's Gammatron, as particles strayed during their travel through the molecules and atoms which made up the air of the planet, resulting in glittering flashes of atomic bonds being blown into oblivion, while the majority of the particle beam remained cohesive as it impacted the shields of the Gigamishhu, weakening them as some particles managed to leak through and impact against the hull, resulting in minor antimatter explosions which paled in comparison to what could have been if the bulk of the particles made their way through the shields. As another hindrance, the secondary reactions of the particle beam did result in some sensor distortion, enough to produce some difficulty in detecting just what the Gigamishhu did in response to the missiles, as it opened a pair of its point defense blisters to release two streams of laser fire, ripping into the missiles fired by the TX-01, detonating them prematurely.

While the shields of the Gigamishhu held, and the hull remained sturdy, the attack from the TX-01 was enough to cause a distinctive reaction, as the carrier ascended from the sands, and loomed in the sky as it opened the full compliment of its weapon blisters, releasing a flurry of at least two dozen missiles, combined with searing laser beams that laid down a steady stream of suppressive fire around the TX-01, before a distinctive energy reaction began to take place... the Gigamishhu was about to fire its heavy particle cannons!

Detecting the imminent threat, a three ship group of Lorath 'Hawk' Fighter-bombers diverted from the anti-vehicle operations they were engaged with, as they streaked at the Gigamishhu, evading missile fire as they released a volley of anti-shield missiles, and antimatter missiles which tore a hefty breach in the shields of the carrier, enough, for a good shot from the TX-01's Gammatron, possibly, to disable the weapons of the NMX ship. Though, to repay this disservice, the NMX tore into the Fighter-Bombers with a volley of laser fire, ripping through two of them as if they were meat on a skewer of laser beam.

"Fire the main cannon and then get us on top of that thing!" Kryth cried out, as the gunner, Jaha'ran, prepared to fire a second blast from the abdomen's gammatron cannon. Aiming right at its point defense weapons, the gammatron fired, and immediately afterward, the Tarantula's propulsion systems shook to life with a stomach-churning rumble. The main body lowered and the hydraulic pumps raised, and suddenly, the Anti-Grav systems activated, right as the Tarantula pushed off the ground, angled right up past the Gigamishhu carrier.

The ARIA assisted in correcting the trajectory of the jump to make sure the Tarantula would land in the desired location. The plasma thrusters extensive vectoring system, combined with the TX-01's state of the art magnetic back-up propulsion, allowed it the possibility of coming crashing down right on top of the carrier, with the four smaller gammatron guns blazing away at any point defense weapons detected on the "roof" by the ARIA. If they managed to succeed in mounting the disgusting creature, it would be high time to show off the Tarantula's most impressive capability - the shredding of an armored hull.

When the TX-01 leaped onto the Gigamishhu carrier, there was an immediate attempt to transmit a distress message to the other NMX ships in the area, though, that attempt was blocked by the psionic scrambling unit embedded in the Tarantula, as Mishhu communication lines were blotted out with white noise. It was no matter to the Gigamishhu, as it prepared to unleash a volley from the large particle cannons on its belly.

Scrambling to defend, the Lorath infantry personnel attempted to find whatever cover they could. Certainly, it was a futile effort on its own, since the weapons would leave a smoking crater about the same size as the battlefield itself. Though, their effort was bolstered by a pair of Whirlwind units, which took defensive positions as the Gigamishhu unleashed the fury of its powerful cannons. Pouring power to their shields, both physical and energy, the Whirlwind units took the brunt of the blast as armor and hull sizzled and vaporized, and the very air around the machines broke into a rush of x-ray induced heat as shock waves rocked the desert, sending sand which transitioned into molten glass through the air. It was a miniature hell, where a sizable chunk of infantry were either vaporized, lobbed through the air, or buried under semi-molten sand in an area of about five kilometers. Those which were not vaporized, or too badly injured, picked themselves up as best they could as they displaced to prevent another burst from the Gigamishhu reeking such havoc as the first.

Meanwhile, the Gigamishhu began to take care of the immediate problem which was on its back, literally. Extending its massive ship-grabbing tentacles, the Gigamishhu swept at its topside, hoping to grasp the machine which was intending to cut into its depths. Its massive appendages threatened to either toss aside the TX-01 like an origami spider, or crush it like a bug. None the less, the little ship would certainly have to make some response or face the grasping lengths of synthetic flesh.

The tentacles would find themselves hard-pressed to do a single thing to the Tarantula, as every time one came too close, the ARIA alerted Jaha'ran, and the tentacles were blasted to pieces by the TX-01's dorsal gammatron guns. Meanwhile, it buried its plasma arc disruptor-equipped incisors into the Gigamishhu's back and began ripping and tearing a five by five-meter wide hole. "Alright! Let's finish this off! Jaha'ran!" Kryth called out, pointing to the holographic display in front of him. "Yes sir." Jaha'ran replied, in a deep baritone.

The Tarantula stepped forward and the abdomen rotated on its X axis so that the main cannon was on the bottom. It lowered the turret into the hole on the carrier's back, and the coordinates for the collision of the two particles that created the cannon's antimatter reaction were punched in - the center of the ship below. "ARIA, take control of the propulsion systems after we fire and get us to the ground safely." "Yes, captain." The AI responded. The cannon fired, and, assuming there were no complex inner defenses to prevent the particles from passing through the Mishhu's flesh, the center of the carrier was about to get ripped apart, and the TX-01 would leap from its surface just in time to escape being caught up in the blast.

Everything was going fine, everything was going well. Tentacles were blown apart, hull armor was torn into, and the TX-01 had the shot, took it... then nothing. Spontaneously, the Gigamishhu disappeared, and the TX-01 was left on thin air. All that remained were the smouldering vapors which came from the various damaged portions of the ship, but soon, those vapors were whisked away on the wind. Where did it go? What happened? Those were some of the questions which some would be prone to asking, but those questions would be short lived, as the TX-01's subspace sensors would pick up the Gigamishhu exactly where it was to begin with, but it was just 'not there', it was phased in another layer of space and time, a layer in which the Gammatron did not interact, as the particles met in mid-air, and exploded with a minimal bit of flair.

As the TX-01 was left without its opponent, a dozen sensor blips would flicker to life on the TX-01's detection grid, a group of the 'Gunboat' units which were deployed by the Gigamishhu were on their way back to defend their carrier as they streaked through the air, and flew past the TX-01, as a slew of missiles spewed from them during their pass. At least four dozen miniature missiles ripped through the skies, leaving trails of smoke in their wake, which trailed like ribbons, weaving an intricate tapestry which terminated at the tails of each missile, which streaked at the TX-01 at impressive speeds as the Gunboats swooped around in preparation for another pass.

When the TX-01 was left hanging, it wasn't going to just float. Indeed, when the carrier disappeared, the TX-01 started to fall to the ground, but the ARIA activated the anti-gravity systems just in time to prevent a fatal crash. The AI also defended the Tarantula from the incoming gunboats' fire by unleashing a single SWARM missile to intercept each of the incoming rockets, and finally the TX-01 was safely on the ground.

"Dammit! Get us back to our lines!" Karyth ordered, and the Tarantula once again lowered its torso and then shot itself into the air, landing a mere 50 meters in front of remaining Lorath forces. Once it was firmly grounded, the abdomen rotated again, and the Gammatron Cannon locked on to one of the gunboats. With a variety of advanced, state-of-the-art targeting-assist systems, it would be nearly impossible to miss, regardless of how much the fighter tried to evade. The barrel of the cannon lit up with energy and it unleashed another blast, while a volley of thirty SWARM missiles fired downward and exited from between the TX-01's legs, splitting off so that an equal amount hit each remaining gunboat.

"Captain Karyth, what's the status of the NMX carrier?" Came Sa'Ryl's voice over the FTL communications systems, and Karyth sighed heavily before responding. "It's phasing. If there are any vehicles with phase-capable weaponry in the division, now's their time to shine. We'll take care of the gunboats." "Roger that, Captain. Combat data from the TX-01 is being uploaded to the UMC development database in real-time, I advise you to refrain from activating subspace ECM for the next 30 seconds." "Yes ma'am. Yisel, move us behind the front line." "Yes sir," Came the voice of the only woman on the Tarantula's small crew, the navigator and pilot, Yisel. The Tarantula stepped back slowly and allowed the troops behind it to advance in front of it, then stayed put to provide long-range support.

"Alright, you heard them, the Tarantula needs some phased weapon support!" Proclaimed one of the warrant officers which was near the Tarantula after it touched down. Cybernetic links and a few ARIA units compared notes, before a solution was devised.

One of the ARIA units spoke over the communication line "A proposed solution to phased Gigamishhu analyzed, results, adoption of tactic utilizing faster-than-light capable torpedoes mounted on Hawk Fighter-Bombers, reconfigured to phase torpedoes sufficiently for Gigamishhu interception. Reconfiguring torpedo software and remotely reconfigurable hardware. Require five minutes to route Hawk Fighter-Bombers, as well as reconfigure ordinance. Provide support to incoming Hawk Fighter-Bomber units to prevent interception." Instructed one of the ARIA units, likely one of the units nestled in the Peacekeeper base of operations.

While the ARIA explained, there was a distinctive shift in the battle as a group of Ripper PA diverted their attention to the Gigamishhu softened portion of the Lorath lines. This brought the NMX opposition to a dozen Gunboats, and two dozen Rippers. Though, with the efforts of the TX-01, those dozen Gunboats fell to ten, however, they began to move into position for a strafing run upon the vicious little ship, and the infantry allies.

"Cardinal fighters, sixty seconds ETA to provide support to infantry and TX-01 units to counter Gunboat units. TX-01, provide protection for infantry personnel." Instructed the coordinating ARIA, as the Gunboats streaked at the infantry... though, the infantry were not as vulnerable as they would hope.

As the Gunboats streaked in, and the Rippers moved to hover at the 'flanks' of the Lorath lines before moving in, the infantry took defensive positions before unleashing blistering sums of railgun fire from their infantry rifles. Shots tore through the air, causing ripples in the sky as the very air was cut by the rounds, before slamming into the shields of the NMX units. Even with the shields though, the energy delivered on target was comparable to tons of conventional explosives. It was enough to send one of the Gunboats veering off and several of the Rippers found themselves tore into as their shields gradually failed.

"Try to slow those Gunboats down, if we can get them at a proper speed and angle, we can take them down with our antimatter munition launchers." Spoke one of the sergeants of the infantry over the communication lines, speaking mainly to the crew of the TX-01. "Even better if you could crack their shields before we take the shot."

"Roger that. Jaha'ran, set the main cannon to blow a hole in the space between those gunboats." Karyth said, leaning back in his seat. He seemed rather comfortable now, with Tarantula hanging back like it was supposed to on land. The cannon aimed upward and fired between the gunboats, trying to catch more than one of them in the radius of the explosion, while the two top-mounted mini gammatron guns fired at two separate gunboats, and a volley of 40 SWARM missiles exited from beneath the Tarantula, splitting off into groups of 10 that went for separate ships.

Unlike the Gigamishhu, the 'Shredder' Gunboats had every intent of killing the TX-01, and not the 'small fry' infantry around it. This led them to be distinctively keen on observing the unit. Though, their observation was not entirely enough as the Gammatron burst erupted between a close trio of three of the units, resulting in an explosion which sent them each veering out of formation, as their shields buckled and their hulls lay exposed. Much the same happened with the other Gunboats, but their responses were much more direct as aether and plasma weapons roared to life, sending blistering blasts of aetheric energy and atmosphere scorching plasma at the TX-01. Really, the only thing which would certainly save the TX-01, would likely be the sensors it had which were well tuned to such weapons being in the process of pre-fire.

Through the Gunboat's observation of the TX-01, they also worked well to evade the missiles which spewed from the arachnid-like machine, peeling off into various headings as the units pursued by the missiles rotated their plasma turrets, and went about picking off the missiles as they streaked through the sky in a rather chaotic manner. Though, through the chaos, the Lorath support troops for the TX-01 saw their opportunity as they noted the shields and attention of the enemy Gunboats had been dealt with nicely by the TX-01.

Infantry had a way for dealing with air-support, and enemy armored units, which tended to intermingle in the same method. Infantry in the modern battlefield tended to be eyes more than spearheads, as the Lorath warrant officer on the ground called in to the Peacekeeper Base. Cybernetic up links disclosed the fine details of just where each of the Gunboats were at a given moment, and with the data feed, the L-Mark-Two turrets back at the base went into action.

There was no sound, there was nothing that naked eyes could see, but the TX-01's crew would certainly detect what was happening, even before the atmosphere rumbled, and seemed to burn and ripple as hundreds of 40mm projectiles ripped through the skies, and tore into the Gunboats which had their shields disrupted. Explosions, those were certainly a centerpiece, as half of the dozen Gunboats were torn asunder by the plasma ordinance which the L-Mark-Two units had unleashed upon them in such volume, that their armor meant little, as it was pelted and torn asunder by the blistering rush of energy.

That left four Shredders, and a slew of Rippers, which then took to the ground to evade the L-Mark-Two fire, while the Shredders came a little closer to the ground, as they prepared for a pass, a pass which was spearheaded by streams of plasma fire which tore into the ground before the TX-01, before being given the cherry-on-top of aether beams aimed directly at the machine.

"Here they come! Short leaps to the side to evade the turrets! ARIA, help Yisel time the jumps just before the turrets fire so they don't change angles!" Kryth commanded, and the TX-01 immediately went into action. The Gammatron cannon and the smaller guns on top all fired repeatedly at the incoming ships, and the entire machine leaped sideways like a jumping spider avoiding a beetle's horns. When the gunboats were taken out by L-Mark-Two fire and the Rippers and Shredders began to advance, the Tarantula moved further back behind the infantry lines, taking a hit to its shields.

The entire machine rumbled, and the crew held onto their seats. "Stay behind the armor and hit them from above with everything we've got! Kryth ordered, and Jaha'ran responded in kind launching all of the Tarantula's weapons at the enemies in front of it at once - all four gammatron guns, the main cannon, and a volley of 30 more SWARM missiles rained down on the rippers and shredders in a hail of hellfire.

Rippers in this case had the advantage as they peeled away, darting without hindrance out of the path of the incoming barrage from the TX-01 as the Shredders simply lacked the capacity to dodge without collision, or ripping themselves apart. Though, before the TX-01 could land the barrage of weapons fire, the missile bays of the Gunboats burst with clouds of smoke, as over five-hundred mini-missiles exploded from the group. Sensors would momentarily read the space around the Shredders as opaque, as the missiles peeled away, then twisted in the air until they were all aimed at the TX-01!

Though, as the Shredders deposited their payload, they were struck by the ordinance of the very thing they aimed to kill. It was no matter though, they were expendable, just as expendable as any Nekovalkryja. That fact was quite clear as the TX-01's sensors would detect another group of twenty in-bound to finish the job the others had started, though, they were still some minutes away.

"Cardinal Fighters, arriving in your area TX-01." reported the Peacekeeper Base's ARIA as two-dozen of the air-and-space superiority fighters appeared in sight. Their pristine white hulls glistened in the sun, as they became engaged with the Ripper units which were present. Condensed packets of plasma rippled through the air, as Ripper units were torn into, though they quickly replied with their own weapons fire, as the Cardinal units broke into maneuvers, and the Rippers ascended to swarm about. It left the TX-01 to deal with the immediate problem; enough missiles to lay waste to a ship twice its size.

It was a sea of dunes, no foliage, no real cover, just a lot of ever shifting valleys of sand as they continued their march at the beckoning of the wind.

Six figures were walking up the wall of one of these valleys, they where in two line formations of three. Their goal was on the other side, a small command unit of NMX.

Nestled in the rear lines of the NMX forces, behind the fanned out vehicles and infantry which worked to evade Lorath artillery and air power, a series of volumetric camouflage nets and a few of the NMX Battle-buggies were parked along with a pair of Ripper power armor units, which stood guard beside a traditional member of the Mishhu species, with a floating skull perched upon a fleshy under-body of tentacles. From this small encampment, a steady stream of subspace and radio transmissions streamed, and volumetric concealed NMX nekovalkryja runners moved from the location back to the front lines, skimming the sands as they half sprinted and half flew over the dunes, their bronze skin standing out most above their khaki garb which seemed to blend with the sands, before the rest of their bodies did as volumetric concealment once again came into effect.

Wisely, the NMX set up their command post in a valley which concealed them from a decent portion of artillery fire, while also serving well to provide a means of cover, as their volumetric projection net produced the illusion of just another dune. Though, if approached from ground level, beneath the 'arch' of projection that came from the net, it would be clear just what was there, a ripe target for certain for those which defended the besieged Peacekeeper facility. Though... the first step to the ambush, was to find a way past the fifteen-or-so strong group of NMX Nekovalkryja which stood guard about the perimeter... of course, those were the ones which could be seen.

The crew of the TX-01 began to work overtime, communicating with another from only feet away via Lorath telepathy. The fact of the matter was that it was simply faster to communicate that way than to speak at this point, and so from an outside observer's perspective it was as if they all seemed to know perfectly how to operate as a unit. The Tarantula leaped sideways and then backwards, forcing the missiles to form a steady stream towards it and begin to collide with one another. It then fired all of its weapons at once at the now-much-denser cloud - 200 SWARM missiles were unleashed in total as their intended purpose was point defense, and the gammatron guns and main cannon all assisted in blowing up the remaining missiles, while the Tarantula kept leaping backwards to maintain distance.

Having put some distance between the new arrivals, the crew of the Tarantula decided to use their unit's superior long-range capabilities to their full extent for the first time since the battle started. Moments passed and the Gammatron Cannon on the rear eventually charged back to full power. Then, the Tarantula fell back to the rear of the LSDF's lines. "Command, this is TX-01. When the gunboats get here, light 'em up with the L-Mark-Twos. Once the sky is clear, we can provide long-range support and begin hammering their armor. 'Course, we'll be hitting the shredders before they get close enough to hit us too."

Evasion and point defense, the two methods paid off for the TX-01, at least for the most part, as several of the missiles managed to leak through, exploding against the shields of the machine, and leaking through a bit of thermal energy, but just enough to scorch off the fresh paint of the machine.

"Command here, request for artillery support acknowledged. Maintain sensor link." Replied the Peacekeeper base in response to the TX-01 as it retreated to the rear of the lines. From their vantage point, the TX-01 crew could clearly see the situation as it unfolded. Infantry were dug in, loaning support fire to the Cardinal units buzzing about overhead, engaged in combat with superior numbers of Ripper units. Though, with infantry fire and the air-superiority fighter's capabilities combined, what the scuffle amounted to for the TX-01 was merely a devastating distraction of a light-show.

On the horizon, barely visible over dunes, were the approaching 'Shredder' Gunboats, they skimmed the ground closely, making rapid course corrections as they closed in, curving around dunes and dipping into valleys as they only occasionally peeked into sight, and certainly, they were not in an optimal firing position for the Peacekeeper base, which, they were quick to state; "Peacekeeper base to TX-01. Unable to determine a firing solution at this time based on sensor data. They are too low, you will have to force them to ascend at least twenty to forty meters." came the voice over the comm-line. "Update on Hawk Fighter-Bomber units, ETA one and a half minutes."

Though, as the base's transmission came through, another thing came the way of the TX-01. Sensors would scream out the spike in energy, as a beams of brilliant white light tore their way through the dunes, vaporizing sand, and glassing what did not get caught in the dazzling rush of pure aether energy. Dug in groups of infantry were caught in the blasts, vaporizing a platoon worth of soldiers in short order. Though, a number of those aether beams were also intended for the TX-01. It seemed, the Gunboats were out for blood. Their swift attack was enough to deposit an aether beam clear through the shield of the TX-01, it entered one end of the shield perimeter, before crossing through the interior of the shield, and out the other side, utterly wrecking the field and leaving the TX-01's hull vulnerable until the shield could be brought back on line.

Perhaps... if the Ripper units could be dealt with, that would possibly free up the Cardinal fighters to provide a degree of support to aid the TX-01 against the incoming Gunboats. There were still twenty of the Cardinals left, though, there were also at least forty of the Rippers swarming about, exchanging fire with the superiority fighters which had brought the Rippers down from twice their current numbers.

Of course, the crew of the TX-01 had a brilliant plan. The Gammatron Cannon'a main design involved the computer calculating an extremely precise spot in space, in which two particles fired beside eachother through the barrel of the gun would crash together, thus creating a particle reaction. In this way, it was possible to calculate the point of impact past a barrier and cause an explosion behind it. Through distance calculations, the Tarantula fired the main gammatron cannon into the dunes just in front of the incoming rippers, and slightly below them. They would have a chance to avoid the blast, and pulling upward would be much quicker than pulling downward!

Simultaneously, the tarantula let loose 25 SWARM missiles towards the rippers and unleashed its smaller Gammatron guns, firing automatic volleys of fire with each individual turret aimed toward a separate target. Indeed, accurate attacks like this were only capable because of the ship's ARIA, and the crew was more than thankful for it. Extremely quick and precise area denial for small scale unit tactics was possible with adequate targeting systems, which the TX-01 certainly had.

With a dazzling flash of radiation induced explosive force, the dunes were lit up by the TX-01's Gammatron discharge, it was enough to cause the five Shredder Gunboats which were headed directly at the explosion to pull up. It left the other fifteen units to veer off to the left and right, forcing gravitational regulators to a strained maximum as they defied traditional physics of just what machines their size should do. Though, their limit was quickly proven as the explosion tore into a pair which were just unable to get out of range in time. When the explosion impacted, the pair of unfortunate Gunboats were knocked off course, and were forced into impacting against the ground, producing enough force to tear their hulls apart along their various respective sections.

While eight of the Shredders managed to evade, and two were forced into the sands, five of them were forced to fly upward. They were spotted easily by at least a dozen different Lorath units in the area, and the moment their hulls managed to move to a certain point in relation to the horizon, their fate was sealed just as the units prior. Before they could go into a dive, before they could correct for their mistake, they were targeted. Miles away, gears and motors spun wildly, barrels roared with the rippling of atmosphere as magnetic and subspace forces hurled hundreds of projectiles through the sky at speeds which caused roars and ripples to cut through the air. Rapid explosions shimmered before turning into concussive blasts of energy as the Shredders were pelted with plasma-based explosive slugs. Shields meant little to the sheer volume of fire, armor meant even less, as the five unlucky Gunboats were either torn apart, or simply vaporized by artillery fire.

TX-01's other efforts, with missiles that streaked through the skies, paid off as well as Ripper armors which were already engaged to the edge of their capacity with the Cardinal fighters were given more to worry about. twenty of twenty-five missiles hit their marks, as the Rippers were either damaged or destroyed, and the ones which were damaged were quickly picked apart by the Cardinal fighters, while the remainder which were untouched by the missiles were soon dealt with by the Lorath fighter craft, or, by the remainder of the local infantry which struggled to keep themselves alive in light of the near perpetual slew of world scarring damage that continued to come their way.

Once the Rippers were dealt with, a communication came over the TX-01's lines. "Squadron leader to TX-01. Thank you for making that a bit easier. We're reading those Shredders that are inbound still, we will engage, we'll keep them off your back while you figure out what to do with that giant-as-fuck Mishhu." with that, the Cardinal units peeled off toward the Shredders, starting off their assault with volleys of missile fire that announced the start of their engagement.

Appearing over the horizon, a group of five Hawk Fighter-Bombers appeared, announcing their arrival. "TX-01, our missile payload has been configured to solve your phased Mishhu problem. Gathering your sensor data now. Will fire when you're ready to engage the enemy. On impact, these missiles should destabilize the enemy's phasing organs and force it into our layer of space again."

"Copy, command. When the carrier drops out of phase, we'll fire from underneath and force it upward. Requesting that you target the frontal shields with the L-Mark-Twos so we can fire our main cannon into the gap." Kryth said, pointing at the monitor that showed the Tarantula's field of vision. "Yisel, bring us underneath the carrier and get ready for the torpedoes to hit. ARIA, direct shields to the top of the unit."

After recieving confirmation from the computer and his navigator, Karyth nodded, and the Tarantula suddenly jolted forward. A few leaps and it was underneath the phased supercarrier, flashing beams of antimatter annihilation and pouring out a salvo of SWARM missiles to defend itself from the nearby ground troops. When the Carrier was hit by the torpedoes, the Tarantula fired all of its weapons upward at its belly at once while simultaneously leaping backward, trying to force the carrier into the L-Mark-Twos firing range while avoiding its attacks.