Cimeron Training 1 June 3097 Cimeron, Dahar PDZ, Federated Suns Colonel Frum stood before the newly formed 1st Battle Armour Battalion The ‘Wendigos’the unit earned its name from the Berenstein Flats people that arrived on Cimeron some 400 years ago from the east coast and central Great lakes areas of North America. Their Algonquian folk lore, the wendigo was a mythical man-eating monster an evil spirit native to the northern forests of the Atlantic Coast and Great Lakes Regions of the defunct regions of Canada and the former United States of America . The wendigo appeared as a monster with some characteristics of a human or as a spirit who possessed a human being and made them become monstrous. It was historically associated with murder, insatiable greed, and the cultural taboos against such behaviours. The Armour Clad warriors stood at attention in their Battle armoured suits, each having their given combat name from the Native elders that had granted it during their survival indoctrination. The stylized paint schemes on the grenadiers, hauberks and infiltraor Mk II’s had a growling monstrous grizzly bear painted on the upper torso and helmet of each combat suit, with blazing glowing eyes and bloodied teeth. The depiction of a Zombie bear emblazoned on each suit was meant to show the enemy and all those that opposed the elite battle armoured unit who they were dealing with. Pairs of Shaman from the Berenstein flats were moving amongst the one hundred and thirty eight troopers chanting and praying to the great spirits of their ancestors. Cimeron sweet grass burned in ritual hand held bundles and were being incanted on the armour, Thoraxian bears were known throughout the upper high lands of the new Scotland continental shelf and were much larger than their earth counterparts. Roughly the size of an earth polar bear the thoraxian bear was usually content eating berries and grubs that it forged for but it was known to take down the large bison like reptiles that roamed the upper planes along with the thoraxian bear. The massive reptiles roamed in herds and were not usually bothered by the great bears but on occasion would be taken down by the hungry predator. Very few natives of Cimeron had ever hunted the bear as it was really temperamental when encroached upon so most people left them alone. There had been quite a few off world hunters that had contracted out local native guides to help them on hunting expeditions but very few of those had ever been successful and the vast majority had always ended in a bloody mess and loss of life. It these and numerous other stories why the thoraxian bear was chosen as the animal totem of the Battle Armour Battalion Countess Larissa Black stood at the raised command dais that overlooked the rows of battle armoured troopers. As the reigning member of the House of Black, leading the small coalition of planets that were in the Dahar provincial defence zones, she had been given the mantle of governing Cimeron in the absence of her father and stepmother who were on operation against house Liao. Although only 19 she bore herself well and with some feigned confidence she showed herself as a strong and capable leader in the absence of her parents. Although deep inside she was nervous her counsel had given her instruction and direction to allow her to develop her public appearance and show a strong noble figure. The battalion commander was a long standing friend of her father and was one of the founding members of the Black Wolf Rangers when they first came to Cimeron. Sarcina Rex Fru will and will and in and him and he is in and in and in and you will and is our m was her godmother and had taught her many lessons over the years of how to become a capable combat soldier and how to navigate's the treacherous rivers of high society. Although Frum herself shunned the idea of hanging out with nobles she had been forced to navigate those same waters herself as the Black Wolf Rangers became more of an entrenched part of the society and command structure of Cimeron itself. Like any battlefield, she excelled in conducting yourself well when dealing with various nobles or important peoples. Frum just figured that it was just a different type of combat zone that she had to conduct herself in. She once told Larissa that there was no real difference between a deadly combat zone were soldiers were fighting and that's of nobles trying to best one another in political games. Depending on the scale of conflict between nobles, it was the normal soldier or people that paid the price of their nobles egos being hurt by others. Bringing her Battalion to attention Sigourney Frum marched forward in her own two ton Grenadier battle suit. The massive armoured suits footsteps echoed in the arena as she closed towards her goddaughter. Larissa Black walked down the dais and stops as she reached the bottom of the staircase and waited for her godmother to arrive. Frum stopped and gave Count test Black a raised arm slid across her chest. Larissa gave back a crisp salute and spoke. "Good morning Sarcina Rex." Larissa said as she smiled slightly at the towering woman in her combat suit. "God morning Countess, 144 troopers awaiting your inspection." Frum said as she returned the smile. "You are looking quite the part in your dress uniform young lady." "Thank you Sigourney. Shall we take a look at your troops and not have them wait too long for all this pomp?" Larissa said as she took her position to the left of her adoptive aunt. "By all means, you're the boss.| Sigourney chuckled as she walked slowly beside her favourite pupil. "And I must say that the thoraxian bear paint scheme on each of the suits of Battle Armour is quite impressive, although it does look somewhat like the Ghost bears. Although our Zombie look makes the visage of the bear a hundred times more fearsome and would scare the living hell out of me if these suits were coming towards me in anger. The luminescence paint scheme that can be activated for nighttime operations would give me nightmares seeing them bounding towards me on a battle line." Larissa commented as she strode quickly along the lines of battle clad warriors. She did not elect to talk to the warriors as many dignataries would do as she had met each and every one of them during their naming ceremonies back in January. Making their way quickly through the lines Larissa and Sigourney returned to the dignitaries dais. "The troops look exceptionally good today Sigourney thank you for escorting me during the inspection. We will give them an extra day off and the weekend for their hard work and time getting the battalion up and running. But we will have to load up and send them into the fray to link up with the Black Wolf Rangers that are deployed against house Liao. I have orders for you awaiting in my office and out like to see you as soon as you are done here afterwards." "Will do young lady." Sigourney said as she saluted her commander. The dignataries returned to their seat and Sigourney dismissed her troops and quickly returned to the battle armour Hanger located within the Fang. She quickly doffed her suit with help from one of the Fangs battle armour technicians. The troopers of her battalion were likewise being stripped of their suits and pulling themselves clad only in the skin tight biomesh layer that interfaced between the human body and the powerful armoured suit. Sigourney strode quickly, her long thickly corded muscled legs took her to her office that overlooked the battle armour hangar. She pulled on her work dress fatigues and readied herself to travel up into the depths of the fang to the main office high up the mountain that overlooked the sprawling Black Wolf Rangers complex that lay outside the mountain fortress. The maglev station and civilian and family domiciles and barracks. Although the mountain castle brian could house everyone comfortably, the vast majority of families and personnel preferred living inside the massive estates protected by thick ferrocrete walls and defensive bunkers and pill boxes. The spacious urban sprawl had parks, green spaces and open areas that allowed everyone to see the sky, the sun and have weather effects. In times of conflict the families and civilians supporting the castle brian could be housed securely with the massive stores of food and water. Taking a series of elevators to the higher reaches of the Fang, Sigourney walked with a purpose and closed the distance between the elevator and the main command area for the senior staff of the Cimeron Defence Forces that House Black was in command of. The large blast doors that led to the heart of the control area were guarded by 2 PAL wearing troopers of the Royal Ducal Guard. a full squad of troopers were always on hand for the Sitting member of House Black. The two troopers looked at the tall muscled trooper and allowed her through as they knew who she was. The senior member nodded his respect to the battalion commander. Entering the cavernous command center, technicians sat at their consoles controlling and compilind data, directing operations, and all various assortment of command and control for the Fang and Cimerons forces. Sigourney walked past the rows of data banks and consoles and made her way to the inetrior chamber where Larissa Blacks office and close consorts and advisors sat. Coming to the large Holovid control room, Sigourney saw a wargame being enacted on the large amphitheatre like room. Larissa looked up from the simulation and smiled and gestured with her hand. "Good morning again Sigourney, please come and i will give you your marching orders," Looking down at the simulation playing out before her, Sigourney noticed the planet and location being run. "An indication of where i may be going?" Sigourney nodded at the simulation. "No not quite, its a scenario we are running for the 3rd REF and how they handled themselves against the Dracs a few years ago. We want to see the current loadout with clan tech as opposed to where the REF was then, the outcomes are decidedly more decisive." Countess Black said. "I would have no doubt, although Clan tech isnt as leading edge as when we first saw it almost half a century before, they still maintain a decent edge in may things." "That they do, anyway, here." Larissa said as she handed Sigourney a folder and documents. Opening the docet, The battle armour commander looked at the information contained therein. She read the few pages and then set the docet back down and took a seat beside Larissa. Black Wolf Rangers Operation Dagger 34 Region: Capellan Confederation System: St. Loris Galactic Coordinates: X: 90.76 Y: -244.11 Days to Jump Point: 7 days Planet: St. Loris Primary Planetary Climate: Temperate Approximate Population: 900 Million People Capital City: Trulia Contract Type: Planetary Assault Primary Operational Terrain: Urban, Heavy Contract Duration: 6 Months (90 Days in REAL TIME) negotiable Employer: Federated Suns Employer Contact: Marshal Laura Zibler Command Rights: Integrated Command Forces Recommended: A Battalion Strength Detachment Supporting Forces: Fourth Crucis Lancers, Medusan Hydra and Basilisk Squadrons Enemy Forces: Little Richard’s Panzer Brigade (All Vechiles), Eleventh Capellan Navy Escort Squadron Supplement Contracts Offered: Offensive Campaign Bounty Per Word: 1,500 C-Bills Minimum Bounty: 48,000 Word Transcript Bonus Salvage Bounty Target: 72,000 Word Transcript Bonus Salvage Category: Type-D Salvage PLANETARY DETAILS: St.Loris is an important world, growing wheat on its two continents. The island continent of Pardray runs parallel to the main continent of Layting for several hundred kilometers. In 3010, the 2nd St.Ives Lancers were called upon to defend St.Loris against a Davion raid. Anticipating only one enemy regiment, the Lancers were surprised to encounter two Davion regiments from the Ceti Hussars. Leaving the 2nd battalion of Panthers in a holding action against one regiment, the rest of the regiment concentrated with a vengeance on the second. Eventually driven off the planet, the Lancers nevertheless destroyed two companies of Hussar 'Mechs to avenge the unit's destruction of much of the planet's vital wheat crop. Socio-Industrial Levels: Technological Development World of moderate advancement; average educational systems and medical care; microelectronics can not be manufactured. Industrialization Level Basic heavy industry at level of 22nd century; fusion engines possible but no complex products (including BattleMechs). Raw Material Dependence World/system produces all the raw materials needed and occasionally exports a small surplus. Industrial Output World has a small industrial base that may produce a limited number of products for export. Agricultural Dependence World has a rich environment producing a great excess of food in relation to population needs, with planet’s agricultural regions augmented by agricultural technologies; exports some portion of its resources. PRIMARY OBJECTIVES: 1) Assist the 4th Crucis Lancers in Invasion SOP 2) Establishing a planetary beachhead SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: 1) Capturing the Spaceport 2) Do NOT damage the planet’s profitable infrastructure (Primarily the St Loris Wheat Fields "So, support of OP Horus Heresy, Second Wave St Loris, Support 5th Crucis Lancers, establish beachhead and take star port and ensure no collateral damage to the agricultural output of the planet. First three are standard OPS, the protection of the crops is a much tougher bag to control, depending on Little Richards Panzer Brigade and what they decide to do once we make planet fall. They tend to be hard nuts to crack. And depending on the local defences and temerity. The crops will be needed to ensure the population is fed, the season of the attack is their summer and wildfires could be easily started, or easily started on purpose by overzealous soldiers looking to destabilize the locals." Sigourney finished as she inhaled deeply. "Standard Ops yes with something difficult to ensure but will be a key part to the successful occupation and feeding of not only the planet but the main forces in the second and third waves to reduce the logistical nightmare of supplying food. A strategic asset that will need to be secured." Larissa said as she nodded her affirmation to Sigourneys musings. The overall forces shouldnt be that hard to neutralize, its the small garrisons and peoples defence units that i would be most concerned with, they tend to be rather zealous in the defence of their planets and are indoctrined to fight hard and Guerilla warfare. My battalion will need to ensure that reprisal attacks and non standard warfare will not be tolerated." "The standard operational procedures we have adopted and maintain will stay in effect but dominating any uprising or none symetrical fighters will be up to your discretion within our operational guidelines. We will not have locals fire bombing us without reprisals. You know the ethical parameters as set out by our policies. "I will only use heavy force if required. When do we leave?" "Transports will leave in three weeks, we have a circuit of civilian jumpers arranged as much as we can and 2 military command circuits, albeit only 3 jumps each. It will reduce the travel time immensely, you will be in the ST Loris system in one month instead of 4 "Sounds good, get us there to kick ass and chew bubble gum." and then baby sit the fields of corn and wheat. Anyway, i will start getting the battalion ready as soon as everyone is back from their extra long weekend. Gonna be a long haiul with so many jumps in a short order of time. My XO isnt going to like the rapid jumps, but she will be ok, her TDS isnt at a debilitating level yet." "Hopefully this doesnt accelerate the condition she has. We need to get your unit there to support the 4th and solidify the taking of the star port to bring in the 4ths main armour and infantry assets." "We will take it and then some. I should be off to get preps underway. I will stop by this weekend and visit the family before i immerse myself into the needs of my battalion. Sunday dinner sound good for me to come by?" "Sunday is perfect, everyone will be at the Black estates." "Ok, i will see you then Larissa, Have a good day.| Sigourney said as she rose and straightened her fatigue jacket and made her wat down to the bowels of the Fang back to her Battalion holding area. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit 1 Year earlier Cimeron Situation 1 Jan 3096 Cimeron, Dahar PDZ, Federated Suns The Rebel of Apitawiyah or Thunderhawk as he was nicnamed had decided to begin militant protests and manoeuvres after the high courts had come to an impasse agaisnt the major players that had contaminated his nations primary drinking water and ritual and sacred water source. The courts had come to a decision to have the main companies conduct reparations and to have the Environmental protection consortium investigate a few more matters and lump them into the main charges, which meant another 18 to 36 months of hearings which the Berenstein Flats people did not have the patience for. Days after the decision to lengthen the process, a few letter bombs had been sent to the justices, they had been intercepted and explosive disposal experts had destroyed the makeshift bombs before they had detonated. One however made it to the Main high courthouse and detonated late one nite. Sending shockwaves both literal and media wise throughout the capital region Cimeron Proper. A day Later the leader of the Berenstein Flats held a press conference stating that he was not happy with the state of affairs and that other acts like this could occur as his people were fed up with the governments inaction. He did not denounce nor endorse the acts. Which gave a clear message that his people were gearing up for more and continued actions. The high command had convened and began looking into the potential operations and scenarios that could play out, most did not end well for those involved as militants. And the light battle armour battalion under Frum was the header of most actions as most of the members of her unit had dealings with guerilla tactics and insurgencies against the draconis combine. Frums battalion began training hard towards gearing up for operations against their own prople and how to minimize bad outcomes. For three months Frums battalion trained hard and utilized the veterans of none symetrical warfare to prep her soldiers for the likely event they would be needed to be used. One nite a massive explosion rocked the capital as a major oil depot detonated and lit up the mountainous terrain like a mini super nova. resue and fire crews worked for a week straight getting the facility under control. The death toll had been low comparitively speaking. Thirty six technicians and workers had died in the explosion and five rescue workers had likelwise perished during the fire fighting operations. a week after the explosion, The Cimeron High Command decided it was time to act with harsher measures to deal with the increasing militant acts from the berenstein flats people. Frums special battalion was activated as a quick response unit and deployed to gather intelligence and act on their findings to ensure things did not continue the way they were. Now Frum and her battalion were in position to gather the intel they needed to act on. Her three companies were spread out in the Berenstein flats and gathering information around the five major cities that were located around the lake systems the flats people had built around and gathered to conduct their rituals and sacred communions. Frum had deployed her 1st company to the capital of the region 2nd company had split into 2 demi units to cover 2 smaller cities, 3rd had deployed likewise as 2 demi units to extend the search into the remaining 2 cities. A week into their deployment had garnered small tidbits of intel, nothing worth acting on yet, but some disturbing rumours had been unearthed and if true, would need to be confirmed and acted upon as soon as possible. Biological weapons had been delivered by an off world third party. The Cimeron High command did not want to let the public know about the weapons nor allow the Flats separatist militants the upper hand to let them know that their waepons were known about. Giving out the information would alert the militants that the government was actively searching for the weapons and looking to neutralize them. Frum knew the importance of locating them, retrieving them or destroying them in place. The companies had radioed in their code words for being in place. Her senior non commissioned officer came alongside her at the hidden command post located five kilometers from Daggers Bend, the capital of the Berenstein Flats. The massive ebon skinned warrior Sergeant Major Samuel Collins spoke a deep baritone "Evening Ma'am, all sub commands are in place and actively conducting recon operations in their respective zones. All communication outlets are being monitored by Higher HQ, whatever they hear they will let us know. The high court is trying to pass a blanket monitoring for the berenstein flats. Im not sure that will happen, even with the importance of the suspected weapons, the high courts not likely to give us this as the political nature of surveilllance could bolster the growing dissattisfaction of the flats nation as well as some splinter groups the intelligence boys and girls have been watching the last few years." "They either do or don't, i can sympathize with keeping the main surveillance kept a secret, biologicals suck bad, but we are in between a rock and a hard place, I don't trust the politicos all i can worry about is what we find out ourselves and act on that intel. For now we proceed as best we can, hope for the best and expect the worst." "Worse case scenario isnt good Ma'am." Sergeant Major Collins replied as he inhaled deeply "No, it most certainly is not. That is why we must not fail in locating these weapons, if they exist and determine who gave them to the flats militants, why they did so and make sure we find them and take them out. "Thats what were are here to do, and we will find them soon. Patrols are oit to ensure no one locates us, we also have the intel teams listening in on the local social networks, and a few operatives from the Grey Hunters." Collins made mention of the grey Hunters, a secret intelligence organization of the Black Wolf Rangers, akin to the Clan Watch, LOKI, MI6 from other realms. Two wolf hunters had been directed to infiltrate each city, their skills at hacking and pulling information from various sources would increase the liklihood of success of her battalion a thousand fold. The operatives were usually social outcasts, their IQ levels and weays of searching and collecting data was beypnd her capability to understand, Frum just knew that if the Hunters were deployed, then whatever was out there would be found for her and her unit to act upon. "What is the status on the PAL's?" Frum asked "They are in position at the main staging points for each company, they came in by civilian pattern delivery transports to warehouses we have rented. The locals think that there are new companies coming into the area to set up shop. 1st Company has been brought to a warehouse 2 kilometers from here, an old farm that was abandoned a couple years ago and is now going to be the Head quarters for Divine Honey Collection while we are here. 2nd company is located at a refurbushed shipping comnpany Becks Shipping and 3rd company is in an old sawmill that has storage for lease." Collins said as he ticked off the three locations on his massive paw. Well time to get out and scout, Frum said as she pulled out some non descript civilian attire from her rucksack. She slipped out of her fatigues and into the loose fitting khaki pants and jean shirt and jean jacket, she pulled on some well used sturdy hiking boots and stowed her short shotgun on a quick release pocket on her patrol pack. She slipped outside and linked up with her three fang mates and a security fang. Setting off along the countryside the 8 man team kept to the dark shadows along the wood lines a kilometer distant from the main road. Various cattle and livestock grazed on the thick lush grass of the meadows. Some cows became startled as the quiet band of Rangers passed by, their baying of fear subsided when the small group continued by them without giving chase. After about two hours of travel the small group broke up and checked their set up area. The rangers checked the perimeter of an old farm house that was overgrown with ivy and weeds. "looks like no ones been around here for quite a few years." Frum said to no one in particular. Her comms specialist, Tash Juniper, heard her and commented. "More than a few, the roof is sagging and no windows, been abandoned about a decade or more and i dont see any tell tale signs of vagrants, fires or much of any debris suggesting anyone comes out here." "Good assesment Tash, you sure you werent a private investigator in a previous life?" Frum chuckled. "with my luck ma'am i was likely a frog or a destitute orphan, no wait, i was a destitute orphan this life so it must have been a frog the previous life." Jumiper said as she coughed lightly. "ok we will set up here and then head out with the 1st squad to check out the town and place some taps on the mayors house. I dont care about the high courts decision to not tap the main players homes, i want info and i want it now." "i agree ma'am, i have my gear and can set up the tap in about five minutes once we get to the mayors house." "Good, for now we sleep a few hours, then head into town and get that tap done." The group set up a picket to make sure no one came across them and slept the few hours, at midnite the group left the house leaving 2 members behind for security and the remaining 6 moved into the town, The streets were quiet and no one seemed awake, Frum made sure the group moved slowly and did not travel into any street lights. The group made it to the mayors house and discovered that there were armed guards outside the abode. "Looks like they are expecting some issues?" Juniper said out loud Frum scanned the mayors house and the security detail outside. "Pretty sloppy and not paying attention, thats in our favour. Can we get a tap on them from outside the house? Or do you have to get inside.?" Pulling out her night vision binos juniper scanned the electrical boxes located on the back of the house, looks like i could do it from outside, but there are the guys outside and one might go back and check where i am." "Wel leave that to me, we can give you a small distraction that will tie up the guards a few minutes." "What do you have in mind ma'am?" "No worries, jackson with me, i need your skills." "A wiry tall man stepped forward "Whatever you need ma'am" "Juniper take Jeremiah as a pointman, Barnes, francesca stay here in case things go south, do not engage unless i give the kill sign. Give us 20 minutes and then we will get you the distraction you need. Keep calm and get it done." "OK ma'am you got it, ill get the tap done and boogie out." Juniper replied Sigourney crouched down and motioned for jackson to follow her, the duo quickly disappeared away from the mayors house leaving the four rangers to split up and get into position. Barnes and Francesca spread out and began assembling their sniper rifles just in case, if they needed to drop the guards they wanted to be able to do it quickly, the duo climbed up the apartment building that overlooked the mayors house, Juniper and Jeremiah made their way to the walled back yard of the mayors house where they awaited the distraction their CO was arranging Sigourney and Barnes had gone down the road and scoped out vehicles and Barnes saw what he thought was the best vehicle for their part in tonites activities. "Here, he whispered loudly to get his bosses attention." "Looks goodm, you sure you dont wanna get that sweet ride over there?" Frum jacked her thumb over her shoulder indicating a souped up sports car. "Naw, likley has a security system, now this gurl here, not likely at all, its an older beater, and will do the trick nicely." "Suit yourself." Frum laughed lightly Barnes slipped in and exposed some wires that led to the battery and the starter, he took less than a minute to turn over the vehicle. "There we go, all good." "Alright, lets get this show on the road, i want you to drive normally and then swerve into the light pole i point out. We act like a couple that had too many to drink, and hey, look at this." Frum pulled a bottle from the back seat, cracked it open and took a whiff, "Yup this will do as she took a swig and then spat it out, she poured some of the dark liquid on her jean jacket and some on barnes pants. "Whoa hey thats cold." Barnes yelped as he felt the cold liquid grace his nether region. "Take a swig and spit it out, now we at least smll the part. Now lets go." pulling away from the curb, barnes brought the old beater truck intpo the road and towards their objective. Moments later sigourney pointed out the post she wanted them to hit. Barnes turned the wheel sharply and struck the pole. The two lurched forward and then got out and staggered to the front of the truck, trying to see what damage was done. "Dammit earl, you crashed the truck." Sigurney said in a slur, she looked over at the guards and waved at them to come over. "Hey.. can yous guys gives us'es a hand." She staggered slightly and slurred her words. "Not my fault gertrude." Barnes replied gruffly the two guards looked at one another and shook their heads as they approached the two rangers. "Had a few too many to drink did we?" The shorter of the two remarked. "Its our anniversary and earl here had a few more than i thought, and her we are." Well it looks like you are hung up on the curb, shouldnt be too hard to get this beast off of it and you on your way. Just try not to hit anything on your way out. "I wont and thanks" Barnes said as he stepped aside and let the guards work on the hung up vehicle, then applied his own muscle to get the truck free. A few minutes later the truck was free and sigourney and barnes thanked their rescuers and were on their way. Sigourney saw Juniper and her companion dash away from the back of the house and into the fields beyond. Two Days later Juniper had received some urgent news, she stumbled across the floor and spoke excitedly "ma'am, Ma'am wake up, i have news we need. Thunder hawk is coming to the town tomorrow nite and will be stopping by the mayors house. We might be able to catch him and get the information we need." "Notify the company i want them suited up and ready to go and in position to raid that house once the target has arrived. we can't let Thunder hawk get away." Frums 1st Company readied themselves and came to the old farmhouse and dropped off the teams Nighthawk PAL armour. That evening they prepared for the raid to get Thunder hawk and the information they so desperately needed. The cool nite air drifted along the warm ground creating a thick mist that rolled along the dark grassy earth. They heavy dirt aroma of the ground permeated the air, the thick dust hung heavy in the mist. Sigourney brought her team back to the old farm house and the team hunkered down for the remainder of the evening waiting for 1st Company to arrive. Sigourney had send out her 6 man team to keep eyes on the house and warn of the arrival and confirmation of the militant Flats leader. The code phrase came over the command net, alerting Frum to the arrival of the target, Her adrenaline began to pump as she dropped the face plate of her Nighthawk into place. "Lets go Juniper time to earn our pay." Frums comms specialist followed behind her carrying her powerful comms case on her back and integrated into her suits systems. The two linked up with the the remainder of 1st growl 2nd and 3rd were already in position and surrounded the main approaches to the mayors place, bridges and escape routes were secured quietly. Approaching near the target, Sigourney linked up with Sgt Maj Collins. "Sitrep." she said calmly "Thunderhawk has been in location this evening and we have confirmation that he is still there, we have listened in on the conversation and we have a possible 5 weapon sites. Each about 150 km away from here. I have the coordinates of each weapon site and have given that to High command. They are mobilizing Nightshades to load up a few squads each of our troopers and deploy them to the weapon sites, ETA is approximately 3 hours for pick up, and another to get to the deployment zones. That brings us to 0530 Hrs local." Collins said as he debriefed his commander. "Tight, but we have to move on this, once the troops are in place we take them all at once. That way there is less likelihood of a message getting out and alerting the weapon caches. All we can do now is wait for our assets to get into place and then we strike." Frum said The hours ticked down slowly, no movement or actions from the target were seen except the guards rotating out every few hours. 0520 came and all Ranger assets were in position. Making her way to the edge of the meadow Frum scanned the target house, She inhaled and exhaled slowly and spoke. "Sierra Tango." 3 teams of four troopers each struck forward, Snipers with laser rifles dropped the two front guards while another took out the one in the rear of the building. The team breachers braced against the walls of the house, detonations echoed through the nite and the teams entered, flash bangs and sonic grenades exploded, bright flashes of light rippled through the interior. Moments later the team Leader spoke. "Sampson secure." Nodding her affirmation she spoke "Good, bring him to the HQ area, we need to get him to the defriefers as soon as possible and get whatever information he has about other goings on with his movement. Minutes later she was given reports from the five teams, four were successful, one had come up empty handed. "Fuck." Was all she said in response. Striding into the HQ Frum sat down in front of the Militant commander. She looked around the room "Everyone out" she ordered. Waiting for the last one to leave she stood and locked the door and returned to where the large man sat shackled to the table. "Good morning, Bit of a change of plans for you." "I have one last act to engage then my people will rise up and continue to fight you and your masters." "You and i both do not want innocents to die..." "Innocents have already died colonel Frum. Yes i know who you are, know thy enemy as they say. I knew we would be found out, but i made sure one of my weapons would not be found. I have entrusted that to my most trusted leftenant." "Many have died because of the corporations, i do not want any more of your people to die in a civil war or by the ineptitude of the courts. Your people have suffered more than enough at the greed and neglect of big business. i sympathize with you and i will give my word to help you get what your people need... Justice." "What good is your word Colonel, you are but a pawn of the overlords that call themselves our guardians, i...." "I will give you my word that i will engage and kill all that want to harm innocents, the courts may have failed you, i will not, nor will i see one more woman or child harmed on either side. I will promise you though that if your people follow you into conflict, i will unleash a hell your people have never seen that i swear to you. I will see that you get justice as long as you do not threaten the safety of all the people of Cimeron. Now, Its up to you to allow everyone tpo be safe, or unleash my wrath, its as simple as that Thunder hawk. What is your decision." "I know your reputation and that you do not fail in what you set out to do. I will let you do as you say, if you fail, my message to those will be to not rest till cimeron burns, that is my word." "Then we enter into this deal this morning to ensure that hell does not get unleashed." Frum said as she drew a knife and slit her palm and dropped the knife in the hands of the man before her. Thunder hawk drew the knofe slowly along his left palm unflinchingly, the blood pooled and both grasped each other's hands and nodded as they spoke. "Blood bond" Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Loadup for Operation 15 June 3098 Cimeron, Dahar PDZ, Federated Suns Thinking back to how things could have gone a year ago, Frum smiled at the man walking towards her, Her Husband now, was her enemy a year ago. He strode up to her and pulled her into his tree trunk like arms. She was a massive battle armour trooper but Thunder hawk made her feel like a woman, not many men could do that. "Hello my beast, how are you today?" Sigourney said in her sultry deep voice "Sad that i have to see my beauty leave for operations. I would like to come but civilians are not allowed. Although i am not a soldier and would likely be more a detriment to the soldiers you lead i would prefer travelling with you and facing combat that worry about your return." Thunder hawk said as he pulled her close and placed his forehead against hers showing his love and respect to his equal. "My love i shall return, for am i not Anaba as named by your shamans?" Sigourney said as she sprread her arms widely in mock greatness. "That you are and the elders have seen much of you in the future, although they fear some of the paths that you could tread upon." "I have you to guide me on the right path, i will not stray from it unless forced by the enemy. I know the fire within and i will control it." "I know you will, I would like to follow with you but the clean up of the great lakes is still underway, the cost is astronomical but the corporations responsible at least those of Davion back ground have been held accountable and are making good on their.... cooperation." Daniel Hawk said as he chuckled. "I told you i keep my word, and My lord backed me on this luckily or id be in a prison now." Sigourney smiled and laughed as she remembered back to the 'week of chaos' as it had been called and she along with her command section had for the most part gone rogue and had caused quite the commotion within the government. Lupus Primus Black had intervened as the Planetary head of state. His Ducal guard had arrested Sigourney and her command staff as his hand was forced mere days before his decision to intervene in the environmental disaster, he himself fed up with the court system. He put his friend in jail as he marched his command company to the gates of the high court and demanded that a decision be made without any more delays. The nine justices unanimously decide in favour to ensure the issues brought up by the investigations were put forward to make sure the Berenstein Flats peoples were compensated and that the contaminated waterways were cleaned up and monies confiscated and directed from the companies at fault. Many local companies were forced to liquidate their assets and fold due to the ruling, but with any free economy there were other companies ready to spring up or expand in the small vacuum that had been created. But the Pact that Sigourney had sworn too was upheld by James Black and the militants quickly disbanded and peace resumed. The smaller royal houses took note of how the situation was handled and became more compliant with House Blacks ruling of the world. "Two hours before lift off, Think we have time to induldge in some fun?" Sigourney said with a twinkle in her eye. "I don't know where we would..." Dan was cut off as Sigourney yanked him by the hand and brought him to a small storage shed beside the road, She quickly scanned around making sure no one took notice, the road was quiet and she hefted the stiff door open. Entering the work shed Sigourney shut the door and moved closer to her husband. An hour later they replaced their clothing and looked at one another. "That is the sendoff i needed." Sigourney said as she kissed Dan deeply, that will have to do till im back. "Im glad my wife approves." Dan said as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. the shed seemed much warmer now after their hour long tussle of release. "Time for me to get my butt on the dropper." Sigourney said as she hugged Dan. "I will see you when i am back." "Ill be waiting patiently my Anaba." Dan said as he returned her embrace. Dan let go and they stepped out of the shed and the two parted ways. Frum made her way to the terminal where her battalion was mustered and waiting to board the outbound dropper. Her Comms specialist bounded over to her and smiled widely. "Hey Ma'am, ready to blast off and get into the fray with the cappies?" "Well we have a month before we get there at the least, im glad you have the energy now, but it may fade over the next few weeks." Sigourney said as she smiled slightly at the energetic young trooper. "I know, just my first operation with the Battalion, and my first time away from Cimeron, i know im pretty green but i wont let you down." Juniper beamed. "I know you wont, you have good solid skills and although never off world, you have been in a few firefights and i know you wont cower from a fight." "Not my style ma'am, i'll try not to be too bubbly, im just excited, anyway, ill get back to my studies." Juniper said as she referenced her advanced electronic computer studies she was working on. Shaking her head slightly Sigourney saw a lot of Juniper in herself when she was the same age many moons ago. She too had been full of piss and vinegar when she started her own career as an un-augmented soldier in the Taurian Concordat. Her first battle had taken a lot out of her as the davions that conducted the raid were better equipped and rained than her training cadre. The two day conflict was mostly one sided against the Taurians. Losing a company of recruits the davions however lost an assassin to a young tank commander none other than her good friend James Black. A few years after she along with a small band of disenfranchised warriors followed James into the Inner sphere proper to ply the ways of the mercenary and strike out under their own banner and make a name for themselves, and make a name they did. Looking up on the wall a digital countdown for the boarding of the Ranger dropper was nearing 0 Hour, ten minutes and they would be allowed to board as there were refueling operations being conducted. The New Gazelle was the ride they would be taking to St Loris. Finding an empty seat Sigourney felt the slight stiffness in her hamstrings from the precious activity she had engaged in before arriving. She smiled at the thought of the passion they unleashed. A heavy thump beside her shook her out of her day dreaming reverie. Looking over at her Sgt Major she chided him. "A whole terminal around us free and you have to sit your damn ass right next to mine?" "Figured youd be lonely being the main boss and all, most don't like officers so i made it my duty to make you feel wanted." Collins said in his deep baritone voice. "Figured i needed company huh? Well thats mighty nice of you Mr Collins." "Think nothing of it Ma'am." Collins said as he flashed a toothy smile that stood out against his midnight colored skin. A tone echoed through the terminal and a male voice crackled over the intercom. "All passengers waiting to board flight One Delta Three three, you may now board through Gate 6." "Time to mount up." Collin said as he hefted his duffle over his shoulder and picked up his secure barrack box. "That it is, lets get this band of circus workers on the road." Sigourney said as she threw her own duffle over her shoulder and picked up her barrack box. The two waited for all their troopers to be through the boarding gate before they too headed through. Half an hour later the battalion was rocketing through the atmosphere of Cimeron and bound for the zenith jump point Where a Monolith jumpship lay waiting to take them and a few other droppers deeper into Davion Territory and one jump closer to Capellan space. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Week 3 into the journey. Strapping into the resistance bike, sigourney began her 15km routine to keep herself limber and maintain her cardio. The exercise room was cramped allowing only 10 people in at a time, and alloted time slots of one hour per day were randomly chosen and changed weekly to allow people to potentially have good and bad slots. At 0700 in the morning Cimeron Time she had drawn a decent time to exercise this week. Last week it was 0300. Starting her warm up phase, she slowly pumped the pedals until she was going at a solid clip, the preset course was hilly that would challenge her in intervals with high resistance for her level of fitness. Nine others were into their own work out routines, some on the bikes, others using resistance bands to conduct their weight training in 0-G. They were currently awaiting a the jump ship they were riding to recharge and jump so that they could detach and make their way to the next jump ship. Listening to her favourite techno music, Sigourney lost herself in her thoughts and began organizing her thoughts for the training day that would be commencing in two days. The trip had a full schedule of weapons drills, fire fighting drills in case an emergency broke out on the dropper, practical and theory lessons were set out to maintain the troops while enroute to their contracted area of work. Maintaining a daily routine was important to keep the minds and bodies of all soldiers occupied and not wasted. Down time was 6 hours a day, rest was 8 and work 10 of various physical and mental work, 1 Day a week was given to each member to do as they pleased. Taking her exercise hour Sigourney worked hard on her routine, pushing herself as thoughts and plans crossed her mind. She found that her exercise routines brought with them focus of mind and ideas. She wiped her brow of rivulets of sweat as she felt her lungs working and heart pumping as she struck her legs powerfully on the pedals. Finishing her routine she walked to the exit and made her way to her bunk room, as the gazelle was a pure combat transport with little amenities she shared her officers quarters with three others. Jumiper as her communications specialist, Helga Chisholm and Bethanne were the others in her command fang. She stepped into the closet like room and stripped off her PT attire. A few cat call whistles echoed through the tight confines as her fang mates eyed up her naked form. "Ya ya young ones, you wish you have this body." Sigourney said as she entered the small shower cubicle, she engaged the sonic shower that used just under 200ml to clean her. The 2 minute cycle vibrated all along her with the misty water giving the illusion of a full washing. Feeling somewhat refreshed she exited the stall and put on her fatigue pants and shirt, quickly tying up her combat boots she was ready for the day. "You three getting up or going to be slack asses the rest of the day?" "I have PT in the next hour so will start the day after that." Juniper said as she slid off her bed and into her boots. "Gonna do breakfast first though. Anyone gonna come with?" "Ill go with you." Helga said. "I start some sims in an hour. "You coming Bethanne?" Helga asked "Nope, gonna be a slack ass today as its my free day, gonna sleep and think of fit young men, so you can be good girls and knock before entering." Bethanne said as she winked and chuckled mirthfully. "More than i need to know." Sigourney said. "Just keep it all on your bed." "No guarantees boss lady, but i will try to contain myself." bethanne said as she growled seductively "Enjoy your self reflection Bethanne." Sigourney said as she shook her head and closed the hatch behind her. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Deployment for OP MUSTANG? The material universe winked out of existance and then materialized an instant eternity later. Although the jump was instantaneous, many people swore it took minutes or even hours in their minds eye. Sigourney opened her eyes and blinked, a slight headache nigged at the back of her mind. Although never diagnosed with TDS the rapid succession on a double jump made her mind hurt. Detaching from the invader class jump ship the 'Medussas Curse' the gazelle they had traveled on over the last six weeks burned towards the awaiting fleet of Drop ship and jumpships. The 4th Crucis Lancers Regimental Combat team had been in position almost a week waiting for their solar sails to recharge their jump drives. Sigourney unbuckled her restraints and made her way to the bridge. She entered and the captain looked over at her and nodded, he wasnt overly social but was not a moron, he ran his ship with efficiency and respect. "Last leg coming up." She said rhetorically "We will attach to the Invader class Mendosa and two days of recharging for the remainder of the fleet and then jump out. The operation commander has let us know there will be a commanders link up to conduct a planning session and give last minute intel they have." Captain Mark Wallace said as he took a drink of water from his vacuum bottle. "When is the video conference occuring?" Sigourney ased as she sat at an extra seat near the captain. "Should be...2 hours from now." Captain Wallace said as he took a moment to see what time it was on the large data screen that was affixed to the bulkhead above the heavily reinforced view port window "Has your engineers fixed the main door issue? Or is it going to have to be fixed dirtside." "Well the good news is the air drop you want will be able to be carried out, bad news is that the techs say there is a good chance that the main door wont close after its opened, the servos are just to far gone. We know that we can get them replaced once on the ground, the maintenance needs to be done in a dry dock or planet side. It will take us about 8 hours to get the door fixed and rigged. We can proceed to the landing zone and conduct the repairs there. With the amount of forces we are anding with i dont see an issue of us having to bugger off from the LZ once secured and landed. If the shit really hits the fan we can make for orbit but then we will not be able to re enter the atmosphere as the heat shielding of the main door requires it to be shut for re-entry." Wallace growled not liking the situation. "Ok not a good situation, but i will see if we can transfer the battalion to another dropper, but as far as i can tell we wouldnt be able to drop on the main star port and achieve our mission. Wont know until i ask though. If we have to we hope for the best and stick to the original plan." Frum said as she knitted her thin eyebrows. "i'll let you worry about the ship and wont bug you." "Thank you Ma'am." Wallace said as he nodded his thanks. Time passed quickly as Frum carried out some correspondence and then sat at her station and logged onto the conference to the commanders involved with the operation. The loading icon rotated slowly and a light blue screen came up detailing the rules of the conference. She read that the main Commander General Wright would be running the conference and would entertain questions with a signal from the commander wanting to add something or question but would not entertain questions for the initial briefing. Initial introductions would be conducted by order of command. A Chain of command list popped up, Frum being a battalion commander of an attached mercenary command would be one of the last to give her introduction. A timer ticked down as the designated start time approached. A female officer dressed in the fatigues of the 4th Crucis Lancers appeared. Her deep wrinkles showed she had been around many years but the fire in her eyes showed youth, vigour and an intense energy. Her Arctic Blonde hair was pulled back into a thick pony tail. "Good day Task force Lightbringer. I Am Marshal Samantha Wright of the 4th Crucis Lancers, I am pleased that all units have arrived and will be ready to jump into the St Loris system in the next 48 hours. I will allow the introductions to proceed now before the main brief begins." Wrights face disappeared and the first of the 4ths sub commanders came on and introduced themselves, the introductions lasted a few minutes before Frums turn Came up. A double flash on the top right gave her a ten second warning. Then a green light flicked on. "Good day, I am Colonel Sigourney Frum of the 1st Battle armour battalion of the Black Wolf Rangers, ready to drop and stomp." She gave her introduction and waited for the few left to give their introductions before Marshal Wright came back onto the viewscreen "The situation in general has not changed, we have the Medusans as the initial engagement force to tie up the Capellan 11th Escort Squadron along with the 4th Crucis Lancers main fighter Brigade. Once the escorts are neutralized the main body will burn for St Loris Proper. the 4th Will direct to land at the main agriplexes south of the capital as they need to be secured for the planet and the remainder of Operation Horus Heresy. Little Richards Panzer Brigade should be quick to dispatch but they are tenacious fighters so lets not underestimate them. Although we bring a much larger force than they, they are hardened veterans. ALso the local militias are known to be fairly fanatical in their support of the Capellan Regime. The Black Wolf Rangers 1st Battle Armour Battalion will strike out and take the main star port to ensure that they fuel reserves are kept in good order as well as the ammunition depots. The Rangers will be supported within 6 hours of the drop. The fuel and munitions are important, but the safety of the agri plexes and main continental farms are the prime focus of this operation. Once the LRPB is dealt with, support will be diverted to relieve the BWR's battalion. Intelligence has not changed much from the initial draft given to you a month ago. Operatives in system have not found anything to add to their original findings. No newer forces have arrived in system or have left, so no major changes to the set out game plan. Colonel Frum you have indicated that your gazelle has a main door issue, i'm afraid that we are unable to transfer your unit to another free dropper as we just dont have any extra space to do so. Frum tapped the reply key "Understood Ma'am, thank you for trying. We will continue on with what we have planned and go with whatever happens." "Are there any questions or issues?" Marshal wright asked Various commanders brought a few of their issues but none applied to Frums part of the mission, a few snippets of information she held as good to know. Main codes, phrases and timelines were sent via laser encrypted signals and down loaded into the gazelles databanks. The conference went on for another few hours to make sure all areas were covered and wrinkles ironed out and various scenarios brought out for discussion. "Well with no more items or issues, i shall sign off and let you all get to your business at hand. I will conduct a pre engagement last minute conference 5 hours before our jump. Till then Marshal Wright Out." Sigourney Locked her computer and pulled up the layout of the star port and looked it over, She called her company commanders together for their last general meeting before jumping out. She waited for her commaders to arrive along with Sgt Major collins. When all were seated in the small briefing room next to her quarters she began. "We are near to jumping into Capellan space, i wanted to bring you all together for the last meeting i have before we jump. I want to tweak a few things as i have gone over the star port map and have had a chance to look over newer photographs of the star port." She brought up a picture of the star port and circled 2 new buildings. "Int hasnt mentioned these as they were being constructed while we were in transit, however they are now built and no one has deemed them of importance, however i have a sneaking suspicion and feeling they may be weapons emplacements. May be nothing but id rather get the input from you than ignore the feeling." Capt Belina Waters her 2nd company commander spoke first. "They might be LRM turrets or heavy weapons of somesort on a retractable base. There are no visible weapons but they look like they would fill in the gaps of weapon coverage we notice in our original drop plan. If they are active weapons they could pose a real head ache." "I agree, my spider senses are going off seeing them as well. Im surprised the int boys and girls ignored these buildings unless they know something more concrete but i say we should err on the side of more weapons in the area." Capt Patrick Ewing added "Thats what i believe so i will have us change the initial plan a bit, luckily the battle armour we have is stealth equipped and makes sensors less likely to pick us up at range, but once we chute in closer that advantage lessens. So i suggest we target around the northern building and spread 1st company to take the main terminal building and communications tower. 2nd will strik east and take out the original weapons emplacement as well as the fuel depot. 3rd company will strike west and take the emplacement there and the ammunition depot." Frum said as she circled the objectives. "My objective is Vienna, Belina your company objective is Vancouver, Patrick yours is Victoria. Fall back position will not change. There is an issue with the main door of the gazelle and once opened it will likely not close again so we jump, the ship lands, if it burns back to space it will not be able to reenter the atmosphere. Not a huge issue unless there has been a massive build up of forces on planet that we dont know about, which could be problematic but i daresay not likely. But ive been wrong before and we all know how much i trust int boys from other sources other than our own." The small group laughed lightly at her confidence of the Davion Intelligence community. Althiugh they were good, there were untold numbers of intelligence snafus that had occured by the Davion Intelligence apparatus. "So we will do a high orbit jump, the gazelle goes to its intended landing zone, under goes repairs and then will transit to the star port once its secure. a Battalion of the 4th Crucis Lancers armour will be directed to support us once we are secure and their main objective of the agri plexes are completed. So not much for us to do other than prep ourselves for the jump in 42 hours, ride this beast to atmosphere, jump into the darkness into the mouth of enemy fire. close with and destroy the enemy with extreme prejudice and then respond to any capellan locals or militias that take offence to us visiting their nice world." Again her commander laughed at her tone and break down of the game plan. "So, since we seem to be all done here for now, how about a nice round of Cribbage, usual stakes? usual partners?" Belinda took her chair and sat across from her commanding officer, Patrick sat across from Collins and Sigourney shuffled the cards as Belinda pulled out a crib board from a drawer behind her. "Sounds good to me boss" Belinda said as she smiled, im good for usual stakes." "Im in." Collins said as he pulled out a bottle of whiskey from his coat pocket. "Since no drinking policy starts in 24 hrs, lets get this one to bed and out of my reach shall we?" "Good plan Mr. Collins, pour us each a glass if you would." "Gladly Ma'am." Collins replied with a wide grin on his face. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit ************* "All hands this is the Captain, We will be jumping in figures 1 5 minutes, all stations secure jump stations." Came the cal voice of Captain Wallace. The ships crew readied themselves for the jump, the passengers buckled themselves into their jump seats and made themselves secure for the approaching jump. Sigourney and her three bunk mates chatted a few minutes steadying their adrenaline of the jump into the St Loris System. "Hate jumping into systems and then waiting for these tin cans to bring us dirt side." Bethanne said as she grumbled "I know your feelings Beth, i dont like the idea of waiting for something to strike us and suck us out into space, knock out the engines and send us into the darkness of space to die of the cold, or to go hurtling into the sun." Helga said in her thick Russian accent. "Stow it Helga." Bethanne said gruffly. "I only tell the truth." Helga smiled as she was getting to her good friend, the two teased one another relentlessly and preyed on one anothers fears. "I doubt anything will go wrong Beth, the amount of fighters we have being brought to bear, the Medussans assault droppers will tear through what the cappies have." Sigourney said to calm her comrades nerves. "Unless some suicidal capellan decides to barrel their fighter into the bridge of this bucket of bolts like that fighter jock did to the invading clans Ilkhan ship back in 50'." Helga kept up her prodding "Seems you need a good thumping Helga." Bethanne scowled and lowered her tone threatening. as her eyes narrowed. "Ok. I wont bug you as we head in system." Helga said sitting back almost sulking The ships main lighting dimmed and became red, The intercom blared. "All Hands Battle stations, report status, jump in t minus one minute. The four women looked at one another and cinched up their seats restraining straps. "Here we go ladies." Sigourney said as they winked out of existence. 30 Light years later in less than a blink of an eye, the Davion fleet re-emerged from jump space. Moments after they emerged, they felt the decoupling of the docking clamps thump as they disconnected, sending reverberations throughout the gazelle. "We have emerged at the pirate point, main task force is good to deploy and burn for the world." A female voice echoed through the ship. The main engines pulsed to life and the main drives burned, G's increased and forced everyone into the transit couches. A ding on her ear bud alerted sigourney to a message from the bridge. "Colonel, we are inbound and will be arriving in three hours, time to start getting your suits on." "Affirmative, thank you captain." Sending out a signal from her console that was recessed on the aright arm of her chair, she gave the ready command for all her troopers to head to the battle armour bay and start getting ready. "Ok girls, time to start making our pay." She said as she unhooked her restraints. Outside the medussans burned hard towards the multiple contacts they had on their sensors. The multitudes of aerospace fighters launched and burned towards the enemy. Assault droppers brought their courses to bear against their counterparts. The Black Wolf Ranger troopers converged on the bay holding their combat suits. a few were sliding into the assault and standard suits. Davion made Grenadiers, Hauberks and Infiltrator Mk II's were secured in their holding gantries. Technicians worked on getting the soldiers inside and secured. "These babies always give me the thrills in the belly when i see them, The pain scheme just sends chills down my spine" Juniper said as she brushed her hand along her grenadiers torso armour. "They are cool yes?" Helga said as she passed by and nodded her hello to her tech. Pulling herself into the Massive 2 ton machine, Sigourney climbed into her own grenadier and waited for the suit to encapsulate her. The onboard systems flicked to life as her heads up display spooled up giving her various screens to scroll through. Her suits condition screen, Bearing, targeting recticle weapons systems. The standard Grenadier carried an SRM 4 with 7 reloads. A modular weapon mount that could carry a small laser, or a magshot, or flamer weapons, and a small arms weapon mount. Sigourney had opted for a small laser for her modular weapon mount and an SMG for her anti pers weapons mount. With 300 rds in the main drum she had an additional 2 drums on her left leg that could be loaded when needed by activating the reload sequence that would bring her left arm to the leg bin and draw another clip. The start up sequence finished and the dim green of her displays glowed upon her olive skin. Her status of her companies scrolled on her command screen, as commander she had a battle computer that allowed her various screens that she could interface with, she didnt usually use this sceen while in combat but as the battalion was readying themselves she could see her three companies flicker to life on a screen as each icon came online when the suit powered up. The icons slowly flickered to ready green from the light grey of inactive. Over the next thirty minutes her troopers brought their suits up and ready. Landing An hour to their drop position, The battalion was ready and would stay in their gantries till five minutes out. Then her 3rd company would deploy first with their infiltrator Mk II suits and head to their objective first under their integral para foil. the grenadiers and Hauberks had been fitted with detachable drop boosters to aid in them landing. The main ramp dropped and the infiltrators leapt from the wide ramp in packs of 8. Each 8 pack leapt from the ship and into the darkness of the upper atmosphere. Six chocks dove into the darkness. Followed by the grenadiers and hauberks of 2nd company, then those of 1company. Sigourney was in the last chock with her command growl and 2nd growl to her left. The assault suits more fell that anything into the darkness. Onboard sensors righted them to align them with the ground beneath. Sigourneys stomach lurched into her throat a few moments as she free fell. Twenty minutes passed and the lights of the capital grew ever larger in her view screen. She could see them when they had jumped out of the gazelle. Now the city looked large. Long lines spiraled out from the center, the drop star port runways and lighting she could see to her right, thrusters brought her into line of the star port. The altimeter was spiraling towards sea level quickly and it would be less than a minute before she touched down. twenty seconds from impact her mounted boosters kicked in arresting her descent with a kick. The rockets roared and howled and her machine struck the ground heavily. The legs stabilizers flexed and took the impact. The spent boosters detached as explosive bolts shattered dropping the cumbersome rockets to the ground. "Company commanders engage targets, report drop once primary objectives secured." Changing to her company frequency she ordered her troopers forward 1st growl move,2nd growl engage the tower. 3rd growl reserve, watch for enemy contact." Sigourney barked Lights across the star port flickered on and spot lights traversed looking for intruders, Although the defenses and soldiers hadn't been aware of the dropping Rangers, the roar of jump rockets braking the descent of a hundred and forty four battle armoured troopers had certainly alerted them to their arrival. " Growl commanders, target spot lights, 1st growl take the turret now!" The grenadiers and hauberks from her command growl locked onto the turret that was traversing looking for target but was unable to lock onto the assault suits due to their stealth armour. Short range missiles belched forth from 2 troopers, 2 hauberks let loose a salvo of long range missiles that cork screwed into the armoured turret. Heavy machine gun fire erupted from a small bunker, zeroing on the rocket contrails that had spat out of the darkness. "3rd growl, seek and destroy machine gun bunkers." Small arms panged off the thick hide of her armour as she directed her company. she engaged her small laser and struck a lightly armoured jeep, 2 more small lasers struck out as Helga and Bethanne engaged the jeep, the three lasers struck through the armour and into the fuel tank. The Jeep erupted into a fireball and burned brightly in front of a warehouse. The light calibre machine gun ammo began cooking off as the fire from the fuel tank engulfed the on board ammo bins. Infantry began coming out of their barracks a kilometer away, but were quickly engaged by 3rd company as the infiltrators used their highly accurate mag shot rifles. Pinned down by the accurate fire, the Capellan forces began falling back into their reinforced building and hunkered down to get away from the telling fire of the Ranger battle suits. Driving the Capellan infantry back gave them the cover they needed to withdraw from the rear and into awaiting Hover armoured personnel carriers. But not before nearly a dozen soldiers lay dead or wounded before they could mount up. The heavy turret that had been initially engaged sent srms and lrm fire into the Ranger lines, although the thick armour was not breached solid hits were received. A volley from other suits made the heavy support turret become silent as critical control mechanisms were torn asunder from short range missiles. the troopers from her battalion quickly closed with their objectives and tore through the reinforced ferrocrete, doors were ripped from their hinges and the gunners inside quickly through down their weapons or were taken out as they refused to give up and engaged the monstrous figures before them. Not many of the soldiers gave up which made for easier prisoner of war containment and allotment of security. Not that Sigourney revelled in the matters of killing the enemy relentlessly she would prefer that they surrendered and didn't force her hand, but it made things easier for the initial contact. The main fortifications of the star port were taken out with in the first hour of contact. The soldiers however were proving to be a bit more problematic in routing out. The assault battle armour were mostly safe in their much heavier armour than the Capellans in their flak armour. The main headaches were light armour and armoured personnel carriers that sported heavy machine guns, and srms. The fighting became sporadic and her company commanders had reported in their dispositions after the main objectives were taken out. All members of her battalion had arrived on target, there was always risks of dispersing wide when high altitude drops were conducted, but the fates had been in their favour on this leg of the operation any way. Future endeavours... all bets were off as the fates could favour you one day, but not the next, they were fickle that way. From the vantage of a repair gantry, Sigourney could see the outline of a powered down Hercules. The 7200 ton drop ship was undergoing repairs and was likely unable to poer up its formidable weapons, although its light armour made the drop ship a bit more delicate. Its weapons could have severely hampered the main objectives, she had a squad on board making sure no one was able to bring the ship online and be a thorn in her backside. "Nice little catch eh Ma'am?" Collins said as he came up along side her. "Decent indeed Mr Collins." Would be a good little ship to have under our belt and maybe something in the future to expand us to a mobile assault battalion? Who knows. I like these assault suits, but not mobile in the least. Maybe some maxim Shilohs? or even a heavy armour company to add some major punch to our ability. But thats for later planning, I have a nagging hunch of something. This wasnt a cake walk, but the defences didnt hold as well as i would have thought. SOmething isnt right. Keep the troops on their toes and on the look out." Sigourney said as she scanned the night for something she knew was there but couldnt see. The morning sky began to lighten as the horizon brightened as the day was coming to a start. It was 0500 hrs, Three hours after they had taken the star port. Marshal Wright contacted her through the command net. "Her ear piece chirped and her HUD came up with an encrypted command circuit indication. "Update Colonel." Came the Mature womans sultry voice, short and to the point. Many a soldier thought she was much younger if they heard her Sirens voice. "Star port is secure, we have neutralized the main defences, we were able to keep two of the main defensive towers intact, thats an added bonus. 15 enemy killed we have 32 Papa whiskeys." sigourney used the phonetic alphabet to use the term for prisoners of war. "We suffered one Killed in action, 2 moderate injuries, and 5 suits down for about 3 days of work on various issues. Ammunition is good and well as supplies. Our Canisters of supplies arrived on target." Frum referenced the two sea container like delivery containers that had arrived 30 minutes after the initial battle. "We have secured a Hercules dropper on a repair pad, seems that it was nearing the end of the maintenance phase and was about to go ground runs. The manifest says about 3 days work and it will be good to go, However i dont trust the capellans and we should check her over for boobie traps, and irregular maintenance just in case. The main body of soldiers were able to withdraw however. we estimate approximately two companies bugged out." Sigourney finished her sit rep "Hmm, they didnt put up a concentrated fight like we predicted, doesnt seem right, Keep on your toes. Dig in, The main Body has achieved our goals, i will be dispatching a battalion of armour from the 14th Armour regiment, two companies of Manticores and one of shreks. That should give you added punch if needs be, They should be there in about three hours. Other than that, good luck and keep your eyes open." Wright said as she signed off and the link disconnected with a triple beep deactivation tone. The horizon began to turn a dark red and orange as the sun slowly begun its ascent in the next hour. "Red sky in the morning sailors take warning" Sigourney spoke to herself as she recited an ancient sailors rhyme. She looked out past the star ports boundaries and an explosion rocked the western approach. "Ah here they come." She breathed. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Counter Attack Second company had spread out along the north and west parts of the star port to guard against any return of the enemy. Capt Belina WalersSteped forward with her fang mates. A company of APC's roared forward their tracks clanking loudly on the ferrocrete roadway. She engaged her battalion frequency. "Waheela Company, contact, one company heavy tracked Personnel carriers. Coming in hot. Engaging. Beta growl Hold the road, Charlie keep that ammo dump secure. Alpha provide cover from current position and watch the north. Sound out if you see anything approach." Her two platoon commanders acknowledged as they began relaying their orders to their fangs. The squads dispersed and began returning fire on the tracked vehicles. Lrms and Srms arrowed towards the lead Capellan militia vehicle. Its front armour absorbed the first barrage but barely, it swerved into an alley way and disgorged its infantry. Two platoons dashed into the buildings and began setting up their heavy support weapons teams. "Well, they certainly have come back for a fight." Belina commented to herself. "Lets give them what they came for." She stepped out of the warehouse she had commandeered for her command post, it now housed the wheeled container of parts, spare weapons, food stuffs and critical ammunition and solar recharge systems that her company would need to keep their power packs juiced up. Small arms fire erupted around her and panged of the heavy hide of her suit. Her fang mates spun into action and sent a volley of srms into the offending building, the side wall collapsed as the high explosive rounds detonated on the ferrocrete exterior. A weapon team of the capellan militia were now exposed. Belina acknowledged their exposure by sending in a long burst of her SMG that tore into the three soldiers, spinning them around and back into the room they had set up in. The other APCs had started to off load their human cargo, one APC erupted into a fireball as LRM from Hauberks slammed into the machine. A few Capellan soldiers were caught in the explosion and were thrown to the ground in ruined heaps. Concentrated fire from the Capellans began increasing. "Alpha growl, pull back to defensive positions. Keep them engaged but we need to regroup and devise a plan to weed out these roaches." 2nd and 3rd Growls remained in their positions, another APC erupted in flame adding its caustic broiling smoke to the red horizon. Dark oily smoke filled the battle ground as wind forced it to encompass the Rangers position. A bit of a lucky stroke to mask the Rangers ina makeshift smoke screen. Their suits contained oxygen scrubbers could handle the caustic smoke easily, letting the troopers breathe normally, however the enemy would have to fight through the smoke if they decided to press their attack. A series of heavy footfalls filled Belinas acoustic sensors. "Incoming mechs" She barked. "watch and engage." A pair of urban mechs appeared sending a slight chill down her back, although her troopers were heavily armoured, they were not so heavily protected against auto cannon 20 shells "2 urbies my position, 1st growl engage, 3rd lend fire support with hauberks. I want these bastards dealt with now!" Volleys of SRM's erupted from the Black Wolf Ranger lines as the troopers poured on the fire. Dozens of volleys from SRM 4 packs took a devastating blow on the lead urban mech. The armour shed as 3 tons of protection evaporated in seconds. The LRM's from 2nd growl arced up and into the stricken machine. The exposed ammo bin detonated spinning the dead mech around and onto the ground like a rag doll. The second Urban mech faired a little better as it ducked back into a warehouse, but its leg armour was flayed open and 4 grenadiers stormed in after it and striking at the exposed workings with their small lasers. The Capellan warrior signalled its defeat by powering down. Another pair of Huron Warriors stepped back and away from the kill zone, Their flared antenna array making them look like native warriors with ceremonial head dress. The sent out covering fire to disuade any Ranger troopers from following them. The Counter attack from the Capellans had seemed to have halted. Ten minutes later heavy artillery rained down on the Rangers position and they knew there was much more to come. Sigourney felt her suit struck by fragmentation as an artillery round slammed into the ferrocrete near her. Clenching her teeth she rode out the explosion with a quarter of her armour stripped from her. "Dammit." she cursed as she strode forward in her assault armour. "Battalion, Fall back to the main Hangars, hunker down and watch for enemy advancement." The High explosive rounds ceased and smoke rounds began to explode dispersing the thick smoke they generated. "Wait and shoot, the Cappies should be coming anytime now." Sigourney warned her company commanders. Moments later a lance of medium battlemechs appeared, the two huron warriors and 2 vindicators. They fired as they moved trying to rout out the entrenched rangers. Companies of infantry popped out to support their heavy support. "Time to earn our pay, Rangers Advance!" Sigourney barked as she launched a SRM volley at the closest vindicator, firing her small laser as she led her troops against the advancing capellans. Laser and machine gun fire exploded in the frenzy of the open battlefield. Infantry were cut down with heavy machine gun fire from the grenadiers like wheat in a field. Mortar rounds, artillery and missiles fell upon the Ranger position sending a few machines to the ground but did not fell them. Smoke filled the combat zone with acrid foul smelling debris. Laser fire criss crossed and struck buildings, soldiers mechs and the Ranger Troopers. The heavy battle claws of the grenadiers began to be utilized as they tore into the armour of personnel carriers, light tanks and the Supporting mechs. An hour later the battle was done and the capellans had lost another 2 mechs and dozens of soldiers lay dead amongst the rubble. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Hospital Cpl demarais woke to a searing pain in his head, he could not determine where he was as it was dark and there was something covering his eyes. He tried to lift his hands but they felt heavy. He tried to speak but could only give a raspy attempt. A hand was placed on his chest. "Rest for now, you are in a hospital, you were removed from your battle armour and brought here." Came a female voice with a slight Chinese accent. Giles felt light headed and then there was darkness once more. Waking up again he found that he could shit with much less pain although it was still dark. The bandage around his eyes kept him from seeing what was around him but he could hear medical machines humming and running, the occasional beep sounded as they completed their designated function and checks. Giles tried to lift his arm but felt a restriction and a metallic clank. 'Im cuffed to the bed.' Her thought to himself. 'who has me, where am I, what are their plans with me' all crossed his mind in a flash. Straining at the cuffs the female voice returned and a gentle pat on his shoulder made him give up his struggle. "You are safe in a hospital, however as you are an enemy combatant it was deemed necessary to ensure yours and our safety, im sure you can understand that as a precaution as you would no doubt do the same with a Capellan soldier under your care and protection." "Je ne..." Giles throat cracked as he felt the dryness pain shoot out as he spoke in his native French "Here I have a glass of ice water for you." The woman said as she picked up a glass of water, she brought the straw to Giles mouth and he drank thirstily to soothe his parched tongue and throat. "merci madame, much obliged, As I am a POW am I going to be questioned?" Giles asked "I am not at liberty to say yes or no, that is not my area of expertise. You are here under our care and that is all that I can tell you. I will let you know that you had glass fragments in your eyes, they were removed, your vision should return back to normal as our Surgeon is the best on St Loris. It will take time to heal properly but the Dr's prognosis looks quite promising. You may call me Nure Fuyang." "Nurse Fuyang, thank you for that information, that makes me feel better." Giles said with a small smile. Thoughts raced through his mind as to what would occur next and who would be questioning him, as all the training he had indicated that they would be interviewing him to get intelligence on his unit like the objectives they were wanting to achieve, codes and frequencies. Although him being caught, frequencies and codes would be changed. He struggled with trying to remember what the last thing he could remember but all he could recall was landing at the star port. "Nurse?" "yes." "Could you tell me what day it is?" "It is Tuesday, you have been out of surgery for a day." Nurse Fuyang replied A slight change in the air and a scuff at what he thought was the entrance alerted Giles to another presence in the room. It did not feel good in his opinion. "Good day young man." A male voice spoke from a few feet away. "My name is chan and I will be asking you a few questions." Giles did not like the sound of the mans fake cordial tone. "I'll be happy to give you my general particulars, but the Ares convention doesn't say I have to give you more than my name, rank and identification number." "Yes, that is certainly true. I don't want us to get to defensive here, I am just here to make sure that I can get you in touch with your parent unit. The others we have stated the same thing." "Others?" Giles asked as he cocked his head in question. "Yes we have quite a few of you that were captured, all we want is to make sure that you are returned and safe. I can see that you have had some eye trauma in your fight the other day. Can you recall anything that happened?" The man asked as he pulled up a chair. His strong aroma spoke of an officer more worried about his appearance that anything else Giles thought to himself. Visages of his youth as he was growing up on Quentin surfaced to the front of his mind. The Chinese sector was one he was familiar with as his parents were traders. He had grown up along the Mandarin trees that lined the Capellan sector. Many of his friends were of Capellan descent. A few traders had worn the same cologne and they were all schemers and bad men, so the aroma he had smelt automatically brought up his defences.. "Are my comrades ok?" Giles asked "The ones that survived the surgery are ok, some were critically wounded, there was nothing we could do for them but we did our utmost to give them the treatment than anyone deserves. I want to make sure you know that you are safe and nothing will be done to you, There are negotiations ongoing for the departure of your forces, however no initiation of releasing you from our protection have come our way." Feeling drowsy, Giles lay back down on his pillow and was asleep. When he woke up the same man was sitting next to him, the strong aroma still hung in the air. "welcome back, Giles... is it?" "Yes my name is Giles, Giles Desmarais. ID 2436R55432" Giles said as he gave out his name and identification number. "You were out for another day, I guess your injuries were a bit more severe than I was told. You may experience these episodes from time to time. So there is more news. The Rangers will be taking off within the next 6 days and they have yet to return our communications with them regarding you and the other soldiers here. I am afraid they may be cutting their losses and running." Reddening Giles didn't want to respond to confirm or deny information but his interrogator smiled, knowing that he had gotten to the battle armour trooper. "Fear not Giles I do not want you answering questions about your unit, we know who you belong with anyway. I am only worried about you not being unable to return to your unit before they bug out and abandon you." "They wont abandon me Sir." Giles replied "I take it there is something you know that I do not? His interrogator said as he quirked an eyebrow and leaned closer to Giles. "My unit does not abandon its own. They will come for me. And when they do, hells doors will be opened." Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Location found Sarcina rex Frum paced slowly like a caged tigress skulking across the hangar floor as if closing on her. It had been 2 days since Corporal Desmarais had been missing. "We have his battle suit but he wasn't in it when we arrived, so someone has him, we need to find out who and where, like now.!" She raised her voice in an angry tone. "There have been no reports of any Capellan forces taking any priisoners. I would think that if they had our soldier they would be eager to talk about a POW swap, or getting some concession for having him returned safely to us." "Some indications could be of the underground. I cant confirm it but there was talk of a wrecker coming in while we were looking for him. Maybe someone found him and took it upon themselves to take him for ransom. I have no data on who might be behind it its just a theory." Sgt Major Collins said with his thickly corded muscular arms across his barrel chest. "Makes more sense than the Cappies having him, in some ways. We need to see if we can reach out to the underground and offer up a reward for his safe return. Has our Grey Hunter team been able to contact anyone with this?" Sigourney asked as she look hard at Collins. "They have started looking but it will take some time for them to get an idea of who to approach to get our query out. The Grenadier suit was found outside the star port and in a garage. That might be the first clue. The Grey Hunters are good at what they do, I think we may have some promising leads by late tonite. Money talks quite well with the black market, even if we are invaders." Collins said as he shifted his weight slowly side to side. "All we can do at this point, at least we have the suit, they must have abandoned it as they knew we were close, and the suit itself isn't as worth as much as our trooper and they banked on that to get a fair ransom if that's who and why they have Giles. Keep on with the Hunters and see what they come up with." "On it Ma'am, we will get him back." Collins said simply as he turned and left to carry out his task. Sigourney sat at an improvised desk with a small light on to go over some of the maps she had. The main counter attack the capellns conducted although strong did not breach her lines as was repulsed after a few hopurs of intense fore fights. She had one trooper MIA and one was killed when a Capellan APC rammed the suit and detonated from a ruptured fuel tank setting off the onboard ammunition bins. Her main concern now was for getting the location of Trooper desmarais and getting him back safely from whomever had him in their possession. Throwing down her tablet, she stood up and went to her suit and pulled out a meal pack, she hadn't eaten all day and it was time to replenish her energy. She forced herself to eat. The food tasted bland, moreso than usual. But she muscled through it to completion then threw the meal in a garbage bin. She needed some shut eye and made her way to het cot that was contained in one of the anciliary containers that had been dropped, its contents ould allow her battalion of 144 soldiers to set up tents and cots with sleeping and cooking apparatus for a weeks worth of support. Juniper as already asleep as she would be on a picket later that nite. Sigourney crawled under her sleeping bag and into a ranger blanket, She struggled a few minutes to drop into sleep and as soon as she did it seemed, a firm hand was on her shoulder rousing her to get up. Ciollins stood back to allow her to get her bearings and senses about her before he talked. Sigourney sat up and Collins handed her a cup of coffee. "Thanks for the Coffee. Whats up?" "We have a solid lead on where trooper Desmarais is. It may be a false lead but the Hunters had tracked him down to a black market raquet a few kilometers from here. He is being cared for in a local hospital run by Crime boss. Charges extra for rudimentary care but also caters to those in high society not wanting to wait for various procedures and care." "Do we have eyes on the hotel yet? Sigourney said as she suddeny regained her bearings and took a few sips of the piping hot coffee. "I have detailed a squad to go unaugmented along with a senior field operative from the Hunters we have attached to us. Shes not happy with the ad hoc nature of the rescue, but has no issue leading it herself as she knows the importance of getting our guy back." "Giselle is a crusty damn bitch, but she knows her shit and wont settle for anything else than a successful completion to her mission. Give her whatever she needs or wants to make this work." Sigourney looked at Collins with a clear indication that no holds would be barred to make this mission succeed. "understood, I'll get whatever she needs." "Good." Sigourney replied as she took another sip of her coffee. She stood up and shook Juniper awake. "hey, sorry top wake you, i need you to get me a link to the Operational support commander. whats his name, i should remember but he was a rather boring individual last we met." "That would be Colonel Virgil Cruthers. Yes he is a rather bland individual. What do you need from support?" "We might have need for a VTOL to extract our soldier. Not Sure what Giselle, our attached hunter may need to get our boy back but i'd rather have support on standby now than have to wait for it when we need it." "Roger that Ma'am, good idea, i'll get him and see what he can spare. If i have a problem with him i'll let you know as i doubt youd have an issue chewing him a new asshole if he shows any reluctance." "Id do way more than show him my dissatisfaction if he drags his heels for any reason." Sigourney's eyes flashed a moment "I know ma'am, anyway im getting on this right now." Juniper said as she plugged in a head set to her suit that was standing by a power cable leading to the main container outside that had batteries powered by the solar panels that were secured to is roof. Minutes later she returned to her commanding officer. "Good news ma'am, the Colonel has a few Karnovs ready for us if and when we need them, he was more than happy to lend us them. Seems he has our battalion on a priority list." Juniper said cheerily. "Well thats a step in the right direction at least." Sigourney replied as she relaxed a bit at the news. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Rescued The 8 members of the Battalion selected by Collins were at the Hangar stood at ease waiting for their temporary commander to arrive. A tall grey haired woman came striding into the hangar, her Jade eyes flashed with fire and passion. She looked them up and down to take in what was given her. "Good evening, My name is simply Gisele you will address me as such as i care not for formalities, i am here for but one reason and that is to get Trooper Desmarais back. I have leads that have pointed to his whereabouts inside a hospital in the capital. A local crime boss has him, i intend for us to relieve him of the burden of caring for a Ranger." She looked at the 6 men and 2 women "Parsons and Houlind, you have had spec ops training and a few years with the demon wolves." She stated matter of fact. "you will be the team leads. Parsons your team of Jacobs, henderson and Thompson will be the breach team, Houlind you along with Richards, Villars and Southcombe will be the support team." "As long as the information i have is correct, Desmarais will be on the 12th floor, one from the top floor, we will conduct a roof insertion, take the top and 12th floor, get our man, and bet out of dodge before to much more occurs. The second team will cut the main power and secure the roof top and lend assistance I will be with the 1st team in the hospital, what i say goes, no questions asked. I want us in and out before too much ruckus is stirred up and makes things harder for us to leave." "So we strike the hospital, do we know what kind of security they have there?" Southcombe asked "there may be upwards of a dozen or more, its a primary care facility that is run br a crime lord. I dont have definitive numbers, thats why i want us to strike hard, move fast get the hell out of there." Giselle said. "I have a map of the hospital, so look over it for the next hour, learn and remember it, i will make sure it is put onto our data computers for reference while inside. But i would rather us not slow things down by looking at the computer. Now i will say that there may be civilian casualties with this, nothing usually goes to plan so we have to expect rapid decisions that may end badly for those that come up against us." "if no one has any objections or pressing issues ill let you get ready and we will head to the hospital tomorrow nite, we will do prep drills this evening so i know what i am dealing with you lot. Get your gear and back here in two hours.| ****** After an intense nite training session Gisele wasnt happy nor was she overly negative with the prospect of the adhoc group. Sitting in front of Colonel Frum she began "Not the best nor the worst i have had to work with, the group you have is adequate and we should be able to pull this off with some luck." "Doesnt sound too promising." "No i should say its not a great prospect but we should be ok. The 8 that i was given are skilled in their abilities and can work well in the setting we have placed them in. They are not the razors edge ready, but i will do with a weighty hammer." Gisele said. "We will leave tonite after a rest period and get our boy back." "I trust you gisele. Just get Desmarais back." "I will." At midnite the group met at the hangar and looked over their gear once more. Ready and equipped, the 9 soldiers boarded a 4th Crucis Lancers Vtol and were airborn and heading towards the Hospital. They loaded their weapons and waited for the VTOL to land on the roof. The load master gave them the 2 min warning before they landed. The rear door opened and they stood to dismount as soon as the VTOl tapped the rooftop. They felt the lurch of the landing gear and the cargo master gave them a thumbs up. The 9 men and women dashed off the ramp and onto the rooftop. A guard thinking there was an emergency arrival stood up and stopped as he saw 9 people disembark from the Karnov, a small burst of SMG fire struck out and slammed into his unarmoured chest, the three rounds silenced his heart. 2nd Team placed a small demolition charge on the primary power generator and a second on the back up system. The breach team readied them selves and once the devices exploded with dull thuds, the team broke through the roof door and into the building. Moving swiftly the people on the first floor knew something was up when black clad soldiers cam barging into the hallways, 2 guards were felled in rapid succession. The small group of Rangers pressed forward as the second team came in to block the elevator and main access stairwells. 1st team drove down to the 12th floor and came across three guards that were waiting for them, long burst of semi automatic fire erupted around the door as concrete shattered. The team threw two flash bangs a few seconds apart, the first detonated sending a flash and sonic waves around the close confines of the halls. The three guards staggered back as they became disoriented, allowing the rangers to press forward and take them out in short order, their bodies slumped to the floor as the rangers crossed their fallen forms and dashed to the room containing Desmarais. They entered and a chinese man stood in a corner with a knife to desmarais throat. "One more step closer and this young man will be licking the floor through his throat." Gisele stepped out from the group and looked the man in the eye. "We came for him, you have 2 options, let him go and live or force me to kill you. your option." "Not the best deal, i would think that we would be rewarded for rescuing your soldier." "Not the answer i wanted." Gisele said as she pulled a pistol from her sleve and shot the captor between the eyes. Desmarais dropped to the floor exhausted and blindfolded. "Desmarais?" She asked. the man nodded yes and was grabbed by two of the bigger of the team members, they took his arm over their shoulders and propped him up between them. "Time to go." Gisele said as she coaxed them to depart. They dashed up the main stairs, While Gisele planted a tripwire device as she closed the door. Anyone foolish enough to follow them would set of the explosive device. Running through the hallways the 10 Rangers made their way to the rooftop where the karnov was waiting, they scrambled aboard and as the ramp closed they leapt upwards as the machine did a combat boost ascent. The team had their man and on their way back to the battalion lines. Ceremonial Naming All members of the Battle armour Battalion are awarded a spirit name from the Berenstein First Nations combat Survival school. Before a member is able to become an official combat member of the battalion they must first undergo a harsh 30 day field survival course within the Berenstein Flats nation. This thirty day course consists of learning field survival techniques of finding edible wilds, hunting and trapping, bush craft and 3 weeks of survival training in the wilderness solo. Once the member has successfully completed the survival training, a ritual with the Training Elders is performed and the soldier is awarded a Spirit Name that best suits them with their personality or how they performed during the training. 1st Ranger Battle Armor Battalion. Commanding Officer: Colonel Sigourney Frum Unit Status: Regular / Reliable Unit Nickname: Windigos Unit Insignia: Spirit Z a G rack ombie Bear Unit Motto: "We feast on your Soul" Non cernit anima tua Alpha Company - Callsign: AYAS Ojibwa 1st Platoon - CO: Colonel Sigourney Frum ‘Native Name- Anaba’ Meaning- She Returns from war, Awarded-1 Jan 3098. 1B-A11 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-A12 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-A13 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-A14 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-A15 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-A16 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-A17 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-A18 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-B11 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-B12 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-B13 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-B14 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-B15 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-B16 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-B17 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-B18 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 8 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 8 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 2nd Platoon - (CO: Maj Serena Mathews ‘Native Name- Fala’ Meaning- Crow, Awarded 14 Jan 3098 1B-C11 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-C12 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-C13 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-C14 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-C15 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-C16 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-C17 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-C18 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-D11 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-D12 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-D13 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-D14 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-D15 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-D16 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-D17 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-D18 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 8 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 8 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 3rd Platoon - (CO: Capt Jeremy Ironsides ‘Native Name- Akindo’ Meaning- Ambush, Awarded 12 Jan 3098 1B-E11 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-E12 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-E13 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-E14 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-E15 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-E16 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-E17 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-E18 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-F11 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-F12 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-F13 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-F14 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-F15 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-F16 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-F17 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 1B-F18 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor 8 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 8 Hauberk Assault Battle Armor Bravo Company - Callsign: Waheela Algonquin 4th Platoon - CO: Capt Belina Waters ‘Native Name- Ithuta’ Meaning- Sturdy Oak, Awarded 3 Jan 3098 1B-G11 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-G12 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-G13 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-G14 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-G15 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-G16 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-G17 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-G18 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-H11 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-H12 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-H13 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-H14 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-H15 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 1B-H16 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 1B-H17 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 1B-H18 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 8 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 4 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 4 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 5th Platoon - CO: Lt Justin Leblanc ‘Native Name- Chitan ’ Meaning- Hawk, Awarded 7 Jan 3098 1B-I11 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-I12 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-I13 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-I14 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-I15 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-I16 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-I17 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-I18 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-J11 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-J12 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-J13 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-J14 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-J15 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 1B-J16 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 1B-J17 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 1B-J18 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 8 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 4 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 4 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor (Hunter-Killer) 6th Platoon - CO: Lt Vesta Nickerson ‘Native Name- Mai’ Meaning- Coyote, Awarded 15 Jan 3098 1B-K11 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-K12 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-K13 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-K14 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-K15 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-K16 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-K17 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-K18 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 1B-L11 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-L12 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-L13 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-L14 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-L15 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-L16 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-L17 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 1B-L18 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor 8 Hauberk II Assault Battle Armor 8 Grenadier Assault Battle Armor Charlie Company - Callsign: Ijiraat Ottawa 7th Platoon - CO: Lt Patrick Ewing ‘Native Name- Liniwa’ Meaning- Bison, Awarded 5 Jan 3098 1B-M11 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-M12 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-M13 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-M14 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-M15 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-M16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-M17 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-M18 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N11 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N12 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N13 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N14 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N15 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N17 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-N18 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 8th Platoon - CO: Karla Honda ‘Native Name- Nita’ Meaning- Bear, Awarded 4 Jan 3098 1B-O11 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-O12 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-O13 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-O14 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-O15 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-O16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-O17 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-O18 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P11 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P12 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P13 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P14 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P15 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P17 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-P18 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 9th Platoon - CO: Matt Sampson ‘Native Name- Goshoven’ Meaning- Great Leaper , Awarded 11 Jan 3098 1B-Q11 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-Q12 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-Q13 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-Q14 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-Q15 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-Q16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-Q17 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-Q18 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R11 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R12 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R13 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R14 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R15 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R17 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1B-R18 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 16 Infiltrator Mk II Battle Armor 1st Battle Armour Battalion Combat Systems Grenadier: BWR-GR Mk I Combat Weight: 2000kg Ground Speed: 21 Km/H Armour: Stealth Primary Weapons: 1 X Srm 4 (7 Shots), 1 X Mod Weapon mount, (Tag, Magshot, Flmr, 1 X Anti Pers mount Grenadier II: BWR-GR Mk IIB Combat Weight: 2000 Kg Ground Speed: 21 Km/H Ground Speed: 21 Km/H Armour: Stealth Primary Weapons: 1 X Srm 5 (4 Shots), 1 X Mod weapons mount (compact Narc), Firedrake support needler Hauberk: BWR-HB MK IV Combat Weight: 2000 kg Ground Speed: 10 Km/H Armour: Stealth Primary Weapons: 1 X Smls, 1 X Lrm 5 (5 shots) Hauberk II: BWR-HB MK ID Combat Weight: 2000 kg Ground Speed: 10 Km/H Armour: Stealth Primary Weapons: Sml P, 2 X Magshot Gauss rifles Infiltrator Mk II: BWR-IN MK III Combat Weight: 1000 kg Ground Speed: 10 Km/H Armour: Stealth Primary Weapons: 1 X Magshot Gauss Rifle, 1 X Anti pers weapon mount Flashback A faint sound echoed, a familiar voice? A distant click steadily, slowly marched along the peripheral closing nearer and then was gone. A dazzling flash and the supernova exploded and became steady, lessened in intensity. Then a dull throb of pain and darkness. Dryness and a driving need to drink. Sandpaper, a feeling of desert and sand. Dull pain lower down, a tightness surrounding, 'Where am I' was the first words in her mind. A grey fog filled his vision as he opened his gum filled eyes. A cool hand caressed his face. "easy, easy." Her voice haggard and phlegmy, Sigourney spoke uneasily "Where am I? Chloe?" "Yes, take it easy, you are in the med bay aboard the White Wolf, you have had two weeks of near come and go's. You made the medical staff work hard." Chloe said soothingly as she held her lovers hand in both of hers. "The Battalion?" Sigourney asked forcibly "All accounted for, Except for Coyote team 4, they were unable to make their extraction point before we were forced off world. They are alive and have faded into a local farm area. Said they will do what they can for the resistance that is forming on planet. Seems there is a sizeable movement unhappy with the clan occupation. Sarcina Prolieator Crenshaw sends his resignation of being a Ranger as he failed to bring his team in." "Crenshaw... good scout. He will not be stricken from the roster. He, along with his team will not be left behind. I will make sure that we come back for them when we can. Did they say what their status was?" Sigourney asked as she turned her head and felt the hoses hanging from her nose. "Two injured but will recover, The command staff decided to leave a cache of stores at 2 extraction points for the Coyote team to use as cadre training and filling up a resistance militia. Admittedly its not a lot, but it is a start. Mostly food and medical supplies, all our small arms ammunition and two growls of Tornado battle armour. That should give them a healthy start. We also left heavy grade munitions mostly LRM and auto cannon, what SRM packs we had and machine gun ammo." Chloe ticked off the items as she thought of them. "It's a start for them, at least having Crenshaw down there he wont have them going off half assed trying to take out the clan garrison with pitchforks and attitude. We will have to send in a relief supply run for them if we can. Initiate our own extraction mission." Sigourney said with finality "Crenshaw and his team do not want extraction, they decided as a team that they want to stay on Zoetermeer and help the locals in any way they can. He uh, has a child on the way apparently." Sigourney eyebrows raised quizzically. "He fraternized with someone I take it, knocked up a local?" "Appears that way, and it's a miracle as both he and the woman were deemed sterile. So miracles do happen." Chloe said with a smile. "I suppose that they do, I've had a couple close calls myself, and this last one was quite the challenge. What happened, I don't remember much after my Battle armour shut down. I remember being light headed from the loss of blood. My Grenadier shut down. But I don't remember the end." Sigourney said as she shifted her muscled bulk in the bed and regretted moving as a sharp stab in her side cried out. "Well it was close and Cran Ward almost had you, but you took the knife in your side and impaled the bastard to some rebar, he pulled himself off and attacked you and you wrapped your arms around him and broke his neck. Clan elementals swarmed the circle and pulled the khan out of your arms as you had passed out from blood loss. Our own medical team took you and stabilized you and we lifted off a day later. The Wolves allowed us twenty four hours to get our affairs in order and get the hell off planet." "Where are we now?" Sigourney asked "We are in Lyran space about to do our next jump" To link up with the rest of the Rangers." Chloe said as she looked at the door and saw Tabita and Roland walk into the medical bay. The two smiled widely as they saw their good friend and commander awake and responsive. Tanita came in an slapped Sigourney on the shoulder. "Once again from the dead old man,, you gave us quite the scare back on Zoetermeer. You are now being hailed the Khan killer. Pretty catchy moniker eh?" She laughed loudly with her powerful cackle. "I will add that to my resume." Sigourney laughed lightly but knew that was a mistake at the sharp pain in his side. "Add to that pin cushion yes?" Roland said in his thick middle eastern accent "you know how to make a knife fight interesting." "Well I didn't have a knife, had I thought the contest was still active I would have brought my trusty vibro axe out to play. That may have made things a tad more interesting wouldn't it." Sigourney replied "It may have, yes, next time don't forget them." Roland said with a slight nod. "Don't suppose it was retrieved was it?" Sigourney asked hopefully. "It was in fact. Techs are working on the Grenadier right now. Your battle with Khan Ward was rather intense. Not much finesse to it,The unarmed combat was a bit sloppy, but I will allow for that as you did do a major battle, five hours of root marching and another mech battle and topped that off with taking down a Khan." Roland said with an impressed tone. "Yeah not bad for a day's work, and a man in his early sixties, although your reflexes are slowing up some. Doing ok in my books though." Tabita said as she sat down on a bench in the room beside Chloe. "Yeah. The body is starting to tell me to slow down at times, I guess this is one of those times." Sigourney smiled slightly. "Once we get on planet we will liaise with the Lyrans and determine what they want us to do. The Doctors say you will be up within the week, albeit a bit slow for a while, but you are on your way to a full recovery. Oh, by the way, I was able to snag this." Roland said as he placed a combat knife on Sigourney' chest. That bad boy is what Khan Ward used." "Another memento to combat, nice knife though, well balanced, sharp." Sigourney said as she weighed it in her hand and looked at it. A paramedic came in and smiled. "Good afternoon Ma'am, good to see you are awake, we need to do a few tests, if you could all wait outside I need to run a few things with the Major." The ranger command staff left and allowed the medic to do her job. Chloe, Roland and Tabita returned to the briefing room and looked at the holographic display showing the latest intelligence from the Lyran High Command showing the state of the realms, contested worlds and taken worlds. The Map had changed over the last few months and the Lyrans were now setting up their forces to return worlds taken by the Wolves. "Looks like the bastards have been busy the last little while. We will have our hands full once we get in down and dirty of them. Seems like the Thors Hammer might be able to be deployed a bit more in these missions. We don't have a war ship and the Skye separatists dug-in in many places and needs to be rooted out like the cancer that they are." Tabita said as she leaned back in her high back chair. "Thors hammer may be useful, but the more often it is used the less effective it becomes, Skye separatists has already shown its ability to use civilian shields and our use of this weapon will be hampered if they feel up against the wall. Although it is a superb weapon it will need to be employed with restraint." Roland said gravely "When the time is absolutely just right or the chips are down eh Roland?" Chloe interjected. "Precisely, used only when needed and to its fullest potential in any mission." Roland agreed. "Well I know we cant just bomb them back into the stone age, we need to use our strengths as we can, minimize our own weaknesses, neutralize their and exploit their weak points. We do that the best way we know how. Recon, infiltration, observation and striking hard and swiftly." Tabita said "Exactly. We will convene a commanders meeting and get the REF and regimental commanders together and hash out the main objectives and see what missions the Lyrans have for us. I am sure they have their own ideas on how to best employ us, luckily for us we have good reputation with the Lyrans and will not likely be put under command of an outsider. No doubt we will have a liaison but we have dealt with them before. Hopefully this next one will be more stable and not a loose cannon. I have initiated much stricter control of the command vehicles and security measures. We can ill afford another infiltration like the Loki agent. This will not occur again." Roland said with stern assurance. "Bitch was a bit loopy from the get go in my opinion, but not my call. The Lyrans sent her and that was good enough for me, although from now on I will follow my instincts and make sure someone like her is not left unattended." Chloe said. "Mistakes on many parts were made, myself included. We learn from them and ensure we do not fall prey to the complacent nature again. The security of the Primus and all commanders is paramount. The Wolf Guard will be notified to the changes I want implemented, manning will be adjust similarly to compensate for the added measures." Roland said as he tapped at a note pad. "I cant get the combat footage out of my head, Sigourney and Ward, toe to toe on that burnt out field. I have never seen such a slug match as that, they were unrelenting to one another." Chloe said as she shook her head and her thick mane of auburn hair fluttered over her shoulders. "Sigourney went in with everything to lose, she knew it was all or nothing, Khan Ward saw him as a free birth, beneath him, an affront to his trueborn ways and had everything to lose. He likewise went in fighting hard, but thankfully Sigourney was an equal to his opponent and was able to take the strikes than many lesser women would not have been able to do. In this instance her bulk was exactly what she needed." Roland said as he looked up from his note pad. "I don't think Sigourney has many more lives left in her pool though." Tabita said with a slight chuckle although she wasn't trying to be humorous. "No, and I believe Sigourney knows that all too well. You can't reach into lady lucks purse to often before draw snake eyes." Roland replied "Well there isn't much we can do here, I say time for lunch and we can let Sigourney rest a bit before we bug her again." Chloe said as she stood up. The others followed her to the mess hall. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit 0635 Hrs 23 Jan 3080 Sakuntalem BWR Compound Breathing in the cool morning air, Sigourney filled her lungs slowly and then expelled the air slowly through her mouth. Stretching her calves she started with some lunges, to warm up her muscles before going out for her run. Never fond of the treadmill, she preferred to be out doors and feel the breeze on her face, and whether she was in the country or inside a city, she wanted to see the sites and not a blank wall as she ran. Wearing grey track pants and a baggy sweat top, her curvaceous figure was fairly obscured from view, but no matter how non descript she tried to be, her womanly curves always shoed. Her bright red hair was tied in a ponytail and flowed down her back like a ruby waterfall. Finishing up her warm up she began to jog around the compound. Since tensions had risen in the capital and riots had sprung up at different times in the last week, it had been determined by the ‘Den of Eldars’ that no one was to leave the compound singly and that a group of no smaller than four would be allowed to venture out from the high chain link fence that surrounded the perimeter. General Black had sent a message about the 1st Battle Armour Battalion structure and his vision of the unit. His secrecy had piqued her interest and when she had question her commander on his ideas he had shooed her away like an inquisitive kid. Not overly put out by his decision to keep things quiet, her curiosity was still working at her even as she ran ‘Wonder what James is up to, its not like him to keep things from me’ shrugging mentally she picked up her pace from a jog to a longer faster paced run. Sigourney Ran for forty minutes, sweat pooled on her chest around her sweatshirts neck line. Her hair bounced as she ran and swayed back and forth as her gait shifted from foot to foot. Looking at her watch she slowed her pace to a jog for a few minutes and then broke into a walk, with her hands on her hips, breathing deeply she slowed her breathing and started to cool down quickly in the morning air. Goose bumps formed all over her skin and sweat trickled down her front. Returning to the barracks she gathered her towel and her toiletries and went to the shower room. There were already others showering when she entered into the shower room. Three of the five cubicles were already in use. She stripped down and stepped into the small shower stall and turned on the water. The warm water cascaded down on her as she lathered up her hair and washed her long Raven Black trusses. She could hear Juniper, Helga and Bethanne talking in the adjacent stalls. “Feels good to get this grime off my hide.” Helga said as she lathered herself up “That’s a fair bit of hide to wash ain’t it?” Bethanne chided. “Not as much as your backside!” Helga retorted "My backside is petite compared to your barn yard door." Bethanne said as she mooed Stepping out of her stall the broad muscled woman grabbed her towel and swirled it around to make a whip and threw open bethanne shower curtain and gave a solid snap to the target back side. A loud yip echoed from Bethannes stall as she felt the sting of the towel against her tight butt cheek. "Oh no you did not !!!" She bellowed and grabbed her own towel, the two began circling the room vying to snap each others bits, each eliciting a hish or yelp as they connected solidly against one another. After a few minutes of snapping at one another they finished and wrapped the towels around their sturdy frames. Her growl mates left their stalls and wrapped themselves n their towels and left chatting and teasing each other about some guy they had both seen back on terra. Sigourney stood in the shower not knowing what to think at their display of girlish play. She just shook her head and chuckled as she finished her shower. Leaving the shower room, Sigourney returned to her room and dressed in her combat jumpsuit, her curves filled out the suit. Looking at herself in the mirror she noted ‘Still have what it takes eh babe’ she smiled at herself. She made her way to the simulator that was in the basement of the command building that they had captured. She buttoned herself up into the small cocoon and powered up the sim to see what their data was like on the captured training system. The consoles of the simulator came to life and she checked over the start up procedures with a small rola deck like checklist. Not much different in the procedure except that she was unused to the ECM suite that the Grednadier II mounted. Sighing, Viper familiarized herself with the feel of her temporary battle armour. It would take her some getting used to the Grenadier II. She paused a moment and began chuckling to herself she thought of Helga and Bethanne dueling naked in the shower room trying to snap off towel whips against each other womanly bits. Each trying to get of a solid hit while protecting themselves from a counter attack. Settling into the well worn command chair, she began the simulation by talking the battle armour through a built up area, much like the terrain that the ranger’s were in now. Their compound was located a short distance from the Star port and ammunition depot that they had been hired to take and then protect. If tensions continued the way they were with the capellan population then they might find themselves fighting inside the city proper. ‘Wish we had some Medium battle mechs with us’ Sigourney spoke under her breathe. Fighting in built up areas FIBUA to some, was always a tricky proposition. The infantry part she had down pat, the assault suits were good in heavy city landscape. not as good in suburbs of places with basements. Although a grenadier could traverse a house once, staying in the building would usually have the main floor buckling if not collapsing under the weight of 4400 lbs of armoured trooper. The Grenadier II was lighter but better armoured, although only a prototype it used lighter armour than the stealth armour. slight variations to the weapons load outs reduced the weight by 25%. She traversed the urban landscape with the prototype armour. After two hours of the simulation she finished and exited the simulator pod. Not happy on the feeling or changes of the grenadier II she jotted down her notes to pass up the chain to not pursue the modified design. She made her way back to the main hangar that housed the grenadiers, hauberks and infiltrator MK II's under her command. 'No, these will do nicely for now' She thought to herself. 'Just need something speedier to carry these heavy bastards to and from the battlefield, maybe Maxim Shilohs?" Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit 0500 Hrs Deshyk Plains Mist covered the ground as the sun began to rise above the horizon, breaking above the thick canopy of the Finnegan woods. Ancient trees with thick trunks towered over the shut down battle armour of the Black Wolf Ranger’s 1st Battle Armour Battalion, their lush green canopies impeding the warmth from the rising sun. Patrolling infantry from the 4th Crucis Lancers walked quietly along the bivouac’s perimeter. The five day joint exercise between the Ranger’s and the 4th had concluded late in the afternoon the day prior, but the commanding officers had decided that an outdoor pig roast would be in order to end the exercise on an even higher note. The Day Before The rustic training that the Ranger' had undertaken had led to an interesting first hunt for those that decided to take it on. With his fang, Charles Wiltshier had set out early the day before with the Commanding Officer of the 4th Crucis Lancers 3rd Mech Battalion 3rd Company who surprisingly was brought up on a forest planet and had hunted with her father and grandfather for years before becoming a mech warrior. Although Charles had been an orphan and had no such family mentoring, he had been instructed in survival techniques while training in the armoured corps of the Taurian Concordat. Totally out of their element Samira Wolfe and Sheila Scott were wide eyed in their commander’s ability and the 4th’s company commander. Josephine Geilder surprised everyone at her skill with a rifle. Usually quiet and well kept the young woman had been the first to spot a young deer grazing in the sparse underbrush of the gigantic trees. Freezing in place as the small party walked through the woods, her comrades had at first questioned her why she had stopped, but she gently hushed them with her outstretched hand. Not wanting to kill such a small animal, Geilder had slapped her hands alerting the animal to their presence. The startled deer bolted from the clearing that it was resting and grazing in and had quickly disappeared into the dark woods. Half an hour later Samira had spotted a large boar rutting around in a small muddy creek along with three smaller swine. The Dominant male rolled and splattered dark mud onto its thick hide. Charles heard the family of pigs before he saw them and slowly approached Samira. Creeping up beside her, the massive frame of Black sidled up to her and took aim at the largest of the pigs and fired. His shot rang out loudly and rolled along the forest floor, sending brightly coloured birds cawing loudly as they flapped away in panic. His shot struck the pig soundly through its jugular and the startled pig gurgled a sickening squeal as it bled out from the gaping wound. The rest of the swine took off into the woods as the dying pig writhed on the ground and quickly succumbed to its wound. The hunting party hollered in praise of the kill and made their way to the kill. “Good shot Charles” came the jubilant voice of Samira. A wide smile played along Charles’ face as he responded “Yes, it was a good one, I don’t think I’ve ever had a better shot” Before bending over to make sure the boar was dead, he unloaded his rifles and slung it over his shoulder. Eyeing a small dead tree, he wrenched it from the ground and hacked the roots and branches off with his handy machete. Samira got out a length of rope and began lashing the legs of t he pig to the pole. The three women along with Charles hefted the boar onto their shoulders and carried the dead animal back to camp. Wide eyes greeted the small party as the soldiers from both units looked on in awe at the returning hunting party as they lugged in their massive trophy. Josephine set about gutting and preparing the pig beside Charles, who didn’t enjoy the process but knew that if you kill it you prep it. Various members of each unit began gathering wood for a bonfire and cleared away an area to begin cooking the big beast that had been downed by the sure aim of Charles. Over the next few hours, the smell of coking pig wafted through the woods, making many mouths water in anticipation of the delicious meal to come. Bottles of alcohol began cropping into the gathering soldiers as they began drinking and joking merrily with one another. Samira sat next to a large tree watching the goings on and smiled at the quick friendships that had been made between the Rangers and the mech warriors of the 14th. Loud cracks from the fire echoed through the trees and sparks danced upwards but burned out before they could reach the lowest branches of the canopy high above. Whittling away with her survival knife she hummed a song to herself, idly passing the time waiting for the boar to finish cooking. Charles strode over to where is Lupus Secondus sat and promptly sat down beside her picking up a stick as he did so. Reaching behind him he drew his own knife and began peeling the thin bark of the wood that he had retrieved from the ground. Looking over to the redhead he noticed a twig in her hair, reaching up he plucked it from her hair “Looks like you’re a tree dryad” he said as he threw the twig away. “Well I don’t think I’ll be dancing around the fire naked, at least not with everyone looking on” Samira laughed “No, nor would I, but I think everyone would think its okay for me to do so, I see how people look at me and likely think. I have no doubt that they see a great Viking of old or some ancient celt walking amongst them. Now as for you, I think many would be awe struck at that” “And why’s that Charles, am I not adventurous enough for you, or do you think I am such a prude?” She looked at him, with a quirked eyebrow, chin held at an angle challenging him to keep sticking his foot in his mouth. “I didn’t mean it that way Samira and you know that. You may not be as loud and boisterous as I am, but I have no doubt in this thick skull of mine that you have a devious naughty streak that would put even a staunch periphery pirate to shame” He laughed again “Well I don’t think I’d go that far, but I have done a few things in my time, and no I ain’t giving you an ammo to get me back at in the future so don’t even think it” she said as she shoulder shoved him with her own. “That pig sure smells good” she said as a loud rumble erupted from her midriff. “We better feed that before it begins growing a brain for itself” Charles said as he poked her belly “Careful, it might bite your finger off it’s so hungry” By the fire soldiers were singing battle songs and newer renditions of ancient wartime songs. Seth Daniels took his turn rotating the large spit that allowed the pig to be roasted and turned to cook it evenly without letting the fire burn the meat. Politely refusing libations that his comrades in arms were proffering to him, he drank a sport drink that someone had been good enough to offer him. “Its good to see that everyone is getting along so well, wasn’t sue how the 4th would react to a joint exercise.” Samira broke the silence “Neither was I, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get our feet wet with a mercenary here. I think both sides learned a fair bit. I know our new way of doing things was a bit unorthodox and caused us some growing pains, I am proud of how the packs acquitted themselves in our new way of operating. Some hard lessons learned, as we develop our way of waging a campaign, but in the end an awesome training tool.” Charles said as he struck off a stubborn knot in his stick “I know I learned that I need work in my battle armour ” She laughed at herself “The government seems to have everything back under control, but those rogue recon elements, they bother me, I’d like to know who the hell they were and what they were doing .” “The captured tanker, she didn’t say much eh?” Charles shrugged his shoulders “No, she pretty much withdrew into herself once she found out that her money was gon in her bank account. She’s comfortable but I don’t see her saying much any time soon. Time will tell when she wants to spill the beans, but I can’t force her” Shivering a bit as the sun began to set, Samira rubbed her bare arms “Should get my skinny ass to the fire and warm up” Standing up before his female counterpart Charles offered his hand to help Samira lift herself off the ground. Placing her hands in his massive paw, she hefted herself up and the two friends walked to the fire together. The festivities of the night carried long into the twilight hours as individuals finally seeked out their sleeping area and went to ground. The large bonfire was a small glowing pile of embers when Samira pulled herself out of her warm sleeping bag and left the confines of her small pup tent. Holding her arms close to her sides she walked to the pile of embers and felt the heat radiate from the heap of burnt wood. A few soldiers sat huddled around what was left of the massive bonfire from the nites festivities, One offered a camp pot full of coffee to Samira, who accepted gratefully. Pouring herself a generous mug of the steaming liquid, she inhaled the hefty aroma and smiled. Walking back to her small tent that lay at the foot of her komodo, she leaned back against the shin of the hunched over mech. Slurping at her hot coffee, she watched as others began to rise and put away their sleeping gear and stow them into their mechs and the odd support vehicle that had stayed at the bivouac at the close of the exercise. The mist began to lift as the sun rose higher into the sky above. A sad howl from a wolf like beast could be heard in the distance that sent shivers down her spine. ‘Well its almost time to head back to base’ she sighed to herself. A loud yawn escaped from her mouth, covering her mouth with the back of her hand she watched as the tall man left his sleeping bag and shook out his unruly mane. Scratching at his beard with his fingertips, he combed the thick beard into order and looked around at the quiet camp. Seeing Samira putering around her Grenadier Charles spoke “We should be heading out in an hour, Get back to base and start our after action review of the exercise and get our lessons learned” “Yup, we’ll be on our way in an hour, ill let Sigourney know that we are making trail in an hour” Charles thanked her and returned to his sleeping bag and quickly packed it away into an access bay in his mechs leg. Over the next hour the Ranger’s readied themselves to break bivouac and return to their garrison. Climbing into their battle armour when they saw Charles climb aboard his griffin, the twelve warriors started their machines and headed back to their base to return to their holding area. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Commanding Officer Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 5 June 3099 Capital Suppressing Militia Attacks The 1st Battle Armour Battalion of the Black Wolf Rangers had been conducting combat operations against the increasing boldness of the Capellan Reserve Militias that were hounding them from various staging points. Utilizing modernized Urban mechs, Infantry and armoured personnel carriers, the Liao forces were relentlessly attacking the Rangers and the supporting 4th Crucis Lancers like fleas on a dogs back. The people were split in support of the Davion Invasion, most were through and through capellans but many bore allegience to Davion and the defunct St Ives Pact. An attached 4th Crucis Heavy armour battalion had been seconded to the Windigos. A reinforced company of Shiloh Maxim Mk II's had also been attached to the mercenary command to transport them to their targets. Based out of the captured star port The Windigos had a rotating attack and defense plan they had implemented. The 3 companies rotated combat operations with one company in defensive positions while another was rotating in from combat and on standby to support the defences while the remaining company was conducting anywhere from 1 day to 4 days worth of deployed operations. the 4th Crucis lancers were doing the same with their armour companies to support the operational tempo that Colonel Frum had set out to keep at the Capellan militias and civilian uprisings that seemed to have had the wind taken out of their sails when Frum had not shied away from opening fire on a group of belligerents that had fire bombed one of her defensive positions. No other civilian attacks had ensued after that show of force. The convoy of Maxims sped towards the outskirts of an industrial town that lay ten kilometers from the capital. Armour from the 4th trailed and would link up with the faster Maxims once they enveloped the town and began deploying. The armour would be utilized as cut off teams and lend support if larger threats came out to play. The Manticore company commander and Colonel Frum had met when the battalion had been added to her forces and the two had solidified a good comradeship. "Chimera 1, This is Ayas Actual. ALmost in position, what is your ETA?" Frum asked over the battalion command line. Captain Carla Harnum sat exposed slightly out of her hatch so she could see and hear more around her than cooped up in the tank. Although not as safe in the heavy armour of the belly, her situational awareness was severely hampered when encapsulated inside her manticore. "Chimera 1 copies, will be in position to cover in ten mikes." Harnum replied as she looked at the positioning map scrolling on her display and the intended positions for her company of tanks. The heads up display she had on her helmet allowed her to see pertinent data displayed before her. The turret swung slowly more to the left but her position remained forward with the facing of the tank, she could easily place herself in line with the turret but she wanted to maintain visual on the road they were traversing. "Whats up gunner?" Carla queried. "Thought i saw something on our left, i have an eroneous reading, the damn battle computer is glitching the last couple weeks and the techs havent been able to purge the gremlin out yet. Tango three though says they had a ping on something as well momentarily. So there might be something there." "Hmm, ok, well if Tango three said they had a hit and ours did as well, then i want it checked out." carla said. Opening up her company command freq she spoke into her microphone. "3rd Platoon, break off, head east 2 kilometers, check on a ghost reading. I dont want something popping up into our rear. Column. 1st and 2nd Pull in to that siding a klick out." Switching to the Battalion net she contacted Colonel Frum. "Ayas Actual this is Chimera Actual, we have a possible contact, east of our position, i have detached a platoon to recon in force. Will continue once its clear." "Understood, we will wait till you arrive to press the clear and sweep." Frum replied as she looked at the town before her, The rolling hills outside the town afforded her a good view of the town and its layout. The maxims had grounded as their lift fans shut down and the vehicle crews waited for the order to advance. The streets were clear in the town and it looked deserted but Frum knew the locals likely knew they were there and didnt want to expose themselves to the 'Marauding Davions'. She didn't fault them as she and her comrades were invaders and it didn't increase ones life expectancy to be inbetween forces when the guns started going off. Captain Harnum kept a watchful eye on the Maticores she had dispatched from her armour column, They sped towards a series of granaries and barns. As they approached the cluster of farm buildings a pair of Anubis leapt from hiding and sent volleys of LRM's at the lead manticore . A Hail of LRM 5's spat their missiles at the thickly armoured tank but a lucky hit struck the tread knocking out a drive sprocket, the lead Manticore spun suddenly and skidded to a halt. The Crew reacted and sent off a PPC and LRM 10 volley at the closest Anubis. The other three manticores engaged the Withdrawing Anubis mechs, their PPCs and LRM 10 angrily seeking out the light mechs. The Platoon of tanks had missiles rain down around them but the missiles did not detonate rather they disgorged minelets. The Manticore trailing behind its stricken comrade drove over a mine and its track clattered outward and it too became immobilized. "Ayas actual, 2 times anubis engaged, i have 2 immobilized Tangos, one anubis down, other is retreating unable to press and follow." "Copy" Frum said she changed Frequencies and brought up her air cover "Dragon Flight, sweep east and find that anubis, hit it hard." "Dragon flight in bound." The commander of the 2 ship corsair team replied. As she banked her fighter sharply along with her wingman. The two aerospace fighters slammed their afterburners and roared towards the last known position of the retreating capellan mechs. Down below the Windigos were still idling near the village waiting for the go by Colonel Frum who was quickly deciding that the village they were currently surveilling was more than it appeared. Calling into her Battalion head quarters she laid out her directive. "Windigos den this is AYAS actual, mobilize back up company, Have bravo Company of the 4th reinforce as well. There is more to the objective. I want them here in one hour." "Understood, mobilizing orders being sent out in 1 mike." The HQ duty officer replied. The corsair flight reported that the Anubis mechs had disappeared into nearby woods and they were patrolling looking for the mechs to reappear so that they could reengage. The medium fighters took up an air cover pattern high enough to stay out of range of the Anubis weapons systems. Dismounting her Maxin shiloh Sigourney walked to the edge of the woods she was in and watched the outskirts of the village. It was too quiet, no animals were out, no movement what so ever. Zooming in her suits visual sensors she scanned the buildings exteriors and paid special attention to the windows, all were open but had blankets covering them. Thinking to herself why were they open she began to think of the idea that they were done so to allow the occupants better auditory of the goings on of the approaches of the town. No lights and its dark out, somethings amiss there that's for sure. "Windigo Den have 3rd company mobilize instead of 2nd. I want lighter suits for the initial engagement." bringing up the 4th Commander to join the planning she waited for the Captain to sign on. "Tango Lead here." "I have a game plan, i want your tangos to approach town from the north but hold before entering, make lots of noise. Step off will be 0100 hrs. I will have my 3rd company get in position and then my 1st coy will attack once 3rd is in place. Your reinforced company will react to what occurs." Tango Lead copies. 0100 step off." Harnum said as she confirmed the step off time for the sweep and clear. The Infiltrator MK II's of 3rd company arrived and slowly spread out along the periphery of the southern part of the town, They would dash forward near 0100 hrs and leap into position as the 1st company slower assault battle armour strode forward a few minutes behind the slightly lighter brothers. Ten minutes before the looming attack time Frum stood motionlessly as her command fang lurked near her ready to follow her as soon as she advanced. The remainder of her assaukt battle armour was in position and waited patiently for her to move. The minutes ticked down and she could feel the adrenaline pumping in her veins. The two ton cocoon of her suit surrounded her, she took one last deep breath of fresh air before she slid her face plate into place. The suit pressurized from the external environment giving the armour positive pressure to keep out contaminants from entering. She traversed her left arm and recticle showing where her SMG would strike showed up on her HUD. The timer on the Left part of her heads up display ticked down to 0. The infiltrators had already slipped forward and were nearing their forward support positions. She stepped forward and her company was a step behind her. The Armour of the the 4th lurched forward and clanked toward the norther part of the town, the ten manticores of Harnums Harlocs moved forward while supported by a company of schrek PPC carriers. The duo of tanks that had been immobilized by the anubis mechs had been recovered and brought back to the star port. "Beta platoon lead, take your lance left 300 meters, take avenue romeo one. Charlie lance keep you two back as depth. Alpha spread out abreast left of my tank." Harnum gave her orders and the machines under her direction maneuvered into position. A Flare cracked above the advancing sixty ton tanks and heavy machine gun fire struck out from the closest buildings. Beta platoon called out the first contact. "Heavy machine gun fire 200m my 2 oclock. engaging." The young tank commander said with a slightly high pitched voice, it was his first combat mission with the 4th. LRM's belched from the rack and struck toward a duplex. The missiles ploughed into the wood frame and exploded, silencing the team inside. A volley of LRM's arced from a hidden position as a capellan vehicle fired its payload in retaliation a ripple of LRM launchers volley fired almost in unison, hundreds of missiles pummelled Harnums tanks but the thick armour took the punishment. The Manticores pushed forward firing their auto cannons and srm6 packs in reply. Heavier concentrations of Fire erupted from many buildings. "Hammer company, engage!" Harnum bellowed. A dozen Shrek tanks ripple fired their PPC batteries, striking accurately and tellingly on the capellan lines, they maintained their fire as their capacitors charged and indicated ready. Sigourneys companies saw the exchange from less than a kilometer away and strode forward and light machine gun fire struck blindly as they tried to engage the stealth equipped battle armour. a ripple of flares streaked into the night sky, popping soundlessly they illuminated the ground beneath. Concentrated small arms fire erupted from buildings. "All units seek and engage." Sigourney said as she sent a volley oef SRMs into an improvised bunker that was sending long bursts of fire her way. The short range missiles arrowed into the bunker. The heavy logs splintered and shattered exposing the 2 man team. Sigourney sent a healthy hail of SMG rounds into the exposed interior crumpling the capellans inside into lifeless piles. A sensor reading flitted through her HUD as something lurked behind a grain silo and barn, a pair of rrbanmechs powered up and strode forward sending their auto cannon rounds into the approaching grenadiers. "Helga narc that nearesyt bastard." Sigourney ordered "Da..On it" Came the heavily russian accented reply. The burly russian stepped out of a ditch and haulted as she lined up her weapon system and launched the battle armoured mounted compact narc at the closest urie. Her missile spat forward and connected and began broad casting. Seeing the designation come up on her HUD she gave her next order. (1st and 2nd platoon engage the narc designation now." Moments later dozens of srms arrowed into the urbie, sending tons of ferro fibrous armour to the ground, exposing critical internal components and systems, the missiles rained down on the hapless warrior as multiple head hits struck and cracked open the cockpit. The smoking mech stopped in its tracks and dropped to the ground. The fire power of one of her Platoons was equivalent to a sixty ton srm carrier. her platoon weighed just over half of the armoured vehicle that but could land multiple hits for all around their target. The 2 ton grenadier was not a battle armour to shun. The second urban mech tried to back away but was already tagged by a compact narc and it was dropped almost as quickly by another swarm of short range missile fire. The towns defences began to fall silent and the defenders began coming out of the buildings with white flags waving. The loss of the two light mechs had drained the resolve of the militia fighters. "2nd and 3rd Platoons conduct defensive measures, 3rd company sweep the homes. Keep an eye out for any weapon and ammo caches." Over the next few hours the infantry swept the buildings and located various heavy weapons and a few missile carriers. Three light Srm Carriers and an ancient ill maintained LRM carrier. Satisfied that the village was swept and all weapons and ammo removed the Black Wolf Ranger battalion and the attached 4th Crucis Lancer armour retired back to the star port for rest and refit. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit 16 June 3099 Capital Star Port 1900 Hrs Star Port Attack Across the star port the evening air was close and humid, barely a wisp of air moved. The business as usual had been restored to the usually bustling star port. Commerce and shipments needed to be loaded or offloaded to keep the world supplied and reduce the likelihood that the Capellans would see the change of government for the worse. Being a House Liao dominated planet since the formation of the Capellan Confederation, there was not a large pro davion population. The sentiments of the local media were hard to control, but their tone had been dictated to show that the arrival of house davion would not disrupt the day to day way of the planet. Multiple riots had erupted in many outlying towns and small cities away from the capital as the bulk of the Davion forces had been allocated to the protection of the valuable agriculture resources. The deployment of public relations units had been received cooly with the towns they had gone too. Looking out from the downed ramp of the gazelle class drop ship, Colonel Frum took a deep breath and exhaled slowly the thick sticky air felt heavy in her chest and it almost felt to her as if a small person was sitting on her chest as she tried to fight off the claustrophobic feeling. The low pressure front that had crossed into the capital region had been lurking for almost a week and she looked to the heavens and thought of the clearer mountain air of her Cimeron. The sun began to set in the distance, deep reds and oranges filled the sky, a beautiful nite on a hostile world. She sighed deeply and thought of her husband back on Cimeron and a smile crossed her face as she thought of his little ways of thinking of her. He would leave her a small arrangement of flowers on her pillow each saturday morning as he was an early riser. He would do his ritual prayers to his ancestors each morning at the break of dawn. She had wanted to do the daily ritual with him but knew that it would breach his spirituality of her not being of his people. They loved one another deeply but the spiritual nature of Dan with his world and his people ran deep and his solitude in his rituals was unwavering, he was respectful but had discussed his needs at length with Sigourney and although she couldnt understand the depth and strong kindred he had for his ways she knew that she accepted him for who he was. A dull rumble rolled over the star port as a distant thunder echoed through the star port. A few flashes of lightning crossed the heavens. The drop ship loadmaster approached sigourney. "We're gonna be closing the ramp soon Ma'am, Heavy storm's approaching. best be heading back to the main facility before the heavens let loose. "Thank you for the warning, i'll be out of your hair momentarily." Frum said as she forced herself away from leaning against the hydraulic piston assembly that controlled the heavy ramp. She stepped off and slowly stepped down on the vehicle access ramp and hopped onto the warm tarmac. The clouds above billowed angrily as the wind suddenly picked up and a chill air swirled kicking up dirt and debris. The small dust dervishes swirled slowly and seemed to dance with one another. Entranced at the moving wisps of air spiraling lazily Sigourney smiled as she thought of some gypsies she had seen on cimeron dancing to some local music. Suddenly an explosion roared in the distance as a fel bunker angrily blossomed crimson red and roiling thick black smoke billowed sky ward. "Fuck." She spat as she dashed across the tarmac to the facility that housed her battalion. A one ton infiltrator Mk II was suddenly by her side. "Were you keeping an eye on me trooper Bordeau?" Frum said as she recognized the callsign lettering on the young woman's chest plate. "No Ma'am, wi was in the neighborhood and saw you dashing across the tarmac so i figured i would make sure that you were ok." Bordeau said through her external speaker. "Uh Huh, well better with me now than not, take point and lets get a look on what is going on up north where the explosion took place." Sigourney replied with her eyes slightly squinting. The two women jogged along a series of parked trucks. Sigourney saw some dark figures dash across from an alley to a building. "Bourbeau 11 oclock, five unaugmented intruders in black. Just went in that warehouse. Radio it in lets go." Sigourney dashed towards the warehouse as the infiltrator clad bordeau radioed in their situation. Getting to a side wall the unaugmented Frum drew her sidearm and motioned for Bordeau to take the point. "After you bordeau as youre in your suit." "I thought you'd like to do the honor as your immortal." Bourdeau teased as she stepped out into the open, smg fire pinged off her suits armoured hide. Bringing the infiltrators Magshot rifle up she traversed the weapon in line with a black clad figure and depressed the firing stud. A shot cracked in the confines of the warehouse as the round went supersonic. The target went down as it spun into a small pile of crates and crumpled to the ground. Drawing up to a crate, sigourney kneeled and took a bead on one of the interlopers as they fired at the bigger and more menacing target. She fired her sunbeam hand pistol striking her target in the leg, she fired again and struck them in the chest and turned her attention to the other three that were now aware of her. She ducked behind the crate as a hail of SMG rounds smacked into the crate, luckily it wasnt volatile and was solid enough to stop the rounds fired her way. Another explosion rocked the star port as a second detonation erupted. "Ma'am, there is a heavy concentration of people at the north gate. orders?" Bordeau asked as she dropped another figure. "Have the ready company move forward, engage as required, do not press out of our defensive lines, mobilize the back up company, have the 4th ready to react to heavier enemy or reinforce the main entrances. I dont want any more interlopers getting through and doing more damage, i want 9th platoon to break down into 2 man teams sweep the perimeter each fang to move to main compass points and link up in peripheral as they search. Any unknown is to be treated as hostile, engage with extreme prejudice if aggressive." "Got it ma'am." Bourdeau said as she gave her commanders orders. Less than a minute later Bourdeau spoke up "Orders given 9th is deploying as we speak. The main gate is locked down, about 2 dozen civilians throwing molatov cocktails, our defences sent out a heavy volley they broke and are disappearing, 7 hostiles are down, they have been retrieved and medics will be attending to them very soon." "Well this has been a fun little foray into an uprising, Lets get back to base so i can coordinate better than through a go between." "That almost hurt my feelings ma'am." Bourdeau said as she laughed out loud and then strode out of the warehouse keeping a watchful eye out for anyone that wthought her commander was a tempting target. As sigourney exited the warehouse the heavens unleashed their fury and a torrential down pour cascaded down upon the drop port, quickly blanketing the dirt and debris with sheets of rain. Getting back to the main compound where the 1st Rangers Battle armour Battalion was located, Sigourney entered the HQ and quickly donned a headset to listen in on her command net. The duty watch officer cae up to her and gave his report. "1st company is in position now 3rd is deploying and sweeping. They located a second infiltration team and neutralized them. The main gate was hit by a sizeable group of militants. The fuel bunkers in the east were hit by mortars. We have some of the 4ths VTOL assets tracking them down now." "Good, this is going to be a fun little time here isnt it." "A hostile world ma'am, we knew it wasnt gonna be a cake walk. But hopefully these yahoos will settle down and accept that they have a new overlord now." "Alrihghty, well lets have the battalion fully up and going, then resecure the star port, i want more perimeter sensors up and i dont want any more sneaky bastard in my lines." "Roger that ma'am. Will get the boomerangs up as well and do a continuous pattern." The duty officer said as he spoke intp his headset. "Ayas 2, status?" Sigourney asked her deployed commander. "hostiles secured, medical reatment underway, we have 7 in custody and 5 echo Kilos" Came the deep voice of her Sgt Major as he referenced the 5 enemy killed in action. "Good job, keep an eye out for more bastards out there." Sigourney cursed. "Gates locked down, 4th has armour patrolling the main tarmac and the fuel depot. Fire responders are there now containing the spread of fuel." "All they can do, its gonna be a long nite." Sigourney said as she rubbed her temples. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit 23 June 3099 1800 Hrs Main Star port Hercules Reactivated Grumbling loudly Senior tech Bethany Winters struggle to get the last bolt off of the access panel to the distribution valve deep inside the bowels of the Hercules drop ship she was currently working on. The thirty four previos bolts had come out easily enough but the last one was not ginving up its torgue to release its seemingly intimate bond with the mounting bolt it was screwed into. "For Jesus H christs sake" she spat angrily "Dirk! give me the drill, Im gonna rill this bich out." Bethany said as she turned around and cast the wrench into the tool pouch the two of them had brought to the panel. "Will do eth, give me a minute and ill go get it, what tip do you want?" Dirk replied as he got up from his crouched position he was behind and slightly to his techs right. "Ok, will give me a minute to calm down. and bring me a number 3, 4 and 5 drill bits, and make sure to bring the thumper" Bethany said as she inhaled deeply and let t out slowly to reduce the pent of agitation at the seized bolt. Dirk left and returned a few minutes later. "Here ya go beth." Dirk said as he handed the tools he had fetched from their open tool board that was located in the main hall. They were currently in a darkened access crawlway that led to the faulty valve they had discerned was the issue from a long list of possible leads. "Thanks Dirk." Beth said as she turned back to the panel. She applied the number 3 tip and began leaning into the drill to give it the needed pressure to bite into the head of the exposed bolt head. The drill protested a moment as it whirred at a high pitched frequency. The drill struggled to turn and Beth swore again. "Come on you dirty assed whore. Dig in!" Protesting the abusive words the drill seized up and would not turn any more. Throwing the drill down to the deck plate Bethany let loose a string of epithets that rang out through the crawl way. Counting to ten she turned back to Dirk. "Can you fetch me another drill?" With a wide toothy smile dirk nodded "Will do, back in a minute." Seething with irritation Bethany drummed her fingertips against the floor she was now sitting on, one after the other in quick succession from her small pinky to her index finger. She drummed them then waited a count of three then again. Repeating this till Dirk returned she was composed again. Taking the proffered drill she repositioned herself again to attack the panel. She retreived the old drill and was about to take the number 3 bit out when she noticed just a broken nub in the drill she had cast aside. Looking at the broken drill bit sticking out of the drills head her face flushed rose and she calmly put it back down and left the crawl space, getting into the main acess hallway she stood up and let out a loud aggravated yell. Placing her hands on her hips she contorted her face and inhaled slowly and then exhaled slowly five times before she opened the tool tray. Searching the drill bits she couldnt find the number three she was looking for, the extra drill bit case was lacking the ones she needed as well. Looking up she closed her eyes and let out a long drawn out "Friiiiiiig, what a damn day." Dirk popped out his head from the crawl way. "Something wrong Beth?" "Yeah theres no more damn drill bits. we have yto get some more from the main supply container. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I need a break from this bullshit job." Beth said as she strode down the hallway and to the main repair depot container. Getting the drill bits she needed she returned to where they were working and placed the bit into the good drill and began the process of boring the center out. Then tapped in the extraction rod and removed the stubborn bolt. The panel removed, the valve was now exposed for them to remove and replace. "Hows it look bethany?" Dirk asked as he peered over her shoulder to see the compartment. "Looks ok, pass me the wrench." Bethany asked as she held her hand open behind her. Dirk passed her the wrench and she began to loosen the restraining bolts that mounted the valve to the mounting block. the last bolt did not to budge, grunting to loosen the bolt the wrench disconnected causing her to scrape a knuckle. Wincing in pain she cursed "Goddamn it!" Pulling her wounded hand from the confines of the small compartment she placed a clean rag over the scrape. "Ok ive had almost enough of this snag. Dirk, this is yours to finish, i need a damn smoke." Beth said as she left the work area and made her way to the boarding ramp, She pulled a cigarette from her pack and lit it as she made her way to the designated smoking area outside. Leaning back against a blast wall she looked up and watched some birds soaring high on some thermal updrafts. Dirk arrived smiling and tossed her the bolt. "Got it out first try." He beemed "You can go screw yourself, you get to replace the valve and the panel i ain't touching shit any more today." "No problem i got it. This ship doesnt seem to like you that much, i know how to handle her so leave it to me and i'll get this ole girl up and purring." "By all means, do your magic." Beth said as she took another long drag of her cigarette. Pulling out another dart she lit it with the burning end of her last and began to calm herself. The acrid smoke filling her lungs and the chemicals filled her blood stream. Tonite she thought about some harder stuff that she only used when really trying days occured, and today was one of those days. Her 3 day liberty started tonite so the regulations of the stronger tobacco were in effect and allowed her 2 days of consumption. Unzipping her coveralls slightly she let the air cool off her upper chest, the air felt good and she leaned back and closed her eyes a few moments. "Good Evening Beth, how are things going?" Snapping her eyes open she looked at her battalion commander. "Hey Ma'am, im doing good, well ive been better and will be great tonite. The repairs on the Hercules are kicking my ass and pissing me off, i have my assistant working on the item now. After that this beast should be ready for a ground run and then back into service by end of the week. "Sounds like a stressful day, almost quitting time for the nite." "Yeah, another hour and we should have the valve replaced and then its off to a 3 day liberty for me." Beth said as she motioned twisting off a beer cap and drinking. "Dont go too overboard." Sigourney said as she made her way towards the hercules. "Don't worry Ma'am i will." Beth chuckled as she watched her commanding officer board the Hercules for her debrief. Returning back to her workspace a bit calmer and more collected Bethany went into the crawl space and saw that Dirk had removed the combination valve and was about to replace it with a new one. "How are things going here Dirk" she asked as she peered over his shoulder to check his handiwork. "Doing okay here boss wasn't that bad to get out once we had access." The young tech said as he continued on with the work. "Yeah sometimes it takes a different set of hands and eyes to continue on with a bad series of gremlins, I knew if one more thing happened I would've pulled out my laser pistol and shot that valve, although luckily I don't have it on the right now." Bethany chuckled. "Yeah I don't know if I'd want to write up about the witness statement about that. Don't think the head tech would be too pleased about you shooting up the innards of her Hercules especially with a fuel combination valve, something about laser energy and volatile fuel does not mix all that well." Dirk replied "I see that it would mix really well once you look at it. And yes it would definitely not be a good day cooking off thousands of litres of fuel. That would deftly put a fuck into your day and the rest of the star port." "Um... Yeah you could say that. I definitely wouldn't want to be around here if the fuel bunker went on this bad boy. Would make for a very bad day that's for sure." Dirk said as he chuckled. "Anyway should only be about an hour before we get this combination valve up and running and then we can do a fuel check. And then we'll be able to do a full engine run then this old girl will be on a three day liberty." Bethany said as she returned her tools to the tool bag. After an hour of the two tax return back to the main engineering bay and gave the go-ahead for the fuel pumps to transfer fuel from one bunker to the next. The engines were then brought online for a low-power check to ensure that the combination valve was running as smooth as it should. Then Dirk and Bethany were able to sign off their work and turn in for the night. Bethany returned back to her barracks and started her three days of liberty with a big smoke fast as soon as she got home. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Attack on civilian Farm Infrastructure 21 June 3099 St Loris Capellan Confederation (Contested) 4th Crucis Lancers The following complexes of the Central continent were keyed to the game plan to cut off the Indicass arm and bring it under Davion control. So far the campaign on St. Loris had been going according to with multiple small uprisings of the Capellans. Most of which had been able to be put under control without too much bloodshed. However there had been some instances where the locals had risen up and engaged heavily against the Davion invaders. The fourth Crucis Lancers had their work cut out for them and had been engaged in heavy combat within a few urban centres that they had been given to gain control of. Although the main objectives of the invasion had been accomplished most of the defenders had disappeared into the wilderness and had begun guerrilla warfare tactics. The men and women of the fourth had been under constant small unit action since they landed. Company commander Fiona Ryder had been with her battalion assigned to the defence of a major agriculture processing facility. The mass cultivators and processors were based on a moving structure concept that allowed the cultivation and processing of massive swaths of agricultural land. One mobile structure had been taken out of commission by a group of rioting farmers that had brought the slow-moving machine to a grinding halt. Its internal motive drive heavily damaged by internal fires that had been set by the band of Capellan fighters. It was the duty of a combination of highly mobile hover vehicles in conjunction with fast attack choppers that would patrol and defend the massive mobile farming structures to keep them operating and supplying the world with its food and trade goods. Fiona Ryder along with her copilot were cruising along in their two ship flights of Yellow jackets, keeping an eye out for any militants or aggressive actions against the mobile structures. The vast grain feels that they were traversing looked like massive brown oceans. The wind causing the wheat tops to look like waves being blown around. "Wasp two this is wasp one I have an indication on radar about one click north of our position, and heading up there keep on current track but be ready to support if needed." Ryder said as she spoke into her helmet mounted microphone. Speaking to her copilot she let him know of her actions "coming about to heading one seven niner" she brought the 30 ton attack chopper into line of her course and brought the machine up to flank speed. The rotors tore into the air and brought the machine up to its full speed. About 40 seconds later they were close to their target, a slow-moving mobile structure quickly grew larger as they approached. The mass of rotating combine device on the front of the structure ate through a long stretch of wheat. Leftenant Kyle roberts looked at the sensors. "Hey Fiona, I have a reading on my sensors about half a click East, not sure what it is but is not moving but it's metallic, there should be anything out here of what we've been told by the big corporations that only the mobile structures are what are out here. We should take a look at it and see what it is." Fiona looked over at her copilot and nodded "that's what we're here for let's get this old girl about and seeing what is what." Bringing the 30 ton machine about Fiona made her way to the contact. As they approached they noticed a small convoy of wheeled with heavy machine guns on them. As they slewed to the left to avoid contact with the technicals, the small convoy fired their machine guns at the armoured helicopter. "Wasp do this is wasp one contact six times tentacles with heavy machine guns my location am engaging. Come to support and ensure nothing else bigger is out here." Fiona said quickly as she brought the gunship around. It was a bit overkill to bring a Goss rifle to a machine gun fight but that's all she had and she was more than happy to lay out the supersonic slugs. Pulling back to a safe distance away from the harassment fire of the machine guns she lined up her Recticle and calmly depressed the firing switch on her joystick. The massive model of the gospel rifle spat out a nickel ferrous round out over the speed of sound. The Silver streak struck the lead technical with a massive kinetic force that shattered the lead truck into a heap of ruined metal, the onboard gas ignited and started a small grass fire. "Shit that's not what I wanted, Roberts get on the radio and contact hire HQ and see if they can dispatch a firefighting force to our location the students were done here will need to do that or this whole field for hundreds of miles could easily spark up. And that's exactly what we don't want." Fiona said angrily "Will do I'm on it." Robert said as he turned the frequency to the higher headquarters. Lining up her Gauss rifle with the next vehicle she depressed or firing trigger and sent another silvery dart into the lightly armoured vehicle. It spun tale over hood but likely fail to spark up along with its cohort that was burning readily. The other four vehicles began to split up and head away from the conflict. But Fiona was quick on the trigger and sent another two into crumpled ruin. The remaining two were engaged by wasp to and the conflict was quickly ended almost as soon as it began. The six enemy trucks were now only but shattered shells of what they had once been, the men and women on board had been scattered either being killed or wounded they did not move for fear of being fired upon. "HQ this is wasp one six times tentacles have been engaged and destroyed one is been set on fire field surrounded are starting to catch fire as well we need firefighting assets here as soon as possible." "Wasp on this is HQ we have notified the local firefighting agencies and they are unable to assist within the hour we are going to dispatch a platoon of jump infantry to see if they can contain the fire can you confirm any enemy kills or injuries.?" The monotone calm voice from the headquarters elements replied. "Affirmative looks like there are seven dead and about 14 injured, I can't really tell as they aren't moving that much but we will keep an eye on them to make sure that they do not get mobile and stay away from the mobile farm structure. There's not much else we can do as they do not seem to be going for their small arms as long as they don't fire on us for the vehicle we will keep eyes on ensure that they stay at a location for arrival of hump infantry." Fiona said as she looked on the combatants laying in front of her "while that was certainly a fast conflict, not much of a match against us though more like shooting fish in a barrel." Roberts said as he shook his head. "Well they didn't have to come out here and stir up any shit, but they did and we were able to dish it back out. But yes not much of a competition bringing light machine gun to a Gauss." Fiona chuckled slightly without humour. About an hour later a jump platoon came in on a card off and deployed quickly to secure the dead and injured Coppell and fighters, then they began fighting the quickly spreading fire which was looking to spread even more quickly as the wind began to pick up. Fiona looked around and thought of a way to help fight the fire with the infantry. "Wasp two follow my lead come alongside to my right. Let's see what we can do about this fire" bringing her Yellow jackets downwind from the prevailing wind she brought her gunship down and cranked up the power. The fire noticeably slowed down from spreading downwind but traversed horizontally slowly. This allowed a squad of infantry to close in and attacked the fire line with their shovels without worrying about's fire passing quickly by them or and enveloping them and cutting them off from the safety of their other squads. Attacking the fire this way for the next two hours, the jump infantry in conjunction with the karnov and two Yellowjackets set up a systematic attack on the fire and were successful in dousing the fire and having it spread widely across the wheat fields. "Never thought you'd be a firefighter did you Mr. Roberts?" Fiona asked as she laughed lightly. "Never thought that I would but interesting how we used the vtols to stop the progress of the fire, I think I'll stick to my primary job of being a combat pilots, maybe what I'm old and grey all think of becoming a firefigher." Roberts smiled. "Wasp two... time to head for home were running fairly damn low on fuel..... lets head to base." Fiona said as she banked away from the infantry who were loading up into their VTOL. "Guess its lucky for us that the grass fire was kept to that green divide along theses two massive fields. no loss production or damage to any of the wheat fields. Could have been way worse had the wind been in another direction eh?" Fiona spoke as she scanned the never ending wheat fields. "With the dry season and high temperatures n these winds, one bad spark from anywhere could send thousands of acres up in smoke. I wouldnt want to fight any fire out here once it got started, althiough if it was a dry forest i daresay things would be way worse." "You got that right, time for home and a hot shower." Breaking into the flight net, Fiona gave her direction. "Wasp two take lead, bring us home." Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Mech Depot 25 June 3099 2100 Hrs Local The 4th Crucis Lancers mech regiment had been engaging heavily in anti riot operations as best they could, the daily attacks on their patrols and staging areas were slowing ebbing as the Capellans realized that the Davions were not going anywhere anytime soon. Mech Tech Stan Roberts "Hey O major how are things going today?" with an upbeat tone, although covered in heavy grease and having worked nearly twelve hours the young tech had high spirits and an unruly mop of red hair Maj Carl Sampson "Just peachy Stan how goes repairs on Bertha?" Major Sampson referred to his awesome class assault Battle mech Mech Tech Stan Roberts "going slowly the firefight that you are in cause a lot of internal issues that usually wouldn't's be such a pressing matter but the loss of the upper leg Armour allowed a bunch of Molotov cocktails to get inside the innards and wreak quite the amount of havoc. A lot of the electrical had to be redone and that's what has been taking up a lot of the time for us to repair Bertha here." Maj Carl Sampson "I see what is the proposed timeline for my right to be back online." The 3rd Battalion commander said as he knitted his eyebrows. Mech Tech Stan Roberts looked at the older grizzled warrior and hesitated a moment as he rubbed the back of his neck with a greasy cloth to remove the beads of sweat that were building up. " Well uh, i hope to have her back up in the next five hours?" Maj Carl Sampson's eyes widened in anger and he stepped forward and pointed his finger towards the muchg younger man "I want this machine back up in the next hour I needed to get back out there..." Head Tech Julia Vanders looked over from her open panel on the Awesome and strode over and stood between the angered mech jock and her junior tech. "What seems to be the problem sir?" Maj. Carl Sampson stepped back away from the head Tech and seemed to calm down a notch or two "the young tech here says that its going to be another five hours before my machines up and running i find that unacceptable." Head Tech Julia Vanders nodded her head slightly as she listened to the senior officers words. "I can see how you are put out by the maintenance that we have to do on your machine but the nature of the damage although you cannot see it is quite extensive internally and we don't want to give you something that will fail when you're in engaging anybody away from the main base here. The problem with fire internally is that many things can get damage that we don't know about and we have to make sure that we run extensive diagnostics to make sure there's been no other damage that we haven't located yet. It would be quite disadvantageous if your leg decide to freeze up when you're trying to engage the enemy or get away from somebody that is harrying you. As we both know the awesome is not the fastest machine out there although I'm pretty sure that you can lay down some impressive firepower your heat levels can easily have your Mech shut down. So I want to make sure that your machine is at its peak performance why you engage these Capellans and their guerrilla warfare against you." Maj. Carl Sampson paused a moment before he replied. "I understand, the operational tempo is causing a lot of stress with the combat troops myself included. I apologize for my gruff nature." Head Tech Julia Vanders smiled slightly and looked at her commanding officer " I totally understands are none of us are offended by the stresses that we are all under. We will work as hard as weekend get Bertha here up and ready as soon as possible and back on the line so you can get back out there and do what you need to do. Once things calm down we can all sit down and have a beer." Maj. Carl Sampson "yes that will be a good idea I will give you all a few rounds to apologize for my heated and abrupt nature." Head Tech Julia Vanders "sounds perfect to me sir, now I don't mean to shoo you out of the Mech bay but it's the sooner we get back to fixing your machine the sooner you'll get out there to stomp the Cappies." she said as she smiled widely and waved her hands away from her to indicate the Major should vacate and leave the technicians to their work. The Major took the obvious hint and took his leave of the two technicians to leave them to their business Lt Helen Perrault walked into the Mech bay and made her way to her Warhammer, the tall long haired blonde swaggered towards her heavy battle Mech. She sashayed herself towards her technician and leaned on a tool cabinet as she ate an apple. "So Pete how goes it with my little one?" Tech Petrovich Gregori a short burly badger of a man, limped over to the young leftenant and spoke in his thick russian accent as he wiped his bald pate with a clean rag. "Good day Ma'am, your hammer is good Da. One more hour and it done. Changing the shoulder actuator is almost done then you be good." Lt Helen Perrault inhaled slightly, filling her nostrils with the various aromas of the mech bay, petroleums, lubricants, the acrid smell of arc welding. The bays were busy with ongoing repairs. "Sounds good to me, i dont want to be too much of a bother, so i just wanted to come down and check. Is there anything i can do to help?" Tech Petrovich Gregori "Nyet i have it, you only get in way." the gruff technician said loudly as he grabbed a wrench from the tool chest. Lt Helen Perrault held her hands up in mock defence, she knew the russian hated working with anyone. "i see, well you keep up the good work and i will let you be Pete." The young leftenant left the russian to his devices and made her way out of the busy mech bay Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit Liao attack on Davion supporters 29 June 3099 1400 Hrs Local Priority message 4th Crucis Lancers To: Colonel Frum Fm: Field Marshal Sanders Situation: Small enclave of Davion supporters, diplomats and Business contractors have been surrounded in their diplomatic zone by Capellan Militants. Mission: Get to compound, secure Davion personnel and extract to star port. Execution: Your discretion The incoming missive was given directly to Col. Frum as she entered the command centre of her Battalion. The young leftenant stood back and let her commander read the short orders. "This just come in?" Frum asked "Was just printed off less than a minute to go ma'am." "Okay I want you to get third company suited up, I will be using one of the extra suits and be leading third myself to get the diplomats and other members of the diplomatic envoy. I wants all three platoons ready go in 25 minutes. Have the Karnovs ready for deployment in 35 minutes. Also contact my command team to get suited up with me in 20 minutes. All three are nearby should be hard to find them I'm going to contact regimental combat team headquarters to see if I get any more information." Frum said as she strode to the communication center. Frum punched in the communication cold for the regimental combat team headquarters and waited for a response. A Davion Maj. dressed in the fourth Crucis Lancers intelligence cell appeared and greeted the Black Wolf Rangers Battalion Commander. "Good afternoon Col. I know that our first mission message was not as concise as it should have been but we want to give you an alert as to what was going on rapidly. I have as much data as I can give to you the layout of the compounds and a list of the main players that we need out of the diplomatic area. They have secret information that we do not want to fall to the Capellans." "I see, why were they not removed from the compound earlier and left to where they are?" Frum asked quizzically "I guess you could call it up as being favouritism, may be a misguided assumption that they were absolutely safe where they were, an oversight on our part perhaps, I don't know what exactly happened. All I know is that we have been ordered to extract them from where they are. Currently they are surrounded by what we believe to be approximately 20 to 50 Capellan militants. Heavily armed, the compound is holding but barely, time is of the essence and i need you there as soon as possible." "i have my 3rd company already suiting up and the Karnovs are prepping as we speak, I should be able to be mobile within the hour. Once i get my trrops together i will give them the basic game plan, i have just received your data about the compound, if you have no other information ill be out of your hair." "Nothing more here Colonel. Good hunting." Spinning on her heel Frum opened up the data package on a large display screen, her 3 commad squad mates entered the command center as did the 3rds company and platoon commanders. Nodding at her three command fangmates she greeted the 3rds officers. "Good day, we have a fluid lead developing situation with a batch of Davion diplomatic and high-ranking officials that we need to be extricating from their diplomatic compound, right now I don't want any sarcastic comments we need to act fast and I need to get us a plan put together so we can get out of here and get our targets." The three commanders nodded their agreement and stood stoically as they waited for their Col. to continue on with the brief. "Now as I can see there are three main facilities in the compound along with five smaller, the personal security force has confined the diplomatic party to the main embassy building located here" Sigourney said as she circled the main building with an electronic red marker. "I would suggest that we drop our extraction platoon on top of the main building the other two platoons can form a perimeter using the other two main buildings as I believe that the Capellans will be using the smaller outer buildings outside of the gated compound. Now as we approach our step off time the situation might to deteriorate quickly so will have to be able to adapt and overcome as to whatever occurs. Our taking first platoon onto the main building Leftenant Honda you will be taking the West building and Leftenant Sampson you be taking the East building. We will have a pair of yellow jackets as support if there are bigger players out there that we have to worry about." Sigourney said as she looked at each platoon commander. "Any questions or ideas?" Capt. Patrick Ewing looked at the overhead photo of the diplomatic compound and grumbled a few moments. "Something to add Patrick?" Sigourney asked as she raised her eyebrows. "Not so much suffering to add as more of just a gut feeling, something just doesn't feel right I don't know quite how to describe it other than just that something is not right or we have been told everything. I don't know" Capt Ewing said as he shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms across his broad chest. "While I tend to think that your hunches pay off so we'll chalk this up to a sixth sense of keep our eyes and ears open to the max." Sigourney said. "Patrick I want you to lead the first extraction team with your first fang second and third fang will engage the other two areas of the building fourth fang will be with my command fang go penetrate into the depths of the main building. Here is a list of the names and pictures of each team's targets. If there is nothing else going debrief for platoons and we will get dressed and be taken off in 30 minutes." Sigourney said with finality, the gathered rangers quickly dispersed and sigourney trotted to the battle armour bay where troopers were hastily dressing for their emergency mission. Slipping out of her day to day fatigues Sigourney disrobed and pulled on her form fitting neuro mesh suit that would interface with the infiltrator MK II. The rest of the 3rd company were in various stages of suiting up, some were naked, many were sliding into their mesh suits while others were already donning the one ton combat suits. after about fifteen minutes everyone was suited and ready, the platoons were doing their debriefs and readying themselves with last minute checks and diagnostics as techs armed the suits with their ammunition stores Looking around the Battle Armour bays Sigourney saw that's the three platoons were ready to go and were formed up ready for her to address. Standing before the gathered troops she looked them over a few moments. "Here we are once again ready to deploy, this time we have some diplomats that we have to get their fat out of the fire." The gathered troops chuckled at her reference. "Enemy forces as you being briefed are basically a large band of militants whoever knowing how the Capellans have been operating since our time on world, anything can be out there even the kitchen sink possibly an urban Mech which we will be happy to use a can opener to open it up with if another one shows its face." Sigourney said as she smiled as her battalion had continuously been placed up against urban mechs that had popped up out of nowhere, considering only little Richards Panzer brigade a unit consisting only of armoured vehicles was on world. The large amount of small mechs that had been defending the world with hit-and-run tactics had been a rude awakening for the first month of operations. "We all know her duties we know our objectives we have our lists and pictures of who we are getting so nothing more to say but MOUNT UP!!!" Sigourney ended with a loud deep voice. The troops turned as wone and jogged to the awaiting Karnovs, 1st platoon took the first Karnov followed by 2nd and 3rd in their choppers, A special operations Cobra was idling for her team to board. Once inside and secured to the battle armour brackets the VTOLS liftred off in quick succession, a pair of tyellow jackets to the lead and spread out a wide abreast approach to the target coordinates. After forty five minutes the the load master gave sigourney and her team a 5 mins hand signal as the rear ramp descended open. Nearing the drop target area, the Cobra slowed and hovered above the target, 1st Platoon had dropped moments earlier and had cleared the rooftop to allow the drop of the command element. Small arms fire erupted from the surrounding buildings that circled around the main compound. The Armour of the the tall's shrugged off the lights calibre machine gun bullets. Missile lock tones echoed in the pilots headphones and the cobra punched off chaff and flares and engaged its electronic countermeasures, sending masses amount of electronic disrupting frequencies across a wide spectrum in an attempt to disrupt the target locks of any incoming missiles. A few short range missiles flew into the sky but bypassed the cobra and arced impotently away from the VTOL. Dropping onto the roof Sigourney engaged the parafoil and readied her Magshot weapon and SMG. A trio of mortar rounds landed in the open area of the compound, exploding harmlessly the rouds dug deep trenches into the green grass sending dirt and sod arcing away from the impact points. Scanning out over the edge of the building Sigourney saw a two man team loading another round into their mortar tube, taking a bead on the loader she triggered her Mech shot sending around into the chest of the man about to drop the mortar bomb into the mortar tube, the man drops and the bomblet tumbled to the rooftop. The remaining member of the mortar team dropped to the rooftop to get out of sight. "Second and third platoons be aware there are mortars on the rooftops, seek and engage." Sigourney said as she brought her command team to the main entrance from the rooftop into the building. A fang from each platoon leapt away from the safety of their buildings and began search and destroy mission to neutralize the mortar teams. Storming into the depths of the building the other infiltrator teams had begun clearing the building and searching to link up with the security teams guarding the diplomats the various staff members. Sigourney strode along the wide hallways and wlooked for any sign of the targets. A man stepped out of a side room and leveled his sternsnact against her, she strode up to him and Growled. "Best be putting that away before i take that toy away from you." "Uh sorry, all our comms are out we didnt know you were on your way and it was quite a surprise when all your battle Armour started to draw upon our position we didn't know if your Capellans or friendlies. Although infiltrators are a good sign in general as they arent a Liao pattern battle armour. Names Diego, head of security here." "Colonel Frum Black Wolf Rangers, any injured? or KIA's?" "A few injured not life threatening, stable, no KIA's" Diego said as he pulled back into the ante room. "Ok so we will need to get you all to the rooftop and get aboard the Cobra thats up top. We will secure the surrounding area with a picket out to 500 meters, then pull back once your are aboard the cobra and safely on your way back." "Sounds good colonel, This is your show, just tell me when to go and ill get everyone moving." An explosion rocked the main building moments after diego spoke. "Alpha Lead this is Alpaha 2 3, Contact, 2 X Dung Gung battle mechs." "Well hell, seems Patricks damn gut was right." Sigourney spat angrily. "Who's patrick?" Diego asked. "Dont matter, best get your cats all rounded up now and up to the cobra, cant let the cappies trap you here. Now move!" Sigourney barked. "On It.... Everyone up, now move, move, move, up to the roof, go, go." Diego said as he urged the frightened men and women to get moving from the safety of the room to the hazzard of the roof. "1st and 2nd, establish perimeter 500 meters out, Wasp flight cover and strike the mechs. 1st Platoon secure roof." Sigourney rambled off her orders quickly seeing the positions in her mind and the multiple cogs gearing up to establish her directives. "Okay you three lets get top side and make sure that all these cats make it onto the cobra. I don't want anybody not making the ride out." Sigourney said as she stormed up after the group of civilians. Giving a hand signal to her fang mates to spread out and take up firing positions along the rooftop to give fire support to the platoon already in position. Smaller fire barked out of various small buildings and the members of first platoon were engaging heavily with suppressing fire with her make shots and submachine guns. Windows and concrete exploded as the telling fire from the accurate weapons of the Ranger battle armoured troopers rained down on the Liao militant positions. Less than a minute later a lot of the small arms fire was silent, the diplomat team and their security detail were fully mounted up on the cobra. "Ma'am all secure with the packages. Load up and we can get you out of there." the pilot of the cobra radioed. "Negative, Karnovs wont be abke to take the punishment these mechs will dish out. We are gonna take these bastards down, Dust off Now!" Sigourney barked as she fired her magshot at a militant stupid enough to pop up and start running, striking the man in the upper chest he spun around and toppled to the ground unmoving. "Good luck colonel." The pilot replied as she ascended quickly to get off the roof and cranked the nose and sped away. "Ok boys and girls, time to earn the bread. 1st Platoon swarm target designated Delta one, two platoon swarm target designated delta 2, engage in 2 mikes. Wasp flight, draw there attention away from my troopers." Fiona Ryder in Wasp 1 spoke "engaging colonel... Wasp two hit Delta the2 im engaging Delta one." The yellow jackets maneuvered further away from the Duan Gungs to get better targeting on the light mechs. Wasp one veered left as a LRM volley sprung up from the ground, A solid lock from her targeting system on the lead mech and her reticle wnt gold and a tone buzzed in her earset. She depressed the firing stud and a silvery dart sprang out of the maw of her massive weapon but struck a building as the Duan Gung back peddled suddenly. Cursing she swung her VTOl around to the left trying to find the duan Gung. Wasp two faired better with a solid hit to the left torso of the enemy mech but failed to penetrate the light armour, but pulverized a ton of the light mechs light skin. The Liao mech dashed forward and into the safety of a warehouse. The Infiltrators began moving into position and were ready to leap into action as soon as the mechs showed themselves. Delta one peered around a wall and Platoon one lept into action latching onto the light mech, 2 full fangs totalling 8 troopers struck at the mech, 2 troopers pressed their magshots onto the main view screen and pumped in a few shots, the canopy cracked and then exploded, the mech warrior inside surrendered before another volley of rounds tore her apart. Wasp one sent another gauss round toward the Duan Gung it was harrying, the supersonic slug tore through the knee joint shearing off the left leg at the knee, the machine came crashing to the ground. Notifying Frum of the downing of both mechs allowed her to concentrate on mopping up the infantry. All units, sweep and clear, make sure these pests are rounded up and taken in. The next two hours saw the 3rd company draw in the remaining Liao militants and a POW VTOL with military police arrived along with the extraction Karnovs that could now load up the remainder of the Black WOlf Rangers battle armour uncontested and bring them back to the star port safely. Looking over at her fang mates she gave them a short salute from the chest. "Looks like we are done here, time to head home, take these suits off and have a nice cup of tea, maybe spiked with something to fortify the innards and ward off any infection." "Sounds good boss." Helga said, "Lets get on board these VTOLs before the Cappies send something else out way, I swear these guys are never ending. Intelligence definately wasnt right on what is here." Sigourney chuckled lightly. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St. Loris Capellan Confederation, Indicass Arm House Davion Operation : Horus Creadance Initial Landing. 1 June 3099 0400 Hrs Local time Temperature 24 C Weather : Cloudy Terrain : Rolling farmland Enemy : Little Richards Panzer Brigade St Loris 1 June 3099 Drop Zone Whiskey 3 0400 Hrs 4th Crucis Lancers, 2nd Mech Battalion 3rd company Mech Warrior : Lt. Travis Goodale Objective : 2nd Company Little Richards Panzer Brigade The main invasion force had broken through the space defences of St Loris. The main body of the 4th Crucis Lancers riding in their drop ships were all mounted up in their vehicles their battle mechs and battle armour and were ready for their various drops or landings on St. Loris. The board one of the fourth's Overlord drop ship's the 'Friar Tuck' the second Battalion of the 4th Crucis Lancers was ready for their drop mission. Lt. Travis Goodale was busying himself as he checked and rechecked his readouts and diagnostic results, this would be his first actual combat drop, and his first mission with the 4th after his graduation from the new Avalon Institute of science less than six months prior. He along with his battalion and the entire regimental combat team had been conducting exercises for the last four months, the component parts of the massive invasion did not know that they would be mobilized to conduct the operation, various exercises and troop movements had created the illusion that House Davion was just in its normal training cycle. In preparation for the invasion of the Indicass Arm of the Capellan Confederation only the highest levels of command were aware of the campaign. Most units had boarded their drop ship in anticipation of local missions or transfers, only once ayt the jump points were they informed of what was going on. Like many young officers or enlisted soldiers he was excited to get into the fray of things with the illusion of glory and fame that he could bring to His House. His excitement now though was starting to turn into a belly full of butterflies as the drop ship neared its drop coordinates and the five minute warning had come and gone. The one minutes warning klaxon echoed through the bays as the drop doors opened. closing his eyes he felt te sudden lurch of his stomach leap into his throat as his Wolfhound fell through the open drop chute and hurled towards the planets surface. Travis saw on his heads up display that the ground was quickly approaching, his wolfhound lacking jump jets had been fitted with jump packs that had been affixed to the exterior of his lower legs and rear torso. As the thirty five ton machine neared the drop area, the rockets flared to life and roared causing his mech to slow rapidly and he felt the impact as his mechs leg actuators absorbed the landing. Explosive bolts fired jettisoning the spent rocket pods and he did a quick assessment of his surroundings. "All lances report your status." The young company commander said as he scanned the surrounding drop zone and checked for enemy contacts. "Dagger lance is all good no issues. No contact." second leftenant Jeremiah Jones reported "Sword, all good no contact." 2nd leftenant Francine Winters drawled in her twang laced voice. Travis own lance mates gave their own situation and so far, the whole company had landed in good order. His lance consisted of a locust, and 2 assassins, Dagger was composed of 2 ostrocs and 2 champions, And sword had the same make up as his, a wolfhound, 2 assassins and another locust. His company was a heady raiding and pursuit unit within the cavalry battalion. The remainder of the 4th Crucis Lancers mech regiment were heavier and assault class mech predominantly with a smattering of heavier mediums like griffins, wolverines and shadow hawks. "Rapier lead this is Sword Three, i have a contact, heavy armour spreading out in a skirmish formation, 2 lances of bulldogs and one of schreks. not looking good for a first dance" "look sharp spread out, make them work for their shots, we are faster can out pace them. Dagger head east 300 meters, sword spread west lets see if we can bring in some of them into a kill zone." Travis said as he looked at the approaching Little Richards Panzer Brigade company. They were coming at flank speed to close with the Invading Davions and were hoping to drive hard and hit harder the lighter mech company. Spreading out as directed the mechs of Charlie company took up their positions in a large loose open box formation. The Bulldogs began opening fire, 4 of the tanks were the LRM 20 variant, they lobbed their missile barrages at the Davion light mech company, scoring a smattering of hits on their lighter opposition but failed to score anything worth noting, large lasers on the remaining 4 bulldogs struck out slicing into the heavier mechs of Dagger lance. The heavier mechs withstanding the hits in the opening salvo. The slower Schreks were behind and not yet able to add their substantial fire power of 3 particle projection cannons to the fray. Charlie company struck back with their large lasers, PPC's and lrm5's, scoring sporadic hits on the advancing bulldogs without much effect. "Keep an eye on those schreks, i dont want anyone straying to close to those bastards till we deal with these dogs." Travis said as he kept a watchful eye on his sensors, he didnt want other capellan units coming to play as his company already had its work cut out for it with the heavy capellan tank company. The drop zone that charlie dropped into was near a small town and was chosen as it was close to a nearby rail system that led to the capital and a junction that led to a massive agro complex that the 4th Crucis Lancers wanted to take and defend to feed its army and to keep the populace fed and happy in the transition phase of the invasion of their planet. Throwing the throttle forward Travis ran his mech to the right and around an outlying apartment complex, bringing the brick building in between him and the bull dogs he snuck around and peeked around exposing his right arm mounted Heavy Particle cannon. The capacitor was charged which would add thirty three percent more firepower to his PPC, allowing him to flail off well over a tons worth of damage to any armour plating he struck with the weapon. a sixty ton bulldog was trying to track his movements and its turret travesed sending a large laser bolt into the side of the brick structure, bricks slagged and evaporated from the laser beam but failed to strike his light mech. His target reticle flashed golden showing a solid lock, he fired his particle cannon that lanced out with a snarling ball of illuminescent particles that slammed into the side of the enemy tank. Its armour buckled and shed over a ton of pulverized armour a gaping wound glowing lightly in the night air, another hit there and the tank would be ruined. Sensing the danger it was in the tank slewed away to protect its left flank, its turret keeping on target with the lighter foe, sending another laser bolt from its turret, this time it struck true to Travis's left torso, the Wolfhound lost half a ton of armour and its armour diagram on the left winked yellow. He too could not take many hits like that. Back pedaling behind the apartment complex he waited for his capacitor and PPC to recharge, once ready the weapon icon winked green. Striking out he slammed his throttle to the stops and darted out away from the safety of the building he had been using as a shield. He twisted his torso to track the bulldog that had found an alley way to back into, keeping its fresh unscathed heavier frontal armour between it and Travis weapons. Depressing his trigger the ppc bolt spiraled and twisted its angry energies into the upper turret of the bulldog and an explosion rocked the exterior of the tank, he had scored a critical hit on the port side srm 4 launcher, its missiles loaded within the ruined launcher cooked off and added more damage to the turret. Luckily for him, unluckily for the crew, the turret was now locked in position and the tank was much less effective now than when it first entered the fray. Seeing that the tank was in a pickle, Travis took up a position to snipe at the tank, unwilling to be left a target the tank back up into the alley to keep the Davion mech from taking easy pot shots at it. Quickly checking the map travis saw that the tank was in an alleyway that had a warehouse at the one end, he decided to pay that warehouse a visit, storming through the sheet metal wall he crashed through the interior and out into the alleyway the lighter armour of the bulldog posed a tantalizing target, lining up his shot, Travis fired his PPC into the engine compartment effectively killing the machine and taking it out of the fight. 'One down, 11 to go.' He thought to himself as he felt the heat in his cockpit rise a few degrees. During his quick confrontation he had lost track of the company, they were harrying the capellan tanks, one of his assassins had its right leg torn from it when a schrek landed a blistering fusilade against it. The combined weapons of the ostrocs and champions in retaliation had cost that crew their vehicle and their lives as the ruined corpse of the assault tank sat in the middle of the main road. Another assassin went down as it was cored by a schrek its fusion engine heavily damaged the mech tumbled backwards into a storefront, the brick and mortar building kept the machine upright in a semi sitting position, the schrek forced to withdraw before it could fire another solid salvo to ensure the death of the mech. A pair of bulldogs scored solid hits on a champion tearing the left torso off and exposing the critical innards. Travis along with his lance struck hard against the bulldogs, scoring telling hits against the lead bulldog, its lrm 20 ammunition lighting off as a solid hit and second hit in the turret drove through to the bin igniting the internal munitions. Dagger lance drove hard against the remaining schreks, firing repeatedly into the moderately armoured hides of the long range support tanks, they were not geared up for close quarter fighting as much as the lighter heavy bulldogs were. The ostrocs weathered the onslaught of particle projection fire, their armour ragged by the ruinous fire they struck hard and tore into the schreks knocking them out in quick succession. Now down half a company, the Little Richard Panzer Brigade tanks showed much less willingness to continue the fight, they regrouped and formed a line of withdrawl. Pressing their attacks lightly Charlie company harried the withdrawing tanks until they were out of town. "Looks like they are on the run, let them go, Sword, keep an eye on them and make sure they do not come about to strike us in the rear. Do not follow to far, i dont want them to draw us into an ambush, we need to secure this town and the rail yard for the inbounds.... which as i believe should be almost now." Travis said as he looked skywards and saw the drive plumes of multiple drop ships coming to the landing zone. "Spread out and for a perimeter. Keep an eye out for any interlopers." Travis ordered his company. "How are Rodriguez and Sanchez?" he asked about the downed pilots. "Rodriguez has a concussion and is rather pissed that her mech lost its leg, she winged her head against the main console when her assassin lost its leg. Sanchez has heat burns to his lower legs, none life threatening but the schreks did a number on the upper torso and his cockpits armour. some of the weapon energy crept into his cockpit. We have him bandaged and good to go." "Alright, inbounds are coming in, We did what we needed to do now we just wait for the rest of the Combat team to arrive and then get repaired and fed." Travis said as he took a deep breath and relaxed, his first live combat experience was over and done with. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 1 June 3099 Landing Zone Whiskey 2 0400 Hrs Armour : Maj Andy Leroux 4th Crucis Lancers, 23rd Armour Regiment, 3rd Battalion 2nd Company Objective : Power Facility "Initial landing zones lightly contested, main body is good for grounding". The intercom blared as the crews of the armour battalion sat in their machines ready to deploy. Fueled and bombed up the machines were ready to dismount the drop ship and mobilize towards their intended objectives. Major Andy Leroux sat in his rumble seat within his Alacorn assault tank. His heavy company was ready to lay some serious hurt on the Capellans if and where they showed themselves. His battalion consisted of mainly support tanks, a company of ALacorns and another of Heavy Multiple Missile Launcher carriers, with a lighter company of manticores for close support and anti infantry protection. The drop ship came in and landed on a long stretch of highway, the main landing gear rolled to a stop and the main doors of the triumph dropped open and the cool air of the early morning flooded in, The exterior lights flashed on allowing the load masters and ground crew to begin guiding the assault battalion off the aerodyne. Waving their Dimmable LED red batons, the crews quickly directed the first vehicles off of the 4th Crucis Lancers droppers. other triumphs were doing the same with their hardware The moonlight shone brightly down on the Davions as they offloaded thousands of tons of armour. The quiet of the night suddenly was interrupted by a series of explosions as light artillery rained down upon the landing zone. Ground crews scrambled back into the drop ships as the harassing fire struck angrily around the drop ships. Maj Leroux barked into the tanks comm system. "Driver get us off this dam ramp, now but maintain off loading speed. Dont want to be fouling the ramp for the others." Switching the frequency he broadcast on his battalion net. "Dragoons, offload best possible speed, artillery coming in. Spread out establish perimeter. Charlie company off load shake out and prepare to seek and destroy the artillery once triangulated." "Dragoon lead, Charlie actual, once we are off loaded ill have my tanks spread out and engage once we know the position, although if the enemy artillery knows whats good for them they will be already packing up and heading somewhere else." "Most likely but we have to make the attempt, if they bugger off now they will set up again and harry us continuously. Once we get air cover over head or attack VTOLs up we have to take care of this as best we can. If you bag them there will be a case of brew extra per crew." "Well now that there is beer involved, we will do our best to get off loaded and searching for them." Captain Helena Panyotopoulous or P13 as her nickname was. Rolling off the ramp, The Alacorn known as 'Hells Bells' struck out to a nearby copse of woods to give it some added light protection. The 95 ton tank churned the soil as it crossed the median of the highway and trundled into the woods, light trees cracked and splintered as the heavy tank bulldozed the hapless trees over like stalks of wheat. Another alacorn took up position a hundred meters away from Leroux's tank and the remainder of the command platoon encircled their commander. Charlie company began off loading next and spread out by platoon ready to get the triangulation of the artillery but the hail of rounds had since stopped falling as was guessed by the commanders. Watching the tanks rolling off the ramps let Andy do something as he hated waiting for the slow process of getting his battalion off of the dropper. One of the most critical and dangerous times for a tanker was the off loading process, especially in a contested landing zone or one that was under fire as so many things could happen. After an hour artillery began to fall on the landing zone once more "Artillery triangulated at grid one niner niner seven three four one." Came the weapons officer of the triumph that had carried Lerouxs battalion. "Charlie company, seek and destroy." Leroux ordered tersely, moments after the order Charlie company tore away from the landing zone in the direction of the incoming shells. Twenty minutes later the commander of Charlie reported. "Dragoon Lead, charlie actual, no artillery to be found they fired and bugged out. We will be doing this cat and mouse thing untill we get some fast movers of VTOLs up, we will be ready for the next coordinates if the shell the LZ again." "Roger that, hold position." Leroux grumbled as he thumped his fist against the tank cupola. The sky above began to cloud over and the forecast was for light rain to start in the next hour. The night air began to chill noticeably as the wind picked up and distant lightning crossed the heavens. After the next two hours his battalion was off loaded and shaken out in the all round defence of the triumph. The tankers waited for the direction of their Commanding officer. "0 this is dragoon actual, permission to detach from Lima Zulu and proceed on mission." Leroux asked. "Dragoon actual, This is 0, proceed as requested, secure objective." The female voice replied from the combat operations center aboard alpha battalions triumph. Having received the green light Leroux broadcast over the radio net "Dragoons, time to head out, Charlie take lead and head toward objective romeo 3, Bravo next in column, Alpha in rear." the two other company commanders gave their affirmatives and the manticore company took the lead then were followed by the heavy MML carriers of beta company then the alacorns of alpha followed suit. Leroux tank took up position 5 back from 3rd lance and was trailed by the remainder of the company. Each tank alternated its turret facing left and right as they proceeded forward so that the left and right flanks were covered as they advanced. Crossing into the wilderness the 3rd Dragoons tore into the soft ground as the skies sent forth a drizzle of light rain. hunkering down into the confines of his cupola Maj Leroux pulled off his goggles and looked at the scrolling map of the area, A river lay between the power plant and their current course. It showed a seasonal dry bed but knowing how intelligence was correct, he was banking on having to ford the small river. "Charlie lead send a platoon and head to the river and give me a report of how it is." "Alpha lead, copy, sending 3rd platoon." The four manticores accelerated away and made their way to the river. The remaider of the battalion travelled along a side road, their wide bodies took up most of the road and a set of headlights came around a corner. The unsuspecting farmer swerved suddenly as he was forced from the road and became stuck in the ditch. The old man and his wife looked terrified as the thirty tanks rumbled by them. Leroux saw their predicament and decided that some diplomacy applied now could be beneficial. "1st Platoon stop here, Tango two and three set up flanking protection. Driver, stop here take out the tow cable and lets get that truck out of the ditch. Be careful they are not friendlies." Leroux cautioned. Stepping down from his tank, and his gunner, Leroux crossed to the old farmer and addressed him. "evening sir, speak english?" "yes , a little." The frightened man said. "I will get your truck out of the ditch, be calm, OK?" Leroux said "Yes, we stay in truck," The gunner guided the alacorn towards the stuck truck as the ninety five ton tank slowly eased back. Giving the stop signal as he crossed his clenched fists in an X over his head as his wrists met, the tank stopped. Placing on heavy duty leather gloves the gunner and the sensor operator drew out the thickly twisted metal cable and affixed it to the tow pintle of the assault tank and to the undercarriage of the truck a few minutes later the truck was sitting on the road. "There, back on the road, Have a good nite." Maj Leroux said ashe nodded his farewell to the old farmer and his wife. The couple accelerated away quickly wanting to get as far away from the massive tanks. "Was that a good idea to get them out of the ditch Sir, I mean what if they let the capellan military know about us?" Asked the young sensor operator. "Jen, i dont think that any information that old man could give would be of much use to the Higher ups of the capellan defenses. They know a rather large force of davions is here and knowing where a tank battalion was wont really give much intel to anyone." Leroux smiled "Now get in the tank and lets be off shall we?" By the time they had mounted back up a report from Charlies detached platoon had come back. The driver relayed the information that had come in. "Hey sir, the river where we wanted to cross is much higher than anticipated. Must have had some good rain fall lately. There is an alternate fording site we can try about 10 kilometers down the road, or we can try the highway bridge." "Ok thank you sam. Let me check the map." Leroux said as he brought up the topographical map on his display screen. Grumbling slightly he didnt like the alternate fording site, nor did he like the 45 kilometer diversion to the high way and back around to head to the power plant. "Not gonna chance the fording site, Lets head for the highway and hope they havent or wont blow the bridge." Addressing the battalion he gave his new orders. "Ok dragoons, new game plan, rendez vous reference point Juliet plus 7 Kilometers west, 3 kilometers south. Once there and shaken out we will continue the advance." Switching frequencies Leroux contacted his regimental head quarters. "Zero this is Beta 2 lead, primary fording point impassable, going to take main route to objective. River is much higher that int proposed." "Understood, take main route to objective, what is your new eta?" "New ETA will be 0620 hrs with no interuptions." Leroux said as he exhaled loudly of the radio net 'If things can go wrong they usually do.' he thought to himself. "Give updates each hour." the head quarters operator said. "Updates each hour confirmed. Beta lead out." Leroux said. The battalion arrived at the rendez vous point and set out on the high way and set out at top speed of the alacorns, the drive trains brought the assault tanks up to fifty four kilometers per hour. heading to the wide expanse of the highway bridge, the armour column slowed down as they approached the bridge. "Charlie send your 1st platoon over, secure western side and the remainder of the battalion will follow." "Sending platoon over now." Four manticores lurched forward and sped across the kilometer long spanse, arriving on the other end they quickly spread out and took up defensive positions. Signaling the securing of the opposite end of the highway the battalion crossed at best speed and continued on towards the power plant. Cresting a hill that overlooked the objective Lerouxs company took position of over watch. "Bravo company as planned take right flank, Charlie take left, Alpha will support from here. Once objective is secure, we will spread out plus 300 meters. "0 This is Beta lead, in position, no opposition pressing forward." Leroux reported. Charlie company moved forward along with beta company. The quiet morning erupted in a fusilade of support weapons from the power plant fortifications. Lrm Batteries lobbed their missiles at the advancing Lancer tanks. The Heavy MML carriers belched a full barrage of LRMs at the offending turrets, raining almost four and a half score of missiles. The Contrails of the missiles filled the space between the slowly moving tanks and the turrets. Explosions rocked the light fortifications, three turrets erupted in flames and shrapnel in the first exchange. Light PPC and lasers shot forth from the emplacements as the infantry that was entrenched fired their support weapons at the attacking Lancers. The manticores struck back aggressively, concentrating their fire of PPCs and LRM 10s at the fortified Capellan defenders. Ferro-crete erupted and crumpled as each manticore platoon fired as one at each designated target. The closest enemy positions disintegrated as the heavy return fire struck true, silencing the gun crews in each bunker. "Dragoons press hard, rout them out." Maj Leroux said as he heard a warning tone blare in his earpiece. Attack VTOLs sprung up from behind the power plant and the warriors lobbed in LRMs into his advancing formation. "Alpha, engage the air assets." His command company was quick to react, the assault tanks traversed their turrets and sent silvery death into the lightly armoured hides of the fragile choppers. Almost as soon as they appeared the ruined wrecks of 6 warriors dropped from the sky, crashing into the ground. Seeing the telling firepower strike down their air cover the defenders were quick to surrender. Leroux and his tankers were forced to have a crew member per tank dismount and act as security for the under strength company of soldiers that they had now under their care. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary St Loris 1 June 3099 Landing Zone Whiskey 1 0400 Hrs Infantry Laser : Pte Melony Henzelt 4th Crucis Lancers, 17th Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion, 1st Company Objective : 17th Militia Regiment The drop ships boarding ramps dropped to the ground opening up the seeker to the fresh morning air of St. Loris. The lightly armoured infantry of the 17th Infantry regiment, 1st battalion began disembarking from the seeker aboard their Maxims. The powerful lift fans sending dust and debris swirling around the expansive cargo hold. The crew members of the seeker wore goggles and scarves to protect their faces from the howling maelstrom of turbulent air. Sitting in a cargo net seat, Private 3rd class Melony Henzelt felt the maxim lift from the deck plates of the seeker and glide out the bay and down the main ramp. Chewing her gum slowly she looked lazily around at her platoon, the older soldiers were just as calm as she was as this was her third campaign she was embarking upon and being in her mid thirties she was accustomed to conflict and had joined the 4th Crucis lancers when she was eighteen. Many in her platoon had started calling her mom as she was older than even the squad leaders and the platoon commander. Her Mauser Mk III laser assault rifle was secured between her legs and she felt the lurch of the Maxim as it came off the ramp. The fifty ton armoured personnel carrier began moving away from the seeker followed by others of the 1st battalion. Other droppers were disgorging the remainder of the regiment. from their interiors. Leaning back in her cargo net seat she closed her eyes and began drifting off as she knew like most veteran soldiers the old axiom 'If in Doubt, Rack out.' and she also knew as soon as the cargo ramp opened and the shit hit the fan she didnt know when she would be back asleep. The lift fans of the maxim howled louder as power was applied and the APC sped off towards the 17ths objectives. A series of aggriculture complexes and a maglev terminus yard had been tagged as their primary focus on the landing. Not a glorious or riveting target by any means but Melony figured it didnt really matter where you went a targets a target and an enemy was dangerous no matter where you were. The platoon commander did a radio check and announced that they would be dismounting in five minutes. The time seemed to drag out and then the APC slowed rapidly, with that cue, Melony cast off her seat restraints and tightened up her chin strap. Snapping open her eyes she saw the dull red of the interior lights dim slightly and a green light near the ramp flashed green. The ramp dropped and struck the ground, the Squad commanders bellowed at their troops to dismount. Her squad dashed out and to the right of the APC the other squads disembarked to the right. Squinting at the swirling dust cloud she chastized herself for not putting her protective goggles over her eyes. 'Noob mistake' she spat. "Delta squad on me." Came the deep booming voice of her squad sgt as he jogged away from the Maxim. A PPC lashed out and struck the man aside, his crumpled burnt frame dropped to the ground. A crack of a gauss round streaked out from a hidden emplacement striking the side of the maxim, a full ton of armour shattered at the impact and the machine spun about and struck some of her platoon comrades sending the hurling up and away from the machine. Landing many meters away they did not move and she assumed the worst for them. Light Machine gun fire erupted from other positions and she dove for cover. Delta Sgt is down im taking the lead." Melony said as she spat out her gum that had become gritty with the dirt in her mouth. "Assault group one with me cover assault group two. Assault group two prepare to take that machine gun nest. Mariotti, i want you to use your VLAW against that nest when we start peppering it." "Got it Henzelt." Mariotti said as she began taking her VLAW off her back and discarded the protective caps and armed the rocket. Looking over at the young private, Melony nodded as they met eye contact. Assault group one, Engage that machine gun. The four man team minus mariotti broke cover and began firing shots at the machine gun crew. The night lit up as machine gun tracers struck out into the battalion lines as they tried to close with and destroy the determined enemy infantry. Mariotti kneeled from her position and took a quick bead, took a deep breath and exhaled slightly and depressed her rockets firing stud. The anti tank weapon shot out and slammed into the machine gun crew position exploding, silencing the gun and killing the crew. "Assault group two, go now!" Pte Henzelt barked angrily. The three man team dashed forward and stormed the machine gun position making sure it was neutralized with extreme prejudice. They sent in a fusilade of laser bolts into the prone forms of the position. "Position Clear." Came the report form Pte Ortega. "Delta, move forward into position." the remaining four members of Delta sprang forward and dove into the sandbagged position, another Machine Gun began firing at them as they dropped to the ground, A scream rang out and Ortega spun away from the sandbags clutching her shoulder. "Mariotti, see to ortega." Taking the machine gun Henzelt looked it over and saw that it was undamaged, she took out the used belt and slammed in a fresh 200 round belt. Cocking the action she brought it in line with the next machine gun position and began opening up with moderate 10 round bursts. Another Machine gun opened up and rounds struck the sand bags causing Henzelt to dive back down into cover. "Fuk, pinned here." she cursed. The Maxim they had been riding had pulled back and was searching out targets to engage. She radioed the commander. Tango 1 niner 3, we need support, we are 300 meters to your front at your 2 oclock we have two machine gun positions engaging us, pinned down." A long pause filled the air wave as a lrm volley struck out from their maxim into an enemy galleon. "Roger India one three delta. We see them, give us a few, have enemy tangos inbound will support once free, sit tight keep your heads down." The apc commander replied rapidly. Another LRM volley rippled from the Maxims launcher and arced into the light armour of the enemy galleon sending the small tank back into cover to escape the long range fire from the infantry carrier. A volley of short range missiles blossomed out of the watcher of the maximum plowing into the enemy machine gun position. Bringing their three machine guns to bear on to the machine gun nest the Maxim got her fired a long bursts from each of the machine guns. Rounds erupted all around the Capellan crew, many finding their target. The enemy gun emplacement fell silent. ANother SRM volley along with a healthy dose of light calibre machine gun struck true upon the second enemy nest. Having knocked out the harrassing machine gun nests the Maxim quickly returned its full attention onto the galleon tank that had exposed itself once more and received a LRM barrage for being cheeky. "Ok the maxims done what we need it to do, so lets get off our butts and press forward, the maglev depot wont just fall into our hands." Henzelt said as she replaced her power clip with another one. Standing up cautiously the squad moved forward and deeper into the rail yards. Checking the undercarriages of the parked cars, her team lead the platoon through a sweep as they linked up and made their way to the main terminal and repair yard. Trailing behind the platoon was their maxim Its turret and sensors slowly traversing left and right. "Keep chill out here, there's got to be more cappies." And almost on cue a grenade launcher coughed a series of three grenades at the advancing line of davions, followed by a light machine gun chattering as it rained rounds into the maglev cars. Diving under the rows of parked maglev trains private Henzelt and her comrades rolled away from the incoming fire. The trailing maximum fired and SRM barrage along with its machine guns in an attempt to take out the machine gun nest. A support PPC lashed out in response striking the front Armour of the hover vehicle, as the 17th advanced into fighting positions against the heavier concentration of enemy infantry, the support of the maxims came more into play. LRM's were lobbed into the terminal station to cover the infantry that was slowly crawling forward. Heavy footfalls shook the ground slightly as something large loomed behind the maglev cars. "Shit, mech, everyone stay where you are."Henzelt barked out. "HQ this is India One three delta, we have a mech here, class unknown, i hear it advancing towards us." She reported and paused as her stomach jumped into her throat as a pair of here on Warriors stepped out of the darkness. Their wide sensor array looking like a terran north american native head dress. The two 50 ton battle mechs fired their Gauss and extended range large laser at the Maxim that was supporting their platoon. Unfortunately for the Maxim crew the combined firepower of the two Goss rifle's and large lasers tour through the front Armour and ignited the remaining SRM and LRM ammunition bins. The maxim spun into a maglev train and ignited the cargo within. With fire illuminating behind them the infantry was silhouetted in front of the Capellans. "HQ we have 2 Huron warriors, they just took out Tango one niner three. Need some kind of heavier support here." Henzelt said as a cold sweat covered her. "Platoon HQ, what are your orders, these are big boys for us to tangle with." "Hold position delta we are bringing in the support platoon." The platoon commander said as she switched frequencies to get higher HQ support allotted." "Roger that, we arent going anywhere." Henzelt said as she gritted her teeth. As more small arms fire erupted around her position, she thought small thoughts to keep herself small and keep herself behind the maglev rail and the incoming fire as best as possible. A rounds tore into her bulletproof vest on her upper shoulder. She let out a yell of pain as the rounds kinetic energy dispersed along her left shoulder. She felt her left hand go numb from the shock of the impact. "Fak." She bellowed, she was getting pissed off at being pinned down and unable to return fire for fear of rousing the anger of the mechs. The next few minutes drew out to what seemed like eternity as the mechs engaged the other maxims that were rapidly withdrawing to get distance between the long-range weapons of the mechs, and the much shorter weapon loadout that the maxims carried. "third platoon, listen up, we have support inbound, delta pop a flare in one mike, that will show that fast movers your position." "Yeah and show that damn mechs where i am dammit." Henzelt spat in disgust "Stow it. Pop flare in thirty seconds, got that." "Got it." Henzelt said as she prepared her smoke and flare, uncapping the flare end she counted down the next 30 seconds inhaled deeply exhaled slowly and through the flare as hard and far she could. The flare bounced along the open Avenue between the maglev trains and fell about 50 meters short of the lead Huron warrior. Seconds later all hell erupted around the Huron warriors, as double cracks above her echoed through the maglev train yard. Two supersonic gauss rounds from improved heavy gauss rifles from a pair of newer deathstalkers struck the huron warriors. The lead mech was head capped killing the pilot instantly, while the second struck the left leg of the rear mech, shearing it off at the hip. Having the two mechs suddenly removed from the equation allowed Melony to swallow her stomach. "Well, that will work." She said to herself. "Ok delta lets get the money made, time to get the rest of these rats taken care of." Lining up her rifle with the head of an enemy capellan she pulled the trigger and the head snapped back and the lifeless form of the trooper fell to the ground. She could hear the increase in weapons fire as the remainder of her battalion drove forward and swept aside the remainder of the defences over the next half hour. When the last capellan fell the adrenaline she had quickly drained leaving her tired, and the pain in her shoulder throbbed angrily. A medic looked after her and determined that nothing was broken but she had a bad bruise that would linger for a few weeks. Pulling out some beef jerky from a pouch she sat and chewed on a strand and watched her squad mates sitting and gabbing to one another. "Henzelt!" her platoon commander bellowed as she came into the squad lines. Standing up slowly Henzelt nodded her reply. "Ma'am" "Since the Squad sgt was killed, you will be getting your old rank back. maybe this time you will be able to keep it more than a few months before doing something that makes me take it away again, for what the fourth time?" "Sixth ma'am, what can i say, i dont learn." Henzelt said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Well you have your Sgt Rank back whether you want it or not. effective immediately." "Youre the boss Ma'am." Henzelt said as she caught the sgt rank the Leftenant threw to her. Her squad mates congratulated her to getting her rank back. and continued on exchanging barbs at one another. Sitting back down Sgt Henzelt felt older than she had in a long time. The shoulder injury throbbed and she wondered what she was doing on St Loris Momentarily and shook her head slowly. 'Beats being in the streets back home.' she muttered to herself. Having come from the ghetto all she had to look forward in that old life was being a drug addict, or a prostitute. Here she could make a living and be her own woman. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 1 June 3099 Landing Zone Whiskey 1 0400 Hrs VTOL Yellow Jacket : Capt. Fiona Ryder 4th Crucis Lancers, 24th Armour Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Squadron Objective : Support armour Rail yards Riding drop ship down, the main armour forces had started to deploy from their droppers and into their holding areas at the landing zone's. Next came the support forces such as the artillery and attack VTOLs. It had been in agonizing long few hours waiting for her Yellowjackets to be offloaded and prepped by the technicians. Although her squadron of attack choppers was a secondary priority to offload against the high priority of the Battle Mech forces and the heavy armour along with the supporting infantry, her choppers were needed in the support role to gain the objective that her heavier cousins, the armoured core had been assigned. Looking over at the displays that indicated her engine status power systems Armour diagram among a multitude of secondary systems, Capt. Fiona Ryder was finally ready to get her yellow jacket airborne and into the fray to support the armoured battalions that were now on their way to their intended targets. Painted on the fuselage of her 30 ton machine, emblazoned in a bright yellow font the word redemption was painted above her name and her copilot's. Placing her helmet over her head she did a radio check with her command net and asked for permission from the ground controller aboard the seeker drop ship for permission to get aloft and in support of the ground forces that were now rapidly advancing towards the Capellan Rail Repair yard and primary control command center for the continental switching system. "Wasp Den this is Dragon flight of six, permission to take off and head towards holding area?" "Dragon flight permission to take off and get to your holding location, good hunting." "Okay you heard wasp den's permission lets get underway Dragon three and four take left flank and trail 600 meters Dragon five and six take right flank and trail 300 meters, I along with Dragon to will take up the centre." Fiona ordered as pulled lightly back on her collective bringing the 30 ton machine briskly into the air. Following the lead of their commander the other five Yellowjackets quickly came into line and took their positions as directed by their squadron commander. The six attack VTOLs sped away to their holding area in anticipation for supporting the ground forces against little Richards Panzer brigade, which had predominantly armoured vehicles as their main forces. Intel had briefed that there were multiple smaller Garrison units on worlds, the exact composition nature and location was unknown, but advanced recon forces had discovered a multitude of undisclosed home defence units that had sprung up in the last eight months that augmented the usual planetary Garrison. The formation of yellow jackets fanned out into a wide formation that spread across a kilometre of airspace in anticipation of being dispatched into the main conflict that was just beginning. Looking at her sensors Fiona saw the blue icons of the ground forces as small squares that began moving forward and engaging red squares that represented the enemy forces. Every so often she saw blue triangles that represented fast movers that were circling high above as combat air patrol raid to come in and drop their heavy ordinance. Switching frequencies she dialled in the ground control command net and listened in on the radio chatter that was fairly active as the 4th Crucis Lancers 2nd armour regiment drove forward and began tearing into the enemy defences. Heavy resistance from the little Richards Panzer brigade began to bog down the advance as the determined Capellans refused to capitulate or give a much ground as the heavier Armour of the fourth pounded their positions. Hearing a fire support mission come in over the radio Fiona took in the grid coordinates of the company that was requesting support and noticed that they were less than 3 km away from her squadron's current location "HQ this is Delta actual, request fire support, and engaging reinforce lance of heavy battle mechs, unable to press forward have two tangos destroyed third immobilized. Taking heavy damage." "Roger that Delta actual fire mission unable to be directed your way at this time, air assets will be dispatched and support you eta five mikes." "Air boss this is Dragon flight of six permission to head in and support Delta and grid coordinates one seven six Niner two Niner Niner three?" Fiona broke in to expedite the dispatch of her VTOLs. A few moments passed before the Air boss replied as he checked his screen showing where his air assets were located "that's affirmative you are free to support weapons free seek and destroy air boss out." "Dragon flight with me time to get in with the bulrushes and engage unexpected battle mechs. Move out." Fiona said as she dipped down the nose of her attack chopper and quickly brought her machine to flank speed. Crossing the advance line where the Armour forces were engaging, her flight of six quickly ate up the intervening kilometres and were soon upon the intense firefight that was occurring below. Any battle mechs and are showed up on her display, a duo of warhammers along with a pair or archers, a thunder and a Griffin were harassing the schrek and demolisher company. "Dragon three and four break left and engage the closest Warhammer, Dragon five and six break right and engage the closest archer, I want them hit hard and often." Fiona said as she began targeting the second Warhammer. Her reticle flashed golden as her Gauss rifle made a solid lock on the 70 ton Mech. Depressing her weapons toggle a silvery dart shot out at hyper velocity towards the Warhammer below. The 125 kg shot connected with supersonic speed and transferred the kinetic energy into the upper right torso of the heavy battle Mech. A ton of Armour instantly became pulverized as the energies transferred into the composite armour. Her wing man locked onto the same Warhammer and unleashed its own devastating kinetic energy but struck the left leg were another ton of Armour was quickly shed. The other four gunships of her flight struck through and engaged the first Warhammer and archer as designated by their squadron commander. Six tons of Armour had in rapid succession been stripped from the first three battle mechs. Not wanting to be targets of returned fire the yellowjacket pilots manoeuvred their gunships to break any target locks and to make it harder for return fire to be directed at them. Her weapon showed a constant green indicating that her weapons capacitor was recharged and that another slot was ready to be dispatched at her target. Dressing the trigger on her joystick once more another silvery dart leapt forward and into the Warhammer, this time it struck the Centre torso, her wing mate sent another gauss round into the same leg as the first round, this time internals were struck and the hip of the 70 ton war machine locked up causing the machine to lose its balance and the Mech warrior and machine went crashing to the ground, taking it out of the fights as it left line of sight as it fell below the light buildings it was in between. Her second flight engage the primary Warhammer and had scored a head hits on it. The headless Mech stood upright amongst the light buildings, the double flights of yellow jackets turned their attention on the second archer and began sending silver darts towards it. Third flight had kept pumping rounds into their archer and had struck through the left torso and into the ammunition bay. The LRM 20 ammunition had cascaded into a bright fireworks display as the missiles detonated inside the battle Mech tearing it apart as the mechs spun in an uncontrolled pirouette and went crashing to the ground. The loss of the Warhammer's and archers, made the thunder and Griffin pilots decide that it was best to leave that battlefield and withdrew from the conflict and into the heavier buildings of the rail yards to escape the accurate fire of the yellow jackets. With the pressure taken off of them the tank company was able to press forward and engage the downed Warhammer and the unsupported archer. A pair of demolishers struck the downed Warhammer with double strikes of Auto cannon 20 rounds that struck deep into the already damaged right torso and found their way to destroy a the battle mechs internal Gyro and engine shielding shutting down the fusion reactor. The second archer was quick to be dispatched by a salvos of particle projection cannons from the Schreck's, and the telling fire power of the yellow jackets gauss rounds. "Dragon flight this is delta actual, thanks for the assist, you got our fat out of the fire. We owe you a beer." "Sounds good Delta, we will have one on down time, good luck and keep the cappies working." Fiona said as she brought her dragon flight away from the rail yard waiting for the next mission which was not long in coming. Fiona heard a call for support from a light armour company facing a heavier armour unit. The call came in and she and her Dragon flight were quickly dispatched to when support to the light Galleon company that had been cut off from supports when a rich they had used to traverse a small river had collapsed after they had moved into position, but were unable to be supported by heavier forces that were stuck on the other side of the river. Hunkering down as best they could the Galleon company engaged as best they could but were relying more on keeping out of the fight and waiting out the heavier Capellan unit so that supporting forces could be brought to bear, which happened to be Dragon flight. The enemy blips on her sensors showed red as she and her flight closed the distance between their current location and the Galleon company in distress. "Looks to be mostly manticores for the most part and a few pattons thrown in. Lets get back to work, we can only loiter for another thirty minutes." "Foxtrot company this is Dragon flight of six in support of your location, keep hunkered down and we will engage." Fiona Ryder said as she contacted the company letting them know they were in position. "Okay boys and girls let's light up these bastards, weapons free engage at will, fire and move." Fiona said as she searched for a target, this time the enemy forces would be much harder to detect and engage as they were below the building rooftops and were not two-story targets easily to distinguish between smaller buildings and the Mech. Shifting her Yellow jacket as she searched for targets her copilot notified the headquarters of their current fuel situation stating that the flights of six yellow jackets would only be able to stay on station for another 30 minutes before having to head back to base and refuel and rearm. Deciding to get closer to the enemy Armour so that her sensors to get a better lock Fiona brought her machine closer to the town and was rewarded with a solid lock on a Rommel tank. Bringing her gauss rifle to bear, the targeting reticle flash gold and she sent a ball of nickel ferrous into the upper turrets of the 65 ton tank. The round sheared off and ruined the LRM five launcher taking out the long range weapon system that the patton had, although not neutered by any means it's firepower was reduced in range to the auto cannon 10 it boasted. The enemy tank began to reverse rapidly as it tried to disengage from the yellow jacket that had found its location. Sending another silvery dart into the turret where the first gauss round had struck, Fiona was rewarded with the turret being penetrated and the slog she had fired towards into the delicate innards of the 65 ton tank silencing it from the battlefield. "One down, 11 more to go." Fiona said as she felt the rush of battle and adrenaline and to her blood stream again. Fionas second flight concentrated their firepower on an exposed manticore, two rounds each from the flight toward into the Armour of the 60 ton tank, and penetrated the engine and fuel tank. The kinetic energy sparked off the fuel from the tank and the armoured vehicle erupted in a spectacular show of flames. Third flight engaged another Patton and pounded the 65 ton tank with their gauss rounds sending it to a fiery death as well as the internal ammunition cooked off. The gunships kept striking their targets with telling accuracy, but were soon out of ammo but 7 tanks lay dead and burning brightly as the fuel tanks and ammunition bins cooked off sending oily smoke plumes skyward. The remaining tanks sped away into heavier cover to escape the deadly banshees circling overhead. "Okay foxtrot company seems that your headache has decided to pack it up and bug out, we are almost at bingo fuel and we have expended all our ammunition and need to return to refuel and rearm, we will be back on station as soon as we can to make sure that they do not return or bring any reinforcements to weed you out of your current positions." "Thanks Dragon flight we owe you one." The company commander said with gratitude in his voice. "Can thank us on our down time." Fiona said as she brought her chopper around. "Dragon flight time to head back was get some juice and re-bomb up and then we can get back on station and await any other tasks that are given to us." Fiona said as she directed her flight to head back to base. Getting back to the improvised landing pads that had set up outside of their seeker drop ship these six ship flights landed and were quickly attended to by their ground crew. Refuelling lines from the seeker fuel bunkers had been laid out's and were attached quickly to the shut down yellow jackets as technicians began and quick after flight check and weapons crews began putting gauss rifle rounds back into the magazines. Less than 30 minutes from landing the six gunships were ready to go back on station. Watching once again the six ships made their way back to a holding pattern and awaited their next missions to support the Lancers armour contingent. Looking over at her copilot "Stan whats up with the fuel sensor?" "Don't know Fiona just popped on now, probably a fuel sensor is a bit shoddy, I know that we took on a full fuel load, but the fuel sensor is not tracking what we are using. We can have one of the other choppers set up a bingo setting and let us know when it is time to head back. I know that's not a standard procedure and we should be calling in a return to base, but with all the action that's going on right now I think they would give us a get out of jail free card." Stan said as he smiled cheekily "Sounds good to me, all have Dragon to keep an eye on the fuel for us and give us a heads up 10 minutes before we hit bingo." Fiona said as she then contacted Dragon two and gave them the direction of what she wanted to happen. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector .. Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger Mercenary Unit St Loris 1 June 3099 Drop Zone Juliet 1 0400 Hrs Battle Armour: Cpl Heather Locke Black Wolf Rangers Mercenary Unit, 1st Ranger Battle Armour Battalion, 3rd Company Objective : Star Port Inside the dimly lit cargo space that held their battle armour, the 1st Ranger Battle armour battalion stood waiting for their time to make their high altitude drop. The rear ramp of the gazelle had dropped and was not locked in place due to faulty hydraulics. Irijat company was first on the deck tpo jump from the ramp. the atmosphere was thin this high up and their onboard oxygen would allow the company of infiltrator MK II's to descend and then use the air outside. Cpl Heather Locke was ready and eager to get into the fray, having been cooped up to long on the journey from Cimeron she wanted off the drop ship and to be back on the ground. Engaging Capellans was a special added bonus as she had been in an internment camp when she was much younger and liberated by the black wolf rangers. When she was old enough she had stowed away on a traders drop ship and headed to Cimeron to join the Warrior that had saved her and her family. To her James Black was an idol and she had devoted herself to becoming a Ranger in the attempt to get closer to her saviour. ALthough not with his security detail as she had so desperately tried to attain, her trainers had discovered her deep passion and devotion to Lupus Primus and felt it was not healthy for her to be part of his personal body guard, however she had found a few others in her battalion that over the years had found their way to Cimeron to become warriors under The Lupus Primus. The red light at the ramp door flashed slowly giving the indication of the five minutes out till their jump point. "Okay Irijats look sharp, don't want you guys screw this up. Almost time to make the bacon.: Their company commander said in his gruff seemingly angry tone. Although a fairly jovial individual many who did not know him thought him cold, disconnected and angry. A true bear. The red light flashed yellow giving the one minute out and Locke scanned the oranges and reds of the upper atmosphere as the sun graced the upper ionosphere. The infiltrators would be first out and glide to their positions at the star port followed by the assault clad troopers with their Grenadiers and Hauberks. The light flicked a rapid pulsing green and the lead troopers leapt out and into the thin air. Making her leap Heather felt the freedom from the dropship wash over her almost cleansing her of the taint that she felt had covered her after many months cooped up on the droppper. Free now to do what she was trained to do her adrenaline began pumping as the rush of free fall overtook her senses . As they company descended below the curvature of the planet, it became darker and darker over the minutes. Maintaining radio silence, the members of 3rd company descended rapidly and deployed their partial airfoils to slow their descent, they did not want to use their jump jets to alert the defenders below, although ready for the arrival of the Davion invasion force, they would not be ready for the arrival of stealth clad battle suits and then engaged by the ferocity of the 1st Rangers all who were trained extensively for close quarter combat in urban settings. The star port lights could be seen not far below her now and she looked at her altimeter and prepared to flare her parafoil to slow down and then use a limited amount of her jump jets just before landing. She had decided to take a bold approach to where she would land, Turning on her night vision she scanned around the star port and saw what she wanted, a support turret. 'That looks like a tasty treat.' she spoke to herself. Adjusting her descent she brought herself in line with the blocky missile turret and corrected her parafoil to bring her atop of the reinforced tower. It loomed larger and larger as she approached it quickly and then she engaged her jump jets and flared the para foil, she arc'd up suddenly and then dropped a few feet to the ferro crete roof. A guard looked at her with wide eyes and fumbled with her weapon. Heather stepped forward a step and shot her fist o the, the woman crumpled to the ground, dead or unconscious, she did not care. she stepped over the fallen form and proceeded to go about her business. Pulling out a satchel charge from her hip compartment, heather affixed it to the door that led into the tower set the timer and yanked on the pull cord and stepped back around the corner and waited. Counting quietly the satchel detonated five seconds after the cord was pulled. A loud bang and flash erupted blowing the heavy metal door into the building. Stepping forward she entered into the tower and was greeted by two guards coughing and trying to regain their senses after the sudden explosion. Not wasting any time she leveled her mag shot and pumped a round into each soldier, dropping them in quick succession. Scanning the room she looked for others that would be there and began looking for the control and gunnery room, leaving the small room she entered the hallway and was greeted by a hail of SMG fire. Her armour held against the small arms fire but would only be able to withstand so much and her protection did have weak spots and lucky errant shots could quickly effect her. Pulling out a grenade from a bandolier, she stripped the pin and tossed the frag grenade towards the small group of soldiers. The spherical grenade rolled to the feet of the three men and detonated causing them to be thrown back with torn flesh and agonized screams echoing the halls. She stepped out of cover and sent rounds into the injured figures silencing them and ending their pain. A warning klaxon sprung to life as the support towers lights dimmed red. A crackle through her communications network alerted her to her comrades calling for her situation. "Romeo one seven, report status." the concerned voice came over her radio, she recognized it as her platoon commander. "Quebec one this is romeo one seven, im inside the turret complex Halo 3." Heather said as she kept moving forward. A few moments later she heard the broadcast again. "Romeo one seven nothing heard. If you can hear me move to rendez vous point victor 2." Swearing silently Locke realized that her communications were down. 'Well im inside now, may as well finish what i was doing.' proceeding with her plan she continued into the small complex and made her way deeper into the bunker system and engaged another couple guards. This time they laid down a long continuous fusilade of smalls arms with their smg and light machine gun. Concrete chips exploded from the impact of the continuous fire. Stepping aroundfrom the cover of the ferro crete she fired her SMG with long bursts to force the soldiers to find cover. Before they dove around one spun around and let loose a long burst of his sternsnact pistol. One of the heavy calibre rounds tore through her protective armour and dug deeply into the flesh of her right shoulder. Immediatey the battesuit administered pain relievers and adrenaline into her system. Her senses heightened at the initial pain and then the quick infusion of the adrenaline. She thought she could see better, hear more accurately and the smell of her metallic suit filled her nostrils. She emptied her SMG magazine and dropped the one that had injured her. Breaking into a run she let her battle lust wash over her and she rammed her suit into the other soldier that stepped out from behind the corner, Crushing his torso blood filled his mouth and he gasped as his lungs collapsed and caused him to black out. Ignoring the dying form she continued on. Rounding a corner she saw the control room and heard the voices of technicians within. A heavy door shut and cut her off from the control room. Her second and last satchel was quickly retrieved and affixed to the door. Pulling the det cord she backed away an as soon as the charge detonated she dashed around the corner and leaned into the shoulder check she used to force the buckled door inwards and out of her way. She dropped her last two grenades and back out into the hallway, she stormed into the room as soon as the grenades cooked off, shredding the occupants. She dropped each of the technicians in quick succession and she felt slightly faint as she realized her suit had administered another adrenaline shot and three more breaches on her suits armour registered on her wire diagram on her heads up display. "Well shit, this day just keeps getting better" Slamming her fists into the control console the automatic targeting and fire control of the battery of LRM launchers fizzled and cracked as an electrical fire sparked across the displays and controls. Stepping away from the controls she felt a small wave of nausea pass over her. 'Guess im hit worse than i thought.' staggering slightly locke walked unsteadily from the control room and towards the ground floor entrance. The heavy doors were locked and she had no more explosives. She turned around and began looking for a radio to communicate with her platoon commander of another Ranger platoon if possible. Looking around all she found was the ruined control room that she had just made inoperable. 'Figures id destroy the radio as well.' Climbing up the few flights of stairs she made her way back to the roof top and scanned the star port for what was going on. Radio chatter filled her ears about her squad and platoon advancing and engaging other bunker and defensive positions. Engaging her jump jets she roared skyward and towards the rendez vous point. Landing clumsily her vision blurred momentarily as a sharp pain shot up from her left leg. A grenadier walked past and saw her, tapping her shoulder the trooper brought her lighter battle suit around to face him. Engaging his external speakers he spoke "Are you ok Locke?" using her own external speakers she replied "Ive been hit a few times, radio is not transmitting. I took out that turret complex a few minutes ago." "Ballsy, do it yourself did you?" Came the gruff reply "Yeah, i may have bit off a bit more than i should have but it seemed like a good idea at the time until i relized i lost my radio and no one knew where i was." "Maybe a bit reckless, but yourwe still alive, so all good. Your platoon has advanced forward and ill make sure they know you are ok." The assault trooper said as he radioed Locke's condition and position. "OK heres the deal, you are to stay here i will wait till your medic arrives, cant have you passing out and going off grid on us now can we?" "I just need to sit and rest, im getting tired." "The shock and injuries are catching up with you, im not going to let you drift off, sorry but im gonna be a pest till the medics get here and stabilize you." "Well not sure if you can keep me awake I...." Locke said as she felt the darkness swell around her and then nothing. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Viper ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack Commanding Officer 1st Battle Armour Battalion Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit stop with jobs St Loris 5 June 3099 Battlemech repair Yard 4th Crucis Lancers, 2nd Mech Battalion 3rd company Mech Warrior : Lt. Samuel Goodale 0900 Hrs Limping his wolfhound back into the main repair yard, Lt Goodale brought his 35 ton mech into the repair cradle and waited for the techs to signal for him to shut down after they attached the heavy locking beams into place that allowed them to traverse the mech without fear of it toppling over as the musculature relaxed after the engine shut down. Much like a mech bay on a drop ship, the repair gantry would keep the mech immobilized and secure while any and all maintenance was carried out. A tech signaled for Samuel to shut down his mech he had nic named 'Zeke' going through the shutdown procedure the young lieutenant began shutting down the secondary systems and then the primary systems and finally shut down the fusion engine. The cockpit now lifeless began to warm up a little bit as the air system cut off and the coolant stopped its heat exchanging process. Pulling off his near her helmet he started back behind his ejection seat in the helmet stowage bay. Unclipping his five point harness he pulled his tired frame out of the cockpit and undogged the rear hatch lock mechanism and pushed to engage the pneumatic arms that would swing the hatch outwards and away and allow him and exit. Squeezing through the narrow hatch he pulled his tall lanky frame out of the cramped cockpit standing in place he arched his back and stretched out some kinks that had formed over the long hours being cooped up in the light Mech. Closing his eyes he looked up towards the sun that was high above he felt the warmth of the rays caress his clammy skin. Inhaling deeply he relished in the fresh country air, with the sweet aroma of the surrounding meadows and rolling hills of the numerous pastures that local bovines were grazing upon. The sights and sounds of the country brought him back to his home world where he had grown up as a farm hand. The long hours of milking multitudes of cows over the years had given him a good respect for anything off of his home world. He had joined the Federated Suns Armed Forces and had gladly taken his leave from the long hours and hardship of working the farm. He did miss the outdoors and freedom of the countryside but he also enjoyed the aspect of his martial training and the ability to utilize his wolfhound to enforce the sovereignty of his nation. Having arrived on St. Loris less than a week prior he had been continuously out on patrol and participated in the odd raid. Most of the capellan defenders had gone to ground and had withdrawn from the frontlines that the 4th Crucis Lancers had speculated they would stand fast. However their way of defence was to make the offense of the invaders turn into a defence of their objectives which allowed them to conduct lightning strikes that harried the Davion invaders to no end. Samuel had been engaged almost daily since his arrival to St Loris and the constant harrassing of the regular Capellan Military as well as the irregular militias that seemed to spring up from every nook and cranny. His mech had needed almost daily repairs as fire bombs, molotav cocktails and fast moving mechs or weapons carriers struck without notice. A tech came over to Samuel and cleared her throat. "Morning Sir how are you, hows 'Zeke' doing?" she asked as she took out her data slate and readied to write down the issues from his debrief. Samuel took a handkerchief from the back pocket of his combat shorts and took a canteen from his hip pocket and doused it and then applied to the back of his that to cool off and wipe away the dirt and grime that had accumulated from his six hours in the seat of the wolfhound. "Well the Mech is handling not too bad right now considering the damage that it had yesterday, the left hip still seems a bit wonky in the Mech has a bit of a shudder when running at full speed, so that creates a bit of a targeting issue when trying to bring my weapons to bear at a high speed moving target. The left arm actuator is a bit stiff and needs to be looked at, unless I am going hand-to-hand should not be an issue." "How is the weapon shielding on the light particle cannon?" Samantha asked. "Not too bad actually running a lot cooler with the new shielding on it, much better than two days ago with rapid firing and recharge of the weapons coils. Still running slightly hot but it's tolerable as long as I'm not running and repeatedly firing it." Samuel replied and continued "likely I've only lost some Armour during some sniping action that my lance was going up against. The light calibre auto cannons only engaged us a couple times but we were unable to do much as the hover carriers that were used against us were fair bit faster and before we can close with them they had buggered off." "I can see some of the hits that you received, they don't look too bad we can put in some hardened filler without having to replace the Armour plating, which will reduce the amount of time that your Mech will be down, I would like to look at that hip actuator before you had back out. When is your next mission?" Samantha asked as she tapped at her data slate with an electronic stylus. "I'm back out again tomorrow to head into the foothills and do a fighting patrol in force with the rest of the company, we've had some leads that there are some the regulators hiding out there with some local caves that are being utilized as makeshift repair areas and storage facilities, there might be some substantial amount of stockpiles of ammunition and parts for their mechs that we want to ensure that we take away from them if they are indeed up there." Samuel said as he yawned lightly "Sorry about that, been a long last few days. long hours of intel reports and planning and the rocket attacks on the base." "Oh no need to worry about that sir I understand fully about being tired these cappies are not pulling any stops in their harassing of us. Although cant fault them for that tactic." Samantha chuckled lightly. "I believe that we would do the exact same if the roles were changed don't you think?" "Oh I know that for sure I would be doing all I could to be making our lives a pure hell if the roles were reversed like you said. But it is our job to make sure that they pay for every inch of ground that they have given up, kind of sounds weird me saying it that way as it would usually be we have to make them pay for every inch that they are trying to defend but they have turned the tables on a somewhat by making us the defenders when we were the invaders to begin with. Makes us have to draw out our forces to protect so many positions and key installations. If we could engage them in a few telling battles knock out their main battlemech and Armour forces we would be much further along. And thats all we can hope for is for them to make a mistake or reveal where some of their main hideaways are or to have some snitches rat them out for favours." Samuel said as he unhooked his cooling vest. "But as far as I can tell that doesn't really happen that much does it sir?" Sam said "not really know these guys are pretty close bunch and this planet has always been part of the Capellan Confederation and does not have much of a Davion support base or contingent, there are the odd Davion national here on world but like I said not much of support for us here other than some of the corporations will enjoy the tax breaks that we will likely give them. But it will take quite some time to get the minds and hearts of the locals to fall in line with having us as their new lords." Samuel said as he squinted off into the distance looking at a plume of smoke rising from some unknown fire. In "What are you seeing there sir?" Sam asked as she craned her neck to see what Samuel was looking at. "Just a plume of smoke not sure what it is, but it's definitely not biomass as the smoke is dark and black, looks more to be like a building or a vehicle on fire by the looks of it if I had to wager a guess. But.... it could be something bad, what time is it?" "its just after 0900. why?"Sam asked quizically. "Ive got a bad feeling about this but we had a vehicle convoy escorting a local dignitary into the Garrison here that should have been coming in around now. And that fire is coming in the direction of the main road that they would have been taking. Where is the ready lance?" "They were dispatched south to recon some Capellan activity." Sam replied tentatively. "Get my mech ready to head out... Now!" Samuel barked as he hooked up his cooling to the fast and began climbing back into his wolfhound hurriedly. Dogging the locks of the rear hatch he began going through the startup process of his light Mech. While Samantha went through the disengagement protocols to get the support gantry unlocked and pulled away from the light Mech. "HQ this is zebra one one, request permission to depart and reconnoitre a potential hostile north approximately 5 km of our base." Samuel said as his auxiliary battery power spooled up bringing his comms online. "Zebra one one this is HQ, what seems to be the problem?" the female duty officer asked with a bored tone. "What time is that escort is supposed to be arriving?" Samuel said hurriedly as he went through his protocols to bring machine back to life. "They should be arriving anytime now?" "And where are they coming from?" "What is your point zebra 11?" The irritated voice came back. The hackles of his neck began to raise up in irritation "the convoy routes is heading in from the north is not I just said that there was possible enemy contact and ive seen black spoke coming from 5 km out where the convoy should be going by by now. Now you see where I'm getting at?" A long pause filled the comms nets as the duty officer put two and two together. "Affirmative zebra 11 you are free to head north and reconnoitre what you have seen. Ready lance is unable to detach from where they are, they have engaged a band of fighters and are pursuing." "Id suggest you bring the ready lance back, disengage that diversionary raid, they are drawing off our defences." Samuel said as he gave the thumbs up to samantha that had given him the good to go sign. "Zebra one one heading out now." Samuel quickly brought his wolfhound out of the repair yard and through the defensive lines. Heading north at his best possible speed, the irregular gait of the wolfhound jostled him around his command chair. He crossed the intervening kilometers in less than four minutes, as he approached his sensors became frazzled. Recognizing that electronic countermeasures were being deployed against the convoy making it impossible for them to communicate with the main base. Samuel radioed back before he lost his own communications. "HQ this is zebra one one convoy is under heavy fire and is in a blanket of electromagnetic countermeasures Two times locust and one times raven." "Roger Zebra one on...." came the reply before the net went dead and crackled with the interference that just cut him off from his base. 'Well thats not good.' he said as he brought his weapons up And targeted the closest Mech which happened to be the raven, his heavy PPC with capacitor discharge and struck the raven in the left leg stripping it of all his Armour and heavily damaging the lower leg actuator. The pair of locusts broke away from engaging the light convoy. They fired their medium lasers at the wolfhound and struck the left and right torso but failed to penetrate the Armour. Banking to the left Samuel to his wolfhound and a are to try and bring the locusts away from the convoy and waited for his part objection To return back up along with the capacitor. Once the weapon blinked green he lined up her weapon on the nearest locusts and fired. The released entities struck out and slammed into the locust he had targeted, the Armour sled off the lighter back and crashed to the ground leaving a gaping hole in the left torso of the 20 ton battle mech. The raven fired its SRM six pack into his left torso the missiles exploded in a staccato ripple tearing apart almost a ton of his own armoured that had been lightly damaged before but was now much thinner after the salvo struck him. Bring his extended range medium lasers to bear he fired the trio at the already damaged left torso of the locust and was rewarded with a heat bloom that erupted from the engine therein. The older variants of the locusts were having a hard time dealing damage to the wolfhound with its superior firepower he was able to repulse the Capellan ambush and the three mechs began to withdraw into the distant wood line. Not wanting to press is locked he pulled back and assess the situation of the convoy. A pair of Galleon light tanks were burning furiously as the onboard fuel fed the flames. The heavy armoured personnel carrier that was carrying the dignitary was beat up but was still intact. Opening up his broad band frequency he addressed the remainder of the convoy. "What's your status now?" Samuel asked as he kept an eye on the retreating capellan mechs. "Zebra one one status?" Came the female controller back at the base. "Wait one HQ, convoy secure." A hatch popped open and a grey haired man presented himself. The man yelled ou "Radio antenna is busted, those galleons are toast but we are good here, sadly the tank crews didnt make it." "Are you Carmichael?" Samuel said as he used his external speaker. "Yes i am, who might you be?" "Im leftenant Goodale. Is your vehicle mobile?" Samuel asked "Yes we can follow you." "Ok best head back to the main base and get away from any more potential engagement." "Dont have to tell us twice, lead away." "HQ this is Zebra one one, envoy is secure, galleons were taken out, heading back now, Enemy pushed back and are retreating." Samuel said as he led the heavy APC back to the 4ths forward repair base. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 5 June 3099 Landing Zone Whiskey 2 0900 Hrs Armour : Maj Andy Leroux 4th Crucis Lancers, 23rd Armour Regiment, 3rd Battalion 2nd Company Convoy support The sky was dark and the clouds low as the winds picked up sending debris skirting along the open fields and roads and highway. It had been raining for the last day and the rivers and streams around were heavily laden and broiling as they flowed down their courses. the surrounding fields were heavily saturated with the rain making them difficult to traverse. The rain drizzled along the open ended hanger, the cool morning air filling the expanse of the vehicle bays as crews and technicians worked hand in hand to get the machines maintained with daily and weekly maintenance. Lubricants and grease was still needed in bulk for the machines even in the 31st century where many combat machines used fusion power but still required petroleum products to remain mobile. Even more vehicles still relied on fossil fuel derivatives to operate. With his crew busy attending the alacorn, Maj Andy Leroux was attending a planning session with the 14th Armour Regimental commanders, the other battalion commanders and executive officers had come together to get a situation update for the progress of the combat operations on St. Loris. Gathered within a large board room at the warehouse they had commandeered for a main repair facility, the 14ths officers sat around the oval table and waited for their Commander to arrive. Entering the board room the familiar figure of their Regimental commander appeared and before anyone could call the room to attention, Colonel Julia Chambers told everyone to relax. Her smooth olive complexion framed by long flowing raven colored hair flowed over her shoulder in a thickly braided cord. Fierce as she was beautiful, she did not mince words nor suffer fools or sycophants. Taking up her position at the podium at the front of the room she placed a folder in front of her and opened it. "Ok ladies and gentlemen, i just came back from the High command meeting. Things here are progressing here on St. Loris at a slower rate than we had anticipated, but we are still achieving our goals nonetheless. So far we have achieved all our objectives but the enemy is we will know has withdrawn from their defensive positions and allowed us to take most of our targets quickly but in turn has caused us to have to go on the defensive much we were planning. Our initial contact and plan was laid out to strike quickly and neutralized as much of little Richards Panzer brigade, and the various militias and urban defence units. However as we well know most units only gave a token resistance before falling into the local environments, and as such were able to maintain most of their unit cohesion. They also have substantial supplies squirreled away in their rural caches and hidden depots. Our initial plan of utilizing parts and ammunition from their main depots has come up cold as most of their depots have been emptied of the bulk of their supply. This again, has caused us a bit more of a strain and we had hoped for but likely higher commands has given us enough supplies to last until we get resupply. It just makes us much more reliance on our supply lines of brought with us than those that we could have used here on world. One of the main issue that we do have as we all know, is that the various militias and the bulk of little Richards Panzer game were able to thought in good order as we advance and this has given us quite a headache of having to deal with multitudes of hit and run engagements along with ambushes as well as a significant base of support against us by the locals. The initial combat campaign mark on our favour, but the Garrisoning of this planet is definitely going to be taxing to the max. We will be sending out goodwill convoys to the larger towns outside of the capital in an attempt to foster goodwill and to start getting a working relationship with the locals. I know that this will be a different type of mission for all of us but it is one that we have to undertake. Each and every units will have to ensure they are on their best behaviour and help out in any manner that they can with the transition of us taking over from house Liao. It'll be a difficult undertaking but is one that we have to do and I expect each and every one of you to take this on as your primary mission. We have had some contact with a few areas that have some deviant sympathies but those are few and far between but we utilize those intelligence networks as best we can. One thing that I want us to work on is trying to establish a buffer zone between us and the growing number of attacks that are ongoing. These attacks are causing us much grief and digging into our ammunition and Armour resources. I want us to step up our recon efforts to multiply the chances of us locating and securing any supply depots that we can. If anyone has any ideas let me know, if not we will continue on with how we are operating but as for now we all know that is not working to the best of our benefit." Looking around the room for a few moments the beautiful Col. took leave of the podium and sat down at the head of the oval business table. "So... any ideas, suggestions, bitches, qualms or rude comments?" Col Chambers said as she leaned forward on her folded arms that she rested on the smooth mahoganny table before her. 1st Battalion commander Maj Frank Dwyer cleared his throat and sat back. "I dont suppose a scorched earth policy will work her... only joking, i know not a happy situation we have here but it is one that we have to deal with. As far as I can tell it is you take quite a while for us to get a change in the locals support and ideas about us. This world has never fallen to house Davion and will the crack mentally and spiritually. Review the heavy-handed sick or tried to do a lot of carrot. Where her I do not think that either extreme low work here. I'm not exactly sure what we can do but perhaps we can try foster goodwill by doing small party taskings engineering projects. Build the nation so to speak." Maj Andy Leroux added. "Small party tasking's would be a good idea, I do know that the locals have had a few centuries of house Liao as their political masters, they do not know much about our ways and I know that we have to educate ourselves to how they do things and then match those together, follow-on forces are the ones I cannot do with most of the political bartering and unification, but we have to tread lightly but firmly to ensure that the locals did not see us as pushovers. I think that we can do small things here and there but we cannot become to predictable is that will allow the military forces to strike at us when we are least expecting it. If we can do a quick little projects when we enter a town or village, it's an issue if we find out what is wrong and then head out than some of the interactions might foster some goodwill in our favour." Leroux said as he ran his fingers through his thick goatee. "And what small missions or things would we do for the locals?" Col Chambers asked "I know that we do not have much engineering support for construction most of them are combat engineers, but right now it is the wet season and there will be certainly possible flooding and evacuations of towns or rural areas that we can undertake. Provide food and light support for maintenance for farming activities. The maglev system is going to be out for the next three weeks, and that will put a strain on local farming as they try to bring stuff to the markets and for transportation off world. I'm not quite sure what we could do in that regards but if we can create supply convoys for the more secluded and cultural centres that might foster some good points in our favour." "those might work, the transport of goods we can't do large amounts but if we can get somewhat of a flow for some key items we might build to generate that good favour that we need. Also it is too early to start letting people go on liberty as a result combat but I do know that's setting up an R&R station in some of the towns would be beneficial. I do not want any part troops to be getting mixed up with brawling drinking for any altercations but if we can send some more money their way the locals will start seeing that we want to do business with them and might become much more likely to be amicable. Any other ideas?" Seeing none from the remainder of the assembled officer corps she nodded once and stood. "then that will be all dismissed." Andy left the office building that was the center point of a series of giant warehouses. making his way back to his battalion lines he chatted with Capt Kyle Ramsdale as they walked. "What is the nearest town from here Kyle?" "Uh i believe its Manchu. A bit of a rundown farming community." the short and stocky captain said as he looked up into the overcast sky, the drizzle tapering off at the moment. "I think we should send a detachment there and see about doing some upgrades to their power, they seem to not be doing well at nite, most of the town is dark through the evening, they may not like tech mind you so we should see if they want a generator or not." Samuel said as he looked into the repair bays housing his first company. "Time to get some maintenance done with the crew. Meet at noon for a planning session with the company and lance commanders." "Ok Samuel, see you at noon." Ramsdale said as he left his commander. Entering the cavernous improvised vehicle bay, Leroux met up with his crew that had one of the massive tracks 'broken apart' and were busy replacing a couple of the sections of track that were badly damaged in a mine they had crossed over. "Morning, hows things?" he asked as he removed his jacket . "Bit late this morning sir, its heading towards noon, we've been at this awhile." Staff sgt rodriguez said as she stuck her head out from under the hull of the assault tank. "Its only nine and ive been in meeting since 0700, i know you didnt start till 0800. stop busting my chops Maria." Samuel said as he slid into some coveralls. And looked at his crew members as they worked on the track. "Now what do you want me to do here?" "well we have the track off and have 5 track areas we need to replace. They are spray painted yellow for easy visual. If you want to start on one of them that would help us, the sooner we get this track repaired the sooner we can be out and about Sir." Rodriguez said as she grunted loosening one of the connector end of the track pad she was working on. "Fair enough, Jamieson come give me a hand if you would," "No problem sir, ill get the breaker rod." Jamieson said as he retrieved the six foot breaker bar from a side tool on the assault tank. Getting to work the crew of the Alacorn tackled the five track links and had them replaced before noon. Looking at his watch Samuel excused himself and quickly took off the coveralls and replaced his fatigue tunic and made his way to the battalion brief. During the working lunch he laid out the directives that their Regimental commander had given them as marching orders. "So as you can see we need to be doing good deeds, safely, for the Locals. We have a few ideas and i think those will work for now, so, keep your thoughts going and bring them to me when you do." Samuel said to his officers. "Charlie coy will be heading out this afternoon to the town of Manchu. They have a dilapidated power system and we will give them an industrial power generator. Thsi wwill either give us some good will or not. Wait and shoot on that. Any questions?" Seeing none he dismissed them and went back to his crew that was just getting the track back on and torquing the connector bolts to the 95 ton tank. "Hey sir, tracks back up and ready to go, whens our next mission?" Asked rodriguez as she rubbed her greasy hands into a rag. "Tomorrow we will be heading west to a town called Li Pyon Po, have a few leads on things that we may be able to do to get some brownie points with them, win the hearts and minds, you know that kind of thing." Samuel said. "Yeah better that using these triple guns to enforce our desires, doesnt bode well for our reputation with the local population." Rodriguez replied as she spat out some chewing tobacco. "Uh, not it doesnt, and its against the Ares conventions to engage civilian targets to boot as per appendices C and D." Samuel said. "Anyway, take the afternoon off once this is done and we will have a debrief at 0700 Hrs tomorrow and lay out the patrol path we will be taking. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 5 June 3099 Recovery bay 0800 Hrs Infantry Laser : Sgt Melony Henzelt 4th Crucis Lancers, 17th Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion, 1st Company The recovery bay of the infirmary had a handful of patient as the convalesced from their light injuries. Sgt Melony Henzelt sat in her fatigues with her left arm in a sling to relieve the pressure on her left chest and shoulder. The protective vest she had been wearing had stopped the machine gun round that had slammed into her but the kinetic energy had continued and caused a massive bruise and had torn some of her arm muscle. The medical staff had admitted her to the recovery bay to ensure she had 4 days of recovery before being released. Becoming stir crazy she had taken to throwing cards into a bed pan and trying not to throw the bed pan through the rooms window. Some of her squad mates visited each day and that broke up the day for a few hours each day as they recounted the initial battle and the outcomes. Her impromptu promotion back to Squad leader and the upcoming mission that would be starting in just under a weeks time. Luckily for Henzelt she would be out and able to lead her squad. Pulling out a letter from her breast pocket she reread the missive from her aunt Dear Melony. Your Uncle and I hadn’t heard from you in such a long time. When we received your letter we were relieved to see that you were doing well. We never wanted you to join up into the military life but we always respected your decisions. Ever since you were a young girl, you set out a plan and bore it out good or bad. Your parents would have been extremely proud of your accomplishments. Your Uncle is wondering when you are going to come back and work for him. He says your finesse with fixing the logging machines is missed greatly. He jokes about it, but he does miss you. Its always been hard for him to show his pride in your accomplishments. He brought you up with a strict hand I know, but he always loved you as if you and your sisters were his own. He never really recovered from the loss of his sister to the clans, and he never enjoyed the military anyway. He may not agree with the path you have chosen, but he is proud of you.. Your sister Winona just had a daughter a few days ago. She was in labor for thirty two hours. She was exhausted afterwards but was so happy to see her third child. Gwynn was 8 lbs 6 ounces. She was a fighter from when she first came into this world. Bright blue eyes and blonde hair. She is such a cute little baby. The Twins are fussing over her and are so happy to have a younger sister to play dress up with Your Sister Marion just finished her internship.. She is happy to be able to start her duties as a Doctor at Magnusson Rangnor General Hospital. She wants to start researching foreign diseases and how they interact with local viruses. I am scared at the thought of what it all means, but it’s something she wants to do. She always wanted to be a doctor ever since you were all but knee high. Ensuring anyone with a scrape or cut was well looked after. Denise has taken over as the captain of a mule drop ship. She is definitely following in your parents footsteps. Thankfully she is on routes far from those nasty clanners. I don’t trust them as far as I could throw them. They just aren’t natural. And their weird ways, may hell devour them all. And Finally your sister Meagan. She has just married one of the Jorgenssen boys. They make such a sweet couple. Nicolai adores here and treats her so well. They are moving to the Jorgenssens farmstead where his father has given to them a nice sized piece of farmland. Meagan will be busy trying to give Nicolai children no doubt. Your cousins Robert and Tom are doing well having taken over from your uncle. The Logging company is doing exceptionally well ever since they won a major contract to export the wood off world. They would do a lot better had you been here, but they are prosperous in their venture as you are likely in yours. The house seems so quiet as all you kids have grown up and set out on your own. Thankfully I am getting grandchildren to start filling the house again. Which brings me to you. When are you going to start giving me some wee ones to fuss over and spoil? You would make a great mother. I know I shouldn’t press, I know your views on a military woman shouldn’t get married. But you would make me so happy if you told me you were with someone to watch over you since I cannot. Anyway I should stop writing before I start crying on the paper. I just want you to know that we are proud of you and that we pray for your safety every day. Write soon Luv and kisses Aunt Violet Although she had not replied to her aunt in quite some time she thought it would be good to do so soon. Although with her dominant hand in a sling she decided it could wait until she could write better, as her hand writing never was good to begin with. Looking around the room she decided that she needed some fresh air. Getting outside she walked around the small garden of the hospital and took out a cigarette. Striking a match she inhaled slowly feeling the acrid smoke fill her lungs and calming her nerves. Shaking her hand rapidly she extinguished the match and cast it aside into a nearby flower pot. Exhaling slowly she let the blue smoke billow out and surround her. A cough from behind her alerted her to the presence of someone else. The Dr. she had seen when she first arrived knitted her eyebrows at her. "Those will kill you." "Doc... in my line of work these..." She held up the cigarette in front of her face then brought it back to her mouth and sucked in a deep breath then exhaled slowly once more. "Are the least of my worries." "None the less you shouldnt be smoking on hospital grounds. But if you must then finish that one as you have nearly finished it anyway. I have good news, i will be discharging you after in the next hour, you will be able to get back to your unit and out of our hair." "Well that is good news Doc, glad to hear that." Melony said as she dropped the butt of the cigarette and crushed it with the ball of her foot. "I'll go get my stuff ready then." An hour later, Sgt Henzelt stood outside the hospital and waited for a truck to pick her up. She didnt have long to wait as a light utility truck rumbled into view and came to a halt in front of her, the brakes squealing loudly even though the driver applied the brake gently. Peering into the passenger window she recognized the driver as one of her platoons privates. "Morning Private Benson, good to hear that these pieces of shit still have the crappy brakes they came with, nothing like the lowest bidder winning a contract." "Yeah, and our laser weapons are built by a toy company so ive heard." The young private replied as she unlocked the door. "Hop in sarge, ill get us back to the company lines." linking up with a small convoy for protection, the four vehicles sped back to the main base housing the regiment. Thanking the private for the drive she hopped out of the cab and walked to the barracks, a school dormitory adjacent to a university that the 4th Crucis Lancers had commandeered as their own as a temporary housing and command complex. Located on the outskirts of the city it afforded a safe and secure locale with a open green space that created a hard advance to any militants or Capellan line or militias to move forward without being spotted. Melony was greeted by a guard that sat at a desk by the main entrance. "Good day pri... I mean Sgt, how are you today?" The man corrected himself. "Going good, out of the hospital and ready to get things done. Where is 1st Platoon?" "Inside, first left end of the hall on second floor." "Ok thanks" Melony nodded her understanding and headed inside and walked the long halls, old wood panels filled the spacious hallway and many frescos depicted various scenes of ST Loris, former Alumni and some historical frescos of significance, she glanced at some but kept walking to meet up with her platoon. Entering the main area she saw some of 1st Platoon reading various manuals and some were playing on an ancient table hockey game, the tri vid was on and the current Solaris VII match was being Live streamed with a pair of heavies from the davion stable matched with a counterpart of 2 heavies from steiner. Her squad was watching the match. Cpl Gemma Bartthune looked over and smiled widely. "Hey sarge welcome back, match is about to start. grab a seat theres water and juice in that fridge over there, courtesy of the St Loris University." "Good to be back, shoulder still hurts like a son of a bitch though but i'll be good to go once we deploy, whats the next mission coming up or do we know?" Melony said as she opened the fridge and looked inside, it was full of water bottles and various juice bottles. Taking a citrus drink she sat beside Gemma and placed her legs on her lap. The two had been together for almost a decade in the same platoon and had a close sisterly bond. "dont know really, been a week here and the Cappies have for the most part turned tail and fled into hiding, which has given us all our objectives but has created us a hardship of having to deal with alot of harassing attacks, but higher command has alot of intel agents out and about and we have been given direction to do heart and minds mission to garner support of the outlying areas. St. Loris has always been under capellan rule but they have had quite the iron fist here and maybe a taste of Davion Capatalism might spread something for them." Gemma said as she took a handful of popcorn from her bowl and chewed on it from her handful. Offering the bowl to Melony, the newly arrived member of the platoon took a big handful and watched the trivid. The match began and the squad watched on as the mechs engaged and traded shots. The gladatorial match lasted a few minutes with the Davions winning by a hair. "Not a bad match that." Melony said as she leaned back in the chair. Do we have a range set up yet here?" "There is one in the basement, not a bad one either." Gemma said. "Wanna head down and blow off a few caps?" "Sounds good to me Babe." Melony said as she followed her best friend down into the depths of the dormitory. The two traded shots at each other as the descended the stairs to the basement, Gemma flicked on some lights and activated the target system. Pulling her pistol she placed it on the table before her and punched in an exposure setting. Melony pulled out her own pistol and looked at Gemma. "Lets see who wins this round." she smiled and then grabbed her pistol as the distant targets flashed into full view from their thin sided view. The two woman fired a series of five shots and then the targets spun to show their side views once more. Two more exposures and they likewise expended five more rounds each then brought the targets forward. Looking at the targets the two ladies paused a moment. Gemma pulled out a 10 Davion bill and handed it to Melony. "For frigs sakes, even injured you outshoot me, what kind of demoness are you anyway." Taking the cbill note Melony stuffed it into her bra strap and slapped Gemma on the shoulder. "Takes a sacrifice to Bezelbub." She chuckled. "A few chickens or your first born? Gemma retorted. "First born." "Harsh babe. Harsh." "do what ya gotta do to be a demon on the battlefield." "Ha ha. yeah. I want to...: Gemma stopped as a chirp on her personal communications device interupted her. "yes Ma'am." she replied as the communication line went dead. "Whats up?" Melony asked quizzically "Platoon commander wants to see you and me. apparently." "Ah, well can't be a demotion as I haven't done anything wrong since i was in hospital. Lets go see what the ole lady wants." Melony said as she followed Gemma to the Platoon commanders office. Knocking in the door the two waited for the word to enter, a few moments later a muffled 'Enter' came through the door. Entering they saw various maps on the walls, a few data slates open and a kitbag on the soft bed of the dormitory house mother. Who had vacated shortly after the arrival of the infantry regiment. "Good morning, welcome back Melony, good to see you are back, No rest for the wicked, Hear..." Lt Adriana Parks threw a small packet to Gemma, "Field promotion, Your Sgt has been taken out of commision with a sudden attack of parasites attacking his stomach, hes been hospitalized last nite and now your it. Now, i have a mission for your two squads. I need eyes on a local center that we believe has been storing munitions and supplies for the Militias operating near us. You both will conduct recon and report back what you find." "Covertly being in the bush eh?" Melony stated. "Yes we need them to not see us and show us what they are doing. Your squads will be heading out tonite, so get them ready, some rest and supplies will be drawn from the Company quarter master. Be prepared for at least a week out there. Are you ready to head out there again melony?" Ariana asked stone faced. "Still sore, but i can handle it, id rather not be cooped up anymore." Sgt Henzelt said as she rubbed her shoulder. "All good to go Ma'am." "Alrighty, all i need to hear, off you two go, get out of my hair, get us some good intel." Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 5 June 3099 Landers City Aero port 0900 Hrs VTOL Yellow Jacket : Capt. Fiona Ryder 4th Crucis Lancers, 24th Armour Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Squadron The air traffic around the aero port was slowly returning to normal as the air space was opened up to highly restrictive commercial traffic heavily scrutinized and checked for cargo and destinations. It would be weeks if not months before the Davions allowed the return to normal flights and business. Inside a dilapidated Hangar, Wasp flights six yellow jackets were undergoing moderate repairs as they had recently done a supporting OP that had them engage a pair of partisan tanks that had happened to be in their flight path. The anti air tanks had caused them a fair amount of grief.... "Hey Fiona, what the how do you figure the Cappies knew our flight path?" her copilot asked. "My guess is that they have rats around here that radio in our position, or they may have watched us the last few days. Either way we need to change up how we do things. I know we were rather complacent coming and going and taking the say approach vectors. As of now i wont be taking of or arriving on the same heading, have to make them work." Pulling open an access panel, Fiona reached inside and pulled out a small bag. Reaching inside she pulled out a pair of coveralls and began putting them on. Her copilot did the same as they both started to go through a diagnostic of the weapons and sensor systems. Helping out the techs was their down time routine. Millennia ago soldiers rarely did any of their own maintenance when there was no fighting, But the 31st century, many soldiers pulled double duty as an Astech and in many cases rising to become fairly skilled technicians in their own right on top of their normal combat abilities. Each of the crews of the yellow jackets were performing basic maintenance to help free up the normal technicians to deal with the replacement of Armour and the more technological of the more difficult technical issues. Fiona along with her copilot were busy changing out a circuit board when the head tech came by to check up on. "Once you replace that circuit board you can but not the control panel and run the normal diagnostic. I will have the armour replaced within the hour, wasp tool there will be ready for the afternoons launch and recon patrol. "Sounds good, we will get this to the panel tested and head off and get ready for our afternoon launch and conduct our briefing before we head out." "Ill leave you to your work then ma'am." The senior tech said and left. "Hey twitch, hand me that electronics test set." Fiona said as she pulled out the weapons systems management system box and pulled the 4rd circuit out. Replacing it with the new circuit she then attached the test set and ran the diagnostic. As they waited for the tests to run their course the two looked over a map of the local area. "So we are here, and the next sortie out will be to support a convoy of heavy armour that is bringing some supplies to the town in the south. We are going to be giving them air cover as support just in case things go... sour." "You were going to say south weren't you?" "Yeah i was but thought better of it." Fiona smiled lightly. Tearing off a hunk of beef jerky he placed it in his mouth and chewed slowly. "Care for some?" "no thanks, gives me heartburn, not so bad but you eat that damn spicy shit." "That i does, makes the flavour real good." "I prefer being able to taste the material i am eating, that shot just feels like lava on the tastebuds." Fiona winced as she thought of the sensations she had when she tried some of it last time and almost felt she had 1st degree burns on her taste buds. "The convoy will be heading out at 1400 hrs. Out 2 ship formation will be riding shotgun for the trip. I dont know what the tread heads are bringing nor do i really care. I want to make sure that this ole girl is back up and running properly this afternoon." "Shouldnt be too bad, the fix looks to be quick." Twitch said as the test machine pinged. "That doesnt sound good." Fiona said as she went to the machine. "System error at code 43." "Reset and run again, if it hits 43 we have to do a bit more fault finding, maybe i shouldnt have spoken so soon." "Murphys law, best never speak of things being easy as it usually pisses off the murphy god and we all know if something can go wrong it will." Fiona said in mock disgust as she reset and initiated the diagnostic again. The machine ran for fifteen minutes and stopped at an error code. Peering at the digital display Fiona read out the number. "Error code 378. whats the next step?" "reset again and run if we get a error code again we need a new circuit board." "Grrr. Ok, resetting and running it again." Fiona grumbled as she stabbed the reset button once more. The dagnostic this time ran for thirty minutes without any more error codes. "Alright looks like we can get this bitch back together and have the main tech sign off on the work and we will be golden." Tewitch said as she called over the head tech. "About time for an early lunch and then a final brief on the flight path and procedures." Fiona said as she pulled off her coveralls. "Ill be looking forward to bed tonight." Nodding his agreement, Twitch likewise removed his coveralls and took Fionas and placed them into a small bag and placed them into a side compartment on the thirty ton gunship. "Shall we wash up and head to the mess then?" Twitch asked. "Yup, ill meet you outside in five then we can head over." Fiona said as she headed towards the womans change room within the hangar. Entering the change room she overheard some muffled voices and as she went deeper into the locker room she recognized the voices as other chopper pilots from her support wing. The two women were from a crew of scout choppers that routinely flew ahead of her squadron. The giggling of the two women seemed out of sorts and she could smell a familiar acrid smoke. 'Garuncha bacca' she could tell from the sickly sweet smell that the two were getting high on the mild hallucinogen. Not wanting to make too much of the issue she decided to turn around and get out of the room before they noticed, but she tripped over some boots and stumbled and banged a locker. The two women stopped talking and came out of their hideaway. Seeing who had entered the locker room their good cheer turned slightly and the taller of the two looked at Fiona. "So... seems like we have a stuck up coming in and spying on us." "yeah, what you doing Fiona?" "Well firstly im not spying nor snooping, i came to wash up and head for lunch. So i'll let you two do what you're doing." Fiona replied as she turned to leave. "Gonna rat us out to the air boss i bet." Her anger suddenly riled she slowly turned back around to face her accusers. "I ain't telling anyone what you are doing, however if i ever find out that you smoke up before we go out on a mission i'll have no words to use with my displeasure." "Oh? and what exactly would you do?" The shorter one said as she crossed her arms in front of her. "Don't get me riled up is all i'll say." "Oh ho, should we fear for our safety then?" The taller of the two said as she took a menacing step forward. "I suggest you step back and think twice before trying to force anything with me." The two women looked at one another and nodded then leapt forward, one going high the other low. Knowing something was about to happen Fiona had prepared herself and leapt back and pushed on the redheads shoulder as she used it as leverage to grab onto and pull herself forward and around while kicking out catching the other taller raven haired woman in the side of the head. Staggering backwards the woman cursed angrily. "You bitch." The redhead said as she grabbed fionas flight suit. Driving back suddenly, Fiona pulled the woman back as she wrapped her hands around the others wrists. SHe then brought her head forward with a quick snap and head butted the woman making her stagger backwards. Pushing her offensive Fiona lashed out and struck the redhead with a clenched back hand to the temple that sent the woman to the ground in a daze. Then she drove her fist into the solar plexis of the taller woman likelwise dropping her as she struggled for a breath. "Like i said, best think twice before dealing with me ladies, now if you'll excuse me i have lunch to have." Stepping over the women she left and met up with her copilot. "Took you a bit." Twitch said. "Yeah i had some business to deal with. No worries, all done with for now." Fiona said as they walked to the mess hall. Lunch complete and the briefing over the members of the 2 ship flight made their way to the awaiting Vtols. A small van drove onto the tarmac and came towards the crew members of the gunships. Halting a few paces away, a young Leftenant rolled down the window and spoke. "Captain Ryder, the Colonel wants to see you after the flight regarding an incident in the change room." Shakind her head sightly in slight disbelief although it didnt surprise her the two bitches went crying to the Commanding Officer. "Ok, ill be back as soon as the mission is done." Fiona said as she donned her flight helmet and made her way into the yellow jackets cockpit. Spooling up the engine the gauss carrying chopper quickly spun up to idle and waited for her input to rise up and go forth. "Ground this is Wasp one, flight of two, permission to take off." "Wasp flight, permission granted, you are clear for take off, no other traffic to worry about." Came the traffic controller. Pulling up on the collective, the attack VTOL ascended quickly and was joined by its sister gunship wasp 2. The formation of two vtols kept low across the rooftops so as to keep a low profile and not allow any handheld surface to air missiles to lock on and be fired from some errant militant. "The convoy should be coming up soon, they will be leaving their base at Romeo one niner three Zulu and heading along the highway. We should be seeing them any minute now." Fiona spoke into her headset. Twitch replied. "Yeah i have them on the comms, they are just leaving their base now and will be on the road at the junction of highway 93 and highway 117. Then it should be a pretty boring ride to the town and then back." "Never know what might happen. The Cappies have a habit of making us work for our money. And they tend to pop out of nowhere as well." Fiona said as she scanned the horizon and kept a watchful eye on her Heads up Display. A caution on the weapon flickered momentarily. 'Dammit, that glitch is back' she thought to herself. 'Will have to have the techs look at that when we get back.' she relegated the thought to the back of her mind as she needed to concentrate on her surrounding and the task at hand. The convoy made it to the next town in less than half an hour and the VTOLs kept a low circling pattern outside the town to keep nearby but away from any buildings. Dropping off their cargo the convoy departed and made their way back to the city with no occurrences happening. Once they landed and turned their machines over to the techs, Fiona went to her commanding officers office and knocked. "Enter." Came the muffled voice through the wooden door. "Reporting as ordered Sir." Fiona said as she stood at attention after she opened the door. Looking up from his desk Col Fairchild nodded and spoke. "Come in Ryder, have a seat." He indicated with his pen as he continued to write a few moments. "So ive had a chat and it was brought to my attention that you had an altercation with 2 members from the recon squadron. Capt Rathburn and Lt Heppel. Have anything to say about the incident?" the Col said as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Well i dont know what they said, but there was an exchange of words and possibly a small scuffle with them." "I see, and the bruises on them would be the small scuffle i take it?" "Yes Sir, there was a slight disagreement and when approached in an aggressive manner i reacted." "They attacked you?" Fairchild interupted. "They had a difference of opinion with me yes. I reacted and showed them more of my opinion and let them know that i do not want to have this type of interaction again." "Ah. Well, i know those two are pains in my ass and by the looks of it you told them forcefully as i do not see any indication of any marks on you." "No marks on me Sir." "Fair enough, i want to know if there are any more instances with you and those two. I know they are spoiled bitches and their parents are nobility, but i cant have you going around knocking their heads together even if they do start anything, they have powerful family influence that can put a real dampener on your career. so just keep an eye out on them." "I will Sir. No worries with that. I will keep an eye on my 6 with them." "OK, nothing more here, Dismissed Ryder." Fiona left and saluted her commanding officer as she left the office. She wwent back to her barracks and wrote up a report of the incident so that she could pass it in to her CO for a back ground of the incident in case the two ladies tried to force anything in the future, she would at least have a file with the incident on record for use. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 1 June 3099 0900 Hrs Battle Armour: Cpl Heather Locke Black Wolf Rangers Mercenary Unit, 1st Ranger Battle Armour Battalion, 2nd Company Having explained what had happened the nite of their insertion, Cpl Locke had been both commended for her work taking out the Missile support tower but had also been reprimanded for disengaging from her squad and platoon and heading out on her own. Thinking of Colonel Frum berating her she recalled the words from her commanding officer. "Lone wolf tactics are sometimes needed but during the initial phases on an assault they are not to be conducted unless major circumstances occur. You left your squad mates to go gallivanting on your own and to get a joyride. I will not tolerate this type of behaviour that could have put your battle brothers and sisters in jeopardy." The words had stung her deeply as she hadn't wanted glory or a thrill. The opportunity had presented itself and she had seized the opportunity. She knew that she preferred operations on her own and perhaps a recon role would be better her style. She was just getting the feel of being in the field and didn't want to screw it up. Going through her work out routine the young Ranger pushed at the heavy weights on the barbell. Forcing it away as she exhaled and then inhaled slowly as she lowered the bar to her chest. Her spotting partner counted the reps and encouraged her as she started to tire on the end of her third and final reps. "C'mon girl, almost there. Two more and youre done and then to the showers." Cpl Julia Croft urged as she kept her hands near the bar but didnt touch it. Croft helped Locke place the bar on the stand, Sitting up Heather wiped at the sweat on her forehead from the exertion of her work out. The two had partnered together since boot camp and had become competitive work out partners pushing each other to greater fitness and accomplishments. They currently held the battalions record for repetitions. The two headed for the showers and stripped out of their form fitting work out clothes and stepped nto the shower, their muscular frames tight and well defined. "Whats on the go after here Heather?" Croft said as she rinsed out her thick mane of blonde hair. Running her hands through her short black hair, Heather grumbled a bit as she enjoyed the hot water running along her skin. "I have to study for an upgrade to my schooling. I was a street rat and have a few credits i have to work on to graduate. Im lucky that i was sponsored to get into the battalion without a high school diploma." "Pretty uncommon id say." Croft said as she lathered herself up "I showed high scores on my aptitudes and the Colonel vouched for me as she was one of the original Rangers that helped me get away from the streets. Her and Lupus Primus." Heather said the name of their Prime leader with admiration. "Easy girl, i dont need you passing out on me thinking of the General." Croft snickered loudly, knowing that Locke held a strong affection for the Massive man, although many under him did herself included. "I wont pass out, i have more self control that that." "Uh huh, and if he came in right now?" "Id be embarrased as all hell." Heather said as she flushed red slightly "So would you." "Heh well i dont know if id be embarrassed, although i dont know why hed be in our shower but if he was....mmmm damn." Croft purred loudly "Anyway, best us not thinking of potential what ifs that wont happen." Heather said as she rinsed herself of the body wash. "Yeah, besides thats what the nite times are for." Croft growled deeply as she gyrated in the shower thinking of what she would be doing later in her bed. "I dont wanna hear it." Heather said as she turned off the shower and pulled her towel over her to dry off, first her hair and then her body. The two women quickly changed into their fatigues and made theor way back to the barracks. Pulling out her note puter Heather began reading her science text book, but didnt have the interest to do much studying. She forced herself to do an hour none the less. and feeling somewhat accolplished she turned on some music and let the beat wash over her as she thought back to the night where her saviours had come to take her away. Inside the orphanage the explosions outside were almost defening as the Word of Blake shelled the town to try and rout out the Mercenary company. The Black Wolf Rangers had come to engage the Blakist forces and had discovered the town full of young children in the orphanage. Major Black had come into the building late one night with many men and women that had sandbagged the building to protect it for potential shelling. James had soothed some of the kids as they were crying and scared. The massive man although a great beast of a man, sat easily with the kids that gravitated to him and he spoke softly to them for a few hours. He talked to them as they fell asleep and then made his way out to engage the Blakist mechs that tried to enter the town. Heather had listened to every word he had spoken and wanted nothing more than to follow him off world and be rid of the orphanage. The nite had lasted for an eternity but the Blakists had been sent packing and the Rangers remained at the town for a few more days. James had decided to take the children of the orphanage with him as they had bonded quickly with him and he didnt have the heart to leave them behind for future Blakist reprisals. So a few days later the Rangers had expelled the Blakists form the world and were loading up to leave and an addition 23 passengers embarked on a new journey. Heather and Croft had met on Cimeron shortly after her arrival from being taken from her orphanage and had become quick friends. Returning to the present Heather returned to her books and took a chapter quiz, scoring fairly well she was pleased with her progress and continued into the next section. Croft knocked on her door. "Hey babe, wanna grab some lunch or are you gonna keep your nose buried in that science book and become all brainy on me instead.?" "I need a break, my head is starting to hurt from thsi book, Im Starving." Heather said as she locked her note book and hopped off of her bed and the two left the barracks and had lunch. Returning from lunch the two were about to enter the barracks when a slow moving vehicle approached them. As they talked to one another the side panel of the van opened suddenly and four men jumped out, two made a grab for hearther and she stepped back and gave one a solid round house, croft jumped into the two attackers and brought them down to the ground with her, where her martial skills came into play. The men reacted quickly to the exceptionally strong women that they had thought would be easy prey and now were fighting for their lives with two very pissed off female soldiers. Heather struck out with a thrust kick to the chest of her nearest attacker, his eyes bulged as he had the air knocked out of him, staggering back he inhaled deeply and tried to get his air back. The other man received a jab to his temple but was able to back peddle and it only glanced him slightly. Croft had one man in a scissor lock around his neck and was applying pressure that made his face turn blue then a dark purple, his arms flapped around as he tried to grab something to use to get the woman to relinquish his head. The other she had in a head lock and was ignoring his feeble attempts to strike at her head, she howled like a banshee as she engaged her two targets and wasnt letting go. Heather kept throwing punches and kicks at her assailants, now targets, the van sped away leaving the four would be attackers to fend for themselves. Continuing on their frenzy the two Ranger warriors pummeled the men and threw them into a nearby basement access way. The improvised concrete prison trapped them as another trooper came and radioed their duty Sgt about the commotion. Military police were quick to arrive and took the four men away to be questioned. "Well that was an interesting tussle, guess they will think twice before trying to accost two young women again." Croft said as she sat back against a concrete divider. "Wonder what they were going to do with us if they were able to take us. And i'd like to know how they got into our secure area. They must be local thugs or part of a gang or something, working as cleaners or what not." Heather thought out loud. "Military police and int will find out soon enough i think." Croft said as she looked around the empty street. Guess they needed another 4 dudes to deal with these two bitches eh?" "They definately underestimated us." Heather chuckled Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit The Fang Loading Bay 1 Cimeron, Dahar PDZ, Robinson Operations Area, Draconnis March, Federated Suns Midnight, June 15, 3099   The loading bay was dark around its periphery, despite the best efforts of multiple high-powered spotlight towers dotting the area to illuminate it.  Out of one of the deep blue shadows shrouding part of a catwalk stepped LT. Samuel Huntington, here to oversee the departure of the Medussa tanks and their crews.   "Let's go, people, move it!  We're launchin' at dawn!" bellowed an irritable loadmaster from up ahead over the whine of the slowly lowering boarding ramp, for what seemed like the umpteenth time.   "Yeah, yeah," LT. Samuel Huntington muttered to himself, watching the trucks of supplies and ordnance working their way up the paved concourse to the ramp, before disappearing within the depths of the Union dropper's cargo bay as if consumed by some leviathan of legend.  Perhaps swallowed by a great wolf like the sun, he thought to himself in mild amusement, casting an eye over the massive Drop Ship.   The rumble of tank treads brought his attention back to the concourse.  The Medussa prototypes were being towed up the path towards the ramp, their engines shut down and their stealth systems disengaged, their ammo bins empty as were their crew compartments.   They really were quite beautiful machines, LT. Samuel Huntington noted approvingly.  They were sleek, low to the ground, their sheathed rotary auto cannons protruding like the snout of some predatorial creature, the Mag shot gauss weapons framing the turrets almost like horns.  The hull of each tank was obsidian-black in hue, devoid of marking, save for the Ranger insignia stenciled on the sides of their turrets.   The Medussa tanks rolled up the ramp now, three of the five prototypes in existence.  Their crews were already aboard the dropper most likely, and LT. Samuel Huntington had already spoken to their leaders regarding the paramount need for the tanks' survival.   The rest of the Warlock III strike force--'mechs, aeros, and other tanks--were coming up the concourse now. Wolf Scout Sgt Sheila Bellows sat impatiently on a barrack box as she waited for the equipment and munitions to be loaded upon the drop ship. She would be outbound with the remainder of the 2nd REF shortly aboard the union class dropper. She was fairly new to the Black Wolf Rangers,  having just recently graduated advanced armoured recon.  She had been recruited from the Cimeron Defence Forces a year earlier and ear marked for the advanced reconnaissance training as her scores towards recon was exceptionally high.   Graduating at the top of her class, Sgt Sheila Bellows had been able to choose where she went.  She had heard about the black projects that Black Wolf Industries were conducting and when a representative from the research and development arm of the Rangers approached her and offered her a job she had jumped at the opportunity. Her sister had always told her when an opportunity knocks you should jump on it and ride it for all its worth.  Her older sister didn't care if the outcome was good or bad,  she was also a firm believer that you only live once and one needs to enjoy life as quickly as you can.   So with those ideas in her mind she had not faltered in accepting the offer.  And now she was on her way off world to combat test a new scout tank, the Medussa.  A light recon unit dedicated to sneak and peek with its stealth armour.  Its light armament ensured that the small two man crew stayed out of significant fights but the light caliber rotary auto cannon would allow the crew to strike out from range and quickly disengage with its powerful fusion engine.   The last Medussa crawled up into the belly of the union as heavily burdened industrial mechs hauled stores and various supplies into the cargo hold.  Cargo masters bellowed out orders to their charges and made sure that the goods came aboard in good order and without mishap.  One wrong move and a crate of munitions could be dropped and spell a bad day for those around.  Although fairly stable unless armed with their detonators and such,  munitions were always handled with extreme care.  It had occured to often that a lazy or careless individual had not had the respect of the ordnance and had paid the hefty price with theirs and others lives.   The boarding call came over the local areas loud speakes detailing that the infantry and vehicle crews could board now that the cargo haulers and heavy equipment was out of the way.  Refueling operations for the union were now underway and the dropper would be able to take off in the next three hours.  Plenty of time for Sheila Bellows to find her bunk and squirrel away somewhere out of sight and take a nap.  She hadn't been able to sleep much with butterflies swirling around in her belly from her excitement of being on her first combat mission and being off world for the first time in her 19 years of being alive.   A pallid young tanker, whose helmet had the name SLATER scrawled on it, walked towards Sgt Sheila Bellows.  He decided to let her speak first; he was enraptured by the spectacle of the dropper loading up in the meantime.  Like her, Samuel Slater had never been off-world yet, but had trained extensively, culminating in his volunteering (and being accepted into) the Medussa program.  He knew his way around older tanks, but the Medussa was more advanced than anything he'd ever stepped into.   He took off his neuro helmet, and ran a fingertip gently across its forehead.  It was black, with a blue stripe across the middle from front to back, while his name was written in white on the right side.   He watched the last of the heavy equipment being loaded.  The streetlights and darkness made it quite surreal, dreamlike even. Sgt Bellows took note of the tanker that was walking towards her. She had trained with him with the Medussa program, she nodded a hello as the racket of a walking loader mech nearby would have caused her to have to raise her voice and even then she likely wouldnt have been heard anyway so she didnt waste the effort.  Dressed in her own tankers garb she was waiting on her other crew mate to arrive so they could stow their gear and get a few winks before lift off.   The loader mech stomped by, its Internal combustion engine chugging out diesel fumes as the machine hefted its load and tromped up the droppers access ramp. A few heavy wheeled transports rolled by with large mechs in their transport cocoons. Likely from Black Wolf Industries modded them to have Davion made stealth armour upgrades ad being shipped off to whatever customer that had paid for the enhancements.  Taking the lull in the noise She spoke up at last and welcomed the young man. "Morning, how goes it today?" she asked as she pulled out a flask and drank some of the coffee that was inside the thermos.   "Pretty good, pretty good," Samuel said casually, yawning.  "Didn't sleep a wink yet tonight," he added sheepishly.  "You ready to rock this thing?"  He was grinning now, all puppy-like excitement, and child-like wonder at the idea of getting off-planet at last. Sheila Bellows shared Samuels enthusiasm and excitement, although she was able to hide it more on the outside than he could.  But on the inside her body was screaming exuberance that she would be leaving the dullness of Cimeron.  Ever since the Black Wolf Rangers had arrived on world and taken it as a land hold, the Draconis Combine had all but ceased its raids and forays into the Cimeron system and surrounding worlds. She was only 7 when the lst Kurita raid had occurred and it was short lived as the Kurita commander was not expecting a fully outfitted and supported Mech light regiment to fall on world as they were trying the wrest control of Cimeron from House Davion.   The BWR had taken possession of the world and the Davion High command had withdrawn the regular garrison as intel had showed nothing on the radar and it was thought that a one week lapse in the protection of the world wouldn't be a factor.  Luckily for the populace of Cimeron, the Rangers had arrived and kicked the Kurita forces off world.  It had solidified the planet in its trust in the new Baron.  James Black had risen in prestige quickly with his rapid defence of the world.   Sgt Sheila Bellows had grown up in relative peace and yearned for excitement and to explore the stars and now was her chance. "All set to get this OP underway Samuel?" Sgt Sheila Bellows asked as she hopped off the small stack of crates and landed on the tarmac with little noise. Her light frame and agile nature allowed her to be fleet of foot and not cause to much commotion, one reason she had been nicknamed mouse. "Aye," Samuel said with brash confidence.  "Should we board up yet?" asked the tanker, glancing up to the towering Union.   For all his brazen confidence, Samuel knew that this deployment could very well make or break his career, depending on its outcome--the Medussa tanks were extremely expensive and should he fail to complete his mission, it'd be flying a desk for him most likely.  Some of his concern slipped onto his face briefly, a slight frown appearing at the corners of his mouth. "I hear ya on that, I didn't sleep much last nite either, too much going on through my mind wondering on what it will be like off world, Heck I've never been on a drop ship before and this is my first time off world.  Hell I've never even left Mondo Elegro continent before.  I feel almost too light headed with anticipation.  I hope I don't screw things up.  But I'm damn certain I won't be coming back to Cimeron if I do.  There is too much out there to explore to be cooped up on Cimeron." Sgt Bellows gushed as her hazel eyes flashed with excitement. Inhaling a deep breath she let out the air in a long drawn out sigh. "I guess it's time to get off our butts and get inside the union." Sgt Sheila Bellows said as she hefted her heavy duffle bag over to her other shoulder. Her sidearm snugly strapped to her right thigh. Stepping off into a brisk walk she made her way towards the cargo master waiting at the doorway as an armed crewman waited at the ready with a Mauser 960 assault weapon.  Even though the rangers were on their home world, past experiences had dictated that security always be tight and any lapse of it would be dealt with severely. Handing over her Identification card to the dropper crewman the cargo master looked at the ID, checked his manifest and scanned her biochip in her forearm. Looking back up from his list he nodded "Welcome aboard Lupus Bellows.  Your tank is in berth 3 alongside 12 Bravo. They are tight together so it will be of climbing to get to the sleeping berth. This your first time on a dropper young un?" Asked the cargo master as he watched Sgt Sheila Bellows scan the interior like a awe struck kid. "Uh yeah, is it that obvious, I thought we would be in a cabin." Sgt Sheila Bellows looked around the cavernous hangar. "Ordinarily we would but the need to pack in as much equipment and vehicles as we could necessitates that we utilize open space for other uses such as sleeping.  Don't worry, they are as safe as usual cabin sleeping accommodations, just have a lot less privacy, but we aren't modest here now are we,  if we are we all took the wrong course of a life path didn't we."  The burly man said as he broke into a booming gregarious laugh. "Now... let's take a look see at who the young man behind you is... ID please" the tech said as he held out his hand to receive the ID tag from Samuel. Samuel held out an ID tag that he detached from a chain around his neck, that stated his name, rank, and serial number.  He cast an eye over the hanger, raising his eyebrows when he heard about the sleeping arrangements. Guess there's just no room for quarters, he thought to himself.  It's 100% warfare.? Laughing loudly the cargo master slapped the man heavily on the back. "Dont worry young man, its not always like this. This union is going with alot of hardware and supplies. Most of our droppers are already deployed so this is not the norm. Although the Brigade is starting to stretch the ole britches with needing more drop capacity. A couple or four seekers would go a long way to free up the main combat assaulters to just house their normal charges and initial supply caches." Handing back the ID disk, the cargo master quickly diverted his attention to a pair of cargo haulers chugging up to the main ramp. "you two young ones can head into the main bay and stow yer gear. Enjoy the trip." Sgt Bellows shuffled forward and took note of where her tank was. The sleek dark black of the hull blended into the dark recesses of the cargo bay, almost drinking in the light. Sgt Sheila Bellows walked over to the machine and drew her fingertips across the cold metal of the armour. Slight tingles erupted up and down her spine as she felt the warmth of the armour, thinking that it would be cold to the touch. The Medussa ran hot with the stealth armour engaged and it had just shut down less than thirty minutes ago. Samuel leaned against the side of the tank, folding his arms.  "Nice looking tank, eh?" he said, essentially at a loss for words. So this is what they'd be piloting? It's beautiful, he thought, casting an approving eye over the machine. "Its definitely a sleek looking little beast." Sheila agreed as she stood back to admire the Medussa. The matt black of the tank making the vehicle seem almost none existent. The call sign on the right of the turret was in a dark grey outlined with a lighter grey. Various warning signs were written in light grey in bold fonts near heat exhausts and other no touch or stay away areas. The livery that tank crews adorned on their vehicles not yet applied as the crews had not been given control of the combat machines. Dropping her duffle bag at her feat she climbed up onto the deck of the Medussa and opened the drivers hatch and climbed inside. The close confines made it feel like a suit of armour encompassing her small frame. The seat felt comfortable and was pneumatically shock absorbed during rough all terrain operations, giving the driver a safer and much more comfortable ride as they drove the tank. Popping back out of the hatch she grinned. "Fits like a glove." She said as she climbed out of the Medussa. Samuel ran a hand over the tank, feeling the warmth of it, before he climbed up the side of the tank and slipped inside, coming to the same conclusion as Sgt Sheila Bellows before climbing out.  "Lot more comfortable than a Striker eh?" he said with a grin. "you got that right, although the striker is a good ride if you are doing city defence, bit of a bucking bitch going through rough terrain. Hovers like the pegassus or harrasser are decent enough, they at least have the speed and the pegassus has good striking weapons. The striker i like for long range bombardment. This though." Bellows said as she patted the tanks hull "This baby allows you to truly sneak and peak, although not alot of punch, it can engage at range and slink back into the night to find a new position to engage from." The intercom interrupted their conversation "All personnel report to the hangar deck 2 for in brief. 10 minutes. Bridge out." "Looks like we have to leave our babies and go to the brief." Sheila sighed as she tucked her duffle bag into the hatch of the Medussa Samuel nodded.  "Sounds good."  He left his neuro helmet and other gear inside the crew compartment and followed Sheila Bellows. The two tankers left the vehicle bays and made their way to the primary hangar. Bellows entered the main cargo bay and saw that quite a few personnel had already made it there. A few small groups of tankers were engaged in playful banter while others were discussing tactics or just making small talk. Finding a pallet of parts nearby, Sgt Sheila Bellows took a seat as her legs dangles over the cargo netting that secured the pallet of parts to the cargo deck. Minutes passed and the Main briefer entered the cargo bay. The tall sarcina dux walked in trailed by two of his command staff. Maj Ben Johanssen strode into the center of the cargo bay and motioned for the assembled warrior to gather round. "Good Morning, it is my pleasure to address the crews of the Medussa program. We are heading to the Warlock III System to support 3rd REF against ULTRA. This will be the programs first combat operation to shake out any details that have been missed during development. I Just wanted to get us all together and give you your assignments and training schedule for the next month. The crews have worked together for each vehicle but the unit has not been able to train that often, We have to make up for that during the trip to Warlock III." Riley said with slight hesitation The tall lanky tank commander gave the rest of the brief and gathered the lance commanders around him and gave a few minutes to them before departing. Thge tankers were given their berth assignments and were then dismissed till after they lifted off. It would be five days to the jump point and the training schedule was packed with plenty of sim time. Which was fine by Sheila as she wanted as much to do as possible, she hated waiting around with nothing to do. "So what is on your plate the first rotation of training Samuel?" Sgt Bellows asked energetically "Gunnery mostly," Samuel said casually, stretching and yawning from lack of sleep, but still practically thrumming with excitement.  "I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be our turret gunner, but they have to do a bit more testing to place us I'd imagine.  How bout you?" "Driver, its what i really excel at. Was top in my main class with armoured corps of the Cimeron Defence Force. They were unhappy to see me go into the BWI program but someone somewhere pulled some strings to get me into the Medussa program. I dont really care who, but if i ever get the chance to thank them for what they did i will be more than happy to do so and a few cases of whatever booze they want." Sgt Sheila Bellows said with jubilation coursing through her voice. "I know i have to work on tactics and gunnery, and quite a bit on comms, but i hope to be a commander of my own tank within the year. I might seem eager but i may as well go as far as i can now that i am about to finally be out amongst the stars and away from the old ramshackle work farm i grew up on.: Sgt Sheila Bellows scowled at the thought of the farm where abandoned children ended up and were put to work. She was well brought up and the kids and family were decent enough, she just never developed a knack or love or for that matter a care of anything agriculture based. She did he chores well enough and she had picked up on key things to know or look for with the livestock but she was more than happy to leave the country life for something more exciting. "Hey look, almost time for lift off, i should get to the transit station and strap in before we take off, I'll catch you later Samuel once we are safe to detach our transit harness. Turning away from Samuel Sgt Sheila Bellows made her way back through the well lit corridor leading to the vehicle bay. She was met by her two cremates, Wolf Scout Samira Dagrovana Takashi who was the vehicle commander and Wolf Scout Fiona Ward, the gunner of the Medussa. The three women had trained exclusively together for two months prior to the assignment to Warlock III. The Company had limited interaction with one another and that was why there was a cadre of elite scouts assigned to the Medussa program to allow a better intergration when the Medussas landed and linked up with the 3rd Rapid Expeditionary Force in just under two months time. Samuel waved a quick goodbye over his shoulder as he headed for his designated launch station.  "Later!"  He thought back on his childhood briefly as he went.  How he'd revered the legendary tankers and Mech warriors that protected Cimeron.  How he'd always dreamed of the stars.  Now, he was taking his first steps into legend. "Morning Sheila." Samira Dagrovana said with a small nod as the younger woman came into the vehicle bay. "Morning Samira, Morning Fiona. How goes it this fine day? Cant wait to get off world and out into the stars." Sgt Sheila Bellows Gushed. "Slow down lil lady, there is plenty of time to get out and into the ruckus." Fiona said as she slid down over the cargo that lay at the Medussas tracks. "One into the fray you will likely change your tune and want to be back on Cimeron, I know that my first combat mission i was as full of piss and vinegar as you are right now, but seeing your friends blood or even your own will change that bubbly mood in a heartbeat." Fiona frowned slightly. "I know i am green but im just glad to be leaving Cimeron. I am not a glory hound or want to go bounding into the jaws of the enemy to be a crusader and do noble deeds. I just want to experience life and i hold no allusions that life is full of puppy dog tails and rainbow bubblegum. I know life will and is cruel. But i need to get away from here and see things for myself. I wont do anything that amounts to much sitting in a barn milking cows or mucking out their manure." Sgt Sheila Bellows said with determination. "Looks like your heads screwed on right at least." Said Samira Dagrovana as she smiled slightly. "we will see how you handle the first bout of combat once it occurs. its our job to make sure you are as prepared for that as possible before our tracks hit the ground." "I want to learn as much as i can and i have been reading a lot of the books on tactics you both suggested that i read. Quite interesting stuff actually, nowhere near as dry as i thought it would be, at least it doesnt bore me which is a good sign right?" Sgt Sheila Bellows asked bright eyed. "If you dont fall asleep from those texts i guess you have some interest in them, i know i struggled to stay awake for more than 10 minutes of reading them, But i forced myself to read them and learn from what was there before me." Fiona replied "Im just glad i grew up in the BWR, my father was a tanker with the Demon wolves." "Now there would be an awesome assignment. Their the grand daddy of the Black WOlf Rangers. The starting point to what started the Brigade. Those starting days under the Bear would have been awesome no doubt. What i'd do to serve under the general back then." Sgt Sheila Bellows said enthusiastically. "What i'd do to serve under him now, that man is hot sister." Fiona growled like a cat on the prowl. "Uh huh, he could rock my world from now till the cows came home." Samira Dagrovana flushed slightly at the thought of the burly Brigade commander doing things only she knew she wanted done to her. "Now now my girls, lets not start my first days away from home getting ourselves worked up, although i admit i have had a few day dreams of him go through my mind." Sgt Sheila Bellows admitted with a flush "Ooh girl, i bet he has done a few things in your day dreams." Fiona cackled heartily. The intercom interupted their conversation. "All personnel this is the bridge, secure all items, we will be lifting off in ten minutes, i say again secure all items and prepare for burn in ten minutes, bridge out." "Ok girls, time to stop the chatter on the old man and get to our transit couches. We can continue this once we are secure from the lift off." Samira Dagrovana said as she hopped up and made her way to the transit seat located next to the tank. Sgt Sheila Bellows and Fiona did the same and were secure in their seat well before the one minute warning came. The engines warmed up and began their thrumming as the energies from the power plant spun the various equipment and feed systems up to shunt massive quantities of fuel to the combustion chambers. Lighting flicked as various systems drew more power from the fusion engine. The ship shook and ratted as the titanic forces of the engines were unleashed to force the 1200 ton ship spaceward to escape Cimerons gravity. Sgt Sheila Bellows's stomach lurched into her throat and she felt a chorus of butterflies well up in her belly. The unusual feeling scared her and exhilarated her at the same time. The forces enacting upon her forced her into her seat and she struggled to be comfortable, luckily she had tightened the harness in anticipation of what would be put upon her. fifteen minutes later the union had punched through the upper atmosphere of Cimeron and arrowed towards the Nadir Jump point where a Davion Jump ship was waiting to jump them the first four jumps deeper into davion territory on their way to the Lyran Alliance and to Warlock III. Sheila's butterflies subsided some as they broke through the gravity of Cimeron. Excitement filled her soul again and she felt giddy on finally being off of Cimeron Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 24 June 3099 Battlemech repair Yard 4th Crucis Lancers, 2nd Mech Battalion 3rd company Mech Warrior : Lt. Samuel Goodale 1300 Hrs All mechwarriors to your mechs orders uploading now.  I say again all mech warriors report to your mechs. Came the metallic feminine voice from the PA system.  Lt Goodale looked up at the speaker and threw down the book that he had been reading. 'An emergency scramble' he thought 'that's not good.' Jogging through the improvised barracks he entered the large warehouse that was housing his battalion and and he saw a flurry of activity as techs readied the war machines, and pilots clamouring into their cockpits. Arriving at his mech he was greeted by his technician, a young bright eyes petite redhead that had an unending energy and sarcastic mouth like no other he had met.  Morning Carla, is the mech ready?" "No sir, im just standing here on my own time waiting for you to come liven up my day. Of course shes ready. 'Jakatar' is as ready as she will ever be. Now that we sorted out thate PPC heat build up issue." Ok good." Lt Samuel Goodale said as he pulled off his combat coveralls and into his cooling suit. Now that they were being delivered to the main RCT's the warriors were getting a taste of what the old Star League had for its warriors. "Any idea whats going on?" Carla asked. "if you haven't noticed it's an  emergency scramble." Samuel Winked as he gave back a sarcastic retort "Touche Sir." Carla said as she flushed a slight red receiving the sarcasm back that she had just dished out. "I was going to ask you what you knew as the techs always seem to hear about what's going on before we do." "Usually our grapevine works quite well but not today." "Not today." Lt Goodale said as she ascended the gantry to climb into his wolfhound, pulling himself into the rear of the head through the open access hatch, he slid in and sat on his ejection seat, strapping himself in he then tended to the start-up sequence. The auxiliary power diverted to the fusion engine and initiated the fusion reaction. The machine hummed to life and the pre-set diagnostics quickly run through their algorithms. The female voice or 'Bitching Betty' came on and ran through the presets he wanted to hear, many pilots deactivated the warning system but he liked it as it gave a sense of someone else in the machine and not as cold and lifeless. "All systems online, running in the green.  Security phrase for release please." "The industrial revolution allowed us, for the first time, to start replacing human labour with machines, Vitalik Buterin." "Code accepted, Jakatar is all yours." Came the computers reply. The indicators of sensors and weapons came up on the HUD and showed green. Placing on his neuro helmet the fuzziness of the sensors clouded his mind momentarily as he relaxed and let them align with his mind. Looking at his lances he saw that half of them were online and others were showing their IFFs as they powered up.  Less than a minute later his company was up and running. Accepting the voice orders her listened to them as he carried out his checks. "Sit Rep, a large depot containing and housing as substantial portion of Little Richards Panzer Brigade has been located. Initial reports have concluded that they have amassed to conduct a raid against a series of outposts.  We are mobilizing in strength to attack them with their pants down.  If the reported composition of what has been brought together is true this will give the Capellans a telling blow for their main military forces and neutralizing an important resupply and repair capability.  I do not need to emphasize the need for a speedy advancement and engagement. Battalion Commands will form up at their designated points and link up with armour and infantry support.  2nd and 4rd Brigades will be filling in for defensive ops and support as required. Mech regiment and auxiliaries are priority for artillery and aerospace support. HQ Out." "Lance commanders time to head to Romeo Victor Sampson 3. Lets get the lead out ladies and gents." Lt said as he throttled forward and brou8ght his wolfhound out of the hanger, his lance mates formed up behind him as he took the lead position.  The other lances pulled out of their bays and 3rd lance took the recon lead as detailed by their standard operating procedures. Mobilizing rapidly from their areas the mech battalions gathered and set out to engage Little Richards Panzer Brigade. Spreading out with his company Lt sprinted forward with his mech warriors and formed the recon and initial skirmish element that the enemy armour would engage.  The 12 mechs ran  forward to get into contact with the enemy that was located in a wide open mountain valley. Cresting a hill the valley appeared quickly and he saw a wide winding river, the Shenshei, an emerald green river that flowed along the river. The skies were cloudless and a deep blue, a picture perfect day. "Primary objective is to secure the Bridge at point Zulu 7. We will be relieved by follow on armour forces and then we move north east to cut off the Denobi pass and cut off that route as an escape there are a lot of routes to have cut off and we cant cover them all.  We need to force Little Richards Panzer Brigade into an area where we can concentrate and smash them.  If they escape we wont likely have this opportunity again." Samuel said. Charlie lance I want you to break free head to the bridge. Report what you see." "Charlie heading to the objective, copy." The lance commander said and pulled her lance away from the slower mechs. Looking at his sensors, the readouts of dozens of contacts spread out and arrowed to their targets. Overhead aerospace assets were already in place and scouting the ground looking for targets of opportunity.  The 8 remaining mechs of his company kept apace with him as he kept his machine at full throttle running at just under 100 Km/h.  Crashing through the light forest, branches and leaves slapped against his canopy, and various disturbed flocks of birds exploded out of their nests as the formation of Davion mechs stormed through their tranquil forest homes. Charlie arrived at the bridge and were met with mobile gun emplacements, the 30 ton trailers had been put in place to defend the bridge.  The heavy gauss emplacements along with a  pair of LRM based trailers caused a bit of commotion as one of the lighter mechs in the lance was dropped as its leg was torn off and the remaining mechs were peppered by LRMs.  "Contact, charlie three is down, gun emplacements at the bridge, pulling back, heavy LRM fire coming from the objective. Heavy gauss emplacements." "Roger that Charlie Lead, piull back, keep eyes on objective, canm you extract Charlie 3?" "That's a negative, shes down close to the emplacements, right now her mech is hidden from the guns and is staying put. Unless infantry are deployed to support the bridge or seek her out she is staying in position." "Ok good, we are almost there.  Armour will be another twenty minutes out and we can wait that out if we need to. Make sure nothing tries to get to charlie three" Samuel said sternly. Getting to the bridge, the company of light mechs spread out to keep good visual on the bridge but a sinking feeling came onto him as a heavy lance of tanks emerged supported by infantry, they were going for the downed mech and they had the range to pound the downed pilot. 'Dammit sheila's screwed if we don't do something." Samuel thought. "HQ this is Dancer Lead. we have a downed mech at objective Zulu 7 request Aero support to engage heavy armour lance." "Fighters will be there in figures one Five mikes." Came the monotone male voice. "Affirmative HQ. 15 minutes" Samuel snapped back and changed back to his company net. " Alpha on me, Beta support we are heading in to get Charlie three. Air support is fifteen minutes out." Leading the charge Samuel targeted the left gun emplacement and fired his Heavy PPC, his lance mates fired their long range weapons that nibbled on the armour of the transportable trailer. The other wolfhound fired its Heavy PPC and both struck solidly on the immobile target.the heavy gauss rifle in the emplacement fired a silvery slug that tore into the ground before his feet. Not waiting for it to reload he fired his particle cannon and was rewqarded with the energy weapon penetrating the armour and striking the crew inside. "target the other emplacement. Now!" Samuel barked as he swiveled his torso and targeted the secon emplacement. Its gauss rifle shot out and struck his left arm, crippling it as it sparked and leaked coolant from the solid hit, the armour and internal structure of his arm winked black as it became a useless limb. 'Dammit' her cursed. "Charlie three get ready to get the hell out of your mech and back our way Bravo two, be ready to pick her up." The mechs closed on her position and gave her cover as she got out, engaging the heavy gauss emplacement the lance struck true and shattered it before it crippled another of his mechs.  Sheila scampered into the assassins cramped cockpit and slammed the cockpit rear access hatch as volleys of LRM's rained down upon them. Explosions rocked the light mechs but the weathered the hail and began withdrawing from the downed jenner. The heavy armour pulled back and took up hull down positions, then he saw the tanks, a pair of partisans with their rotating radar sensors.  "HQ this is dancer Lead we have extracted our pilot, call off air support as objective has anti air assets." "Copy Dancer Lead, calling off the air assets." Lrms continued to harry the light mech company as they withdrew out of range and took up holding positions to await the arrival of the armour column.  They didn't have long to wait as the Manticore company with attached infantry company arrived to secure the bridge. "Dancer Lead this is Thumper,  we have the objective in visual, request sitrep." "Roger Thumper lead, we have one mech down near objective, we have retrieved our pilot and all good.  There are 3 remaining emplacements that we have seen. 2 X heavy gauss gun trailers have been knocked out, 3 x lrm trailers are left.  There is a heavy platoon of armour, 2 x partisans and 2 x schreks." "Any infantry?" "None that we have detected, but I would wager a guess saying that they do.  They just havent shown themselves." "I suggest you jump over and do a recon for us, We will engage the armour and the emplacements to keep them occupied, then we will know more about whats on the other side of the river." "Will do Thumper.  Dancer lead out."  Samuel said as he briefed his warriors on the quick and dirty of what they would be accomplishing. Leaping across the slowly moving river, the 11 mechs sped to the rear looking for more Capellan forces as the armour company attacked the bridge. Their weapons striking the gun trailers with telling effect. The armour in position on the Capellan side laide down a blistering rate of return fire, knocking out 2 of the Davion Manticores. Getting ionto the rear of the enemy armour, Samuel and his mech warriors were able to find the weaker armour of the engine compartments and the partisans were burning as their onboard ammunition stores cooked off. The 2 remaining schreks surrendered along with a platoon of support infantry that were hunkered down in the light woods beside the bridge. The support company and infantry moved into position and relieved the mech company and took charge of the mech warrior that had been downed and called up a recovery team to retrieve the downed locust. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 24 June 3099 Armour holding Area Tango 4 1300 Hrs Armour : Maj Andy Leroux 4th Crucis Lancers, 23rd Armour Regiment, 3rd Battalion 2nd Company Main Attack Having left the security of the staging area. The 23rd Regiment sped towards their intended target, Little Richards Panzer Brigade. Maj Lerouux sat high up in the commanders hatch, his goggles covering his eyes to keep the dust and debris out of them as the tank trundled through the light woods. The heavy assault tanks made easy work pushing through the trees. the snap and crack of the small trees echoed out and into the surrounding meadows. Pressing as hard as they could to get into a supporting position the assault battalion was making good time as they neared their hold line. Looking at his display, the young major called up the topographics of the area, they were less than a kilometer away from their overwatch position. The dark earth churned up by the treads of three companies of armour and many birds flocked to the new worms readily available. "Bravo company take the left, charlie take up right flank. once in position we wait until the mechs attack then lend in our support. No current sensor contacts sound out if you see anything." "Hows the weapons gunner?" maj Leroux asked "All three cannons are up and ready to go no visible irregularities, nothing on the board to show anything wrong. Capacitors look good for full charge and all ammunition linkages are running smoothly." The gunner answered as she looked at her weapons status display. looking out of the cupola, Andy Leroux took in the lush canopy of the trees surrounding his tanks. The valley before him rolled gently for kilometers and the emerald river snaked lazily. The view was picturesque and had he not been sitting in a ninety five tone war machine he may have tranquil thoughts. Inhaling deeply he took in the freshly churned earth and the sweet aroma of blooming flowers that filled the trees. A small herd of deer walked by the assault tank, the young fawns playing with one another as they bed butted each other as they frolicked in the new dirt. Smiling a moment Leroux thought of a similar sight he had seen with his young daughter before he shipped out for the current campaign. His heart jumped a beat as he thought on his three children and his beloved wife. The Pulling out the letter she had penned and and slipped into his breast pocket before he slipped on his uniform after the last love making session they would have for quite some time, along with a picture of her and another of his three daughters. Dear Andrew. I know that you have to go away once more and that i may not see you scares me each and every day that you are away. I think of receiving the dreaded news as some officers come to the door and let me know that i will not see you again. I knew what i was getting into and i will not dwell on these fears in this letter. I just want to let you know of how proud i am of you and what you do. I know there are lots of wives that bitch and complain that their husband is away too often. I know there are times that i need you here and miss your dreadfully. I hope that wherever the regiment takes you that you stay safe. Now each of the girls have something they would like to write to you. [Handwriting changes to eldest daughter age 12] Dear Dad, Theresa here, i want you to know that i love you more than anything. I hope that you are safe where you are going and i will look after my sisters, Phyllis and Stephanie, as best i can while you are gone. I have made the basketball team and it will suck you not being here to watch my games but all i want is you home safe and sound. I hope that you are home for Christmas. Love you huge. [Phyllis, age 9] Hey day, love you and hope that you are well and come home soon. Mom said it will be a long time before you can come home. I dont like you being away but it is what you do in the army. Stay safe and come home soon. Love Phyllis. [Stephanie age 5] Daer Dad. I lov you alot and hope you com home soon. Teddy and i miss you. So my dear as you can see you have three beautiful ladies to come home to and be with. As well as a wife that misses you terribly. Please write often Love Samantha. Folding the missive he place the letters and the pictures back into the leather wallet he kept close to his heart. Sighing deeply he closed his eyes and thought of the last day he had played with his daughters in the nearby park of their apartment complex. He and Samantha had wanted a small homestead and their goal would be reached one day. 'One day Sam, we will have that acreage we so want.' Looking at the Heads up display on his helmet the step off time was almost upon them. "Gunner charge up the Gauss capacitors, driver get ready to head out. " Any ordered as he pulled down his goggles again after he had removed them to read his wife's letter. An audible tone growled in his ear when the timer reached 0. "Battalion Advance to overwatch position now." The driver released the brake and throttled forward and brought the ninety five ton machine up to its cruising speed. Traversing the next kilometer the battalion along with the remainder of the regiment chewed through the light underbrush and broke into view of the valley. Battle mechs surged forward and darted at full tilt into the valley and towards their intended targets. As the mechs advanced the call for the regiment to follow suit came over the radio. Leroux battalion was sent out first to secure two bridges, sending his 3rd company to secure the highway route1st and second companies headed over the three kilometer highway bridges and took up positions on the far end. Conventioonal fighters from the Capellans came out of nowhere and the light aircraft ploughed into the positions. The unpiloted Guardians each had a ton of explosives where the cockpit would be. two of his alacorns and three of the Heavy MML carriers exploded, their onboard munitions cooking off. Seeing a platoons worth of his tanks exploe in a matter of seconds he was enraged. "Goddamn it what the hell." He swore loudly over the radio "HQ this is Jango lead. We have just been attacked by unmanned Guardian drone, i have 3 tangos burning, no survivours, i want air cover here now." Leroux growled as his stomach rose up in his throat. "Understood Air cover on its way." Replied the controller at his regimental command center. The sensor operator saw a series of blips pop up on her screen. "Sir we have fast moving hovers coming up along the river." "All units, engage hovers when they appear i do not want them to approach, they may be booby trapped, engage with extreme prejudice, weapons free." Moments ag=fter he gave the order, 12 inbound hover cargo carriers came into view, they zig zagged in an attempt to avoid the fire that the assault battalion was throwing at them. Two of the closest vehicles exploded when gauss rounds tore through their light frontal armour and skittered along the water before sinking, extinguishing the burning fires that enveloped them. Other hover vehicles were peppered with LRM fire that tore into their fragile top armour. The Battalion poured on the fire as each of the enemy vehicles burst into flames or exploded. Less than a minute after the first appearance all had been dispatched. Another flight of Guardians came in low and tried for another score. "Guardians 3 oclock Engage them Now!!!"Leroux bellowed over the comms. The flight of six guardians came into view and were engaged with volleys of long and short range missles from the manticores and the Heavy MML carriers. The alacorns fired their gauss rifles and swatted two of the offensive flyers out of the sky sending the shattered airframes to the ground. Another flight of Guardians appeared and were engaged by aero forces of the 4th Lancers. The heavy slayers sent a blistering fusilade of laser fire as they struck the aircraft from the skies before leroux had even registered that more enemy fighters had entered the area. The slayers flew overhead and broke into pairs and circled at various altitudes to cover the bridge head. Looking over at the burning wrecks of his comrades, Looking over at the burning wrecks of his comrades, leroux felt the leather wallet near his heart and he placed his right hand over it and Gave a silent prayer to the heavens to bring him home safely. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 5 June 3099 Advance deployment zone 1300 Hrs Infantry Laser : Sgt Melony Henzelt 4th Crucis Lancers, 17th Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion, 1st Company Recon team 3 Having been sent forward with the rest of her company, Sgt Henzelt had found an ideal location to keep eyes on a small town that seemed to be rather busy with heavy trucks coming and going. Her Six man squad had been in position for a week at their current location of a rickety rundown old farmhouse, more a slanted shed that had a decent cellar that gave them protection from wind and rain although still quite drafty. The team had set up a rain guard and small wood stove with low profile emissions. The squad had set up during the nite and had caused quite the commotion with a startled pair of foxes that had bolted out the cellar likewise scaring the hell out of the young trooper that fell over backwards as the foxes ran between her legs. The infantry section was making light of that now. "Hey Saunders..." "I dont wanna hear it Mathews, stow it." "When do you have to dance like a fox? When youre doing the fox trot." Mathews let out a long chuckle. "Dude, i said stop it with the damn fox jokes." Saunders said as he threw his canteen at the older man. Catching the canteen Mathews Nodded. "Thanks Mate, i needed a drink." Then tossed the canteen back to the young private. "Hey Saunders..." Mathews said as he smiled a wide toothy grin "Grrrr." Saunders grumbled not making eye contact. "Did you hear about the shapely woman that saw medussa? Shes a stone cold fox." Mathews shot out. Stepping into the cellar Sgt Henzelt looked at Mathews with a sour scowl on her face "Id suggest that you stop with the idiotic jokes, especially when we are on an observation post and the less nonsensical noise or gabbing we do the better it is for not giving away our position." "Yes Sgt." Mathews said as his face reddened from the admonishment. "Saunders with me, Mathews take Jimminez and go to the creek and fetch water. Then get some food going." Henzelt said as she turned to leave Mathews spoke under his breath but not quoetly enough "Womans work." "Di you just say womand work Mathews." Henzelt said as she crossed the dirt floor and jabbed her fist into the mans solar plexis. "I suggest you be careful with what you say mister, some people might take offence to what you say." "Yes Sgt." Mathews said as he struggled to take air into his deflated lungs. "If you have an issue with me you best address it now and not later, either you follow my orders and the way i do things or i can easily have you transferred out, maybe back to your old platoon?" She warned Not wanting to go back to the platoon he had left, Mathews nodded slowly knowing that the bad blood he left behind was not worth angering his new Sgt enough to expel him from where he was. "Im good Sgt, my apologies on my narrow minded thought." "Alrighty then, all good, i dont want to have to address this issue again." Henzelt said as she placed on a light hat and pulled on her combat jacket and slung her small patroll pack over her shoulders. "You won't." Mathews said as he picked up the ten liter water jug. Leaving the dilapidated cellar, Henzelt and the young private left to go to their observation position and gather what passive intel they could. Five minutes of walking had them arrive at a thicket overlooking the town, slinking down and crawling into their hidden position, the two women took up their over watch position and looked through their range finder binos and watched as towns occupants busied themselves with loading and offloading transport trucks. A Maglev train came into view as it slowed and came to a halt at the station, 3 rail cars were detached from the long train and diverted into a side train holding yard. 'What do we have here' Henzelt ased herself. The three boxcars had their doors opened and crates were begun to be offloaded with a pair of loader mechs. 'Curious.' She thought as she looked on at the activity. A loader mech stepped back and a large crate toppled and crashed to the ground, splitting open it spilled its contents. The contents were hard to see and she thought about warheads for missiles, zooming in she looked at the small objects. "Heh, pineapples. Nothing much there to report eh Saunders?" From the other cars Fa Shih battle suits began to walk out of the cars. 'Bingo, thats some solid confirmation of things going on." Saunders said quietly. "Seems we have found some of the cappies war stock, if they are offloading that here, they may be preparing to do attacks, getting bolder to move this close. But they may be just a scout unit. The maglev train detached the remainder of the cars and moved forward to attach a series of open flatbeds and slowly picked up speed to return from where it had come from. The 100 cars that were left soldiers and weapons began coming out of passenger cars and more battle armoured suits from box cars came into view. "Well id say that more than a recon force." Henzelt chuckled slightly as she recorded the information of troops and equipment she witnessed being of loaded. Over the next few hours the train off loaded its contents and a full regiment of light infantry and a battalion of battle armour had disembarked. Another train came into view hauling a long line of tarped vehicles on open topped flat bed rail cars. "Seems we have hit the mother load here eh?" Henzelt looked over to Saunders. "Head back to the cellar and send a microburst via satellite about what we have seen so far, i will follow up with more as i take down the information." Henzelt directed as she continued on watching the un-tarping of the flatbed cars. Saunders slowly slinked away and went back to the overgrown farmhouse that had long ago been forgotten. Sending the microburst the transmission was intercepted by an orbiting Davion Sneaksat which instantly relayed the info to the 4th Crucis Lancers Main Intel cell. The priority message was sent to an operator, upon reading the dispatch the operator notified his duty watch supervisor. "Sir, have what looks to be the break we have been waiting for." Turning around the Major raised his eyebrow. "Do tell." "A squad from the 17th has reported large numbers of troops and equipment being off loaded at a town called.... " showing the missive to his controller and pointing to the name 'Shuwhe' "This town sir, so far the count is one regiment if infantry, and a battalion of battle armour, a second train came in with flatbeds, assuming that is armour and other support. the squad commander wanted us to get the intel soonest and is compiling more information to send out." "Keep your eyes on that monitior and let me know as soon as you get any word from that observation post. Ill deliver this information to the Combat Team commander first Hand." The duty officer left the room and went down the hall and entered the Generals Office. "Ma'am sorry to barge in but i think we have what we need to change this conflict." Looking up from her computer the General Smiled slightly as she pulled off her reading glasses. "Well that sounds promising, lets see what you have." ******** Still watching the unloading operations that the Capellans were conducting, Pte Saunders slid in beside her Sgt. "Hey Sarge, message sent HQ is awaiting more dispositions of what you find when able." Looks like this train should be unloaded in the next hour. Heavy armour like po's and Po Mk II's and something is in that warehouse, frikking big, i only saw it momentarily, the beast is a super heavy is my guess. It was backing up into the warehouse and i only saw the front end. I haven't seen anything like it before. Id like to go take a look, but theres too much damn activity around here. We will designate that warehouse for special treatment if we can later. Ill forward what i have to HQ and let them deal with how they wanna go about it. Thy'll likely just tos a couple 2000 poundrs on the warehouse and be done with it." Henzelt said as she put her binocs down. Pulling out an energy bar henzelt unwrapped the fruit and nut granola bar and took a bite and chewed slowly the bar was good for energy but low on taste. Concentrating on the town and the activities, she didnt pay attention to the bland paste in her mouth. "Saunders, what time is it?" "Its 1830 hrs sarge." "Hmm, been here 8 hrs, damn, im getting stiff. Ok here take the nocs and keep track of what you see, the trains almost done and..." Henzelt stopped as she spotted another train coming in. "well, lookks like you have your next task to complete, track what comes off that train, i need to stretch out a bit and think on some things." "Ok sarge," Saunders said as she took the electronic binoculars. Slipping out of the forward observation point, Henzelt left the young Private and walked in the woods to stretch out her cramped muscles. Keeping a watchful eye out for any other people Henzelt cleared he mind and thoughts. With over a regiment of infantry now in place and a regiment or armour the Capellans would be able to strike into the 5ths advance bases and do some serious damage, luckily her warning had gone out and the Combat team would be planning its next mission. Returning to the observation point Henzelt took up position beside saunders. "So what else came in?" Trembling slightly saunders passed the binocs over to her sergeant. Henzelt took them from the visibly shaken private. Looking at the cargo crates she saw what had spooked the young soldier. "Fuck me." was all henzelt said as she saw the biological sign emblazoned upon the exterior. "Antes just been upped, hardcore. This has to get to the Upper echelon ASAP." The replacements for her and Saunders arrived just and Henzelt was going to head back to the main encampment for her squad. "Mathews, the situation is not good, the Cappies are off loading biologicals. I need to get this back to HQ now." "Shit, really? Thats fucked Sarge, they want to use this shit on us?" "They want us off world and this would be that grand ticket to force us off if deployed, its our job to not let that happen." Henzelt said then she and saunders crept away then hurried back to the squad base camp. Sending the message she sat down and closed her eyes. 'im getting to old for this shit' she thought to herself. Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 24 June 3099 Landers City Aero port 1855 Hrs VTOL Yellow Jacket : Capt. Fiona Ryder 4th Crucis Lancers, 24th Armour Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Squadron Sitting in the common room, Capt Ryder and her gunship crews watched a movie eating popcorn and taking it easy as they had just returned from a long escort mission and had completed their debrief. technicians were busy refuelling and checking the VTOLs. Leaning back in the comfortable chair, she felt her tense muscles relax as the 'Life Sucking chair' did its magic on her and she felt her eyes becoming heavy Her eyes snapped open as a warning scramble klaxxon tore through the barracks, its warble echoing angrily through the rooms and hangar. "All crews to your aircraft, scramble, scramble, scramble. Order uploading to your aircraft. I say again. all crews to your aircraft, priority mission." Fiona leapt forward and grabbed her flight bag, Running to the yellow jacket the crew had just removed the fuel line. "Hows the beast?" She asked as she stopped by the technician. "Shes all ready, we just finished refueling and good for flight Ma'am." Nodding her thanks she climbed into the open cockpit and ran through her pre-checks as she strapped into her seat. Plugging in her communications line she then placed her helmet on and looked around checking the heads up display. All her machines systems flashed green. The mission profile flashed on her display and she listened to the brief. "All Lancers have been mobilized, The capellans have mobilized a large force in the Fen Suan Valley in likely attempts to strike at our forward operating bases. Advance recon elements are in position and have determined that there are biologicals being off loaded, We are doing a pre-emptive strike to ensure those weapons do not get dispersed. Step off time 1910 hrs." "Ok twitch, things just got ugly, Cappies have bios." Fiona said as she spoke to her co pilot "Damn." Was all he said as he continued with his prechecks. "ALl systems are go Fiona, lets get airborne." "Ground this is Wasp One, flight of six, Permission to Take off?" "Wasp flight of six you are good for take off. Be aware of heavy traffic on runway one one three. Heavies taking off." The traffic controller replied indicating flights of heavy aerospace fighters taking off "Heavies on runway one one three copy. Wasp flight departing." Fiona said as she brought he gunship airborne, trailing behind her the other 5 VTOLs rose up in succession and took their positions as usual. The ground below turned from Urban to agriculture quickly, already many companies of tanks and battle mechs had mustered and were now advancing on the valley. The air boss cam over the comms. "Wasp flight, divert to Position Juliet three, coordinates sent. Hold and cover advanvce of 18th Infantry." "Wasp flight diverting to juliet three, support 18th Copy." Fiona replied and banked the VTOL to head to the coordinates, her flight followed suit. flying low to the ground the VTOLs took position as the heavy tracked armoured personnel carriers rumbled forward out of their holding area. spreading out into spear head formations the 18th infantry drove forward to the valley, ploughing through the light woods the APCs broke through to the valley beyond. A dug in company of LRM carriers and infantry opened up belching forth a wall of long Range missiles that took out two armoured pwersonnel carriers in the opening salvo. "Wasp flight, LRM carriers, engae weapons free." Fiona said as she brought the VTOL into a hover just above the trees below her. "Engage Twitch, Ill keep an eye out and maintain position." "ENgaging weapon is mine." Twitch said as he traversed the gauss rifle slightly and took aim upon an LRM carrier. Firing the heavy weapon a Nickel Ferrous round spat out of the massive guns maw and the resounding crack as the round broke the sound barrier rolled along the countryside, Birds shot out of the trees from the shock waves and into the air. A small flock of fowl flew into the rotors and their ruined forms splattered against the canopy. streaks of bio mass ran down t he side of the reinforced ferro glass. "Gah, thats gonna be messy to clean." Fiona said as she scowled. A few birds were ingested through the engines side hull intakes. Heat fluctuations shot up as the turbines pulverized the hapless birds. Yellow cautions winked on but did nit turn red, which would have been bad. "Heat spike on number two." Fiona said as she kept an eye on the warnings. Moments later the cautions disappeared and Fiona relaxed a degree. "Heats normal." The gauss rifles capacitors recharged and Twitch dispatched another round at the LRM carrier, striking deep into the machine the carrier fell silent as the kinetic energy neutralized the crew inside. "LRM carrier down, engaging new target." Twitch said as he brought the targeting reticle onto another LRM carrier. Firing another round it streaked into the left side track, shattering the missile carriers left track. A missile lock blared into her earpiece and Fiona Dispatched her chaff and flare dispensers to break the missiles tracking. A small explosion rocked the heavily armoured VTOL. Other explosions rippled along the side and undercarriage as man portable rockets arrowed at the gunship from below, coming about the yellow jacket entered another small salvo this time due to the position they struck up into the side and canopy. The windshield shattered and imploded from a missile. Air swirled around the cockpit. "twitch...Twitch you ok?" Fiona asked as she saw her copilots head slump forward. "Twitch, dammit twitch answer me." She yelled out, she heard a dull moan from him telling her that for now he was still alive but unconscious. "Wasp one hit, cockpit breached returning to base, wasp two you have the lead." "Affirmative Wasp one, i have the lead." Came the reply from her wingman. "Good luck." Fiona brought her machine about and sped towards the base, keeping the speed as high as she could without fearing injuring her co pilot. "Ground this is Wasp One, RTB now, cockpit breached, request emergency clearance to land and medical on standby upon return." Fiona said as she kept her mind focused on flying and not her friend and co pilot. "Wasp one you are cleared for pad three, medical will be there upon arrival, fire fighters on standby." the female ground controller replied as she cleared the airspace for the arrival of the damaged aircraft. bringing the machine in Fiona landed and quickly unfastened her restraints and undogged the canopy, rescue workers and technicians opened the cockpit and quickly worked on her stricken co pilot. "Is he ok?" She asked with grave concern. A rescue tech placed a hand on her arm, "We have him, please stand back so we can get him out." Her heart racing and the adrenaline pumping her vision clouded as tears welled up. 'Twitch you pull through.' she whispered. The stretcher with her friend was loaded into an ambulance and accelerated away as the siren wailed and the lights flashed crimson. She looked into the front cockpit and saw all the blood, she fet weak and fell into her seat. 'So much blood.' she said quietly Name : Sigourney Frum Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit St Loris 1 June 3099 1900 Hrs Battle Armour: Cpl Heather Locke Black Wolf Rangers Mercenary Unit, 1st Ranger Battle Armour Battalion, 2nd Company The mess hall was crowded and the battalion was eating together to celebrate a few promotions and to ring in a few births that had been announced as the deployed battalion received news from Cimeron on two new baby girls. "So with that being said. I would like to congraulate Sgt Stevens and O'reilly on the new additions to their families." Col Frum said as she raised a glass of water and gave the new fathers a toast. "All personnel, report to battle armour bays, combat mission orders to be given to company commanders from Combat team commander in five minutes." The battalion almost stood as one and hurried out the mess hall and each sprinted to their respective battle suit. Hurriedly donning their suits Col Frum and her commanders went to the briefing room where the display already had the Combat Team commander in screen. "Evening General, whats the bad news?" "Ah Sigourney, yes, it is pretty dire news and time is of the essence. The Capellans have been discovered massing in the Shen Wan valley area, a recon team located them but also unearthed that they have biologicals. And we need to neutralize them before they ship out those warheads." "My battalion will be ready in under twenty minutes we will drop on the train depot and secure it if we cannot then we will destroy it Have your fighters load up inferno rounds, if we fail. firebomb the area." Frum said with a stern face. "Good hunting Sigourney, good luck." Getting to her battle suit, frum climbed into her grenadier and led her battalion to the six idling Zugvogels on the tarmac. The battle armoured troops stomped up the boarding ramps and were secured into hard points along the aircraft internal fuselage. The ramps closed and the sig large transports taxied and took off. Minutes later the drop zone was in sight, ramps opened and three companies of determined Black Wolf Rangers jumped into the heart of the Capellan forces. Engaging her parafoil, Cpl Locke brought her suit in line with her squad mates, this time staying with the formation, the importance of this mission heavily reinforced upon her as the masses of Capellan forces arrayed in the outer defences of the town. As another train was quickly being offloaded with more combat vehicles. The Capelland knew they were discovered, their gamble of surprise blown, they were digging in and preparing for a colossal fight against the 4th Crucis Lancers. Landing with a thud, Heather along with her Platoon spread out and began engaging infantry that had stormed out of a nearby hotel turned barracks. Light and heavy small arms fire erupted angrily striking at her and her comrades. Engaging with their SMG's and magshots, the platoon of Infiltrator MK II's dished out death with a vengeance. the heavier companies came down and engaged with their heavy short range ordnance. The grenadiers stormed forth, their SRM packs disgorging swarms of short range missiles that tore into armoured vehicles and hardened emplacements. Capellan light infantry staggered back under the ferocity of the Black WOlf Rangers, their zombie bear motifs snarling as they tore into the enemy ranks, darkness began to fall, and the light current that illuminated the outer skin made the ghostly figures dimly luminescent. Caleppans began radioing in that demons were striking and whole platoons began falling back as the battle armour battalion spread out. Cpl Locke dashed forward with her squad as they spotted the main shipment that they had been tasked to locate. "Sarge, the bio weapons are right over here." Locke said as she stopped by a large pile of Crates with the bio sign on them. "OK, good, we know where they are, hopefully none have been shipped away." dropping off the squad net, the Older man radioed up the chain to Colo Frum. "Ma'am we have the bios, in my location next to the rails, have no idea how much should be here, but as is its a hefty pile. We have heavy fire coming in, we are spreading out so they dont hit the stockpile." "All rangers, converge on charlie company's position, secure the area, nothing gets in and nothing gets out." Frum ordered as she brought her Grenadier into a trot, a light galleon tank popped out and fired its small side lasers that struck in front of Frums suit, Her fang mates were quick to reply with firing their small lasers, the concentrated lasers slagged the armour of the light tank. Stepping forward Frum fired a salvo of SRM's that struck true and deep into the side of the galleon. Exploding inside the missiles tore through metal and flesh alike, the vehicle trundled to a halt as it ran into a building, its engine edling roughly but no humans left to operate it. Bypassing the non threat, Frum along with the heavu companies converged on the position being guarded by charlie company. "Bravo, take the north sector 12 to four oclock. charlie take four to 8 and alpha with me will take 8 to 12, spread out 300 meters, give us a barrier between the Capellans and thes bad boys." Colonel Frum said as she led her command platoon away from the munitions and towards a pair of armoured personnel carriers that lurched to a halt and began disgourging their infantry. Laying down a blistering array of SMG fire at the infantry, Frum and her companions lobbed a full salvo into the massed infantry, The SRMs detonated and mowed into the infantry, dozens of enemy soldiers were fragged as the explosives detonated angrily amongst them. Heavy armour churned into the fight adding their heavier weapons to the fray. A few of her battle suits winked out as the telling fire of the Little Rangers Panzer Brigade tore into her forces. "Rangers hold your ground. These munitions will not fall into capellan hands." Frum barked over her command net. Volley upon Volley of SRMs from her grenadiers and LRM from her Hauberks arced forward and tore into anything that presented itself. Firing her last salvo, Frum charged an enemy APC that was immobilized, attacking from the side she jammed her SMG into the side and fired through a gun port, the occupants unable to dodge the bullets were riddled with rounds and the vehicle became dormant. Reports of ammo bins running dry began coming in. Hand to hand fighting was more furious as the Rangers tore into infantry formations. "Lancer Command, Wolf Lead, ammo danger low, engaging in hand to hand, need support if you have any." Hearing the call of support units closest to the Rangers responded, Breaking through Capellan lines elements of the 4th Lancers tore into and smashed aside their fores. 4th Crucis Lancers, 2nd Mech Battalion 3rd company Lt. Samuel Goodale Brought his mech company into the town from a nearby Pass having just been relieved by a battalion of infantry from the 19th Infantry Regiment. His remaining 9 mechs he charged into the town to lend support to the beleagured Rangers. His light mechs scattering the light infantry, Linking up with charlie company his mechs stood side by side the rangers and their Infiltrator MK II's. Heavy resistence from the Capellans struck at his mechs and their armour began to become thread bare. Armour : Maj Andy Leroux 4th Crucis Lancers, 23rd Armour Regiment, 3rd Battalion 2nd Company "Battalion, combat charge, The Rangers need support and thats what we are going to do. Forward NOW!!" Maj Leroux bellowed into his command net, his remaining tanks although slow, his alacorns and Heavy MML carriers scythed through the lighter tanks of Little Richards Panzer Brigade. His Lighter Manticores protected his rear and flanks from enemy counter attacks. Circling the warehouses the Rangers were hunkered down in, The assault armour struck like Thors hammer at any for that dared show its head. Infantry Laser : Sgt Melony Henzelt 4th Crucis Lancers, 17th Infantry Regiment 1st Battalion, 1st Company Looking on from her position Sgt Henzelt called in Artillery support for the Rangers as she could see enemy movement through out the town. Hammer this is one echo three three, request fire mission, 5 rounds HE grid one seven niner niner three one one two fower." "Echo three three confirmed fire mission en route." The fire controller said as she gave the order for her long toms to engage. Five rounds slammed into a company of infantry and support Po II's. the high explosive rounds sent a po spinning into a building crumpling the side armour as it was struck directly. VTOL Yellow Jacket : Capt. Fiona Ryder 4th Crucis Lancers, 24th Armour Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Squadron "Wasp Flight of five engaging as air support for Rangers at position Tango Niner three." Lt Walters said as she gave orders for the yellow jackets to cover the north approach and alpha company of the Rangers. staying at roof top, the yellow jackets hovered and sent their gauss rounds into the armoured hides of a platoon of heavy tanks. The Manticores blossomed as they exploded and their internal ammunition bins detonated and their fuel reserves sparked up. With the sudden appearance of Lancers shoring up her ranks Colonel Frum orchestrated the Defence of the area as more Lancer formations tore angrily into the dwindling Capellan formation. Less than two hours later the town was theirs and all capellan forces had been killed captured and a few high tailing it out of the valley. Sweat coursed down her brow and Frum opened up her helmet visor to let in the night air. The sun had set and the towns lights had been knocked out but multitudes of vehicles lay burning as well as buildings. The night sky flickered from the fires and smoke boiled upwards into the heavens. A telling blow had been delivered to Capellans and Little Richards Panzer Brigage. The world would slowly come under Davion Rule now that the major defenses had been crushed. Name : Sigourney Frum. Rank : Primus Sarcina Rector Call Sign : ' Anaba - She who returns from War : Ojibwa ' Assignment : Grenadier Battle Armour 1st Growl, Striker Pack, Alpha Company 'Ayas' Commanding Officer 1st Rangers Battle Armour Battalion Nic name : Windigos Black Wolf Ranger’s Mercenary Unit