Forward staging camp,
Kodiak Point.
Deep within the
claustrophobic confines of the Forge Bears Ancient bastion torch light dances
and plays across the walls.In the dim
light a hunched figure traces his fingers over the minute runic script
painstakingly etched into every wall of this catacomb. Untold generations of knowledge, proverbs and
insights, priceless relics of Karbarren culture that the Regent has tried to
erase.
To destroy a people’s
culture, their history, to subjugate the broken civilian population.These are the works of a monstrous
personality. Ferret sighs and
straightens his stiff back from examining the script.
“I just pray that we
can protect the legacy that remains here.” He mumbles to himself as he walks stiff
legged to another bulkhead section, fingers lightly gliding over the wall.
A jolt of energy leaps
from the wall to his fingers, throwing him hard into the opposite wall of the
tunnel, where he crumples sliding to the floor. Vision swimming, Ferret gingerly struggles to lift himself up into a
sitting position as waves of nausea wrack his body.He barely has time to open his helmet before
he is violently sick over himself. Spasms grip him as he continues to empty he stomach until he is dry
heaving uncontrollably. Sobbing in pain,
he howls for help between each round of muscle tearing cramps.
Through tear lined
eyes, he sees a figure clank towards him. With a swift movement, the figure
single handedly lifts him off the floor by the neck, feet dangling.The figure speaks in a language that Ferret
should not, could not possibly understand. Yet the meaning is not lost on him…
“This knowledge is not
for you”…
Vision tunnels as the
pressure on his neck increases, Ferret slides into unconsciousness.
In a makeshift field
hospital, a stern imposing figure stands over Ferrets fold out crib bed.
“Where was he found
and how is his condition?” Xander enquires, his deep voice and body
language conveying a message of irritation and anger.
“I’m sorry sir, I
don’t what happened. One of the security
patrols found him in the maintenance catacombs.”The Medic officer responds nervously.
“He’s not in great
condition, but he will recover. From the
burn marks on his gloves and boots, I would say that he received one hell of an
electric shock. But these bruises around
his throat, well that gives the impression that he may have been assaulted!”
“Acknowledged, that is
a valid assessment Micronian. His
recovery time, I gather, will exclude him from being effective in the planned
assault?”Xander’s expression remains
guarded, but the tension radiating from his stance speaks of undertones of
irritation.
“See to him, do what
you can to aid his recovery.” Keying
into the secure local radio comms channel, larger and more frequent security
patrols are organised in short order.Then keying the radio to the command only group…
“ Hellion One , this is
Two Step Actual .”
“ Two Step Actual , this
is Hellion One . The store is open for
business and we have acquired labour hire for any additional manning that you
may require.” Jackie V , responds pleasantly, but professionally.This war is molding her into an efficient
Communications officer.
“ Hellion One , stand by
for my purchase order…” Xander responds,
musing to himself.I’m one team member
down, what assets do I need to complete my mission…?
Atop Bear Mountain
A strong breeze, cuts
across the top of Bear Mountain. The last of the smoke is snatched away from
the smouldering remains of the four Invid Inorganic Cougars that attacked the
group, scattering the metallic crystal fragments. Xander performs a quick head count and moves
from person to person checking on their condition. Sean looks to have taken the worst of the
damage with great rents in his armored carapace, thankfully none of the damage
has caused the suit to lose integrity, life support systems are still active and Sean has not been injured. “Get down, find cover”.
Xavior yells over the squad radio as he ducks under an overhanging rock face.Jones sprints over and helps drag a shocked
Sean into the cover of a rocky crevasse. Moments later a detachment of Inorganic Garn fly
overhead continuing their patrol sweep, with luck oblivious to your presence.
Cautiously the members
of the team crawl out of hiding, the group pull out their binoculars and survey
the landscape that stretches out before them. The rugged volcanic mountainous terrain and deep ravines create many
blind spots. Perhaps these could be of use to get closer, alternately they may
represent “kill zones” for enemy patrols.
Industrial sounds
reverberate in distorted fashion off the mountains, though there is no
disguising the muffle of heavy mining equipment and the thump of explosive
blasting. Choking plumes of dust and
debris sporadically blast into the polluted sky, raining down on the
landscape. Stunted, twisted, plant life
fights for survival, both against the effects of industrial pollution and the sulphurous
gasses venting from the mountain range.
Jones gasps and
quietly draws your attention to a visual reference point.
“My 12, distance maybe
5 miles.Reference mountain, second
peak.”
An enormous hive
structure sits perched atop the peak, overlooking a valley that you can not
see. Sensor probes anchoring themselves
into the rock face, tower above the structure while venting sulphurous plumes fro the mountain itself intermittently
hide the structure. You can not make them out from this distance, however dark
shapes swarm and patrol the airspace above the hive.
A hissing crack rises
above all other noise, a beam of azure light spears up from the ground,
piercing the smog laden, poluted clouds.Followed by another and another.Your head set communications glitch, static and white noise blasts from
your head sets.
“Routing to alternate
Satalite…..Searching…….Searching……”
The communications
technician deep within the Karbarren bastion wrestles with the system as he
tries to re-establish contact.The group
waits tensely as the moment stretches out, finally he confirms that he has
managed to relink with one of the orbital satellites that the UEEF have managed
to seed the planet with.
“ Two Step Actual , this
is Two Step Chatter Box , can confirm that we have just lost 3 nodes.”
Three shots, three
direct hits against the forces satellites communication assets. That represents a significant loss of coverage
and speaks volumes as to the efficiency of their ground targeting systems. While the UEEF maintains air superiority
across the majority of the planet, the far-reaching air defense congregated
within this location must surely permit the Invid a degree of freedom to
operate relatively unhindered.
Moderately steep volcanic
mountain peaks, deep valleys and the absence of any ground cover plants makes
the topsoil quite loose.The team agrees
that this may represent a piloting challenge to the use of Larger Mecha.The Karbarren Tanks are an unknown quantity,
little data remains as to their operating characteristics or speed, the fresh
Karbarren troops would have to learn how best to utilize them on the fly.
The Karbarren pilots
believe that the six-legged design may offer more stability for traversing the
terrain ( six legs are better than only two, pretty simple math Hoomun ). They have been examining the tanks in detail
and believe the armour to provide moderately protection against invid weaponry,
however perhaps the most favorable discovery is that the large bore cannons
appear to be designed for both direct and indirect fire.The issue will be manufacturing enough
Sekitan artillery rounds for the machines that you are able to field.
Collectively the group agree that far more intelligence
is required before a workable plan can be put in place. What type of forces do you face, where are
they, where are the sentries located?Perhaps more disconcertingly, where are the Karbarren prisoners being held
and how best to mount an effective rescue?
