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Messages - Operative13

Pages: 1 ... 77 78 [79] 80 81 ... 113
1171
MR Pub / Re: You raff you ruse. (warning: may contain ecchi)
« on: December 01, 2015, 05:56:36 PM »

1172
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 25, 2015, 01:08:11 AM »
What I can do is send you the one we have now to help give a general guideline for the fight later on, then send a revised version if we ever get to it. That way, we don't totally leave you in the dark about what the course of action our characters would take.  ;)

Depending on what happens in the story, we'll probably devise a new guideline for that instance, but for now it's basically an info dump if that's alright with you  :-\

1173
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 25, 2015, 12:52:11 AM »
Oh crap! Did we miss the deadline!?  :o

I was still waiting on Vacant's reply whether we should go with the strategy we laid out or not...

Should I send what we have anyway, or should we start formulating new tactics?  :unsure:

1174
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 20, 2015, 01:42:14 PM »
Ah, so she won't actually encounter the Corruption during transport. Somehow I had this thought that the reinforcements were dropping in the heat of battle. Kinda like Iwo Jima or D-Day... hehehe  :ninja:

I believe Option 1 and Option 2 are out of the question, since there's little to no chance Team 2 is going to last long against "Doom Laser Man"  :sure:

That leaves Option 3, which I could possibly describe as an Escort Mission, and Option 4, which is more like a Defend the Objective mission.

I'm willing to put my bet on Option 4, since it's much harder to protect 2 objectives simultaneously than it is to defend 1. We still have to destroy the Corruption anyway, so the less risk, the better.  :-\ That and the fact Davik is likely not going to allow Maygani to walk away with Hassigo's essence without a fight.  :unsure:

1175
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 20, 2015, 12:02:40 PM »
Then it's down to three options, eh?  :hmm: Aw nuts. I foresee much fodder to be had  :-X

1176
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 20, 2015, 11:24:53 AM »
Send with aid. Ideally they could crush the opposition and THEN retrieve the essence. That's my vote in any case !

Shouldn't it be the "Don't Send Her, Just Send Aid" option then? I believe the "Send Her With Aid" option means they're going in together, before they actually defeat the Corruption. Remember, this is the guy that can one-shot everyone regardless of their abilities, so having her go with us before we even subdue the threat would be risky.  :sure:

1177
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 20, 2015, 09:15:53 AM »
Ah, but you're forgetting one important aspect laid out in both Daina's and Owen's abilities, and that's their scope mounts and rifle grenades that I've included since the increased move limit from the last MR Project (Eliza and Christiana also possess scope mounts). They could be miles away from visible range and still hit a target dead-on (Eliza is the best shooter out of the four, able to strike from afar without the need for a scope)!  ;D

Either way, we can simply assume that no one is safe from that Corruption, and it's effectively a sudden-death match where the slightest damage can get you killed. Therefore, you don't want to use slow and heavy heroes like Christiana to engage that type of Corruption. You want fast, mobile, and evasive heroes like Eliza or Daina to attack it. By far, they have the longest striking distance out of anyone else (The Horizon Expedition Team rivals them in that respect) so they should be relatively safe from any kind of ranged attack. Their booby traps also serve as a passive weapon. If the Corruption wants to find where they're hiding, he's going to have to wade through a whole lot of surprises  ;)

With that considered, perhaps we should withdraw Team 2 and have the Legionnaires handle that Corruption. To compensate, we'll send those heroes over to the other realities where their skills can be more effective in taking out strong-headed opponents like the ones in Reality 3 or 4. We can't risk heroes that lack a long range attack engage a Corruption that can insta-kill anyone if they're too close. That'll take far too many casualties, in my view.  :hmm:

1178
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 20, 2015, 08:47:08 AM »
Corporal Daina Allens and Private Owen Harport shall rally to the cause of their fellow comrades! By themselves, they can do quite a bit of damages, but together, the Legion of Terra is a force to be reckoned with!  ;) Strength in Numbers, my fellows! I've been stressing how much you need to put those guys in the same group for good reason  :ninja: They are elite soldiers of the Empire! They're trained to fight as a combined unit, not a lone gunman, so the more Legionnaires you have in the same battle, the more effective they fight.

1179
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 20, 2015, 06:31:37 AM »
Is... Is Christiana really that bitchy?  :ohmy: I thought she was supposed to be this strange, eccentric, overly cheerful and happy-go-lucky girl that friendly with just about everyone! Like Haruhi Suzumiya, or the great Kongou! (Burning Love!  :heart: ) :confused: What happened Christy!? Out of everyone, the last person I expected to set that Corruption off by using outlandish remarks would be you!

*ahem*  :push:

In other news, I suggest we do not send Maygani to retrieve Hassigo's essence until the Corruption is destroyed. On this note, the the team fighting the Corruption in Reality 2 should be refreshed with the reserves held in Jahki's realm. The Corruption has to be destroyed at all cost, or it will simply ignore the combatants and go straight for Maygani if she attempts to retrieve Hassigo's essence. If that happens, it'll be disastrous for us in the long run.

1180
Manga Artists Wanted / Re: Anyone Want to Draw Freya? [Just for fun]
« on: November 20, 2015, 02:47:39 AM »
Yes... feel the Moe flow within you.  8)

1181
Manga Artists Wanted / Re: Anyone Want to Draw Freya? [Just for fun]
« on: November 19, 2015, 11:09:50 PM »
Great, now I have this image of her stuck in my head and there's no to get it out...

...way to put that into perspective.  :unsure:

Pretty neat to see some artists do that for free though.  :hmm:

1182
Manga Artists Wanted / Re: Anyone Want to Draw Freya? [Just for fun]
« on: November 19, 2015, 10:34:24 PM »
THIS!? THIS WAS THE FREYA I READ ABOUT!?  :ohmy:

She's too cute to be a tyrant...  :confused:

1183
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 19, 2015, 01:15:58 PM »
You think that's bad? Team three's got Kabo! And I think a... Titan of some sort?

I think we bit off more than we can chew with this one, guys...  :sure: *packs suitcase and leaves*

Now that things are kicking off, who wants to place bets on which teams will survive!? (I'm such a horrible person  8) )

I assume there's something for us to do while WhiteCrow formulates the story. Plan an attack strategy or something?  :hmm:

1184
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 18, 2015, 05:56:19 AM »
We pride ourselves on our Glorious Walls of Text! Welcome to the Brotherhood, Monok!  8)

1185
Manga Writer workshop / Re: MR Project #2 - Age of Corruption
« on: November 18, 2015, 04:51:02 AM »
It is finally here! After days of endless work and walls of text, the great swearzy and I present you our greatest battle! Enjoy!  ;)

Sparring: Legion of Terra Vs Horizon Expedition Team
“Check check, one two. Is it on? Really? Crap.” The PA crackled as whoever was speaking into the microphone fumbled with it.

“Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen! Glad you could make it this evening! Tonight's main event, we'll be witnessing two extraordinary teams go head-to-head in a bid for power. Firepower, that is! That's right, viewers! Tonight, the Legion of Terra faces off against The Horizon Expedition Team!”.

"Serves that jackass right!" Eliza hollered back at the PA.

"You didn't have to do that for me, Eliza..." Christiana said. "I'm sure Dave didn't mean to....”

“There’s no saving that perverted idiot today! To think he has the balls to flirt with you and then grope you like that! It’s unexcusable!”

“He tripped on Allens’ rifle though...” Owen commented.

“I think he got the message already when you did your number on him, so I don’t think having a duel with him is necessary.”

“Nonsense! He and his perverted goons will pay for this insult! I’m not even close to getting started!” Eliza gripped her fist in anger.

“I suppose there’s no way around it, then.” Owen sighed. “Didn’t Jahki say we could have anything to help us in the fight? A tank or a shield or...”

“A Tank!?” Christiana suddenly sprung up.

“Yes,” Owen replied. “That was one of the things we can have, if I recall correctly. Now, what would we need to go up against...”

“What are we waiting for!? We got perverts that need killing!” She immediately grabs Owen by the collar and hustles over in a random direction. “Let’s do this!”

“H-Hey! What are you doing!?” Owen sputtered.

“Onwards!” Christiana cheered.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Daina asked.

Christiana stopped and blinked for a few moments before realizing her own ineptitude. “Oh, sorry.” She let go of the poor Private, who proceeded to dust himself and straighten back his uniform.

“As much as you’d like to hop back into a tank, you need more than just yourself to crew one of those things. And none of us has any tanking experience.”

“There’s four of us altogether. That’s enough to crew one of the Big Guns! I’ve always wanted to drive one of those tanks...” Christiana cheerfully replied. “Besides, I can always show you how to operate one, Senior! It’s really simple actually! All you have to do is...”

“Count me out,” Daina bluntly said.

“Ehhhhh!?” Christiana moaned. “Why!?”

“I refuse to take part in these pointless activities.”

“But Senior! We can’t drive a Big Gun if we don’t have four people!” Christiana whined. “Please come with us!”

“No,” Daina said.

“Pretty please?” Christiana begged.

“I said I’m not going,” Daina clarified.

“Oh Senior, you don’t really mean that, do you?”

It was at this point Eliza walked up to Daina. “Corporal Allens, as much as we may have our... differences, I’d like to remind you what’s at stake here.”

“I could care less about what you and those idiots over there are planning to do, Sir,” stated Daina.

“Then I suppose you know about the bet we made with them, eh?”

Daina paused. “What bet?”

“Oh, nothing important!” Eliza waved. “Just that one of those men said something about putting “cat ears” on you and forcing you to serve him in a maid’s outfit.”

Daina suddenly flustered. “W...What?”

“Yup! We made a wager that the winning team gets to do whatever they want with the other team. Now if we were to lose because of someone’s selfish decision, well... that wouldn’t be good for any of us, would it?” Eliza continued. “Too bad you won’t be there to help us win!”

Daina gripped her fist and bit her tongue. She had no intentions of getting involved with them any more than she’d like, but she certainly would not stand by and let herself become the object of someone’s outlandish fetish.

“C’mon ya two! The battle’s awaiting!” Eliza called out.

Daina clicked her tongue. “Wait...”

Everyone stopped and turned.

“I’ll go. But only this once.”

Christiana’s face lit up as she rushed forward and gave Daina a great, big hug. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she joyfully cried out. “You’re the best, Senior!”

“Can you let go now?” Daina asked, her hands on Christiana’s waist.

“Ah, sorry!”

“Right!” Eliza exclaimed. “Now that everyone’s on board, let’s show those hooligans who they’re messin’ with!”

Everyone cheered as they headed off to the arena, ready to prove their skills against a formidable opponent.

[] [] [] [] []

“Blaaaaaaaaaaake!” Dave ran toward the table Blake was sitting at.

“What?” Blake put his PDA down on the table and took a sip of his coffee.

“I.. well.. Uhh..” Dave stuttered, waving his hands around.

“Come on out with it. It can’t be that bad.”

“Well... I kinda hit on the big blonde one over there and that started a fight and now…” He pointed in their direction then held his hands out in front of his chest exaggerating. Blake wiped his face with his hand sighing.

“And what?” Blake’s eyebrow twitched.

“She wants to have a battle.” Blake slammed the table, his exoskeleton suit split in two accidentally.

“I knew it. You had to try to screw someone. What are we going to do...” Blake shook his head. The next thing he saw was the table back to its unbroken self, his coffee back in the cup.

“Well the thing is… they kinda have a tank.” Dave scratched the back of his head, leaning his rifle on the table he sat down.

“A tank. As in a big moving steel machine with a big gun?” Blake placed his pistol on the table facing Dave.

“Yes, that kind of tank. Though, I have not heard of that kind of variant before.” Dave’s eyes moved back and forth from the pistol to Blake and back again, as he started to sweat. Blake holstered his pistol and headed toward the arena.

“Looks like old Chinese tech.” Blake looked at the tank with a drone, Dave moved to see the screen.

“Oh, 122mm gun… sounds kinda nasty, but I just have to be invisible, right?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure if this thing has thermal vision. Your cloaking is the only one with a thermal hider.”

“A thermal what?” Dave scratched his chin.

“A camera that can see body heat.” Blake turned the camera on his PDA to thermal and showed it to Dave.

“Ohhh... now I remember! My scope does the same thing.” Dave chuckled. Blake was getting more irritated as Frank showed up.

“So I heard about this mock battle thing…” Frank pushed his glasses up, and looked at the tank. His jaw suddenly dropped.

“We are fighting that?”

“We are fighting that, alright.” Blake grinned and crossed his arms.

“So how are we going to do this?”

“Well… I don’t know… yet, I’m sure it will turn out okay though.” Blake walked toward the 4x4 and opened the rear, searching through the mess of weapons and munitions.

[] [] [] [] []

Christiana’s eyes gleamed with excitement as the rather large yet sleek design of the G. Class heavy tank laid before her. Eliza and Owen exchanged uneasy glances, with Daina seeming to show no interest as usual.

“At last, I finally have you, my sweet, sweet, love! Oh the joys we will have together...” Christiana coddled as she smeared her cheeks onto its shining metal plates and giggled profusely to herself.

“We’re gonna drive that!?” Owen exclaimed. “That thing’s Huge! Are you sure it only needs four people?”

“Of course I’m sure!” Christiana cried out. “I’ve been gleaming over this tank for ages!”

“I’ve never seen anything quite like it before...” Eliza remarked. “It’s very well-angled. And a lot bigger than the ones we have. Does it really only need four people?”

“Yes!” Christiana rebuttaled. “It’s the latest and greatest of tanks there is! Big, fast, powerful, and most importantly, very roomy! Gotta have that leg-room, ya know! ‘Cuz sitting in a cramped, hot tank for hours can really get to you...” A shiver ran up her spine from the mere thought of it.

“Just where in the world did you even come up with something like this to ask Jahki for?” asked Owen. “It’s not a prototype, is it?”

“Well... kinda... sorta... yeah,” Christiana shrugged. “They were going to send the tank to Hadia for field testing later in the year, but they said they were having some trouble with the gun. Said it was too big a fit or something like that.”

“Wait, so the only exposure you’ve had with this tank is through blueprints!?”

“That’s about right.”

“Then how reliable is this piece of metal!?”

“I haven’t thought about that actually...”

Owen facepalmed himself out of the sheer thoughtlessness his superior put into choosing their combat tank.

“Perhaps we can go ask Jahki to change tanks then?” Eliza suggested.

“Not a chance!” refuted Christiana. “This is the only time I’ll ever get to drive a tank like this, so we’re sticking with it!” She stood in front of the tank and spread her arms out wide with her pouty face. It was obvious Christiana wouldn’t let go without a fight.

Owen gave a deep sigh. “Alright, then I guess we don’t have a choice in the matter. Let me have a look at it at least to make sure everything’s running properly.”

“Really!?” Christiana lit up.

“Yup,” Owen nodded. “Now let me have a look at that thing.”

“Thank you, Owen!”

Owen grabbed the toolkit sitting on the ground near the brand-new tank and hopped onto its giant hull, climbing into the driver’s hatch as he went off to do the checkup.

Eliza gave a slight grin at Christiana. “You sure love your tanks, don’t you Christy?”

“Uh huh!” Christiana happily nodded. “They’re absolutely the best!” She stopped and looked over to the competition at the other side of the arena. The Horizon Expedition Team were busy readying their weapons in preparation for the upcoming challenge.

“Is there something?” Eliza asked.

“Oh!” Christiana snapped back. “I forgot! You all need your assignments!”

“Assignments?”

“Of course! You all need to know what to do in the tank so we can operate it properly. And it’s just like you said, a good commander always keeps her subordinates in line!”

“I guess I’m becoming that subordinate, eh?” Eliza chuckled uneasily.

“Yup!” she cheerfully said.

“But I don’t know a single thing about tanks!”

“Oh, it’s simple really! I’ll show you when we get inside. Right now, you just need to know your place!”

I usually said that...” Eliza thought to herself.

“You can be the gunner! You’re the best shot here, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah, I am.”

“Then it’ll be perfect for you! All you have to do is point the gun at the enemy and Fire!” Christiana exclaimed, her pistol-shaped hand pointing straight at the Horizon Team in a fashion implying she’s shot.

“Sounds simple enough... right! I’ll do it!” Eliza assured. “Let’s send those guys packing!” She gripped her fist in pride.

“Then that leaves Owen and Senior. Hmm...” Christiana pondered for a moment. “Owen could be the loader. I don’t think he’s old enough to have any experience in driving. Which means... Senior!” She yelled across to Daina, standing distant from them. Daina briefly glances back in response.

“You’re the Driver, okay!?” Christiana shouted with her hands cupped around her mouth. Daina simply turned her head back away from them and toward the Horizon Team in the distance.

“Right! Now that everyone has an assignment, I can show you how to do your job. The most important thing to remember is that the commander is always right!...”

[] [] [] [] []

“What the hell?” Blake swore under his breath.

“I kinda wanted it to be like a boxing match with the ring announcer.” Frank pushed his glasses up.

“Today’s match will be contained in a worn torn city called Staaaaaalingraaaaaaad!” The huge arena began to shudder. The steel floor began to turn into dirt and bitumen. Buildings of reinforced concrete began to materialize, short trees and small vegetation grew in the southwestern-half of the arena.

“This is oddly familiar...” Eliza pushed her hatch open to see the newly formed surroundings emerge from the ground.

“The battlefield? Owen asked, looking through his periscope.

“Yeah," she replied. “Reminds me a lot about Stolgen."

“You got that right! I wonder where those gorillas are…” Christina said, sitting out atop the open cupola of her brand new tank. Looking through her binoculars, she could see well over the waist-high vegetation and small shrubs that met the dull, grey concrete structures looming over it.

“Well this looks like fun.” Dave stared toward the top of the large building, already sweating.

“You have an exo suit on you know, it can’t be that hard to run up a few flights of stairs.”

“An exo suit?” Dave looked at himself.

“Have you been running around this whole time with it off?” Blake went around his back and flipped the switch on. The suit started to hum softly.

“Ohhh, that feels way better.” Dave jumped nearly 5 feet off the ground. Blake and Frank sighed in unison.

“Get up those stairs soldier, report ASAP.” Dave nodded to the both of them and started to ascend the stairs 6 at a time.

“What’s the holdup?” Eliza impatiently asked. “Why are we just sitting here in the open?”

“Just give me a few moments,” Christiana replied, eyeing the tall structures that stood a good distance away.

“We’re sitting ducks out here...” Daina muttered through the intercom as she sat agitated in the driver’s seat.

“Jeez, I can’t see anyone. It would be bad to get too close to those buildings, though. Even if there’s only three of them…” Christiana put the binoculars down, hanging along her chest.

“You can’t expect them to attack us straight on, Sir,” remarked Owen. “They probably have some sort of long-range weapon to engage us with, like an Anti-Tank Gun.”

“That’s right!” Eliza agreed. “We should be taking the fight to them! We do have a tank, ya know!”

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. Now if only...”

Christiana had started to relax when she saw a glint on one of the top of the buildings. She immediately peered over with her binoculars before... Ting! A shot ripped past her body, leaving an inch deep gouge on the steel turret.

“Contact! Battlestations now!” She yelled into the intercom, sliding into the turret and closing the cupola hatch before it was peppered with explosive projectiles shattering the viewports.

“W.. Where is it coming from!?” Eliza panicked, traversing the turret trying to find the enemy. “I can’t see anything through this damned scope!”

“1 O’Clock High! Load High Explosive! Fire!” Christiana tried to gaze through her viewport but they were shattered beyond repair. Owen promptly changed the shell out from Armor Piercing to High Explosive.

“Loaded!” he shouted. Eliza compensated for the range and height and stamped on the trigger. The whole tank rocked as the 122mm shell exploded from the barrel, the low pressure around the muzzle of the barrel pulsated throughout the ground bringing up huge gusts of dirt and small debris. Owen opened the breach and moved as the huge brass casing clunked to the floor, shoving a new one in its place.

“Wow, that was fast.” Dave jumped to the next building as the shell exploded on the concrete destroying the top floor.

“They responded pretty quick right?” Blake patched in over the intercom as he threw drones laden with IEDS into the air.

“I was able to get 10 rounds off before they could adjust to my position, though I forgot I had my torch on. It was dark inside the building…”

“… Keep them on their toes, we will get around down here.” Blake finished loading the Jeep with C4, pushing the remote button on the steering wheel he booted the app on his PDA.

“Are you going to disable the tracks?” Frank looked at the C4 covering the vehicle.

“Try to, if they get it, well there will be a myriad of IEDs around.” Blake laughed.

“Any sign of them now?” Christiana said loudly as Eliza looked through her viewports.

“Does it look like we can see anything?” Eliza sighed.

“S-Sorry,” Christiana replied.

“Does anyone hear that buzzing sound? It’s quite irritating.” Daina murmured, looking out of her small viewport in the driver's position.

“Buzzing?” Christiana’s senses tingled and immediately popped the hatch back open. A strange-looking metal contraption flitted overhead, carrying what appeared to be a large box. “C4” was stamped in bold print on the sides of the box, with the image of a large artillery shell underneath.

“Hey, what are you...?” Eliza began.

“Full Reverse, Now!” Christiana shouted into the intercom.

“On it,” Daina complied. Christiana grabbed ahold of the cupola machine gun and peppered the flying object with .50 caliber armor-piercing rounds as Daina threw the large tank into reverse. The bullets struck the drone several times, causing black fumes to trail behind it, but it wasn’t enough to stop it from delivering its payload. The drone hovered atop the tank and dropped its explosive.

“Oh dear...” Christiana murmured as she ducked back into the tank hull and shut the cupola hatch behind her. A sudden thud hit the front of the tank before screeching its way down from the hull.

“What was that?” Owen asked.

Just then, a ear-splitting bang rocked the tank from the front, spewing heaps of dirt into the air, clogging the viewports with thick clouds of dust.

“Agh, my ears!” Eliza squealed, cupping her ears.

The explosion managed to scorch the lower plate of the tank’s front hull armor, leaving a large, black smudge in its wake.

“Allens, take us around and head east into the city. Try to keep close to the hills and away from their field of vision.”

“Got it,” Daina complied.

“Harport, I want you to pop smoke and get ready to load HEAT shells when I give the order.”

“Will do, Sir,” Owen answered.

“Finley, keep your fire to the coaxial gun and only use the main cannon on targets I designate, understood?”

“Roger that!” confirmed Eliza.

“Alright, let’s do this!”

With their plan put into action, Daina reversed the tank further out before Owen dispersed white smoke across the sides of the tank, filling the area with a thick blanket of concealment.

“We got them moving sir. Shall I engage?” Dave watched from one of the many tall buildings in the northwest. He laid out his RP8. Choosing a high explosive anti-tank rocket, Dave locked it into the weapon, and, keying in on the viewfinder, he made a lock on the tank.

“Not yet. The jeep will engage momentarily.” Frank whispered over the radio, his active camouflage flickered against the vegetation. He was in the zone, in the perfect scenario.

“Oh god, Frank's gone Arnie.” Blake tapped his PDA turning the jeep to the tank's position. Coming in from the rear, Frank let loose with the light machine gun on the roof. Tat tat tat tat tat. As Frank kept the Legionnaires occupied, Blake moved closer to the tank with his suit’s active camouflage, his rifle ready.

“They’re behind us!?” Owen exclaimed. The madman in the jeep gave chase to the massive steel tank, rattling the tank’s armor with a swathe of bullets.

“Traverse turret, One-Eighty! Engage! Engage!” Christiana shouted. The turret traversed as fast as it could, as Frank continued to lay down fire with his LMG. A few seconds later, Eliza’s sights were trained on the flimsy vehicle.

“Have a taste of your own medicine!” Eliza shouted as she cut loose with the coaxial machine gun, the bullets whizzing past the speedy jeep.

“Stay still, you blasted ape!” she cursed.

Just when Eliza locked her sights, the jeep veered off into the bushes.

“Come back and fight like a man, you coward!” Eliza angrily spoke.

“It’s like they’re just toying with us...” Owen observed. “Who goes after a full-sized tank with a machine gun?”

“They’re mocking us!” Eliza spouted. “Why the nerve of...!” Her words turned into nothing more than angry grunts and hisses.

“Are they leading us into a trap...?” Christiana thought to herself.

Just as she uttered those words, the radio suddenly crackled, and a masculine voice came through.

“Howdy! How’s that tank going for you?” Blake patched into the open radio frequency. He was close, watching the tank spew black smoke from its exhaust pipes.

“Why don’t you come down here and fight us, you cowards!” Eliza screamed into the radio.

“O-ouch that was a tad loud.” Blake pushed a button on his PDA, and in moments, a drone with a mounted rifle started to pepper the tank’s left side.

“Traverse Left!” Christiana ordered.

As Eliza traverse the turret left, another set of sporadic fire came from the right. Then the rear and the front. Frank joined in momentarily from the southeast.

“How in the world are they doing that!?” Owen cried out.

“It’s the machines,” Daina mentioned casually, driving over a large bump in the ground.

“They’re just flinging bullets at us...” Christiana noted. “Just ignore the machines and keep heading forward. Finley, keep those things off our tail as best you can! Harport, get another smoke burst out!”

Just then, a clunk hit the deck above the engine bay.

“What was that?” Christiana remembered that only the front viewports had been destroyed. She turned immediately to see what had landed on the deck.

Nothing was there, but Christiana still felt something was terribly off. She kept her vision right fixed on the engine deck as Owen loaded smoke canisters into the ejection tubes.

“Smoke out!” he yelled, and with the pull of a lever, thick clouds of white smoke blanketed the tank from all sides. The drones, however, remain unaffected by the smoke and continued to rain fire on the rolling tank.

“They’re still onto us!?” Eliza cried out. She tried raising the turret gun to try and take a few shots at the pursuing drones, only to find them to be too high for the gun’s elevation.

“What are we going to do?” worried Owen. “They could stop us any second now.”

Christiana, however, was preoccupied with her own business, staring into the rear viewport in the cupola. The smoke had dispersed enough from her sight to see a thin, but distorted outline of what appears to be a person standing atop the engine compartment.

“Gah!” Blake spurted, shielding his vision from the pores of smoke that suddenly blew straight at him. “Just when I got on this damn thing! Can’t whine about it now though. Time to bring their little ride to a halt.” Blake took out his C4 and planted it on the engine doors.

Christiana immediately realized what was happening. “Allens! Hard right, now!”

At that instant, Daina shifted the brakes hard and steered the tank hard right as ordered. The tank drifted hard into the ground, kicking dirt from its treads, the metal suspension emitting an eerie grind. Blake, caught off guard by the sudden change in direction, was flung off the rear of tank and onto the ground a distance away, not having time to plant the C4.

“Turn the tank around and keep heading forward!” ordered Christiana.

“Those things are still on us, Sir!” Owen reported. “The smoke isn’t doing anything!”

Christiana recollected herself and thought for a few seconds. “Pop another around of smoke, but this time, load flares right after.”

“We’re running low on smoke rounds,” he noted. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Christiana affirmed. “We won’t need them when we get to the city.”

“Roger that.” Owen proceeded to load the tubes again with smoke and kept a package of flares ready to load in.

“Ow, my head...” Blake shook himself awake and picked himself up after flying a good few yards away from the tank, only to notice a speeding tank heading toward his general direction. “Oh, come on!” He immediately dived to the side, narrowly avoiding becoming roadkill. The coms buzzed with activity as Blake once again picked himself up.

“So, how that’s tank going for you?” Dave spoke through. “Need any help with that?”

“Ah, shut up,” Blake retorted, dusting himself off.

“What the hell are you guys doing!? They’re getting away!” Frank yelled across the radio, as he veered his jeep back into action

“Don’t worry, I got this covered,” Dave said, aiming his RP8 from the roof of a tall building.. The sights locked on, emitting a familiar buzz. Just like before, the tank popped smoke, yet it had no effect on the RP8’s sighting. Dave chuckled. “That won’t save you today, hot stuff!” With the pull of a trigger, the RP8 let loose its heat-seeking missile as it rocketed toward the unsuspecting crew.

Seconds before the HEAT missile reached its destination, a swathe of bright, burning flares spewed out from the smoke cloud. The missile suddenly changed its course and flew upwards instead before locking onto a different target: the drones flying overhead. The missile blasted one of the drones to pieces, its debris scattering across the battlefield.

“You idiot! What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Frank cursed. Some of the loose metal were falling above him.

“How was I supposed to know they were gonna use flares!?” Dave rebuttaled. He loaded another HEAT missile into his RP8.

“Shut up, you two!” Blake shouted into the radio. “Frank, get them into position for Dave to track them with his RP8. We’ll hit ‘em with the IEDs once they’re stopped!”

“Copy that. I’ll grab their attention!” Frank steered his jeep in front of the hulking metal. “Hey Sweethearts! Why won’t you come here and get a piece of me!?” He swung the jeep back-and-forth in a mocking manner.

“Why you...!” Eliza fumed, and opened fire with the main gun, slightly tilting the jeep.

“Woah ho ho! Was that it? I’ve seen grandmas shoot better than you, shortstack!”

“Shortstack!? I’ll kill you, ya damn ape!” She fired the cannon again, with Frank dodging it by a mere foot. He laughed hysterically at the little Sergeant’s sad attempts to pulverize him.

Meanwhile, Dave hopped across rooftop after rooftop with his loaded RP8, the exosuit providing him with incredible strength to move with ease. He stopped at another rooftop, overlooking the east side of the city, and readied his shot.

“I’m in position. Just tell me when and I’ll stop them dead in their tracks!”

“Don’t screw it up this time, Dave!” Blake hollered, making his way back into the city. The tank slowly made its way towards the ambush as Frank feigned shot-after-shot from the heavy tank’s powerful gun.

The jeep sped into the first street of the city, burning rubber as Frank turned the corner. Eliza hosed  the jeep with the tank’s coaxial machine gun, punching holes through its rear as the jeep slid right into the intersection away from the tank, throwing up mounds of dust as it made its getaway.

“Get back here, ya swine!” Eliza growled, stamping her foot on the steel floor.

“Don’t get your head in a bunch just yet! We still have the others to worry abo...” Christiana stopped as she saw the flash of a rocket from the rooftop heading her way.

“Hard right!” Christiana shouted. Daina pulled the stick, shifting the tank into a hard right just as the rocket hit the front plate at an angle. The shaped charge seared into the steel, as tiny spots glowing bright orange appeared in front of Daina before cooling.

“That was close...” Daina wiped sweat from her brow, the charge from the rocket heated the ambient temperature of the tank a few degrees.

“Allens, Push Forward! Finley, Rooftops, 1 O’Clock! Load HEAT!” Christiana yelled into the mic.

“No problem!” Eliza adjusted her sights as Owen loaded in a HEAT shell and immediately fired where the smoke trail originated from.

“Oh, you’ve got to be...” Dave said as he jumped clear of the shell flying right towards him, blasting the top level into oblivion. He landed onto the adjacent building as the explosion blew clouds of dust and debris around him, his boots and gloves digging into the concrete.

“Let’s light ‘em up!” Christiana said in excitement as she popped the cupola back open and grabbed hold of its machine gun, cocking the bolt as she did.

“Glady!” Eliza replied with a twisted grin. And with that, the entire tank opened up with all the firepower it had, blasting away at Dave, running desperately for cover.

“What did I ever do to you to deserve this!?” Dave shouted at the top at the top of his lungs, sprinting past the hailstorm of projectiles flying his way. The bullets do little to nothing in the way of damage, thanks to the tough, protective armor of his exosuit, but Dave was still worried about getting hit by the HEAT shell. That one would definitely sting.

“Stay still!” Eliza yelled as she fired another HEAT shell at Dave.

“Son Of A...!” Dave cursed as the shell blew apart the low wall next to him, the sudden force knocking him off his feet.

“Gotcha, ya weasel!” Eliza said as she pulled the trigger again, but nothing happened. “Eh?” She turned toward Owen, wheezing his breathe out as he struggled to lift the next shell in. “What’s the holdup!? Load ‘er up, already!” she said impatiently.

Owen drew another deep breath as sweat ran down his face. “These shells are heavy... I don’t know how you guys do this all day!”

“Put some muscle into it, will ya!?” Eliza snapped. “We haven’t got all day!”

“I’m doing my best!” Owen cried out as he struggled to lift the next shell into the loading chamber.

Daina gave a solemn sigh. “Switch with me.”

“Eh?” Owen muttered.

“Just do it!”

Owen reluctantly complied and switched spots with Daina, taking her place as the driver. Daina sat atop the loader position and looked to her left, a dreadful look on Eliza’s face.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Daina said.

Just then Blake patched in through the radio. “It’s not just the rockets you gotta worry about.”

Low, continuous hums suddenly emerged from all around them before it became apparent what it was.

“Uh, everyone... we got a slight problem here...” Christiana said.

“What?” Eliza peered through the gun’s scope and immediately realized what she meant. “It’s those things again!” Her exclamation caught the attention of both Owen and Daina.

“Load HE and open fire!” Christiana said as she opened up with her .50 cal, exploding some of the IED-laden drones flying toward them. Daina changed shells as Eliza adjusted her sights again before letting loose on the sentient bombs. With a mighty roar, the gun’s 122mm shell blasted into the swarm of drones, causing an explosive chain reaction among them. But it wasn’t enough. More and more popped out from the buildings, slowly overwhelming them.

“They just keep coming...” remarked Owen, observing the heaps of drones coming at them through the driver’s viewport.

“Yahoo!” Christiana gleamed as she dribbled down drone-after-drone with her machine gun.

Eliza fired another round, knocking out another cluster of IED drones. She immediately heard the click of the loading chamber, and fired again. Another click. Shot out. Eliza’s time between shots were extremely short, barely lasting three seconds, and she could not help but glance at a fiery Daina pumping in shell-after-shell with relative ease, her lean, muscular arm visible from her rolled-up sleeve, barely breaking a sweat.

“She’s fast...” Eliza muttered. Daina’s temper was a bit frightening in her own right. But no time for thought. Right away, Eliza snapped back to her sights and pulled the trigger, destroying another two drones.

“They just keep coming!” Owen worryingly said.

“Bwahahaha!” Christiana laughed ecstatically. “I’m having the time of my life up here!” She was, until she ran out of the ammo. The gun suddenly stopped firing, and dumbfounded, Christiana clicked the trigger a few times before realizing what had happened. The drones were swarming onto them now. Christiana awkwardly chuckled to herself before dropping back into the hatch and screaming off the top of her lungs.

“Get us out of here, Now!”

Owen jumped at her exclamation. “R-Right!” He pulled back the two levers and hustled the tank in reverse, Eliza and Daina doing their best to keep the drones off them. Suddenly, the tank shook violently, jolting everyone back-and-forth as an explosive shockwave ripped through the tank.

Blake watched over the tank from afar as the remote IEDs went off along its sides, blasting clouds of dust into the area. As the dust settled however, its treads were still attached, much to his dismay.

“Damn it!” Blake cursed. “The bombs didn’t work. We need to disable that tank now!”

“I got just the thing for that,” Frank radioed in.

Everyone was dazed as the world slowed down, held their ears from the piercing ringing. A thick, black goo oozed out from under the driver’s compartment.

“Agh! What the heck is this stuff!?” Owen yelled, lifting his mucky feet off the floor. “Is this fuel?”

“You idiot! Did you drive us through a mine!?” Daina cursed.

“Corporal, the shells!” Eliza hollered. Daina clicked her tongue as she went back to load another shell, the drones making their way at the front.

Christiana peeked her head out of the tank again and quickly glanced at the sides. The armor was badly damaged on both ends with deep, black scorch marks across their length. The treads, however, were still intact.

“We’re still good, Harport! Keep going!” Christiana ordered.

“Right!” Owen shifted the gears again and the tank once again reversed. A startlingly high-pitched screech zoomed from behind them, however. Christiana looked behind them to see a jeep stuffed with explosives heading straight behind them.

“Go back! Go back!” Christiana called out.

“What!?” Owen interjected, but he did what she asked, and drove the tank back ahead into the swarm of drones.

“Target, 6 O’Clock! Load HEAT and Fire!” Christiana ordered.

“Again!?” Eliza cursed, turning the turret as fast as it could. But it was too slow, and the jeep drilled right into the rear of the tank, blasting the area to smithereens and jolting the tank forward. Everyone recollected themselves as they recovered from the shockwave.

“They did it again, those bastards!” Eliza stomped her foot in anger.

“Ugh, my head...” Owen moaned.

Daina sniffed the air intently. “I smell smoke.”

“Ow... that hurt....” Christiana muttered as she rubbed the back of her head. She gazed at the engine compartment and noticed yellow-tinted flames spurting out from the grate.

“F-F-F-Fire! Everyone, Bail Out!”

Upon hearing Christiana’s words, everyone rushed to open their hatches. Owen popped open the bottom hatch, spewing the black liquid out. Owen left the tank in forward gear as he weaseled his way out and fell through the bottom hatch. Christiana pulled herself out of the cupola and dropped down the side of the tank, followed by Eliza and Daina who popped their own hatches open to escape. Christiana helped Eliza down as Daina jumped off the opposite side, the burning tank slowly propelling itself toward the incoming IED drones. The squad gathered whatever weapons they saved and immediately darted across the street, hiding behind a concrete barrier. The tank drove out into the open intersection before the IED drones blasted themselves atop the empty tank. To everyone’s surprise, the tank continued to roll forward, completely alight, before crashing into a nearby pillar and imploding from the ammo and fuel still left inside. The building shook and started to lean right, before completely toppling over the remains of the tank.  The whole suburb was covered in dust.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Frank flipped his glasses down, switching to Thermal Vision, and started firing into the blinding smoke at the now-stranded crew. Bullets whizzed around the crew as they coughed from the thick, blinding dust. A stray bullet struck Eliza in the arm, causing her to fall over.

“Agh!” Eliza yelped, bleeding across the length of the floor.

“Eliza!” Christiana screamed.

Christiana and Owen lifted Eliza back up as Owen worked to patch the wound up, squinting through the dust and covering his nose with the collar of his uniform.

“Just hold still. You’ll be fine,” Owen reassured.

Daina tossed a stick grenade in the direction of the fire, hoping to get a hit. Frank then heard the clunks of the grenade to his left.

“Grenade!” Frank yelled, diving to the right as the grenade exploded, blasting dust into the air.

In a moment of clarity, Daina and Christiana opened fire with their rifles as Frank laid on the ground, a few hit his armour showing obvious impacts. Bullets continued peppering around him  before the dust began to settle again, obscuring their view.

“Did we get him?” Christiana curiously asked.

“Let’s not bring our hopes up just yet,” Daina asserted.

“Ow, ow, ow... that hurt,” Frank rubbed his chest where the impacts hit, the bullets ejecting out by the liquid. He moved around to their flank and sat, waiting for further instruction, watching their position. Blake walked up toward Frank and seated himself next to him.

“What are they doing? They are just sitting there.” Blake watched his PDA as the four figures waited behind the concrete barrier, one of which had their arm tied up close to their chest.

“I think one of them is injured.”

“Yeah, I think I hit one of them.”

“Oh, maybe we should call for a time out?”

“Well, I can try to talk to them.” Frank murmured before slinging his rifle on his back, hand-signaling to Blake to watch his back. Dave had finally descended from the building’s exterior. Wiping his brow, he realized he was out of munitions for his Barrett. A gust of wind whipped through the streets, clearing the haze.

“They’re gone!” Christiana spoke as she peeked over the barrier. She had been observing the trio’s descent, up to the point they disappeared.

“What do you mean they’re go-.” Daina looked over to see no one around.

“Those damned suits are nasty pieces of work.” Daina chambered a new strip into her rifle. Owen and Christiana readied their weapons as an injured Eliza sat off to the corner, unable to assist. Dave saw them peeking over the cover looking for something, before he threw his useless rifle at them, chipping the top of the barrier and landing in front of the girls.

“Wha-! What’d you do that for!?” Christiana yelled out.

“I’m out of ammo!” Dave called back, drawing his battle axe and pistol. Walking into their blind side. Frank fired the last of his ammunition at the block before casting his rifle at them as well. Two of the shots whizzed past the top of Christiana’s helmet, barely missing her.

“You too!?”

“Yeap.” Frank drew his twelve-inch bowie knife and Glock, the polished steel glinting in the light. Blake tapped his PDA for the drones, but they had all flown back to the charger pack at the starting point.

“The drones are out of battery fellas. I’ve got two mags for my rifle at most.” Blake whispered into the radio. Pulling out some flash bangs, he threw them at the group. Daina immediately saw them coming over.

“Grenades!” Daina yelled. Everyone ducked for cover as the flashbangs went off, a deafening ring hurling through their eardrums. Daina, unaffected by the flashbangs, stood up and fired her rifle, clipping the servo on Blake’s right arm. The servo fizzled and ceased to work. Unable to move his right arm, Blake unstrapped the servo and cast it aside.

“Here we go!” Dave started sprinting at the barrier, his movement heavy and easy to discern. Daina noticed him and popped her head out, taking quick shots at his center mass as she cycled the bolt back-and-forth between rounds. Dave fired back, but his pistol jammed, a casing wedged tightly in its chamber. Throwing the pistol, Dave ran straight for Daina, swinging his axe at her. She tossed her rifle aside and barely managed to dodge his attack as the axe came down on the concrete, cleaving it in two. She pulled her combat knife from its sheath, jabbing at Dave for his heart. He leaned back far enough to get out of arm’s reach and grabbed the steel blade, snapping it off with his hand. Owen slid out of cover to provide support with his SMG, firing a full magazine into his chest before realizing it had no effect. With the last round depleted, he cast the gun aside. Dave staggered for a mere second, the bullets already popping out of his vest, but Daina took advantage of this split-second opportunity and kicked the axe out of Dave’s hand, disarming him.

“This body armour is pretty neat.” Dave laughed as he balled his hand into a fist, punching Daina in the stomach. The force lifted her off the ground, knocking the air out of her lungs as she wheezed from the impact. She clutched her stomach, staggering backwards before falling to her knees. “With this, I don’t even need a weapon to defeat you all.”

Just then, Owen hurled himself onto Dave, jumping on his back and slipping his arm around his neck, putting him into a desperate headlock.

“Run, Corporal!” Owen yelled, Daina struggling to pick herself up as the pain in her abdomen sunk deep into her.

“Get off me!” Dave hollered, twisting and turning as Owen’s body flailed around, still gripping Dave’s neck around as tight as he could. Dave tried reaching behind him, but Owen simply tightened his grip.

Frank then engaged from the front, turning his active camo off in front of Christiana.

“What!?” she exclaimed.

She jumped the barrier, shooting him in the chest with her pistol before jabbing her knife into Frank’s armor. The knife, however, got stuck in the gel, Christiana unable to pull it out as the bullets dissolved into his armor. Frank went to grab her on both sides with his arms, but Christiana managed to duck and jump out of the way before he could get to her. She fires the last, remaining rounds in her pistol before tossing it away and taking out a gasoline-filled bottle with a cloth and a lighter.

Frank merely chuckled. “Is that supposed to do something?” he said, pointing at the makeshift weapon.

“You betcha it will!” And with that, Christiana lit the bottle and tossed it right onto Frank’s chest, setting him afire. To her surprise however, Frank merely stood there as if the fire wasn’t bothering him.

“Was that it?” Frank said before charging back at Christiana.

“Oh crap!” Christiana yelped.

Meanwhile, Owen still had his grip on Dave, slowly squeezing the life out of the man who had forgotten about his exo suit;s abilities. In a last ditch effort, Dave reached behind himself with both arms and grabbed ahold of Owen’s uniform. He pulled Owen off his back and with a good swing, hurled the Private a good distance away, the Private hitting the concrete floor and rolling along before coming to a complete stop.

Dave breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew! You almost got me there, pal!”

Owen grunted as he picked himself off the ground, cuts and bruises all over his body. “Ouch...” he groaned.

Christiana had doubled back to Daina and helped her up, Daina still clutching her gut as Owen ran over to regroup with them. They all drew their rifles and pistols as Frank circled around to Dave’s position with his knife out and Blake moved to the flank with his rifle aimed at the three, only to met by Eliza pointing her pistol at him. Everyone slowly paced their way toward the opposite sides of the street, both teams eyeing each other with killer intent, their weapons ready to fire at any moment.

It was then that Blake gave a solemn sigh. “We’re getting nowhere with all this fighting. Why don’t we end it here and call it a draw, huh?” Blake slung his rifle onto his back and put his hands up. “Frank, put your knife down.”

Frank did as he was asked and sheathed his knife.

Dave sighed and dropped his arms as well. “Fine, fine. I get it.”

Christiana, Owen, Daina, and Eliza all exchanged glances with one another before lowering their weapons in response.

Eliza gave a defeated sigh before recollected herself. “Very well. It’s a draw.”

She approached Dave and eyed him from head-to-toe. She was a dwarf compared to this towering giant. “That’s not to say I won’t forgive you for what you’ve done, but at least I can say, I look forward to fighting alongside you in the upcoming battles!”

Eliza then walked up to Blake reached out with her uninjured left arm. “Let’s do our best out there!” she proudly proclaimed.

“You bet we will,” Blake said as he exchanged handshakes with the little Sergeant.

“Great!” Eliza exclaimed. “Now, can we get patched up or somethin’? I don’t think we’ll be able to fight in this condition...”

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