HEAVY TYPE:
Manshoba'sLandship
"Captain! Hull breach, port side. Repulsors 16 through 23 are off-line, sir. We have enemy incursion!"
[Manshoba]
The Tsunami-Class Medium Cruiser Landship Celeste rolled beneath Captain Marshall's feet. "Get squadrons 9 and 14 over there!" The Captain stood at the HoloTac display, bracing himself against the jerking ship. His eyes scanned the holographic image before him: a red area on the port side of the Celeste, section 2, indicated a hole in the hull, a big one. The repulsor arrays in that section were destroyed, forcing the Celeste to slow down, allowing more Gears to climb in through the breach. Marshall slammed his fist down onto the holoprojector table in frustration; the image faltered, then stabilized.
"Sir! We've lost communication with squadron 9, Section 2 eports heavy casualties, and more Gears are com--," the Comm officer had no chance to finish as the ship lurched to the side. A column of MBTs appeared on Marshall's HoloTac display, moving in at great speed.
Marshall straightened up at the new arrivals. Up until now only Heavy Gears and Striders had been attacking the Celeste. Now she was being fired upon by tanks, approximately 6 of them. "Inform all squadrons to stay well away from the tanks."
"Aye, sir!"
Marshall continued, "Pedro, I want those tanks lit up! Get all the firepower this baby has got to fire at them. Meanwhile, get every crewman who knows how to pilot Gears into the main bay. I want all the engineering Gears armed with anything we've got and I want them in Section two."
"But Captain--"
"That's an order, Lieutenant!"
"Aye, aye!"
The tank column inched forward on the Tac display. The Celeste's speed had been further reduced as more and more repulsor arrays had cut out. Time was running out. Soon the landship would be immobilized, then nothing could stop the enemy from boarding.
Tanos' engineering Grizzly lumbered down the too-small corridor, autocannon at the ready. Tanos' eyes stung from sweat, he was soaked beneath his flak armour. The bulkhead on his right suddenly exploded outward, sending bits of heated metal at the unprotected cockpit of the Grizzly. Tanos urged the Grizzly forward, it leapt, landing with a loud thud on the floor, roll bars absorbing some of the impact. Tanos yanked on the controls, heart pounding wildly. The Grizzly reluctantly rolled onto its back, just in time to see a Jäger coming through the smoking hole in the wall. The autocannon buzzed loudly in Tanos' unprotected ears, the flashes from the muzzle almost blinding him. He was rewarded for his efforts, however, as the Jäger slumped forward, its torso a mess. Recovering quickly, Tanos' Grizzly got up and ran through the hole in the bulkhead...and Tanos was greeted by the most horrifying scene he had ever seen.
"Squadron 2, 8, and 12 report they are out of ammo and are requesting resupply, sir," stated the Comm officer.
"Humph." The tank column on the HoloTac display was gone, now only a memory, and most fighting on the outside of the Celeste had been resolved, her Heavy Gear squadrons coming out victorious. In one corner of the display, though, a top-down view of Section 2 was shown. Purple enemy blips outnumbered the blue friendlies. The engineering Gears sent to defend the ship from take-over were not as effective as Captain Marshall had hoped. He had sent over 20 people, untrained in Gear combat, to their deaths. He cleared his throat and spoke crisply, "Sound a retreat in Section 2. Have everybody fall back to Section 3 and seal off the corridors. Call all Squadrons that are out of ammo back, but have them enter through the hull breach. They won't need any guns for the bloody hand-to-hand combat occurring there."
"Aye, sir."
"Sir, the enemy has broken through to Section 1. They are heading for the bridge elevator."
Marshall's eyes glazed over, his face red with anger, "By Mamoud's eyes I will NOT allow them to take my ship!" Marshall switched the HoloTac display to show only the interior deck plans of the landship. Purple blips were scattered throughout Section 1 and 2, with concentrations near the hull breach fighting returning friendlies, and some near the bridge elevator. "Engineering!"
"Sir!"
"I want all engines shut down at my command."
"Sir, we'll be helpless. There's no way we could power up again if we stop now!"
"I am well aware of that! Do it!"
"Yes, sir."
Marshall walked to the armoury panel located at the rear of the bridge. He entered the access code and opened it. Grabbing a rifle in each hand he stepped into the centre of the bridge. "Pedro, take this," he said and tossed one rifle to the tactical officer. "I want all of you armed and ready. I am going to drop anchor when they start to come up," he continued, nodding toward the elevator. "They should be on the ground, giving us enough of an opportunity to get them. I want pilots killed, but try not to damage the Gears much. We are going to take them down the elevator to help the rest of the crew. Remember to switch your IFF codes, I don't want you killed by our own people."
The bridge crew looked, stunned, at the Captain. Pedro stood slowly, rifle held tightly across his chest, "Aye, aye, sir!"
"Let's move!"
The elevator indicator blinked on; it was coming up. Then the light went out, indicating the enemies arrival. "Engineering, now!"
Then the ground fell away, followed by a crash and a lurch, throwing one man against a wall. The elevator door opened to reveal three Jägers heaped atop each other. Marshall, wasting no time, leapt to his feet and scrambled to the topmost Gear. He slammed the butt of his rifle on the cockpit latch, popping it open. Inside he found a dazed pilot who was killed swiftly and thrown out of the cockpit. Meanwhile, Pedro and a the Con officer had the other two Gears opened up.
When the sudden stop had come, Tanos had been firing at an injured Jäger. He had been thrown against the bulkhead, jarring himself badly. Now, clearing his head, he levelled the autocannon at the Jäger and fired, ripping it apart. Then, noticing other Jägers were on their backs, he fired again, and again, until he had destroyed every one of them in Section 2. He then looked around him. Innumerable bodies lay heaped on top of each other. Some crushed beneath the feet of the intruder Gears, some torn to shreds by vibroknives and giant metal hands. Realising the shear volume of death around him, Tanos retched. His Grizzly doubling over allowing him to spill his late lunch onto the deck. His comm channel clicked open and he heard the reassuring voice of the Captain. It was over. The enemy threat had been almost eliminated. Some minor patches of combat were still left, but, outnumbered three to one, the enemy was surrendering. Then he remembered again what he had seen when he had leapt through the blown-open bulkhead earlier. The image of his girlfriend, Diana, or rather, her limp body, being held up by a Jäger as a shield, brought him to tears. The Grizzly shuddered with Tanos as he cried.
He was found later among the cold corpses, crying and muttering Diana's name over and over. For his bravery in the face of danger he was awarded the Order of the Griffin at the ripe age of 22 cycles.
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