Utopia's Twilight

[jonathan_wolfe]

Utopia's Twilight is a story I am working on, the goal is completion but I expect that to take a long time indeed.

 

In the mean time I'm going to begin posting parts of chapter one and further chapters in neat little sections for your continued enjoyment. Any comments, criticism or feedback can be placed in the Critic's Corner or PMed to me, to ensure this thread's cleanliness of presentation.

 

Thank you and I hope you enjoy!

 

ps. A Wonderful resource to quickly explain to you the setting of this story in contained on this webpage: Thalos

 

Comments and criticism can be posted in this thread: http://www.patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=12053

 

Comments and Criticism level 4 is requested and appreciated. But if you're lazy, don't stress and just drop positive comments.

Edited July 18, 2004 by jonathan_wolfe

[jonathan_wolfe]

Utopia’s Twilight

 

Part 1 – Resonance

 

Chapter 1 – Emergence

 

Darkness. A shifting of shadows and murmured noise, The dawn sky a slim crescent masked by the silhouette of the buildings and structures lining the landscape, the bright blues and gold like a necklace adorning the obscured black depths above the city, mirroring the landscape in a negative reflection. The sun glints against the surfaces of the city, finding points of brilliance in the browns and reds and greys of the cityscape, the sun rising in glories of crimson and orange. The light lances in between the landscape above and around, casting long shadows and warming the endless miles of concrete and steel.

 

Sleep. A figure lies in the driver’s seat of a small vehicle, clutching a ceramic mug as if his only possession. The interior lightening from touches of sunlight echoing down into the narrow alley. The light shimmers on his armoured form, rising and falling slowly with each breath, the soft muted silence of the vehicle keeping his slumber.

A shrill chirping erupts inside of the cabin, the figure’s head jerking with a start, the front panel of his suit flickering to life as he looked about in confusion and muffled grumbles, groaning and slapping his wrist against the metal console until the sound abated. He grumbled and sighed and brought his cup to his mouth and sampled the liquid from within. A jarring noise from no apparent source causes him to tilt his head and frown.

 

“…pid alarm clocks!” He flustered to himself, sitting up and taking another sip from his mug. The mug crashed against his faceplate for the second time now, and the impact shattered it, pieces rattling against his helmet and falling into his lap, the splash of old coffee dripping from his armour onto the upholstery of the seat. He blinked and looked curiously at the handle left in his hand. He threw it behind himself, hearing it thump on a back seat and sighed again, the noise from the breaking of the mug having startled the cobwebs from his mind, sitting up and checking the clock display in his helmet.

 

He considered the loss of his favourite coffee mug with another sigh before leaning forward and hitting the engine start button. The buggy groaned and whined for a second before coming silent again, only faint hints of ventilation system hinting the vehicle was started, the windows fading from a full tint to reveal the soft hues of the alley in front of him. He quickly pulled up a list of names on his helmet display and clicked a name from the list twice with a pinging noise and put the buggy into drive, the vehicle quickly leaping to life and rolling out of the alley onto the empty roadway, accelerating down the street with papers and dust shifting in the wake.

 

-----

 

Shadow. On the roof of an older building, shadows wavered for a few seconds and stilled, seeming to protect and guide something insubstantial and indistinct, always on the move. A quick dribble of shadow seemed to leap from the edge of one building to the next; the quiet scuff of feet on asphalt was all that could be heard. The shadow moved to the far edge of this new building and for a moment, the shape of the person within, tall and somewhat thin, could be seen. Then shadow became light and the shadow hid in the open, the slight shivering of the air settling down to complete obscurity. Behind, another more vague form approaches and it too, melds to the light and becomes completely transparent.

 

Slight distortions break in the air as the two forms converse silently, touching hands and tapping the other. The smaller form breaks off and steps onto the ledge. A glassy looking harpoon and a nearly invisible rope appear from the air and shoots towards the large building comprising a whole complex, surrounded by a large barbed wire fence and armed figures far below. A loud screeching of tires occurs at the very moment the harpoon embeds itself into the roof asphalt on top of the guarded structure, the rope pulling taut. The forms swiftly transverse the zipline and lay down flat on the roof of the military installation. The armed figures below focused intently on the sounds coming from the front gate and the newly arrived vehicle.

 

-----

 

The figure lacking his favourite coffee mug got out of the urban buggy, standing tall and flexing before moving towards the gate. Nothing can be seen of the man inside the powered armour, his garish grey and red body armour covering him from head to toe, revealing neither factional alignment or army rank. In front of him was a small booth and a large stripped gate. A guard stood behind it, eyeing the red and grey form with confusion and suspicion, motioning to his partner inside the booth to be ready.

 

The guard raised his rifle to bear and shouted out to the approaching figure,

“Stand down and identify yourself! Coming within 20 feet of a Regime military facility is a felony and is punishable by one year in prison. Halt and give identification!”

 

“I am, that is!” The grey and red figure said, still slowly bearing down on the gate, “I am, that is who I am what?” The figure paused, seemingly trapped his own strange sense of logic. The guard just raised his weapon and aimed at the intruder, shouting

 

“You have five seconds to stand down or I open fire!”

 

“You have two seconds to stand down or I open fire!” The figure challenged back.

The guard stared at the figure, wondering just what kind of hallucinogen this person has procured for his own enjoyment. If it were not for the heavy armour he was wearing, the guard would have already sent him on his way. Before the five seconds are up, the guard felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and began to lose consciousness, the last thing he sees before the darkness takes him is the red and grey figure laughing as he vaults over the barrier and shoots at the guard in the booth with his gun.

 

The two shadows don’t need to visually confirm the diversion is working, gunfire reports spilled over from the front edge of the building and a Klaxon blared to life. The smaller figure lined charges around a roof entrance and trigged it, blowing the hatch up and to one side. The two forms quickly slide into the dark room below.

 

-----

 

“I don’t like it when people think they can shoot me!” Declared the figure as he took aim down the corridor to his left, taking out one of many guards as he trundled straight down the hall towards the room his maps declared was the barracks. He passed through an open door to find a squad of soldiers in various states of dress, who opened fire on him with various weapons. The armoured man jerked to the left as a rifle round struck him and jerked back to the right as a shotgun blast slammed into him. He braced himself and rained fire back at the group, sweeping left and right until there was a heap of bodies on the ground. He blew at the muzzle of his weapon and moved on, apparently uninjured during the battle, his armour bearing only a few scuff marks.

 

The two shadows landed just a few feet behind a patrolling guard; the minor sounds of their landing didn’t even make the guard’s ears shift back. One shot from a pistol was all it took and the other form caught the guard as he crumpled to the ground. The form that fired the shot attached another almost invisible rope to the guardrail beside them and began to rappel down to the floor. He hid behind a stack of crates as several guards rushed past to deal with the intruder in the barracks. Once it was clear, the second form slid down and joined him.

 

“So far, so friggin’ good eh?” The taller of the two mentioned, his suit fading back to reality, casting a shadow of its own. The other person grunted in response and de-cloaked. She opened up her satchel pack, sliding a laptop out and quickly activating it. The military grade processor inside hacked the local wireless network, bypassing the security subroutines with stolen codes and accessing the camera and turret subsystems. The program analyzed the camera’s monitoring the warehouse section of the installation and ensured that they would be edited out of the image sent to the security room. She then made the turrets initiate diagnostic mode, causing them to disengage and slide into their sleeves. With that, the two re-cloaked and set out towards the centre of the warehouse.

 

“Conniving salt-water hordes! I’ll teach you to bat tails with the likes of me!” He roared, raining fire on another squad that tried to ambush him. This time, the squad leader had prepared a LAW (Light anti-tank weapon), waiting until the red and grey armoured soldier took out the rest of the squad. The leader fired and sent the rocket straight down the corridor towards the figure, an explosion rocked the area and sent debris flying, smoke filling the hallway.

 

“Trafalgar-1 confirm kill.” The leader’s radio crackled as he peered through the smoke, his rifle ready.

 

"Trafalgar-1, the kill is confirm-" the leader began to say into the radio, relaxing slightly.

 

“I hate LAWs! They cover my armour in soot!” Declared the figure as he strode out of the smoke. The leader began firing and retreating down the hallway. He fell down to the ground a few seconds later, smoke coming out of the barrel of the seemingly invincible figure’s weapon. The armoured marauder moved on towards the Security and Control room of the installation, grumbling about the fact he forgot to take out the communication dishes before assaulting the base.

 

-----*to be continued*

[jonathan_wolfe]

Deeper inside the base, the two figures quickly searched through the warehouse looking for a truck that had arrived a few hours earlier. It wasn’t with the other trucks that were just inside the gates. To the left, however, was a secured garage and four guards patrolling around it.

 

“Two on the left for you, two for me” The smaller figure said, slinking towards a pile of crates overlooking the garage. When she reached the pile, she leapt up onto the first level, landing with near silence as she used her forward momentum to vault up onto the second level. She waited for her partner to get in place, keeping completely motionless.

 

“All set Vermillion, lets finish this,” She radioed quietly and with that, she sprung into the air, catching the guard on top, it was over almost before it started, the guard falling to the ground softly with a swirl of air. One down and one to go.

At the same time, down below, the other person was taking deft care of the unknowing guards. His focus was not so much on the guards but his surroundings, ready for those who might come at the sight of four guards falling for no reason. Within the next five seconds, the four that were patrolling around the building were on the floor.

 

“Try the side door, should be keypad only” The male radioed, round the corner, only to find her already slipping inside the darkened garage. He followed inside, his suit automatically switching viewing modes to low-light operation. A large freight truck occupied much of the interior of the small warehouse, giving the male little room to get around and behind to the freight truck's rear door. The female was working hard away at the lock, a combination padlock and keypad. The male placed his hand on the door, using a x-ray sensor to scan inside. As expected, three guards occupied the interior, guarding a large box about 3 feet long by 2 feet wide.

 

“We’ve got three, pistol should do.” The male radioed.

 

“Three seconds… two…go!” The door unlatched and slid up rapidly, revealing the three guards jumping to their feet, rifles drawn and aimed at the entrance. From thin air the shots rang out, the middle guard and the left one falling immediately. The third, obliviously shaken, scanned left and right across the entrance, beginning to fire. The air left his lungs as a heavy weight came down on his chest. He saw the shimmering outline of a person, maybe a fox or wolf. A sharp pain and then darkness.

 

“Halfway point, now get the box open so we can hightail.” The male radioed, turning to guard the garage entrance.

 

“How’s our ‘diversion’ doing?” she inquired, tapping away rapidly at the keypad built into the lid.

 

“Quite good, the main comm is down so the reinforcements will be late in coming. He seems to have paused in one of the barracks rooms though, I should give him a shout, see if he’s ok.” He replied, switching channels.

 

“…astard child of Navernus could shoot better than you… see? Now he’s down, the rest of you have to make up for him! C’MON, one hand on the stock, the other on the grip, burst fire, don’t hang on the full auto…”

 

“Juggernaut, what the hell are you doing?”

 

“Eh? Aww crap.” The radio died out and the male could feel the floor rumble with a muffled explosion. The signal cut back in a few seconds later, “…cking recruits, you threw my ‘nade back! That’s more like it!” Juggernaut switched his comm. off and resumed clearing out the barracks.

 

The male turned and looked at Vermillion, he shrugged, “Well, he’s doing ok, I question his tactics but he’ll be done in time for us to leave.” Vermillion nodded and resumed working on the box, tapping in the last digit of the access code which caused a small section of the case to slide open and present a clear panel.

She grunted and slipped out her laptop again, the lock had biometrics built in, most likely keyed to the base commander fingerprints. She pried open another access panel and hooked the laptop to the open port revealed. Vermillion started a program on the laptop, which made an attempt at bypassing the biometrics in order to get at the physical lock. Within 15 seconds a light on the box turned green and the biometrics panel slid away, showing an electronic deadbolt, which required the correct key card to unlock. Sliding a programmable key card into the slot, she used her laptop to hack the access code. With a beep and an audible click, the box began to open, sliding on small pneumatic hinges.

 

Within, a blue glow emanated from four fuel cells, new prototypes that were almost thirty percent more powerful than anything manufactured before.

 

“Not bad, four of them. Good, lets get them packed and punch out.” She said, sliding the first cell out. She had two pouches clipped to her belt, in which the first two went. The male removed the other two and fitting them on his own belt.

 

“It’s finished, let hightail.” The male said, turning and jumping down onto the floor. He stumbled slightly, not yet adjusted to the extra fourty pounds balanced on his back as he rounded the side of the truck and headed out of the garage, Vermillion following just behind.

 

-----

 

Juggernaut burst through a set of double doors, running out into the cafeteria, immediately he was set upon by another large group of soldiers. He kicked a table over and took cover.

 

“Redwolfe, I’m in a bit ‘o a snag at the moment, group of twenty, these ain’t young cubs either. I’ll be an extra… 2 minutes.”

 

“Copy.” Redwolfe replied, “Don't let them catch you.”

Juggernaut grunted and lobbed a grenade over the table, the soldiers had split into two groups, when he focused on one, the other group took advantage and advanced on him. Gunfire rained all over the cafeteria, most of it slamming into the table and the wall behind Juggernaut. There were also several scuffmarks on his helmet when he was also struck.

 

He shouted to them as he fired on a soldier moving advancing close to him, “Quit hiding behind things, you’re getting on my nerves, being competent like that! Five minutes, just five minutes I’ll have you lot running hightail!” He fired his rifle at the group farther away and lobbed grenades at them to keep them down, before he dropped the rifle, letting it dangle on its sling as he unhooked the shotgun he has strapped to his right thigh. He let loose a strident roar and charged towards the nearer group. For once, he remembered to use cover as he weaving through the overturned tables, beginning to pick them off one by one at very close range. Circling a pillar, he spotted another solider under cover behind a counter. He rolled a primed grenade his way and ran in the opposite direction…into a torrent of rifle fire. He stood his ground, letting the bullets strike his armour, slowly advancing, clipping the shotgun to his thigh and taking his rifle back up into his hands before opening fire.

 

Redwolfe did one last scan of the warehouse before departing, scampering up the rope behind Vermillion. Halfway up his hands slipped and he slid down a foot before clamping down hard, he adjusted the fuel cells and grunted, labouring the first few feet before regaining his momentum. Vermillion wound up the rope when Redwolfe made it to the catwalk and they both re-cloaked and slipped back up through the hatch in the roof. Vermillion raced across the line they had laid earlier, Redwolfe in step, his arms swinging wider and his pace more loping.

 

“This isn’t a race, you go any faster and you’ll de-cloak! We’re supposed to be untraceable, not timely!” Redwolfe radioed, grabbing the ledge and pulling himself over. He waited as Vermillion retracted and coiled the second rope, she turned and looked at him, her outline visible in his suit’s Heads-up-display or HUD.

 

“Fast and hidden, I’m not going to hang around here for any longer than I have to.” She replied as she turned way, melting back into the shadows and moving away.

 

With a loud report, the doors flew off of their hinges, blow open by a charge Juggernaut had placed there, through the dust cloud he ran, his weapons were blazing fire, the last of the base troops stood between him and freedom. He largely ignored the small arms fire, but took cover when they used LAWs and grenades. Heavily outnumbered, he quickly made his way across the tarmac to where two jeeps were parked. He pressed the ignition button and gripped the wheel tight, slamming down on the accelerator, tires squealing in protest as he accelerated towards the gate, firing on the troops with his free hand as he raced past them.

 

Rounds punched into and through the jeep, shattering the windows, but luckily nothing hit the engine. The gate sheared off when he drove the jeep through it, and he looked in the rear-view mirror and immediately swerved to the left to avoid a LAW that had been fired at him, the rocket darted harmlessly beside him and exploded fifty feet down the road. He gunned the vehicle past the crater and went for the nearest subsurface entrance, he could see several jeeps pulling out of the base and three more coming towards him from in front. Gripping the handbrake, he forced the jeep into a slide as he rounded the exit to the down ramp, making the turn at about 80kph. Down into the ramp he went, racing down the road with only the tunnel lights illuminating the way.

 

He continued deeper underground, passing level after level of the city before turning hard into a side street, His targeting HUD declared the nearest jeep still on his tail about 500 meters behind him, Juggernaut opened his belt kit and slid out an AI controller and slid it into a slot next to the ignition. Immediately the wheel began turning on it’s own and he no longer had to drive the vehicle. In fact, when the jeep passed through an area that had its streetlights knocked out, he jumped off and allowed his suit to absorb the shock as he tumbled to a halt. Immediately, he was up and off into the endless walkways and alleys that twisted throughout the entire underground. The soldiers pursued the jeep until it mindlessly struck a concrete barrier and slid down the road on its side before exploding.

 

As the jeeps pulled up to the wreckage, the command channel sprung to life, the repair personnel having finally repaired the comm. centre at the base.“Trafalgar-4 and Traf-6 investigate and determine if driver died in crash. Isolate this cube and block all exits in and out of there.”

 

Two of the jeeps stayed put and the soldiers disembarked, moving to put out the fire and examine the wreckage. The other four jeeps sped off in different directions to begin sealing off the exits from the area.

 

Trafalgar-4, a Lieutenant from a neighbouring base, surveyed the wrecked jeep, “Just what the hell was he up to crashing a base like that. Frig, he must’ve taken on at least three of the five platoons that were stationed there. Corporal! Is he there?”

 

A tall wolf in fatigues stood up and turned to the Sergeant, “No sign of him sir, he jumped, probably no father than half a click away by now.” The Lieutenant nodded and went on the horn, “Tango on foot, half click radius. Check all vehicles and people coming in and out, he’s a walking suit of power armour, I don’t think he’s going to get rid of it just yet! Block all exits and determine hidden exits and block those off too, Platoons T-1 thru T-4 will cover up, T-5 to 8 will cover down. This guy attacked a military installation one-handed in broad daylight, let’s find him!” The command circuit echoed several affirmatives and the soldiers packed up into the jeeps to isolate the local cell, about a kilometre in area and 150 meters deep.

 

Juggernaut looked up the long tunnel he was climbing through. This cell, like most cells, was riddled with holes and access ways that had been constructed through the years to transverse from one to the next. This particular cell and the ones around it looked particularly Swiss cheese like, which made them excellent starting points for going into hiding deep within the underground part of the lower plate. He continued climbing and the metal surrounding the tunnel became solid and monotone, marking the thick superstructure of the cell boundary. Below, the ladder continued down into the poorly lit cell below, people slowly drifting out of buildings and shacks, the day had begun.

 

-----*

[jonathan_wolfe]

Redwolfe paced about the artificial clearing, his chameleon-suit lay folded on a metal box next to him. After going back and forth for about five times, he sat down and began cleaning his pistol.

 

“Well, these beauties certainly did the job right, right through the body armour and into the nervous system,” he remarked, sighting the weapon and sliding it into his holster, “I hope they keep these around, they’re the best weapon we’ve used so far.”

 

Vermillion nodded, “I’d say, they’re more effective than firearms not to mention the mess that is avoided by knocking them out.” She was standing next to a small aircar, she opened the door and slipped in, tinting the windows and changing out of her suit. A minute later, she came back out, dressed in civilian clothes but she still had her carrying case with her laptop inside it. She was a fox, her ears standing tall through her bright blue hair, with the long bangs tied into multiple braids, hanging down over her cheeks. She had a mustard coloured t-shirt with a dingy green jacket, which looked it had been salvaged from a coverall. Her arms were bare save a gilded armband on her right arm. She had a broad bushy tail that slowly twisted left and right as she packed up her equipment, her boots clumping mutedly on the hard ground. When she was done, she turned around and sat down next to Redwolfe, looking around at the various exits from the ruined building they were in.

 

“So, what do you think? Will Roley come back drunk? Or will he have a whole battalion on his tail?” Redwolfe commented, looking at his watch.

 

“Either one will be fine, he’s done both before. We’ve been able to deal with both successfully, no worries.” Vermillion said, chuckling, “Just wish he’d tell us in advance which one so we’d have more time to prepare.”

 

Redwolfe shrugged, “Well, he’s got the armour and the skill, we’ll just have to accept his eccentricities.”

 

Vermillion grunted in agreement and they waited on their friend.

 

-----

 

Trafalgar-4’s squad pulled back into the base, surveying the damage during the firefight, most of the destruction was in a line where the armoured soldier had fended them all off in order to escape. A couple of trashed hallways and the comm. station was completely trashed. The sergeant stepped off the truck and was saluted by the corporal waiting to give his report.

 

“So what kinda hell did he wreak on the place?” The sergeant remarked, holding his hand to his eyes to survey the tarmac.

 

“Sir, loss of one vehicle, gatehouse needs repairs as do corridors A, B and E. The cafeteria is a mess and the comm. centre is in a million pieces. And uh, Sir.”

 

“Spit it out Corporal.”

 

“We found more unconscious guards inside the warehouse, someone came and stole the prototype shipment from right under our noses.”

 

The Sergeant glared at the Corporal, his ears flattening against his skull, “The shipping is GONE? What the hell, @#*! We’ve been sucker punched!” The sergeant growled and slowly calmed down, needing to be in control of the situation, “Give HQ a full report by 6:00pm tonight, don’t leave anything out, this is something they’ll want to take a look at themselves. Track down security and get any and all information on the intruders, I want to know why they didn’t notice anything unusual during this whole incident.”

 

“Yes sir.” The jaguarondi Corporal turned and jogged towards the main entrance, the doors of which were being replaced back on their hinges. The sergeant just looked at the base and shook his head, his tail swishing, but low to the ground,

“How in the hell…”

 

He got back into his jeep and drove away.

 

-----

 

“Ahh, the man of the hour, the master of ceremonies himself, glad you could accompany us on such short notice.” Redwolfe said with a grin, watching the familiar red and grey figure come out of a dark hallway in front of him.

 

“James, Chels! Howsit goin?” Roley said, waving to the pair. As he approached, Roley unclipped his belt and let it fall to the ground, opening a side holster and sliding out a can of beer.

 

“Well, at least he waited until it was over this time.” Chels observed, shaking her head and picking up the box containing their field gear for this mission. She placed the box on a ledge of the aircar and popped a side hatch, sliding the box into the compartment. She slammed it shut and turned to the other two, Roley has his helmet half open and was thoroughly enjoying his beer, while James quietly inquired about his diversion techniques.

 

“Oh ya, I showed up and all they had for me were Greenmen, so I had to give them some on the spot training quickly so that I would be able to enjoy myself.”

 

“How attentive were they?” James inquired. Roley chugged his can and nodded,

“Quite well actually, they caught me sleeping and rolled my ‘nade right back at my feet. And that was only after I took out three of them!” Roley continued drinking and Chels began laughing quietly, opening the car door and getting in. Roley looked at her quizzically and then looked at James, “What’s with her?” He asked.

 

James smiles and answered, “You were on the comm. the whole time, we heard everything. I’m surprised you didn’t lose your entire paint job, you crazy fox!”

 

Roley just grinned like an idiot and walked over to get into the car, “I am that is!”

 

James got in the driver seat and turned the vehicle on. The turbines on the side quickly sprung to life and rotated upwards, lifting the car slowly off the ground. It moved forward and flew into the largest exit, moving down a derelict passage. The tunnel opened out into a deep abyss, the site of a large catastrophe over 100 years ago, which had created a large wedge inside of the plate, ruining the area around it for kilometres. It was almost completely dark and the aircar navigated using tightband radar to scan the terrain around it.

 

The aircar descended for some time before re-entering the maze of tunnels near the bottom. It was a narrow fit; metal beams occasionally scraping the side of the vehicle as James precariously piloted the car, a specific path in mind as they dove deeper into the darkness. Finally, after half an hour of twists and turns, they came to a large and ancient wall. There was no visible way past this immense barrier and James set the craft down twenty feet from it. The trio got out of the car and packed up their field gear and the prototypes, Roley strapping the large metal box to his back. The servos and hydraulics in his suit whined as they rebalanced for the added weight on his back. He gave James the thumbs up and began walking to the wall. Chels followed, with a smaller load of gear and one of the prototypes. James shut and locked the aircar, tapping a six-digit code on an exterior keypad. The aircar powered down completely and faded from view, slowly taking on the looks of the surrounding junk metal. Satisfied with the results, James walked over to the wall where the other two were waiting.

 

“Roley, your suits electronics shielded up?” James asked, sliding a hidden panel open on the wall.

 

“Tighter than the Wall-That-Traps-Us, I am.” He replied, slipping his beer can into the cup holder on his belt. James nodded and entered a code, then pulling on the handle to the left. Something inside the wall clanged and a door retracted from the wall, revealing darkness even deeper than the one they just left. They silently walked in, single file and the door shut right behind Roley’s tail as they weaved their way deeper in.

 

They did not say a word as they plodded their way through this place, so ancient, the semblances of cell structures worn away by hundreds of years of war, history and abandonment. This deep under the plate, civilization had taken its leave long ago. They had all turned their radios off, and anything powering Roley’s suit had its EM signature completely masked. As far as the world of light and radio was concerned, they were dead to the world. Chels lead the way, following a strange twisting path that seemed to be planned by some malevolent being with a random number generator. No flashlights, no night vision, just one person following the one in front. Chels deftly walked the path however, and did not stumble, as if she knew every bump and every snag in the way.

 

Chels stopped, holding motionless, which signalled the other two to do so as well. In front of them about twenty feet away, something moved about, seeming to come right out of the endless mass of metal and ceramics scrap. It was about two feet in length and moved with exact careful movements. It’s metal shell glinted the bits of light that were this far down, it’s eyes a deep glowing red. The creature moved from its place and approached the path, pausing every now and then to look around. It paused when it’s gaze fell on the trio. For a full ten seconds, not even the fur on their hides moved. The creature, now satisfied, moved on, disappearing into a small hole on the opposite side of the path. Two minutes later, Chels began moving again, making her way down the path again. James followed and so did Roley, exhaling a sigh of relief, though somewhat muted.

 

Finally, Chels stopped in front of a door, one of the few still left intact from the ravages of this place. She entered a combination into the keypad, the buttons worn and the plastic rotting away. It beeped and the door slid open, silently and quickly. Inside was an old but undamaged hallway. The walls were made of drywall and the lights overhead worked. The trio entered and the door shut behind them.

 

“At last, I don’t have to hear myself think again!” Roley shouted his stride more confident and purposeful. He powered his suit back up to full and sighed with relief, “OH, in the name of Dawn, that’s a lotta weight to carry. Next time could we just go steal schematics of these things? Data soo much easier to carry!”

 

James chuckled and reached forward, releasing the straps on Roley’s back and pulling up one end of the box and holding it up,

 

“There, now get all the kinks out before I put this back on you.”

 

Roley stopped and stretched his limbs out, the sound of several vertebrae cracking echoed down the hall and Roley let out a howl of satisfaction, his tail swishing happily now.

 

“Oooh, damn that felt good.” Roley said, helping reattach the box to his back.

The trio moved on, reaching the end of the hallway. Roley quickly reached for the door that blocked their way and gripped the handle. Without warning, Roley had a portable Railgun to his head and an arm around his neck.

 

“I win.” The de-cloaking figure declared, Roley whimpering, his tail down and limp.

 

“Don’t do that!” Roley complained, shoving off the guard, a tall thin mouse in full chameleon-battle armour. The guard holstered the gun and laughed at Roley,

 

“You’re just too big of a target to resist, bumbling around here like that. I heard you coming half a click away!” He smiled and moved on to the other two.

 

“Seigfried.” James said.

 

“James.” The mouse replied, glancing at Chels, moving onto Chels, “Lieutenant”

 

“Captain” She nodded in assent. He waited for Roley to calm down and stand next to his team mates.

 

“I shall scan you and if you check out, you can be on your way.”

 

The mouse moved back to Roley and held his hand against the temple of his helmet, concentrating and closing his eyes. He could see in front of him, a swirling and glowing mass of light. It was bright and gaudy, seeming to move at random. However there were no signs of drugs or mental programming, which always made itself apparent because of it’s unnatural origin.

 

He took his hand away and nodded to Roley, who moved to the door and waited. Now Seigfried held his fingers near James’ temple. Cool and grey, looking like a sea creature hovering in the darkness, regular and very bright. It was very easy to tell that nothing hindered this mind. Seigfried nodded to James, who walked over and stood next to Roley. Finally, Seigfried scanned Chels, hand next to the temple. He could see a swirling red mass, variable in brightness and changing slowly over time, never the same as before. Nothing here though, appeared unnatural, so he dropped his hand and nodded,

 

“You’ve all got clear heads, but mind you Roley, the alcohol is going to affect your long term memory.”

 

“What if I want to mess with my head huh?” Roley challenged, hands on is hips. Seigfried sighed,

 

“You all can go, Dunrick will be glad to hear of your success in the field.”

 

“Good Hunting.” James said, opening the door.

 

“Until again James.” Seigfried said, fading into the void.

 

-----*End of Chapter 1*

[jonathan_wolfe]

Utopia’s Twilight

 

Part 1 – Resonance

 

Chapter 2 – Haven

 

Light. If the trio were not used the sight, it would be indeed a great shock to see the blue-sky overhead. They stepped out of the alcove the doorway was set in, and walked out into Foxhaven. Behind them was the barrier wall and what looked like endless rolling terrain far beyond. Clouds slowly trundled through the sky, the sun gleaming joyfully on the land. Ahead was a large settlement; it’s size hard to judge, the forest swallowing parts of the city into itself. The only obvious signs of a city were the apartment communes that were built around the city centre. All sorts of people walked the streets. There were the construction workers who were making an addition to the east side of Foxhaven starting their shift, a good number of people headed west to the city centre where the council and university were located. A large majority of the people were foxes, but wolves also made up a good part of the population. Other less substantial populations, the various types of canines and felines, existed as clans in the forests to the south. The chatter of numerous languages as could be heard as they walked the streets.

 

James sniffed the air and flexed his ears, smiling and waving to some fellow military staff that were headed east to the exit. Ahead was the university and underneath was the military HQ, a tight mass of information and high-ranking decision makers. Underneath that was the “Garage” a large cavern, not lit by a holo-sky like this level, but housed all the military hardware that these people possessed.

 

“Aww, crap!” Roley shouted, kicking the ground in anger, “I just remembered something.”

 

Chels looked up at Roley, James turned his head,

 

“What?” He asked.

 

“I left my wheels at the base, after I took all that time to “borrow” it from a Shogomiitsu auto yard! Dammit!”

 

Chels cocked one ear and frowned,

 

“That’s it? I didn’t think you could get so worked up over a buggy.”

 

”Hey, a man’s wheels are right up there with a good firearm, a can o’ beer and a lovely lady in his lap, aircars pshaw! My daring escapes shall be either in a urban buggy, or one friggin’ tripped out motorcycle!” Chels looked at James with a disdained look in her eyes. James just shrugged,

 

“Roley is not the representation on the general public, trust me.”

 

“Oh, I know, I just wonder how worn his cheek fur is from getting slapped so many times.” Chels commented.

 

“The sacrifices we must make…” Roley began

 

“Want another mark on that cheek Roley?” Chels threatened.

Roley yelped and moved away from Chels,

 

“Uhh… I’ll just continue walking this direction and say no more.”

Chels folded her arms and flicked her ears,

 

“Good. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

 

“What the hell is with that woman? She should be swooning under my manly charm!” Roley whispered over the comm.

 

"Whole new playing field to land this one, for starters, you’ve never tried to court a military girl. I suggest you rethink your courtship strategies before you make another move.”

 

They continued on, reaching the steps of the University. There were three double doors set into the entrance arch of the main building. They went through the centre set and walked down the hallway. Students, professors, scientists. This was the hub of Foxhaven and it was alive with a spark of life and wisdom never seen in ages. After walking down the hallway, they reached the government wing, underneath which was military HQ. The council was in session and the sounds of a heated debate could be heard coming from within.

 

“Mr Speaker, would the Councillor please explain the continued escalation of our armed forces program. We have no need for a larger military force at this time. We are not the ones who are fighting the war in the streets; our friends from TALAR are doing an excellent job of active rebellion. I’m asking him to explain the expanded recruitment and arming plan now in effect.” Came a loud and commanding voice from within. James stopped and looked through the half open door and into the room. Within, he could see his mother, Miriam, taking her seat after making the pronunciation just a few seconds ago. On the opposite side of the room, a middle-aged wolf stood up and cleared his throat.

 

“Mr Speaker, the expansion of the recruitment and rearmament program is in advance of the projected crackdown that proceeds within two years of major rebellion. We need to ensure not only the protection of Foxhaven but to be able to guarantee its survival in a direct assault situation. When the Regime comes for us, we will stop them dead in their tracks. It’s only a matter of time.”

 

He sat down to mild applause and another person stood up and began to talk. James moved away from the door and continued down the hallway on the right. Roley was already near the elevators, waiting for James and Chels, who was still next to James.

 

“Looks like those two are getting along just fine.” Chels said as the walked down the hallway, their boots clacking on the polished stone floor.

 

“They’re always like that, even in private, you’d think they’d be at each other’s throats but they seem to enjoy being kept in check by the other.” James replied nodding to Roley as they walked into an open elevator.

 

“Going down.” Roley said, chuckling. Chels just looked at James with a pained look in her eyes and he shrugged in return.

 

The elevator was open walled, only a steel cage guarding the sides. The walls moved by, shades of white and grey. A short while and then the sides gave way to open air and the dimly lit floor of the Garage could be seen almost 200 meters below them. Huge LED spotlights washed the work floors, revealing half-finished metal hulks and various machines undergoing repairs. In the middle, built into the massive support pylon was the headquarters of Foxxfire, the military guard of Foxhaven. The elevator came to a stop at ground level and the trio got out of the cage, followed by a few other Foxxfire personnel. Catwalks on either side of the walkway they were on led to the workfloors they saw from above. To their left, they could hear a fusion turbine being ignitioned, a large power cable leading from the top of the turbine and into a larger building about 200 feet down. The sound was a harmony of rising thrums and electrical charge. This ignition sequence went on for 10 seconds, when the displays on the turbine lit up and the cable disengaged. The turbine was under it’s own power and would probably stay on for at least a year of operation before maintenance and repair. There was also, a squad of new mecha being moved from the assembly yard and into the hangars, the whine of hydraulics could be heard as the second mecha was raised into a standing position, towering 25 feet over the catwalk. The mecha, looked like a heavily armoured soldier, although scaled to tower over most vehicles and carry weapons with firepower equal to that of tanks. The robot drifted to life and lifted itself out of the cradle, beginning to walk down alongside the catwalk, towards the hangars, making the ground shake as it plodded by, the hydraulics whining loudly as the cradle dropped to take in the next robot.

 

“Lt 130 Ranger, ooh what a beaut” Roley commented, holding his hand to his faceplate as he watched the robot stride into the hangar, “That guy’ll run circle’s around Templars, and have enough time to knock the heads off of ‘em with the snipes.”

 

Ahead of them was the tall HQ building, simple and Spartan in design, the command and control centre of Foxhaven’s defenses. The trio walked through sets of heavy double doors and into the expansive atrium of the military base. The floor was abuzz with life as soldiers moved from different levels of the building, it was particularly busy because of the watch change, many soldiers coming from barracks or from home to the base for duties. There was also a large amount of people working away at desks, working on low-level intelligence and communication tasks. Beyond the floor was a large set of metal stairwells set inside a metal cage, winding their way up into the ceiling of the atrium, with high-capacity elevators lining either side of it. There were a few who knew the trio and called out greetings as they passed, the morning shift had a mood of uplifted optimism as slowly, each espionage team arrived for debriefing. To one side was a glass-walled office, inside was a middle-aged wolf with Brigadier General ranks on his arm band. He looked up and nodded to James and Chels, Roley was lagging behind, stumbling across a group of friends.

 

“Lieutenants Wolfe and Furlough, good to see you again.” The wolf looked at his watch and nodded, “And as per the timeframe outlined last night, I take it the mission was successful.”

 

James nodded, “Yes sir,” and unclipped the fuel cells from his suit and placed them on the ground, placing one on the B. General’s desk, “Northern Cross’ tip-off was completely accurate, four of Shogomiitsu’s FR-08’s were waiting in the strongbox.”

The General nodded again and toggle his intercom,

 

“Sergeant, we’ve got four fuel cells to be put into level 3 lockup, see to their delivery.”

 

“Yes General” crackled the intercom. The General rubbed his chin in though and looked up at the pair,

 

“And where is our good friend Sergeant Roley at this time? We calculated that his role in this mission should not have be detrimental regardless of circumstance and how sober he was.”

 

Chels gave a sly grin and her ears tilted outwards,

 

“He was more than useful. He won’t admit it, but he knows just the right amount of havoc to distract an entire base, but not enough to bring things into total lockdown. He really made our job easier today.”

 

The General nodded in statisfaction and began to tap at the computer on his desk,

 

“Excellent, now for the last part. Casualties?”

 

James stepped forward and held his right palm against his chest and held up his left arm,

 

“All casualties were non-lethal. They should be waking up in a few days from now with the mother of all headaches though. I cannot account for what occured during Sergeant Roley's diversion however.”

 

The wolf raised an eyebrow and grinned, “This mission has truly been a success. Excellent, you’ve all earned a few days of leave for now. I’ll let Dunrick know how well you’ve done. Dismissed!”

 

The two foxes bowed and ducked back out, the General called out to them,

 

“And tell that mangy drunkard to get his tail in here before I feed him to the Horde!”

 

James chuckled and looked around for the socalled mangy drunkard,

 

“The Sergeant must’ve gone out for a beer with Brig and company. I’ll track him down, I guess you can head’er home if you want.”

 

Chels nodded and ran a paw through her short blue hair, mucked up a bit by the morning's exursions, “After we eat, though, I really need to get washed up, those suits are a sweaty mess at the best of times.”

 

---

 

“So these guys didn’t even understand the concept of taking cover. It was like a videogame with crappy AI. They’d all stand next to each other and trip the full autos on me. Hah… I mean a friggin’ glass statue could’ve been in their line of fire and nothin’ would happen.” Roley said, chugging down more of his beer, recalling his tale to three others sitting at his table. The one on his left, drinking the same brand of beer, towered over the rest of the group, being a Maned Wolf. A patch over one eye and a grin as big as Roley’s was on his face,

 

“Oy’ Sucks when they don’t give ya a fair fight hmm? So lemme guess, ya gave ‘em the ol’ firearms 101 didncha?” The maned wolf laughed uproariously, this scenario had obviously played itself out before.

 

“Indeed I did Brigadine, Indeed I did. In fact, these were the best recruits I have had the honor of teaching. One of ‘em sparked two brain cells together and tossed back my ‘nade. Right at my feet too! I would’ve given it the ole kickback, to show the kid that you need to wait till the right moment. But I’ll be damned if James doesn’t come on the com questioning my battle tactics… Well I’ll be damned if I didn’t get blown right on my ass.”

 

The one in the middle spoke up, “Screw around on the battle field long enough, you get what’s coming to you. Is that the 8th time you’ve been caught in a massive explosion now?”

 

“9th, Seth, there was a smart one right at the beginning. Waited for the hallway to clear and tossed a wonderful anti–tank rocket my way. He got an earful about how long it takes to polish this sucker.” The table burst into laughter. By this time, James had come across the group and began to approach, giving a quick two finger wave to Seth and the others.

 

The fox on the far right piped up, “Welcome back James. Roley was just telling us of the trials and tribulations of the mission, sounds like a rousing success.” James nodded, beginning to swish his tail left and right,

 

“Like shooting fish in the sea, plain simple. The hardest part was trying not to laugh at what came flying through the intercom. I know Roley for havoc, but what he did today was sheer brilliance.” James said, putting a hand on Roley’s shoulder, whispering into his ear,

 

“And if you want any chance of getting your railer back, Rol, I’d go report to the General, yesterday.”

 

Roley made a distressed noise and burst from his chair, stumbling between the tables, swearing in a strange dialect, making his way to the exit.

 

“He sur’ does make up for the suit, I haven’t seen a more foolhardy man. Throw himself into situations like that. Relatively a superhero in this day and age, tho hardly an image for the revolution” Brigadine commented, slugging his drink and reclining in the cheap plastic chair, “He’s going to get himself killed ro’it, and he’s going to be bitching about the ruined paint job and flat beer till his last breath.” He continued, having the general attention of the table now, “But what do we care, uh? He’s going to have the finest time of his life. He always does.”

 

“Brig, you've had too much beer now” Vincent declared, sipping his own strange cocktail and rubbing his muzzle pensively, “We should get back home, we’ve got some pre-combat conditioning for the next three days before we’re allowed back on the surface-“ Brigadine let loose a loud belch, causing him to pause for a second,

 

“I hope you enjoy your leave. Let Roley know we’re always willing to share a Jata stick over some alcohol, alright?”

 

James nodded distractedly, “Course… sure we’ll let him know. You three take care alright?”

 

Brigadine got to his feet, towering over the table and grinning, “Will do” and he sauntered away, Vincent silently following.

 

Seth got to his feet and adjusted his glasses,

 

“Any hitches James?”

He shook his head,

“Roley is a can of worms, but those suits are a wonder, couple that with what I bet will become very irritating effects from the new non-lethal weapons, we’re slowly realizing my father’s dream.”

 

“The Bloodless War. Very idealistic, it’s hard to believe even half of it would stand up to the simple rules of engagement, or the fact that if you don’t remove your opponent from the battlefield permanently, he will simply rise again. Not to mention they don’t follow the dogma of a Bloodless War, the odds are stacked.” Seth held his hand to the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

 

James spoke up, “We’ve moved one step closer, I believe you should read up on the chapters regarding Morale and Subversion, the very useful but dangerous basis of Bloodless Victory.”

 

Seth nodded, “I shall look at those again… Good day,” Seth walked slowly down the aisle, his feet falling intently as he walked through the exit.

 

“Oog, always with the war philosophy. You're always overthinking the whole thing,” Chels declared, lolling her tongue out, “Pure and simple, ‘Do no harm’ That’s all I need to know” She stood up and slinked over to the front counter to grab her lunch.

 

Always challenging. Oh well, someone to add pepper to the soup of idealism. James thought, clearing the table from the previous groups drinking antics. He sighed and glanced down at his necklace, bearing the ornamental mandala of Gaea, closing his eyes and running his fingers over the inscription on the back, silencing his mind.

 

“It is hope, that single hopeless sparkle of resistance against all odds, that has allowed us to keep going for 500 years, and for another 500 we shall arise again!”

 

He rolled this around in his head until the sound of a lunch tray startled him back to the world, lunch placed in front of him by a beaming Chels, whom sat down with her own sandwich, diving into it with a healthy glow on her face

 

Teaching war through love?

 

----*To Be Continued*

[jonathan_wolfe]

Silver. Glossy corridors, one like the previous, polished laminated ceramic walls colored in monochrome and gleaming metallic hues. People walked up and down these pristine halls, most dressed in tip-top military uniforms, mimicking the walls around them with grey and black cloth and polished silver trim. Murmured whispers and the clap clap of boots as everyone moves on their way from office to conference room to staging area, always the lull of conversation can be heard, from hushed whispers to shouting debates from within closed doors.

 

A hushed whisper covered the real noise of an elevator coming to a stop, the door rattling open to disgorge several officers, nearly identical in uniform and in look, all being of mongoose origin with their narrow pointed snouts and rough glaring expressions as they made their way down the central corridor, at their head an even more finely dressed and decorated officer, bearing the royal blues and golds of high rank accenting the rest of the silver and greys on his on dress uniform. Moving further down the hall, the walls themselves began to take on the blues and gold as well, angular and sharp gold accents gleaming in the muted overhead lighting, the continuous clump clump of the boots. Finally a larger door in front of the group brings their march to a stop, two fully armoured troops moving aside and saluting as the doors slid open and allowed the group passage into the room ahead, The doors closing and muted tones of conversation rose again to meet the halls.

 

It was a large, dimly lit room, soft white brilliant panel lighting at the large round table provided local illumination. The lower ranking soldiers accompanying the officer earlier remained against the wall, standing at ease while he stepped forward, stopping beside an empty chair, placing his hands on the polished surface and looking around, surveying the many faces at the table.

 

The man at the head of the table seemed to lack illumination, his black fur glittering faintly in the pale glow, his grey and blue uniform nearly identical to the original officer’s with the exception of ornate shoulder trim and the unique badge of a commander in chief or Overgeneral.

 

The colonel saluted his superior officer smartly, echoed by the lower ranked aides behind him. The Overgeneral, Gregory Brandt returned the salute with a simple measured movement and nodded for him to sit down, the colonel slipping into his seat and the aides take position nearby, pulling out their datapads and working in harried silence, bringing up images and recorded video on their displays, testing them on the big display behind Brandt.

 

The Overgeneral looked around the table and nodded, looking right at the Colonel, remaining with his hands on the desk as he spoke,

 

“Let this meeting begin, Tuesday, NorthSun 6th, 2983.” The general glanced down at the colonel, his eyes narrowing, “General Barbus here tells me that a lower plate base under your jurisdictional command was raided just this morning, care to tell us more about it Colonel?”

 

The mongoose adjusted the cap on his head and raised his head up,

 

“Sir, at 6:48am one soldier equipped with power armour confronted the guards at the forward entrance of Ouestul Garrison Base. We believe he used an array of armour soaking nerve staplers to render out troops unconscious as he assaulted our base.”

 

General Barbus flicked his tail flippantly and tilted his head, his hand stroking his chin thoughtfully,

 

“One man through the forward entrance of a fully complemented garrison, rises question to the competence of your troops.”

 

The Colonel gave the general a glaring sideways glance and continued,

 

“This soldier had very advanced technology at his disposal. Several thousand rounds of ammunition were expended and at least one propelled munitions device, he is shown intentionally walking into open fire with no ill effect. This man is someone the Special Forces should have had their eyes on; he is a severe threat and cannot be handled by infantry.”

 

Brandt leaned forward, suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation,

 

“Did you just say he was struck by a tank-killer and he was unfazed by this attack?”

 

The Colonel nodded, “Yes, not only that but he was constantly hurling insults and sometimes encouragement to our troops. If you ask me we have a nutcase in a old suit dredged up from the bowels of the lower plate somewhere.”

 

Brandt spoke up, “This is not even to mention that this maniac’s purpose was simply to divert the base while a second group infiltrated the facility and sequestered four fuel cell prototypes just delivered from Korelev’s R&D lab. I don’t care if it was a whole battalion attacking the base, losing those cells will hurt our relationship with Korelev severely. Your exemplary record is the only thing keeping you from immediate dismissal Colonel Reeves.” Brandt silenced, every head turned to the Colonel.

 

“Sir, I believe it’s time we brought this to the attention of Faction 7, this activity warrants the involvement of an organization that has been vital in eliminating key threats to the Regime in the past.”

 

Brandt rubbed the fur on his chin and nodded, “I’m not sure why we haven’t involved them months ago, the Lower Plate is beginning to rumble again, let’s try to not have another Kismet on our hands, those... incidents tends to make the Boss very, very angry.”

 

The Colonel nodded and motioned to his aides, “We shall move this incident into Faction 7’s jurisdiction and I shall keep you updated as the situation unfolds. I will get to the bottom of this Sir”

 

The OverGeneral nodded and cleared his throat gruffly,

 

“For the sake of your career, you had better. I expect a full and comprehensive summary of the situation by next Wednesday.”

 

“Yes Sir” The Colonel saluted the council of generals and turned, marching out of the room with his cadre of officers in tow.

[jonathan_wolfe]

She turned from the mirror, her large ears flattening against her head as one of her troop mates slammed a smaller figure into the panel of lockers on the far wall, verbally assaulting him, The smaller soldier swore and pushed back,

 

“You damn well had better not run in front of my crosshairs when I’m laying down suppressive fire. You want to walk into a column of railer slugs, then by all means, jump in front of me again you crazy bastard.” He retorted, his thin bare tail snapping at the air.

 

The larger man swished his tail with a quick determined stroke and shoved the shoulder of the rat,

 

“You shoot me again Steven, and I rip off that excuse for a tail and strangle your miserable neck.”

 

The wolf stormed out of the room, pushing others who had gathered around, out of the way, heaving the door shut, hitting the frame with a uncomfortable sound before swinging back open from the force of the slam, the rat dusting himself off and muttering, the crowd dispelling. She stood up and walked over to the rat, placing her paw on the shoulder that the wolf did not strike,

 

“Just ignore him, the bastard gets shot to hell every mission we go out on. You protected our asses well yesterday Steve, keep up the job and we’ll all get home in one piece…. Argyle over there though with at least several slugs in his backside.” She smiles, “And if you don’t put a few in, I’ll be sure to make sure I do, at least until he learns to shut up and use cover.”

 

“Thanks Lieutenant” Steven said, turning back to his locker, stowing the rest of his gear, strewn about from the scuffle. Amie walked back over to her own locker and glanced at the mirror once more before closing it intently. She slung her equipment bag onto her back and walked out of the locker room, turning down the hallway and making her way to the general briefing room.

 

The briefing room, while by no means grand or impressive, was minimalist and informal. While primary military personnel often occupied isolated briefing booths with a complete audio-visual presentation, this room contained one large screen at the front and several rows of chairs, the stylistic scaled and fanged emblem for Amie’s unit, the 12th Special Shock Battalion “Red Dragons” emblazoned on the screen in the dim light of the room. A tall lion, with captain ranks on his shoulders stood on the small platform in front of the screen.

 

“’A’-Company, 12th Battalion, take your seats.” The Captain ordered habitually. The gathered crowd of her crew mates took their seats quickly and efficiently.

 

“First of all I’d like to commend you all on an effective mission yesterday evening. You managed to prevent the takeover of a key military structure that allows us control over most of the Lower Plate’s eastern outer rim. We will be reinforcing this position to prevent further raids, but as for now, you have another task before you.”

 

The captain hit his remote control and the room darken, the display lighting up with a diagram of the lower plate, focusing on the southwestern inner rim, where a large outline colored in a pulsating red denoted the held territory of the largest revolutionary group, TALAR.

 

“As it is apparent, TALAR has made serious inroads in the past six months, flowing up from underneath into what was once a safe and secure zone of control for the Regime. They have sacked our surface forces throughout the district, but remain one or two layers below the surface to protect themselves from direct upper plate bombardment.”

 

He stood aside and hit the remote again, the diagram rotating the plate onto it’s side into a cross section, showing the red blob up against a wall and arrows flowing up and over the wall towards a blue shape defining regime controlled territory,

 

“We managed to seal off the plate off in 95% of the underground section of the plate and we expect that a near surface and above ground assault will occur in the next 10 hours in order to overrun this “wall” and push us even further back towards the core.”

 

The click of his remote signalled the next animation, several battalion insignias converging upon the wall, the 12th Red Dragons in the center, run up against the red blob,

 

“Your mission is difficult but crucial, to demoralize and shatter the momentum of the TALAR forces in their forward assault. The 18th and 19th Primary Assault Battalions will hold your flanks and the 10th Artillery “Eagle Claws” will reinforce all three of you with supplies and fire support.”

 

The group appeared unfazed, locked in focused attention at the layout as the captain continued,

 

“’A’ company is the point in the spearhead, we will deploy on the two side streets next to 35th Radial Core Avenue, giving us the ability to crush any sortie dumb enough to travel on such an open road, and to hold off the more protected routes of assault.” The captain finished and pressed his remote one more time,

 

“While we intend to ruin the assault of the TALAR forces, this is not a forward sortie to retake our lost ground, the wall is going to be established as our new primary defensive line, we can make it too costly enough to assault and they’ll think twice about pushing us back to the core. We embark in six hours, Company Dismissed!”

 

The group wordlessly filed out of the briefing room and marched down to the barracks, the images of the strategic and tactical plans reflecting in their minds, the relief of finishing one fight was replaced with the nervous anticipation of the coming battle.

 

The mouse piped up again, rubbing his hands together,

 

“Gonna get us some hands on some TALAR bastards eh? I hope they let us drag out some big guns like a Sovereign or a Mjolnir tank, I ain’t fighting those guys without some protection.”

 

Amie glanced over at him, “The Sovereigns will be sitting ducks without some light infantry to flush out ambushes and tank-killers. We’ll need some light hovertanks to hold the strength of our forward assault when they try to jump us.”

 

A voice from behind piped up, “I’d rather be sitting behind the armoured skirt of a Mjol’ tank, makes those railguns feel a little less deadly”

 

“The 10th Artillery will be using the Mjolnir tanks and will be supporting our rear, our job is to root out and destroy anyone and anything around the new defensive line, we need to sacrifice armour to gain mobility, we’re up against a force that comes and goes like smoke through a battlefield.”

 

“Think they’ll stick us bunch in the tanks or make us hoof it?” The mouse asked.

 

“The Tanks have better command and control capabilities, but we're going to need mobility, I forsee a mix of tank platoon and Ishtar armour”

 

The mouse grinned as the group approached the large Hangar blast doors and waited for them to slide open before they walked through the airlock like corridor, through another set of doors and out into the hangar, filled with vehicles, suits, mecha and the occasional aircraft, some laid out on raised platforms for repair and reloading, others being put through test runs, the chatter of tank mechanics and other engineers filled the air, mingling with power tools and the curious sound of a heavy power armour suit with it’s shoes blown off, the normally rubbery dulled sound a resounding clang clang on the hangar floor.

 

Amie pulled out a set of glasses and turned them on, bringing up her personal tactical display, which automatically connected to the base network and requested orders from Central Command, receiving in return a more detailed tactical layout of the upcoming battle, listing required vehicles, ordinance, as well as estimated casualties and major strategic points to be kept in mind in order to ensure the success of the mission.

 

She turned to her group, nodding to the two other Lieutenants in the fold to come forward,

 

“Let’s form up and get our equipment ready. Our Company will be riding in Hermes Hover-tanks and groups of Hephaestus Main Tanks to ensure we don’t get outgunned on the field.”

 

She glanced at the Lieutenant on the right,

 

“Griggs, you will head Beta Platoon, taking the 34th Radial Core Ave, we’re going to spearhead them with the Hermes to draw them out of hiding then drive them off with the Hephaestus tanks, Alpha and Beta will be running mixed platoons,” She glances to the left,

 

“Jinto, you’re Alpha and you will do the same on 36th Rad. Move to the center to pincer any large troop groups and move away to find cover and to draw them out to us. I will be leading the Gamma platoon who will move along the rooftops in Ishtar power armour, you call on us if the infantry starts crawling out of the cementwork, they won’t be heavily armed but they will have Railguns and tank killers set up.” Amie paused, the two Lieutenants nodding assent and awaited her final words,

 

“And the opposition?” Griggs questioned.

 

“If you encounter any formal resistance it will definitely be TALAR regulars. The last skirmish we had showed that they’re fielding a lot more Tritons and Charons, if you see any Foxbats or Zweihanders, you are to report the position to 10th Eagle Claws so they can assist you, Dismissed.”

[jonathan_wolfe]

The two soldiers saluted her and the group split off into three sections as she turned on heel and walked over to the Power Armour bays of the hangar, her section in tow as they walked through the wide arched bulkhead and into the brightly lit bay, suits lining the walls and also up the walls, several moving platforms sliding along the vertical surface, replacing and removing various suits, teams of mechanics and engineers servicing them on the platforms. The head engineer was standing behind a control bank, next to a work bench containing a partially disassembled Ishtar. His wrinked, narrow face belied his grin.

 

“1st Lieutenant, good to see you and your crew back down here.”

 

“And you Sergeant, we’ve got a new mission and it’s going to be a lively one, I trust the suits are repaired from our last excursion?”

 

The old engineer scratched his head in thought and grinned,

 

“Hell n’ Heaven Ma’am, they’re all set and raring to go, I even got in some time to get the worst of the paint damage off, those rebels’ll be seeing Red Dragon ensigns wherever they run!”

 

She nodded, “We’ll need the full complement, we’re going into a hot zone, I have the weapons and ammunition requisition order” Amie slid a cartridge out of her belt which contained the manifest from the mission and placed it in his hands,

 

“Don’t skimp on the sensor suites, they’ll be hitting us hard and fast from all directions, we need to ruin their ambushes”

 

The Sergeant slotted the cartridge in and sent the manifest to his crew on the moving platform, looking up at them,

 

"Saunders, Holmstrom, Prep the suits for a drop!”

 

The figure closest to the railing facing the Sergeant saluted, “Yes, Sir!” and they turned around, the platform springing to life and sliding over to the suits the section were going to use, the mechanical clanking of munitions being loaded and weapons being attached could be heard as the platform quickly prepped each suit for the coming fight, a second platform coming down from above and removing the suits from the wall and bringing them down to ground level, releasing them, the semi-active state keeping the suit upright but motionless as the troops approached the suits in turn and opened them up, the Sergeant walking over and helping them into the armour suits, sealing them up tight with the hiss of hermetic seals as the environmentals kicked in and the suits powered up.

 

Amie stood in front of her suit, on the exterior you could not tell it was an officer’s suit; the only distinctive marking was that of her call sign, Phoenix, emblazoned in fading letters just above the dark faceplate of the suit. She reached down to waist of the suit and disengaged the locks on the suit, which slumped forward and began retracting armour plates all over, revealing the exo-skeletal structure underneath, seams opening in the legs, unfurling to reveal the inner cushioned layers of the suit.

 

She depressed two tabs on the wrist of her fatigues and the clothing reverted from a loose fitting, grey camo uniform, tightening to become smoke grey and form fitting, several slots and holes forming in places where the armour would link with the uniform. Amie turned to face the bay and stepped back into the suit, sliding her arms into place and settling her feet into the armour boots, nodding to the Sergeant, who walked forward and reengaged the leg armour, triggering the suit to enclose around her.

 

A few moments of sheer silence before the suit cycled into active mode, the fuel cell generator soaking the suit a muted thrumming sound and the darkness changed into a vibrant view of the outside world, the suit had it’s rugged 3d display engaged and the alumi-glass visor was covered by a armoured cowl, allowing her to observe her surroundings without the risk of relying on the weaker armour in the glass visor and it’s heads up display.

 

The armour completed its sealing procedures and the sound of the re-breather kicked in, vents behind the neck slating open to draw upon the relatively pure air in the hangar, taking in and compressing air for the emergency life support system. Her display verified the suit’s airtight seal; all armour plates had slid back into place and the computer noting the addition of the forearm heavy electronic machine gun, the backup light laser on a gimbal mount on the right shoulder, on the left, 20mm targetable rockets and several fragmentation grenades.

 

The suit declared the operational status of the suit to be “Ready for Combat” and she reached up with her hand to give the Sergeant the thumbs up, sinewy metallic muscle-like fibres in the suit mimicking her arm motions in unison.

 

She straightens her back and takes an intentional step forward, the suit picking up on her motions as they occur, giving her unimpeded control of the 200lb suit of armour like she would regular light combat body armour, the difference being that she was carrying enough firepower as an armoured personnel carrier and stood about 7 feet tall, towering over even the Sergeant.

 

By this time, most of her section had encased themselves in the Ishtar armour and formed up in the center of the hangar, bristling with electronic machine guns, missile banks, every seventh suit outfitted with Fire-eater mini-emachine guns and heavy arm mounted 40mm bazookas.The heads of the four, seven-man squads slid their wristblades out in their off-hand and saluted the Lieutenant, acknowledging their readiness for combat.

 

She triggered her radio and opened up on her company wide band

“Alpha and Bravo, report.”

 

“Griggs here, we’re just about ready, one of the Haspy tanks didn’t want to take it’s ammunition, we should be good in about 2 minutes”

 

“Jinto reporting, Sir, we are ready for transport.”

 

She nodded unconciouslly to herself and considered her thoughts,

 

“Jinto, Alpha section is clear to proceed Elevator TH-3, Bravo, Griggs, get that Haspetus loaded and haul over to TH-2 asap, out.”

[Jechum]

Jechum floats in...

 

Jonathan the great thing about The Pen is your story is still hear waiting on you.

 

Oh you haven't happen to see Zool?

 

Jechum floats out...