"What's our ETA to the battle site?"
"Your estimated time of arrival will be about 15-20 minutes," the voice on the other end of the radio replied.
"Hear that, Saint Flight? What about you, Air Legions XV and XI? 15 minutes is more than enough for you to coordinate with each other as well as the Fantine Air Korps and the local Kithar Air defense forces about how you are going to approach the objective. I know this is our first air to air skirmish in years and many of you are young and talented newly minted air cadets who have just completed your flight hours. I'm aware that the urge to draw first blood is dominant within you all, but I ask that you play as a team and don't let your bloodthirstiness overcome your reasoning. You must learn to put aside your ambitions and prioritize your actions for the good of the Capital."
"Copy!"
"Roger!"
The Saint Flight leader smiled under his skull white helmet as his similarly designed warplane soared through the velvet sky, cruising to save fuel charge times. As the three different flights under him affirmed their acknowledgement to his request, he struggled to contain his excitement about being in an actual dogfight in outlandish skies. The Half Elf desired to knock off an enemy that was actually trying to sting him in the sky rather than take out common criminals or blacklisted groups on the ground from the air. In about a little more than ten minutes, his time to to shine would arrive. Keying up the vox, he decided to address his wingman and the small squad of the Capital's best.
"Saint-2, you and the other few cream of the crop elite flyers are a delight to mentor and lead. I enjoyed training you-excuse me, I meant training with you. Alyosha, that goes for your sister Alyona as well."
"Copy that, leader!" Saint-2's reply was quick and filled with a bit of emotion-delight, maybe. "I'm sure Saint-3 appreciates it as well."
"Affirmative!" Alyona responded curtly.
Ahron chuckled . "You both flatter me." As he adjusted the altitude of his missile-thin aircraft, it's body shuddering gently in the turbulence they had rolled upon before the smoldering vapor that greeted them signaled that they were fast approaching their destination. "All flights, fall in formation! We are just coming in on Kithan. Keep your eyes peeled and your weapons at ready, but make sure you don't fire on any friendlies, including Fantine and your fellow Royal flyers, including me."
A bit of laughter was heard on the vox before all the flyers responded in the affirmative.
"Alrighty! Eyes in the skies and trigger fingers on the stick! Scatter and strike! Make sure you strike swiftly and hard! Also, don't linger too long on one target for safety and efficiency! Enough said, now go get'em and show the Survies why they refer to us as the Capital's best!"
Once his mini-speech was given, Ahron yanked the controls back, sending his plane shooting above the ever-growing smog, which thickened as they got closer to their destination. On the warpath, he scanned the outside of his cockpit as well as his radar for enemy planes when a voice cut over his radio.
"Saint-1, this is Rakhsi, over!"
Curious as to why External Espionage and Recon or any part of the Capitol's intelligence agency would contact him directly, he flicked on the transponder and responded to the Spy Master.
"Copy. Is this about the ghost plane that the Survivalist are employing on the battlefield? If so, any information on its weak links are welcome."
"That is precisely why I opened a direct channel with you. I am aware you are entering a war zone, but I want you to know what you are up against and how to subdue it. Thanks to my operative, I have the information you need to be able to gain the upper hand over the enemy."
The Half Elf pulled his pearl white plane higher into the troposphere as the burning buildings in the distance glowed like red beacons.
"Kachi was able to transmit the full schematics of what the Survivalists are referring to as the Silent Killer to our offices. Our team has discovered that the 'ghost' ship utilizes a type of metallic ore or element called Squamaton. Also known as Chamomile, this material has the ability to change it's molecular composition to match it's environment. However, it has one weakness."
As soon as the Spymaster finished briefing the Saint leader, Ahron offered his gratitude.
"Thanks for the tip, albeit you nearly turned this into a droll science lesson. I had no love for that subject at the Royal Imperial Air Academy.
He relayed that information to their Fantine allies through the vox system connected with Sentery's outreach to him.
"Make sure you purvey this essential piece of intel to your airborne units. It could make all the difference."
"One step ahead of you. Once again, thanks for the intel. " The Half-Elf disconnected the Vox as he prepared to take on the Survivalists and their dreaded superweapon.
The moment his Saint crossed into Kithan, his radar detected a carrier being escorted by a few gunships. Doing a quick sweep, Ahron identified the aircraft as belonging to the Survivalists.
Ah, lookie here. They'll have the honor of being the first aircraft to fall to the Capitol's liberation force.
The Saint leader swooped out of the hazy sky like a Roc diving for its prey and aligned itself behind the Survie carrier. Once it appeared in his sensor and the target lock beeped, he let out a burst of red lasers from his cannons. After a few successive bursts, the enemy carrier and its gunship escorts were flaming metal.
That's right! That's the fate of every SFF buggernaut who has the misfortune of coming across my path.
After strafing and bombing several SFF armored columns, obliterating a Nightmare or Panther here and there, while staying out of reach of anti-aircraft fire, Ahron spotted a squad of Cobras and Vipers close in on him, preparing to mob him like a murder of bloodravens.
Finally, the fun starts now!
Yanking the white stick with black lines, the light on the button glowing neon red, Ahron's Saint's nose turned skyward before coming in behind the nearest white Cobra. With a burst of his cannon fire, he sent the SFF warplane tumbling to the surface in flames. He pulled the same maneuver of pulling out, coming in behind, and striking a couple times, and chafing before pulling out once more, thinning the enemy herd, complete with the adrenaline that came with a dogfight.
Amateurs, but I am grateful for a chance to fight an enemy that can match me in the sky.
His squawking radar caught his attention. Glancing down, a blip behind him revealed the presence of an enemy interceptor on his tail. As he swung his aircraft around to face his would-be stinger, a flash of a velvet cylinder was seen from his 4 0'clock as the green and brown-striped Tiger shattered into shards of metal and rained oil down below.
"Saint Lead, keep your head in the game! Don't let your streak get to your head or has a long lapse of air combat left you rusty?"
Ahron chuckled, shaking his head, at Kaemon's remark. "Relax, I was letting you all catch up on the fun as well. I see your intercepting and overwatch skills have sharpened considerably since the last time we had a friendly spar in the air."
Alyosha decided to join in on the banter. "Yeah, sure you were."
"At least we won't leave the battlefield without a few kills," Her sister, Saint-3, added.
From inside his cockpit, Saint Lead viewed his small detachment and the two Air Legion escorts that accompanied the small Saint squad make short work of the Cobras and Vipers. Soon, there were plane parts littering the soiled air, including gunships like the Xystarr, the Lamarre, and the Kuai. The leader of the Capitol Air Legion's elite Kithan strike force couldn't' be more pleased with the results, but what concerned him was why the SFF's ace in the hole hadn't made its appearance. Surely, it was lurking around, blending in with the sky. The question that lingered was when was it going to make its appearance? That was when a chill went down the aviator's spine.
Rakhsi mentioned that it only shows itself when it is attacking. For all we know, it could be hanging over us like a spider and we won't know until it is too late!
"All flights, look over at the Northeast sector!"
Hearing Kaemon's exclamation, Ahron glanced his white-helmeted face out the cockpit window to the designated area and his throat constricted upon seeing a massive ship, black as night, take form, blotting out the sun and half the sky. That must be their quarry, the infamous Silent Killer. As a dull gray cannon extended from the ship killer's underbelly, its tip glowing brightly, Ahron decided that now was the time to act.
"That must be the Silent Killer! All flights, engage it before it fires. You all know what it's weakness is."
"Affirmative!"
"Roger!"
"Copy!"
As soon as he alerted Ari, the Saint leader shot ahead, zigzagging in the sky to get within range of the Silent Killer's vulnerable and exposed underbelly. He could only hope that he didn't have to deal with any enemy aircraft, resulting in any delays that would lose them their window and could result in the loss of more aircraft for them, their Fantine allies, or the small Kithar air squads augmenting them. No sooner had he, Kaemon, Alyosha, and a few Saints and Raptors, close the distance within dozens of ParHertz, several SFF warplanes, accompanied by Kaneen Howlers and SkyWolves, converged onto them.
D'argh! Just what I needed. Well, at least we have solid proof that the Kaneen are aiding or working with the Survies. The Council will have to slap punitive measures on them for sure. For now, let's take out some obstacles.
Wanting to conserve what remained of his missiles and rockets, the Half-Elf came down on a pack of four Kaneen interceptors and utilized his 4X laser cannons to take them out of the fight before slipping behind a StarFang. As a dozen purple lasers streaked toward the blazing brown-red engines of the Kaneen high range fighter, his radar unveiled a pack of Devastator and Demolishers flying toward the mountains as if to flee the battlefield, but the Capital air squad and the other defenders weren't having it.
Nope, not on my watch.
As he trailed a bit behind the Saints, Typhoons, and Hurricanes led by his wingmen and Kaemon, the cyan, magenta, and tealish insectoid shapes of the enemy fighter-bombers took shape. Squeezing off a missile and following up with a burst of vibrant streaking lasers, the lead Saint peeled off from the momentary distraction and let the lower-ranking fighters handle the retreating bombers. No sooner had he closed the distance to the ship killer by several dozen ParHertz distance than two SFF Crows, pitch-black with red stripings as their name suggested, flew through the smoky haze to intercept him.
"Not now, I have no time to play."
Letting out an electronic flare to disrupt the targeting systems of the black SFF planes, the pearl Saint swooped down onto one and tore it apart with his cannon burst. The moment he peeled away from his first kill was when his radar alarm shrieked. It showed a flashing object zeroing in on him and sure enough, a glance outside his cockpit window revealed a bright red flashing object streak toward him.
Gadzook! I let my guard down. I guess I am getting too cocky.
As he thumbed the flare button and jerked the stick hard to the the left, he spotted a barrage of purple lasers streak by and collide with the missile. The bright flash that erupted erased the threat of death from his radar as well as the remaining Crow. As soon as the final opposing Crow dropped to the scrap pile, Kaemon's mauve Raptor shot by the viewport of the Saint like a heat-seeking missile.
"No need to thank me, Saint Lead. I was just doing my duty."
Ahron shook his head. "Don't mention it, Legion Lead. Best to use our remaining weaponry onto that big wombat which looks like it is about to fire from its proboscis. "
Sure enough, the Silent Killer, the massive shadow in the morning sky, had a bright white light, almost heavenly, glowing on the end of its cannon that was sticking out like a massive stinger above the aircraft bustling around it like ants. Yanking his control stick back, the ace pilot activated his thrusters to reach the ship killer. Once he was within sufficient range, he eased the throttle a bit, feeling the Gs press into him like a pillow, before aiming his remaining missiles at the cannon that was glowing like a mini-star in the hazy morning sky.
"Let it rip, birds of prey!"
As soon as the last of his Seeker missiles left his wing and weapons bay, the Half-Elf led his aviators on strafing runs underneath the floating behemoth's underbelly to deny it the chance of firing once more while being careful to avoid the green anti-aircraft turret fire. After what seemed like forever, the Silent Killer tried to fire its main weapon, but it seemed to backfire, resulting in flames shooting out of the windows. Once it began it's death spiral, the flyers of the Capital let out cheers to shake the soiled Kithan skies. Ahron then decided to contact his Fantine X counterpart to boast of their latest accomplishment, succeeding where the peacekeeping air corps failed.
"No need to thank us yet, Fantine. Ari, you can make up for it at the local cantina. I wondered how Kithar Mimosas felt like."
Before anyone could respond, Alyona's voice cut through the radio chatter.
"Guys. I hate to rain on your parade, but a new contingent of SFF squadrons are bearing down on us. I think they were hiding out behind the peaks until we killed their superweapon. They must be very pissed, to say the least."
Sure enough, the radar and the visual outside revealed the several specks on dark blue peaks of the Backbones on the horizon. Soon, the insectoid shapes were revealed as Survivalist aircraft making a last ditch effort to avenge their fallen comrades and compensate for the failed mission. As the latecomers to the party honed in on the allied aircraft, Ahron shifted his Saint's nose cone to face down the onslaught of the agitated Survies. They may have stirred up the hornet's nest with their entrance and destruction of their superweapon, but the Royal Air team would finish the job before they made their exit.
Good, let them come. They will learn not to mess with the best of the best the hard way.
---
No way! Impossible! This can't be!
From before the Backbone mountains where she and her squadron were viewing the enemy's struggle with the Silent Killer, Purhaena watched in disbelief as the flaming stealthy plane killer began its gradual death descent toward the ruined landscape below. In about the span of a minute, the latest innovation of SFF's Research labs that gave them the edge of air superiority over their foes had met the surface in a massive mushroom cloud shooting into the sky between her and the Fantine meddlers. Her insides building up with rage and distress, she decided to radio the other planes in Beraxis flight.
"All aircraft in Beraxis, including the few Kaneen squadrons that were embedded in our group, as you just saw, the enemy managed to demolish the Silent Killer, our ace in the sky. How this came to be is only mired in speculation, but we need to strike back now before we lose air superiority. Devastation and Despair flight, you will link up with me and my squadron, Vengeance, to shoot every Fantine skycraft out of our air space while Captain Stubbs leads Saber, Fang, and Claw flights on air support sorties to support our ground units. Do you copy?"
As soon as she got the affirmations, Purhaena, leader of Vengeance flight as well as the supreme commander of Beraxis flight, ignited her burners, lighting up her consoles, and shot forward to avenge the obliteration of their ace in the hole.
How did Fantine and their feeble Kithar allies manage to down a fortress invisible to both visual and radar? Could it have been a lucky shot? No, that wouldn't make sense as I saw several aircraft mobbing it like crows.
"I still can't believe it!" Targon broke radio silence to vent his frustrations on the Silent Killer. "How can a specter of that caliber and capacity get taken out so quickly? Did the crew screw up somewhere and forget to fire? Did the cannons or radars malfunction? Perhaps the death machine wasn't all that Dr. Narvid and Dr. Armin made it to be."
"I can believe that!" Saemon inputted his thoughts. "However, what irks me the most is why we didn't fly out and provide support to the Silent Killer rather than hover outside the Backbone's peaks like Syducks! What's the purpose of having Beraxis Flight in the fray if we are relegated to background?"
Purhaena had to attribute her snag as well. "It was a foolish choice to go along with. Sidelining all of Beraxis Flight, who's the genius that came up with that idea?"
"I'd bet it was all from that fool Devolle!" Targon hissed. "Well, I am glad not all of our plane's, mainly Stubb's Kaneen pilots, didn't comply with Devolle's folly and continued to patrol the skies. Once we return to base, I will let the horned devil know that not having us provide back up to the Silent Killer was an asinine choice and I will take it up with Mithros to have him demoted and sent to a location like Iceguardia to serve out the rest of his miserable time. For now, let's let the skies rain with blood."
Concurring with her fellow Beraxis flight leader, Purhaena yanked her Bat's lever hard as her blood-red aircraft shot over the orangish peaks of the Backbones and came upon the smoking ruins of the Kithar cities, searching for enemy aircraft to take her rage out on. Her gloved finger on the black controller button, her visual marked a Fantine Lightningbolt crossing her path at her northwest sector.
First victim! Have a taste of my cannons.
Letting out a burst of vibrant blue fire, the green fighter-bomber plummeted to the battle-scarred surface, its side on fire, as Beraxis's Flight's leader hunted for any patrolling aircraft unfortunate enough to be in her path. A few had the gall to challenge her openly, but ended up falling to the ground to join the scrapmetal or ended up as fireballs due to the missiles or the 14mx cannons from her or her squadmates. It wasn't until she came upon a tannish Tornado that she realized that Fantine wasn't the only force opposing them. After turning the enemy plane into scrapmetal, she then utilized her radar's clean sweep of the Kithan airspace and gasped as several purple and white blips enclosed upon their position. Recognizing the incoming planes, she decided to use the vox to warn her squadmates.
"Mayday! We have incoming Saints and Royal Air Legions. Prepare to fight your way out of this conundrum!"
"Well, now we know who destroyed the Silent Killer," Targon grumbled.
Soon, the remaining Beraxis Flight aircraft converged upon the attacking Capitol air force, resulting in a chaotic skirmish. For each Royal Air Force plane they shot down, several of their own were downed. Desperate to get one last lick in, Purhaena came upon a white Hurricane with sky blue marks applied across its sides until her warning systems started beeping. To her starboard, a bright white shape was bearing down on her. Her electronics indicated that it had a lock on her and she only had a limited time to shake it off before it let out a missile.
Blast it! This guy is good, but he will learn not to get between a huntress and her prey.
Feeling the immense gravitational pull from a deep dive, Purhaena made sure to shake off the missile an her pursuer(s) by zigzagging past the ruined spires of the city's buildings before pulling up through a dirty brownish haze of smoke and entering the skies once more. She glanced to her right and to her horror, the view from the showed the skull-colored nose of the Saint materialize from the smoke. Knowing that she couldn't keep up the game much lest she end up as flaming debris, she requested back up.
This cowboy really outdoes everything his Fantine counterparts can do. We must make sure to take him out of the picture as soon as possible, but that will have to wait.
"Cover my retreat!" The Survivalist ace ordered. "Then join me at the Bunker. I don't want to report the mission's failure to S.I.N. , Skritsk, and my father alone."
"No kidding, though this is all on Devolle. He miscalculated everything from the start," Targon grumbled.
"No one could have expected the Saints to interfere," Saemon added to ease the pain of defeat.
As soon as the remaining members of the badly whittled-down Beraxis Flight regrouped outside of the beaten land of the Kithar, Purhaena used her plane's radar system to analyze the remaining aircraft in the squadron and realized that they lost much more than she realized, including the leader of the Kaneen flights, Captain Stubbs. She had seen the veteran Kaneen pilot's StarFang plummet in a flaming streak after that Saint that nearly stung her took him from behind. Before she could confirm the call signs of the surviving Survivalists, her radar showed blips of several SFF bombers, escorted by a few allied Kaneen and Survivalist fighters peeling off from the group and heading west. The Leader of Beraxis Flight and Vengeance Squad frowned as she saw the group split and wondered if they had received orders from the Bunker that had somehow never made it to her communications.
"Stragglers, this is Vengeance lead, do you copy? Where are you going? You will return back to Beraxis Flight or we will hunt you down like Kathhounds. Do you copy?"
As her only reply remained radio silence, the red Bat's flyer noticed something about one of the fleeing interceptors. The dark green Goblin's designation came off as 4, marking it as the aviator who had hesitated in the reconquest's initial stage! There was only one thing that could be done in situations like these.
"All forces, take out those defectors before they reach any Capitol, Fantine, or any enemy base!"
As soon as she gave the orders, the Survivalist ace aviator flew in after the fleeing defectors with her lieutenants in tow and let loose a burst of cannon fire. As the planes burst apart in the air or plummeted in a blazing inferno, she brought her Bat in front of the scampering Goblin. Smirking, Purhaena rested her thumb on the Bat's missile launcher.
"Burn in chaos, deserter!"
The resulting fireball, lighting the area within a 75 Parhertz radius, was a light to her eyes. Once the last deserting plane was shot out of the sky, Purhaena turned her attention to her remaining squad.
"Contact the Bunker and let them know we are coming."
---
Sentery, working about 19 hours with virtually zero sleep, peered closely at the cameras as the Ninja flew over the battle-scarred Kithar homeland, recording the damage done by the Survivalist-Kaneen invasion company as her colleagues Zayda and Knutt glanced over her shoulder. What they had recorded throughout the duration of the war made all three gasp. The war crimes committed by the invaders really made the Florenzian's stomach restive, making it impossible for her to take in any nourishment. She turned her attention to her two colleagues as Assistant Director Calhoun and his intern Aleia, freshly out of Tongaji Island's Academy, entered the room. The Gaellan's emerald-colored eyes narrowed as he took in the feed from the Ninja's mini-cams.
"Blimey! Tell me the Survs aren't using civilians as target practice or objects to vent their frustrations over the turning tide of the war?"
"I am afraid the cameras are showing the feed as it is supposed to be seen," Sentery confirmed. You seeing this, Rakshi?"
The high-ranking spymaster from the Capitol's voice came out from one of the screens of the room. "Affirmative. This will build a case against the Survivalist Federation Force that is greatly needed to sway the rest of the Offworld to our cause. Just because an incident is occurring on the outer fringes of an empire doesn't mean that it won't affect your lives in one way or another. Pictures, videos, and holographic footage can't be disputed or argued against."
Noticing Aleia pale up and run out of the room, putting a hand to her mouth, Sentery surmised that the graphic images might have upset her stomach. War wasn't pretty and it wasn't meant to be, but nerves of steel were required to be able to fight a war, both on the frontline and behind the scenes. Turning around, the Florenzian electronic mastermind noticed Knutt, her Vroengardian colleague clear his throat before he addressed all who were present.
"Now that we have evidence that the Survies are brutal oppressors of a subjugated folk, we need not worry about any moral objections in our current and future operations against our archfoe. Sentery, Zayda, and Calhoun, I suggest that we send the feed to the every newsfeed in the Capitol as well as the Great Kingdoms so the rest of the land sees SFF for what they really are while we continue our struggle against them." He then turned to the screen where Rakshi's face, veiled by a red frowning Noraz'ii mask, stared back. "You can also assist us by circulating the feed in the Capitol's propaganda channel and send in your Minnow and Hummingbird drones to assist us in surveillance and reconnaissance. Sound good?"
---
This is not good. Me getting captured by the enemy will spell bad news for us all.
As the specialized troopers of the Survivalists marched him, some of his personal troops, and the Kithar rebels through the rubble and metal-strewn streets of Kittyopolis, Fantine X's adventurous Director glanced around the tarnished environment as a navy trooper prodded him on with the butt of his 0.751 laser rifle. From bombed-out buildings that once might have been homes to craters dotting the smoothly paved roads, the locals watched on in terror as the captured elite security brass of Fantine as well as their resistance allies were paraded before the uneasy crowd on their way to what Fantine's director was sure could be their prison or their execution ground.
They want to make an example of us as if to warn the already enfeebled Kithars what would happen should they have the gall to impede or hinder SFF's objectives in any way.
"On your feet! Move it, you vile gutter rats!"
As the captured militants were nudged toward a dirty beige makeshift building that Fantine's director assumed was to hold prisoners of war as well as their destination, a few of the observing Kithar civvies, including a couple school-age children, stepped closer, possibly to get a better view of the Fantine prisoners or to offer them aid or consolation despite their dire predicament. After the gray-uniformed commissioner barked orders, the gas-masked special ops troops, including the charcoal-black Legionnaires with their blue and green helmet lights, stepped between the spectators and their prisoners, knocking them back with the back of their guns. Ahead, as they arrived at the dirt-colored detainment camp, the red-patched Riot troops moved in to use their electro-blades to keep the unruly crowd back.
"Sir!" A black and white-striped badger Mammalian with rows of razor sharp teeth and wolfish eyes saluted the commissioner as they arrived at the entrance. Between the conical arch that served as the entryway into their holding center, the Mammalian, who Mikhail assumed to be the warden of this washed out and unpleasant place walked past two Subjugator guards, standing on each side like menacing statues, to greet the special ops officer. "I take it these are the prisoners?"
"Yes, we will hand them off to you. Hold them until we can figure out how to proceed. If any prove to be too much to handle, feel free to execute them."
"Understood, sir!" The warden saluted. Soon, they were herded down the dank and repulsive stone prison and each of the rebels separated in each cell by electric black bars crossing vertically and horizontally, tinged with purple energy. As he, his personal security servicemen, and the Kithar resistance forces were set in each of their own personal cell, Mikhail was glad that most of the young Fantine pilots who had accompanied them from the Harrington airbase managed to evade capture by not exiting the building as he had in his grief at losing his beloved friend and possibly rejoined their air squadron to take the fight to the skies. At least, that was what he had hoped.
"This is it, we are done for!"
Fantine's director glanced up at Colonel Paus, sitting miserably in a cell across from his own. As much as he wanted to agree with the Kithar military commander's assessment of their dire situation, he knew that their successes and sacrifices would be for naught. As two Riot troops patrolled the halls of their prison, Mikhail rose and walked to the bars.
"Hear now, I wouldn't lose faith if I were you. We may be helpless now, but soon, the tide of war may change and we will regain our freedom from these vile Kathounds."
No sooner had he spoken that shouts and gunfire were heard down the hall. Lasers passed by in front of their cells before the green camouflage armor of the Fantine Infantry units appeared in both corners of the hall, engaging the red-marked black-armored guards as well as the military police units supporting them. In a matter of minutes, two helmeted Fantine troops moved through the halls, fingering key pads, and disabling the bars separating the prisoners from freedom as the Infantry unit pushed the prison guards back.
"Scandar!" Mikhail felt elated as he saw the familiar face help him out of his predicament. "Just in the nick of time!"
"Don't thank me yet!" The Infantry commander responded, firing away. "We still need to bail out of this sewer hole. We will rendezvous with Joey to provide assistance to his forces. Ah, there he is!"
Sure enough, the lieutenant commander and his detachment of Mech forces were engaging the Subjugators as well as the guards, the latter testing the limits of Fantine's ground troops.
It is only a matter of time until Joey and his unit wear down. Now that the prisoners are liberated, we have more than enough combatants to alleviate them.
With that, the director picked a discarded thermal grenade from the ground and hurled it at the nearby squad of SFF guards.
---
"Bravo-1 and Bravo-2 , drop off your load once you cross into Kithan. 3, you will deposit Commando Team VX on the southern border. Watch those last ditch defenses!"
"Copy!"
As soon as all three silver troop transport craft shouted their affirmatives, they dispersed in order to excavate their cargo containing troops and armored vehicles, in addition to heavy weaponry, at their designated drop off points. The first two transporters, their engine exhausts glowing bright blue, flew over the lake and started to unload. The moment the final troops and tanks departed from their craft, bright green laser fire started to rain down on them, resulting in Royal troop casualties and a couple of Royal armor being lost to enemy fire. Despite one of the transports taking some light damage, everything was in order and the attack was going as planned. Success was still very much attainable.
"Let's go, move out!" The operation's overseer, dressed in the maroon and yellow officer uniform, shouted at the helmeted forest green-armored troops pouring out of the sides of the last transport that started its ascent to the velvety skies that were giving way to a hazy midmorning. The whistling sounds of enemy artillery, including Howlers, were heard as the Survivalist Federation Force's 22nd Reserve Brigade, perhaps with some 42nd Siege Battalion troops sprinkled into the mix, and their Kaneen coadjutors tried to blunt the advance of the Royalists. The Capitol's relief force under General Tarkiss responded in kind with their own artillery and rocket fire as Bravo-3 flew overhead, it's double heat engines glowing brightly.
"Team VX, weapons at the ready, double time to the hatch! Disembarkment is imminent at T-5 min."
As the 6 commandos, their white armor augmented with black chest plates and visors glowing different colors, clutched their 1.65 Machine Rifles, settings that included slugs or lasers, the transport began its slow descent over the battle-torn landscape. Aside from the occasional red or blue anti-aircraft fire sizzling by here and there, the aircraft was relatively undisturbed. The hatch made a whooshing sound before a hum indicated that it was already opening before they touched down.
"VX, get on the Mounts! We roll out onto the base once we land."
As soon as the whine of the engines indicated that they made contact with the ground, the two black vehicles with a rotating Robtyyr machine guns rolled out from the ramp and engaged the SFF MPs and Subjugators guarding the obsidian base they aimed to capture. Three commandos occupied each vehicle. One drove as the other provided support fire while the third manned the Robtyyr gun, spraying the enemy positions.
"Come on, VX!" the leader urged as he directed fire toward a laser fire nest, manned by an SFF sharpshooter. Once that was taken care of, SFF Rangers and Marines poured out of the base and on the rooftops and tried to defend their base of operations in the Outer Territories. Despite being faced with overwhelming fire power from the enemy, a silver Royal Air Force Falcon roared overhead, dropping some heavy bombs onto the enemy headquarters, leveling it. As coal-colored smoke rose into the midday sky, VX leader radioed the situation to Army Legion officer overseeing this operation.
"Sir, air support has taken out their Outer Expanse command and control center. Objective achieved."
"Complete a scan for confirmation, " a drawl voice responded through the helmet's communique.
The team then requested a Sparrow drone to do a sweep and once the results came back to the commando's yellow and white helmet, he frowned as he read the report and sent it to the overseer via a tap on his gauntlet.
"So have we taken out the Survy's top brass?" the voice asked.
"Negative," the commando replied. "There are no body signatures in the wreckage. SFF's high-ranking officers might have evacuated the base and the resistance we faced was only to stall us while they slip into the wilderness. " He glanced down to the Mount operator. " Let the others know to rendezvous with General Tarkiss - Move out!"
---
"Excuse me, guard? Can I at least have some Black Alley Savagne? I've been stuck in here hours without as so much as a washroom. The least you can do is afford me my basic rights. It's all in the Frisk Accords, is it not? Look it up!"
Inside his dull gray prison cell that resembled a University toilet, the disgraced SFF puppet who had once served as the overlord of the Kithar homeland begged a Kithar military police guard assigned to guard him while his colleagues stood outside the cells of Jorji's SFF-affiliated staff, confined to those quarters until a trial date could be set once the Survivalist counterattack was thwarted. Through the glowing blue bars, his guard was about to orate a reply when his long pink and wheat ears perked up.
"What is it?" The disgraced former governor of Kithan asked, his whiskers quivering in trepidation.
The guard, not paying Jorji any mind, turned to speak to his colleague across from him when a red-vibrating dagger erupted from his stomach. A look of horror passed the first guard's face as his partner collapsed, revealing a towering figure bearing a glowing red electro-scythe. Before the Kithar could draw his weapon, the scythe beheaded him in one swift motion, spraying gore. Once the figure's leering eyes turned upon the rogue Kithar, Jorji felt himself brim with anticipation.
"Hangman! It's you! Thank Basset! You haven't forgotten about me. I thought I was doomed to live out the rest of my days in this pisshole, but please get me out of here!"
Once we do, I can reclaim my position as governor!
As soon as the Survivalist assassin deactivated the electrobars, Jorji hurried out as the Shadow troops that accompanied the Razamjami engaged the remaining guards.
"Many thanks, sir, but listen, I have intel that can help turn the tide of the battle in our favor. Only if I-"
"Our?" The Hangman frowned as he slashed down with his scythe, cutting a fatal wound over the blood-encrusted Kithar puppet. "Make no mistake, I didn't come here to rescue you. I came here to tie up loose ends as you have valuable intel that can be detrimental to the war effort. S.I.N. thanks you for your service."
"D-dammit all!" The dying Kithar muttered as the world slowly spun and receded to darkness.
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"Commandant, we have located General Breda inside Sorelli Square! Imperial Fists and Stormtroops will try to box him in from the North and West sectors. The East side is clogged with the ruins of local establishments of commerce and residence while the South entrance is obstructed by one of the Survy's downed Ra'zagh carriers. Please advise!"
Commandant Veerus of the Capitol's Armed Forces watched the hologram of a Liege Lord of the Imperial Fists and Stormtroopers, Lord Langre, request his blessing in the taking of the Kithan capital city and the capture of a high-ranking Survivalist officer. Stroking his straw-colored mustache, the supreme commander of the specialized troops only nodded his approval.
"Proceed as planned."
From a secure location on the outskirts of what used to be the bustling metropolis and the heart of the Kithar lands, Kittyopolis, the Commandant watched the battlefield via Dove drone, tracking the progress of the Fists and the Stormies. These troops were the cream of the crop for the Capitol's military and usually spearheaded critical or dangerous operations. The Fists were augmented with cyber enhancements which boosted their reaction times, speed, stamina, and strength. They would be able to keep up with or even surpass any of SFF's super soldiers like the Black Legion or the Subjugator Riot Police.
"Commandant, Fist Legion V and Stormtrooper TK Regiment are pushing their way into the city. Facing stiff resistance from the Survivalist infantry, which is being supported by Death Squad Brigades and Black Legionnaire troops."
Glancing through the feed the Liege Lord sent him, the commander of the Kithan theater saw bright laser fire light up the ruined vicinity as the blue, red, yellow, or black Fists, assisted by the stormtroops, fought past several blue and black SFF troops, assisted by skull-masked berserker death squads. Despite taking a few losses, the ground was littered with several spots of blue and black on the borders of the city.
We now have the core of the 22nd Reserve Battalion and their shocktroops where we want them.
"This is TK-Alpha, reporting in progress. We have surrounded the armored 22nd convoy safeguarding Breda. Those that offered resistance have been put down. How should we proceed?"
Before Commandant Veerus could utter a command, Lord Langre spoke up.
"Take Breda and his closest aides for questioning. He must know the whereabouts of high-ranking SFF officers and logistics of this operation. We can extract that information out of him once we transfer him to a discrete location, preferably in an Inquisitorius Ordo site, using all methods necessary. Whether he comes out unharmed or not will depend on his level of cooperation. We will only inform Fantine once we learn any useful information."
Veerus felt a tinge of satisfaction in his heart. "I concur with that. Do what you must and report back to me."
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67Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH72KCw4OJk
