Chapter 2

Reinforcements

Tabitha sits in her hellion with a calm expression. Despite her demeanor, her guards1 know her mind is far from calm. But Tabitha's mind was not on the plans on the upcoming battle, she had already gone through the plans multiple times through her head and memorized them completely, no, they were on her suspicions on Halcyon. She kept these suspicions to herself, if she had notified anyone she would be charged with treason, unless she had substantial evidence. Ever since Tabitha was taken under Halcyon's command she had noticed changes in his personality, he slowly became more demanding, more savage, more… hungry. She begins to frown as images of bloodthirsty flash through her mind with the thought of hunger. One of her closer guards begins to look at Tabitha, "Cap-", red lights begin flashing and the hellion begins to shake, bringing Tabitha back to reality. She releases her restraints and prepares for landing as she yells into her helmet com, "Alright men, our troops are currently engaged with the raiders. One of the field commanders is Dalia, she's a force to be reckoned with. We'll push them back and then await my orders. For the Imperium!"

One by one landing doors are lowered from the landing hellions and troopers pour from their entrances like ants. The men split off into their respective positions throughout the outpost and battlefield. Tabitha's protective visor falls over her eyes as she runs to a nearby fortifier tank for cover as she absorbs the formation coordinates of known enemy and friendly squads. The gunfire briefly becomes a dull buzzing as the fortifier fires and her visor reacts to the sudden explosion. Tabitha leaves the tank and prepares her rifle as she moves towards the outskirts of the outpost and joins other Imperials behind cover as iron maidens2 and soulsteel mounts3 fired on their damaged absorption shield4 covering the compound. One of her guards motions to Tabitha and informs her on their private channel. "Captain, the squads are in position." Tabitha switches to the public channel, "Wait for my command." Gunfire is suddenly overwhelmed with the sound of explosions from the iron maidens and soulsteel mounts as explosions begin to explode on the shield with few penetrating through and exploding in the outpost. But, Tabitha was waiting for those as she yells into her com "Advance!"

A fortifier5 passes Tabitha as she glances out of her cover and watches the Imperial armored units advance and release their payloads towards the waiting raider force. Tabitha and other infantry pour from the outpost and advance with their armored units leading as fortifiers erect shields surrounding the nearby. Cyberpods6 explode, nullifying the shield covering raider squads and sending them scrambling for safety behind the wreckage of their defeated armored units.

Tabitha fires upon groups of grunts7 and headhunters8, penetrating their armor and leaving only corpses full of holes. Tabitha was glad Halcyon had equipped her troops with specialized incendiary bullets designed to melt through both armored units and infantry armor. As the raiders notice the imperial force has received too many reinforcements, they begin to flee over the hills, the only cover in the desolate battleground. "Quickly eliminate the fleeing raiders!" Tabitha notifies her infantry, augers9, and blackrocks10 as they push quickly towards the fleeing raider force. Her guards notice slight uneasiness in her voice as she speaks into the com and kill with more urgency than before. As the raiders pass over the hill, Tabitha hears what seems to be a giant mech moving. She gives the order to halt the advance, but is too late as she hears an explosion of heavy gunfire; her visor barely manages to soften the sound. Clouds of dirt are thrown up as a flurry of heavy gunfire Tabitha has never heard before tears the opposite side of the hill. "Retreat! Get me intel and tell me what the hell is going on the other side of that hill. Now!" Tabitha yells into her com as she motions for her infantry to retreat back to their armored units and head for the outpost.

As the Imperials flee from the hill a deep rumbling is heard and the Imperials notice a squad of forsaken beetles11 run down the hill towards the fleeing Imperials. The Imperial armored units attempt to fire upon the forsaken beetles but they are too agile and many dodge the explosive rounds. The beetles open fire and Imperial screams are heard as Imperial troops turn around to fire upon the beetles. The beetles begin to fall one by one as the infantry troopers turn around to fire on the advancing beetles.

Tabitha stormed the outpost commander's quarters. "We took too many casualties. What happened out there? Why was I not notified of reinforcements?" Tabitha yells at the outpost commander, despite already knowing the answer. "We didn't know. Our information systems have already been synchronized to your visor, what we know, you know."

"How the hell did you not know of an armored unit capable tearing apart a hill? Do you at least know where Dalia is located?"

"Most likely with the reinforcements," a trooper quietly walks in and hands the outpost commander a tab12.

"Do you have intel on the rear troop?"

"Well, we just received it and it should be uploading to your systems as well. The enemy had been using a cloaking device to hide their reinforcements. It seems like the raider force is steadily retreating towards Arctis13." With a couple taps on the tab a holographic image of a mech is displayed on the table in the center of the room. "This is the mech you encountered. It is approximately a fifty meters tall and has advanced weapons capabilities, even our absorption shield at full power wouldn't last too long against a barrage from a few of those. The raiders seem to have multiple mechs of this caliber with their troops. I have already signaled headquarters for support."

"Good we'll need the support. In the meantime I'll retreat to my quarters to devise a new plan and discuss it with you later." Tabitha leaves the commander and excuses her two of her guards as she retreats to her room and brings up a display of Arctis and the potential raider troop positions. Tabitha enters a trance as a battle plan slowly begins to form in her mind.

1. Tabitha's guards are specialized military guards. Normally guards are selected from those who have performed at the top of their class in the Imperial Military Academy combat trainings. However, high ranking personnel may have their guards trained in the Imperial Guard Academy. The guards here are carefully chosen amongst all Imperial children and they begin their training immediately. The location of the academy would be undisclosed to the public normally, but the Imperial guards view incoming threats as mere training practices. It is often said if the Imperial Guard Academy ever came under an attack they could not handle the Imperial Capital would have already fallen. Tabitha's guards graduated as average students, but Tabitha chose them not for combat reasons but for their tactical awareness as well as an instant "connection" she described having with them. Halcyon had not commented on this connection and whether or not it had any relation to a psychic nature.

2. Iron maidens are in a class of their own, unlike any other artillery and tanks, they were designed only to "slaughter those Imperial aristocrats" and "at least look like it's moving compared to a Blitz Tank", as were Typhon's exact words for the Iron maiden's specifications. The Iron maiden is equipped with a Heavy Explosive Cannon, designed to explode on impact, proving to be an effective weapon against both armor and Imperial troopers. This cannon has been designed to be the best at what it does and researchers were able to modify the cannon, so instead of overheating as more shots are fired, this cannon utilizes the heat in order to increase its explosive power as it fires more. However, this is its only weapon, as if any other weapons were added the Iron maiden would not be able to "look like it's moving compared to a Blitz Tank."

3. Soulsteel Mounts are lumbering beasts of a past age. During their creation, speed was not a requirement, and hence, the Soulsteel Mount became an armored tank with as many siege weapons could possibly be fitted on a quad-pedal tank. However, the Blitz Tank and Imperial Rox Chainsaws have horribly outclassed the Soulsteel Mounts and they usually collect dust in warehouses; however they are still useful weapons if Typhon wishes to siege an Imperial establishment, or if substantial air support and transportation is possible.

4. Absorption Shields have become an important asset in the Imperial armory. Outposts were once lined with med-bays in the case of a siege, but as siege weapons became more prominent, it became apparent that a different solution was required, despite Halcyon's comment: "Imperial troopers are the best. Siege weapons are just training for them, teaching them how to dodge." Tabitha decided to start the research on shields in order to both protect and heal Imperial encampments. The research turned out to be a success and began to be deployed throughout the Imperial network. When questioned, Halcyon merely commented: "Even the best can use rest sometimes."

5. Fortifiers are the Imperial's most common heavy tank. It is designed to both lead the charge and protect troopers as mobile cover and the ability to deploy a portable trooper shield. However, due to the fortifier's slow speed and poor gun accuracy, the guns need to warm up initially, but after the fortifier is fully deployed, the guns will slowly be able to focus their shots, with increasing accuracy and force.

6. Cyberpods are sometimes named as the raider copy of fortifiers by the Imperials, but raiders insist the fortifier is a mere copy off of their cyberpods. Nevertheless, they both were inspired from the first sightings of Xeno Kazzerots. Raiders and Imperials began desperately looking for solutions on how to mimic this technology, as it would allow troops to approach an outpost reliably even when the environment gave no cover. Cyberpods were created in order to give shields to cover groups of troopers as they advanced or, with other Cyberpods, give cover to an entire Raider encampment to create portable bases to allow sieging on any Imperial outpost.

7. Grunts are the average troops of the Raider military. They were trained by Raider officers but were unable to advance to a higher rank. They make up the core of Raider offensives and without heavy weaponry or armor, prove to be a quick force to be deployed anywhere and anytime.

8. Headhunters are slightly more esteemed grunts with the talent of being able to rally grunts in order to attack stronger than before.

9. Augers have proven to be an effective counterpart towards the Raider Blitz Tank. This has never been officially confirmed, and the Auger has only been declared as an "effective addition to the Imperial armory." Augers were created with speed in mind, and have proven to be effective at dodging missiles and other large projectiles. Augers have also been fitted with jammers which can jam both electronics and emit high pitched noises in order to disable enemy infantry temporarily.

10. Blackrocks are the Imperial solution for an Anti-tank vehicle. The Blackrock Cleaver has special armor piercing weaponry in order to penetrate through armor. They are not the swiftest vehicles but they still manage to get the job done with their specialized weaponry as well as their intimidating presence on the battlefield.

11. Forsaken Beetles have been a beneficial addition to the raider armory as an improved version of the Stag Beetle. Mounted upon two legs, the agile Forsaken Beetle has proved to be an effective weapon against armored units. They have both the ability to pierce through armor as well as reflect damage back to any attackers, also damaging past armor. The Forsaken Beetle has proved to be agile with its two legs, however the hydraulics with in the legs take time to startup initially, limiting its effectiveness if deployed on the frontlines.

12. Tabs may at first seem to be plain steel frames, however upon activation, within the frame reports and any data that is required can be displayed through the tab. Tabs are mainly used as a reliable handheld medium for information to be relayed instead of accessing it directly from an information network.

13. Arctis is a stark contrast to the volcanic and mountainous landscape easily seen on the other half of the world. Arctis is a barren ice land with freezing temperature due to the spin of Ashrock which makes only half of the planet face the sun every day. There are few people that travel through Arctis, much less reside there. Due to frigid temperatures and a lack of life, it is usually deemed an unsafe environment to encounter.