The Obsidian Squad: VI
The Terran Incursion
April 25th 2270, 20:53
Obsidian Squad Headquarters,
Noc-Lab Sector
"It's no use. There is no way I can dig up this kind of stuff here on Mars, especially with this equipment. I can give you a rough estimate of what's happening, but nothing better than what you could get by stepping outside and looking up to the sky." Erich complained.
"Oh, cry me a river, Erich. I'm sure there is a way you can gain access to those Terran battle plans; just tell me, what do you need?"
"Well, for starters, I'm going to need a T596 super-computer, access to a satellite uplink, and…about five hours of hacking time." Erich requested spitefully.
"Ok and how about we just throw in a Battle Cruiser for good measure." Kari said sarcastically. "I mean seriously, the only people in the world who can possibly afford or build one for that matter are the Terrans themselves. I mean, why don't we just go ahead and storm a Terran uplink bunker and fend off thousands of infantry and suits for five hours as our demanding friend here hacks into the Terran attack plan data files?"
"You know, that might just be crazy enough to work…" Vladmir began.
"Oh no, you can't be serious! If you are seriously thinking about…no, you guys are crazy! No, don't leave me here-" Erich wined.
"How could we possibly leave you here? You're the one who's gonna do all the work for us!" Ray said with a smile as he grabbed Erich by his shirt and dragged him to the battle lab.
The battle lab was an average sized room, but a very large table in the center took up most of it. The walls of the room were outlined with several computers and books, all full of battle tactics and other useful data. The center table opened up to reveal a holographic projector. It had every map of Mars, Terra, and the space between the two planets programmed into it. The 3-D projector showed land texture, height, and formation of the hills and land. It could be programmed to show Dredges and other troops in their positions as well.
"Computer, bring up information of the nearest Terran Uplink Base."
"The nearest TUB is located in the sheltering mountains of Arsia Mons, west of our current location. Do you want me to show pictures of the targeted area?" the computer responded in a calm female voice.
"Yes."
The large projector showed a maze of valleys, much like the OSHQ's location. In the center of it was a large base with an uplink dish on top.
"That will be our point of attack. Computer, can you give us an estimate of the amount of forces stationed at this base?" Vladmir questioned.
"Yes, approximately 75 suits patrolling the base and 225 infantry inside." The computer claimed modestly.
"Ok, everyone, begin the battle preparations. Arm the suits, and be ready for one hell of a fight, we're going in!"
"Ray, catch!" Kari said as she tossed him a large bag full of rifle ammunition. Ray caught the bag strap and slid it onto his shoulder. Vladmir was grabbing rifles for everyone and handing out side arms. Erich was grabbing data theft chips and other hacking devices. Ray and the other members of the OS slipped on their trademark slick, black suits. They covered the entire body including appendages, and reflected light and colors in a way that camouflaged them very well. They also put on Electromagnetic Armor (EMA). The thin, light armor covered the chest and back. It worked by sending electromagnetic waves back and forth through the armor at speeds quicker than bullets can travel. Instead of hitting the body; the bullets seem to bounce off in the opposite direction. Vladmir had stolen the armor from the Terrans while he was with Markinson. Ray sheathed his trusty knife and walked out into the hanger with his comrades, and climbed inside his Dredge.
"This is Vengeance reporting. All systems green." Ray confirmed.
"This is Valkyrie reporting. All systems green." Kari said.
"This is Thor reporting. All systems green." Erich mimed.
"And this is Odin reporting, all systems green, ready for action." Vladmir concluded, and once the checks were finished, they all ran out into the night.
April 25th 2270, 21:21
Terran Uplink Base 14,
Arsia Mons, Amazonis Planitia
"What we need to do first is take out the suits in front of the base, all of them. Now these will be human controlled suits, so they will be much smarter and stronger that the dummies, so be ready for one hell of a fight. After we destroy the enemy suits, we will stash our own close to the entrance for a quick escape. Erich will inform you on the basic structuring of this facility, and the whereabouts of the computer he needs access to."
"Thank you, Ray. The T596 is located towards the center of the base. It will be heavily guarded, and may take a while to hack into. The possibility of my success utterly depends on how much cover fire and protection you guys provide."
"Then it's settled, Erich will lead the frontal assault…" Vladmir joked, everyone laughed but Erich, who was obviously petrified of the idea.
They came close to the complex. When it was in view, they split up and climbed up the steep ridges of Arsia Mons. Vladmir, a frontline man, remained in the deep crevices in front of the TUB. Vladmir would create a distraction to lure most of the suits out of their hiding spots, when Kari and Ray would take the suits from behind by sniping them. Erich wasn't much of a pilot, so his help wouldn't be much.
"Commence the operation, Vladmir. Start the distraction!"
Vladmir fired his mortars at the suits guarding the front of the base. He took out 6 of them. Then the ground began to shake. An area to the side of the base opened up out of the ground, revealing a long tunnel from which suits began pouring out.
"Ray!"
"I'm way ahead of you buddy." Ray responded as he launched several heavy rockets at the tunnel's entrance. The explosion forced it to collapse, ceasing the reinforcements of Suits. The OS was left with about 35 suits to take care of.
"Such ease, truly child's play!" Kari laughed.
"Oh shit, it's the Obsidian Squad! We don't stand a chance!" an enemy pilot said over his CL.
"Hold your ranks! There can't be too many; we outnumber them nine to one at least."
"That won't matter much when you have a ghost following you." Ray said in a placid voice. He jumped down from his sniping spot and floated down the gorge, firing his bazooka at several suits, destroying them. Vladmir laughed at the play-on-identities, and began to fire his auto cannon, hurling his heavy rounds at other suits, reducing them to nothing. The massacre continued on for several more minutes. Kari and Erich continued to pick off suits with their sniper rifles while Ray and Vladmir had both switched to their long swords. The glimmer of the metal blades shined magnificently in the Martian moonlight. The scrapes and scratching sounds the swords made was quickly becoming a familiar and somewhat comforting sound to the OS.
"There, that's the last of them." Ray said as he sheathed his sword behind his suit's back.
"Yeah, let's get going, who knows how quickly Terran reinforcements will arrive." Vladmir continued the conversation. He blasted the door with his auto cannon, and stepped out of his Suit. Ray and the rest of the OS followed his lead and began to walk inside the complex.
The entrance to the uplink base was a very long hallway. And, like every other Terran structure, it was painted an off-white and was lit by bright fluorescent lights. Ray broke into a sprint, followed closely by Kari and Erich, with Vladmir bringing up the rear.
First checkpoint. 225 guards and only four of us. One small mistake and were all toast.
Ray drew from his hip holster, an auto rifle. As he rounded the corner, he squeezed the trigger, and sprayed rounds all across the first room. It was a check-in area. The people in the room began to stand up, but were grounded by Ray's fire. He shot the man at the control desk and had Erich unlock the electric door. As it opened they ran through it.
"Ok, we're at an intersection. Which way Erich?" Ray asked, breathing heavily.
"Left!" Erich said.
They hurried down the long corridor and came into the bunking area of the stronghold. As they came to the door, it opened, revealing several Terrans, none of which looked very delighted to see the OS. The group ran to either side of the doorway, leaned into the room, and fired. The Terrans returned fire and managed to hit Kari in the arm. She clenched her jaw and rolled out from behind the sliding doors unloading her clip in the direction of the enemy, killing the remaining troops. Kari put some gauze on the wound and wrapped some tape around it to hold it in place. She ripped off the excess tape with her teeth and spat it out. The group continued their way through the fortress, following Erich's directions.
"Ray, to your left!" Kari screamed.
Ray turned in time to roll out of the way of the incoming fire. He fired his rifle at the assailant and brought him to the ground.
Oh God, this better not be happening. Please say this didn't just happen…
…They met up with a dead end, and with at least 50 guards coming their way; the OS was met with a quickly darkening demise.
"Quick, that vent!" Ray cried as he pointed to the ceiling. As Erich began to climb up, the guards came into view. Ray pulled from his shoulder holster an auto cannon. A monstrous weapon, it had the same concept as a Dredge's, just smaller.
"Ray, are you insane!" Vladmir screamed, "that gun's recoil is enough to kill you!"
"It's the only way. Go, don't worry about me, I'll make it, trust me, I will find a way out." Ray commanded.
Damn you Ray. Why do you always have to go and be the hero? Someday you'll get yourself killed. Vladmir thought as he climbed through the extremely small vents.
"If we are going in the direction I think we are, then we should be headed straight towards the control counsel for the T596." Erich whispered.
"You think! You're the one who is supposed to know this place!" Vladmir questioned.
A loud scream echoed through the vents.
"Ray!" Kari cried.
"No, we can't go back for him; Ray is dead. He knew the dangers of joining the OS." Vladmir said as he pushed Kari forward.
Kari and the rest of the OS were silent as they continued their way through the vents. After a couple minutes they reached their destination.
"Ok, here we are. We're right above the control room. Which might I add, is heavily guarded!" Erich said with growing intensity.
"Move up you two; let me storm the place." Vladmir insisted as the other two continued moving over the vent grate. Vladmir punched the grate to the floor and dropped out of the vent. When he came in contact with the tile floor, he rolled behind a computer and ducked. The guards in the room began firing at him.
"Don't let them hit the T596!" Kari screamed as she and Erich also dropped out if the vent. Vladmir drew his dual handguns and leaned out of his crouching position and returned fire with several heavy-pistol rounds. Kari pulled out her pistol and shot some of the attacking guards.
"Ok Erich, the room is cleared. I hope you were joking about the five hour thing, 'cause Vlad and I are running low on ammunition." Kari said as she reloaded her weapon. Vladmir gave a nod in agreement.
"I'll see what I can do to hurry along the process." Erich stammered out as he set up his datatheif and other hacking devices.
Vladmir and Kari continued to down the guards, but were quickly becoming overwhelmed.
Ray stood close to the back wall, stabilized himself, and pulled the trigger on the 42-pound weapon. The force of the weapon threw Ray into the back wall, and caused him to drop the gun.
"Aghhh!" Ray screamed in pain.
He picked it back up, stood straight up against the wall, and once again squeezed the trigger. The caliber of the gun's bullets was enormous. They could penetrate most armor of man and machine without losing much velocity.
Ray continually fired the weapon, and decimated any human that came into his cross hairs. By the time he had gone through his second clip, his arm bones had shattered.
Shit, my arm's busted!
Ray hoisted the heavy weapon back into its holster with his good arm, and pulled out a grenade. He tossed it on the ground, and smoke began to fill the room. Ray climbed up into the vent and shut the grate. With one arm completely broken, Ray slowly made it to the exit of the vents by following the heavy dents-
-Left by Vladmir, no doubt.
Ray heard gunfire in the upcoming room below him. He drew his pistol and pulled back on its slide. He continued to crawl towards where the rest of his companions would most likely be. The gunshots and screams became louder and louder, and the vents began to smell of burning cordite. Finally, Ray came to a hole in the vents, leading down to a room. He dropped down only to be welcomed by Vladmir's kind words, "Get your ass over here you fateful son-of-a-bitch."
Ray overturned a desk, and began to fire at the incoming guards.
"My right arm is completely shattered, I can't move it." Ray informed Vladmir.
"I told you that would happen. You're lucky it didn't kill you." Vladmir mocked.
"I know. Here, I'm sure you can wield it!" Ray said as he tossed the auto cannon over to Vladmir.
Vladmir loaded a new clip into it, pulled back the bolt, and squeezed the trigger. The bullets cut down the incoming troops like a hot knife through butter. He handled the weapon as if it were an ordinary rifle, which came as no surprise.
"I'm copying the data over to some discs; it should speed up the process." Erich insured.
"Vladmir---Kari and I are going to go over to the fuel cell room, it's right next door. Give us some cover fire as we plant the explosives."
Vladmir walked into the atrium outside of the Uplink Control Room and began to fire as Ray and Kari made a run for the next room.
"Cover me!" Ray said as he began to set the charges. Kari reloaded her pistol and stepped out into the very loud hall. Vladmir was facing one direction while Kari faced the other. They waited for troops to come up the stairs in her area. Ray armed the bomb and stepped out of the room.
"We got it!" Erich screamed.
"Alright, let's get the hell out of here then."
They ran to the nearby fire exit, which led them to where they parked their Suits. They boarded the machines, powered them up, and rode off into the Martian night.
Ray looked back as he pressed the detonator with his hand.