Yep, its me again. Coming too you with another exciting part in the battle of Earth. I am glad so many of you liked my last chapter. Honestly, it's been harder for me getting chapters up at the normal pace I usually get them up at. When I get home from work, I smell of grease and pizza so sometimes when I get out of the shower, I just want to go back to Ace Combat 7, Rage 2, The Division 2, Borderlands 3 or Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
Gaming helps me relax after a long day's work and when I have to get up too go in with my Brother, Earth Dragon Arnighte, the guy who hates Star Wars and everything else I like, calling it stupid, I just want to crash in bed and go to sleep. Hope you all can understand.
So, I saw the new Rambo movie, loved it and wonder whats next for Rambo. I also saw the trailer for Lego Star Wars, The Skywalker Saga and it looks pretty cool, hoping they have Ahsoka and Rex as playable characters, since they did play a big part in the series.
Now onto reviews.
Nitro Zeus: I was hoping you would have left a review in the previous chapter since I brought in Toll Road and Doc like you asked. Now as for including the British and Canadian soldier and civilians, you're going to get your wish.
Mpowers045: I have been trying to figure out how to bring in Cad Bane since my first story 2 years ago. Originally, I was going to include him in the Canto Bight chapters, but it just didn't fit in. Guess it's better late than never that I brought him in.
Mr. Shades42: I agree with you. Along with the Prophet of Regret, Handsome Jack, Darth Sidious, Muruta Azrael, Djibril and numerous other anime, videogame, TV and movie villains, Kincaid is one sick piece of shit. He makes number five on my list of villains I hate.
Spartan-626: Always great to hear from you. The Hondo Special, I couldn't resist having the pirate captain pull a Scarface. As for the Cassie/Rex moments, I'm trying to focus more on the action rather than the romance stuff. That was just something I added for the hell of it. As for Bane, like I said earlier, I've been trying to figure out on how to bring him into the story. Kincaid, like Mr. Shades42 said is a sick piece of shit and deserves to be sent to hell, and by the relative of one of his victims at that. The reunion with Thomas and Rey will have to wait for a little while longer so, its prison break time.
Disclaimers are the same as before, please enjoy.
Chapter 40: Rails of Freedom
July 10th 2020 19BBY
New Republic field hospital, Los Angeles, California
0903 hours
Normal point of view
"At least the children can finally rest in peace, knowing that their killer has been brought to justice." Barriss said to herself as she tended to Velvets wounds. "You're lucky to have been able to survive against someone with a lightsaber like Kincaid. Though, I guess it was fortunate that you had Robert helping you." She added, removing the bacta patch she put on Velvets shoulder seeing that the wound had healed.
"Yeah, I guess so. Then again, I was running on fumes after numerous weeks of searching for the man who killed Laphi after I escaped from prison. Thanks, for setting up that memorial for those that fat bastard killed." Velvet thanked the Mirialan Healer.
After what she saw in the basement of the mansion and the handywork of the deceased Billy Kincaid, Barriss had asked an LAPD officer for the names of each the children and the others that were killed by the man and built a small memorial at Macarthur park where she was working on healing both the men and women who were fighting to bring an end to this war and the civilians who had triggered some enemy IED's.
In her mind, she kept wondering what would have happened if it was her child or the child of someone, she knew that was one of the victims of the madman that terrorized the city for three years, all of which were pinned on the girl who was in prison. To make matters worse, it appeared that Sidious had discovered this monster was strong in the force and helped the man murder more children for their own sadistic pleasure. To think that Sidious would actually use a child killer for his plans made her sick.
"I don't understand why Sidious would use a man like Kincaid for his plans. Someone like that is not to be trusted. Murder is nothing to be proud of." She stated, using the force to finish healing the minor scrapes that weren't healed from the bacta.
"True, but what about Soldiers? Are they murder's if they kill someone in combat? A soldier's job is to protect their country so civilians like those kids over there won't have to live in fear of those like this Gunray bastard I heard about." Velvet asked gesturing over to a few children playing with a few toy's they had brought to the camp.
"No, it isn't." Barriss answered as she finished tending to Velvets wounds before moving onto her next patient. She then looked up too the sky as a formation of HAWX F-20's flew over the city on patrol. "How many more people have to die before this war ends?" She asked herself.
While she tended too the wounded, several miles away outside Carson City in Nevada, Nomad, Fury, Fixit, Holt, Weaver, Midas and Vasily had just finished their infiltration mission of an enemy outpost in the Mojave Desert. Intelligence gather from the base where Kincaid was killed suggested that a large enemy facility was located central Nevada and quite possibly some more manpower. With the New Republic forces stretched thin across the planet, loses were starting to mount for both the New Republic, Wolverines and American military. Pyramid Lake was the last place anyone would put an outpost being in the middle of nowhere. But then again, droids don't tire from the heat and could patrol for hours without the need for water or food.
Just like the silent specters, the Ghosts left the base after they gathered the intelligence they needed and as they left, looked back to see the cyber center explode after Fury rewired a battle droid and attached several blocks of C4 too the droid which she sent back into the center causing the explosion. "Felt so good too blow that place up." Fixit said as the explosion disappeared from view.
"Let's just hope that intel was worth it." Weaver stated, cleaning the sand out of his M14 as the squad drove away.
"Oh, it was worth it guys. Especially with what we found." Nomad added, not taking his eyes off the intel they had found. They soon returned too LA with the intel.
"Damn it. They picked a hell of a place too set up shop." Mitchell said, viewing the data with the other generals and their commanders on the bridge of the DR. "They've got a camp right by the Great Salt Lake which is hundreds of miles away. We're still waiting on fuel for the gunships and fighters, for having such advanced technology even you guys have supply problems." He added.
"It can't be helped. Even with people like Nym and Hondo helping us out, it was bound to happen sooner or later." Anakin said in agreement. "But let's not forget, you guys are also dealing with supply problems as well. Sure, you've got ammo, but without fuel for your vehicles this campaign will drag on longer than you want it too." He added.
"Still," Obi-Wan began. "We can't just ignore this camp. It will have to be taken out if we are to advance further into the country. We need to reach Denver if we're too link up with another cell of the Wolverines." He added.
"No, liberate the camp we must." Yoda said, getting the attention of the others. "Many prisoners, in that camp there are. Allies we need, in that camp there are." He added. A quick scan of the area proved that Master Yoda was correct for in that camp were thousands of life signals.
"This has to be something the 'president' came up with even before the invasion. No way they could have built this thing in four mouths." A pissed off Joshua Keating stated with much anger. "My source tells me that the camp is full of captured soldiers and not just American. British and Canadian soldiers as well, not to mention civilians." He added. Prior to the invasion, Trump somehow was able to convince the British and Canadian Prime Ministers too send thousands of soldiers, airmen and marines too several old military bases with the goal of training these warriors in more advanced urban combat situations.
In truth, it was a trap laid out by Sidious, Tarkin and Trump in order too weaken three of the world's strongest militaries for the invasion. Not only that, but all the equipment, vehicles and weapons were being used by the enemy. The generals and commanders pondered about how enact this plan, when they were soon interrupted by a call from Robert.
"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but I've got a plan to advance into enemy territory. You want too know what it is, then get your butts over to the rail yard." Robert stated before ending the call. All of those on the bridge were a little confused as to why the Lone Wolf would want them to see at the rail yard, so rather than wait for him to call again, they decided to go to the rail yard and see what he wanted to show them.
When they arrived they all were shocked too see numerous tanks, walkers, Humvee's, VTOLs both Dragoon along with both F35's and Harrier's, Helicopters, artillery and mechs were being loaded onto flatbeds by clones of the 639th while soldiers from Japan, Russia, England, France, Germany and Australia loaded ammo, weapons, food and medical supplies into numerous coaches and boxcars all of which were coupled up behind a green and yellow extended caboose.
"Is this supposed to be a historical reenactment? Because I don't think it's the right time for it. Not to mention a lot of this stuff isn't even old." Mitchell asked. Before anyone could answer, they all got their answer in the form of several whistles. Looking towards the source all of them looked to see three steam locomotives backing down onto the cars, each of them with an auxiliary tender coupled behind the normal tender.
Two of the locomotives had four leading wheels in front with eight large driving wheels behind them in front of four trailing wheels behind it. Both were different in terms of their numbers and company names. One of them was obviously the SP 4449 and the other was the UP 844. But the last locomotive was the largest steam locomotive ever built with four leading truck wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels and four trailing wheels. One of the eight remaining of its type in the world, the Big Boy locomotive 4014 backed down behind the 4449 while the 844 took the lead of the pack. Dropping down from the cab, dressed in workers overalls was Robert.
"This will help us get the men close to the target location." He said.
"Where did you find these machines?" Anakin asked.
"Found them in a workshop not far from here. The enemy was going to cut them up into bits of metal, except for the 4449. That thing was being used to transport prisoners too camps in Washington. They would have destroyed a big piece of history if we hadn't found them." Robert answered from behind a Humvee that wasn't loaded onto the train, changing into his Hero's armor. "Sure, these things are old, but they can get us as close to the location. Fuel isn't an issue either, all of them have been converted to burn recycled engine oil and with the extra tenders, they can go longer without having to refill on water, plus we have fuel tankers. One of these couldn't haul all this weight so we need three." He added.
"And these can get our forces within range of the camp?" Obi-Wan asked, putting a hand to his beard impressively.
"Only as far as the tracks will let us. Trains can only run on the rails beneath their wheels. Besides, before cars and planes, the only way to get across land was railroads, they were a step above the old horse and buggy." Robert stated after finally changing.
"Well its better than nothing. We got a few supply ships coming in but they won't get here in time." Anakin said, climbing into the 844's cab. "Don't think I'm going to let you have all the fun. Besides, you're going too need another Jedi." He added.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you Anakin. Alright, lets get these mighty machines rolling." Robert stated, climbing into the cab of the only steam locomotive never retired by a class one railroad in the North American Continent.
The boilers of the might locomotives were already sizzling nicely by the time the last of the cars were connected too the other locomotives, the crews of the locomotives all of whom were being controlled by steam enthusiast's who volunteered too help operate these relics of a bygone era for their passion of trains.
Looking out the cab window, Robert couldn't help but smile. Barney once told him that his Dad always wanted to operate a locomotive like this if he ever left the military life, having seen this machine haul the 1990 'Eisenhower Centennial Special' and celebrate the 100th birthday of the 34th president of the United States and five-star World War 2 general. For a moment, he though he saw his dad down besides the tracks smiling at him and saluting him.
"Dad?" he said surprised before the radio he had crackled and the other engineers confirmed that they were ready to move out as well. "Let's get this show on the road. Let's move out! Ahead Full!" Robert said into the radio as the throttles of each steam locomotive were opened up and what was perhaps the longest tripleheader train in the world set off for Lakeside Utah, the closest town near the prison camp.
The route they had too take was part of a new stretch of track that connected towns like Los Banos California too Los Angeles. Once past Los Banos, the were too pass through Templeton before traveling alongside I-80 too Gold Run California, through the Tahoe National Forest, go straight through Reno before they passed through Cobre Nevada and followed Nevada State Route 233 before traveling through the desert towards the great Salt Lake of Utah and Lakeside. It was going to be a long journey and with plenty of hills to climb. A five-hour journey and a long one if ever there was one. But that wasn't going to stop the men, women and clones onboard this train.
The noise of the driving rods echoed all around as the locomotives made their way out of the city and onto the open rails. There was no need to worry about any oncoming or stalled trains so as soon as they were five miles out of the city, Robert decided to increase speed too about sixty-five miles per hour while keeping an eye out for any signs of enemy forces that were too try and stop them.
"Now I know what old railroaders felt like when operating these machines." Robert said, checking the boiler pressure of the 844 which was still in expectable levels. He then ran from one engine to the other checking the same thing before returning to the cab of the lead locomotive. "Now you see why I love the Iron Horse's. They don't make them like they used too and really bring out the romance of rail travel." He said to Anakin who was starting to understand why Robert liked these old locomotives. Before the 501st general could speak, Robert pulled the whistle cord of the 844, its whistle echoing all around the land getting both people and animals too look to the source. "I've wanted to do that my whole life!" he exclaimed as the train continued its journey.
By the time they passed through Reno, Rex called out over the commlink that several squadrons of enemy fighters had been detected several miles ahead and heading directly towards the trains. "Guess the bad guys don't want us going any further." Robert joked before he and Anakin ran back along the train before they reached one of the flatbeds where the R4 and R2 were waiting with their fighters fueled and ready for battle as well as Mission and her own fighter.
"It's never easy is it?" the Twi'lek joked before climbing into the cockpit of her fighter.
"When is it ever?" Anakin responded, powering up his own fighter.
"Cut the chatter. We've got to protect Big One." Robert cut in.
"Big One?" Anakin and Mission asked at the same time. "It's the callsign of the train. It's from an anime, Galaxy Railways." Robert answered before he turned to his friends who had just arrived. "Honoka, Hitomi, Rally, Kasumi, get in some the pulse laser mechs and set up an anti-aircraft screen. Save the ammo for the guns, autocannons and missiles. We're going to need them when we liberate the camp!" he added as his cockpit closed.
"Got it!" his four friends said and ran back towards some of the mechs. He then contacted Lincoln. "Uncle Clay, get to the caboose and get on the EWHB, I've no doubt we're going to pick up some company on speeder bikes. Tell the rest of the men to prepare themselves in case we get some boarders on the train!" he instructed his uncle before taking off from train just seconds before the train entered a short tunnel.
"Copy that!" Lincoln replied and gave the orders to the others to prepare for battle while he mounted the turret.
"Good thing we fueled up your fighters before we ran out of fuel. I had a feeling we would be running into air trouble." Robert said to Anakin and Mission who were already in the air. "Keep your eyes on the tracker, we need to stick close to Big One. Carter! Increase the speed to whatever level you think is right, don't worry about the enemy leave them too us. Don't stop for anything!" He added, speaking too one of the volunteer engineers who acknowledged his request and train picked up speed even more.
"Enemy fighters bearing 280 coming from the east. Confirming droid and TIE fighters with them." Anakin said over the commlink.
"I see them, and it looks like they brought friends. SU's, MIG's, Raptors and Lightings. Looks they're armed with air-to-ground missiles. Don't see any bombers, but that doesn't mean they aren't coming." Robert added, spotting a group of four enemy SU-27SK's flying over a small mountain. "Engage the enemy!" Robert shouted and flew towards the attacking enemy aircraft.
(Zips Gundam Seed Astray Opening Starts)
"You do know we're only three fighters against who knows how many enemies. Shouldn't we deploy some of our Harriers and Lightnings?" Mission asked.
"No, we can't risk getting them blown to bits before we reach the camp." Robert answered, climbing to five thousand feet before diving in on several MIG-29's and opened up with the Angels four cannons. Two MIGs were sent crashing down to the ground before the other fighter's broke formation and began to disperse into several smaller groups, attempting to separate the three fighters from each other.
They failed and two TIE fighters were blasted out of the sky by the cannons from Anakin's own fighter. "What about those new VTOLS you made with the Star Forge? The Blue and White ones?" Anakin asked as he turned hard too the left and got behind a MIG-31 and filled that fighter with holes before it rolled over into a death role and crashed into the ground below in a fireball.
"They haven't been tested yet. I won't risk the lives of my men just to try out some new weapon." Robert answered while firing his cannons at a group of approaching enemy F-22s, taking out a few of them while overshooting the remaining Raptors. As he was about to turn around and go for the other Raptors, several new aircraft started firing at him coming in from the direction of the sun. He watched the fighters fly past him and saw that they were Chinese and North Korean MIG-21's followed the J-7.
Introduced in 1959 to the Soviet Airforce, the MIG-21 is a single seat fighter aircraft with a top speed of Mach 2. The fighter was armed with a single 23mm internally mounted cannon and could carry up to two-thousand pounds of weapons. Used in the Vietnam War, the MIG-21 helped prove that a gun was still needed in air-to-air combat too this day where it downed numerous American aircraft like the F-105.
"WE GOT 21's!" Robert shouted before he went after the MIG's, which were armed with rocket pods. "BIG ONE! YOU'VE GOT MIG-21's WITH ROCKET PODS HEADING TOWARDS YOU!" Robert shouted into his commlink, firing his cannons taking down several MIG-21's before they could fire their rockets at the train. Mission followed suit firing her fighter's own cannons taking out two of the 21's, but there were just too many fighters.
Just as the MIGs got close too the train, a barrage of pulse lasers turned the remaining MIG's into fireballs which landed only a few feet away from the train. "Anti-Air defense is ready!" Rally called over the commlink from the cockpit of the Summoner.
"Thank god for that. Next tunnel is about another mile from you. We'll keep the fighters off the train, just keep your eyes open for the enemy." Robert warned, pulling up from his dive and got behind a Tri-Fighter and fired his cannons, turning the droid into scrap metal.
"Tell me you've got some bloodhounds in your fighter?" Anakin asked after downing an enemy F-35.
"Yeah, but I only got four of them. I want to save them for when we really need them. Wish I had something like those AAM missiles from Ace Combat 7, those can lock onto numerous targets." Robert answered, downing another enemy fighter a SU-33 with his cannons.
"We may not have a choice. We need to use our missiles if we want to come out of this alive." Mission cut in, flying through the wreckage of a Vulture fighter while firing her ships medium laser cannons at any fighters that got in her way. They soon got a call from the train indicating that several aircraft were heading towards them. All three allied fighters increased their engines to full power and managed to catch up with the train, as did the other enemy fighters.
"Damn it!" Robert cursed and armed his concussion missiles. "Just make them count." He said too his allies. Just as he was about too fire a storm of red, green and blue cannon fire from above destroyed dozens of attacking enemy fighters. Looking up he saw numerous N-1 Starfighters, Aurek-tactical fighters, ARC-170s and X-Wings streaking towards them from eleven o'clock high.
"Strider 1 to Red Leader, we've got your back. Let's take these guys out." Trigger called from his X-Wing. The other pilots, Garven Dries, Jak Dameron and the rest of Red Squadron along with the Midgard forth tactical fighter wing, Alpha, Bravo and Delta Squads of the Naboo Royal Space fighter Corps began to engage the enemy fighters. They were supposed to be back up in space, patrolling the system for any signs of reinforcements, but Admiral Killian decided too send them down too assist Robert, Anakin and Mission.
"What the hell was I thinking? Three fighters providing top cover for long train, that's a good way to get a lot of people killed. Alright, all pilots, I'm sending the data on the train and its tracker now. Keep the fighters and any bombers from the train, its half way across Nevada now. Half-way to go." Robert answered as the rest of the fighters continued too attack the enemy fighters.
(End Song)
Back below the ongoing dogfight, Lincoln kept his eyes trained on the tracks watching for any sign of enemy speeders. He soon spotted a formation of enemy STAP's flying directly towards the train as it crossed a steel trestle bridge. "We got company." He said to the men who were inside the caboose and opened up with the EWHB.
The few troopers that were also in the caboose opened up with their rifles and were able to knock out a few of the STAP's before a large group of Flitknot speeder bikes emerged over a nearby hill being followed by dozens of 74-Z speeder bikes. "Shit! There's a lot of these bastards!" Lincoln cursed while he continued to fire his EWHB. Blaster fire from one of the STAP's did hit him, but his shields held strong as the enemy speeders continued to attack the train. One trooper managed to let off a few shots from his blaster before taking a hit in the shoulder and almost fell onto the tracks, thankfully he was saved by his brothers who pulled him into the caboose while the others continued to hold the enemy off.
Passing back and forth in the fourth car from the caboose, Kuribayashi grabbed one of the DC-15A blasters and ran through the other cars too the caboose and climbed the ladder onto the roof, took cover behind cupola before she raised her blaster and fired. To her surprise, she experienced no recoil as her first few shots hit their target, one of the Flitknot speeders and its driver. As the speeder bike crashed to the ground, she trained her sights on another speeder and fired another burst of plasma taking it out as well. "Hey, Lincoln! I've got your back!" Shino called over the radio as she continued to fire her blaster at the other speeders.
"Kuribayashi! What the hell are you doing on the roof?!" Robert called over the commlink firing at an enemy MIG-31 that was trailing behind the caboose trying to get into gun range. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping your uncle!" the JSDF private responded, firing her blaster again taking out more enemy speeder bikes.
"I can see that, but did you even stop and think about the tunnel right behind you?" The Lone Wolf asked. Shino looked back too see the tunnel rapidly approaching her. There was barely enough room for a person to squeeze through. Quickly, the JSDF soldier jumped back down between the caboose and the last coach just as the caboose entered the tunnel, as she did several enemy speeder bikes crashed into the sides of the tunnel entrance while the rest of the speeder bikes entered the tunnel.
The whole tunnel was a single section of track and there wasn't enough room for the speeder bikes to maneuver, this allowed Lincoln and Kuribayashi to down the rest of the speeder bikes leaving none left. This gave them a brief reprieve as the train exited the tunnel and had now passed under one of the Route 233 bridges. As they did, the engineer in the lead locomotive called out that several enemy vehicles were blocking the tracks. Not wanting too damage the locomotives, the train began too slow down, that is until Trigger strafed the enemy vehicles clearing the tracks while Robert, Anakin and Mission landed back on the train.
Just before his fighter powered down, Robert jumped out of the cockpit and ran towards the lead engine. "Not much further now. Go full throttle. Be prepared too slow down as soon as I give the order." He said into the radio. The engineers understood and increased the speed of all three engines to the maximum as the long train past through Montello and continued down the tracks.
Towns and buildings passed by the train before they were a mile outside the town of Hogup. "Alright, ease of the throttles. No need to go so fast. Prepare to stop." Robert said as the Great Salt Lake drew nearer and nearer too them. The train soon started to slow down as they passed along the Lucin Cutoff, a one-hundred and four-mile-long rock and dirt causeway with two sets of railroad tracks which connected Ogden Utah too Wells Nevada. Originally a twelve-mile-long trestle bridge used to stand until it was closed in 1959 and replaced with the current one.
As the train neared Lakeside, the smell of salt water filled the air and for those who have never seen or smelled such a sight, it something too behold. When the trains finally stopped, the 844 and 4449 were uncoupled from the train along with the boxcars and passenger cars while the 4014 shunted the flatbeds into one of the sidings before the 844 backed down onto the boxcars and did the same thing, followed by the 4449 with the passenger cars and caboose.
"Alright, I need some men to scout the town, look for any survivors and anything we can use to get the scout team too the camp. Everyone else, start unloading the supplies from the boxcars and setup a defensive perimeter, we can't let the enemy push as back after coming this far!" Robert shouted after leaping down from the 844's cab. Stage one was complete, now they had to prepare for stage two.
Roberts point of view
July 12th 2020
1000 hours
Promontory Utah.
I always said I wanted to drive a Steam Locomotive, and in a way, I guess I kind of did. Granted it was done by those who knew how to operate a Steam Locomotive, but I still felt like I did drive it to some degree. I just wish my Dad was there to see it.
In a way, I felt like he was from what I saw when we left California two days ago and in those two days, I heard that the rest of the forces were moving through country at a steady pace. Good thing we got the fuel. However, the bad news we received made it seem like what we did wasn't enough.
The prison camp as it turned out was the entire city of Salt Lake City, another eighty-nine miles from our current location and the entire route was heavily guarded with enemy armor, anti-vehicle guns and checkpoints. The road was out of the question and using the VTOL's was a risky move, especially the new ones I called the Skygrasper 2.0.
Based on the FX-550 Skygrasper from Gundam Seed and built at the same time as Dooku's Retribution, the Skygrasper 2.0 looked just like the actual fighter in terms of appearance but in terms of armament and speed it was different. Like the Harrier, the 2.0 had a top speed of Mach 0.9 but could easily reach speeds up too Mach 2 in order to engage enemy aircraft, making it a capable dogfighter. For weapons it was equipped with four nose mounted 30mm cannons instead of the usual 20mm's the actual fighter had, but these could switch between bullet and laser rounds. In place of the two cannons mounted on the wing, were a pair small plasma cannons similar to the ones the Freedom 2.0 had on its back. For the beam cannon was a single automated repeating blaster cannon which could rotate a full 360 degrees. As for the weapons bays they carried a total of twenty Proton Torpedo's, Concussion Missiles, Proton Rockets or other munitions like those used by the X-Wing, ARC-170 and other starfighters. They were also equipped with a powerful sensor jammer that would prevent enemy aircraft from getting a missile lock on them.
They had passed all the test flights and weapons tests but had yet to be used in actual combat. The Star Forge was able too spit out dozens of these new VTOL's while it continued too work on the DR and by the time they were finished, over three hundred were built and ready for battle. Numerous squadrons of these newer aircraft along with the other VTOL's were sent on recon missions over the route where the defenses were set up on as well as the entire route of the Heber Valley Railroad, looking for any sign of enemy units that could pose a threat.
Five of these new aircraft were waiting behind me with Rally, Kasumi, Honoka, Hitomi and Velvet who arrived with Barriss yesterday along with some extra back up, were going over the operations of these new vehicles so as to avoid crashing into the ground or each other, seeing as how they never flown an aircraft like this before. Well, everybody except Velvet who got her pilots license a few months before she was accused of murder.
"Everything checks out. Laphi would have loved this, he was a Gundam fan after all." Velvet said sadly as she walked over to me while I continued to look at the other part of the Lucin Cutoff that connected to Ogden.
"He's always with us. In here," I beg putting my hand to Velvets heart. "Its just like with everyone else that we've lost. There never really gone, as long as we remember them whether they are soldiers, Jedi or sisters." I added before looking to the others who soon joined us. We had an important mission: locate a man named Jace Skell.
A man from Denmark, Skell developed several working drones ranging from surgical robots to flower pollination all with the purpose of serving humanity peacefully by combining machinery and A.I. technology. I even heard the guy developed a prototype Optical Camouflage device that was tested by Kozak in 2019.
We found an old Handcar at Lakeview and if loaded with enough explosives could make a nasty explosion enough to take down a single AT-AT. Or in this case, create an opening in a wall large enough for a locomotive to pass through, considering that Salt Lake City was surrounded by a large concrete wall making it impossible to enter by road or rail. One of the soldiers suggested using the locomotives as a battering ram, but that idea was quickly thrown out the window, since we didn't want to damage a piece of American railroad history, which was why we needed Skell. His technology could turn the Handcar into a bomb on rails, controlled from a safe distance.
From what I heard, Skell was put on the FBI's most wanted list in late 2019/early 2020 at the request of President Trump on charges of supplying some of his drones too groups like the Inner Circle which were used in several terrorist attacks across the world. I didn't believe it, I met the guy once when I was ten and he said I had a bright future ahead of me, wonder if he would remember me from that long ago.
The problem was that we had no idea where he was. Yesterday, Itami, Breach, Ryder and the rest of Third Recon entered Ogden where Skell was reportedly hiding from the enemy, but communications where quickly cut off a good thirty minutes after they entered the city. I knew they could handle themselves, so I gave them twenty-four hours to resume contact praying that they were still alive. In those hours, they didn't respond and I began to fear the worst. So, I decided to take a small squad into the city not only to fly the new VTOL's, but to also located our comrades.
I spoke with the others and found that just like me, they opted not to wear the armor I made for them and instead opted for the same armor and fatigues worn by Ghost Recon. Each of us chose the weapons we wanted to use for this mission and I decided too leave behind the Punisher, Morita and BFG for this mission.
Velvet took the same weapons she used when we went after Kincaid. Hitomi opted for the M14, SIG516 and a Springfield Armory XD-9 Handgun. Kasumi took the HK416, M4 Super 90 and a M9. Rally, her trusty CZ-75's, a MK-17 and an FNP-90. Honoka, an RPK-16, Desert Eagle and a Howa Type 89. As for me, I went with the ACR, Mossberg 500, 1911 and the Handgun Ahsoka gave me. Each of our weapons were equipped sights, holographic for the assault rifles and red dot for the submachine guns and shotgun while Hitomi's M14 was equipped with a standard sniper scope. Our rifles were equipped with an M203 grenade launcher, while the submachine guns were given a vertical foregrip. The magazines for the rifles and submachine guns were increased to fifty or forty rounds, except for the P90. We had enough fire power to assault a small outpost and secure it.
Each of us climbed into the cockpit of the new VTOL's while Velvet climbed into the navigator seat of my VTOL and soon, we took off and headed towards Ogden. When we reached the city, we found the city in the same shape as Los Angeles, buildings damaged by weapons fire some of them looking like the World Trade Center on 9/11 before it collapsed and sent that massive dust cloud which killed over three thousand people, beginning the war on terror. It made me wonder if Sidious had a hand in that terrorist attack. It was highly doubtful, but possible.
As we flew over the city, Honoka just picked up the transponder from Breach and the others, coming from their last known location the Miles Goodyear Park. Banking left, we headed for the park only to find the wrecked remains of the Toyota Mega Cruisers in the center of the park surrounded by a large formation of enemy infantry and armor units. We were at five thousand feet above the park so the enemy didn't detect us. Thankfully, there wasn't any sign of Itami or the others so they were still alive.
"Those guys are still out there in the city. We've got to find them." I said to myself and was about to instruct my friends to spread out around the city but Velvet stopped me. She picked up a transmission on her radio and from the sounds of things, Breach and the others were hold up in a nearby 7-eleven with Skell. Seems they had run into some trouble and were now in trouble yet again. "Double Time It!" I shouted and turned towards the direction of the convenience store with the others following me.
We arrived in just a few minutes and found several droid gunships and enemy Apache's surrounding the store along with several MTT's that were just about too deploy their droids. I ordered my friends to arm their torpedoes' and missiles. At two-thousand meters from the targets, we fired and a stream of missiles and torpedoes slammed into the enemy air and ground units causing them to shift their attention on us. We soon jammed their communications as several enemy fighters soon joined the party. "Time to see how this thing handles in a dogfight." I said to myself before turning to Velvet and told her to strap herself in.
Gunning my aircrafts engines, I took the Skygrasper into a dive and fired an eight second burst of 30mm high-explosive shells directly at the enemy armor, destroying several MTT's before pulling up and banking hard right and got behind two enemy Apache's which were soon riddled with cannon rounds. "ITAMI! Find some transportation and get the hell out of there. We'll deal with these guys!" I shouted into the radio as I configured the Skygrasper to VTOL mode and began to strafe several incoming enemy Humvee's with my cannons again, this time with laser rounds.
"Solid copy kid. Be advised, Skell took a bullet too the leg and is hurt badly. Kurokawa patched him up as best she could, but he's not stable enough to travel long distances. We'll make our way botanical garden's and patch him up there." Itami responded as the group boarded a Black Tusk LAV-25 ARV which was still intact despite the ongoing fighting. "Its not a Toyota, but it'll do." I heard Itami say over the radio as the vehicle began too leave the area.
"All right people, lets keep the ARV safe and secured. Stay close to it and take out anything that might pose a threat too it." I ordered.
"You mean like those incoming Hinds?" Honoka asked over the radio as numerous MI-24s approached us at top speed, each of them armed with 57mm rocket pods. If they destroyed the LAV-25, a lot of people would die. It got worse when Velvet spotted numerous Hyena bombers along with Vulture droids following them.
"Yeah, that's a threat. Engage them but don't lose sight of the vehicle." I instructed my friends before I turned to Velvet. "Keep your eyes glued too that radar, I've got a feeling we might be getting some unexpected help soon." I added before I armed two missiles and fired, taking down one of the enemy choppers.
(Mission Fuge, Area 88 2004 opening starts)
Laser fire from both the droid fighters and bombers zoomed past our VTOL's while our plasma cannons roared to life taking down a few enemy units before the rest of them overshot us and managed to get behind us, this triggered our repeating cannons to activate, target the enemy fighters and fired. Several Vultures were sent plummeting down to street level where they skidded along the road before slamming into several buildings that were abandoned by both enemy and civilian.
"More coming in. Looks they brought in some Scarabs." Kasumi called out, flying through the wreckage of Hyena bomber as more enemy units arrived. As if that wasn't bad enough, the road ahead was blocked, forcing Itami to deviate from the present route. Needless to say, we kept a close watch over our allies and continued too provide top cover. Cannon fire from below showed that someone had manned the ARV's 25mm Bushmaster cannon and was firing at the enemy units that were pursuing it like a shark drawn too blood.
The vehicle was lightly armored so a single hit from a missile would destroy it. It was after all a recon vehicle but this vehicle was armed with two M240 machine guns, one on the roof and mounted inside the front of the vehicle and two four-barrel smoke grenade launchers. Not much firepower, but then again it was built for recon missions and not fighting.
Even so, it was still fast with a top speed of sixty-two miles per hour on land, much faster than one of the old King Tiger used by the Nazi's in World War 2. Its speed gave it the advantage against the enemy tanks that were pursuing them which were taken out by either the 25mm or the Skygrasper's 30mm cannons. Kuribayashi, who was on one of the M240's kept her finger on the trigger of the 7.62mm machine gun taking out numerous STAP's that were following the vehicle.
"Tanks ahead. Fox 2!" I shouted and fired two Proton Torpedoes' at two enemy Abrams directly ahead of the ARV, blowing them to pieces and clearing the way for the vehicle. Pulling up from my run, Kasumi called out that dozens of Tri-Fighters were heading towards our location. The others suggest that I intercept the enemy fighters while they handled the protection of the ARV. I pulled the stick back into my gut and put the VTOL into a steep climb while Velvet kept her eyes glued to the radar. By the time we reached six-thousand feet the enemy fighters were already preparing for an attack run.
I had a few missiles left so I had to make them count. I handed the missile control over to Velvet who fired the moment she had a radar lock. One fighter fell, then another, then another and then another before all the missiles were depleted. Six enemy fighters fell to our missiles causing the other fighters to break formation and scatter, both trying to take us down and go after Skell. Two Tri-fighters managed to get behind us and began to try and pump our aircraft with laser rounds. Thankfully, I had the skills that most pilots only dreamed of and zig-zagged between the volley of cannon fire. If droids could get angry, these droids would be pissed off to no extent.
I hit the brakes and allowed the fighters to overshoot us before I fired nose guns again, this time in laser mode downing the two enemy fighters. Unfortunately, the rest of the enemy fighters had circled around behind us and had now sunk their teeth into us like we were a meal. Thankfully, we had the advantage again. Planet side, the Tri fighters top speed was about a thousand kilometers, roughly about six-hundred fifty-two miles per hour. Against the Skygrasper, they were slow as a snail. Smirking, I pushed the Skygrasper to full speed and quickly left the enemy fighters behind me before bringing the aircraft into a climb once again. As my speed dropped, Velvet kept her eyes on the enemy fighters which seemed too have lost me. Quickly, I pitched the nose downwards and increased my speed too maximum.
The enemy fighters had no idea where I was and continued to scan the city before I pulled the trigger. This time, a long burst of 30mm rounds tore through the enemy fighters blowing them to bits of scrap metal which fell too the city streets. I soon leveled out and checked the radar. No more enemy fighters were in the area.
(End song)
By this time, Itami and the others had reached the botanical gardens and the others had just landed. I soon turned towards the location of the gardens, but as soon as I did the aircraft shuttered. "Looks like we missed one!" Velvet called out and sure enough, she was right. A Vulture droid somehow managed to get the drop on us and managed to score a hit on the VTOL. Only seconds after the fighter scored a hit, it overshot us and was about to make another run when it was blown out of the skies by another burst of cannon fire from behind.
"Where did that come from!?" I asked. Soon enough, I got my answer as flying overhead and banking right towards Colorado was a Belbullab-22 Starfighter. It was almost like it Grievous had saved us, but we couldn't get a good look at who was in the cockpit. Either way, this was something we had report too the others.
Velvet and I soon arrived at the Gardens and quickly landed. "Man, I get the feeling the enemy really doesn't want us to get any further than the American west coast. I'd probably do the same thing, if I were an evil man who wants power." Itami joked half-heartedly.
"Just be glad you aren't like Sidious or Tarkin. If you want power, you'd probably not care for who gets killed in the process." I added, getting Itami to jump in surprise at my current attire. "Master Fisto once said, 'Those who have power, should learn to control it.' Shame his old padawan didn't listen to those words before he got killed by Grievous."
I then turned too Mari who was tending to Skell's wounded leg and just finished patching it up when I walked over. "I remember you once told me I had a bright future ahead of me. Tell me," I began and dug into my breast pocket and pulled out a photo and handed it to Jace. "You remember me?" I asked.
Skell looked at the photo for a few moments before he smiled and looked up to me. "I remember. You're that boy I met all those years ago. Look at you, all grown up. I knew I said you had a bright future ahead, but I didn't think it would involve you being a soldier." Skell said in surprise, wincing as the alcohol on his bandage began to disinfect his wound. "Guess this world is full of surprises." He added, handing the photo back to me.
"Yeah it is. Look, Mr. Skell, you mind if I call you Jace? Why does the enemy want you so badly?" I asked, sitting down next to Skell while the others-maintained watch for any signs of the enemy.
"That pig-headed president of yours, he wanted me to use my technology to be used as weapons. Drone fighters, tanks and helicopters. He wanted to build a powerful army which he would use to 'liberate' other countries from the 'tyranny' of their 'oppressive' governments. In truth, he just wanted to use my technology just so he could kill the people living on top of oil reserves. These people had no idea what was under their feet. I didn't want to use the technology I invented to build weapons, I built my drones to help people, not for war. I refused and Trump then declared me a terrorist sympathizer and supplier after a White Mask attack in Chicago. Since then, I've been on the run for months trying to get back home, only to end up here when the invasion began." Jace explained, taking the canteen I offered him quenching his thirst.
"He probably asked you because Sidious wanted to use them against the Republic. Seeing a new weapon and not being able to find a weakness would kill a lot of soldiers and turn the tide in the Separatist favor, not to mention it would cause a lot of people to lose trust in the Jedi order if more battles were lost." I summarized. "I know you said you don't want to use your tech to make weapons, but we need to free some prisoners in Salt Lake City and we're using several preserved steam locomotives to get within range of the camp. None of us want to damage the engines, so we figured that using an old handcar loaded with explosives should be able to blow a hole right through the wall around the city. We need some of your tech in order to move the handcar on its own." I added.
Skell looked to me and thought for a moment. "I have no intention of using your technology to make any weapons, I just want to liberate the city. I've got someone I need to save, she may have escaped the enemy, but she could be captured again and I'm scared for her safety and the safety our children." I said.
Before Jace could even speak, Kuwahara and Breach soon arrived. "Commander, we found something in the garden you're going to want to see." The JSDF Sergeant Major said with urgency. I followed the two after I helped Jace to his feet and followed them into the gardens. What we found was something far more unexpected then anything we had found during the entire campaign.
The entire botanical garden had been converted into a weapons depot and ammo storage facility, as evidenced by the PSG-1 Kuribayashi was inspecting. "Looks like they were stockpiling weapons and ammo in this place. They've got everything from pistols to rocket launchers." she said.
"No kidding." I answered checking out an HK94 I found amongst the other weapons. "Looks they even got some blasters; guess I know where those weapons from Canto Bight went too. Sidious was supplying Black Tusk and his other allies with some deadlier firepower. Wouldn't surprise me if we found a TX-130 tank." I said jokingly, that was until Ryder brought a battered one from the back. "Well I'll be damned." I said in amazement.
"What's Canto Bight?" Tomita asked.
I was about to answer when Hitomi called over the radio. Enemy forces were closing in our location and it looked like they were bringing a lot firepower. Light and heavy tanks, spider droids, helicopters and numerous MTT's were heading towards us. "Kasumi, Rally. Get back to the Skygraspers and set them to autopilot. I want them back at Lakeside, that should let Anakin know our current location so he can bring in the Calvary. We're going to need a QRF." I ordered to the two lovers, who nodded.
"Once you've finished, I want you grab as many rocket launchers as you can find, we're going to need some heavy weapons, specially if we're dealing with tanks and walkers." I added as the two went to the VTOLs'. "Honoka. I want you, Kurokawa, Kuribayashi and Tomita to set up a field of fire on the left flank. Hitomi, get on the second floor and provide overwatch." I instructed the five, who nodded.
"Everyone else, take up positions behind some of those burnt out cars and set the table. Engage the enemy on sight. Remember, protect Skell. If he dies, we won't be able free those prisoners." I added. Itami, who had just finished bring the LAV after he and Kurata finished loading the vehicles 25mm chain gun pointed out that Skell had disappeared on us, but it turned out that Jace had found a damaged commlink, which he and Ryder were working on fixing in order to contact Anakin, in case the Skygraspers got shot down. Breach went with Hitomi having grabbed a LSAT said he was going to lay down suppressing fire while protecting Hitomi from enemy fire.
I was tempted to leave a pistol for Skell, but figured he wouldn't know how to use it, so I figured Ryder would be able to keep the guy safe from harm. As we took defensive positions, the enemy arrived in force ready to crush us and kill Skell. "Hold your fire." I instructed as the member of Third Recon finished grabbing the ammo they needed.
"How long do you think we can hold the enemy until reinforcements arrive?" Kuwahara asked after taking cover besides me.
"I think maybe five or eight minutes. Depends on how much armor the enemy brings with them. We can handle maybe one or two tanks, maybe a couple of spider droids and few helicopters. But if they bring in some heavier armor, we'll be going home in body bags." I answered, keeping my ACR pointed in the direction of the rumbling engines.
"Lets just keep ourselves from getting killed. We've made it this far, so it would be a big blow to moral if we got ourselves killed." Velvet added, taking cover on my left side and training her UMP in the same direction the noise was coming from. Slung over her back, was a PLX-1 rocket launcher and two RPS-6 launchers which she gave to me and Kuwahara. "Better save these for the tanks." She added just as the enemy arrived.
Spider droids arrived being followed by several MTT's which opened up and deployed all the droids they were carrying, which numbered in the hundreds. A rocket streaked towards one of the transports from Honoka's position and slammed into one of the groups of deployed droids as machine gun and rifle fire followed up. Looking towards my friend's location, I saw that Tomita had fired his Pazerfaust 3 at the enemy rather than wait for the tanks to appear. I shook my head before I aimed and fired my rifles grenade launcher taking out a few enemies, following me was the others with their own weapons and Kurata manning the Chain gun.
Droids started to fall to the combined small arms fire and well-placed grenade rounds. It appeared that the enemy hadn't brought any tanks as Hitomi called out, but that was proven false as several AAT's and NR-N99's sound arrived and began to open fire on us. "LAUNCHERS!" I shouted.
Immediately, everyone of us took the launchers we had, aimed and fired our heavy weapons each of us taking out one enemy tank or one of the helicopters that had just arrived, either a Chinese Z10 or North Korean MI-24.
A well-placed shot to the cockpit sent one of the Hinds crashing down into one of the N99's taking both it and several droids out in the following explosion. "Outstanding Hitomi, I ow you a soda for that shot." I said over the radio before I looked to the others. "SMOKE OUT!" I shouted and tossed one of my M18 smoke grenades followed by the others who tossed on as well. A blanket of white smoke covered the area allowing us to fall back to newer positions before the smoke disappeared and the enemy resumed their attack, this time Chinese and North Korean MI-26 transport choppers arrived and hovered overhead for a few minutes before their ramps open up, dropping both paratroopers and super battle droids to the ground.
"Suppressing fire!" I shouted to Breach and anyone else with a machine gun. A stream of bullets knocked down the droids while the enemy soldiers were cut down by automatic weapons fire and sniper rounds while the rest of us took up position and opened up with our own weapons. We barely had a chance to fire our weapons as commando droids quickly bypassed the smokescreen and were right on top of us, forcing us to fall back into the gardens further exposing Skell to enemy fire. The LAV's chain gun soon ran dry and was soon destroyed by a super droid's rocket launcher, but Kurata made it out of the vehicle just in time. "There's too many of them." the Catgirl lover shouted after he lobbed a grenade towards several enemies most of whom were droids.
"We just have to hold out a little longer!" I shouted back, blasting away with my shotgun while Kuwahara and Velvet opened up with their own weapons. The M500 didn't have the range to hit targets at several yards away, but it had the stopping power to take down enemies if they were close enough for the buckshot to make a significant hit on the target. Either way, I was only covering the others who still hadn't reached the entrance. Fire, pump, fire, pump that's the noise a pump-action shotgun makes when firing.
I fired the last round from my shotgun before throwing it to the ground after its magazine ran dry and I opted for my handguns. 9mm and .45 pistol caliber rounds fell to the ground as I took down a few hostiles before I took cover to reload. At this time, Honoka joined up with Breach and Hitomi and began to fire her own machine gun at the enemy mowing down several of them. More and more enemies arrived and it seemed we weren't going to survive for much longer. It came as a surprise when Velvet ran into the storage area and left us.
I thought she was abandoning us, but that wasn't the case as she came back with a monster of a weapon, one that was considered the deadliest machine gun of World War 2: The MG42. Nicknamed Hitlers Buzzsaw by the allies, the MG42 fired the same 7.92x57mm round as the Kar98K rifle. A general-purpose machine gun or GPM, the MG had a rate of fire of twelve hundred to thirteen hundred and fifty rounds per minute as compared to the five hundred to six hundred fifty rounds per minute of the BAR. It could be loaded with either a fifty round ammo drum or a fitted with a two-hundred fifty round belt.
Light weight and reliable, the MG42 helped in the development of other machine guns like the American M60 and the Swiss SIG MG 710-3. "Let's see how they like this old relic of the last great war." Velvet said with a grin on her face as she ran up to the second floor and fired the machine gun without even deploying the bipod.
The noise of the weapon was enough to get the Chinese, North Korean and Black Tusk soldiers to run with their tails between their legs while the droids kept going forwards only to be taken down by the combined fire-power of three machine guns, numerous assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles and other weapons. By this time, Ryder had joined us and told me that Anakin was on his way with several gunships and it would be about five minutes before they arrive.
I had hoped we wouldn't encounter any more surprises, but it seemed those hopes were dashed when a Separatist VAC arrived and dropped two GAT's and a Terror Walker. "Just our luck. I want launchers on those tanks. I'll deal with the walker." I shouted, picking up my shotgun and sprinting out of the gardens towards the walker. Blaster fire from both the tanks and droids streaked towards me and it was risky to do it without my armor, but I was determined.
One of the enemy tanks was blown up by a rocket while I fired my ACR at any enemies I could before I dodged a blast from the other GAT's cannons and jumped onto the back of the Terror Walker. Slinging my rifle over my shoulder, I used my green saber, cut a hole in the walker's armor, primed a grenade and tossed it into the hole before I jumped off the walker which then exploded taking it and numerous droids in the explosion.
I sprinted back to the gardens, but a blaster bolt nicked Ghost armor but it wasn't a lethal shot. Kuwahara took a look at my wound and made the same assumption I did, the wound was only a scratch so I could still fight. I popped out and fired my ACR taking down a supper battle droid as several LAAT's arrived with their doors open allowing both Clone Trooper and American soldiers too mop up the remaining enemies while Barriss, Erik, Fenrir and Lycan ran over to us while we caught our breath. "Looks like you had a tough time extracting an HVT." Erik joked, scanning the area with his pistols while Barriss tended to Jace's wound.
"Shut up." I teased before boarding one of the gunships which soon departed while some of the other ones loaded up the weapons and ammo we found and brought it back to the FOB. When we finally returned to Lakeside, Jace's leg was all bandaged up and I got a bacta patch for my own wound.
"So, can you do it?" I asked Skell after I showed him the handcar I mentioned earlier. At first glance, it seemed that it couldn't do the job that we wanted it to do, but Jace went on about saying some stuff that I had no clue as to what he was talking about until Breach asked for a simpler answer. In the end, Jace said he could have the handcar ready in a few days.
"Just have it ready so we can liberate the camp and city." I said to Jace who set to work at once before his wound was even fully healed, with the help of several combat engineers while numerous fighters of both Earth and New Republic landed on a makeshift runway near Hogup on the other side of the lake. Other airports in the state were captured, but this was the closest one to Salt Lake City, allowing for aircraft like the F16 to conduct air attacks on enemy forces in other parts of the state dropping laser and radar guided bombs on targets. "We need all the firepower and manpower we can get if we're going to get any further." I said to myself as a formation of American, Russian, British, French, Japanese and German fighters streaked across the lake before splitting off towards their targets.
July 14th 2020
0700 hours
Lakeside Utah
Normal point of view
It took some time, but at long last the Handcar was ready for its mission. Attached too the front of the handcar was a down scaled drone receiver unlike anything ever seen before, behind a single Rhydonium canister fastened to where the pumps were normally placed. Once the final checks were made on the systems, the handcar rolled forwards while a group of technicians monitored the handcars progress as the bomb on wheels rolled down the line towards the prison camp. The points along the line were switched onto the route that led to the prison camp so there was no need to have some accompany the bomb.
"Ugh, this is getting boring! How much longer until the big boom?" Wrecker moaned as he and the rest of the Bad Batch waited at their hiding place just a mile outside the prison walls. Per Robert orders, the Bad Batch was dispatched to ensure that the bomb was delivered and, in the event, that it didn't go off, detonate it from a distance before they launched their own attack until reinforcements arrived.
Naturally, Wrecker was being impatient and kept detaching and reattaching the magazine for his M249 like there was no tomorrow. "The bomb will be here when it arrives Wrecker. Right now, we need to focus on the situation at hand." Hunter said to his brother.
"Sergeant, look over there." 99 said and pointed towards a small building nearby. Hunter and the rest of his squad looked to see numerous people on motorcycles just waiting for something. Even from a distance, Hunter could see each of the bikers were armed with weapons ranging from assault rifles to submachine guns and shotguns. "Looks like trouble." Tech said.
"Blackhawk Gargoyles, huh sounds catchy. But they do look like they may be a problem." Crosshairs said in agreement. Before anyone could guess what, they were up too, their chronometer's beeped indicating that the bomb was nearing wall. Loading a round into the LAR Grizzly he brought, Crosshairs set up his weapons bipod, got into the prone position and waited as the bomb car slowly came to a stop. Naturally, this caused the guards of the camp, both droid and PMC to investigate the handcar.
"One shot, one kill." The sniper said before he calculated the wind resistance, aimed one notch above the target to compensate for the bullet drop, controlled his breathing to steady his aim and then fired. The .50BMG round exited the rifle and impacted the canister, killing the guards that were investigating the bomb and creating an opening large enough for a train to get through.
"Bomb has been detonated. Big One, you are cleared to make your approach." Hunter said into the commlink before he and his brothers left their hiding place and went on the attack. "Copy that Hunter." Robert said over the commlink.
Back at lakeside, inside the cab of the 4014 now in his armor, Robert pulled the accelerator and the mighty engine rolled forwards from its waiting area over the cutoff making its way towards the city that was made into a prison. Flying top cover for the engine were dozens of star fighters, fighter planes and VTOL's, each pilot determined to protect the train carrying hundreds of soldiers, ammo, weapons and medical supplies for the prisoners of the camp. "Strider 1 to all pilots. Maintain formation, don't stray too far from Big One. Remember, if that train goes, then its trouble for all of us, not just those who like those things." Trigger stated to all the pilots of the formation as the train picked up speed and rolled down the tracks towards its destination.
(Ginga Tetsudo wa Harukanari, Galaxy Railways Opening 1, starts)
The mighty wheels of the strong 4-8-8-4 thundered along the rails across the cutoff towards the camp. The salty water of the lake soon disappeared behind them as they made their way into Ogden, by this time enemy fighters had been launched and were heading towards them determined to wipe them out and destroy all those onboard. "All pilots, engage enemy fighters. Keep your eyes open for enemy bombers. Those things can do major damage." Trigger said over the commlink before he got on the tail of an enemy MIG-31 that was equipped with air-to-ground missiles which he then riddled with a burst from his cannons before they could even fire their missiles at the train.
The other pilots soon dispersed and began to engage the other enemy fighters keeping them occupied while the pilots of the VTOL's and Skygraspers kept their eyes open for anything that was a threat from the ground or any fighters that were flying low to the ground. One of the VTOL's spotted an enemy Apache approaching from the north and moved to intercept. Once in range, the VTOL fired two of its missiles which slammed into the helicopter causing the enemy craft to explode in mid-air before it even knew what hit it.
"Keep it up men, don't let them through!" Robert shouted from the cab before he handed control of the engine to one of the volunteers and climbed on top of the engines cab with the BFG, converted into rifle mode in his hands and scanned the sky and ground as the train passed through the Ogden Station terminal, passing by numerous empty freight cars that carried the enemy forces and armor once the Separatists had taken over the planet.
Just as they passed through it, a laser cannon round flew overhead and impacted the ground just a few inches from the locomotive. Turning towards the direction of the shot, Robert spotted a GAT rolling towards the tracks at top speed with its cannons firing at the train. "You messed with the wrong train." He stated before aiming his weapon and fired. A burst of green plasma slammed into the tank destroying it before a larger group of enemy tanks rolled directly into the path of the train as it chugged past the Freeport Center.
Robert fired again, taking out two tanks with a burst from the BFG but that still left four more tanks. He aimed his weapon again and was about to fire when the tanks were destroyed by Dreadwing and Skyquake swopped down on the tanks, strafing them with their cannons and clearing the tracks. "Nice work you two." Robert said into the commlink before he fired into the sky at a new target, a MIG-23B. The attacking aircraft soon became a fireball which slammed into a nearby building.
The trains speed soon reached its peak and began to pass by the other stations and the I15. More and more enemies from both air and ground attempted to stop the train but were wiped out before they could even get within firing distance of the train and its cargo as it entered North Salt Lake. Other units had already entered the city as a diversionary tactic to keep the enemy from figuring out their initial plan and were already starting to push the enemy back towards Sugar House Park and the Country Club in the eastern part of the city, the location of a large collection of captured civilians. Military prisoners were kept at the Jordan River Rotary Park.
"Don't stop for anything! Keep going!" Robert shouted while he continued to fire his weapon into the air at any incoming fighters of helicopters. He just downed an attacking Vulture droid before a Tri-Fighter flew overhead sending a gust of wind and knocked him off the cab's roof. He was barely holding onto to the side when his grip started to loosen. In his mind, Robert fell off the train but in reality, he climbed back onto the roof as the voice of Ahsoka kept him going. Picking up his weapon, he leapt back down into the cab and applied the brakes. The screeching wheels echoed through the air as the locomotive came to a stop close towards military prison. "PILE OUT!" Robert shouted, leaping from the cab and charged forwards towards the military section of the camp, killing enemies that got in his way as the rest of the men on the train exited the cars and followed him.
(End Song)
Most of the enemy armor in the camp was sent to deal with the other areas that were being attacked, so the only real threat to the men were any ambushes of heavy units. Thankfully, most of the enemies were just the basic rank and file soldiers which were not so difficult to take out. By the time they reached the camp, the enemy had begun to retreat but that still left many more enemies to content with as Robert and his men soon found out.
Machine guns and repeating blaster turrets started to open up on the rescuers, killing some soldiers and forcing the others to take cover. The amount of incoming fire meant that the liberators couldn't move up any further. "Damn it!" Robert cursed. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long as the towers the turrets were housed in were quickly blown to pieces by an Owens mech from behind, piloted by Honoka who then crashed through the camps gates before she began target enemy vehicles while the infantry moved in behind the mech and mopped up surviving enemy forces.
A pistol round from the handgun given to him by Ahsoka blew the head of a B1 droid clean off before the sound of weapons fire ceased. "Secure the area! If you find any surviving enemy combatants, treat them according too international law, treat their injuries and relieve them of any weapons and intelligence they may have!" Robert instructed the men.
"Yes Sir!" the clones responded and went to work. As for Robert, he looked towards one of the holding areas for the military members. Most of the prisoners were bruised, beaten and looked like they were walking skeletons. When he asked one of the prisoners, it was made clear that the prisoners both civilian and military were forced to work for their meals, most of whom were too sick or wounded to work and ended up executed by their captors.
One of the soldiers, a member of the American 1st Cavalry Division, while weak from all the work he was forced to do ran to his wife and children who were also captured and used as a means to force many of the soldiers to work for the safety of their families. This sight brought a tear to Roberts eyes as nothing is more important than family.
It was then that Ray walked over to him. "You think Thomas is doing ok in Texas?" his uncle asked. Robert thought for a moment before he gave his uncle and answer. "Take a few battalions to Texas and go help your brother out, the Dinobots as well." The Lone Wolf answered.
Ray was grateful and gathered a couple of platoons of soldiers, even Captain Pryce, Soap, Roach and Ghost, made sure the 4014 was refueled and coupled up to several military cars before it departed towards the Lone Star state and a reunion of brothers.
I've got nothing to say except, Happy Veterans Day and I will see you all next chapter.