-Chapter 4-
After the next few days went by, Alyeskan High Command got word of Gen. Borcuse's death at the hands of ace Krishna pilot, Rygart Arrow. At that point, Alyeska's invasion plans were put into action as their main force moved to the borders of both Athens and Krishna. Prior to that point, Alyeska had been discretely moving small amounts of units to staging areas near the borders, concealing the golems in camouflage nets and shelters. Karith and the rest of Foxhound Squad got a head start and covertly crossed the border into Athens, scouting the area ahead of the main Alyeskan force. Foxhound was poised to ambush any defensive forces they found, keeping vigilant for enemy to strike in particular.
"Hey, I think I see something in the distance," said Kale as she looked towards the horizon through her binoculars. She tapped her earpiece and glanced over towards Karith's golem. "Karith, you uh- you copy?" she asked.
Inside her golem's cockpit, Karith was diligently engaged with her monitor as she looked over a map of the surrounding area, marking points of interest and other key areas. Hearing her comrade's voice, she broke out of her work-related trance and responded. "Say again? I was working on stuff," she said.
Kale sighed over the radio channel and repeated what she said. "I think we've got contacts in the distance. Two-hundred yards out. I think… three or four golems? Maybe some support units as well?" she said as she lay prone on a rock by her golem, which was concealed in the shadows behind a large rock formation.
"Keep an eye on them. Once you get a confirmation, we'll move to engage. I'm still collecting data on the surrounding area," said Karith.
"Roger that," said Kale as she peered through her binoculars again. "Oh boy, they're on the move," she said as she tracked the enemy unit.
Karith was about to resume her work until she heard Kale's voice again over the radio. "They're on the move? What direction?"
"Uh… they're heading this way, but I don't think they know we're here. They're moving in a standard patrol formation. Single file line composed of… three- no, four standard Athenian golems," said Kale as she kept them in her sights.
"Copy that. Get back to your golem. We're moving out. Mikael, Leena, you hear that?" asked Karith over the radio.
Mikael and Leena were already in their golems conducting watch, scanning the surrounding area for threats. "Read you loud and clear," said Mikael as he readied his golem to move out.
Karith psyched herself up and fully turned on her golem, engaging all its systems as it creaked to life. As she took a step, the ground rumbled slightly as she felt the vibration from the impact. She exhaled as she grasped the controls with her hands, her white, leather gloves helping her keep a grip. Once she got her bearing, she led her team into a suitable ambush position, lying in wait for the incoming enemy patrol.
"All right, everyone. Try and conserve your ammo as much as you can. We're going to be out here for an extended period of time, secluded from the main force, so resupply isn't exactly something we can fall back on. Stick with CQC unless it's absolutely necessary to use your pressgun. Kale, keep us covered from afar and we'll let you know if we need fire support," said Karith, promptly getting three acknowledgements afterwards.
As they lay in wait, the enemy patrol continued to get closer to their position, unbeknownst of the impending danger that loomed ahead. The enemy golems were traversing through a chokepoint surrounded by numerous rock formations, many of which were large enough to comfortably conceal a golem behind. Once the patrol was in just the right spot, Foxhound launched their attack.
Karith was the first to engage the enemy, dashing out in front of the patrol and slashing at the lead unit with her bladed shield. Using the element of surprise, she caught the enemy unaware and was easily able to take him out without a fight. She cut open the enemy golem's neck with her blade, severing the sensor wires and ligaments to the cockpit as the head hung limp. She then maneuvered behind the golem and turned him around towards his comrades, using him as a human shield as she took hold of his pressgun. After aiming at the next golem in the formation, she opened fire and riddled him with bullets before he could raise his shield fully to defend himself.
While Karith was handling the front, Mikael and Leena simultaneously attacked the rear and center of the enemy patrol. Mikael ran out and quickly got behind the rearmost enemy golem, skillfully thrusting his sword in one stroke and impaling the enemy right through the chest, killing the pilot instantly. Meanwhile, Leena charged ahead and attacked the remaining golem, executing a jumping knee strike which knocked her foe onto his back. The enemy impacted the ground at the same moment Leena landed, and when she did, she thrust her spearhead straight into the enemy, puncturing the torso right through the cockpit.
"Squad, status," said Karith as she surveyed the surrounding area, still holding on to the first enemy golem as a shield.
Mikael slowly kicked his adversary away, pushing the golem from his rapier as he withdrew it from its chassis. "Clear here," he said as he glanced over their handiwork.
Leena extracted her spearhead from the enemy golem, standing proudly over her defeated adversary as she looked down at him, scoffing conceitedly. "It seems they left all the newbies and scrubs behind when they went to go invade Krishna," she said, stomping on the enemy's motionless golem. "This is hardly worth my time and expertise."
"I only asked for a status report, not your life story. Geez," said Karith as she let go of her improvised shield. She then examined the enemy's pressgun that she was holding and aimed it at the near-headless golem, firing a few shots into his chest to put it out of commission for good. "Excellent job, squad. We're off to a good start. Salvage what you can from the remains," she said, requisitioning what ammunition was left from the golems she dispatched.
Suddenly, a stray shot from nowhere whizzed by Karith's golem as she heard it ricochet off the wall next to her. Acting on pure instinct, she quickly turned towards the source and saw three golems in the distance bearing down on their position, their pressguns raised and firing. "Enemy contact! One o'clock and closing in!" she said as she took cover, aiming her own pressgun.
As she prepared to return fire, a hail of bullets rained down on the advancing enemy unit, cutting them down one by one. Karith held her fire as she watched the enemy golems fall to the ground and come skidding to a halt. Once the last one was taken care of, she heard the sound of cheering and maniacal laughter come pouring over the radio.
"Hahaha! Did you all see that? Like shooting fish in a barrel!" said Kale as she revealed herself. She was situated in an elevated position with her back to the sun, a perfect vantage point to utilize her substantial firepower against the incoming threat.
Mikael looked up and saw his teammate beginning to make her way down to regroup with them. "Good going there. Hope you didn't use all your ammo on that," he said.
"Nah, don't worry. I aimed my shots, so I've got plenty more to share," said Kale as she rendezvoused with them.
While the others were scavenging, Leena was surveying the direction the reinforcements came from. "Hey, Leader Lady, what's our next target?" she asked sardonically as she looked at the map on her readouts.
Karith stored her new pressgun and extra ammunition before making her way over. "Hmm, I'll let you know when I think of one," she said.
"Well… our intel indicates that there's a border security outpost in that direction," said Leena, pointing in the bearing the last golems came from. "Anyone with half a brain would immediately hit that next, seeing as we most likely took out their main golem force and left them undefended."
Vexed by Leena's condescending tone, Karith sneered at her and looked towards the direction of the outpost, pulling up any information they had on the target. "Oh, you mean that outpost. Yeah, I was thinking about hitting that next. Was just… trying to think of something better," she said, trying to deflect the insult.
Leena rolled her eyes as she walked passed Karith, twirling her weapons in her hands. "Whatever you say, Boss."
Inside her cockpit, Karith was making a choking motion as she watched Leena pass by, greatly aggravated by her subordinate's behavior. After she exhaled slowly and calmed down, she looked to Mikael and Kale. "Get ready to move out. We're going to hit that outpost."
"Roger that. Ready to rock and roll when you are," said Kale as she moved back into formation.
Once Foxhound was ready, they headed in the direction of the outpost, keeping alert for any more wandering patrols. The squad moved quickly, advancing from cover to cover to minimize the amount of time spent out in the open. As they got closer to the target, Karith and Kale got out of their golems to conduct some reconnaissance on foot. Being out of their golems, they were allowed to get closer to the target and into a better vantage point without alerting the enemy prematurely. Fortunately for them, they were set on a cliff, looking down at the camp from above. Karith and Kale took out their binoculars and began scouting the area.
"Looks like they have no idea their patrol was wiped out," said kale as she lay next to Karith on the ground, looking over the cliff.
"Looks like it. They're just schmoozing about like any other day," said Karith. "Which is good for us. We can just get the drop on them and wipe 'em out just like that," she said, snapping her fingers for emphasis. "Heh, this should be easy."
Kale smirked at her leader's eagerness as she continued investigating the camp. "I've spotted their command tent down there. And I can see… their golem maintenance area and their barracks."
"And it's all undefended. Those golems down there are in no condition to fight and pose no threat to us. Let's get going. We've seen all we need to see," said Karith, stowing her binoculars before crawling back away from the edge. She and Kale hurried back to the others, getting into their golems and updating them about the plan.
"Are you sure you analyzed the area correctly?" asked Leena, furrowing her brow in skepticism. "Are you sure there aren't any defenses we should be worried about?"
Karith groaned with disdain and turned towards her. "Yes. I'm sure. Okay? All we saw were two golems in the maintenance area, and they were nearly disassembled for cleaning. All we need to do is jump down from above and surprise them, swiftly hitting all the main targets simultaneously. We'll catch them all off guard and take them out before they realize what's going on."
Kale didn't care either way and shrugged, anxious to do something rather than stand around talking about it. Mikael, on the other hand, wished they could have done more reconnaissance, but he took Karith's word for it.
Leena scowled, wishing she was in command so she could do things proper, but she figured that if Karith screwed up enough times, she could convince the rest of the squad that she was unfit for command. So instead of challenging Karith's battler plan, she just kept quiet and nodded. "Okay, Fearless Leader. We'll do it your way."
Surprised by her lack of contestation, Karith raised her eyebrow, but didn't call her out on it. "Ooookay, good. Let's move out. We have much more to break and destroy in preparation for the main force, so let's get going," she said, heading towards the camp to get into ambush position.
Mikael and Kale acknowledged, falling in behind her as they moved out. Moving into formation as well, Leena kept her contempt in check, waiting for the right moment to assert herself as the new squad leader. Proceeding together, Foxhound made sure to move as stealthily as they could in order to get into the best possible location before launching their attack. Fortunately for them, no alarms were tripped as the four of them arrived at the cliff overlooking the outpost.
"Everybody ready?" asked Karith as she readied her newly liberated pressgun from an enemy golem, loaded with anti-personnel rounds for the people on the ground.
"On your go," said Mikael, readying a longsword he pillaged from one of the golems they fought earlier. He still had his rapier, but it was best suited for golem-on-golem combat rather than a more general role. Therefore, he took an enemy's longsword to wield temporarily instead, sheathing his personal weapon for later.
After everyone gave a green-light, Karith prepared her golem's stabilizers and jumped off the cliff, followed by her squad in tow. They all landed right in the middle of the camp and proceeded to hit their assigned targets in unison. Once on the ground, Karith dashed over to her target utilizing her golem's enhanced mobility capabilities and stomped on the command tent, sweeping her foot through it as she kicked it apart. As personnel on the ground began to flee, she opened fire with her pressgun, cutting them down in their tracks with the specialized anti-personnel rounds.
Meanwhile, Mikael hit the barracks and brought his longsword crashing down, swinging horizontally as he ripped it to shreds. As he was hammering the surrounding area, a bullet suddenly impacted his shield and ricocheted off. "Where'd that come from?" he asked out loud, raising his shield to fend off any more incoming shots.
Leena swiftly reacted and spotted where the shots were coming from. The enemy golems that were being worked on in the maintenance pit were partially operational, but unable to move. Even though their legs were non-functioning, the pilots of the golems were still able to use their arms and fire their pressguns. As she charged at them, Leena took apart her halberd into two parts, taking the halberd half in one hand and the spearhead in the other. She hurled her halberd half like a tomahawk at one of the golems, impacting deep into its torso. After taking out one of the golems, she focused on the other one, dodging his shots as she shoulder-rammed it against the wall. Following up after the hit, she jammed her left fist against his side, firing a couple shots with her double-barreled, wrist-mounted pressgun into his chest. Once the enemy was immobile, she backed away, keeping her pressgun aimed at him as the enemy golem fell to his knees then finally to the ground.
After taking out a couple supply trucks, Karith glanced over at Mikael. "Hey, you all right?" she asked, reloading her pressgun with more anti-personnel rounds.
"Yeah, I'm good. Leena took care of them," said Mikael as he brushed off the quartz chips left behind by the bullet impacts on his shield.
Seeing that her teammate was okay, she checked on the rest of her squad while she was at it. Kale was meandering around, kicking random crates over and other small structures. Leena was still by the golem maintenance bay, ripping out her halberd from the downed golem and connecting it to her spearhead, forming her full halberd again. Seeing that everyone was okay, Karith surveyed the area to make sure they didn't miss anything. The camp was completely destroyed, so with a smirk of satisfaction, she rallied her team on her.