Galactic War: Impending Retribution

[Akranadas]

Galactic War: Impending Retribution / The Retributive Conflict

This is not Galactic War 4

“Play data file: 1102863 Alpha, security code – 9Nix7Marshal337.
You all should see this, even if command doesn’t want everyone to know the full details”

Greetings brave soldiers of humanity.

The Following transmissions where received from deep space zone, referred to as the Mandrake Cluster, these transmissions are highly classified and should not be reproduced. Failure to comply will result in being reprimanded, it is important that we do not expose these details to potential spies with our population.

“Revenge is upon us my brethren, the taste of sweet revenge shall fall upon our tongues in the next year. They scarred our civilization a long time ago, and the time is right to rid our world of these creatures, the galactic council is still in tatters from the 3rd Galactic War. Now is the time to strike them…<transmission to degraded to decipher>”

As you can see, the situation doesn’t look good, but far worse is still to be read. We intercepted this transmission only days ago.

“…understood, the target planet for the invasion is confirmed, this planet is the stepping stone to their…” < transmission to degraded to decipher>

It is with utmost fear that I am sending you this message, every man and woman in the New Human Alliance should be battle ready. We’ve already lost many of the out lying worlds, including the important Alpha Centauri bases. Even with the help of our allies, I seriously doubt we will be able to hold of a full scale invasion, our fleets are all but crippled and lack the numbers to defend any of our worlds.

The Fantinos, possibly our closet ally have deployed what they could spare, but even that isn’t much, a few soldiers and a ship or two. That’s hardly enough to halt an invasion, still we have no choice. It will fall onto you and your soldier’s shoulders to stop the coming assault.

The Follow is a detail on the biology of a captured invader, when they assaulted Space Station Java in the Alpha Centauri system.

<picture>

These creatures are known as the Mandrakian, one of the oldest races in the galaxy. They are a brutal, warlike race who seems hell bent on our destruction for some unknown apparent reason. They are extremely dangerous, standing about 7-8 feet tall and weighing about 250 kg. It is advised that no man should attempt to go hand to hand with a Mandrakian, for they will no doubt kill them within seconds, so if your position is overrun, retreat is the best option. Even when a Mandrakian is cornered, it is still advised that you eliminated it a range, for the Mandrakian elite corps troops have been sighted blowing themselves up, killing whole squads of men as they approach.

The Mandrakians use a highly advanced weapon system, most of it is still unknown to us, but it’s effects are; The weapon when it strikes flesh bursts into a black to purple light which burns the victim, armour is also affect somewhat, but not as much as flesh or cloth. So every soldier in the NHA should wear their armour at all times on the battle field.

Our last stance against the Mandrakian invasion is Mars, the recently completed terra-formed planet will be the battlefield, we’ve already drawn up the trenches and battle stations, and the soldiers are already awaiting the Mandrakians, as they seem to prefer ground assault rather than planetary bombardment. So we will be ready.

You and your mean will form the First Reinforcement Company, and you are placed into several squads, code named; Peace, Hope, Freedom and Liberty. When the front lines are attacked, it will be you and your soldiers who ride upon the waves of humanities hope and into the maw of the Mandrakian assault. You will be riding in Maverick transport craft, so be prepared for a hostile landing. Gentlemen may we succeed in our defense, because death isn’t an option.

---End of Data Transmission---

“So you all know now, Earth is under a shadow. We are her only chance, millions of lives are in our hands, so don’t die until Earth is safe” shouted Captain Nix, as he stood in front of his squad. “We are squad Hope, and Hope we shall give to humanity, so get your gear ready. The Mandrakians will be here tomorrow”

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Welcome to a continuation on the universe that we here in the board war forum created, the Galactic War universe, as you may have read. Earth, the last strong hold of humanity is almost at it end, the Mandrakians a fanatical and warlike race are hell bent on it’s destruction for the crimes the humans did to their people during the first and second Galactic Wars.

So, it falls upon the regular men and women who make up the NEFA (New Earth Federation Army), regular means regular. These soldiers are just like the ones who appear today, armed with the basic equipment that Earth can spare after the past wars, which isn’t much. Weapons are:

Firebolt Pistol – A standard sidearm of all NEFA forces, the Firebolt is like every other pistol, holding 8 rounds of laser shells, it is best used in close range.

Firefly Rifle – This weapon has more income with the rifles of the world war eras than modern day ones, single shot laser bullets are fired, and then the rifle must be manually readied to fire the next shots. They hold up to ten laser bullets, the main benefit of this design is the control and accuracy it gives the wielder.

Hellfire SMG – Given, only to Sergeants, lieutenants and Captains , the Hellfire SMG is a full auto laser weapon, able to unload a quick burst of laser fire upon targets, with a clip holding up to 40 rounds.

Firestorm HMG – The Firestorm is the most powerful laser tech weapon given to standard NEFA troops. It has a large firing rate and is used to support small arms, with a large laser cartridge, up to 200 shells, it is field only two 2 members per squad on most deployments.
Character Creation

Name: <Standard Name>
Age: <Age>
Gender: <Male/Female>
Rank: <There can only be 1 lieutenant and 2 Sergeants in NEFA squad>
Role: <Role does not dictate which weapons you may want to be more involved as a medic, radio ops ect>
Weapons: <Select from the above weapons, grenades and additional equipment>
Equipment: <Other Equipment you might bring with you>
Background: <Background>

Mandrakians are unplayable by anyone, but you can dictate where their soldiers move and what they do, but be realistic when playing. A Mandrakian is a 7-8 foot tall beast, which weighs more than 3 men, has 4 sharp claws and if fanatically devoted to their gods of war. They will kill you quickly if you try something too heroic so, be realistic in your actions. Not only will they crush you, but if they feel they’re almost dead, high up soldiers will kill themselves with inbuilt explosives.

So for example, my character

Name: Marshal Nix
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Rank: Captain
Role: Leader of Squad Hope.
Weapons: Hellfire SMG, Firebolt Pistol, Frag Grenades
Equipment: Binoculars, Nanoweave fibre body armour; helmet with night vision, thermal vision, etc
Background: Marshal Nix, born during the last Galactic war into a heavy military family, his father and uncles all fought in the last galactic war and all lost their lives doing so. It was only natural that he joined the forces.

It was during the formation of the New Earth Federation that he excelled and made a name for himself. He was responsible for taking important objectives for the NEF when the quelled the various gangs and other militia groups located on various human worlds. He rose to the rank of captain quickly in the field, showing bravery and leadership where others coward.

Now, Marshal Nix is stationed on Mars, the last outpost before Earth, he has flown the combat practice runs for hours, he has gone other the one important objective; drive the Mandrakians back, and he is ready to lead the men under his command to victory at all costs.

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Captain Nix gazed out of his quarters window, night was falling. He watched as the soldiers out side set up fortifying positions around the main Mars base, how these men who were no older than maybe 16 or 17 prepared to fight back the Mandrakians who would come to destroy them; they were truly heroes of mankind. Marshal looked down to the photo’s he had laid out of his family, his wife and his daughter who had been evacuated back to earth so there own safety, he wondered if he would ever see them again.

Marshal collected himself and went over the war reports of the past Mandrakian encounters, they always strike at the same spot on every planet, referred to by a captured Mandrakian as the heart of the world, and it was there that the NEF had set up countless trenches and bunkers, millions of men and women to fill them and what war machines they could muster.

Marshal and squad Hope are going to reinforce those positions after the initial attack, it is hoped that a quick boost to the defensive forces would make the Mandrakians crumble under their own weight, but this tactic hasn't been tested in battle, so it was the only chance.

He walked into the hanger to inspect the Maverick transport craft that will deliver his squad into battle; it was an old style transport craft, which must have been dating back from the 2nd or 3rd Galactic war. It was large and powered by four VTOL engines mounted at the back, this was his horse and he hoped it would carry him safely into battle.

[Sevorak]

Name: Leliel Alturas.
Age: 27 Terran Standard.
Gender: Male.
Rank: Lieutenant.
Role: Former Military Intelligence.
Weapons: Hellfire SMG, Firebolt Pistol.
Equipment: SPH-9 Percussion Grenade; two SPH-17 Fragmentation Grenades. Combat Knife. Nanoweave fibre body armour; helmet with night vision, thermal vision, etc.

Background: “Leliel” signed up for the military at roughly the same time as his long-time girlfriend Clarisse. He was swiftly assigned to military intelligence, having been deemed sufficiently mentally dextrous and able to handle the task. Clarisse, meanwhile, was sent to the front – an assignment from which he would never return.

She died shortly after the war’s outbreak, lost on Titan; an event that in the end proved catastrophic to Leliel’s mental state. Eventually, he requested to be transferred to the front lines after the fall of Titan; and given his inability to perform up to the standards of military intelligence, the application for transfer was accepted. He now serves in Squad Hope, as another nondescript trooper having lost loved ones to the war, albeit one who seems to have a great many friends in high places. It is a curiosity to many, though inquiries about it – Leliel knows the value of secrets, and will not divulge any of the classified aspects of his past unless circumstances deem it expedient to do so. As far as he is concerned, he is just another soldier.

[Ragnarok]

oooo

looks good Akra, will join later...

[ShatteredFaith]

Name: Mellinski Kirby
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Rank: Sergeant
Role: Sergeant?
Weapons: Hellfire Smg, Firefly pistol, 4 frag grenades, 1 emp grenade.
Equipment: Standard Armor.
Background: Sgt. Kirby was raised in the trenches. His father a soldier and his mother a field medic. At the age of 16 his father lied about his sons age to bring him to the front lines, where Mellinski proceeded to rack up a mildly impressive tally of kills. He also began to feel numb inside, detached from it all. He finally became nearly emotionally dead when he saw his father die before his eyes, a head shot snapping his idols head around to land him lifeless at Kirbys combat boots. Mellinski Kirby continued his military career, but was sent back to earth recently after a nearly-fatal encounter with a Mandrake. He lost his left eye, the Mandrake lost his face. Now mostly recovered he is assigned to Hope squad as one of the acting sergeants.

[Psymon]

Name: Eoin Doyle 'Doc'
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Rank: Private
Role: Medic
Weapons: Firefly, Firebolt pistol, Combat knife
Equipment: Medical kit, an extremely battered helmet he claims is 'lucky' and light body armour.
Background: A young doctor who got conscripted when the war reached the Solar System, he was one of the last to arrive on Titan before it fell and got sent to Mars when he was evacuated. He was once a sergeant, but got demoted for using the phrase 'Fuck that!' to describe a superior's plan of action. On the battlefield, this would have been let slide. In a briefing with a high-ranking officer, it didn't go down well. Cheerfully insubordinate, he's still getting himself, and frequently others, into trouble. Has achieved a small amount of fame for his ability to brew alcohol out of practically anything and his coffee, insanely strong and very useful for seeing out a boring watch.

[Trandrin]

Name: Sven Haroldvorssen
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Rank: Sergeant in Squad Hope
Role: Demolitions Explosives Expert/Engineer
Weapons: Hellfire SMG and a Firebolt Pistol are his main weapons. Sven has all manner of explosive weaponry with him. A variety of grenades, and some mines. Also on his person are a few bars of moldable plastique explosive that he likes to horde. To just name some of them.
Equipment: He wears a heavy nanoweave fiber body armor without a helm. Several pouches and pockets on this contain the various demolition equipment that he needs to perform his duties with. For some reason Sven also carries around a pack of high quality cigars on himself, sometimes he shares these with the “higher ups“.
Background:
A great brick wall. That is the closest description anyone can come up with for this man. His short gray hair fits his head like a skull cap. While his grizzled face seems to be chiseled out of stone. A great deal of muscle is attached to Sven’s frame, these allow him to carry some heavy burdens on his shoulders. His crystal blue eyes belay the amount of hate that corrupts his heart.

Sven entered service in the NEF’s military 5 years after Marshal. Although, because he is constantly arguing with his superiors he has never been able to get above sergeant. He has run into Marshal a few times since he joined but he really hasn’t noticed him to much.

In combat Sven has proven himself capable and willing to perform even the most heartless of assignments. His preference for over killing the enemy has been noted with a little worry by his commanding officers. Also has the penchant for carrying dangerous amounts of explosives.

[Lestaki]

No promises.

Name: Tomané Equire
Age: 22
Gender: Female
Rank: ICA Special Forces Agent, Close Combat Specilist Section
Role: CC specilist, Fantinos envoy
Weapons: Void Claws
Three two-foot energy blades, capable of ripping through armour in a single sweep. They are also able to project their energy in a beam, providing a powerful ranged attack.
High-Powered L-72 Arc Pistol
A long barrelled weapon, packing a powerful punch at close range.
Equipment: Full Body ICA combat armour with helmet and full suit functions, including arc filters, internalised communications and tactical HUD systems and others.
Background: -classified- In brief, she's an ICA agent, of pure Fantinos blood and no remarkable capabilities beyond her equipment and training. That said, both are excellent. She is asked few questions and provides few answers.

[BmB]

What about the huge amount of missing storyline from when GW3 died? Do you just fill in along the way if it's needed or what?

[Akranadas]

Well, I can fill that in if you want. I didn't think it was need at the moment

[Sword_Monkey]

It's easy to assume the keys were all found and brought to the vault, what was inside was let out, amongst a massive showdown battle between the major races.

I know that at least on my side that Vindicorp would have been destroyed, Brawson Le Sard my protagonist would have died, Gaia would have survived blah de blah.

Sevorak and Lestaki would have to fill in what exactly happened when the thing in the vault was released. (It was a god/goddess that had tricked the Emissaries into trying to find it and let it out)

[Sevorak]

Yeah. Themis. Fear her, for she is incredibly powerful and certainly well-deserving of the title "Goddess".

[Akranadas]

But, She's no where near earth at this point in time, so no need to worry about her,

[Psymon]

I have no idea what you're talking about so I'll just go along with it when this BW starts up and concentrate on killing aliens.

[BmB]

Spoiler

We never figured out what the fourteenth key actually did. Maybe it hasn't been used yet?

I know I was planning my late introduced character... the one with the fields and the pshycologists and that. He was going to pull an Advent Rising at some point (That is, quoted from a review; He gains psionic superpowers somewhere along the way because... well, because he just sorta does. No Advent Rising spoilers please.)
Maybe he died in some act of heroism or somehting like that.
I imagine the Jerani got pounded for something along the way and are now rebuilding themselves, thus, seeing as they are far away, they are absolutely irrelevant. The Jerani key was buried with a great warrior of the bad odors etc, and the fourteenth key was supposed to be contained within the very center of the Jeran homeworld. Also, it was brought to Jeranen by an angel seeking refugee from the gods and so on, the angel dissapeared one day and well... that sortof legend like legend stuff.

Perhaps we should revive the GW3 OOC thread for discussing these things if they are needed.

[Akranadas]

If you did that, I'm sorry but, the Mandrakian Elite corp would have knocked you out with advance paralyising drugs, then they would throw your body into an acidic pit to be broken down to create more dark matter. In other words; No Power Playing or I will kill your character.

[Trandrin]

Tomané's cc weapon interesting. It is like a knife on steroids. When will you consider starting this Akrandas? I sense fun times if all goes well

[BmB]

Akranadas? Wh are you talking to? Me? I was ranting on about my race in GW3.

[Akranadas]

This isn't Galactic war 4 though.

---Starting Galactic War: Impending Retribution, People can still sign up if they want---

Captain Nix made his way to the main hanger, all the reinforcements we're to meet here, then await the command to go into battle. He waited by the maverick drop ship, waiting for the rest of squad hope to assemble and get ready to board the craft.

The mood in the hanger was dull, everyone was quiet and seems to be lost in a void all on there own, it was kind of surreal. From looking at the men and women in the hanger, no body would have guess that there was a alien armada appoarch on the planet.

Captain Nix appoarched the Maverick pilot who was in the cockpit, strapped in and ready to go.

"So, will she hold" he asked, leaning into the cockpit

"Oh, She'll hold" he replied "Lt Lancaster reporting to you captain. I'll flown every combat mission here on mars, gone over the practice run for this mission 3 times. Don't worry, those Mandrakians won't know whats coming until I land on there faces"

"Heh, I hope so Lt" laughed Captian Nix, "We'll load up when the orders given. See you then", with that Nix went back to the hanger.

[Trandrin]

OOC: Hope you don’t mind just adding some info on the grenades my person is bringing with, anyone else can use these to. They are a cylinder in shape and have a ring plate on one end and a disarm button on other. You move the plate by nudging it against anything, then slam the area under it onto something and toss. It explodes a 5 seconds after that. To disarm you grab it and press button for 2 seconds. All this can be done with one hand. While the grenade is active it has a red LED on button end, once inactivated it turns green then shuts off. They are called Firebug Grenades. Once they go off they spray the surrounding area with wedge shaped shrapnel

IC:

Sven stepped through the corridors at a brisk pace, one of his cigars slowly smoldering on his lips. Up ahead he can see the hanger. “Hope we aren’t late.” he mumbles. A few feet behind him a young private carrying several boxes of ammunition stops and speaks up. “Did you say something sir?” Sven shifts his shoulder rearranging the assorted rifles he has slung over it. “No I didn’t, and be careful with that box of grenades. I don’t feel like picking pieces of you off the walls.”

Sven walks into the hanger, up ahead he sees his commanding officer “Marshal Nix, longtime since I served at the same station as you.” He says saluting. He follows the lieutenant’s inquisitive gaze back to the private struggling with the heavy crates. He is going to ask why I am not helping. Acting before Marshal can say anything. Sven grunts and sets the heavy Firestorm HMG on the ground and turns to grab one of the munitions boxes from the private. “Oh no, grab it, hurry!” The female soldier says as the box slips off the stack and crashes into the floor.

The panel sealing it gets wedged open a bit and one of the grenades slips out and clacks when it collides with the floor. The little LED on top is glowing a faint red. Dropping the rest of his load, Sven dives for the bomb and grabs it. Pressing down on a button on top for a few seconds the light goes green. Smiling like a idiot he stands up and places it back in the box. Sven then notices he has lost his cigar. His brow crinkles as he turns to look for it. Not far away laying at Marshals feet is the burning offender. “Uh oh.” Sven mouths.

[Sevorak]

Leliel lay back against the chair, looking into the hololith, brief motes of luminescence flickering against the illusionary stars. As if dead, he slumped, head lolling back. His left hand rested against a table, fingers clutched in a pale grip around his sidearm. Icy cold assailed his bare back, searing against the three scars there, only barely beginning to heal. He had recieved them fighting a Mandrake on Titan, and had barely escaped being paralyzed from the waist down. The Mandrake had lost its eye, half its face, and the better part of its torso in return. Leliel considered it a fair exchange. He closed his eyes briefly, savouring the sting of pain as he pulled himself up, and stood in darkness in front of the hololith, watching motionlessly.

A monstrous vessel of gleaming obsidian glared before him, searing energy lines of green light radiating in the dark. The illusions cast an eerie halo through Leliel's spartan quarters. In the distance, behind it, lay the fallen Titan Bismarck, enveloped in a seething corona of light. Leliel's eyes narrowed. His father had been on that ship. He turned in anger, cutting off the recording with an abrupt snarl, then strode briskly to his wardrobe. Beside his own uniform was his father's old trench coat, recovered through some miracle by the Reichers after the battle. They'd been good people, all. He remembered the scraps from the old Karttayan conflicts; old recordings, distant traces, scraps of historical records. The Reich had tried to help those people; provide aid in their time of need, and more often than not the Karttaya had thrown it back in their faces, adhering to genocidal madness. And now, the Mandrakes were the race out to commit genocide; just like the Degrans before them. His grandfather had died in the Karttayan conflict, and his father had been lost at Moslin. Now, he supposed, it was his time to die in the fires of war.

He'd been brought up on history recordings and scraps of information pertaining to the 'recent' conflicts. All of them had been before he had been born. And all of them had held such horrific death tolls. To be one of those was to be little more than a statistic; he more than most, for no one would remember him when he was gone. The Alturas line would end with him, never remembered, ever forgotten. He pulled on his father's old coat over his uniform, holstered his pistol at his side and grabbed the rest of his equipment before stalking out of his room. He suspected he would probably seem reminiscent of a spectre; an old memory from forgotten times, adorned in that old Reicher coat. He didn't care; he'd follow in their footsteps to the grave, perishing along with Moslin. All good people, all dead to fanatical alien monsters.

He arrived on the hangar to a quiet reception, towering frame and pale features surveying the arrayed military equipment. So it comes down to this.

[Lestaki]

Black. Clad in the solid piece combat armour that all Fantinos wore, but it was black, and black meant ICA special forces. Tomané stalked across the hanger, tilting her head slightly to observe the others who had arrived. But with her face obscured by the black visor, they'd only have the losest sense of where she was looking. That suited her fine. She walked towards the cpatain, saluting. "ICA Special Forces, Agent Equire, sir. Reporting. I am your close combat specilist. I will also be keeping touch with Intelligence Wing reports as and when the situation demands it."

[Akranadas]

"Ah so your the Fantinos envoy that command was talking about" Captain Nix said "Glad to have you and your peoples help in this matter, it looks like we'll need it"

Sudden a Soldier came running into the hanger holding a radio, he slammed it onto a table near the opening of the hanger and shouted "Their here" and turned it on.

The sound of various commands we're being shouted over the radio, and as it all played out for their ears, their eyes could see the sky battle above them. Bright flashes of light skimmed across the sky.

"...We've been hit" the radio crackled "Our ship can't take anymore of that fire, we have to make a jump out of here before its......"

"...drakain landing craft sighted, open fire! Drive those birds back!" the constant nosie of that rang through the radio echo through the hanger and the reality of the situation began to sink in.

Then the Alarm sounded, "Can all NEFA troops please board their landing craft, it is time" and with a moment to waste everyone ran to their respective maverick craft.

"Looks like it's time fella's" shouted Lt Lancaster over the noise of the engines powering up "Seems like the front couldn't hold for as long as we hoped, so strap yourselves in, we're taking off". With that the Maverick craft slowly raised itself from the ground, and exited out of the hanger. The other craft followed suit and they were on the way to the front lines.

Captain Nix looked to his squad "This is it"

OOC: Please don't write that the craft land.

[Psymon]

Eoin got aboard and was seating himself as the Maverick lifted off with a jolt that left him grabbing a handle on the ceiling so as not lose his balance. He looked around the dropship at the rest of Hope Squad, most of them were fairly green, but then again, so was he. He'd only been on Titan a month before it fell and he'd been evacuated back here. It was weird to think that not so long ago Mars had been 'The Red Planet', now it was almost as green and blue as Earth, a bit chillier, but cold wasn't something that bothered him. Still, somewhere out there on this new, green Mars, the Mandrakians were landing.
"Should be fun, eh Cap?"
"It's Captain, there's a reason you got busted to Private you know."
"I admit my choice of words was probably wrong, especially given that the plan was a colonel's, but I think my opinion was valid."

[<{$W}>mr plow]

I guess ill join in

Name: Valus Rethiral (Old one eye)
Age: 50
Gender: Male
Rank: Private
Role: Combat Advisor,
Weapons:Firebolt pistol,Fire-Fly,Combat knife,frag grenades ,
Equipment:gas mask,standard armour,flask full of brandy,
Background: Valus was once a Major in the NEFA dishcharged for dis-obeying direct orders and killing a commanding officer

Valus career in the NEFA was one of almost 20 years after Ignoring order from his commanding officer he then killed him. beacause he he criticised Valuses leader ship skills,tactical thinking and state of mind. He lost one of his own eyes while murdering the officer.

however when the mandrakian invaded mars he was pulled out of military prison and given a chance to become a regular member of society by doing what many consider a complete suidcide mission

IC: "Hey You hurry the hell up Mars will be a mandrakian strong hold by the time you get in here". Valus finally entered the maverick most of he crew had already Run out of patience and left . one of the crew offered a hand to him Valus Simply walked past him

He moved passed the bewildered crewman to the nearest veiwing port and stared out into the endless depths of the universe

[Trandrin]

The Maverick buckles a bit, causing Sven’s stomach to lurch. “Hey Captain I ever tell you I get air sick?” He says grinning at Marshal. “ Uhm sir, could I get you to help me again?” Sven turns his head to the rleft and sees that same private from before. His right eyebrow raises in confusion. “I can’t get my rifle loaded.” She says blushing. God, now that I can see her properly she is young enough to be my daughter. Sven knew that wasn’t saying much due to his age but still it was a bit disturbing . Reaching over he pulls the Firefly out of her hands. “Okay you take one of your charging clips. Insert it in this slot hold it there for a few seconds while it recharges the gun, then you remove the clip and place it back on your belt, because there are several reloads worth of rounds to a clip.”

The realization that he was talking to this private like a green recruit sinks in as he finishes speaking. “I know that information sir. Its just for some reason the power cell isn’t linking with the gun.” She explains. Sven looks at the energy cell and sees nothing wrong with it. Must be the rifle then. He thinks flipping the gun and staring at the connectors. A small piece of metal is stuck on the two transfer bars. “There’s your problem. A small retaining piece attached to the power intakes..” Using his fingers Sven tries to pull it off. But its stuck on there like glue. Cussing under his breath, he pulls out his knife and wedges underneath the offending item.

It slowly starts to lift, bringing a smile to Sven’s visage. Then the electrical shock hits him through the knife. The energy courses though his body for a few seconds until exhausting itself. The strip of metal, no longer magnetized, comes off easy enough now. Sven hands the rifle back to the private. Some laughter from several of the other soldiers on the transport makes him confused. “What’s so funny?” He says trying to look menacing. This causes a even greater uproar. A tap on his shoulder bring his attention back the female marine. “Here sir. Thanks for helping me with the grenades and rifle, my name is Taisha.” She is handing him a small mirror. He takes it and looks at himself. His hair is standing straight up in a great puff ball. He starts patting it down but not before seeing a smile flicker across Taisha’s face, suddenly the embarrassment of making a goof of himself wasn’t so bad.

[Akranadas]

"Touch down in 1 minute guys" shouted Lt Lancaste, suddenly the Anti-Air fire began to strike the Maverick "Shit, their shells are passing right through our shields"

The Maverick beagn to buck and throw, sending whoever wasn't strapped in crashing to the ground.

"Listen up, when we land, I want everyone to clear the Maverick ASAP" ordred Captain NIx, it wouldn't be good for the mission and humanity if everyone dead climbing out of the landing craft.

Suddenly the alarms sounded, screeching through the maverick. "Guys, I would buckle up, we're not going to land this thing..." and before he couldn't finish his sentence a massive hole tore into the side of the Maverick, showing to it's occupents that it was missing a wing,

"Lt Lancaste! What going on" shouted Captain Nix, but he never got a replay. The Maverick slammed into the hard earth below, splitting the ship into two. Debris flew through the are. Nix found himself laying on the ground looking up into the sky. Streams of purple fire flew through it almost in slow motion.

Then it all came back to him, and he rolled into a near by trench. He could see the massive damage his crashed maverick had caused, and members of his squad layed beside it; dead.

"Hope squad Assemble on me" he shouted over the sounds of the battle.

[Psymon]

Eoin felt the sickening lurch, saw the side rip off the dropship and saw the ground spiralling up to meet them. "OH SHI-" was all he could yell before there was a massive impact and everything went black.

He awoke to a throbbing pain on the right side of his forehead. Eoin groaned and cracked open a bleary eye. How long had he been out? Minutes? Hours? His ears were ringing and he couldn't hear a thing, but he could see movement elsewhere in the wreck as his eyes began to focus. Probably not that long, the squad was still here. He came to realise he was hanging off the ground in his restraints. The ship must have tilted on its side during the crash. He flexed his arms, nothing seemed broken, just a few bruises and cuts. He pounded the release toggle on his chest and fell flat onto the ground, knocking the wind out of his lungs. "Urgh..." Just a few more bruises. Slowly he raised himself into a sitting position and reached up to touch his throbbing forehead. He pulled his hand back with a sharp intake of breath, God that stung. There was blood on his fingers. Steeling his nerve, he used his fingers to investigate the wound, it was a thin gash, not very deep and his skull wasn't damaged. There was a lump coming up around it. His vision blurred red as a drop of blood ran into his eye. Blinking furiously, Eoin stood up, several joints and his back clicked and protested as he did so. He pulled his pack down out of the recess near his seat and found his medical kit. He quickly wound a bandage round his head and tied it off. The gash was throbbing, but the bleeding would stop soon and at least it wasn't in his eyes anymore. He could feel some dried blood on his cheek, he must have looked a mess. His hearing returned with a pop, just in time to hear a voice from outside, a voice he recognised "Hope squad. Assemble on me!"

Wearily, he picked up his rifle, shoved his pistol in its holster and put his pack on. He stumbled out of the wreck and walked over to the Captain. He saluted to the best of his ability, "Sir. Permission to go back to the wreck to search for survivors and assess their medical needs."

[VladimirNikolai]

Name: Brandon Hallaway
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Rank: Private First Class
Role: Communications, Radio-Operator, Technical expert (hacking, etc.)
Weapons: Firebolt Pistol, Firefly Rifle, EMP and Fragmentation grenades.
Equipment: Tech-Com Mobile Communications Array (Used to report to base, but is powerful enough to establish a line to planets within the vicinity - Size is a full, bulky backpack - Think of the field-radios of WWII. Can be used to communicate with other teammates that have standard-issue helmets, which come with inbuilt com recievers). Light armour, to offset the weight of the Comms. Wrist mounted datapad.

Background: Barely completing Primary school before running away, Brandon was the typical underachiever. No good at maths, english, history, or any of the core subject that were deemed necessary, he turned to the place that all underachievers went - the army. Granted a fulltime Cadetship, he soon found out he could use computers. After joining the full NEF at 16, he was reassigned to the closest thing they had that would accomidate his skills - Communications. He set the record for being the earliest member on record to be promoted to Private First Class at the age of 17, when he managed to close a blastdoor on a captured Mandrake which had escaped, and was bearing down on a superior officer. He hadn't known this at the time, but he didn't tell anybody that. Now, one of the leading comms units that the NEF had on offer, he was assigned as the Comms specialist for Hope squad, and his first real combat experience.

IC: One of the few strapped into a seat, Brandon was peering out of the viewing ports before the wing was torn off the Maverick. He sat there, staring at the winding lines of deep trenches, the millions of souls seething throughoug them. There were other dropships zipping through the air, many attempting to land near the frontlines, to withdraw wounded but they were being decimated by the enemy Anti-Air fire. And Brandon could see why. These Mandrakes weren't as thick as they looked, they must havd understood that the shields on our ships were designed to withstand some of the heaviest energy weapon barages. These ugly bastards were throwing heavy flak at them. Jagged pieces of metal, fired at high speeds were ripping apart the ships as they landed and took off. Raising his gaze, the young boy saw the ship directly infront of them take a piece of jagged metal to the cockpit, and begin to spiral out of control before another large bit slammed into the wing of his own Maverick.

"Fuck..." he whispered, eyes wide, as the dropship began to tilt, before a second piece came roaring towards them, ripping the entire wing off, a huge hole errupting in the hull. The men and women who weren't strapped down were hurled all over the place, as the wind tore at Brandons legs, many flying out the hole to an untimely death. Howling, hissing wind, before a giant smash.

He awoke to the sound of pounding laser fire, screams, roars, mayhem. Taking a moment to get his bearings, he managed to remember where he was.

"Oh, fuck no..." he whispered again, tears beginning to well in his eyes. Wiping them away with a blood streaked hand, then depressing the release button on the straps, he slowly stood up, his thin legs taking the weight of his comms aray. Brandon was on the downside of the ship, which he was slightly thankful for, as he saw the other members fall from their seats, meters in the air.

"Hope squad Assemble on me" came a distant cry from outside the ship. He truged forward and tripped on the body of another young, if not younger, soldier, her face cold, staring at the ceiling. Crawling out into the open, the harsh red sky looked amazing, the lines of heavy laser and flak fire appearing like fireworks. Standing into a crouch, he slipped into a nearby trench, to see his CO standing, trying to call his squad. Brandon ripped the handset of his comms from behind his head, and pressed it to his head.

"Hope squad, I repeat, Hope Squad, converge on trench..." seeing a sign emblazoned on one of the upright supports, he continued, "1582A5J, immediately." He then dropped the handset, his knees finally giving way. Slumped in the corner of the trench, he began to sob quietly.

[Lestaki]

"We're coming in hot! Heavy fire!" the pilot snapped.

"Stay the course," Tomané ordered. "The lake. Aim for that at all costs."

"Easy for you to say... hold on tight." The dropship whirled as it spun downwards, evading a solid stream of Mandrakian fire. Falcons lacked shields, but they were fast, and a Fantinos could use that to the fullest. Even so, it wouldn't be enough.

The ship shuddered, harsh noises confirming multiple hits. Tomané raised her glaives, touching them against her harness. "Estalier guide," she said. "Save yourselves." She engaged the weapons, slicing through the seatbelt just as a final shot sent the ship hopelessly out of control. The others braced against their seats, but she jumped and kicked off, just as the ship lurched. She flew across the spiralling passage, blood pounding through her ears. These moments... those times so close to death... her vision blurred and slowed... the world was sweet and clear... Estalier's grace ran through her blood... and her body rang with it....

She caught hold of the bar next to the door, punching in the open command with her other hand. The door flashed open to reveal blurring sky. She tensed and threw herself out, flipping clear and falling through the air as the dropship crashed down behind her. Still, the world blurred below her. The lake was so close... but so far away. Suit, adopt this vector. She drew her pistol, spun in mid air, and aimed behind her. Fire. She pulled the trigger, and the armour bled light in an abrupt explosion, shunting her a few precious meters. Her A-cam whined and died, the arc systems drained from the improvised manuver. She fell into a diving position, deactivating her Void Claws just before she crashed into the water.

It was cold, and that cold was like life. The shock jarred her system, but she turned and thrashed upwards, surfacing and swimming for shore. She collapsed onto the hard ground, before activating her bioscanners and examining the downed Falcon. No survivors. "You were all too weak..." she said carelessly. "Praise Estalier, for he has freed me of you." Then she stood, brushing herself off. A pulse of thought deactivated the scanner while she turned, but not before she saw a flash of life. A very tall figure. No, three tall figures. Mandrakians.

They hadn't seen her, but that would change, as she moved towards the wreak. She reactivated her claws and raised her pistol in the other hand, aiming briefly. Then she fired. The arc bolt slashed through its helmet, then the Void bolt slammed home, decapitating the monster.

Tomané turned and ran like hell for the rally point.

[<{$W}>mr plow]

The Maverick shook wildly sending equipment and soldiers a like flying in all directions the maverick was rapidly desecending one of the wing had been blown of

he gathered what ever useful equipment he could find and strapped himself into the nearest seat "son of a bit-"he he yelled interupted by the catostrophic impact of the maverick crashing head first into the ground

Valus woke up grogily he hung lazily from the safety straps of his seat. He opened his eyes he could see the landing sight was a mess The maverick was totalled large sections of the craft lay broken all over the place.

The soldier next to him was dead he hung lifeless from his safety straps a large piece of metal embbeded in his face.

He heard a far off cry "hope squad assemble on me"
valus looked around the crash site once more hoping to find survivors seeing none he checked all his equipment
"good he thought everythings intact" he thought.

The next thing he heard was "Hope squad, I repeat, Hope Squad, converge on trench..." he slowy made his way to the trench, upon arrival he sat down pressing his back against the hard trench wall and waited.

[Trandrin]

Sven slowly roused himself from his unconscious. “I really need to stop drinking.” He says trying to figure out where he had stumbled to. The grim reality facing him as he gains his bearings is not a pleasant one. Smoldering wreckage from the Maverick lays strewn across the landscape. “Sir I am glad your alive.” Taisha says from the metal barricade she is positioned behind. “I dragged you out of that burning portion of the ship. You looked dead. Also that other private seems to be pretty banged up.” She continues speaking, pointing out another marine who is bleeding profusely from a lower abdomen wound. A voice speaks over the com set on Sven‘s head "Hope squad, I repeat, Hope Squad, converge on trench..." He sits up and looks around the field to try and locate this “trench”

As he is watching some person runs out from the main portion of the downed Maverick. He gets a few steps before getting shredded by a Mandarkian weapon from a position that Sven can‘t see. “Oh great, I am really not going to like this.” Grumbles Sven finding his smg still tethered to his shoulder harness. “Taisha you stay here with this guy and try not to die please. Finding good help these days is hard.” With that he jumps over the barrier behind him and starts running in the same direction as the other unfortunate soldier.

[Psymon]

As the rest on the squad made their way to the trench, Eoin went back into the wreckage. Most of these people were dead, their glassy eyes staring blankly ahead. Sites like this had haunted his dreams since he started active duty. He was used to death by now. He came across a few unconscious soldiers, they had no serious injuries so a shot of adrenaline brought them back to the world. The lieutenant was obviously dead, the cockpit was almost completely crushed. He found one guy feeling his way around, he'd been blinded by an electrical discharge. They might be able to fix it back at base, but on a battlefield he'd be a serious liability.

He organised the walking wounded and they lead the blind soldier to the trench. Eoin found the Captain. "Sir, I've got out everyone I could. It's mostly minor injuries, but Larsen is blinded and Bennet dislocated her shoulder. I've popped it back in, but she'll have to go easy on it for a while. Sir, there are three soldiers in there seriously wounded. We can't move them without the right equipment or they'll die. What do we do? There's no way we can just leave them here."

[Lestaki]

Tomané crashed down into the trench, landing heavily and rising. "On the contrary, we can't do anything but leave them right there," she said. "This operation is vital, we cannot afford to fail- and so we cannot afford to be slown down. Not to mention there are two, perhaps three Mandrakian warriors close on my tail. We must move out now and aim for the first objective." She reloaded her pistol, venting excess heat, and rebooted her A-Cam system. "Besides, they're the weak ones. We don't need them any more. We've no need for failures."

[Sevorak]

"And I'm sure you didn't fail even remotely by bringing a trio of Mandrakes down upon us." Leliel remarked, smiling coldly at the Fantinos. "I assume anyone automatically injured by consequences entirely removed from their control is weak. Convenient definition of 'failure' you have there. I'll remember it if you ever have the misfortune to lose a limb or two to a Mandrakian blade."

He shrugged his powerful shoulders and pulled out his Hellfire irritably. "Three Mandrakians, best guess, heading this way. We've numbers and the home team advantage. Call me insane, but I don't think we need to be running screaming to the hills at the first instance of hostile attack. Someone get on the horn to whoever's got local command and tell them we've got a position here that needs reinforcing. A hole in the line ain't gonna help anyone 'cept the Mandrakes, and it means we've got no reliable line of retreat if our op goes south."

"Unless the captain objects, I say we hold and move once we have something more of our previous strength. Moving in with half a squad, with several injured?" Leliel cocked his head quizzically. "I didn't ever hear that you in the ICA were specifically looking to get yourselves killed. We leave now, most likely we'll all die." He leaned up to look over the rim of the trench.

Two unmistakable silhoettes were moving through the fog; bulky, armoured behemoths. They bore a superficial resemblance to the gryphons of myth. But those things weren't legends or magical; they'd die just as surely as anything else. He primed his percussion grenade, twisting the centre of the tube-shaped explosive and hurling it at the form of the first of the encroaching avians. Over the ruckus of battle, he could have sworn he'd heard a soft 'clink' as the grenade just briefly jinked against the armoured chest of the Mandrake. Then it exploded in a roaring inferno; Leliel threw his head down and glanced back up only once the smoke and searing flames had subsided.

One of the silhoettes was on its knees, clawing at the ground and feebly dragging its battered body forwards. Gods, what does it take to kill one of these things? At least it was injured; its feathers were spattered with cloying blood stains, its legs hung limp and it seemed only barely alive. The other seemed completely unfazed; it raised its weapon and started firing, livid purple bolts of dark matter retching in the air. Leliel let off a burst of fire and ducked back down.
"Lovely work of yours," he muttered in Tomané's general direction. "Anyone around here got a rocket launcher?"

[Psymon]

"We can discuss ethics in a combat situation later, time to fight!"

Eoin stuck his head up, levelled the rifle at the standing Mandrakian and loosed off two shots. The crack of laser fired flew along the trench and a smell of ozone filled the air. The Mandrakian kept on coming, its armour shrugged off most of the fire and the ones that hit exposed flesh didn't seem to bother it. It was going to be one of those days.

[Lestaki]

"Well, that one is the one who I killed," Tomané remarked. "Two shots to the face, clean through the helmet. Only he wasn't polite enough to die. That said, he doesn't have a face." She aimed briefly with her pistol, and pulled the trigger. It keeled over. "Now he's dead. And if you can tell me how you'd solo three Mandrakians without falling back to what could, in my wildest dreams, be competant soldiers, I'd love to hear it." She threw herself into cover as the Mandrakians rained down fire. "But luck is a soldier's attribute. The best warrior in the world has failed if his luck runs out. I trust to mine."

"In the meantime, we are on an operation against superior forces, with no hope of reinforements. Three Mandrakians, we can kill. I'm again enamoured of how you'd wreak the miracle of killing the droves of them that will rapidly close in. Our only hope lies in mobility. If we are trapped in static defences, we will be surrounded, engaged and destroyed. Ergo we must leave now. Ergo these wounded must be left. The altelnative is, to my mind, death and failure. Certainly staying here for any length of time is suicide."

She switched her pistol to single-shot and ducked out of cover, emptying a magazine and scoring a hole in one's chest armour. Blood was drawn, but still it staggered on. She threw herself down again as it opened up with a heavy burst of fire. "The one thing I do agree with you on, is that a rocket launcher would be nice."

[Sevorak]

"Explosives," Leliel murmured, leaning up to hit the advancing Mandrakian with a burst of laser fire. "Lots..." he paused, hurling another grenade up over the trench at the aliens. "... and lots, of explosives. Or did they never teach you that judicious application of brute force solves everything?" He rolled his eyes and chuckled, smiling in his customary devil-may-care fashion.

"Also..." he said, calmly dual-wielding his weapons and hitting it in the head with an incessant torrent of laser fire. "Humans built this trench. And if I'm not very much mistaken, there are people somewhere in the general vicinity of..." he ducked to avoid another salvo of dark matter, making a noncommital 'hmm' as he did so, before spinning back up to shoot again. "That direction," he pointed with his pistol and shot into a corner in the trench. "In all seriousness, if anyone does know where we might find some kind of heavy weapon, it would be very much appreciated!"

Why the hell do there have to be things in this universe that simply won't die when you shoot them in the head? Or throw grenades at them, for that matter.

[Akranadas]

Capitan Nix popped over the top of the trench firing his weapon at the advancing Mandrakians. "Right, these trenches crisscross this entire valley, we need to fall back to a defend-able position and hold out for the next wave of reinforcements to strengthen this line" he shouted over the fire, "It seems that these bastard don't want to die today, so it doesn't look like we can win in a straight fire fight. Eoin, see what you can do for the guys in the Maverick, then mark the area with a EVAC beacon"

He looked over the trench wall, the 2 Mandrakians we're closing in. There weapons firing a stream of purple fire across the trench.

"Other then die here, proving we're not weak in the eyes of this Fantio here, I saw we fall back down the trench, if we are where I think we are, their should be a bunker somewhere around here, lets hope it isn't captured"

[<{$W}>mr plow]

"Shit!" Valus yelled a stream of pruple fire barley mssing his head. he sent a well place trio of shots at the incoming mandrake its armour repeled the first 2 shots the third struck true.

The Bastard didn't even flinch "lovley" he primed a frag grenade he hurled it at the hideous creature it landed at it feet the mandrake. It picked the grenade up and was about to throw it into the trench. The grenade detonated the Mandrakes arm was blown clean off. It fell to the ground screaming it died finally died in a pool of it own blood soaked feathers.

He yelled to the rest of Hope squad "Well why are we just standing here? you heard the captain lets Haul Ass before they turn us into blood splats!"

[Psymon]

"I'm on it." Eoin ran down the trench towards the point where it was closest to the Maverick. He reached it, looked at the Mandrakians, they seemed occupied with the rest of the squad, they were falling back slowly along the trench. Eoin heaved himself up and out and ran for the crashed ship, praying to every god he'd heard of that the hulking aliens wouldn't see him. He made it to the ship without being noticed. He took off his battered old helmet and inspected it. "Guess you are lucky." He put it back on.

Moving through the wreckage he found where the three soldiers were lying. Two young men and a woman, only Felgrew was concious. "Hey Doc." He said, "You getting us outta here?"
"Sorry, I... I can't." The look on the soldier's face was painful to see. "The squad's got to move out and we can't move you. I'm going to set up a beacon and then I've go to go too." He gave the young man a few syringes, "These'll help with the pain and, if the Drakes get here before medevac does... Here." He handed over a grenade. "You might be able to take a few with you. And it's better than getting captured by those things." Eoin set up the beacon and activated it. "Keep the grenade ready. I... I'm sorry." He walked away, leaving the three soldiers to their fate. He had some catching up to do.

[Akranadas]

"Alright, Let get the hell out of here!" shouted Nix as a stream of Mandrakian fire pass over head, he moved quickly through the trench stepping over of NEF soldiers bodies as he did so. The sound of NEF artillery wizz over head.

The blood soaked mud of the trenches squished below their boots, their up ahead was the bunked, and although it was missing a portion of it's side it would serve as a better defense than a muddy trench. There was already some other soldiers hold the bunker when Hope squad arrived.

"92nd Static Battalion reporting for duty Captain, are you our replacements?" the solider ask as he let them into the bunker. There were 3 other soldiers inside the bunker they all looked pretty green.

"No, I'm sorry. We're are apart of the Reinforcement devision but we ran into a little Mandrakian AA fire on the way in, so what your status?" Captain Nix asked,

"Not good sir, the Mandrakians have already hit our bunker with some of there weapons" he reported pointing to the hole, the chard remains of two humans rested lifelessly in the crater "And I was thinking of falling back to be honest, but I have orders to defend this position at all costs or at least until reinforcements arrive"

"Any idea when that will be?" asked Nix, as he moved into the bunker,

"Well, the last transmission I got about reinforcements was about 3 hours ago, and they said to expect reinforcements in 10 hours, so I don't know if thats changed or what. But we must defend this position" he replied

"And we'll help you do that, What weaponry do you have, any that will actually hurt a Mandrakian for real?" said Captain Nix

"We have the Mounted Crossfire High fire Machine gun, with maybe 2000 rounds" he said pointing to the gun mounted in the middle of the window of the bunker, "We have Volcano missile launcher system, with 3 maybe 4 rounds; I don't know everything got tossed around when we we're hit, then we have a dozen or so grenades, and thats it"

"LOOK!" shouted on of the soldiers in the bunker, he was pointing on the horizon at an some unmistakable shapes coming through dust and smoke. Captain Nix brought up his binoculars.

"Damn, I count 14 Mandrakians coming. Make that 14 and what I believe is one of their Warrior Priests." He reported "That guy is going to cause a whole heap of shit for us, they say the Warrior Priests are as tough as two Mandrakians if you can believe that and full of their Alien faith beyond anything we could ever know, so watch yourselves" Captain Nix turned to the men in the bunker, as the highest ranking officer here it was his decisions that would cost some of them their lives.

"Take up defensive positions. The key will be to take out the Warrior Priest, if he falls the others should crumble, thats the path to victory here. Well thats what I've been told and I sure as hell believe it to be true. So gear up and let show this Mandrakians that they picked the wrong race to destroy" Nix shouted as the Mandrakians slowly marched forwards towards the bunker, they had already drawn their weapons.

[VladimirNikolai]

OOC: CraBrandon had dried his eyes. He was a soldier, after all. No room for wimps like him here. His face firmed, and he stood into a crouch, swiftly moving over to the rest of the team. He had missed much of the conversation, but now the Leiutenant was speaking.

"... Someone get on the horn to whoever's got local command and tell them we've got a position here that needs reinforcing. A hole in the line ain't gonna help anyone 'cept the Mandrakes, and it means we've got no reliable line of retreat if our op goes south." He said, and Brandon responded, once again removing himself from the group to relay the request, tapping the correct, longer range frequency into his datapad, wirelessly connected to his heavy Comms Array.

"HQ, HQ, this is PFC Hallaway, Hope Squad. Do you read, over." He spoke, in the calm voice they were all taught to use over the radio. There was silence, before a burst of static, and then a crystal clear voice.

"PFC Hallaway, Hope Squad, this is HQ, go ahead."

"HQ, we have touched down. Well, more crashed down. Our Maverick took heavy flak fire from hostile Anti-Aircraft positions in proximity to their initial invasion point."

"Roger, casualty count?"

"I can't say for certain, but there seems to be..." Brandon scanned the crowd, "Approximately nine of us unhurt. We have walking-wounded, they have set up a small perimeter around a conscious but incapacitated soldier, awaiting a MEDEVAC, when possible. We also have three incapacitated, but still alive, in the wreckage. Our medic says they can't be moved. without equipment."

"Roger that. The area is too hot right now for an aerial evac. We have you on GPS, and are currently dispatching three heavily armed and armoured APCs to your location. They are hauling reinforcements for your squad, and we can try to pull out your wounded. Judging by your report, you have seventeen KIA, which will be replaced by the reinforcements." came the voice, completely emotionless. Brandon shook his head, trying to clear it. As he did, he was heard a patch of conversation from the group.

"...with you on, is that a rocket launcher would be nice." Brandon lifeted the handset to his ear, depressing the little red button which opened the line.

"What's the ETA on those APCs? And, is there any chance of a heavy weapons crew? Maybe hauling a rocket launcher?" There was silence on the other end, broken by another, this time deafening, burst of static.

"Rog... ETA is... en minutes out..." then the line cleared, "and there are two heavy weapons teams onboard, one heavy machine gun crew and a recoiless rifle team. Standard ordanance, nothing energy or nuclear, all that is already in use at the frontlines."

"Affirmative on that, keep us on GPS, we may have to move out. If we do, send one APC to the wreck, and the other two to meet up with us. Hallaway out." Brandon reached back over his shoulder, clicking the handset back into place. He trudged over to the reat of the time, now spread along the trench wall, firing at two Mandrakes converging on their position. Brandon had never really liked shooting that much, but raised his Firefly and fired a bolt at the creatures. It missed, poorly, as they always did. He recharged the rifle by sliding his hand along the touchpads on the side, and was about to take another shot before one simply blew up. Well that was easy, he thought, and was about to raise his voice, but the captain yelled. They were moving out.

*in the bunker* (ooc: gonna skip that bit, coz my post is already long enough. I just missed Akranadas' last post, before I did mine, so bear with me)

IC: The Mandrakes were coming in faster now, and Brandon thought he could put a bit of hope into his squad. He called above the background noise of artillery and laser fire.

"Just so you guys know, we have reinforcements en route, they were 10 minutes out, two heavy weapons crews and medics with them. They're gonna reinforce us, as well as take the poor bastards in the wreck, and the ones we left back in the trench. They should be around four minutes away now." He guessed, checking the time on his datapad.

[Akranadas]

Captain Nix looked out the front of the bunker, not only were there 15 Mandrakians closing shrugging of laser fire as they did, but the sound of and shapes of Mandrakian Fighter bombers appeared coming through the smoke and dusk.

"Everyone take cover, Incoming!" Nix shouted as he dove to the ground, yet the Mandrakian craft flew right over them, suddenly a massive explosion could be heard in the distance behind them.

"That can't be good"

[Trandrin]

OOC: Someone better save my behind
Today has not been a good day. The trench had been empty when Sven had finally reached it. This was disheartening, the sounds of a gunfight are what draws him to the bunker. 12 Mandarkians are being suppressed by Machinegun on the defensive installation . “Hmm, nothing a bit of explosives can’t cure.” He says ducking into a small indent in the ground and pulling out a few blocks of high explosive putty. He takes two grenades and molds the putty around them. Each was now the size of his fist. Flipping the cap on the first one he cracks the arming pin and lobes the thing into the middle of the assaulting force. With a heavy “boom” the explosion throws bits and pieces of alien body parts into the air. “Wonder if they are all dead.” Sven mutters peaking out of his hole. 6 Mandarkians stand up out of the crater obviously still alive and start laying down a withering barrage of fire in Sven’s direction. Angered by the lack of damage his bomb did, he primes the next one and chucks it in the same direction as its brother.

The mandrakians leap out of their trenches to get out of the blast radius. What appears to be the leader though is to slow and takes the full brunt of the blast. Disintegrating into a fine mist. “Take that you pieces of….” A large shadow is cast over Sven’s prone form. Turning his head he stares into the demented face of a injured warrior. “You have got to be kidding me.”

[Psymon]

Eoin ducked down as he walked out of the wreckage and surveyed the area. Most of the Mandrakians had been drawn off after the survivors of the crash. He could see Sven, the explosives expert, throwing bombs at a group of pinned Mandrakians. There was one making its way towards him from the other direction. Eoin started running towards them. Sven turned round and saw the alien bearing down on him. The Mandrakian raised its arm to smash the soldier to pieces, as Eoin leapt the last metre onto its back. The alien was caught off balance and stumbled sideways before rearing up roaring. It thrashed from side to side and tried to reach around to pluck Eoin off, but its heavy armour restricted its arms. Yelling at the top of his lungs, Eoin held on with one hand and stabbed wildly at the thing's head with his knife in the other. Most of his blows were glancing off the warrior's helmet, but a few slashed down the side of its face. "Shoot it or something, I can't hold on forever!"

[Trandrin]

The young marine was busy struggling with the giant alien allowing Sven to stand up. He grabs his pistol and places it against the Mandarkian’s face plate. A few finger pulls later and he has the thing dead. Pulling out a cigar he lights it with his still warm pistol. Taking a few puffs he looks at Eoin. “You know you could just have shot it right?” He helps the man off the ground. “We might wish to get over to the bunker. Before some of this things buddies decide to get a stupid thought about avenging him." With that he dashs to the safety of the human building. He sees Marshal infront of him once he is inside the doorway. "Well I survived, quess they don't have what it takes to kill me quite yet. Now who wants to go through hell and back to rescue some marines?"

[Sevorak]

"Hey!" Leliel screamed at the Mandrakian priest as it flailed, desperately trying to dislodge the apparently psychotic Eoin. He was walking, quite calmly, towards the priest, right hand clutching a shotgun picked up from the floor of the bunker. The Warrior-Priest's coterie stared in disbelief at the insane medic, apparently caught by some vague semblance of surprise. Five of the Mandrakian warriors were still alive, standing amidst the mangled corpses of their fellows. Their avian heads darted from the explosives expert, somewhere beneath them, to the mad medic who was riding their leader while persistently trying to stab him in the head, to the insane man in the Reicher greatcoat walking up to them as if taking an evening stroll.

"Hey, birdie!" He yelled again, trying to recall the name of that old bird god of theirs. "Oh, yeah! Flapzik! You're all heretics and apostates, and Flapzik's holy wrath shall smite you all from the heavens!" I wonder if mocking Flamzik'll piss them off. Apparently rather irritated, the five avian aliens turned to glare at him and, eschewing ranged weaponry, charged at him. Probably intending to rip him limb from useless limb. He dropped a grenade at his feet - bereft of its pin, of course - to stymie their advance. Somewhat.

[<{$W}>mr plow]

"God damn mandrakes more you kill the more that come back to bite you in the ass" Valus fired into the croud of mandrakes. The aliens were huddled around the warrior priest as it struggled to free it self from the crazed grasp of Eoin.

He could see Leliel approach the raging monstrositys "is he crazy" Valus said " "guess we'll just have to wait and see old timer" said the young solidier next to him.

He fired a Voley of shots at the crazed warrior priest it was thrashing around wildly trying to throw the medic of it's back "Stay still you son of a bitch" he fired at it again one round hit it eye. It let out a gastly roar and thrashed around wildly almost throwing Eoin off!

"Just DIE!" Valus yelled fireing wildly at the horde of creatures. No longer taking aim suprisingly one of the creaures fell taking.The brunt of 5 shots to the face it fell to ground finally dieing it didn't deter the rest.

However all the remaining Mandrakes attention was on Leliel he could see the Lt drop a grenade at his feet "what the hell is he doing " Valus thought

[VladimirNikolai]

OOC: "...dropped a grenade at his feet." I really do wonder what he is doing, don't you Mr Plow? This is getting extremely confusing, but I'll give it a go.

IC: Brandon was firing indiscriminately at what was remaining of their attackers. His left hand was starting to get hot from holding the continuously discharging rifle, his right moving clumsily from the rear grip to the charging pads and back after every shot. And most of them were missing. He had managed to inflict a few minor wounds on the bastards, but of course they could take that kind of punishment. Nothing like the weak humans. The HighFire MG plunged hundreds of rounds into the remaining few, their numbers dwindling further.

Brandon stopped firing, and ran in a crouch over to the entrance, watching closely for their reinforcements. What met his eyes, however, came as quite a shock. Moments earlier, some fighter/bombers had flowen swiftly overhead, and there was an explosion, but nobody could have expected anything like this. A veritable wall of flame came between them and the HQ, which should have been just visible in the distance. It was burning high, a good thirty or fourty meters. Dropships and bombers were pushing through the higher whisps of flame, their hulls smouldering. Brandon flipped his hand back, bringing forward the reciever.

"Sir... you really have to... see this. Look West. Back to... HQ." He stuttered into the microphone. He was still staring, when a the roar of human engineering broke into his mind. Even though they were slow, the NEFA APCs were not to be reckoned with. The 100mm chain-laser cannons housed on the roof were spewing their lightning-like charges at small groups of Mandrakes, the bolts hitting their original target, then splitting to hit up to another four. These things drained neural energy, which was much more effective against the avians than any standard laser technology. And they were programmed to seek the bio-rhythms of a large, bird-like creature, so there was no danger of any humans getting their brain-power sucked out of them.

Two of these heavy behemoths crawled slowly toward the bunker, a third converging on the crashsite. The two vehicles screeched, then shuddered to a halt, their heavy tracks digging into the ground. The back compartment came down with a clang, and troops poured out, some heading toward the bunker, others carrying Arkiflurane capsules, the new sandbag. These things absorbed incoming bursts of nearly anything energy, and after enough bursts, could use their own power to repel any further shots. Or discharge their power in beam form. They were setting up franticaly, worried looks everywhere. Brandon had a brief moment to wonder why, before his backpack emmited a high-pitched beep, and his datapad flashed.

**INCOMING SIGNAL**
*Freq: HeadQuarters*

He fished the reciever out from the pack yet again, and put it to his ear.

"Hallaway, Hope Squad here, go ahead HQ." he spoke, the same neutral, calm voice.

"Hallaway, inform Captain Nix of a massive invasionary assault by enemy forces. They are charging, to say it simply. Their entire force, with Armour and Air support. They're attacking along the entire frontline trenches, and we cannot, I repeat cannot, supply sufficient reinforcements. You must have seen the flames. We're dropping in as much as we can, troops and armour, and we're heavily bombing the advancing troops, but we're about to pull those bombers out, they're taking too much flak fire, we're loosing too many. Tell Nix that he can do as he sees necessary or plausible, but we advise a massive retreat, our dropships can pull some of the troops back over the wall. If we can't get through it, neither can they. Do you copy?" Brandon was silent. The enormity of their situation sinking in.

"Do you copy, I repeat, do you copy?" came the voice. He pressed the little red button, and replied.

"Affirmative, I copy, relaying information to the Captain now. Hallaway out." He threw the handset back over his shoulder, it clicking neatly into place. He ran over to the Captain, who was still repeatadly firing at Mandrakes, oblivious to his earlier recommendation.

"Sir," he tapped him on the shoulder, "Sir, you really NEED to hear this..."

[<{$W}>mr plow]

OOC:same here what will he do well just have to wait and see i dont wanna ruin Sevoraks dramtic plan for those Mandrakes

Valus stared look to the right he could see 2 apc's approaching "finally some good luck" troops poured out of the back compartments most heading toward the bunker.

Eoin was still wrestleing with the damn bird priest most of the soldier's were afraid of fireing at it as any stray shot might hit the medic. Valus fired another voley of shots at its head. The bird Priest finally fell hiting the ground with a satisfying thud.Eion fell of clumsily getting up he spat on the ugly monster and made his way back to the bunker

he abandoned hid postion near the broken bunker window and decided to find out what was going on. He walked around the corner he saw the captain and the com specialist talking, The look on the captains face was disturbing,The fear in the comms officers eyes apparent
"Im not going to like this am I"