NationStates Jolt Archive

Knight-Protector von Raph, newly appointed member of the Queen's Own, strode across the massive military square towards his destination while taking in the labor around him with an experienced eye. His crisp and well-ordered uniform was wrapped in a greatcoat to ward off the damp chill of the great iron and stone city and he pulled it closer before walking on. The square he crossed was the central point for a number of different facilities and each was utilizing the flagstone-sheathed area for a variety of purposes.

As a member of the Queen's Own, which Queen was a frequent topic of idle conversation in the barracks, he was responsible for maintaining not only the standards of his unit but those of the military units he worked with. Thus he watched with interest and nodded in approval as he passed a unit of Guardsmen marching in one quadrant.

"...left, and left, and wheel right! And left, and left..."

The sergeant, a young burly looking woman who's voice and attitude conflicted with her gender, spotted von Raph and snapped her arm across her chest in salute.

"And left, and halt!" The entire group snapped to a stop, "Right face... and Salute!" Arms snapped across chests and the two lines of men and women stood motionless as von Raph continued past.

"Carry on, Sergeant..." von Raph saluted and the platoon returned to motion as her barked orders again carried across the square.

Standing next to the small area of the square the platoon was using was a single massive transport craft (http://www.sunsetrpg.com/images/TIBTransport.jpg) von Raph was very familiar with. The 'Deathshead', as it was commonly known as, was a huge aerial transport and attack platform that could hold two platoons in the upper section and either a pair of assault vehicles or a third platoon of assault troops in the forward bay. Right now the forward ramp was down and a squad of technicians and a senior technical sergeant were working inside.

Before his appointment to the Queen's Own von Raph had commanded one of these juggernauts. The military's principle heavy lift platform, his unit had often been called on to deliver combat units directly into battle with any number of savage creatures deep in the jungle. He had earned his knighthood by not only delivering his own troops into the fight with a titanic two hundred meter spider-centipede-rhino creature but by also staying to extract his own troops, two armored platforms, the crews of two transports disabled during the fight, and a squad of black armor clad 'observers' from the Queen's realm.

The heavily ladden transport had barely cleared the area before a wave of jungle predators, attracted by the death throws of the monster, had swarmed the area. Most of the four other platoons involved had been lost in the battle despite his efforts; Crushed by the devestating melee attacks of the monster. Which was why he was here today to view one of the projects taking shape at the research manufactory at the far end of the square.

Shaking off his introspection he continued onward and watched as a pair of Vulture gunships (http://www.sunsetrpg.com/images/TIBVultureC.jpg) rocketed over the square before peeling off and heading towards the jungle. Like the technologies used in his transport and many of the other military apparatus in the square they were the gift of the Necron. Their fusion torch ramjets, though he did not understand the technology itself, allowed the two-seater aircraft to not only soar over the jungles of Delta Zeta IV but achieve what some in the city had longed for: A return to the space they had fallen from.

While the people of Eisenherz still relyed on their Necron rulers for transport through the airless depths now they could join in the fray. No warships bearing the winged skull of the Eisenherz yet plyed the spacelanes though it was rumored that there were several of her citizens in the employ of their deathless overlords that roamed the stars in their service. One of the many things von Raph hoped to do someday.

'Yes, someday. For Queen and Country they say... Perhaps the Queen's Own will be that stepping stone...'

Flagstones rumbled beneath him, breaking his thoughts, and he looked over to see one of the massive railway-mounted mortars emerging from it's protective shed. There had been no warning wail of the perimeter alarms indicating an attack by the jungle creatures and so the Knight-Protector turned.

The siege mortars were massive with each having a bore of some twenty-six inches. Their short stubby barrels were mounted above a revolving chamber where a half-dozen shells were kept ready to be lobbed over the walls. These were in turn mounted on a huge railway chassis that was normally kept inside a protective shed near the main rail lines that wound through the city. This would allow them to be moved to the area where they were most needed.

As he approached von Raph saw a man dressed in overalls crawling under the chassis, dragging a toolkit with him. Normal maintenance apparently, and von Raph turned away and continued. More technicians followed the first and they began to manuver a large crane into place near the front of the mortar as well as a pair of rail wheels.

Finally he reached his destination; The massive columned entrance to Imperial Research Manufactory Twenty-Three. Huge sliding iron doors opened onto the square but these were closed and he turned to one of the side entrances. Security was evident and appropriately cautious and as he approached two guards beside the door watched carefully and an autocannon mounted above tracked him despite his apparent rank. Stepping up he saluted and one of the guards returned it while the other kept a firm grip on his rifle.

"Knight-Protector Dietrick von Raph to see Science Colonel Kleig..."

The guard who saluted lowered his arm and extended it to von Raph. "Your papers, Sir!" It was not a question but a demand and the Knight-Protector handed them over to the Corporal who in turn inserted them into a slot next to him. Leather and paper, while formal and functional, were merely a cover for an information chip, again Necron technology, that recorded who exactly had handled the papers since they were issued as well as other details. The reader checked the chip and spat it back out in less than a second. Information popped up on the screen and the guard checked it again against the contents.

"Knight-Protector von Raph, Colonel Kleig is waiting for you."

Von Raph heared a click and the guarded opened the door for him and saluted as he stepped inside.

"Thank you Corporal."

"Sir!"

The door swung closed behind him and bolts clicked back into place on the inside. In the hallway was a window where another guard stood waiting. "Your sidearm, Sir!" Von Raph withdrew it from it's holster under his greatcoat, pulled the clip out, locked the slide open, and visually checked the weapon before placing it on the counter along with the clip. The guard picked it up and repeated his actions again before placing it in a tray and sliding it under the counter. He glanced down for a moment where a security scanner was likely positioned before looking back at von Raph and saluting.

"Enjoy your time at this facility, Sir!"

The manufactory itself was a labyrinth of corridors and rooms large and small where various projects were underway and researchers and their assistants scurried around like ants. Some of the rooms von Raph passed were open - one massive chamber contained a mockup of a field version of the cities seige mortars - while others were shuttered and sealed with their own guards standing outside. While von Raph had the room number the bewildering maze was finally enough to get him completely lost and he was forced to ask for assistance.

"Down the hall, skip two corridors, take a right, take the next left, skip two more corridors, take a right, and take the lift down."

Suprised that a building so massive on the surface had a need for a basement von Raph continued down the hall repeating the instructions in his head as he went. Encounters with other people became fewer and fewer and the corridors became danker and darker as he wandered until he came, presumably, to the lift in question. There were no guards or doors to stop him though he noted a security camera, apparently broken and dangling from a cable, in one corner of the lift cage. A semi-clean area of the 'down' arrow indicated the lift did recieve semi-regular traffic though and with a gloved finger he started the cage rattling into the earth.

At the bottom he found more of the same for the first hundred feet until he came to a dimly lit entrance where a tired looking guard stood leaning on his rifle. Walking up to him von Raph sneered at his sloppy attitude and behavior until the guard lifted his head without even a salute and gave him a wink. The Knight-Protector recognized him but from where?

"Knight von Raph, I assume? Not that anyone else is going to come down into this crap hole... Lieutenant Kuester at your service..."

It clicked finally and von Raph dropped the sneer and saluted, though still somewhat casually. Kuester had been one of dozens of platoon leaders he had dropped off in the jungle for a long range extermination patrol. Notable because he had been in command of one of the white, black, and red cammo clad assault platoons and notable again because when von Raph has picked them up a week later the whole platoon was alive and smiling. Kuester returned the salute and rapped the metal door behind him with his knuckles.

"Carry on Lieutenant..."

"Yes Sir..." Kuester smiled and slouched over to the wall where he leaned casually, rifle still distinctly at the ready.

Inside was more the facility that von Raph expected. Clean grey concrete walls lined a spacious corridor with carefully marked and secured pipes running overhead and evenly spaced lights chasing any shadows away. There was a guard room off to the side and von Raph passed through a dogleg in the corridor where autocannon tracked his steps from the corners. Passing more side rooms that made this section of the facility look more like a barracks than a research area he finally came to his destination. Another checkpoint, this time with a pair of alert guards, and he was shown inside.

Colonel von Herrman growled and slammed his fist down on the armored ring of the tank cupula. He stared at the massive fallen tree that blocked his column as if he could will it out of the way but of course...

'Blast it! The third one this afternoon! The third... damn... one!'

"Lieutenant!" He growled through clenched teeth, "Get out there and get some chains on that tree."

"Yersir..."

The lieutenant scrambled out of his hatch on the lower hull, followed by one of the junior troopers under his command. While they grabbed the heavy chains that were now conveniently stowed near their hatch von Herrman leaned down and grabbed the radio headset. Turning away from the troublesome tree he looked over the rear of his Baneblade (http://www.sunsetrpg.com/images/TIBBaneBlade.png) at the rest of his armored column. Two more of the super-heavy tanks seperated his lead tank from the Warhound Titan (http://www.sunsetrpg.com/images/TIBWarHound.jpg) that held the center of the column. Another pair of Baneblades behind that brought up the rear and one of these was already turning around. It's massive turret and super-cannon swept small trees aside as it spun in place, it's massive tracks churning the undergrowth and soil to mud and spraying it across the side of the second-to-last tank.

von Herrman grinned a little at this. Captain Klugman was a bit of a neat freak and he would surely be screaming at Captain Mehlinger if von Herrman's signal didn't override Klugman's.

"Captain Mehlinger, maintain your position. Unit four," That was Klugman, "Move to support Unit 5 in the rear. Two and Three will cover the flanks while Alpha acts as reserve." The Colonel waited a moment for the chorus of affirmative responses then hit the send button again. "And no chatter."

Picking up his field glasses from where they hung around his neck he first checked on the lieutenant who was busy heaving the chains around the tree trunk while the trooper waited to lock them together. Then he began to sweep the forest for any signs of movement. The noise they were making and the size of their vehicles should have scared the local predators away but it was better to be careful. There could always be something hiding out there that was concievably bigger than either the tanks or the titan.

'Colonel, we are ready...'

von Herrman didn't lower his glasses - the operation was annoyingly commonplace now - or bother checking the lieutenant's work. "Gunnery, target and fire on Lieutenant Kunstler's mark. Lieutenant..."

'Ready, mark, and fire.'

The super-cannon roared and cracked as it incinerated the air between the tank and the tree trunk which burst into flames and partially exploded. The embers had barely settled out of the air before the cannon roared again and von Herrman felt the tank move a little under him as the chains went taut. Certainly they could just blow the tree to ribbons but that took energy and as his chief engineer was fond of saying energy didn't just grow on trees. Boot steps rung on the hull and the Colonel turned to watch as the lieutenant clambered into his open hatch.

"Driver, back her up!"

The engine roared and the tank pulled the mostly-severed trunk section away with a series of popping snaps. More splinters flew and the section tumbled through the underbrush. For the next few minutes von Herrman's tank swung around and rumbled through the undergrowth to pull the trunk section out of the way. The lieutenant scrambled down again and unhooked the chains, looping them up as he returned and again stowing them next to his copula.

"All units, move out!"