NationStates Jolt Archive

3:26am, Verdi, Nevada

All was quiet in the small, disputed bordertown, all of the gas stations were clsoed, aside one or two. Most everyone was sleeping. The streets were still, all of the traffic lights lay neglected, as there was no one to stop or go...but it had a ghostly affect.

Suddenly,the squelch of veering tires broke the silence, as a large, jacked-up Ford with a Grille Guard almost as heavy as the truck itself, roared down the road into town. It sped along wrecklessly, but the driver had his mission. He turned into a residential street, then stopped in front of an old house.

The truck door swung open and the driver's feet crunched on the loose gravel. He ran to the front door of the house, but before he even reached i t, a swelled old man in a flannel robe opened the door, staring the young man down.

"David Wilde! Where the hell have you been? I have to go to work in three hours and I haven't got one damned blink of an eye, because of your ass runnin' 'round town with my truck!"

"Dad!" he grabbed at the man's shirt and pulled. "Tanks and soldiers are comin' in from california! They're on the highway goin' to Reno!"

"You best not be playin' with me, boy!" His father yelled.

"I'm not, daddy! I promise!"

Just then the sounds of Police sirens could be heard in the distance, fading towards the Highway.

"Momma!" the old man roared into the house. "Call the guys! W're goin' huntin'! David, get our guns and all of our ammunition and put it in the truck!"

----
3:52am, Highway 80

Capt. Dane Norris sat high on the Challenger II called "DeathPaw," which he commanded. The night air was somewhat frigid, even during the summer, but it was refreshing. The stars were out, and could be easily seen from his position on the tank, and he admired the night sky openly.

Norris' tank collumn was at the spearhead of the invasion of Nevada. Followed by the rest of his Division, and a Mechanized Infantry Division, they were headed to Reno, then to Carson City, to capture the heavily Centralized governing party. Hopefully ending the war quickly.

They could even see the bright lights of Reno in the black horizon, and the only resistance so far was a few Police Officers setting up roadblocks. Which were quite literally ran through.

Capt. Norris didn't see the four trucks, piled on with shotgun and rifle brandishing Verdi locals. They had banded together and ventured to the highway by the back roads, which could get you anywhere if you knew how to navigate the rarely used biways. But soon he would notice, as a red truck crossed the highway, hopping over the grass median with a flurry of dust and clumps of dirty spilling all about.

About that time, he saw the familiar muzzle flash of a shotgun from, and heard the pellets rattle against his tank. The four trucks were attempting to out-maneuver the collumn, the people on them firing their hunting rifles every which way. 50 Calibre guns mounted on the HMMWVs and MMPWVs countered with volleys of directed fire.

The sheet metal of the trucks were riddled with holes, engines blew and tires exploded, and the blood of struck insurgents gave two or three of the trucks new paintjobs. One stopped after its engine was blown by direct hits from the machien guns, all of the people onboard and inside were dead before the truck rolled to a stop.

Another flipped over, spilling people all over the highway. Capt. Norris didn't even order the collumn to stop, it was a rolling battle. Something the survivors of the second truck to fall regreted, as they were either gunned down or ran over, smashed beneath the treads of the Challenger IIs. Luckily the tank crews knew not to waste their big guns on such a small encounter. The third truck actually ran right into the fourth tank in the collumn, its front end almost sheered off by the steam-rolling tank.

Survivors scrambled from the truck, five in all, untill a HMMWV broke from formation, plowing into the group as they ran for the ditch. Two were reduced to nothing but rag dolls as their twisted bodies rolled from under the speeding HMMWV. The rest were chopped down by the Gunner of the Hummer, witht he help of Tank Crews and their 50. Calibres.

The red truck, the one that had first sped into the collumn, was now only tail lights in the distance.

---

David Wilde made his truck give all that she could as they fled down the highway. Most of the guys were people David grew up with, to him they were father figures. He could count at least five of them that had been at his wedding, before he was divorced. Four of them now lay dead in the back of his the truck. His father had gone in one of the other trucks, dead too, no doubt.

"What're we goin' to do, David?!" screamed Bo, his long-time best friend. He joined in on the "hunt," and probably wishes he hadn't.

"We're goin' to warn Reno! They have to do something...hell, they probably already know and are readying themselves!"

The truck flew down the hgihway towards Reno, passing a sign: Reno 5 Miles


------

At the rear of the thrust, the Mobile Command Transport made its way. General Lindsey P. Strapper heard the report, the first skirmish of this little war. Three C.D.I. Soldiers injured, and uncomfired number of ununiformed resistors dead.

It was going to be an interesting war indeed.


OOC: Yeap, I'm following the trend of expansionism in Earth X. Comments welcome. Maybe even have someone RP the resistance.

4:13am - outskirts of Reno, I-80

David Wilde's truck spat and sputtered the entire way, he counted his luck with every mile passed. It was his first, and only vehicle, lots of memories, and it served him well. Having it shot up was like taking a dearly loved horse to war.

David was greeted by the red and blue flashing of Police vehicles, and a few M1A1 tanks that were left in the National Guard Center. Maybe even a few from the Army post, but most of them were destroyed or in a state of decay close enough to it. David could feel the guns of the blockade all resting on him and his ragged truck, he stopped a few feet away from the line.

"Hold your fire! Do not fire upon them!" a uniformed man said. David figured this was the leader.

"Help us! We need help!" Bo opened the door and fell onto the pavement in fright. It would be surprising on any other occasion, to see a three-hundred pounds of muscle cry...but this was an extreme event.

Police and Soldiers alike ran to aid the battered group, of which only one in the rear lived. Covered in blood and shaking, but miraculously unharmed. The blockade leader approached David.

"Where are the Californians?!" he asked, well, more like demanded.

"Can't you hear them?!" David yelled back, the wretched sound of the invading Army could be heard in the distance. The hum of big engines, the clash of Tank Treads against concrete.

The fellow was shaken, he looekd to David with fear. "Get with the rest of the civilians, we're evacuating this part of the city."

"What?! Hell no, I'm fightin' with you!"

"No! You'd be a liability. Get your ass out of here now! Fuck this, Johanson!" a Private saluted the officer. "Get this man out of here! Make for damned sure that he gets to the evac. area!"

"Yes, Sir!" The soldier took David by the arm...

----

Capt. Norris' tank collumn slowed to a stop. He assessed the outskirts of the city, focusing in on the blockade. The Police Lights flashing a bright green in his nightvision opticals.

"Wow, this'll be nice," he said over the comm. "Allright, this'll be just like in Oklahoma...sure, we're in British tanks now, but we'll do fine. Just remember they have almost the same range as we do, fire first, fire fast, and fire on target. It doesn't look like they have many tanks. We attack at 0430."

----

Two Longbow Apaches coasted just above ground, so close their blades stirred up dust. Their target was just down range, the power station that fed Reno. It had to be taken out by 4:30, to aid in the advancement.

It all seemed rather messy to Lt. Bradstone, the lead helicopter. He was an Army Pilot before the break down of the federal government. He faught in several engagements, pre-invasion strikes. The idea of just now taking down the power grid was off-headed. But he just followed orders.

"Target in sight!" he said over the comm.. "ready your missiles."

The weapons officer readied the Hellfires. As soon as the two Helicopters were in range, their on-board lasers were directed to the Transformers (OOC: more than meets the eye).

"Ready to fire, locked on. Missile away," both attack craft unleashed their barrage of Hellfires, which exploded in a ball of flame and sparks. They knew they had done their job when they saw sectors of Reno black out, in a chain reaction that didn't stop untill the whole of the city was in darkness.

---

4:27am.


The whole city was one big traffic jam. People running every which way, trying to get to their homes, to their families, or to whatever else they had that they thought was worth their lives. David was still held captive by the Soldier, as they made their way to the evacuation point.

Suddenly, a dull explosion was heard far away, and with it, the lights in Reno went. One city block after another fell into the night, with only streams of headlights from cars to be seen. This only served to scare the citizens of Reno, as their hurried escape turned furious. Herds of people ran westward, away from the oncoming Army. Some were trampled, others were simply "beat down" as they were in front of the wrong person. A few shots rang out here and there. The evacuation was turning violent.

David and the Soldier found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, as waves of fleeing civilians crashed into them. Pummeling and jarring them mercilessly. Some even swarmed the Soldier, grabbing at his assault rifle and sidearm. In the onslaught, the poor Soldier was stripped of his weaponry, luckily David was one of the assaulters. Taking away his M16. Someone else got his pistol, and apperantly one particularly stupid fellow obtained a grenade, which he must not have known how to use...as a few moments later, it exploded a mere fifty feet away, as the fellow ran for it.

Shreded cloth and chunks of meat flew, and a few unlucky people collapsed in bloodied hulks. still more explosions echoed in the night, but it wasn't no grenade, it was the thunder of gunfire from the roadblock. David escaped down and ally-way, and turned around the corner, heading eastward.

----

Capt. Norris' tanks opened fire on the hapless defense. Vehicle after vehicle exploded, flames licking from the bullet holes riddling police cars. Tank crews leaping from their tanks shortly after being hit by two-to-three SABOT rounds. Norris' tank crews were experianced in taking out M1A1s and 2s. They ganged up on them, directing as many guns on one tank as could be afforded. Assuring that if one hit didn't take it down, the others would.

The second skirmish was over almost as quickly as the first. Fire churned out smoke from burning hulks, casting an erie glow. Apaches cleaned up what was left, streams of Hellfire and Maverick Missiles reached across the sky, finding their targets, which ended in a defeaning boom...then silence.

IFVs rolled up ahead of the collumn, passed two Challengers that had been knocked out, one had its tracks blown, the other had two holes bored into the hull by SABOT rounds. When they reached the road block, their cannons cleaned up what little was left, a Police car hither and yon, as well as spraying fire above the heads of running defenders. One or two chopped up by cannon fire...but who'd complain?

They dispelled their cargo of troops, and soon they were joined by the armor, but only a few tanks would venture into the city. Apaches wirred over-head, being sure not to make themselves an inviting target for small arms fire.

Capt. Norris' tank steamed past the failed road block, steel and rubble crunching beneath his tank. He looked up at the great pillars of smoke that reached for the skies, swirling above him as the smoke was taken by the whirling blades of the attack helicopters.

"The gates of war..." he said to himself.

----

Report:

3 tank crewmen dead from SABOT and HE hits to their tanks.
5 Soldiers dead from HMMWV hit with HE round.

5:19am,

"Valor, VALOR...sweet sensation burning my nose...burn me into oblivion sayith He. Burn me a name in the cornerstones of March...April...and maybe even October..."Jason Cross said as he snorted his last line of Cocain from a broken mirror.

His body siezed and contracted, as he released a wonderful howl of excitement...as the drug tingled in his mind. Jason was an old druggy, one who knew the limits, and knew how to bend them without breaking himself. As soon as the warnings came, he knew this was hischance to do good for humanity. At least in his mind.

After a long spell, he took his semi-automatic rifle in hand and staggered to his feet. The world seemed lop-sided, the walls scattered helter-skelter.
Finding the door, he stepped out out of his house and into the fray. Monsters of eveyr shape and form came to him, their teeth gnashing and frothing with oozing blood. He fired his rifle at them, the Californian monsters falling at his feet, and fleeing, and running from his fury. Marred screams of hundreds split his ears.

Soon the band of monsters were out of sight, and he was alone with the corpses that he had claimed. To him, monsters, tentacled beasts and great-toothed monsters. To the fleeing crowd, their husbands, mothers, their children...all were dead because of a hopped-up fanatic. Crying and suffering.

The ground began shaking, the cases from his spent bullets rattling on the sidewalk at his feet...a bigger monster was coming, he suspected. Then he saw it, a great beast of metal, its large horn on its malformed head looked like a prize to be had, to Jason. He charged the beast, pulling the trigger of his weapon as quickly as he could. The monster countered with a breath of fire, and before Jason knew it...he was down, his lungs took in blood instead of breath, and soon he was surrounded by lesser beasts...and then - all was black.


"Now what kind of a bloody fool would try to run down a fuckin' tank?" said one of the many soldiers surrounding the bullet-ridden druggy.

Even the tank commander peeked out from under his hatch, looking at the sight in astonishment.

The Sargeant kneeled down, taking the rifle, the stalk split now. Pulling the bolt, he replied, "The same kind of fool who would walk around with an unloaded rifle."

They had to advance only a little further, to find the victims of his dilusions...

----
[to be continued later]

There's an EARTH X! It's gone to far, people, seariously!

And TAG, btw. This looks like an interesting read.