NationStates Jolt Archive

A dark city, made darker by the onslaught of nature; rain coming down in sheets heavy as a tempered steel, its water nearly black as a moonless night, flooding the streets of a city long dead. But, on one non-descript street corner, somewhere in this city, curios soldiers began an investigation.

Captain Ascalo scanned the area, stoically standing his ground as sheets upon sheets of rain hammered against the sleek spherical geometry of his Powered Armour. His eyes were transfixed on something that lie down the street, ears trained on the sound of rain pummeling the buildings, acting now as empty coffins, the only things remaining from a civilization that passed away from existence long ago. But was it just the rain that Ascalo was hearing?

Voices, he could swear that he was hearing voices, whispers just beyond comprehension. The scanners though, weren't picking up any sound, other than that coming from the sickly black rain that engulfed everything around him. These faint whispers menaced Ascalo, "What in the nine hells are they saying?" Ascalo immediately regretted asking that question, though, why he didn't know, he only knew that trying to discern the meaning behind the nigh silent madness caused his stomach to turn inside out.


Ascalo's eyes again peered down the street of this now dead city, his Thermals picking up no heat, motion sensors finding nothing but an ominous stillness. But, in the corners of his eyes he saw something, a dark figure perhaps? He was unable to tell, the figure disappearing whenever he tried to focus his eyes on this specter, "Am I insane? Is anything really there?" He questioned himself, not sure whether or not sanity had left him like the life once did from this wretched city. He tried to put it all out of his mind, and failing at every attempt.

Again, through the corner of his eye he saw it, a large being enshrouded by the darkness of the stormy night, shielded by the wall of rain falling from the angry sky. "Why is it staring at me? Is it even there?" Ascalo murmured, gripping his Assault Rifle so tightly, it shook in his hands.

"Captain Asca? You alright, Sir?" A grunt in Heavy Power Armour asked, approaching Ascalo while turning off the safety for his Auto-Cannon. "Ya don't seem quite right today, anythin' wro-" Ascalo interrupted, "I'm fine. Worry less about me, and more about the point you're supposed to be covering." He said sharply. "Sir!" the grunt replied, returning to his former position.

___________________________________________________________
Aboard Armoured Personnel Carrier Mobile One, approximately 3 miles from Delta Six.

Mobile One was a heavily Armoured transport given only to the Special Forces. A Titan of the ground, easily blocking traffic on most roads in both directions, heavily Armoured wheels as large as men, guarded by the side Armour that made a precise thirty-degree angle with the ground, and the frontal Armour strong enough to withstand a tank round. This unyielding shield served to protect not only the men it was carrying, but also advanced electronic devices, which were a must have for this particular mission.

Radar, Lidar, Infrared Optronics, Audio Scanners, ECM and ECCM, all in used in conjunction with the excellent Armour, provided the perfect shield for any special forces team in the Niiataran Armed Forces. But what good is a shield without a sword?

Twin-Turret mounted 75mm auto-cannons, sponson mounted 12.7mm machine guns, and a 10 gigawatt forward mounted anti-personnel ion cannon all ensure that the men can fight back against nigh anything that could pose them a threat. The interior was spacious as a warehouse considering it was an Armoured personnel carrier. It was within this warehouse that Major Iso was pacing about anxiously, sipping the coffee from his mug, watching the techies typing mindlessly on they consoles, and others clean equipment: weapons, the various powered armours, and electronic equipment.

The lack of action since his arrival had wore on his nerves, and the constant down poring of rain wasn't helping his situation, either. "What's the status report for Delta Six, Sergeant Cuno?" Iso asked one of the Techies in front of the Communications Console..

___________________________________________________________

Delta Six.

"Delta Six, Delta Six, this is Mobile One. Come in Delta Six."

Startled by the sudden Transmission, Ascalo lost his balance; falling helplessly, face first, into the water. "Argh!" He yelped disappearing into the now knee-deep water. The malice pitch of the voices was intensified in the water; wisps of movement could be seen clearly through his optics.

Ascalo felt something tightly grip his shoulder as he tried to regain his footing, aggressively pulling him from the black depths that he had become engulfed. It was at that moment he lost his nerve, "Fuck!" Ascalo raised his assault-rifle to the point where the specter had been, "Die you fucking bastard!" 7.62mm rounds began screaming from the barrel of his rifle, the bright crimson tracer rounds burned through the air like a daemon straight from hell, "I said die!"

___________________________________________________________
Mobile One

"Shit!" Cuno exclaimed, "We've got Gunfire on Audio sir!"

"What!" Iso cried, the coffee that he had been sipping spewed forth upon the terminal at the news. "I want to know what in the nine-hells is going on, get Ascalo on the waves now! And someone clean up this mess." A grunt in a medium suit ran up with rag and bottled cleaner in hand, and began cleaning the mess the easily startled Major had made.

___________________________________________________________
Delta Six

"Delta Six, Delta Six, this is Mobile One, we're picking up gun fire in your area, what is your situation? Respond Delta Six.

Ascalo was to busy trying to kill something that did not exist to respond to Mobile One's repeated cries for information.

"Mobile One this is Private First Class Halo reporting. Captain Ascalo is engaging a hostile unknown, but uh... none of our equipment is picking anything up, it's like he is chasing ghosts. What should I do, Mobile One?" While Halo, a young soldier in a light suit if powered Armour-- continued communicating with Mobile One, the rest of Ascalo's command converged on his position, the heavy suits laying down heavy fire with their auto-cannons and particle weapons. The lighter suits contributing with accurate rail-rifle fire and small machine gun support. All wasting ammunition on something that wasn't there.

"Mobile One, the heavies, mediums, and lights, all of them, they've joined in on the madness: firing everything they've got at a building on an empty street! What do I do Mobile One!? What do I do?!" Halo said, a sense of panic penetrated through his voice.

The voices, which plagued Ascalo, now manifested themselves to Halo, with more malice and volume than Ascalo had experienced. Halo gripped his rail-rifle, readying for whatever imminent threat that would soon manifest itself.

"Private Halo, this is Mobile One, remain calm at all costs. Order your team to disengage the phantom and report in. Do you understand your current Orders, Private Halo?"

"Uhm... Yes, yes I do. Halo Out." Halo disengaged the channel to Mobile One, and proceeded to Captain Ascalo. "Sir, by the power invested in me by NAR section three-zero-two, I order you to cease engagement." Halo barked with a strong sense of previously absent confidence permeating through his voice.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile One

Iso's fists slammed against the nearest console, sounds of circuit burnout following in its wake, "Damnit! What is going on? They are laying down more firepower than a small army would have, and their target is... NOTHING? How can this be that the most well trained soldiers, the best of the best, can be so damned stupid? I ask you." Iso's face was red with anger, his blood boiling at the though of commanding such incompetence.

"I... I... I... don't know Iso, Sir. What should we do?" Cuno asked, his voice shaking.

"Tell the Driver to get us over the Delta Six, and open a channel to the other Mobiles apprising them of our situation." Iso snapped. "Men, get ready, we might be seeing some action here in a minute." Iso's men, who had been staring at the Major since the trouble began, scurried about the APC. They readied their gear: Powered Armour, Weapons, and scanning equipment.

The main-lights of the APC activated, the darkness fleeing in terror from the over-powering light as the engine wailed to life, propelling the APC towards Delta Six.
___________________________________________________________
Delta Six

"Don't even dare to try and order me around Halo!" Ascalo scowled, as he gripped Halo by the neck. "You think you're better than me? You think you can do my job? I ought to shoot you in the face right now for your arrogance, boy." Ascalo continued, shaking Halo who he had now lifted in the air.

"Asca stop! There is something wrong with you, you's never behaved like this before sir, especially not to one of yer own!" Sergeant Ulta screamed as he sloshed through the water towards Ascalo in his Heavy Power Armour.

"Oh I see it now!" Ascalo cried, dropping Halo into the water and whipping around to meet Ulta, "You're in on it with Halo, aren't ya? Both of you are out to get me!" Ascalo flailed about, pointing to various members of his team, "I bet you're in the thick of it too, and you, and you! I can't believe this! From my own team!"

Ulta's fist came crashing down on the back of Ascalo's skull. "Snap out uv' it sir! Do ya know what the bloody hell you's soundin' like?

The gunfire had ended shortly after Ascalo began strangling Halo. His men were shocked, how could a Captain behave in such a way? Especially one with such a well-known reputation of being calm and collected in tense situations? These thoughts went racing through the minds of everyone under Ascalo's command, trying to ignore the malicious whispers now they all could hear.

"Man, whoever is doing that shit better cut it out." One of the mediums said, raising his battle-rifle, "The whisperin' shit ain't funny."

"So you hear it too?! I'm not the only one that hears that damned tormenting sound?" Ascalo shouted as he picked himself up from Ulta's blow.

"Fuck yeah I hear it, and it's driving me crazy. Whoever is doing it better cut it the fuck out before I shove this gun o' mine up their asses." Another Medium remarked.

"When did you start hearing them, Sir?" The Medium asked.

"Since about fifteen minutes ago... I thought I was crazy; there was no sound being picked up on the audio scanners." Ascalo answered, a sense of relief washing over him like the rain still picking up in intensity.

"Well uh, I've only heard it since about right now... And you're right, audio scanners don't pick anything, though I can hear it clear as I can hear you right now." The Medium said, now focusing his vision onto Ascalo, "When did you start hearing them?"

Ascalo struggled to catch his breath that the previous excitement had robbed from him, "Since we arrived at this street corner."

The eerie silence had returned, a feeling of peril overcoming the men of Delta Six. The voices had just then receded, and the rain had lessened in intensity considerably. Ascalo felt as if he had just doomed him, and his men. He felt as if the commotion he caused when he opened fire into an empty alley had awoken something, something that would be their undoing.

"He sir, where's Halo?" Another Heavy asked.

"Halo... Halo!" Ascalo screamed, as he wiped about looking for his now missing comrade.

Ascalo turned about to where the sound of something hitting the water had just been heard.

A bright blue piece of optical equipment floating in the water caught his eye.

"Shit! I think this belongs to Halo. Only question now is where the hell is the rest of him? Halo!" Ascalo resumed his cries, his men joining him despite the recent confusion.

Soon more parts from Halo's Power Armour began to rain down upon the rest of his team, small bits, ripped and torn to shreds from its hapless owner.

"'S like he was put thro' a damned wood chipa'. What da hell is goin' on, sir?" Ulta asked, again raising his Auto-Cannon, readying for action.

"I don--" Ascalo was interrupted by a sudden whooshing sound coming from his left. "What the hell?! Now Johannes has disappeared!" Everyone in Ascalo's team readied their weapons, the rain now picking back up in intensity, and the voices returning, almost screaming in their ears, though they still could not make anything out.

"Ahhhck!" everyone turned to meet the cry, only to see a wake in the water where one of their comrades had been. "Fire, Fire at will!" Ascalo cried, firing randomly into the darkness.

Their efforts were in vain. No matter how many bullets they emptied into the darkness, no matter how many beams of hot cyan were unleashed, no matter how many explosive grenades were launched, they never hit a damned thing, but Ascalo's team continued to take losses.

Left and Right, Ascalo watched helplessly as his men disappeared into the darkness, until it was just him, and another Medium standing not five feet from him. "Sir, what are we going to do?" The Medium asked, terror resonating through his voice.

Ascalo turned to answer, only to find himself unable to speak. A large black figure with long, sharp claws and skeletal arms seized his last college by the face, and spirited him into the darkness, the last thing Ascalo heard was the muffled scream of a fallen Marine.

Ascalo was alone now, the only one of his team remaining, his clip was empty, and he couldn't see three feet in front of him. "Wait! I'll try the Neural Activity Scanner!" Ascalo thought to himself, hoping to see whatever it was that had decimated his team, hoping he could then fight back, even if all he had left was his side arm and knight.

*Click!*"

"There we go..." Ascalo whispered to himself, scanning the area. "Where are you, you son of a bi--" Ascalo was paralyzed, paralyzed by fear. His eyes had now come upon the specter, not seven feet from him. A crouched figure, one massive eye staring right back at him, drool dripping from its massive teeth, muscular arms extending deep into the water, still as a concrete statue, just continued to stare at the motionless Captain...

___________________________________________________________
Mobile One

"Oh shit..." Cuno said, nigh under his breath. "We've just lost Ascalo, Sir."

"[i]Damnit! Damnit, Damnit, Damnit!" Iso screamed, his face as red as an old star, his body shaking in an almost uncontrollable rage. "Driver! Hurry up! I want to be at Delta Six' last known position ten minutes ago!"

"Sir!" The Driver replied, his foot crashing against the accelerator.

"Send a transmission to the other Mobiles, tell them to meet us at Delta Six' last known location."

Iso stared at the view-screen displaying the current status of Delta Six, all confirming what Iso refused to believe; that they wouldn't find anyone from Delta Six alive, if at all.

tagage

Two cloaked troopers quietly made their way down the alleyways of the town. Nightvision goggles in place, they existed in tunnel vision and a world of green. They exchanged hand signals as they moved in. With discipline, they covered each other, looking over all angles from which a shooter could fire from. From time to time they would come along a patrol, which they avoided in silence. The largest trooper, cloak frayed at the ends, and hanging tight on his shoulders, called for a stop.

With a deft motion, the other trooper scaled a storm drain and climbed through the second story window of a townhouse. The larger trooper stayed on the street until the back door opened with a click. The smaller man waved his superior in. The door closed gently. Running low under the kitchen window, the men stopped in the living room of the townhouse.

'Take a look Seargant Kluge.' whispered the smaller trooper, simply known by his comrades as Midnight. Kluge crawled up to the living room window and freed a pair of binoculars from his vest and peered through them. Sight augmented by NVG, Kluge looked out onto a street corner, littered with...what looked like carparts to him.

'I don't see why you had to come and see for yourself, Sarge. This place will be crawling with them soon enough.' said Midnight in a hushed voice. Kluge just waved the comment off and continued to watch. 'We're going to ground, here.' said Kluge, not bothering to keep his voice down. Midnight's expression turned sour as he turned and made his way upstairs.

Kluge checked his belt and his hands found a large, leather, pack. He groped inside of it and produced a radio. 'This is Seargant Kluge, come in Lieutenant Tarsus.'

Kluge waited for a moment.

'Lieutenant Tarsus here. What is it Kluge?' the LT responded, the radio popping and whizzing as the rain interfered with the signal.

'Midnight heard some gunfire, we're on scene checking it out. This place is a mess, sir.' said Kluge non-chalantly.

'Need back up?' Tarsus retorted. Kluge shook his head and said 'Nah, we should be good for now...We'll bug out at the first sign of trouble, sir.'

'Understood. Tarsus out.'

Kluge put the radio back in its cradle and kept an eye on the street corner, which was some ways off from his position. The Aumanii have been in this town, which they called Basinville, for several months. The entire time it had been completely absent of activity, and aside from the occassional run in with the local flora and fauna, there had been nothing of interest happening here at all. Until they arrived. A varitable army, in comparison to the eight men Lt. Tarsus had brought with his listening party. Twice their number, at least, all heavily armed and wearing full body armour, compared to the Aumanii Scouts Infantry, which wore little more than a flak jacket and a kepi, these guys seemed like an Armoured Division. You could understand the anxiety felt by Tarsus' men when these people showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, while they were busy setting up a listening post in a sector which military intelligence thought to be totally uninhabited.

Intelligence, as usual, was totally off mark.

Now the Aumanii were quite possibly in for a fight with a vastly superior force, if they were discovered. To make matters worse, another potential enemy force was in the city with them. Two warring factions were knocking horns and the Aumanii were right in the middle of it.

----

Tarsus sat, cross legged, on a rickety wooden stool in a drafty wine cellar in the city center. Looting liquor from abandoned shops, he and his men had made themselves quite comfortable in this, allegedly, deserted town before their party was so rudely interrupted. Tarsus contemplated their situation. There was no hope of evacuation, as any call for help could quite possibly be picked up by who ever had just started patrolling these streets. Their dropship wasn't scheduled to return to resupply them in another two weeks and worst of all, it was raining. If there was one thing the Aumanii hated more it was rain...being from Mars' southern highlands, suffice it to say, they didn't experience much precipitation and the downpour was destroying their morale as well as keeping them soaked, constantly.

On the otherhand, the men were well fed for the most part...and had a healthy supply of ammunition. Tarsus wasn't worried at all, however. Confident, if they just kept moving and not stay in one place for too long, Tarsus and his men might just come out of this with some good field training.

Aumanii bravado was legendary on Mars. They were, in their minds, 'The finest warriors in the galaxy!'. As a result, their confidence, which often went over the line into arrogance, allowed them courage enough to endure their current situation. The men were scattered about the city, holed up where ever they found comfort, waiting for this whole thing to blow over.

OOC:

Much too tired for a proper post.

tag#

The Dropship...dropped. That's really the only thing to say about it. It landed heavily in the northern reaches of the city. Its searchlights flashed on and peered through the fog. "Inquisitors, do you know why you're here?" The Captain said through his suitborne radio. The 10 Inquisitors sat there in silence, only the occasional radio static (and the computer vitality display screens, and the unit co-ordination symbol in all of their visors) showing if they were alive. The Captain nodded. "You're here to purify this planet and render it once again safe for humanity. Now, it's a little foggy out there, so everyone activate their heatvisors. Any questions about our mission objectives?"

Inquisitor Jenna raised her hand. "Sir! I am given to understand that similar teams will be dropped outside the city limits to purify the remainder of the planet. Is that the case?"

The Captain nodded. "Yes, Inquisitor. Our orders are to secure this city for use as a base and then, working in unison with the returning civil authorities, eliminate any remaining threat. To that end, the 15th Redemption Unit will be here as soon as we radio back success to the Vengeance. Any further questions? No? All right. Inquisitors Jenna and Michael, activate the DropShip's vehicular mode. The rest of you, finish suiting up. We're going to recon the surrounding area. Remember, kill everything that isn't human."

The Inquisitors clamped their hands to their chests, then pulled their hoods over their heads. They left the Dropship, carrying the tools of the Purifier's Trade. An IAM-53a Automatic Pistol, an AAC-15 Blaster rifle, and their most famous weapon, the Imperial Church Purification Flamer.

The two scientists acting as comm specialists most of the time sit at their small tables in a fairly modern or given their origins a fairly advanced apartment in a similarly advanced yet totaly abandoned apartment block on the edges of the city. Muttering silently one of the scientists resumes scanning the city for any form of signal hoping against all hope there is someone other than a few rodents and these creepily empty houses to hear.

"This is rediculous we should be out scouting areas for possible mining sites not sitting in a building searching for life, isnt this what the first contact teams are supposed to do?" One of the scientists mutters to the other who chuckles and shakes his head. "You know command this is an out of the way area they dont want to send a full recon group here so they cut costs when they can. Hell they even accepted reich military for this mission." The other says eyeing the two Iraqstani Guard standing at the door ways.

Just then over the comm equipment comes a short crackling of weapons fire and a flurry of voices all conversation stops as the two man snap their focus on the offending unit and with a clatter of military boots the unit commander rushes in, his helmet resting on a table near by. "Turn that up." HE snaps unintentionaly and the scientists rush to it the noise of gunfire and random voices filling the air.

"Lieutenant that sounds nasty not too sure how far away it is the rain is messing with alot of our long range scanners." One of the scientists says nervously looking at his not so standard issued pistol nervously. THe Lieutenant catching the object of the scientists gaze chuckles "Can it doc your here to do science stuff." He chuckles out and chin activates his comm gear.

"Hobbs and click assemble three others and secure our perimeter no more than a block away from us for now, visibility is poor. Scoot hows our eyes on the roof looking?"


"Hows the visiblity?" Scoot the unit sniper mutters from his perch on the roof of the apartment block his combat armour glistening the helmet's visor fogged slightly from the rain and his breathing. "Sir visiblity is next to nothing out here, I dont even know why you've got me up here drowing in this damned rain." He responds once more whiping the eye hugging visor and pressing an eye to the scope of his rifle and scanning the area again. "We're clear as far as I can tell sir." He finnaly says and gets an okay response from below "Might as well come in scoot, set up shop in a window on our floor atleast that way you'll b e dry." Chuckling scoot complies heading inside his only trace wet footprints on the stairs leading down from the roof.

On the ground floor Hobbs and click assmeble their team the five of them open a door two cover as the other three move out five meters and take up covering positions as the other two join them. Using hand signals they move quickly and silently along the side of the building the Iraqstani issued IG-201 pulse rifles held at the ready scanning left and behind them as they move.

Coming to a corner the pointman takes a quick look waves them forward and they cross the street heading to the next building this time guns train on the windows as they move thermal imaging clearing each room as they move, two hours later with the gunfire silent and the barking commands of what appear to be commanding units over the radios the team reports in. "Lieutenant we've gone a block away each direction nothing seen, checked one of our sensor units out here, rain knocked it out of sync but it's back up and running requesting permission to advance further into the area." Shaking his head Lieutenant Holtz responds "Negative soldier come on back we'll send a report back to HQ and await further orders. Bring it back slowly I want you to triple clear everything."

Muttering Hobbs gives the affirmitive and begins moving the team back slowly each ground floor entrance scanned every corner and street cleared before heading on to the next one. "Damnit this is gonna take atleast another two hours before we're dry again." One of the guys shouts over the fire teams private channel and the others agree. "Alright can it, we're supposed to be maintaining a low profile here." Hobbs responds sharply as the team moves off once more checking each direction around the apartment building.....

The scientists for their part compile a brief message, and gathering data corelated from various sensor spots around the city pinpoint fairly inaccurately due to rain a location where the initial radio transmission including gunfire originated from and send it off up to the reasonably stealth comm satelite in orbit which sends off a transmission back to IMC HQ updating the situation and requesting further orders....


ooc: Eww not good for me but hey it's a post.

Armoured Troop Transport, Mobile One

"Faster! Faster!" Iso screamed.

"I'm doing the best I can, sir!" the Driver responded "There is so much water, and so much debris I am surprised we can move at all."

Mobile One's engines struggled to keep the massive vehicle going, the tight turns and deep water worked the engine almost to the point of meltdown. "Shit! Sir, we've blown a piston!" A voice said, crackling over the intercom. The jolt from the malfunction violently shaking the Armoured titan, a hellish scream of metal grinding against metal erupted from the now crippled engine.

"We don't have time for this!" Iso cried, his face red as an aging sun, "Get it fixed, Damn it!"

"You heard him, get to work." Lono, one of the three engineers on board whose sole purpose was to service the roving Armoured giants.

Mobile One slowed to a crawl, the powerful current of the water almost succeeding in pushing her back down the steep roads that she was climbing.

"Sir, let's face it, we won't be going anywhere for a while; we don't have enough engine power, and the current is to damned strong." The Driver said, "We might as well park it here till the engine is up and running again."

Iso slammed his fist into the wall, hard enough to make a sizeable imprint in the wall, and hard enough still to shatter the artificial dermis of his fist. A dull hue of blue glowed from the joints of his cybernetic arm as he shrugged away the debris clinging to his cold metal appendage. "Why must the suffering continue?" He said under his breath.

"Sir?" One of the marines asked.

"It's nothing... nothing." Iso sighed; all anger seemed to have vanished from his voice. "How are the repairs coming along, Lono?" Iso said over the intercom.

Lono groaned, "Not well, one of the pistons jammed in the chamber, and the rod bearing came lose, which was bad enough, but, the rod kept going, and started to slam into the Piston, making the jam worse, to the point no pressure could be released, and caused the piston to finally blow."

Iso sighed as he heard the news, "So how long till you can fix it so we can get the fuck out of here?"

"Well I have good news regarding that." Lono said, whipping some grease off his face before continuing, "The chamber is in decent shape, so it wont take long to seal it back up, and the piston is still in good shape..." Lono paused in deep thought, "... I'd say about twenty minutes if we put our backs into it."

"Then get your ass to it!" Iso cut the transmission; despite the good news, he was still angry: Delta Six - the group of Marines he was charges with - had disappeared, dead was the general consensus, and he'd been unable to do anything about it.

What would the higher ups... No, what would the other Mobile Commanders think? He had just lost an irreplaceable team of highly trained, high-tech super soldiers, and he had no idea how. "What the hell are you all looking at?" Iso snapped.

His men had been sitting there, staring at him. He must have been so angry he didn't notice that his demeanor had attracted their cold gaze. "If you've got anything to say, then out with it. Otherwise, get back to whatever the hell it is you're supposed to be doing!"

The men ended their staring, and went back to preparing to embark from Mobile One and into the now drench wasteland of a city.

The suits of power Armour were fastened onto the wearer: the heaviest suits nigh impervious to anything short of an anti-tank round. The heavies were armed with the heaviest weaponry: Particle cannons, whose lethal flash of light burned through both flesh and Armour as if it was nothing more than tissue paper; Mass-Drivers, that coiled a mighty force of gravity behind a heavy projectile, till weapon can contain it no longer, and unleashes its power on anyone unfortunate enough to be in its path; and Auto-Cannons whose high-explosive shells could decimate an entire division of lightly Armoured enemy combatants.

The Heavies led the way, drawing and laying down the most fire. However, this did not comfort the combat squads of Mobile One, - Omega Two and Gamma Five - they were also lead by Captain Ascalo, one of the most highly decorated Officers in the Niiataran Special Forces, what good did all this equipment do them? This thought weighed on all their hearts, causing a nervous sweat to break out on even the most battle-hardened Marines.

The silence which had gripped the Armoured behemoth was broken as the Engine came back online, "Sir, we're good to go!" Lono said, a strong sense of joy permeated through his voice.

"What? Already?" Iso had forgotten that time passed quickly when you didn't want to be somewhere, the twenty minutes had already passed, and the other Mobiles were now within a few miles of his position. "Oh, well... Good job Lono, keep it up."

The engine roared back to life, pushing Mobile One against the torrent of water that had gotten deeper in the time that her engine was out.

She was now close to where Delta Six had been lost, no more than a hundred meters away. A sense of anxiousness had swept over the crew: their weapons were readied, optronics were powered up, and Armour checked and rechecked as they sat waiting, waiting to venture out into the cold, flooded city-scape that lay just outside.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile Twenty Two

"Arrgh." Major Durand grunted, "We almost there'ur what?"

"We'll be at the nav-point shortly, the other two Mobiles have already made it, though." The Driver replied.

"Ahw, hell. Why'du we always gotta'be the last'uns?" Durand moaned. "Sir, we were forced to navigate through narrower roads and deeper waters than the other Mobile Commanders." The Driver replied.

"Well'u know what'ta do when we get'ther." Durand said, patting the Cybernetic Navigational Assistant on the shoulder as he turned to leave.

The atmosphere aboard Mobile Twenty Two had maintained a relatively peaceful; they, along with the other two mobiles, did not pick up enough of the transmission from Delta Six though the interference to be afraid, they only knew something had happened, and Mobile One ordered them all to converge on her position and await instructions.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile Seven

"Why must he be the slowest of us? Why, I ask you?" Major Cecia groaned, "I was not given my command to wait on that dreadful man!" she exclaimed.

"Well you know Durand, always first to be last, as they say..." Lieutenant Xiao cracked, "You're right..." Cecia sighed, "It doesn't stop me from being agitated, however, and I am this close to blowing his jaw off with your rail rifle for that atrocious... voice of his." Cecia said, cringing at the thought of Durand's voice.

"I agree, it is a tad irritating..." Xiao paused, "But he is a good guy." Cecia chuckled, "Yes he is, he is.." Cecia cocked her head, contemplating. She twirled a lock of her long, brown hair, the shade of her skin almost matching its colour precisely.

Her eyes - green as the most perfect of emeralds encasing a mass of Obsidian, cut into the form of a sphere, flawless as if God had himself dedicated time to crafting them, that rest on an even larger sphere of ivory - scanned about, searching for something vague and undefined as she thought about the character of Durand.

"Ma'am, we're now docked to Mobile Nine." The Driver said, in the typical monochromatic voice of a machine, where functionality had obviously been a priority, and personality an after thought.

"Excellent." Cecia said, almost startled as her train of thought had just been broken by the outburst from The Driver, "Have the rear Hitch ready for Twenty two... if they ever arrive." The same scowling tone had returned to Cecia's voice when she was reminded of Durand's tardiness.

"Ma'am, rear Hitch ready. Arrival of Mobile Twenty Two projected to be five minutes, and counting." The Driver said, as they continued to wait for Mobile Twenty Two.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile Nine

Major Jian stood amongst hit men, pacing about anxiously, "Durand needs to make haste; Iso could be in trouble and we are unable to help him."

"Eh, Boss, don't worry, I'm sure Iso is fine and Durand'll be here soon." One of the Mediums responded to Jian's talking to himself. "Just sit'own, relax, and before you know it, everything will be alright."

Jian paused, turning to face the Marine who had just addressed him, "Perhaps... But still the possibility exists that something fowl is awry, and that is something I cannot ignore." Jian's said as he continued his pacing.

"Bah." Tao - the Medium who spoke earlier - groaned, "Have it yourself, but don't come crying to me if all this worry leads you to an early grave."

Jian's turned to respond, but his voice was taken as the entire Mobile shook violently. "Mobile Twenty Two has docked with Mobile Seven, Major Jian. We are ready to embark." The Driver said.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile Twenty Two

"Came'n a little'ard didn't we?" Durand said laughingly. "There is no damage, but the other two Mobiles did receive a significant amount of force from our impact."

"Ceci ain't likely to take'to kindly to't... But 'ew'cares, We're'ere aint we?" Durand said to The Driver, as if looking for an uncaring machine to tell him he did nothing wrong. "Why are you not asking the other Mobile Commanders?" The Driver responded. "Ugh... fear'd you'd say that..."

Durand was not looking forward to talking to the other Mobile commanders, who had probably been thrown to the floor of there constituent Mobiles after having just been rammed into.

"What the hell Durand? Must you be such an incompetent brute? How did you ever get to be in command of a mobile? You couldn't command a bunch of children to pick their noses you... you idiot!" Cecia berated Durand over the comms, for everyone to hear.

"Eh, guess'i deserve't..." Durand said under his breath, rolling his eyes as Cecia continued to yell all sorts of things at Durand for carelessly commanding the Mobile.

"Yes. Durand, might I ask what you thought you were doing? How could you let your Driver run into us like that?" Jian said calmly, but sternly, "As a Major in the Niiataran Special Forces, you should very well know how to pilot something as simple as a Mobile." he continued with a snide tone.

"'eah, 'eah, what'eva. Can we move'n now? Don't we'ave some work ta'du?" Durand said, wishing to avoid any further arguing.

"Don't you try to avoid taking responsibility for what you've just done, why I-" Jian interrupted Cecia mid-sentence, "Cecia, he is quite right, we must move on to Major Iso."

"... Fine, but I'm not finished with you yet Durand, you just wait until this is all over." Cecia said, trying to hold back her anger.

"Yer neva finished with'me are'ye?" Durand said softly. "What?! Did you ju-" Jian interrupted her again, "We have not time for this! Durand, Cecia, cease this senseless arguing, any personal problems may be dealt with later, now we are moving on."

Cecia and Durand agreement was made apparent only by their silence as they readied themselves to the next phase of their journey.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile Nine

Jian turned to The Driver, "Take us to Mobile One Driver, and make haste in doing so." The Driver engaged the engines on all the Mobiles, who he now remotely controlled as they were connected via hitch to the Drivers central processor.

The train of heavily Armoured transports moved through the flooded streets of the city, under the concrete and steel bridges, and the shadows of hundred story sky-scrappers that made up this part of the city. The combined strength of their engines made travel easier, and much faster.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile One

"Go! Go! Go!" Iso screamed; they had made it to the exact location of where Delta Six had disappeared. The search lights of the Mobile lit up, searching, desperately searching for any trace its lost children, the men who it had protected for so long within its heavily Armour womb: But to no avail.

No amount of scanning from any of the many detection technologies equipped on the Mobile revealed anything, just the same darkness, the same rain-drenched darkness that had enveloped the city. The other two teams - Omega Two, and Gamma Five - failed just as miserably in their attempts to find their lost comrades.

Iso knew as much, but he would not let on to the other squads; he didn't want to believe, despite what he knew to the contrary. "Cuno... I want you to radio the other Mobiles, tell them that..." Iso paused, trying to hold back a tear.

"Sir? What is it? Cuno asked, concerned as ever for his Commander. "Nothing... nothing. Give the other teams a few more minutes, then radio in the other Mobiles and apprise them of our situation." Iso replied, breathing heavily.

"Sir..." Cuno responded, growing ever more worried as time went on.

Outside, one of the Lights from Omega Two had been inspecting the area around a building that was adjacent to Mobile One, his rail-rifle training the areas in front of him; if only he had been looking up might he had seen the bringer of his demise.

"Sir, this his Sergeant... Blargh!..." The Light screamed, blood began to spray from a gash in his torso which extended from his left love handle through his upper right shoulder; a crimson mist of incomprehensible pain.

He stood their motionless, the pain crippling him and what little life he had left. The upper section of his body began sliding down the lower section; the blood acting as a lubricant. The slide itself was as painful for the Light as it was horrific for his comrades to watch; his final moment came as the upper section slid completely off into the water, and the lower losing balance and floating away with it.

"No!..." Iso quietly exclaimed, "It's happening again! It's happening again!" Iso began to panic as he drew his sidearm: a powerful handgun holding twelve Armour piercing rounds.

Iso began to pace back and forth, almost at running speeds, the butt of his gun pressed firmly to his cheek as he held his head in his hands trying to make sense of it all.

Lights let out rail-rifle and small machine gun fire into the tentacled fiend that sprung forth from the wall of the large building.

The Mediums let out fire from their assault rifles, and grenade launchers; shrapnel raining down, and chunks of concrete and steel followed as the depleted uranium rounds tore into the building.

The Heavies joined in with their Particle Cannons, Mass-Drivers, and Auto-Cannons, tearing massive chunks out of the beast and building alike, creating a disgusting storm of blood and flesh.

Their efforts met the same success of Delta Six, they thought they were winning, but the mass of razor-shape tentacles kept slicing, and slicing, witling down their number till Omega Two was no more.

"Sir... Omega Two, they're all gone, sir..." Cuno looked up to Iso, who was rapidly approaching insanity. "Everything is going to be alright, it's not my fault, it isn't it's their fault, it's always been their fault, because their incompetent.... heheheh" Iso muttered to himself as he continued pacing, oblivious, it seems, to the fate of Omega Two.

"Sir!" Cuno screamed, "Ah, uh, What?! What is it?!" Iso replied, his whole body shaking in an incontrollable, fear induced panic.

"It's Omega Two, they've been wiped out!" Cuno shouted, "No... It can't be! What about Gamma Five?"

Cuno turned quickly to the screen displaying Gamma Five's vitals, his expression turning from mild excitement, to total panic; everyone vitals read zero, they had all died between the time that Omega Two had been wiped out, and the time that Iso was apprised of their fate.

Cuno, Iso, and several engineers and technicians were at that was left, all of them huddled in a corner, what weapons they could scrounge up were drawn towards the door; the sound of something walking about outside was heard, along with the same voices that had plagued Delta Six.

"Fuck... Fuck you stupid sons of bitches! You got them, but you sure as hell wont get me!" One of the engineers cried, running towards the door shotgun in hand.

Everyone but Iso followed suit, running headlong to what was most certainly their demise.

The door was opened, and the men, they all ran out into the darkness, muzzle flashes and the sounds of gunfire came back through the opened door as Iso stood, frozen as solid as the buildings that surrounded him.

Iso remained still, and silent, not even going to close the door as the screams of his remaining him were snuffed out, one by one, by whatever it was that was out there, till the only sound was that of the voices, laughing at Iso for his cowardice in the face of danger, his stupidity which no doubt caused the death of his men.

The silence was broken by the sound of heavy foot steps making their way for the door, obscured by the darkness of the outside, Iso remained, silent; hoping that maybe his motionlessness would save him from the same fate delivered to Delta Six from the hands of this deadly phantom.

The lights inside begin to flicker, their power being drained from them, losing the battle against the tide of endless darkness that made a foothold in this once invincible fortress.

Iso no longer had any sensation in his body, the fear had crippled him, even as the phantom stepped into the Mobile, which tipped to the side under the weight of the demon, slowly making its way towards Iso, the distance between them rapidly decreasing, as Iso tried to scrounge up enough courage to raise his weapon.

It was Iso's last moment that he redeemed himself: letting out a battle-cry as he raised his weapon, letting loose all twelve shots in quick succession at the beast still obscured by the darkness.

Iso felt a sudden sense of relief, the footsteps, the voices, the thoughts of being a failure; all had ceased their assault on his being. Though, this new-found tranquility was not long lasting.

The footsteps resumes, an angry growl turned into an all out roar, a roar which was felt through-out Iso's entire being. The voices too, made their purpose clear, "It can't be, it ju-" Iso stopped, something had thrown him against the wall, and was currently gripping his chest, the pressure increasing until the inside of Mobile One was a quagmire of blood and black water, bone and gun powder, his life now extinguished.

___________________________________________________________
Mobile Nine, Minutes after the Slaughter

"Sir, Mobile One has resumed moving, it looks like it is headed..." One of the Navigators paused, "Down the secondary road, and onto the main expressway near the river way."

"What? What is this foolishness!" Jian exclaimed, losing some of his composure, "Raise them, I want to know exactly what they are doing!"

A few moments passed before the Comm officer looked up at Jian and said, "Sir, they are not answering, what do we do?" Jian spent a few moments regaining his composure before responding, "Keep trying. Driver, I want you to follow Mobile one." Jian paused, thinking before he resumed, "When we get close enough, use the command override and extend their hitch, we will stop them that way if we must."

Mobile Nine led charge, rapidly approached Mobile One as the current pulled the derelict leviathan towards the express way, the water seemed to have tightened its already firm grip around Mobile One as Mobile Nine approached.

"Durand, Cecia, I want full radio silence; we are approaching Mobile One, which by all evidence, seems to be Derelict. " Jian sat down, the highly comfortable commanders chair offering the only relaxation for Jian since the mission began.

The shock and concern from Durand and Cecia could be hear quite well over the comm, despite nothing being said; one of their own had been lost, the natural since of brotherhood the men and women of the special forces had just been shaken to its very core.


What could they do? Seek vengeance against an enemy that may not exist? Perhaps nothing happened, for all they know Mobile One and her squads had simply disserted, left them high and dry in this city. The only hope of finding the truth lay in catching Mobile One, that was all they cared about right now, and starred at the comm screen, waiting for Jian to announce the capture of Mobile One.

Mobile Nine had gotten close enough to Mobile One to make out her silhouette amidst the down-pour.

Jian could not believe his eyes: the water appeared to have gained some sort of sentience, pulling Mobile One faster down the road towards the extremely steep incline that led to the expressway, and pushing them even harder to impede their way.

Mobile One has swung about vertical to Mobile Nine, to wide to go down the exit leading to the Expressway. She began to tip over, the water pushing lifting her right side upward into the air, pushing and pushing until her soft underside was exposed.

But still she fought, fought against the rushing tide that sought to claim her. Jian was a helpless witness to this struggle of machine and the malevolent force that was fighting against her. His anticipation growing almost to strong to contain, as they inched closer and closer to the now completely vertical derelict.

Anticipation turned to shock, the water, it seemed, had grasped Mobile One from behind, a wall of water resembling a claw, a claw from a wild carnivorous animal, pulling, pulling her down into the depths of darkness, nothing would ever be seen of her, again.

"Damn!" Jian yelped, agitated, "Why must fate conspire against us? Why must we suffer so?" Jian continued to moan, forgetting that he had the comms active.

Only at the last moment did he realize his mistake, slamming his fist onto the comm button, "Maintain radio silence!" Jians then switched off the comms, and turned to The Driver, "Driver, is there place nearby that can house three Mobiles for an undetermined amount of time?"

The Driver's cybernetic eyes pulsated slightly; scanning the schematics and sensor data of the surrounding area, "Communication Tower Nine Eighty-One. Scanners indicated that there is also a small amount of power being generated from within. It is our best option, Sir." The Driver said.

"Good. Take us there immediately." Jian's turned towards the comm officer, "I want you to relay an encrypted message telling the other Mobile Commander's exactly where we are going." The comm officer nodded, and completed his assignment.

Through the flooded streets, the falling rain, around the abandoned vehicles that littered the street, and under the man bridges that connected the various parts of the city, Mobile Nine, with the other Mobiles in toe, made their way for Comm Tower 981. A safe haven from the dangers lurking about the city, or a trap set by the malevolent forces that haunted the area, they wouldn't know until they got there...

The blurred outlines of shadows is all that gives away Hobbs' fire team of seven men as they move from building to building, each man covering the other in a leapfrog movement of move, stop, cover and move.

Stopping at a corner Hobbs signals for hte men to hold as he peaks around the corner and looked around at a raging river of flood water "Well, I guess we're clear this way." He mutters as turning he wipes water from his gun sight and looks accross into the hazey distance trying to spot anything. Giving up he motions the men to turn about and head back.

"Roads closed, find another way." He mutters into his comm unit as he rushes past the men covering both ways and the windows of the building. Moving down a side street Hobbs pauses, hearing a faint rumble of a vehicle or so he thinks. Shrugging he heads forward his men covering him. The leapfrog movement begins again...

A few more hours pass and the team enters a building, this one a bit better off than the last one. Looking a bit more usable for research and communications seeing as it has the required utilities for communications the team spreads out on the lower level clearing rooms and barricading up areas they cant cover.

Another two hours pass and they declare the building cleared sending a quick transmission back to the rest of the IRaqstani Group who during the time it took for the scouting team have packed up their base and prepared for the move closer into the city, closer they hope to the source of the gunfire close to finding out who else shares his planet with them....

After setting up the equipment comes back online the distant chatter of strangers can be heard briefly all of this recorded and sent back up to the IMC sattelite and beamed to Iraqstan orders come in finnaly ordering the unit to move closer and discover and eliminate any potential threats to Iraqstani Holdings, orders that dont sit too well with the soldiers whom are put off by the emptyness of the area around them....