((Sorry it's taking me a while to respond.))
You tell the squad leader you want to go to the hangar. He nods, looking relieved, saying, "Good, because we still would have gone there anyway."
He was more devoted to the men under his command than he was the success of his mission. It feels like a punch in the gut, but you try to avert your thoughts by asking, "Do you have transportation?"
He nods. "We have a transport ship inside an office." He shrugs, saying, "Only place big enough to land."
You agree with the squad leader to hightail it for the hangar. You, for the paycheck. Him, for his men. After several minutes of painstaking footwork to get back to your A7, you safely enter, and tell Jon to gun it for the hangar. You notice the Highlander marines have done so already, the blue trail of their exhaust swirling around in empty space.
The A7 accelerates towards the hangar, and you see the flashes of light more clearly, muzzle flashes from assault rifles, the boom of a grenade, and what frightens you slightly, is you think you see a tank.
And it is not friendly. The transport ship has already dropped the reinforcing squad on top of the hangar, where they drop down and eagerly join the fray. Jon fires the Gauss cannons on the front, which are made to punch through a frigate, so they easily punch through the tank, knocking the treads off, and blowing the turret to the side. The A7 brings in close to the hangar, where you do the same thing you did last time. Jump, and land.
As soon as you enter the hangar, you hear the sounds of battle around you, the gunfire that seems to reverberate through the floors. Your mission is to learn as much as you can from a pilot, and seeing the Kapellans versus the newly-reinforced Highlanders gives you reason to believe they'll do fine for a minute or two.
But looking around at this hangar, it's absolutely huge! You think it's about the size of the Yankee stadium you learned in school about, many, many years ago, and how it erupted into flames in 2016. That's how big this thing is.
You feel a shot glance off your leg armor, so you get down, noticing your team has already joined the fray, getting in cover and fighting side by side with the highlanders. Reg seems to have a fun time with it, as he is currently mopping the floors with a Kapellan marine's face.
You single out one of the friendly marines that has withdrawn from combat, clutching a wound in his side. You ask him if there are any pilots left in the hangar, to which he replies, "There's four... Four, I think. Gadon's told them to hole up, especially since they came back pretty fucked up."
After asking where the pilots are located; behind an overturned bomber some dozen meters away, you run over with your head down, looking for the pilots. You locate them, right where the soldier told you they were located. They all look grim, and two of them seem injured, though it is not life threatening.
"What do you want?" One of them asks, and once you explain you are here to recover information, they all fall silent.
"What, is it something I said?" You ask.
"The Kapellans are striking their last blow against us." One says. "They're sending over two of the four Motherships they own. At least three damned dreadnoughts, and dozens of cruisers, hundreds of frigates, thousands of fighters."
Worried, you ask, "Who else knows this?"
"Gadon, the commander of the marines here, well, technically. He took over when the actual commander got head ventilation." The pilot replies, tapping his helmet.
"And?"
"Only him. And you."
They haven't told any of the marines, which means this is bad. The four Kapell motherships are capable of razing a planet in mere hours. They are miles wide, and three times as long.
Explains how the space station got shot up like this. It was quite literally dwarfed by the motherships.
"Then why are we still fighting?" You ask,
"Gadon has a really crazy idea. You will have to ask him, if we survive this." Another pilot responds, and you have the feeling you'll get no more out of them. As you return to the fight, the Highlanders have actually gotten an advantage, with the enthusiasm of fighting on home turf, and overall better training, the stranded Kapellan squad was dwindling, and the Highlanders started to rush over them like a tide, engaging in vicious, almost needlessly brutal melee.
You are going to join in, when a blade sails past your face. You duck, and the attacking Kapellan tackles you, bringing you to the ground, and raising his knife for a kill...
No help is available to you, none that you can see, you could try and lunge for the knife-holding wrist, stopping it from crashing upon you, or kicking him off, or trying to edge to the side to dodge, but you need to act fast.
COMBAT INFO
Greg - Handgun - Light Exo Armor - Simple tools - No injuries.
Reg - Prototype rifle - Heavy Exo Armor - Grenades - Just a scratch.
Mark - Submachine gun - Light Exo Armor - Medical supplies - No injuries.
Gordon - Prototype Rifle - Medium Exo Armor - Grenades - No injuries.
Author
Topic: You own a interstellar mercenary company! (Read 15868 times)