ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!
attack now, if it turns bad we can pull out under cover of darkness
Well, things can go to hell a lot faster than in three hours.
I personally do not give two shits, however.
e: Send recon people to check for commando forces trying to flank us, no need to be COMPLETE idiots.
Deciding to err on the side of caution, you send the infiltrators and scouts out to protect your flanks alongside the light assault. You tell them to aid in the fighting but also be on the lookout for enemy flanking maneuvers and attacks on your rear by enemies missed earlier.
They get into position and await further orders. You sisters are all ready.
Wait until the next large push on Ari's group, then hit them from behind - if we can catch them while out of position we'll stand a much better chance than if we get spotted while they are preparing to attack *someone*.
do we know if these commandos have long range comms? -- we didn't know about ari's group until we made direct contact. Is it possible these guys we are about to jump don't know we are here, so we have a perfect flanking attack opportunity?
We should take a staggered approach to this instead going all in at once.
they out-number us, breaking up into smaller waves before a frontal assault is asking for defeat in detail. breaking into groups and hitting from different directions at the same time, yes, attacking at different times, not such a hot idea.
edit:
an unexpected attack from the outside from multiple directions? -- we should target comms and leadership again, and have Ari's group ready to counter-attack.
(also, Ari with battle experience might have a good idea about what would work in this situation, and knows her own brood better than we do.)
You discuss the plan you want to use to help Elianne with Ari.
"It is suitable for this situation. We didnt see any long range communications equipment on the ones who attacked our Brood, so the possibility of a completely effective rear attack is high. We just need to make sure we get them all."
You nod, agreeing.
You signal one of the closes scouts. You tell her to observe the fighting ahead, and to tell you when the Morey commandos make another push against Elianne's defensive circle. Ten minutes pass before your scout gets back to you.
"
They are attacking again!" you hear her say through your ear com.
You signal your brood to get ready. They stand, staying as low as possible. You order the heavy assault, the third of your light assault, the engineers, command and Communications team and medics to charge forward. Then you tell the majority of your snipers and heavy support to provide support for the charge. Seeing the advance, the light assault, scouts and infiltrators on your flanks take their que to follow, and attack the flanks of the enemy, whilst simultaneously protecting yours.
Not wanting to get left behind, you and Ari charge up and take the lead.
It isnt long before you meet the first commandos. As presumed, they are not expecting you at all. Your spearhead plunges deep into them, guns blazing, muzzle flashes from concussion rifles lighting up the now rapidly darkening forest.
The fighting is fierce, but the first of your sisters make it to Elianne. Your sisters already there join in the fighting, and Elianne orders her sisters to assault the enemy positions.
The contingents of Commando's on your flanks fall like dominoes to your light assault troops and the long range rifles of your infiltrators and scouts. the hole in the encirclement is now too big to close.
You are, however, noticing casualties on your side. Quite bad ones, especially on your flanks despite the success. You know they are just unconscious, but you still feel a slight twinge of panic. '
i suppose this is what Ari felt like during her last campaign....' you think too yourself, whilst dropping two commandos with well placed shots to the chest.
You continue to drive the charge, however the Commandos seem to have rallied and are starting to slow you. You do notice, however,t hat they are taking far more casualties than you are, and in parts their battle line is almost non existent, only a few shooters over dozens of metres. You direct your charge into these holes, hoping that it isnt a trap.
*Bad dice roll* ((Oh dear))
As your Brood charges through the gaps in the enemy's lines, supported by whats left of Elianne's group, sweeping what little resistance is left before you, fire suddenly erupts in front of you. Fortunately, though, the majority of your sisters hit the deck or get behind trees. Their surprise failed, only inflicting a few casualties on your point-women. Urging your Brood forward ((*critical success roll*)) in one last charge, your Brood charges home, guns blazing all the way, Commandos dropping like wheat to a scythe. It isnt long before they are on the run, on a few hundred left.
Chasing them down, you knock out most of them, however approximately two dozen get away.
In the distance, a horn sounds. The combat drill is over. You've won.
The three Broods trickle back to the facility, whilst the unconscious ones are taken to the infirmary. The standard foot soldiers are allowed back to their bunks for a good nights rest, as tomorrow is Deployment Day, and they will be shipped off to be loaded onto an as yet unspecified warship for deployment into an as yet unidentified system to fight the Slinkar.
As the Brood Leaders rest in their shared common rooms in the Leaders Quarters, after getting out of their armour and depositing their weapons in their personal armouries, several heavily armoured troopers come marching in. They wear an ornately designed and detailed powered armour suit, similar to the ones Vat-born wear. You then realise: '
These are vat-born.....what are they doing here and who are they?'. You didnt have to wait long for that little mental question.
As all 4 of you, Ari, yourself, Elianne and Ankara, stand and face your 'guests', the one you assume to be the leader of this squad steps forward. She is wearing the most intricately designed and decorated armour, but lacked a helmet. She had long dark hair, green eyes and a stern expression. Across her face is a triple scar, similar to some sort of large claw. She is attractive, even with the scar, however her eyes betray a ruthlessness and brutality you aren't familiar with.
"We have come to escort you to the branding, sisters, so that you may be entered into the service of the Matriarch's Personal Armed Forces." She looks straight at you "And so that you....." she pauses "....may be entered into the service of Her personal guard".
You glance at Ari.
'
I dont like the sound of that' You think to her.
'
Me neither' she answers.
The troopers arrange themselves around Ankara, Ari and yourself, and guide you to a room very similar to the one you woke restrained in, however the only machine present seems to be some sort of wheeled cutting tool. In the room with the tool stands the Matriarch and the General off to one side, alongside Ala-Shar, all three with grim expressions on their faces. Standing next to the machine, holding the cutting tool, is the Presidentess herself, with a grim across her face that would put the Cheshire Cat to shame. She giggles like a little school girl as you enter.
"I think it is about time we tell them just what is in store...." She begins, barely suppressing the giggles. "....After the branding, you will, aside from the occasional deployment on behalf of the Military to hotly contested sectors and systems, be responsible for the protection of the Matriarch and the politicians of the
Senatorium, both located in the Grand Palace in our capital planet,
Or-taksha in the
Or-tay system...." She giggles again "....But you..." she points directly at you "....will also be a part of the Matriarchs personal guard, responsible for Her protection during public events." She strokes the tools lovingly "There may also be.....
other....services you may need to perform, for certain members of the Senatorium..." At this, she almost collapsed for laughter.
You glance over at the other two members of the Big 3 and Ala-Shar. They look almost as disturbed by this show of insanity as you feel. You can't help but feel that if all Senators and Politicians are as mental as this one, the Senatorium should be called the Sanatorium for the Dangerously Insane.
Suddenly, you are pushed from behind by one of the troopers. '
So this is it....this is going to hurt...' As you step forward, two more troopers come from behind and hold you in an arm lock. They also tear off your casual white robes you were wearing. Small padded holding shackles emerge from the roof and the floor, which the troopers attach to your ankles and arms. once attached, they pull your body taught, almost suspending you in the air. The two troopers remain, holding you perfectly still. One injects some sort of light pink fluid into your neck.
The tool flares to life. "You know, long ago i used to have a job doing this highly respected tradition that dates back many thousands of galactic cycles, to a time when we still had our much missed males...." She giggles "I miss the simplicity of this job. A Politician's life is just....so.....
complicated!" With the last word, she applies the tool to your flesh, starting the beginning of an intricate and large bodily pattern. "I REALLY hope that probe inhibitor and pain enhancer is taking effect, beast!" the Presidentess, Karista, cackles.
You gasp, but remember in time your promise to Ala-Shar not to give the mad-woman the courtesy of your screams. You bit your lip instead. So hard, in fact, you feel blood start to fill your mouth.
The Presidentess goes slowly, taking as much time as possible, sometimes going back over bits, seemingly to just extend the agony. After what seems to be an hour, the strength leaves your legs. You risk a glance down, and see that the madwoman has only done the left side of your chest and your left breast. You can see the nano-machines are already doing their jobs, but even then, a rather significant scar will remain and be permanently there. You let out a whimper as another wave of pain hits you as the presidentess starts on the right side of your chest, your skin smoking as it is cut into by the energy tool.
Another hour passes. You almost pass out. As your vision begins to blacken, the Presidentess steps back, leaving your chest a smoking mess, and declares " COMPLETE! One of my best works, i should think. What do you think your highness?"
A rather shaken sounding Matriarch splutters " Erm...yes. it is very......impressive". You cant help but picture the Presidentess grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
The restraints on your ankles release, the troopers release you and step back. Finally, dangling like a mutilated pinata, the wrist braces release, dropping you to the ground with a thud, causing the pain from your chest to flare. A smug chuckle grabs your attention. "Now, little beast, how do you address your betters?" Rolling you over with her foot, off of your front to face her, Karista squats next to your head, grinning evilly at you, tool in hand. You splutter, mouth still filled with blood, and cough, moaning. "T...This way, my M...Mistress" you groan. Karista pats you on the head, stands and then kicks you in the chest, forcing a scream from your lips. You curl up into the fetal position, shaking in pain. "And let that be a lesson to you. Respect your betters, curr."
With that, she tosses the tool into the hands of the leader of the squad who escorted you and walks out the door. Two troopers drag you to one corner, making way for Ari to go through the same branding. It takes only 10 minutes. Ari doesn't let out any noise and, once finished, hurries over to comfort you, still curled in the corner, hurting. Ankara, once branded, helps Ari take you back to the Leaders Quarters. You cant help but notice that your brand is more detailed than theirs.
What do you do? *
Deployment tomorrow*
Status:1. Panicked, hurting badly, scared.
2. Mentally Fit
3. Physically Fit
3. Clear thoughts and currently inactive mental factions.
4. Free moving.
Condition:1. Physically damaged: Heavy chest damage and scarring - healing
2. Mentally Stable.
Inventory:1. Naked
Available Equipment:1. Mark 3 Vat-Born Engineer Armoured Powered Exoskeleton Suit
2. Basic white skin tight suit
3. Mk5 Mass-Driver pistol (sidearm)
4. Arishok Plasma pulse rifle
5. Dikari Plasma shotgun
6. Warrisk Mass-Driver Battle Rifle
7. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives.
8. Stun/Concussion rifle
Implants and Augmentations:1. 2x Loyalty probe in the Striatum part of the brain.
2. Multi-range optics (Thermal, magnetic, IR, UV, multi-stage magnification etc) implant on eyes.
3. Command and Control (C&C) nano-module implanted in head.
4. Communications array nano-module implanted in head.
5. Fortified 7th Generation reverse engineered biological nano-machines in blood stream, bones, muscles, tendons and organs.
6. Nano-memory modules in the Cerebrum, holding all relevant non-personal data.
Brood Composition:1. Forward Command and communications: 10 Vat-born.
2. Field Combat Medic and Long Range Specialists (Snipers) all come in at 50 persons each.
3. Heavy assault and Light Assault have 250 each.
4. Infiltrators: 50
5. Heavy Support: 120
6. Combat Engineers: 120
7. Scouts: 100
Ari's Contingent:1) 12 Scouts
2) 7 Infiltrators
3) 5 Forward Command & Comms
4) 19 Field Medics
5) 13 Combat Engineers
6) 22 Long Rage Specialists (Snipers)
7) 25 heavy Support
8 ) 23 Light assault
9) 64 Heavy Assault (including Ari herself)
Possible Rebels:1) 2 in the Forward Command and communications
2) 3 Field Combat Medics
3) 3 Long Range Specialists
4) 4 Heavy assault
5) 10 Light Assault
6) 2 Infiltrators
7) 3 Heavy Support
8 ) 4 Combat Engineers
9) 6 Scouts.