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FERAL ACTUAL // COLONEL GOAN
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OBJECTIVE // SURVIVE // FORBIDDEN DISTRICT
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FOCUS // HELPING HAND //
Pradd Miolonn
// THE MAW // OPEN
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EQUIPMENT //
Combat Assault Tank Armor Mk. 1,
KXR SFR-58 'Bozdugan' Blaster Rifle,
REC-DC/04 "Feverwasp" Pattern Particle Blaster Pistol, Miscellaneous Equipment
//
BATTALION // 8TH ARMORED BATTALION "FERAL BATTALION" //
1x Command Unit, 5x Armor Companies, 56 XT-62a Cataphract-class Main Battle Tank, 14 All-Terrain Armoured Shield Generators, Miscellaneous Support Vehicles // ENGINEER COMPANY // TXT XV-60a Armored Personnel Carriers, Engineers // INFANTRY COMPANY // TXT XV-60a Armored Personnel Carriers, Stormtroopers // UNKNOWN // FORCES SCATTERED
A distant blast woke Sturit. Immediately his head started pounding; he felt like he'd been asleep for months. A second blast snapped him back to attention, and he forced himself to take in his surroundings.
Comfortable chair, tight space, control console -- he was in his Cataphract. He felt his chair was slanted, the tank was at an angle, maybe fifteen-twenty degrees raised on the right side. Everything was off; the low red of the emergency power lighting was the only thing keeping him from the darkness. He glanced to his left, where his driver should have been sitting.
<"Vern-">
Right. Vern wasn't there. When they'd gotten hit, the crews had been loading in. He craned his neck back to look at the gunner seat. Bohu was slumped against the left side of the turret, the arms of his armor cracked from the force. Sturit looked down at himself, and saw the difference -- the seatbelt taught against his chest. His own caution had finally saved him.
Now, though, the seatbelt felt suffocating. He unclipped himself, and nearly tumbled into the next seat over before catching himself. Slowly he reached up and pushed against the hatch to take a peek outside.
It was starting to come back to him. The Forbidden District -- rows upon rows of vast shipyard pits stretched out as far as the eye could see, which was not very far, given the darkness that fell upon the place. His only source of light was far above; a crack in the surface. Though it was distant, if he had to guess, it was about tank-sized. Flashes of light came from above.
Looking at the wreckage of his landing, he found himself giving a prayer to some unknown god for his survival. The Cataphract had crashed into a massive pillar. The rubble pinned one side, and he could see his tank's reactive armor had been spent on the impact. The main generator was damaged; the outer armor where it was appeared to have taken the brunt of the fall.
A few other beams of light were scattered about the old shipyards. Distant sounds of battle gave him a slight hope, but also a fear. He was alone -- his tank was without power, stuck, deep in enemy territory.
No, that wasn't the source of his fear. When he looked back out into the darkness, he found a chill run down his spine. Something was
there. He didn't know if it'd noticed him yet, but he was sure that when it did, he wouldn't stand a chance. As quietly as he could, he squatted down and closed the hatch.
For the next few minutes he did his best to fix things up. Bohu wasn't dead, it turned out, but was both unconscious and in critical condition. The tank's backup power was intact, and he began the startup process again; even if he couldn't move, it was better to be a sitting duck with a MegaCaliber Six than just a sitting duck.
But that was all skirting around the issue. He took the command seat again and opened up the comms. He knew any signal he put out would likely draw the Maw to him just as it would the Imperials or Alliance. If he even sent a signal, who would hear him over the chaos of battle? Who would have time to come to his aid? Still, he felt he had no choice. Better have a hand in his fate than leave it up to who found him first.
He turned on the distress beacon, and spoke quickly into the comm.
<<"This is Colonel Goan of the 8th Armored. I'm stuck in the shipyards of the Forbidden District -- my gunner is critical. Need medevac now. Broadcasting my position. Out.">>
He turned off the comm, breathed out, then pulled his rifle from the storage compartment and waited for the worst.