POST VI
GALIDRAAN FREE-STATE
OBJECTIVE 1: HELL FROZEN OVER
COMMONWEALTH FORCES:
Enedina Tal
Konrad Bolter
Major Bennett Hall
Tyrell Lockhart
Alais Kaun
ALLIES:
Irveric Tavlar
Tyrell Paxxus
Halketh
Julian Qar
FN-999
Gallius Orcana
Albrecht F. Herlock
Aerarii Tithe
Liza
Korum Krov
Himm'vaun'merek
Kaleleon
Ziroka
ENEMIES:
Kascalion Giedfield
Lirka Ka
Kyrel Ren
The Mongrel
Maestus
Khaostra Devoid
Chimera
UX-0626
Erskine's Loadout
Primary: Custom Blaster-Pistol (Right-hip Holster - left-or-right hand draw)
Secondary: Basket-Hilted Vibrosword Claymore (Left-hip Sheathe - right hand wielding)
Last Ditch/Second-Blade: Fairbairn Vibroknife (Right-hip Sheathe - right-or-left hand wielding)
Pocket-Weapons: Gifted Brass-Knuckles from the Guv'Nah (Both Trouser-Pockets - akimbo wielding)
Blue-Heart Brigade (Mechanized/Artillery/Infantry)
201 Repulsorlift Tanks
5 AT-ATs
12 AFVs
5 MLVs
1 Coy. Riflemen
3 Plat. Combat Engineers
1 Coy. Field-Medics
Support: Tal's Fighting-First Brigade (Mechanized/Artillery/Infantry)
220 Cataphract Tanks
20 AFVs
5 MLVs
5 Predator Launch-Platforms
1 Coy. Elite Guardsmen
1 Coy. Elite Engineers
The Stormchaser V
CALLSIGN: BLUE-HEART ALPHA
Working their way to the transport ships at the summit, the Saga's crew would make for the second trenchline and pin all their hopes on the ACV's ability to tackle any incline Barran wished to throw it into. All the other tanks and AFVs had pushed on ahead to link with the MLVs and Predator Launch-Platform crews at the summit, so the fire raining down around them turned out to be the command-post's covering-fire orders to keep the Saga's crew and passengers safe from the Moon Children and Marauders giving chase. Pencin would lead the Fighting First, in their entirety, off to a safe distance away from the impending blast from the orbiting Superweapon as Barran led a procession of aggressors up towards the second trenchline, putting the engine under great strain as the Saga's pursuers were chewed up by a wall of bright-coloured, deathly beauty, bringing the momentum of their crazed chase to a quick halt as the Stormchaser's ACV bounded ever nearer towards the safety of the final fall-back line.
All seemed to be according to the regularities of winter warfare, even with the onslaught of small-arms and heavy-calibre fire screeching wildly past the Saga's exterior on all sides but beneath, until the sight of a solo psychopath with an LMG slung from his shoulder came running down the hill and offered covering fire of his own, though it was obvious to Johnstone (previously roaring with awe and excitement as the blaster rounds trailed by-and-above his head) that this madman had no intention of joining the Saga's fighting retreat uphill. The covering fire from above would cease, though the support of the irregulars behind him would follow suit soon after, running in with bayonets fixed and knives drawn for the hard fight that followed; Barran would figure out soon enough that these irregulars, though they were only a fraction of the numbers deployed with the man he'd made a point of asking to protect Enedina Tal, were from Dunwall, and making no attempt to turn back.
Clearly understanding of their need to push forward after the automated superweapon-impact warning went up on a mass of local comm-link channels, Lord Erskine knew that the one leading these Irregulars would require something of a rescue-attempt like the still-groggy Julian Qar had just moments before. The,
"Devil One", callsign, the indomitable Tyrell Lockhart, whilst running out almost a hundred metres ahead of his own Irregulars from Dunwall, was letting rip with his shoulder-slung blaster-LMG with the wildest look of furious joy on his face; a particular joy that the Brigadier-General knew all too well, a peculiar sort of joy that Barran had noticed in Alais and Noel's husband also.
'Deaney, you know what t'do!', the Lord-Commander shouted from his spot by the map-holographics, perpetually aware of the new and existing blips locked in with each other in the deadly mutual struggle for survival. Fortunately for everyone involved, the sweeping up of Julian went without any protest on the surgeon-cyberneticist's part, resulting in little more than mild, fleeting resistance for Leftenant Kaun to wrestle with; grumbling protestations on the matter of having his momentum pulled out by his cybernetic arms, Qar had relented by the time they had reached Murdoch at the Saga's Sloane-door. A quick, costless, successful rescue-attempt that yielded enough momentum to pave way for what looked set to become their second in a row, and the Lord-Commander was gladdened to see that the latest of his new acquaintances was poised and ready to play his part in the rescue of Tyrell Lockhart.
'Two in a row! HERE WE KARKING GO!!! Get the Sloane-door open, this wan's gawnty be much easier! S'just grab 'um fae inside an' pull 'um in! Three pairs o' hauns max should be enough for this, but please time it right though! No riskin' an engine-stall in the crucible for a second time, nae danger! Sorry, folks.... But Gear-2 is the lowest ah'm gawn this time!'
Ooft, that's just a tad quicker than sprinting pace, Deaney.... Chite odds, gambled on worse biht.
Drawing up to intercept the Madman himself, the driver had been fortunate that he'd previously been northeast of Lockhart's position, so making a wide right turn to bare the Sloane-Door to Devil One was much easier for the Woad Highlander to achieve than the efforts Alais and Lord Erskine had previously undertaken to reach the medic safely. With the Sloane-door already open by the time they could see Devil One's moustache, Barran tapped on both Qar and Kaun's shoulder to ready them up for drive-by snatching Lockhart at the peak of his warfighting fury; easier said than done, as Tyrell could just as easily have recoiled and pulled back at the pinnacle moment to die in the thick of it, but Lockhart would stay the course as the tiny window of opportunity presented itself.
'NOW!!!'
The Stormchaser VI
CALLSIGN: BLUE-HEART ALPHA
As soon as the Devil of Dunwall was aboard, the Saga's driver would kick into third gear when he heard the Sloane-door slamming shut, almost like the sliding door itself served as the third-gear starting pistol that propelled them back on the ACV's uphill struggle to the summit's command-post. Tyrell had no information on Enedina Tal's whereabouts, and had no means of making it to her position in time for the first trenchline's fighting retreat; all the Dunwall Irregulars' commander knew was that the Twi'lek woman had slipped behind the second trenchline and cut of his contingent's retreat, leaving Lockhart no option but to charge into the fray downhill in a blaze of glory, actions that endeared him to all the others within the Saga. Despite this, all within knew the fate to which the Irregulars were being abandoned to, but none knew that the Brigadier-General was silently vowing to charge back downhill again, swearing underbreath that the Saga's crew (and all the passengers who chose to remain for the show) would lead the charge that broke every opposing line on the Fighting First's full-speed descent.
<"Pencin to Blue-Heart Alpha! The fella from Dunwall's telling it true, all the area around Nines' command-post is swarming with the Twi'lek's units. Thermal lenses are picking up quite the angered hornet's nest of foes, so we're switching to tag-tracking now and smoothbore sniping on the move from here.... But do try and catch up with the herd in the meantime, Milord. Our little scrap for the fortified mountain, as you bloody well know, is about to get very hairy indeed!">
'Ne'er a truer word said, BRV One. Pushing hard into the incline again, expect us at the back-right of the line. And good luck, Pencin. Blue-Heart Alpha out!'
With plenty comm-link chatter being sent back and forth between the mechanised-cavalry coordinators, Barran was confident enough in the abilities of the Fighting First that he could confidently leave the tanks ahead to the task of freeing up the tension for the final fall-back line, lighting up a cigar as he opened up the frontal viewports. Wordlessly staring out as the recognisable sonic thumps of distant smoothbore shots echoes thuds downhill, the Lord-Commander of the Blue-Hearts would smirk with silent approval of the initiative shown by his Northern-Galidraani brothers in arms, lighting his pre-snipped Fortaner and revelling in the taste of the tobacco-smoke as the echoes of the High-Explosive shells' impacts followed like thunder after lightning.
The best karking job in the galaxy.... Smoothbores are just god-tier in the right hands, I love it.
Pushing past the second trenchline without any resistance from the defenders who remained to cover their approach to the best of their abilities, the Lord-Commander's ACV would put themselves within a hundred metres of the Fighting First, still firing on the marked areas around the command-post above with accuracy that would've made Gowrie's Goliath-crews blush at the frightening consistency of their Northern-Galidraani colleagues. But something changed in the Brigadier-General's facial expression that only caught the eye of Tyrell and Julian, a shade of someone from Erskine's past of whom could not be seen by the others, wispy remnants of Barran's firstborn that angered him to a jaw-clenching contrast to the joy of warfighting the Brigadier-General had exhibited just moments before. Whether Lockhart, Kaun or Qar had asked him anything, Erskine wouldn't know; with ears ringing, eyes closing in to tunnel-vision, and hands shaking with adrenal fury, the Brigadier-General's mind and soul would be sitting just out of the passengers' collective reach for a moment or two.
'The Galidraanis aren't evacuating, even if everyone else does.... You can leave with the others if you wish, I'm not stopping any of you; in fact, I would prefer it if you did leave with the others, fewer broken hearts to answer to. However, if you choose to remain when we link up with Nines and Lord Halketh, just know that the Free-State intends to see this operation through to it's conclusion; win, lose or draw, Tal's exiles would see this fight through until we're compelled to cease hostilities en masse.'
Further bombardment of the hostiles around the command-post made it clearer how close they had gotten to the Fighting-First's ascent, prompting Lord Erskine to smirk again before taking another flavourful drag from his Fortaner cigar and closing the frontal viewports again; turning round to lay eyes on his crew and his passengers, Barran would inundate his head's vicinity in tobacco-smoke before stepping forth to take his seat by the map-holographics, fully aware that every pair of eyes within the Saga's hull were on him as the Brigadier-General sat down to plan his next steps. Flicking the ash into the nearby disposal chute, the Lord-Commander then leaned back and concluded,
'As long as Enedina Tal is MIA, officially or otherwise, the armed wing of the Free-State remains. You are not beholden to our survival, but for as long as you remain within the Saga, the crew within are beholden to yours. The adventure is your choice to endeavour, and yours alone.'
The Kellas III
CALLSIGN: BLUE-HEART BRAVO
After managing to get the Blue-Hearts mobile again, Gowrie and Reed coordinated the remainder of their journey to reinforce the riflemen's line beneath their former summit skyline, taking fewer than twenty minutes to reach, and according to the reports of both the QMs' Scopes and Baird's Guardians, the leader of their stubborn ridgetop rivals had been surviving his fight with a particularly powerful force-user throughout. Unbeknownst to their enemy, and much to the mirth of the Kellas, one of the latest transmissions sent to the ridgetop's champion would also be intercepted by a few bored medics who had been assigned to check their comrades; from scouring the riflemen's faces for frostbite and other cold-related injuries, to keeping their focus and dexterity devoted to the unrequested task of hacking and intel-gathering the frozen boredom away.
<"McClung to Blue-Heart Bravo! First time doing this so bear with me, but the reason I've gotten in touch is because the medics have.... Shortening it down for conciseness - we've hacked just one Maw transmission in our last cigarette-break. But quite possibly the best transmission we could possibly have intercepted, considering our slim odds of success.">
'Gowrie to... Ah, AMV One! Spit it out, whatever the hell it is!'
Jumping out his command-vehicle to lead the remaining idled SA-35s uphill, the Tuath Lord-Major had brought his own from the rack by the sliding-door as he climbed the snow-topped rise with a wary hunch; with at least thirty previously-idled crewmen from other vehicles at his back, Aron would signal for a second halt before proceeding onwards with the field-medic responding just as the group dropped to their knees with a readied, trained poise. Whether Coyle's adjutant had useful information or not would depend entirely on his answer, so the Kellas took special care to manage his expectations as the Woad-born medic took a moment to frame his response properly.
<"McClung to Blue-Heart Bravo! Our enemy commander's epithet, or perhaps his title in bombast, is,"The Mongrel", for reasons we cannot ascertain with the limited resources and skill we have for such things.">
Some would laugh but- well.... There's a lot that can be said for a man who spurns prestige in such a fashion.
'Oh, I see.... We've been dealing with a proper warfighter from the moment we first made hostile contact, McClung. Gadgies like Lord Barran, who could make common cannon-fodder appear like wargods in the right setting. This man is completely devoid of ego, and therefore - should be assumed to live for nothing else but the feeling of fighting for survival in the crucible. Just as we do, AMV One! Blue-Heart Bravo out!'