Lord-Major Erskine Barran
1st Galidraani-Volunteers Armoured-Infantry Brigade,"Tal's Devils"
2nd Battalion,"Blue-Hearts"
New Imperial Order
LOCATION: 5 Miles away from Fort Imperator
ALLIES:
Willan Tal
Zakaria Black
Enedina Tal
Vostok Grauv
Djorn Bline
Lyra 'Sybila' Voikryt
Creuat
Tyrell Paxxus
Kolson Vrask
Meko Sorrin
FN-999
<"Jorie to QMC Alpha! Shift positions as much as possible, but only if you really need to. Meet me on the southwest corner of the former first defensive-line, Thorn's nest before-">
<"Aye, aye. Ah know Sergeant Thorn was your friend, but you alone have the honour of carrying his number on your armour, and for the rest o' your service as a Lord-Officer of the NIO's land army! You can even have his number on your shoulder-plate if you so will it, and all it takes is surviving this hellhole 'til there's none left for us to fight! After all, it's an easy place to exact quick retribution, isn't it?">
<"True that, Heggy! But keep yer heid down so ah can drink ti that in person, eh? DT Alpha out!">
Keeping a wary ear out for the latest developments with his two best subordinates, the audio-traffic in Lord Erskine's comms-device had been quite busy at points, though it was mostly sporadic due to the fact both units were doing their best to sneak around the latest of Sith-aligned contingents to arrive in the area. If there had been other units in the area, the spaceport's largest armoured Sith presence yet would be having more luck in finding foes to kill; Barran's entire roster of subordinate officers had foreseen this long before their first rear-guard actions, with some even assuming such when they were still digging entrenching-tools into the grounds surrounding the Imperial Gate spaceport.
Poor fellows, they'll believe they're chasing ghouls and ghosts before long....
Whilst smirking at the thought, the comms device whirred with activity again, but this time a reply from an external source; quietly whistling to gain Shugg's attention, Major Barran held his right fist high to signal a halt, then gestured for everyone to take cover and keep eyes peeled as he knelt to play the holographic message. Checking his personal arc-of-fire before clicking on the message, Erskine's position had a few windows overlooking that had him ducking instinctively into kneeling behind an overturned billboard; no unnecessary chances were to be taken on that day, and that approach had been threateningly imposed on the Blue-Heart officers in the weeks before they landed on Bastion. Satisfied with the temporary cover, the Lord-Major was self-assured enough to hear Vostok's reply.
'Barran to Fort Imperator! Is there anyone outside the gate who can get a fix on our position? Anyone who could cover our entry?'
<"Copy Blue-Heart Alpha, current position is clear; I will aid in closing the gap, see to it that these... wastrels and their malformed offspring suffer. They've not yet learned their lesson. Punished Hound out.">
'Roger that.', Barran mumbled under-breath to himself, momentarily revelling in Vostok's brash encouragements before turning back to the others, then silently gesturing for the formation to move again as he stood to look back to the windows that spooked him before. Soon after, everything was going as serenely as the engines of the Cataphracts would allow, with everyone continuing on through Tal's trail of destruction until Barran's scouts brought the entire formation to a halt behind them. This was Lord Erskine's cue to move to the front, so he kept his head low as the others took cover again, running to the front of the line and muttering orders to every tank-crew along the way; along with demands to cut their engines, the Cataphract tanks were to embrace the new carbonite ammunition again, and their respective crews to have it all chambered to fire on the Major's mark.
'Milord, you need to see this.....'
When the whispering scouts made eye-contact with their Lord-Major, their sergeant shuffled forward with his head down; as the Guard-Sergeant nodded with reverent admiration, he pulled Erskine closer by the arm, oddly (and overly) adherent to Major Barran's need for silence. Handing a detached scope to his Lord-Commander, the Sergeant deftly guided Erskine's magnified gaze to the scouts' area of concern, and when Erskine saw it, his jaw clenched in plain view of the scouting guardsmen nearby. As Barran handed the scope back, he ruefully whispered,
'You could've just told me it was sith-spawn, Rhone.', massaging his temples as Shugg sent the exact coordinates to all the tank crews behind them.
'Milord, twelve o' the Cataphract-turrets have a clear line-of-sight, all chambered with carbonite as ordered.'
Looking around to find everyone waiting on his final word, Erskine waited; seeing everyone in that state of readiness was a relief to see, pushing Major Barran to make his next decision inwardly as he turned to Shugg.
'Twelve is more than enough, just watch.', the Lord-Major muttered, standing to get a better view of the alternate-ammunition's carnage. The act of clearing his throat turned all heads back to their allotted arcs of fire, setting to action as he inhaled to speak, watching the distant commotion as Lord Erskine bellowed,
'ALL TWELVE, FIRE AT WILL!!!!', with every ounce of willpower he had. As the muzzle-flashes unleashed the turrets' payloads, the carbonite ammunition left streams of shimmering-cold, misty smoke in their wake as they bore down on their monstrous targets, briefly distracting everyone until the Cataphracts came to life with their next rounds of carbonite.
But then the distant sound of an ICBM impact rang out through the city, audibly unleashing the fading remnants of it's shockwave on the areas surrounding the Imperial Gate spaceport, a moment that shocked everyone but those tank-crews who were too busy to notice. The only one who was unfazed by it was Major Barran, knowing that the high-powered detonation was intended for someone more than just stragglers, friendly-fire victims and corpses, a someone more who had long since abandoned the spaceport's defensive-perimeters; along with the two small fire-teams who had smartly followed-suit eventually, though whether they had survived the blast or not would have to remain unanswered for a while.
Chasin' ghosts, as predicted.
'Aye, nae turning back now, is there?', Barran growled, sneering at everyone around him as he yanked an NIO flag (along with the steel pole it was set to) from the nearest tank. Walking back into the throng of gathering riflemen, the Lord-Major held the makeshift banner aloft and readied himself for the wild charge he always dreamed of, then Erskine briefly gazed over to the struggling sith-spawn in the distance as he inhaled for his attempt to rouse everyone in sight. As he shifted the grip of the banner to his left hand, Barran drew his pistol and shouted,
'We're almost at Fort Imperator now, lads! SHOW ME WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!!!!!', before running off towards the wailing sith-spawn in the distance. Everyone would mount a full, charging attack in answer to their Lord-Major, running in with war-cries their ancestors would smile on; firing everything they had at the last, malformed roadblock that stood between them and Fort Imperator, the one thing standing between obliteration and momentary safety.
Boot-teeping and rifle-shunting at frozen extremities, Barran's Blue-Hearts would make firm use of the previous carbonite barrage, and easy work of all those sith-spawn who writhed in loud agony around them. The ones who could still fight were easier to envelop without their horrible brethren to back them up, creating a frightening scene of bloody, grisly chaos as the riflemen jumped their prey with bayonets and shots running amok; Shugg was even surprised to see that Barran was just as frenzied as his guardsmen and riflemen, watching as the Lord-Major stabbed unrepentant viciousness into a sith-spawn who'd struck out at the Guard-Sergeant, wielding his vibraknife with wild and reckless abandon.
'KEEP MOVING, IT WON'T DO TO KEEP VOSTOK WAITING!!!!'