Durgama Takeover

You ever show up to one of those parties where the vibe is just... off? You walk in, and you can tell something either just went down, or it's about to? Ya, that's the vibe we all got as our ship exited the gate into the Concilium system. I love the part of space travel when we enter a system and the IFF goes crazy with all the ships that could be enemies, and this time, it went off the rails. A few flashes among the starlight were the visible signs of conflict, but our ship's systems were getting lit up with a million alerts, distress signals, coded messages, and every other warning we could get thrown at us. It set the atmosphere perfectly!

As our transport approached Concilium Prima, the state of the system became apparent. Thick plumes of smoke dotted the lush forests of the Durgama Peninsula and the faint flashes of air support lit up the terrain below. As the Raveneye station came into view from behind the planet, the situation looked even more dire. Boarding pods of a dozen different designs dotted the hull like barnacles, and several gaping holes exposed formerly interior halls of the station to the hard vacuum of space. Corpses of all stripes and species floated alongside the station, trapped in the same orbit as the station they had died for.

We flew towards the main Nomad station entry checkpoint, a shallow gash running down the port side of the Raveneye, since transformed into a defensive battery and docking point by the Evader teams after the initial attacks. As our ship came in to dock, I could see the teams of Geckos securing this landing area. Their shells showed extensive signs of damage, but, also repair. For the moment, our Nomad forces were hanging on.

We had received our orders in transit. They had started as a shitpost on Arachne, but had grown into an actual course of action. The port railgun, the one that days earlier had massacred over ten thousand Corregidoran civilians, had become a rallying point for Nomads. If we were going to exist in a universe that reviles us, we would need to be able to defend ourselves. Not just in small scale engagements, but in our homes, the motherships, as well.

Fiddler, of course, had nothing to do with the original idea. But she did find it hilarious, so she became the face of it. And so now Fiddler, Avicenna, myself, and a pair of other Riot Grrls were being tasked with securing the gun. It's an all-star squad for an all-star mission.

You're already well acquainted with my girls Fidds and Avi (who isn't), but let me introduce the rest of the squad. First off we've got Jackie. She's toting the missile launcher and doesn't talk much. I asked her about that one time, and she just said, "Missiles are my love language," and gave me a weird smirk. She's a big dogbowl fan though, so we watch games together when we can. Up next is Preet, on boarding shotgun and tinbot duty. That one's wikkid smaht and even built her own tinbot! She comes across as chill, happy, and upbeat but turns into a monster in combat. She doesn't like to talk about her past, but she says joining the Riot Grrls saved her life. That I can respect.

Rounding out our happy little family is me, Lilith "Lily" Manning! I'm what most of the """Human""" Sphere calls a "dogface," born and raised on Dawn in the good ol' US of Ariadna. As much as Ariadna loves to yell about freedom, growing up as a dogface made it very clear that the freedom the humans celebrate is not the same freedom they'll allow to anyone with even a strand of indigenous Dawn DNA in their genetics. That, and realizing I was trans made me leave my old life behind to join the Riot Grrls. Best decision I ever made in my life. I've been rocking the Spitfire in the team ever since someone higher in command noticed that I "don't have an appropriate fear of getting shot."

Upon arrival, we also got assigned Mia, a Zero hacker, and Kyle (I think his name was Kyle?), a fresh Moderator who gets to play pretend at Lieutenant, a purely ceremonial role in the Bakunin Jurisdictional Command. Three Morlocks also showed up. Nomad space is swarming with these guys, and I'm starting to suspect they just sprout inside the walls of Bakunin. They're usually pretty cool, but they also have a very short life expectancy, so I've never really gotten to know any of them too well.

The Raveneye is a station in chaos. The Combined Army is here in force, but defense forces have so far kept them to areas of minimal strategic importance. Unfortunately, that means everyone and their mother has come to defend the Raveneye, and fights have broken out among supposedly allied factions. Tensions are high, and sometimes you open a door and find your allies raiding your weapon dumps for supplies, and when you ask them, politely, "Hey, what are you doing?" they open fire! YES I'M CALLING YOU OUT HAQQISLAM!!!

Our most excellent Haqq allies sprang into action and began to array themselves into a fighting formation. There may have been overtures of, "Hey, we're allies," and "Put the missile launcher away and we can talk this out," but the Grrls and I had just been contained in a tiny metal can flying through space for too long, so we may have been a bit grumpy and not really heard them. Hard to say.

Our visitors had prepared two weapons caches for transport, one already nestled among their troops, and the second by the entrance my team had arrived through. Obviously, if we're going to defend the Raveneye from further Combined attack, we couldn't have them leave with those weapons. Plus, come on guys, don't kick us while we're down!

The Haqq forces deployed primarily defending their right flank, with Zuleyka Nazarova threatening to rush down their left side and abscond with our weapons. A gaggle of Muttawi'ah armed with chain rifles and jammers were camping the Haqq weapons, making it a nightmare to rush in, grab them and escape. Some Tunguskan nerd from accounting came up and started talking about needing to file some expense reports or something, but we told him we were busy and he f***ed off. "Lieutenant" Kyle insists that it was actually a Fiday in disguise, but Kyle's just a stupid man and can't be reasoned with.

The Grrls and I took up positions to repel attackers. Jackie and her missiles were setup to defend our left flank, and I took up position to defend out right with my Spitfire. Fiddler and Avicenna hung back, staying out of harms reach until we needed their talents. Our Zero, Mia, crept forward to secure a hidden position between our two forces. The Morlocks sprinkled themselves in along our front line, and we told Kyle to nestle himself safely in the back.

The Haqq attack began with a trio of Bashis dropping down out of the rafters on our right flank! I guess they were just hiding up in there? Avicenna insists that's normal for them, but I'm skeptical. The smiths over in Vulkanja were kind enough to fit an extra vent into my armor, and my doggy nose picked up on a potential deception immediately! This was just one dude and two un-smelly holoechos!

Our Morlocks knew something was up as well, and as the Bashis got close, the two nearby Morlocks started skulking forward, little by little. This Bashi was carrying E/M Mines, and I think his plan was to lock down the Grrls! Our Morlocks had moved forward enough though, that when the Bashis tried to spring their trap, they were greeted by the famous Morlock welcome of a bunch of metal blasted into their face. Who cares which holoecho is real when you can chain rifle the lot?!

Bashi repelled, the Haqq team started throwing smoke and shuffling their dudes around behind it. BOOOOO-RING! Eventually Zuleyka zipped up on her bike to hold some ground between us, but at this point the Grrls and I decided to take initiative.

High off their first kill and with a taste for blood, the Morlocks charged forward. One of them, cosplaying as what I have since been told is the "early 2000s bi-icon, Harley Quinn," ran ahead to go threaten Zuleyka. She rounded a corner and saw a hallway in front of her with some variety of people and camouflaged things, and, being a Morlock, blasted a crapload of metal into all of them. It's super effective! Zuleyka managed to get out of the way, but the Hunzakut and the deployables in the corridor were all cleared out!

Some bullets came her way in return, but she shrugged them off. I am constantly surprised by how resilient the Morlocks can be! "Harley" then rushed at the nearby Janissary, a man who Kyle insisted is the Haqq lieutenant "because he issued a lieutenant order," whatever that means. Kyle is turning out to be a very annoying nerd. As Harley rushed forward to bash in the Janissary's head with her massive electro-magnetic hammer, some bullets from the Haqq backline managed to connect and brought her down. A real shame, I've definitely got a thing for women with big hammers. ;)

At this point the Grrls and I needed to move forward! We can't secure weapons from the back lines! The Grrls and I pushed forward into a more offensive position, but by that point Haqq had started to regroup and was preparing a counter offensive!

Apparently Zuleyka took it personally or something when our Morlock buddy blasted her and her friends with a chain rifle so now she's pissed? Come on girl, get some armor and learn to tuck and roll like the rest of us! Anyway, she charged forward and pistol whipped the absolute sh*t out of our dogface Morlock! Not cool! ...unless she wasn't a dogface and her whole Morlock thing was making herself look like a dogface? That Morlock is dead now so I guess we'll never know now!

Brandishing her flamethrower, Zuleyka took a run at my team. Our team reacted appropriately, and as the smoke cleared, the results were apparent. Zuleyka and Avicenna both just straight up DIED, while the rest of the team was no worse for wear. Losing our Doctor this early HURTS, but we've learned to make do.

The next piece of Haqq BS thrown our way was a Ragik hacker, who was apparently hiding up in the rafters with the Bashi. Do Haqq people just hang out in ventilation systems? Is that how they got past the Nomad checkpoints? Fortunately for me, figuring that out is someone else's job!

Anyway, this hacker jerk started moving towards my team. Ordinarily, my team laughs at hackers since Preet's tinbot makes them largely ineffective. However, following Zuleyka's attack, my team's coordination is all messed up, and the tinbot isn't protecting the rest of us! The Ragik closes the distance and suddenly my armor is lighting up with alerts that every Haqq gun is locked on to me! That's not good! Fiddler, whos' standing next to me, knows exactly what this means, and we both dash for cover as the missile strike comes down! We're both a fraction of a second too late, and the blast burns scorches both of us. We're a little worse for wear, but at least Fiddler has managed to fall back far enough that the next missile won't hit her. I easily dodge the next one, and tell Zulekya's blown to sh*t body that that's how you tuck and roll! I'm not sure if the joke is funny, but it does make me feel a little bit better.

Our last Morlock friend was piiiiiiissed and ran forward to either avenge his friends or get some kills or something. I've also been told that's he's "a Worgen wielding the warglaive of Azzinoth." I don't have a f***ing clue what that means, but it sounded important when he said it. He also murked a pair of Mattawi'ahs at the end of his charge with his chain rifle, so I guess you do you buddy!

These Morlocks are massively outclassing us and that's not gonna do! I put our Grrl team back together, and pushed forward, determined to get some kills or seize some weapons or, well, anything useful. I murdered that loser Ragik on the push forward, apparently hacking isn't so easy when you've got a Spitfire unloading in your face!

The Janissary lieutenant was looking like a real tasty target, but he had tucked himself behind a barricade and was blasting out suppressive fire to try to keep us back. Yeah, like suppressive fire has ever stopped a Riot Grrl. Fiddler took initiative, pulled out a pair of D-Charges, and rushed the Janissary. Cackling, Fiddler vaulted the barricade, yelling, "Watch this!" ...which may have given away her plan a moment early, because the Janissary responded by just shooting her. LOL!

With a heavy sigh, Preet stepped up and put a couple shotgun blasts directly into the Janissary's face, ending him. Maybe we should have just done that first? The remaining Grrls and I take a quick moment to settle into cover, but in the brief moment, Haqq begins to advance again!

Their command structure shattered, Haqq tried to shore up their position. Unfortunately for them, their remaining forces are only a scant few troops, and the best they can reasonably accomplish here is to prevent the Grrls from grabbing their weapons cache. Their Fiday tries to make a valiant sacrifice, using a smoke grenade to try to keep the remaining Ghulam hacker safe, and succeeds! His smoke grenade lands true, and Preet grants his wish of dying heroically. Preet should apply to the Morlocks after this, she's definitely good enough.

Haqq is on their back foot and moving uncoordinatedly. The Haqq forces now realize that I'm still targeted, and launch another missile my way. Preet tells me I went up in smoke at this point, but she dodged out of the way. Guess this is my payback for taunting Zuleyka's corpse. Boxed in and on the verge of routing, the enemy positions themselves to prevent a further advance and eventually duck out with their supply cache and no more losses. They clearly haven't met Riot Grrls before, because that's not happening!

There's not a lot of resistance left, so my team switches to cleanup mode. Mia, our Zero who's been hiding in the shadows the whole time, takes this moment to act. She walks forward, and unloads her combi into the Ghulam hacker's head. Sorry Fiday, I guess your sacrifice was in vain. Our Morlock chain rifles down another defender, and Preet waltzes in to re-claim our weapons. It's been a bloody encounter, but we've annihilated the Haqq defenders and secured our weapons. Chalk up another win for my Riot Delivery Grrls!