Durgama Takeover

Even for a veteran soldier like Lieutenant Nadya Grimmsdottir, the intensity of fighting on the Raveneye was starting to border on ridiculous. Her unit had been toured all over the station in quick order, her soldiers hardly bothering to unpack between assignments at this point. It seemed like within a week, the Kosmoflot 15th Orbital Shock Assault Battlion had blossomed from a mundane expeditionary force into a media figurehead thanks to their recent high-profile victories against Combined Army forces. Nadya, entirely too consumed with keeping herself and her fighters alive, had completely missed the Maya broadcast that highlighted her most recent victory against an EI Charontids. She felt a little strange with all the attention - after all, it was the examplary conduct and prowess of her unit that had kept up the fight, she had only been there to give directions. On the other hand, a small part of her was absolutely beaming from the attention. She had only just recently taken command of a team, and now she was already famous? In a war that the whole Human Sphere was watching? It was as if she had wished on an Antipode paw, the universe fulfilling her desires while extracting a heavy price in return.

And it had been no small price to pay along the way. Nadya was haunted in her quiet moments by the men and women she lost along the way, and a hard pit in her stomach was telling her that she was far from losing more. Nevertheless, it seemed that the unit itself was in high spirits, which was all that really mattered anyway, she mused. On the bright side, the newfound attention had left the battalion with a surplus of experienced volunteers to replace her losses in no time at all.

Her reflection was interrupted by a loud crackle of static from an intercom nearby.

"Lieutenant Grimmsdottir to Battalion HQ" droned an impassive voice from the other end, no doubt some Rokot that was kept back from the fight while he still learned which way to point a shotgun. With a sigh, she propped herself up from the stack of supplies that she had been lounging on - which were just as comfortable as the beds in this post - and began to walk across the base. Though she had no idea what the subject of the meeting was, she knew one thing for certain: she was heading back out into the fight.

Nadya spent her trip across the base pondering what fresh hell awaited her on the other side of this meeting. She knew that the Durgama campaign had just entered Phase Two, whatever that meant. Could this fight be going planetside? Or did the members of the Durgama Defense Coalition finally decide to try and wipe the Ariadnans off the station? Either possibility sent her mind spinning off into countless theoretical scenarios that could play out depending on the situation.

She was speechless as she entered the Command Room and came face to face with a tall woman in a camouflage uniform, who was impassively playing with a rather large knife at that very moment. On the newcomer's shoulder Nadya could clearly make out a unit insignia of a large yellow "7" on a field of red, marking her out to be a member of the dreaded Zenit-7. These stone-cold killers were trained in the Kazak Spetsnaz Schola, marking them as equals to the deadly gunfighters of Tartary. What made the Zenit-7 so much more intimidating, at least to an Ariadnan, was what they represented - the direct gaze of the Stavka, and a Sword of Damocles hanging overhead. Nadya had never had the misfortune of working with a Zenit before, but she had heard the horror stories through the ranks of the heartlessness, viciousness, and ruthless efficiency of these political-officers-turned-commando. Whatever was going on here, it was officially Bad News.

Grimmsdottir had realized with a start that she had frozen for a quarter second while she processed the Zenit's presence. While she shot a crisp salute to the Intel officer, she caught the face of Major Beria smiling at her from across the room. Seeing her superior officer and mentor in the room, particularly in good spirits, helped calm her back down as she made to introduce herself.

The Major beat her to the punch, standing from his chair while clapping his hands against his thighs. With a chuckle he began,
"Colonel Goloubeva, this is the lady I was telling you about. Meet Lieutenant Grimmsdottir of the Orbital Shock Battalion. Lieutenant, this is Captain Goloubeva. She's made her way all the way out here from Dawn to make sure things out here stay on track. Anything she says, goes, as if it's from me."

Nadya looked into the icy blue eyes of the Kazak operative and found only cold indifference. The Captain wordlessly arched both eyebrows in a silent greeting before turning back to the tactical display projected before them. The Major continued.

"So here's the thing and I'm going to tell ya, Lieutenant. It sounds like the Combined Army have shifted tactics and have begun to attack new targets. So, first of all, I'd like to congratulate you on your efforts in holding the fire control. Second, you have new orders. Since the USAriadnans passed their Zero-G training with flying colors, they'll be taking your spot in securing the old turf. Meet your new sweetheart, the Starboard railgun. This baby has one job and one job only, to rain hell down on those alien bastards below before they can attack something valuable."

"Your one job only," interrupted the Zenit with a voice as chilling as the rest of her, "is to hold this railgun at all costs. Any living thing that steps foot into this chamber is to be killed on sight - human, alien, or anything else that comes across you or your men is to be eradicated on sight. Even if the Military Orders show up in your territory claiming to have brought Jesus Christ himself along for the ride, light them up. Annihilation is the name of the game."

Major Beria, noticing that it was his turn to speak again, continued. "The Captain is here in part to make sure that this is carried out without any bellyaching from the troops. So long as you and yours stay true to the mission we've given you, that should wrap up your business together." Nadya could feel her muscles, which she had not remembered tensing in the first place, relaxing for the first time since she walked into the room.

"We've got some good news and some bad news for you, Grimm. Both are the same thing - we're sending you to intercept a Charontids again. Given your performance last time, we hardly expect this to be a challenge for you," the Major said with a wink, "but you should be happy to hear either way that this seems to be a fairly straightforward attack this time. Real shock and awe stuff, take a look," Beria said as he displayed the expected enemy forces.

Nadya whistled softly to herself as she reviewed the enemy roster. Not only was she fighting an EI aspects, but it brought a Samaritan along for the ride? A small shudder quickly rippled down her spine before it was dismissed with a burst of reassurance - had they not already handled worse than this? The briefing moved forward as Major Beria continued to speak.

"This is a particularly interesting theatre because of the damage to the station - artificial gravity in the area has been shot to shit, so moving around is going to be a chore. But! Here's the best part," he began, a wide grin creeping across his bearded face, "this also opens up an opportunity for some never-before-seen deployment opportunities. We'll be able to hot-drop any son-of-a-bitch with EVO training right into the thick of it like they were a Paracommando. We can have all manner of badass brawlers show up out of the black and really catch those bastards unaware!" His excitement was palpable, which had somehow begun to infect Nadya with good spirits as well. "Here's who you'll have over your command," he said, pulling up a new slide on the tactical display.

Lt. Grimmsdottir checked and rechecked her unit's positions one last time. A Rokot hid in concealment well ahead of the main force, substituting for the SAS that would normally be prowling on forward reconnaissance. The Unknown Ranger crouched on a rooftop near two Varangians, readying their tried-and-true frontal assault. Two Polaris units flanked the battlefield, lying prone in wait. Guarding the backline against ambush was an O12 liaison officer, who had been assigned to the unit as some sort of political agreement, as was an Authorized Bounty Hunter revving her bike idly in boredom. Last but not least, Grimmsdottir had set up shop with her command team atop a tall vantage point, the grizzled Volkolak Grisha watching over them all with his missile launcher.

The first hint of danger came when Grisha snapped to a firing position and loosed a volley of missiles at a target Nadya could not even see. Judging by the sudden roar of an engine and the telltale crack of a sniper, she surmised that he was likely fighting a mounted unit. One quick peek over her cover had confirmed the guess - half a moment before the bounty hunter and her motorcycle transformed into a billowing explosion.

"Target, Authorized Bounty Hunter, eliminated" reported Grisha over comms. Acquiring a new target, the Volkolak quickly reloaded his launcher, turned, and fired yet again. Across the battlefield, a Daturazi witch-soldier was beginning its attack, charging wildly at the Kosmoflot lines. As it passed an abandoned vehicle, smoke grenade in hand and ready to throw. A cloud of fire erupted where the Morat stood, seemingly disappearing into the blast.

"Target, Daturazi, eliminated. And - hot damn, looks like a Taigha and Ikadron down to boot!" Grisha began to cackle softly to himself as the carnage began to unfold, clearly loving every minute he spent in this fight. For a brief second, the battlefield fell silent save for the crackle of burning debris and dead alien. Grisha sniffed the air briefly, his canine face becoming even more unsettlingly inhuman for a brief moment. His eyes narrowed as he suddenly made a sharp turn to his right, as a Caliban burst from seemingly nowhere to his right.

A peal of fire erupted from the Caliban's spitfire, but the Shasvastii's shots went wide. Grisha's missile, on the other hand, did not. As suddenly as it had appeared, the Caliban disappeared. "Target, Caliban, eliminated," barked Grisha, his excitement barely contained at this point. His bloodlust was clearly growing proportionate to his kill count.

From a hidden position an E-Drone hummed to life and booted up a VooDootech supports are program, targeting a nearby Q Drone. The gun drone chitterd sideways, the plasma gun attached to a spindly arm glowing a sickly color as it readied to fire. As if on cue, another missile salvo completely obliterated machine. In just a few moments, Grisha the Volkolak had managed to score six kills.

The battle lulled for a moment, hinting that the Combined forces were regrouping for another attack. Now was the time to strike! Barking orders at her men and women, Nadya frantically consulted her tactical feeds and area maps as she drew up the best way to kill some aliens.

A Polaris unit lurched forward and immediately began to engage a nearby Taigha that had threatened to flank the Kosmoflot forces. The monstrous soldier roared in primal rage, berzerking forward towards the creature while swinging its trench hammer wildly. While the attack was successful, the Bearpode had drawn way too much return fire. Almost simultaneously the Bear-warrior absorbed a direct hit from a rocket and chain colt, both visibly wounding the beast. Life draining quickly from its eyes, the Bearpode bounded off in search of prey.

"MJOLNIR-1, on-station and ready for Zero-G drop" reported an uncomfortably familiar voice. Before she could check her unit dossier to place it, she realized that her new tactical asset was none other than that crazy son of a bitch Major Beria. "Sorry Grimm, I got cooped up at HQ and wanted to test our new Zero-G drop capabilities. You still have full tactical control, I'm just here to kill some aliens in style." As he spoke, a Kosmoflot patrol craft prowled overhead, or what passed for it in space, ejecting a single white object as a payload before departing. Major Beria, clad head to toe in Armata-4 Proyekt KOSMOSOLDAT armor, was making a combat jump out of a gunship and into enemy territory without a parachute.

The armored soldier landed on the station's deck with a heavy thud, the metallic clang of his boots heralding the successful jump. The suit's systems, though still rudimentary by international standards, was still the peak of Ariadnan combat engineering. The servos of Beria's armor took the stress of landing with ease and catapulted the soldier forward into a light run as he began his advance. Save for a lone unlucky Imetron, the landing zone was clear. Beria trotted by the alien antenna and disabled it with two shots from his massive pistol before continuing to scale the building ahead of him.

At the top of the ladder, Beria's helmet display blared a warning. A Morat soldier, identified as a Suryat, stood guard on a distant rooftop with a large rocket launcher in hand. Cresting the building and diving into a crawl, Beria found himself face-to-face with a Combined E-Drone. The machine jolted alert and attempted to fire at the new arrival with an underslung Combi rifle, but the shot went wide as another burst of Heavy Pistol fire came crashing into its chassis. Another hostile eliminated.

The Kosmosoldat decided that it was high time he got the real party started, and hefted his HMG into a firing position. The Suryat across the field turned and fired before Beria could make cover, loosing a rocket in his direction. The rocket missed. The HMG didn't. A long string of fire arced across the battlefield and punctured the Suryat's thick armor, obviously wounding it. Readying for another attack, the world suddenly went white.

Nadya swore as she read the update - MJOLNIR-1, disabled by enemy flash pulse. While inconvenient, Nadya sighed that that had been the worst to come to the Major on his attack so far. Emboldened by the HMG attack, she ordered the Ranger and his fireteam to engage the wounded Suryat. A burst of fire later, the terse American simply reported that a hostile had been eliminated.

The Bearpode continued its search for something to kill, now freed of incoming fire. Sniffing the air, it suddenly and forcefully began to climb a nearby tower. It had found something. Waiting for it on the roof was none other than an enemy Umbra Samaritan, the enigmatic commanders of the Onyx Contact Force. The two, uninterested entirely with conversation, immediately got to fighting. The battle was a quick one, the Bearpode using the last of its dying strength to channel one last attack with the trench hammer. The blow connected, crumpling the Samaritan's left side with a sickening crunch. But the Samaritan followed through with the attack of his own, a sword flowing through the air and stabbing directly into the Bearpode's torso. The Umbra stepped closer smiling viciously, and plunged the blade deeper. As the Polaris died, the wounds of the Umbra began to stitch back together.

Grimmsdottir realized that her own offensive momentum was beginning to stall out, despite the crucial victories her unit was scoring, but she wasn't done quite yet. Sending the "Go" command to her remaining Polaris team, Nadya waited for her final opening attack to begin. The Polaris, thankfully, had a clear advance to work with. It bounded on all fours across the battlefield propelled by an insatiable lust for carnage, an enemy target now selected for the hybrid warrior. The enemy Charontids. The Polaris came bounding around a corner as a tidal wave of aggression, unflinching as plasma fire singed and scorched fur and armor plate alike. It would not save the EI aspect. The Polaris raised its hammer high in the air with both arms, the rocket-boosters of the weapon screaming into life. With superhuman strength the hammer came crashing down, obliterating the alien techno -organic commander. With the mission accomplished, the Bearpode drifted off to a much deserved rest.

Emboldened by its newfound stolen vigor, the Umbra began to advance. He immediately began to trade fire with the Ranger, who put rounds of Molotok fire with deadly accuracy raining down on his position. One shot managed to connect with the Umbra and spray alien blood across the rooftop. Despite the minor victory, the Umbra pressed on, plasma carbine at the ready. He darted back out from his cover and sent an expertly-placed blast of plasma at the Ariadnan, splashing across his vaporizing armor and body with a cloodcurtling scream. Without hesitation the Umbra continued, launching another volley that struck a Varangian and unawares Raveneye Officer before they could manage to respond.

Across the battlefield, a Taigha attempted to climb a building. The telltale roar of a missile was heard, and, a second later followed by the words Nadya was hoping to hear. Grisha's voice barked through the comms with report. "Target, Taigha, eliminated."

The action seemed to lull yet again as the Umbra retreated from his vantage point, no doubt much less inclined to put up an honest fight with a bullet hole in him. Sensing the opportunity, Nadya ordered another attack. Major Beria was more than happy to oblige, his senses returned after spending a few minutes on the deck recovering from the flash pulse that had knocked him out of the fight. With renewed tenacity, the Kosmosoldat stood up in his new firing position and scanned for targets. His search was alarmingly quick, with a second flash pulse lancing out from behind a nearby piece of cover. His experienced eye and armor systems simultaneously identified his assailant as an Ikadron-class remote, which was almost certainly the culprit of the last stun attack. Now prepared for the shot, the Kosmosoldat stepped sideways while putting a deadly salvo of fire into the enemy drone. Another target eliminated.

With the enemy lines blown clean open, the Motorized Bounty Hunter that had previously been lounging around spurred into action. She darted through several large piles of debris, swerving to and fro with her expertly-piloted bike as she advanced towards Beria's position. Despite taking several shots from an enemy flash pulse, nothing seemed capable of slowing the mercenary down. Armed with a Red Fury, the biker briefly came to a skidding halt to rest the support weapon across the bike's handlebars as a makeshift bipod. A clap fire later, the Bounty Hunter reported cheerfully that an enemy R-Drone had been destroyed. A double-clap of gunfire punctuated the statement, cutting her short.

From a concealed position nearby, an alien that looked unlike anything else in the Combined Army burst onto the scene with a cone of shotgun fire. The spray of microflechettes impacted directly into the Bounty Hunter, followed by tiny pinpricks of blood from superficial injuries on her exposed skin. Miraculously, her armor had held through the attack, and the biker advanced to fight in person.

With the enemy Libertos engaged, Beria began to change his firing position. The soldier lumbered across the rooftop, HMG at the ready, until he detected a shimmer in the distance. Pausing a moment to give his armor systems a moment to investigate, Beria lined up a shot. A sudden chime indicated a successful identification - Submondo Smuggler Aida Swanson, a wanted fugitive and rumored Shasvastii saboteur. Smiling to himself, the Ariadnan spaceman squeezed the trigger and blew her away.

The Umbra, now dominated by the personality of the slaughtered Charontids chassis, reviewed his forces. It was just down to him, and a single Libertos mercenary they had enlisted for some ridiculous baubles in return. Growling with rage, the Samaritan-turned-Aspect weighed his options. Retreat, regrettably, was not an option. Gritting his teeth, Umbra braced for one final attack.

Across the battlefield, a final woosh-thump resonated through the station's artificial atmosphere. As soon as the fighting had begun, it was now over.

"Target, Umbra, eliminated."