Durgama Takeover

Infinity

Durgama Defence Coalition Collaboration Program - Zero Gravity Training

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Nomads
VeryFastPanda
VS Yu Jing
Luca Girolami

The Weight of Guilt

Lieutenant Edward Okiro stood nervously before Justine’s office. He took a deep breath, and knocked on the O-12 functionary’s door.
She let him in, moving aside the tabs open on her holographic display. She wore her usual blue uniform, this time without the characteristic yellow helmet.
- Good morning brigada Okiro, what can I do for you? -
- Morning Officer - he answered, stopping in front of her desk - I came to inform you that we received a request for another joint training session from Yujingese Command. This time they expressly requested microgravity and rarefied atmosphere as mission parameters. -
She raised an eyebrow - Well, those are some pretty specific demands. Do you think they can be met? -
- We could use one of the external Port Battery hull facilities, they are pretty much deserted when the situation’s calm. -
With a discreet hand gesture, Justine summoned her geist, and had it run a query for eligible places on the outer surface of the station - Hmm, yes, I think I can fetch you an authorization for one of these spots. You’ll have a limited time window to work with, but I suppose you weren’t planning to dedicate too much time to this anyway. -
He nodded.
- Very well then, if there isn’t anything else…? -
- There’s one thing, actually. - He paused, trying to phrase his question the right way - I’ve received news that one of the Raveneye Officers assigned to the Bow Section was injured yesterday… -
Her expression hardened, anger pulling her lips in a thin line - Yes, Ernest. We’ve received his report. The bureau decided not to start any official action, the situation’s far too volatile for us to begin throwing accusations around. - Edward’s shoulders relaxed imperceptibly - But you Nomads should know better than anyone else here - Her voice started to swell - That we humans shouldn’t be running around shooting each other when the Combined Army is at our very doorstep. How many more lives do we need to lose before you understand? - She almost screamed.
Okiro’s jaw tightened at those words, and her eyes stopped on the Coalition symbol in his halo: “vengeance for Satellite module”.
She took a deep breath.
- I’m sorry, that was unfair. I know you had orders. -
- I did what I could. - He replied dryly.
She nodded - Ernest is a good friend. And, thanks to you, he’s still alive. There’s not much more to say. -
- No, I guess there isn’t. -
He left, closing the door behind him.

We do not forget.

Raveneye station - Exterior hull

- Are we ready, Ed? - Not-the-Real-Jazz’s voice made him snap back to reality. He looked around in the EVA helmet, spotting Widget, clad in his usual gear, and the Vac-Suit wearing hacker. They were laying low on top of the airlock structure, magboots preventing them from floating around.
- Yeah… yeah, we are. Let’s do one last radio check and then fire that signal flare. - Ana, Kid and Gero, who had decided to try on Bandit equipment, immediately responded, closely followed by Dayo, the Masai Hunter that had just been assigned to his squad. He was very young, and pretty inexperienced for a Moran, so that was a good chance to gauge his skills without any real risk.
The two little green lights floated away in the inky blackness of space, twin wisps quickly swallowed by the surrounding sea of stars. It was their cue to begin.

External maintenance and defence structures used as training grounds.
Nomad forces for the simulation, mostly veterans of Okiro's team.
Nomads take position.
Invincible Army forces, the Hulang is the tip of the spear.
Invincible Army troops are ready to attack.

Invincible army troops didn’t waste any time: the Haidao, seeing that all Nomads were keeping their head down, aimed at the automatic turret they had placed near the airlock entrance. Jazz, however, had tinkered a bit with its targeting matrix priorities, and, instead of responding to enemy fire, the turret picked off an unsuspecting zanshi that was moving down the stairs of the maintenance compound.
Precise shooting from the sniper immediately disabled the robotic defence, but the zanshi had been clipped, and had to float to the sidelines as the first casualty.
Having his path cleared out, the Hulang began to move towards Gero’s position. The Bandit was laying in wait on a flight of stairs, and tried to jump at the assailant; the heavy infantry’s fire however was fast and precise, and Gero was pushed towards the black sky by the inertia of the shots. Seeing that he was eliminated, he let out a loud curse in the squad’s channel, and, having gripped his security cable, began descending.
The Hulang then advanced further, setting up an ambush near Ana’s hiding spot, fully within Nomad territory but hidden from their sight.

The bandit's camouflage is not enough to escape the deadly Hulang.

Okiro had to do something, or they would be quickly overwhelmed.
- Team, let’s move out! - he ordered, getting up on his feet and vaulting to the stairs. Widget was ready, and stood in the same breath, shooting at the Haidao on the roof with his spitfire. Taken aback by the sudden volume of fire, the sniper didn’t manage to move out of the way of the incoming bullets, and ended up sliding to the ground with multiple hits registered on his tactical display.
The EVAder then focused his attention on the Yujingese defensive turret that was pinning down Okiro, and disabled it with a controlled volley.
- Pfft, it got me once. - Complained the Brigada looking at his screen - Another one and I’m out, sorry team. -
- Hey, it’s fine. - replied Jazz, right behind him - Let’s get them. -
They carefully moved to the base of the stairs, remaining in tight formation. Peeking over Okiro’s shoulder, Jazz fired both repeaters from her pitcher. Weightless, they flew in a straight line towards the Hulang: one didn’t find purchase, and idly floated away, while the others embedded itself in a crate near the spot where Gero had fallen.
While the device activated, Widget manoeuvred in a good position to provide covering fire, and Jazz crouched behind Okiro, his bulky armour completely hiding her from view.
As soon as the Hulang’s personal network appeared in her hacking range, she started trying to seize control of his systems; and she would definitely have succeeded, if the Rui Shi hadn’t come barreling down from behind one of the loading bays, training his weapon on the defenceless repeater.
Okiro aimed at the crablike remote, but was a fraction of a second too slow: its bullets swept away the delicate antenna, rendering it useless, before a shot from his multi-rifle managed to deactivate the assailant.

For a moment, the Hulang fears that his advanced armour is going to be compromised.

Free from the hacker’s nefarious influence, the Hulang jumped out of his hiding spot, his form distorted by the advanced disruption systems of his suit. He aimed at the Mobile Brigada on the stairs, and let loose a deadly flurry of shots; Okiro reacted quickly, triggering the flamethrower mounted under his rifle. Digital flames engulfed the Yu Jing elite soldier, and the tactical monitoring informed him that he was out of the fight. Okiro too was seriously hit, but the system determined that his wounds would not yet be fatal, and tagged him as “Incapacitated”, deactivating his communications and instructing him to lay on the ground and wait for assistance.
Seeing the enemy leader fall, one of the zanshi emerged from behind the loading bay structure, and tried to catch the EVAder off guard. Widget, however, was ready, and blasted him straight in the chest as soon as he approached. They had to regain some ground, and, without tactical link, his best bet was to push into enemy territory. He ran forward to that same structure behind which the remaining Zanshi were hiding, and trained his gun at the corner.
Meanwhile, Jazz was trying to extract information from the downed Rui Shi, but, still flustered by her failure in stopping the Hulang, didn’t manage to get anything useful out of the remote.
Meanwhile Ana, always professional, had performed the mock-up medical procedure to revive Okiro, who got back to his feet. Time was running out, and few enemies remained, but the Hulang push had given them the advantage. It was all up to Widget to regain the lost ground.
Seconds were slowly trickling by, Ana, Jazz, Okiro and Widget were all watching the corner of the faraway wall where the enemy could emerge, weapons aimed and ready.
Then there was a scream:
- For the People and the Party! - yelled one of the Zanshi, catapulting himself in a mad dive over the threshold. They all started firing at him, but, be it luck or skill, the soldier evaded every shot, suddenly triggering his magnetic boots and stopping in place, while his gun roared in full auto towards the EVAder holed in the corner.
Before they could manage to hit him, Widget had been eliminated, and with that the Yujingese forces had successfully defended their ground and snatched a draw.

Sometimes, even the most humble soldiers can overcome all odds, and become heroes. Even if it's just training, of course.

Epilogue

While the heroic Zanshi was celebrated by his comrades, the Nomad team made his way to the airlock. Once back in a pressurised environment, they started to don off their helmets and to reorganise their equipment. Jazz shot a worried gaze towards Okiro, who was removing the training ammunition from his rifle.
- Everything alright Ed? You seem absent today. -
He lifted his eyes towards her, and had a moment of hesitation before answering:
- Oh, sure, it’s nothing. Don’t pay attention to it. -
She gave him the hint of a smile.
- It’s been a tough two weeks, huh? -
- Yeah, you could say that. - He smiled back wearily. He knew that they weren’t out of the woods yet.

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