You take a long, deep sigh. Anti matter is one of the most destructive forces on the planet. Nukes without the radiation. Jason was absolutely right to be cautious of a force like that being let out of the bottle.
Of course, there's a good chance that genie will come out of the bottle in the next few hours. Even assuming a stray round or shell fragment didn't set one of those off, or Katerina just taking matters into her own hands, there was nothing stopping Cronus reinforcements from taking one look at those piles and coming up with the same plan.
"We can't move on that battery with those shells out in the open like that." You finally say. "I don't like the idea any more than you do Jason, but unless you have a plan to take that battery and fight off the QRF without using any heavy ordinance, we can't even approach that position."
"As long as we understand what we're doing." Jason finally says before turning back to Katerina. "I want you and Raleigh in position, ready to pop the QRF choppers as soon as they push over the ridgeline. We have two hours before the assault starts, so get in your mechs and make sure everything's up and working."
You all nod, taking the hike back to your mech. "You think Jason and Katerina are ever going to get along?" You ask Mark as you scrounge for dead wood to feed your ammunition printer. "They just seemed to be always at each other's throats.
Mark just shrugs his shoulders. "Two strong willed soldiers who have their own ways of doing things with years of experience to back it up. At some point Katerina's going to need to realize she isn't in Ukraine anymore."
"You don't think Jason needs to learn to trust her." You reply, picking up another bundle of sticks. "I know the recon missions are a little unorthodox, but having someone with her augmentation and skills in invaluable when it comes to recon."
"Doesn't give her the right to run off by herself though." Mark reminds you as you arrive back at your camouflaged mechs. "But I imagine they're both going to have to compromise."
You just nod as you feed the branches into the printer hopper. Climbing into your mech, you begin the startup sequence. You get the feeling it's going to be a long day.
---
"Launching in three, two, one…" You feel the dull thud of the mortar system firing, and subconsciously begin holding your breath as the shell begins its arc towards the battery. Your mind begins going through the arming a sequence for the cluster munitions, envisioning the shell casing separating and deploying the various submunitions as it fell on the target.
A series of airbursts ripple across target, raining shrapnel and hellfire down on the gun crews below. A second few pass, and you finally let yourself breath again as nothing happens. Maybe they were just empty casings-
Your camera auto dims as a ball of blue light expands to cover the entire screen before shrinking just as quickly. By the time your eyes adjust, half the ridgelines is just… gone. "Mon Dieu." You mutter, not realizing its an open mike.
"At least it was quick." Mark comments as off in the distance another flash of blue light graces the horizon. You can hear gunfire off in the distance as the other teams begin their own assault on the other guns.
"Still not exactly humane." Jason remarks as he and Klaus take off and begin circling. "Alright, multiple heavy transports taking off from the airport. Two heading towards us. Katerina, Raleigh you're cleared to engage as soon as they pop the ridgeline."
You begin to relax a little as the sound of jet engines fills the mountain air. Cronus transports tend to be big and heavily armed but are sitting ducks for anyone who knows their coming. The two quad engine monstrosities lumber over the ridgeline
"I've got right." Katerina calls out.
"Left." Raleigh replies.
"Firing in three… two…"
Suddenly, a shadow flickers over you. "Jason!"
"Shit, I see them." You hear your team lead curse. "Two bogies three thousand feet. Katerina…"
"One…" Katerina and Raleigh fire before the warning reaches them. Raleigh's laser slices clean through his target, the transports two halves exploding as they hit the ground. Katerina's target shudders as a railgun shot tears through the cockpit, spiraling into the ground.
You're about to cheer when explosions begin to ripple across the ridgeline you're on. Shrapnel pings off your mech as your cockpit shakes from the concussive force. "What the hell!" You call out.
"QRF had escorts." Jason grunts between grunts from his high G maneuvers. "They must have launched from Elmendorf. Everyone report in."
"No damage." You quickly reply.
"Negative as well." Mark chimes in. "I think they were just plastering the ridgeline after Raleigh and Kat took out their rides."
"Two near misses knocked out most of my electronics." Raleigh slurs, clearly concussed. "I think I have some damage to my right arm hydraulics too." He stops, probably trying to clear his head. "They worked me over pretty good."
"Tends to happen when you fire off a giant laser." Klaus chuckles. "Katerina, you have one making another pass. Moving to intercept." You look up to see Klaus's mech falling in behind a Pitch Black mech as a long string of what you can only guess are Ukrainian curses echoes through the comms. "What was that?"
"Move!"
The Cronus mech climbs slightly to get out of Klaus's sights-and promptly disintegrates from a direct hit from Katerina's railgun. Klaus panic dives as the shot races over his head, his own German cursing filling the radio as what's left of the mech slams into the ground. "A little more warning next time!" He scolds.
"I did." Katerina grunts in pain. "Not my fault you didn't move."
"We'll talk about that later." Jason cuts in, his own opponent slamming into the ground as a fiery comet. "What's your status Katerina?"
"Minor shrapnel damage." Katerina grunt's, clearly in pain. "Superficial wounds. Nothing I can't patch up myself."
"I still want Mark and Felicity to check you two out." Jason commands. "I need to know how quickly we can get you back on your feet if command needs us for additional tasking."
You march your way over to where Katerina and Raleigh were, stopping when you find the remains of Raleigh Apollo laying on its side in a crater. The mechs seen better days as you dismount and begin to look it over, with one arm completely sheered off and the leg on the same side bent outwards at a awkward angle. The armor on the torso is crumpled inwards towards the cockpit. Deciding the mechs already of write off as far as mission capable goes, you begin looking for the pilot.
"Over here!" Mark calls out to you as you pop your head out of the crater. He and Raleigh are kneeling next to Katerina in the shadow of her mech.
You let out a low whistle as you glance over at Katerina's mech. It's relatively intact, as long as you ignore the golf ball to grapefruit sized holes peppering the torso. "We need to work on your definition of minor damage." You tell her.
Katerina just rolls her eyes at you. Her jacket and armored flight suit have been removed around upper body, leaving only a bloody tank top. Dried blood covered her arms and head, but strangely enough no cuts seemed to mark her skin. "I'll keep that in mind." She grumbles as she presses a bandage against her abdomen.
You poke your head further and are greeted by a cockpit covered in blood. You're no doctor, but its seems to be a lot more blood than should have been from the superficial wounds Katerina was claiming to have. Poking your head back out, you see Mark checking Raleigh. It's mostly a formality, since Prometheans have regenerative healing, but still worth checking out given what his mech got put through.
Katerina takes the opportunity to toss the bandage away and pull down her tank top over the wound. For a brief second you catch site of her wound closing by itself. Almost immediately, a theory pops into you head as you glance between her and Raleigh as to how she got her augmentations.
You must have the worst poker face though, because as soon as Katerina looks up at you after finishing reassembling her flight suit, she gives you a glare that tells you to keep your theory to yourself for right now.
Jason and Klaus touch down as EDF and Promethean cruisers begin entering the atmosphere. Jason looks surprisingly defeated given how well things seem to be going. "We're to only team even remotely operational." He dejectedly admits. "218 and 342 took their batteries but can barely form a team between them, and 487 is just straight up gone."
"Antimatter shells?" You ask, remembering that second explosion you saw in the distance.
Jason just nods. "What's the status on Katerina and Raleigh."
You look over at the two mechs, and the math tells you neither will be operational without a major garage overhaul. "Both mechs are down."
"We can still fight as a two man sniper team." Katerina quickly adds as she finishes wiping the last of the blood off of her face. Grabbing her jacket, she marches over rifle already in hand. "We can act as spotters for Felicity and her mortar."
Jason just seems to numbly follow along. "Alright, I'll send Mark with you for security. We have a transport coming to pick you up and take you to the airport. Help UN forces clear the city. Klaus and I will head north and provide CAS for the attack and the Airforce base."
Your checking over your mech for damage and waiting for the transport when a thought hits you. You don't really need to be in Circe to get the benefits of all your improvements to her, in fact the mortar would be more useful at the airfield rather than in the streets getting stuck in at the close range fighting there.
[] Stick with Katerina and Raleigh on foot. You're a trained forwards observer as part of your secondary role on the team, and you can just slave the mortar system to your computer and drone network to call in strikes without being in the mech. And the boots on the ground experience would be good.
[] Stay in the mech. Katerina and Raleigh have combat experience to pull off what they want to do, and you don't. Besides, while the direct fire mode on your mortar isn't anywhere near as accurate, it could still be useful.
Also, who do you talk to on the short flight down to the airport:
[] Katerina
[] Raleigh
[] Mark
