147th - Vol. II - Shara and Atraxia

[Tony]

It was an old tale for most other species who heard it. A tale elven bards enjoyed telling for copper pence's on the streets of The Old Home.The story was a brief and spiritualized retelling of the Ancient Atraxian invasion that ended the Great Sharani empires of old. The Great Atraxian gods Atrrax and Atraxia halted from fighting one day to the sound of a might hammer pummeling stakes into the ground. Shara, the Gartagen god of fire, heat, and creation was toiling away building himself a home in the heavens. Seeing that the Gartagen god was not paying attention to much else, Attrax struck him. When Atraxian saw the alien god had noticed them the two struck the diety knocking him down.

The two Atraxian green gods of carnage and mayhem soon began fighting with each other once more about who would eat Shara. But mighty Shara was also known for his own fury and rose to his feet with his work maul in his hands and rushed the two brutes. The resulting conflict tore the heavens asunder. It is said the other gods feared to halt the fight because as terrible and savage as Atrrax and Atraxia were, Shara's fury was somehow far harder to quench.

Eventually, the battle was ended, when Atraxia had his face smashed into the Great Angel moon over the elven homeworld. Attrax bloodied and bruised ran off across the heaven giggling saying he'd be back for "Anuva go real soon." Shara, tired and enraged abandoned the great home he was building and returned to his earthen works to slumber. Or so the myth goes.

Arta stood at the head of her company as they marched off of their transport. She had mobilized everything for this operation. Humanitarian aid as it was called by the High Command. Their orders were simple. Observe the conflict, and keep the civilians save from harm While the Kowlooni forces engaged the Atraxians. Yet, Arta was expecting more haste. The Atraxian invasion fleet was only hours away at this point and this city was still operating as if nothing was going to happen.

Arta turned about to see her Troops in full parade looking out at the Bazaar that surrounded the spaceport. Beyond that was the skyline of a city with its glass windows glimmering in the warm sun. Elves, humans, unknown aliens were all moving around the Bazaar making exchanges of all kinds. Clothing, food, bedding.

They should be fleeing.

Arta placed her hands on her hips, and let out a soft gasp of exasperation. "These people are....do they not know? What is this insanity?" She quipped.

[Ham]

Above the drone of marching boots and errant clicks and rattles of loose equipment, one stark figure was behind Arta. He was dressed in battle regalia with the marks of RRF Authoritarian. On his back on a tightened strap was an Edjia Battle Rifle, clean yet rough and scarred. His Ballistic Armor showed the same amount of use, clean and scarred. The dark green mask that was traditionally worn with the helmet was stowed, the NCO's pale purple face showing a stoic impression. His steps were calculated, smooth, dedicated.

This man was the acting company NCO, Authoritarian Dhunjhik Shas. Shas belonged to the same family as the Union's Grand Commissar, and by blood. While the 147th did not contain a Commissar, rumors were floating around that one may soon exist, and that man would have to fight Shas for positional dominance. Shas' voice boomed over the noise as the company approached their commander,his inflections and accent sharp and rough at the same time.

"Comp'NY! HALT! "

[Jimmy]

When the order to halt was called, almost every soldier in the formation complied immediately.

Almost.

One trooper stayed trooper stayed the course, one trooper kept marching. Straight into the back of the trooper in front of him, tipping first one trooper, then another, then two more, then five. Until like a funnel opening in the formation, troopers fell forwards. Revealing the tall, bulky form of Suitez, standing over his groaning comrades, eyes looking down at the havoc caused, before he started marching right over the top.

The peach-trash colored face set in determination as he walked forwards, presumably towards the nearest bar.

[Mike]

Ruu, the yellow-skinned Ghal Lieutenant who occupied her usual and reasonably unchallenged position next to Arta, settled her battle rifle on the white pauldron atop her shoulder and watched Suitez march over his comrades and off into what appeared to be an open, bustling market. She didn’t stop him; it wasn’t her job to stop him and more importantly she didn’t feel like doing it. It reminded her a little bit of her childhood, except that this town was cleaner, more affluent, and not packed elbow to elbow. The ‘bustle’ seemed the same.

She said to Arta, “This thing,” she observed, “It seems, what is it, stupid? But, maybe? It is not. I do not know.”

The helmeted Gartagen whipped Arta’s tail idly with hers as they stood looking at the menagerie of apparent incompetence. She meant it to be calming by way of her typical casual violence. Ruu, the stoic not-give-a-fuck officer who had got her rank by punching someone in the nose over it, had become Arta’s general shadow since their not-so-secret liason several years prior during one of the public fertility festivals. She typically served as the grounding rock to the proud officer’s tempest personality.

“Not matters, eh?”

[Centurion]

From off to the side would come a somewhat beleaguered figure, his long mobile green hair flicking irritably as he tossed aside a strange looking green helmet. On one of his hips would be a rather large revolver and on the other was a long curved sheshka. On his lapel was the rather distinctive symbol of a sub-commander 1st class. The second in command of the 147th kith, long dispatched on an auxiliary mission that resulted in the blank space on the left side of his lapel, whatever strange symbol that had been there torn off and discarded. His own long rifle slung over his back, not matching any of the current standards since it was a legacy weapon from the use of x-ray laser rifles to give heavy sniper and anti-material roles to the infantry units.

To those that knew him, he was most commonly just known as Tam, Bithut Palmatar Tam for the full name, the only penal trooper known to have actually reached relatively high rank in the RRF.

[Tony]

Arta's tail, protected by her suit of armor curled only for a moment back around Ruu's. It was just a moment of idle fleeting pleasure that quickly dissipated as Arta considered what Ruu had actually said. "I hope it is stupidity. We can work with stupidity, we can't work with the type of local leader who'd leave his people here to attract the Atraxians." Arta said with a hint of hardness in her voice.

Suitez marched past. Arta did not even give a reaction. Her eyes fell onto Shas who was her chief NCO at this point, with a look at said: "Take care of it, or I'll take care of you." The soldier in question was STFC Suitez, AKA Arta's Brother by Marriage. Nepotism was rife within the Sharani military; half the troopers in the 147th were likely related in some way. Though to be honest Arta did feel a sense of relief having a family member moving about.

Shas' would see Arta in her full battle rattle, rifle slung over her shoulder, her Renshen, a long curved two-handed sword tied around her waist in its scabbard, the hilt brushing lightly against her chest plate.He'd feel she was open to him. Somebody who was interested.

"Tam, Ruu, I am open to suggestions about how to Deploy the 147th and the 287th kith. CIvilians in this city complicate things.....I'd rather not have them listed as expendable." Arta said two of her gloved fingers reached up and rapidly tapped her chin.

[Centurion]

Tam would growl softly, reaching up one of his armored hands to scratch along his chin, the ceramic blades sticking out from his hands making it rather easy to get a good scratch going as he thought about what she had said. He'd then tilt his head as he spoke, "What do we know about the environment of this planet, would it be possible to either come up with a false natural disaster heading this way to either make them evacuate or simply stay in their homes while we set up a cordon around the most populated areas to protect them from the incoming. We may have to write off the less populated areas unless they're willing to fight for themselves, that may buy us some more time to work on inner area defenses." Even as he spoke, he'd be checking his weapons and gear, and somewhat annoyed that the armor he'd picked up at one point from an anonymous military supply corp had stopped functioning upon his return to the Union from REDACTED.

[Ham]

Shas gave a quick salute before jogging outwards to stand in front of Suitez. His face was pissed, his eyes were pissed, he liked his company looking sharp, not like some circus from the far reaches of space. As he closed, he barked out just as any RRF NCO would, "You there! Dreamwalker! What in Shara's name to you think you're doing?!" He finally reaches the Stormtrooper and seemed to growl akin to their commander as Shas awaited the answer to his question. Shit fell downhill in the RRF, it didn't roll, and Shas was not about to stand underneath it.

[Mike]

Ruu's response came after Tam's.

It actually came a long time after Tam's, and the waiting seemed a little uncomfortable. She had become preoccupied with the buildings. Big, nice looking buildings with lots of little pink-skinned nice looking people rolling in and out of them. Ruu's helmet was off, mostly because she liked to air out her long hair, which she had bound back this time in her customary way - with more of her hair. The long braids itched sometimes. So, much like Tam, she scratched. She just scratched at the base of her scalp instead of her chin.

"Give zem weapons," Ruu decided. "Put zem," she continued, in her thick Ghal accent - thank Shara she had learned to speak Sharran over the last several tours, and could speak without the aid of the translator - "In the, how you say, houses, there, and break all things, all things, make streets bad to pass."

She tapped the rifle on her shoulder again a few times, glancing to Arta's tail and then up to Arta, dubiously.

"Is bad but, is best thing."

[Jimmy]

Suitez looked at Shas as though surprised when the fresh-faced NCO came to intercept him, but nothing stopped his march ahead.

"Oh, aye, just go'in go keel meself width drink 'afore t'enamy cain!" Suitez replied happily, a strong peach colored hand grabbing at Shas's shoulder to pull him into a jovial embrace towards what might pass for a drinking establishment on this backwater. "Why 'aint cha come join meh?"

The thick accent wasn't Sharran, it wasn't Ghallic, it was Rivertalk. The dialect of the poor and squalid inhabitants of the City of Rivers, the squalid parts Suitez was intimately familiar with growing up the son of a plumber, but less of the poor now that he had been roped into marriage with Arta's sister Garta, of which the two had once looked similar, too long ago.

The gart was strong, though, clearly capable of hauling the NCO over to the bar and across the threshold if they so wished.

[Ham]

Shas looked at Suitez like he was crazy. "Get back in line, your drink will be there when you get there Stormtrooper." The Authoritarian put and arm between Suitez and his much-wanted drink as a physical reminder that he wasn't the only one that was strong. For a quick moment, Shas looked at Arta with a glance that didn't say anything clearly besides 'what the fuck do I do now?' If he needed to, he could do just what he was taught at his last Kith, the to-hell-with-you tail grab, kicking and screaming them back in line. It did them wonders to morale once the battle for Gor Hazan went through, leaving them one of the only Kiths standing with some members still standing.

The Authoritarian looked back to Suitez as he awaited his answer, changing his expression more of that of someone who was trying to keep both of their asses off of the chopping block. They had been on this rock for not even an hour and Shas was already beginning to feel the stress.

[Tony]

In the days following the deployment of the 147th Infantry Kith, Sub - Commander Arta soon discovered that her outfit's loan to The Empress of Kowloon had been a mere foot in the door. High Command had done everything it could to keep in touch with her. 147th swiftly fortified the city. Then seven more rapid reaction force Battalions made planetfall and took up defensive positions outside of the city.

However Gartagen defensive tactics were generally geared to bleeding the enemy white. With Atraxians, that doctrine changed. Sitting and drawing the rugged green monsters into a bloodbath was simply a battle the Union Could not win. The only viable tactic was the elimination of Atraxian leaders.

A heavy shovel made a heft sound as it cut into the dirt. The fertile soil of this world flicked smacking Shas' armor. Shas, would see Keb Bronleh of his fire team that had been assigned to his fire team working hard digging an earthen trench. She was a thin Gartagen, and not particularly tall. A tiny inoffensive thing. She was green too make matters worse. A fact Shas could see because her Heavy Edjia Gauss rifle was resting next to her and getting caked in moist dirt. She was for the most part pretty quiet, though from what Shas had seen...she suddenly went alert when fighting began.

Atop the earthwork was. Perquy. His Ithcalushii, who specialized in operating the Hiksha transport. He was not digging. In fact, his shovel(Gifts of the local Kowlooni) was discarded, and he stood, urinating off the top of a dirt mound. "Shas!" He yelled, looking back at his Authoritarian, and not distracted from his biological break. His Rebreather was hanging limply to the right of his helmet. "AREWEGONNAGETSENTOUTONANOTHERGREENSKINHUNT?!"

[Ham]

Shas turned his head from cleaning his Edjia Battle Rifle from his already-dug fighting hole on the right side of the trench to Perquy's grandiose display. "Perquy, if we were going on a 'Greenskin Hunt' do you think we'd be digging trenches? You're about as bright at Bronleh over here," he turned his head to look at her, "Who is quite literally burying her rifle, and me, in fuckin' dirt. Stop it." He turned back to cleaning his rifle as he grinned somewhat. "Fuckin' RRF, diggin' fuckin' trenches. It's fuckin' great... Fuck."

The Authoritarian had his fair share of shenanigans, though right now he was focused in on getting dirt and mud out of his Battle Rifle's coils and retuning the irons back to zero. "There better not be a bunch of mud in my Hiksha when we get back to it. If there is I will skullfuck the guy who put it there." He shouldered his rifle to check the sights before getting back to his standing around and digging with his gift shovel.

[Tony]

Perquey closed his suit up, then turned away sliding down the shoring into the main part of the trench. "Ohtherunnerisparkedbehindthosebuildings!" He said as he grabbed freshly cut a square piece of scrap metal and planted it against the earthen wall, using a small tie strap to secure the barrier so they wouldn't suffer a cave in. "Weshouldbehuntingthegreens! I mean. They are animals right?" He said suddenly snapping his helmeted head up and looking directly at Shas. Shas could see Perquey was young. He was some Ithcalyusshii lowlander from the middle of nowhere. Perhaps eighteen, though he had been in the 147th for well over a solar cycle. The 147th was hailed as a punishment, a place to stick RRF troopers who had messed up or done something wrong. Perquey had the blind luck to simply get sent in as a reinforcement that Arta had requested.

Bronleh looked up and stopped digging as Shas had commanded. "Okay." She said turning and looking at her Edjia gauss rifle. The girl was a Red Gartagen. Quite rare in the Gartagen military, but it did happen. She bearly passed basic training. Flunked any written test outside of basic understanding. Her sheet had her placed in the 147th due to sub-par performance to regimental standards. One thing she received high marks in, and that saved her from being mustered out was her psychological profile. When it came to fighting Bronleh was unflinching. She was quiet and spoke with a low deep feminine voice. She picked up her weapon and fastened the control arm to her harness, and began to clean the weapon....poorly. The dirt just smeared across its housing.

Every soldier in the 147th was assembled and digging. The radio was alive with chatter. Arta's command to Shas, and her other Authoritarians was simple. "Dig. Dig trenches dig holes, dig. When the enemy comes, destroy them."

Accross the radio Shas could hear complaining, fussing, questions, and routine reporting. The troopers of the 147th were however enthusiastic. Eager to kill the Atraxians. "Sowhatarewedoinghereanyway, Shas?" Perquey called out.

"There is some pinkskin over there from the alliance recording us," Bronleh said cutting off Perquey, and standing up, pointing to a human, who was in strange looking combat armor, but had no weapon. A male, and hovering above his right shoulder was a little drone, with its eye aimed directly at Shas.

[Tony]

Before Shas could react, he heard over his HUD audio a soft single klaxon. It was a soft noise yet one he was familiar with. Movement in the kill zone. He didn't need to call his team to the ready. Purquey, STSC Bronleh, and every other trooper in the 147th stopped what they were doing and had a weapon in hand, or was manning an emplacement. The thrum of coils spooling up finished and the entire area was dead silent. Then out of a mound dirt sprang the fourth member of Shas' fire team. A tall, muscular fit Pygrin named Rigus Otti. He stood over his three teammates and Authoritarian, but soon was sitting next to Bronleh, who was next to Purquey, who was next to Shas. Otti had his suit in full EVA mode, mask rebreather activated.

Purquey spoke. "Uh. I don't think those are Greenies." He said still manning his weapon.

Bronleh hissed a curse. "I'm never going to get to waste anything..."

Indeed Purque was correct. Shas, could with his rifle see that the movement in the kill zone, was disorganized. Though the people approaching were not hulking Atraxians. They were Kowlooni soldiers. From the looks of it...they were in bad shape.

A bass voice called out. "Orders Authoritarian?"

[Mike]

Someone bundled beneath ballistics armor, with what looked like a red and yellow shoulder mantle, stepped into the trench with a shovel. And then someone else stepped in, wearing a bandoleer full of spare shotgun shells, complete with slung shotgun. They were already bloody, and had clearly seen some combat already, but they took to trenches anyway. At first they came in ones and twos, and then in increasing numbers - men and women wearing some form or version of those colors which must have been like a uniform, but in various states of armoring and wielding various weapons. Ruu had been supervising one of the digging teams, and was one of the ones who noticed this.

"What ze fuck is this?"

The answer came in a rumbling bass: "They're local Militia."

A dark shadow loomed next to Ruu. It didn't loom over her, because Ruu was tall, but she squinted at it anyway. There stood a statue painted red, with a gold cloak floating behind in the low breeze. The patterning on the armor suggested that the suit was both new, and very expensive. It had gilt all over it. Compared to Ruu's armor, it practically screamed noble. However, the belt-fed machine gun, of a size enough that it could have been off of a starfighter, that the Paladin armor carried looked excessively business-like - and the armor had already been scarred and pockmarked by warfare.

The belts were slung beneath its left arm in a canister attached to its hip.

"I'm the Bailiff. The Lord's men have fallen back and are preparing elsewhere, but this lot wanted to help."

[Ham]

Shas looked at the hulking armored thing, it reminded them of their own walking tanks. "Yeah, they want to help. Let's hope they will hold, some of these guys look... off." The Authoritarian looked to his fireteam and barked, "Get back to digging, they're just reinforcements." He himself didn't think too highly of these militiamen just walking into the RRF's fighting hole. They were a liability to him.

"Bailiff, have your men begin to aid in the digging of the defense line. With their aid... we might get all of this done much sooner." As he finished, he turned back, grabbed his shovel, and went back to digging into the trench. If the Atraxians hit the line now, they would have slim pickings, but if they got the trench dug faster and sooner, they might have a fighting chance with already being dug in. The wheels in Shas' head were beginning to turn, and the true Authoritarian was trying to form defense plans.

[Tony]

As Sha' shovel hit the dirt, he would see the other side of the 147th's deployment in the distance. They were digging in a crescent pattern just outside of the city. Arta was to the armchair strategist quite adept. Atraxians were pretty direct, aside from their Commando squads. They would leg it across the field and do a direct charge. A silly tactic for most, but considering Atraxians were seven-foot tall mountains of meet, teeth, and steel, this brutal style of war served them well. Arta, however, was counting on this and intended to catch the Atraxian onslaught in overlapping fields of fire.

"OH!" Purque called out as some of the Baliff's militia climbed over the dirt wall. "HOTTIES!" the wiry Gartagen exclaimed as a militia-woman walked past him. He fumbled around his gear before jerking out a pair of flashy sunglasses and put them on. "Shas you didn't say there were going to be sexy alien girls! Ladies! I'm single! I have a crate of rations over there!"

Otti shook his head and began digging next to Shas. Bronleh was the last to stand up, but she did and stood looming over the battlefield.

It was as the all-clear was given Arta strode up, doing checks to ensure everybody was digging where she said. Arta's face was bare but her helmet was securely on her head. "Ruu, sit-rep?" She called out as she continued her approach.

[Mike]

Ruu's attention was still partially fixed on the Bailiff in the red armor.

Patiently, she said, "There could be more digging. There could be less digging."

Ruu had her helmet under her arm, and her rifle slung under the shoulder, so Arta caught the dubious faith the yellow gart's expression carried when she looked to the Militia members. But, to all appearances, they were digging well, and Ruu didn't say anything when Shas and Purque started in on them. She just looked to Arta, and when she caught her eyes she shrugged.

[Centurion]

Tam would sigh as he continued his digging, the ceramic talons extending from his hands allowing him to dig into the dirt and stone that was surrounding the kith easily even as his own weapons were either holstered or slung across his back. His head would come up at the commotion about the militia-women and then look over at Bronleh before he tilted his head and gestured for her to come over to him. She seemed like one who while not particularly bright was a good one to use as a spotter at the very least.

[Ham]

Shas turned and gave a look to Purque as if not believing him. "Dig your hole, dumbass." Shas looked up to Arta and at the same time saw Tam beckon Bronleh over. He didn't think much about it and went back to digging deeper. Out of sheer boredom, Shas began humming one of the songs that was popular among the stars, and it fit awkwardly with the rhythm of the whole place. He grinned and spoke up to Tam, "Don't get my gunner killed, she's special."

He got fed up with the shovel a little bit afterwards, stabbing it into the ground before going and using his hands to start shoring up what they had and packing everything in, all the while humming that same tune.

[Tony]

There was a rumbling. Then a loud rolling sound of metallic thunder in the distance cut the calm. The militiamen who had just filed in looked at each other nervously. Looking outward. Shas, Tam. Everyone across the entire defensive perimeter could see them. Atraxians in full assault gear were walking up in ordered ranks. They held heavy metal shields in one hand, with clubs in the other. The heavy boots and clattering gear were easy to hear even at a distance. Unfortunately for the Gartagens, the scent of the Atraxian would fill their noses. Male or female, to the Gartagen nose they smelled of metal and rotten milk.

"Contact."

"Enemy contact."

Then Shas own squad reported. "Contact!" Purque shouted as he dropped his shovel, and grabbed his rifle. He tightened his helmet and fixed his goggles and mask. "HUD activated." He called out to Shas. "Gun Camera is working."

Bronleh leaps up onto the embankment standing. "In position. Auto-targeting deactivated. Ready to get shit dead." She said flatly. Otti laid down on his belly next to Purqey, though his rifle was not raised, he had his hand grasping the tip of her tail so that he could jerk her back down on Sha's orders.