Sean-Michael Argo - Ghost Faction

There was no available cover as the canyons all emptied into a wide basin over which the compound was built. Any number of snipers, gunners, and cannons could be directed at them. It was because of these sorts of chaotic and seemingly insane tactics that the Dire Swords earned their reputation. There was about to be so much action on the ground that it was unlikely anyone in that compound would notice the dropships descending from the stratosphere.

“We fight as though dead,” said Poe, and his words were echoed by the rest of the mercs as they neared firing range.

Each of them had already faced the worst moment of their lives and come through it, even if not wholly unscathed. They had each endured the Rack and emerged as meta-humans. All of them bore the emblem of their own skulls upon their helmets. They were at war with the universe itself, and the contract of the day only determined who was on the other end of the gun.

As they neared firing range, Jada could see Womack and his crew pulling alongside them, having emerged from one of the other canyons. Now there were six ATVs speeding across the open ground towards the complex and they had certainly been noticed.

Snipers positioned on the roof of the complex opened up, and Jada was knocked back into her seat by a well-placed round. Her mag-armor had kept her alive, but the impact had left her gasping for breath. Had she been un-enhanced, the round would have surely thrown her into cardiac arrest and she doubted even with the mag-armor that she’d have survived.

The Dire Swords returned fire with their rockets, and five deadly projectiles smashed into machine gun nests, causing explosions to rip through the front perimeter.

Jada forced herself back to her feet and hefted the tube to her shoulder. The purpose of the seemingly reckless assault was to sow chaos and confusion among the enemy. While they engaged the ATVs, the dropships would be able to approach without much resistance. By the time they arrived to storm the compound, the defenders would be unable to mount an effective countermeasure. It was a tactic that put Jada, Poe, and the rest of the provocateurs at great risk, but made for an overall potent coordinated attack. The goal was not to destroy the facility, but to seize it for use by House Indron.

Lord Soren had intentionally allowed the Basepholon workers to bring their operation to full functionality before launching the punitive expedition.

There was always a profit to be reaped, thought Jada as she sighted in on what appeared to be another supply container. Her rocket passed over the low barricade wall and punched through the thin metal sides. It must have been a magazine for the gun nests as she had suspected, because the container was ripped apart by secondary explosions that sent shrapnel tearing through the air in all directions.

Though their initial assault had been devastating, the gunslingers, to their credit, rallied quickly. The ATVs pulled up and made sharp turns as they skirted the edges of rifle range, nearly all of them showered in sparks as hails of fire from shooters on the barricade found them.

Suddenly, a deep thud sent shudders through Jada’s chest, followed by a concussive explosion on her right. The merc turned and her eyes widened as she saw one of the ATVs blossoming into a multitude of pieces in mid-air as it was thrown by the explosion. Time seemed to slow down and she saw the torso of what had once been a Dire Sword spinning off in another direction, trailing its guts and shreds of armor in its wake. The other merc, seemingly whole, sailed over Poe’s ATV and Jada did not see him or her land as her own vehicle spend onwards.

“ RPGs! ” shouted Womack through the comm-bead, “ Smoke the line!”

The five remaining ATVs broke off in different directions, though both Poe and Womack steered their vehicles in tight circles as they cranked their emitters to create a thick purple smoke screen.

Jada dared not fire for fear of hitting her comrades as Poe displayed expert skill in cutting the wheels to keep the screen centered on the barricades instead of dissipating across the open ground. After several passes, Poe and Womack disengaged and brought their vehicles around to slot in behind the others as they swept in for a strafing run.

Jada’s HUD cut through the smoke and she sighted in on a gunslinger who was desperately trying to reload her RPG launcher. The merc cut loose with the mounted gun and the salvo of rounds shredded the soldier, sending her body hurling backwards and off the firestep.

All five of the ATVs pressed the attack. Round after round from the mounted guns impacted armor and barricades, tearing through flesh and bone. Against the withering fire, there was little the gunslingers could do but haphazardly shoot back, mostly while crouched behind what remained of their barricades. The kill zone ahead of them was still obscured with smoke, and though plenty of rounds hit the Dire Swords and their vehicles, only Strega’s ATV was disabled in the exchange. Through the smoke, Jada saw both Strega and Mors dismount and rush the barricades on foot.

“Bounding!” shouted Mors as he followed Strega, who was several steps ahead of him and already firing her rifle at the enemy.

As Poe brought their vehicle around for another strafing run, Jada could see through the smoke as Strega and Mors scaled the barricade with superhuman agility despite the bulk of their mag-armor. They were tall enough that a running leap allowed them to grasp the top edge of the barricades, then, using a combination of momentum and their incredible strength, they pulled themselves up high enough to get a leg on the ledge. From there, it was easy enough to drop behind the barricade and continue the fight, which they most certainly did once Jada lost sight of them over the wall.

Womack must have decided that now was as good a time as any to breach the perimeter, as his voice came over the comm-bead just as Jada and Poe finished another devastating strafing run.

“ Gunners dismount and advance!” ordered Womack, which prompted Poe to crank the wheel sharply and send their vehicle screaming back towards the barricades, which were becoming steadily more visible as the smoke dissipated, allowing the few remaining defenders to pick their targets more effectively, “Drivers, hug the wall, secure your ride. Go second wave! ”

Jada’s heart was beating madly as the barricade loomed. She could feel the power surging in her body as if it knew that its greatest purpose was about to be fulfilled. She unclipped her safety line and put the safety back in place on her mounted gun before flexing her grip and steadying herself for the dismount maneuver.

While ATV combat was a critical part of her training and a useful diversionary stratagem, it was on their feet that the Dire Swords were able to bring to bear the full might of their enhanced bodies. The merc was ready to see what she could do outside the managed conditions of the training deck.

Poe was heading straight at the wall, and then at the last moment, he turned the wheel and hit the brakes, which gave Jada a boost of momentum as she unfurled her powerful legs and leapt into the air. The merc slammed into the top of the barricade wall, activating the small magnets on the outside of her armor, giving her additional purchase as she pulled herself up and over the obstacle. She deactivated the mags as she landed, her sidearm already drawn and hunting for targets. The gunslingers, at least in this sector of the compound, had suffered what she hastily assessed as just over sixty percent casualties already, though considering the dramatic disparity in the size of their force compared to the Dire Swords, that meant there were still a great many active shooters to engage.