Lock-Picking

[SandTrout]

He was tired, very tired. If it weren�t for the stimulants his suit released, he would be laying blissfully unconscious on the hard glacier. He�d had 3 hours of sleep in the last 4 days, and it would have been visible if it weren�t for the faceplate of his reinforced armor.

It was worth it, though. The Vanu hadn�t detected his presence on the continent in the week since the lockdown was secured. He�d run into several other Conglomerate soldiers that remained, but there were too few and too far between to be able to do anything at this time. They continued to relay information to their outfit commanders.

The raid was planed for today, and it was his and the other operatives out here�s job to create some chaos in the Vanu ranks. He had been doing hit-and-run attacks on squads near the dropship center that his platoon had been lost at. He was low on Thumper ammunition, especially the jammers he would need to cover the platoon�s re-entry.

A sudden *buzz* and he jumped forward, while spinning, lacing the space behind him with deadly, magnetically augmented rounds. Despite his efforts, he missed his assailant, a 3-inch long, winged insect that had landed on his upper back. �Calm down,� he whispered to himself, �We can�t let these uppers get you killed now.�

He contacted one of the Conglomerate soldiers that was fortunate enough to possess a stealth suit, one from his outfit in fact. �Woland, are you in?�

�Affirmative SandTrout, take your position, their drop coordinates are at 3 clicks south, 1 click west of Point Patton.� This code was derived from one used in an Ancient-Earth conflict before a satellite system provided commanders with needed information on troop locations.

�Roger that, sir, I�ll send the signal on when we need �check�.�

SandTrout could now see the starting trails of flame from the drop-pods and readied his last 4 jammer grenades in his thumper. He estimated the approximate landing area of the pods and fired the first grenade. The radar display on his HUD gave an error message, which would last a few moments, and block enemy radar from picking up the incoming pods.

As the first pods landed, just inside the effective radius of the grenade, two MAX armors burst out, visually sweeping the area, scatter-cannons at the ready. SandTrout stud up, holding his thumper above his head with both hands. The MAXes looked at him suspiciously, but picked up his IFF signal from his suit.

The rest of the pods landed within the radius of the grenade by the time SandTrout had reached the landing zone. AV MAXes carried some extra ammo in their inventory, and SandTrout accepted their offer like a soldier: thankful, but with a tone that implied �Its about damn time.�

As the jammer grenade was about to fade, SandTrout activated his comm. unit. �King�s Knight to King�s bishop 3.� At that, there was a rumble was not so much heard, as felt in the feet of the platoon. The platoon immediately started in a straight run towards the dropship center, the MAXes activated run mode in order to begin the first phase of the attack.

On the run there, SandTrout switched his Jammers for some frag grenades. When he reached the base, there were several dead Vanu laying on the ground, and one Conglomerate MAX, which was being resuscitated by a medic.

A hacker got the first door open, and tossed in a plasma grenade before it was possible to see anything inside. Everyone cleared from the door and listened to the bust of plasma and splatter against the walls. The screams inside confirmed the presence of soldiers, so Trout shot a couple grenades in, bouncing them off the walls. Their explosions ended the screams. The now-repaired MAXes now entered the building, scatter-cannons blasting infantry while shields blocked opposing shots.

Latching his Thumper to his back in favor of a Gauss, SandTrout entered the complex, Dark-Light-Vision picking up the telltale emistions from a stealth suit. Visual range didn�t mater much in this situation anywise, so he left it running.

�Checkmate.� Came over the Comm. channel, it was Woland�s voice. He had apparently hacked the command console. A set of 5 basic infantrymen equipped with DLV guarded the command console from enemy hackers, while the rest manned the walls in preparation for a retaliatory strike against the base.

Engineers repaired the generators which Woland had destroyed prior to the attack, and then placed mines and manned turrets.

5 minutes latter, the strike came. The first wave was a squad of Threshers and Harassers that the AV MAXes made short work of. There were some injuries, but the hackers accessed the medical terminals to provide easy treatment.

Then came the Lightnings and Mag-riders. They bombarded the base with searing energy and explosive shells, but it was obvious they were only providing suppressive fire to keep the Conglomerate soldiers� heads� down until the sunderers and deliverers arrived. The lack of AV fire from the NC caused the Vanu to think the only AV the invaders had was on the MAXes.

They would be sorely mistaken though. Behind the walls, half of the platoon was preparing Phoenix rocket launchers. A Conglomerate sniper peaked over the edge, then shrunk back behind the walls. He gave a thumbs up and the troops launched their TOW missiles into the air, guiding them toward the Transports and AMS that were approaching the scene. The AMS detonated in the middle of the tank column, causing a great deal of damage.

SandTrout had switched to Plasma grenades and was firing over the wall with only a general idea of where the enemy was. It was enough, however, to erode the last bits of armor on a Sunderer, which killed those which is was designed to protect in its death-throes.

The soldiers then stood up, spraying lead and explosive death down at the surviving infantry and armor. Some Vanu took cover behind the vehicle frames, and a few even managed to get some kills. The NC medics had their hands full reviving the dead, and engineers were busy repairing MAXes and turrets.

Snipers picked off any Vanu who tried to run, and explosives killed those who tried to make a stand. SandTrout saw shimmer in the light behind the last Vanu, and recognized the logo as the suit decloaked. Woland viscously slashed at the Vanu with his Mag-cutter, and dropped a grenade before they tore through his body with energy bolts. The explosion killed the last Vanu.

A squad went out and retrieved Woland�s body to be resuscitated, and everyone restocked on ammo and armor as the base switched sides.

The warp gates were now open, and the Conglomerate troops were expecting the Terrans to make their presence know, as well as receiving more reinforcements themselves.