Part 38: Mission 39: Hellfire

We had a decent surplus of materials, and we'd been working shorthanded for a while, so we added another battlesuit platoon to the Drunken Slavs. So far, the battlesuits had proven their worth in the field, so there was little reason not to expand their role.



We finished our research on Andurital plating around the time the platoon arrived. Andurital proved to be very difficult to obtain and work with; it turned out to be a rare isotope of Tanarit that we could only obtain by centifuging Tanarit at high speeds. With Tanarit itself in short supply, our stocks of Andurital would be extremely limited for the forseeable future. Additionally, the chemical properties of Andurital meant that it would only weld in high-pressure conditions, which required specialized welding chambers.



Despite the high priority of our mission to destroy the Arachnoids, we were forced to put it on hold when our scouts sighted the Apostates, the enemy's elite, at the edge of our territory. They were moving quickly, and with a definite goal. Whatever they were after, it was sure to be important if the job had been handed over to the Apostates, and it would be in our best interest to disrupt them as soon as possible.

Mission 39: Hellfire

Attending:
Lazarus (Forlorn Hope, Flamethrowers)
Solrick Skaft (Scion of Emer, Flamethrowers)
T. Hinman (Ethereal Corps, Flamethrowers)
Logan "Hardtack" Smith (War Dogs, Paranormal Infantry)
Joe Moore (War Boys, Paranormal Infantry)
"Doctor" Snark (Mage Killers, Hi-Tech Infantry)
Habitually Red (Sane Max's Own, Hi-Tech Infantry)
Gordon Frohman (Concerned Citizens, Hi-Tech Infantry)
Patrick Gallagher (Just In Time, Elmag 1)
Svetlana Aliyev (Rusalka, Elmag 1)
Mael Radec (Radec's Rhinos, M1 Abrams)
Erik Spanner (The Toolbox, M1 Abrams)
James "Griff" Griffin (Party Crashers, M1 Abrams)
Basil (Paladin, M1 Abrams)
Jorji Costava (Cobrastan's Best, M1 Abrams)
Isara Gunther (Edelweiss, M1 Abrams)
Reginald P. Linux (Doom Squad, Leopard 2A5)
Aethereon Darkfyre (The Mary Sues, UDES)
Stephen Smith (The Counts of Monty Python, UDES)
Anil E. Hilated, Esq. (Polite Obliteration, M106)
Grand Inquisitor Solaus (Balkanian Inquisition, AMX-30)
Gregor (The Swell Swords, AMX-30)
Michael de Boulogne (Chivalric Order of Saint George, AMX-30)
Cholmondely Featherstonehaugh-Smythe (Sphinx Battery, Roland)
Billy John (The Truther Squad, Roland)
Sigrún Raske (Skysmasher Brigade, Roland)
Billy Mays (Infomercial Men, Humvees)
Atom ikk Rab (Those From the Depths, Universal 1R)



Hardtack: Alright. Let's see the worst the enemy has to throw at us.



Svetlana Aliyev: Seriously?



Solaus: We didn't come all the way out here just to vaporize a few Keebs, did we?




Gordon Frohman: Seriously, what the hell. Have our scouts been drinking?



Anil E. Hilated: I don't think so.
Gordon Frohman: There wasn't a thing those elves could've done to us, though!
Anil E. Hilated: Exactly.
Gordon Frohman: Huh?
Anil E. Hilated: Those elves couldn't have done a thing to us. There was only one reason for them to be here, ahead of what's presumably the enemy's main force.
Svetlana Aliyev: Canary in the coal mine, right? They had to have heard our artillery bombardments.
Anil E. Hilated: I assume so. Stay on your toes, everyone.



Patrick Gallagher: You sure about that, Anil? These guys don't look very elite to me.



Mael Radec: Wasn't any harder to kill than an ordinary Ballista, and those stopped being dangerous long ago.



Stephen Smith: Oh shit, they found us! We've got Hell Riders!



Stephen Smith: Taking sonic fire too! No damage, but goddamn, it's like someone playing Metal Machine Music at full blast.



Basil: ...the fuck? Mags?



Anil E. Hilated: All these aerial scouts and not a single one flying? Seriously, what the hell is going on here?



Joe Moore: Whatever the case, no reason not to knock out the enemy's eyes, right?



Reginald P. Linux: Seriously, why are all these fucking elves here?
Mael Radec: Don't let them distract you. The real danger is still out there!



Atom ikk Rab: And I'm going to find it!



Atom ikk Rab: ...Oh fuck.



Atom ikk Rab: Guys? I think I found out why the enemy came here. There's a motherfucking dragon headed right for us!
Mael Radec: Copy that, Atom. All units, remain calm. SAM batteries, move up. Stephen, cover Atom until he can retreat, and everyone else fall back. Everyone who can hit aerial targets, the dragon is now your number one priority. Be ready to fire as soon as it's in range!



Cholmondely: Well, it's about bloody time we had something worth our missiles, isn't it?
Atom ikk Rab: Stephen, no offense, but I really hope the dragon aims for you instead of m-



Stephen Smith: Shit!



Hardtack: That dragon's not the only one burning things!



Svetlana Aliyev: We need eyes on that thing so we can hit it! Where's our recon?



Billy Mays: WE'LL BE RIGHT WITH YOU, SVET! EVEN DRAGONFIRE WON'T PREVENT YOU FROM GETTING THE INTEL YOU NEED! GUARANTEED DELIVERY!



Patrick Gallagher: We've gotta do what we can until we've got a fix on its location! Let's get rid of those Hell Riders, one thing setting us on fire is bad enough.



Griff: With you on that, Pat.



Gregor: No fire can compete with Gregor's!



Anil E. Hilated: Might as well get rid of the Keebs too, I suppose.



Basil: Sonic tanks coming in! Just hit 'em when you've got a clear shot, they don't have the range to threaten us!



Jorji Costava: Sonic tank is unplugged, ha ha!



Hardtack: THE MOTHERFUCKING DRAGON IS BACK, SHOOT IT.



Michael de Boulogne: More Riders, too! Bombard their position!
Billy John: Okay, I've got a lock on the dragon! I knew The History Channel wasn't lying to me, and now I've got a chance to-



It was over in an instant. The dragon dove, its head whipping, and it spewed a stream of flame at The Truther Squad. The inferno engulfed them, and a second later, every last one of their vehicles was a pile of melting slag, the murky swamp waters around them boiling over in a haze.




The other Rolands had gotten a lock just seconds after Billy's platoon had, however, and their vengeance was swift. Their missiles streaked through the sky, each and every one an arrow aimed for its heart. With inhuman speed, it managed to twist its body and launch another gout of fire at them, causing many to explode prematurely, their shrapnel bouncing harmlessly off its scaly hide. One struck home, though, exploding directly on the dragon's wing, shredding its relatively thin membrane.



The beast beat its wings frantically, struggled to stay aloft with one mangled, but another missile caught the beast's tail, the resulting explosion bisecting it. Its terrible, wounded cry filled the sky, a shower of blood erupting from its amputated stump, and any semblence of control the dragon had was lost. It spiraled down, about to crash where our tanks and artillery could finish the job. But even as it did so, it threw its head back and prepared to unleash a final burst of flame.




Dr. Snark didn't let it. The dragon had dropped far enough that his battlesuit's chaingun had a hope of penetrating its hide. Snark's aim couldn't have been better, a stream of bullets catching the underside of the beast's neck, and its terrible flame was cut off as it began to choke on its own blood.

If the beast had any chance of surviving after the wounds it had taken, that ended the moment it crashed to the ground. Each and every tank in range fired in near-unison, dozens of high-velocity shells blowing the beast apart, kicking up mud and swampwater as its body disintegrated under the force of so many simultaneous internal explosions.



The dragon slain, Radec ordered the retreat. There was no doubt this had been the Apostates' objective, and now the Alliance had destroyed it. There was no reason to stay and fight with the mission accomplished, especially after the Alliance had already sustained such heavy losses.

KILLED IN ACTION:

Atom ikk Rab
Billy John