Jeurridam Ch. 15: Wastelands FPT2.

I copped out major! Not exactly how I planned on ending the series but close enough! Hope you all enjoyed it overall. It's been fun...gonna pick up on UCAC for now...

I'm afraid that series will be longer than 15 chapters but I can't be too sure. I may break it off into a follow up story... IDK.

*****

BUN-BUN:

The gravity blades flew so high I couldn't see them. Minutes later the first juggernaut ship came crashing down into the wastelands. The second crashed down too, its thrusters lighting up in a huge explosion. The turrets remotely stationed around the base began picking off the patrolling mechs. The Revivalists had no idea where the attack was coming from! It was exactly what we wanted.

"Zeek how you holdin' up?" I asked over the air.

"It's surprisingly easy to handle but I'm holding my breath..." Zeek responded, as he and a number of buggies speed towards Area 51.

"You'll do fine... Just never stay in one spot... always keep moving." Sandles reassured.

"Okay." Zeek said back.

"Orb is showing that the third brigate has reinforcement tanks and the second has speeders. You all watch it!! I'm coming in from above! The rotor bike riders, you're gonna have to clear me a path to a brigate when I need one... okay?" I said.

"Roger..." They all said back.

The Revivalists mechs began to drop left and right. The high density pulse beams from the turrets fried them instantly! However, the mechs were smart! They found cover between the hangars and structures all around the base, not moving considering the vast amount of suppression they were facing.

"How are things looking?" Alistair asked.

"The mechs are taking cover from the turrets. They don't know where the attack is coming from." I said back.

"How close are you?" Alistair said back.

"I'm coming in from the west about forty seconds out. What about you guys?" I asked in response.

"We're about eleven seconds in before we get in tank range... We haven't been spotted yet but we will be when they see what's hitting them." Alistair said.

"Stay safe!" I said.

"Will do!" Alistair said.

The distinct fire of the tank buster cannon let me know the battle had begun. I was nervous, knowing that anything could make this take a turn for the worst. We need to survive! Emann, the manticore, continued to sprint in towards the western side of the base.

"I'm detecting drones..." He said, "Manticores..."

"They're gonna try and fry you with their EMPs... You stay out the blast radius of those things and shoot them with all your might!" I said, "Big Daddy, watch his back! And Emann, you watch Big Daddy's back!"

"Okay..." He said.

"I'm going in!" I said over the air, leaping off the back of Emann and landing atop the nearest hangar. Emann wasted no time in charging up his photon pulse cannon. The energy projectile released in a blinding flash, hitting a mech hard!

Now realizing they were under attack by something close range, the manticores began to scatter to retaliate. As they did, the long range turrets began to pick off anyone of them out in the open for too long.

"Big Daddy, flush them out!" Emann said, "I'm going after the hive leader!"

"Alright!" Big Daddy said. The sentinel began to provide air support. He fired his dual one hundred ten millimeter pulse beams at a number of manticores. His weapons didn't have the same punch as the one hundred thirty millimeter pulse beam of Emann. Still though, the photonic blasts knocked chunks of armor off the mechs.

They'd fling electron bolas at him, the agile sentinel dodging them, still laying on the fire. Emann continued to stalk around looking for the hive leader. As he did, a manticore leapt from the wreckage of the ship, flanking Big Daddy from behind. The mech slammed him to the ground, ripping off armor with its powerful talons.

"EMANN!!" Big Daddy screamed, causing Emanna to turn sharply. The sight was horrifying!

"GET OFF OF HIM!!" Emann screamed, leaping in from the damaged structure of a ship. He tackled the manticore, both rolling to a halt.

Once the manticore realized what was attacking it, it looked on in confusion. With only brief hesitation, the manticore charged forward, coming forth towards Emann at great speed. It was nearly too fast for Emann to dodge. Though he tried to outflank the manticore, he was hit with a powerful blow to his sides from the manticore's powerful arms. He stumbled, only to be grabbed by sturdy hands, and slammed to the ground.

"Emann!!" Big Daddy called out, horrified.

"Make sure no other manticores get involved in this! This is the hive master!" Emann said, more than driven to defeat it. He drove his hind legs into the hive master's underside as the powerful mech climbed atop him. The potent kicks pushed the hive master off balance long enough for Emann to slip free of his deadly grip.

Still though, the hive master retaliated by clamping down with those powerful vampire-like jaws. Emann screamed out in agony as he dug his claws into the hive master's mantle. He began prying the mantle apart, digging into the soft mechanized flesh underneath the exoskeleton. The hive master winced in pain, but didn't release his bite. The two were locked in a life or death battle, both in dire states and agonizing pain!

The manticores couldn't just stand idly by and watch their hive leader fight to the death. A few braves one rushed forward trying to help out, only to be met by the cannon fodder of Big Daddy. It was then many began to divert their attentions to him. A bold one leapt high up, just barely missing his feet. Big Daddy aimed his cannons precisely at the open mouth of the mech as it swatted at him. He fired devastating pulse beams into its mouth, ripping it apart from the inside.

More and more began to leap up in efforts to attack, many succumbing to Big Daddy precise aim. Some of the leaping mechs were picked off by the long range of the turrets miles away. It was a hell of a defense strategy, using their own murderous instincts against them.

Still though, a manticore slipped through the defense, clamping its jaws onto Emann's back. Big Daddy barreled down at an impressive speed, slamming his half ton bulk into the imposing mech. The blow caused the mech to release his grip on Emann. Big Daddy grabbed the manticore by its tail, directing maximum power to the thrusters on his back.

He rose up high above the ground, releasing the mech. As it fell, the powerful pulse beam from a turret ripped it to shreds. Big Daddy came back down, diving as fast as he could. He charged his pulse beams for as long as he could, releasing a massive blast that obliterated five manticores. Still though, more were finding ways to stay out of the path of the turret and edge closer to Emann and their hive master. Both were still locked in an intense struggle for superiority. The sheer number of mechs were proving overwhelming to Big Daddy. The mechs were doing what they did best, swarm.

Emann sensors could feel them getting closer and closer! However, he knew the hive master was much tougher than a normal manticore. After all, he himself was a hive master before Zanir changed his programming. He did everything in his power to get free of the deadly mech, but it was just too ferocious. As he dug deeper into the mechs flesh, it shook him wildy in its jaws. Emann could feel its teeth sinking deeper into his exoskeleton. Vital circulatory fluid began to drip to the ground. As he became aware of this, the sudden will to fight harder pushed him further.

He released his grip from the hive leader's mantle and dug in to his face plate. Emann's claws imbedded deep into one of the hive leader's sensitive optics as he fought to pry its jaws apart. The hive leader struck him with a powerful open palm but it did nothing to break Emann's deathly grip. He slammed the hive leader to the ground, causing a massive thud. Emann was suddenly gored deep by the scorpion like skewer of hive leader. He screamed out, in utter agony.

"You motherFUCKER!!" Emann growled as he pinned the hive leader down. He charged up his tail, aiming at the hive leader's head. The hive leader's optics bucked wide as it had never seen this type of tail modification on a manticore mech before. The last thing it saw was the arcing light waves escaping the swiftly rotating barrel of the pulse cannon before a powerful blast of warped light disintegrated its head. That amount of power at that close of a range made a large crater deep in the ground.

Damaged badly by the hive leader, Emann collapsed on the ground. Still though, dozens of manticores came screeching towards him. He aimed with his tail, firing powerful blasts of gravity manipulated light at the mechs. Many dropped, a hole melted right through their cores. Big Daddy joined in, charging up his dual beams for a little longer to add more power. It had a similar effect to the much larger cannon of Emann's... enough to make the remaining mechs retreat. Big Daddy rushed over to Emann who was holding his badly skewered flank.

"You okay?" Big Daddy asked.

"Weld me back up! Nothing five minutes can't fix... I'll be ready to fight in no time!" Emann said back enthusiastically.

"Okay, this is gonna hurt... a lot!" Big Daddy said, "Zanir, Emann's out of the fight... But we took care of most of the mechs! Watch your back..."

"Alright! You both did a good job..." I said back before the blood curdling screams of Emann came in. Big Daddy was soldering his wound close so he could heal faster. I knew he had to be in the most extreme pain! I wondered was it a curse to make these sentinels feel pain the way they did.

None the less, I leapt to a neighboring hangar, wanting to get a good vantage point to make out what was going on. Explosions were everywhere! Several tanks were rolling out of a brigate, engaging in combat with the buggies. To the northeast was the brigate the mechs came from. It was the closest to the hangar the captives were and it was the one I was going to hijack to save them!

"Boss its heavy out here!" A buggy pilot said, "These tight quarters are no joke with these racers on our asses..."

Suddenly, a buggy went up in an explosion! A tank had picked it off after it got distracted with the nimble racers making their way around it.

"That was Yaky! They got Yaky!!" The buggy pilot said, quite upset.

"I'm on it!" Alistair said back. Alistair's rotor bike lept up to the roof of a hangar, stalking the racers flanking the mechs in the gulley ways. Hovering high above the ground, he took aim at an unsuspecting racer, blasting it to bits. Before anyone could spot him, he disappeared onto another rooftop.

"I like the way you're doing things, boss!" Sandles chuckled, as he brought his five blade rotor bike to the roof top. He did a high speed pass, taking quick aim at a racer, blasting it before one even noticed.

"Zanir can you tap their radios?" Alistair asked.

"I'm already on it!" I said, hacking as fast as I could, "Done..."

"How are they doing this? Is someone sniping us from above?" A racer pilot asked.

"No, I saw something leap across the rooftops! Whatever they have, it's fast!" Another pilot asked.

"So they're attacking us from the roof tops! Third and seventh legs, get up there now and deal with whatever's putting a dent in us... This is bad." The commander said. This made my heart pound.

"Zanir, get out of there!" Alistair said.

"I'm coming!" Sandles said! Seemingly within that same fraction of a second, he was on the roof behind me with a rotor bike. I hopped on, grabbing ahold of the boy. He whipped the aircraft down to the ground just as the two racers leapt up to investigate.

Now out in the open, the turrets began picking them off.

"What the fuck is attacking us?" The revivalists' commander asked, "EVERYONE OFF THE ROOF TOPS!! STAY ON THE GROUND!! THEY HAVE INCREDIBLY LONG RANGE SUPPPORT!!"

"Why are they doing this? They pushed us out of Jeurridam! What more could they want?" Someone asked, the racers scattering in every direction.

"I don't know. I'm trying for back up at the tower..." Another soldier said.

"All racers, focus on the buggies! Make them easy for the tanks to pick off!" The commander said.

"Roger..." The pilots responded.

"Guys... I'm in trouble..." Zeek said, bringing alarm to us all!

"I'm coming. Give me a quick moment!" Sandles responded as he flew the racer back up to the roof, the very roof I was trying to reach.

"Thank you!" I said.

"No problem!" Sandles said, the speedy rotor bike disappearing off the side of the hangar.

Zeek had gotten cornered by a number of tanks behind a field of rubble. He couldn't take aim at one without being within the crosshairs of another.

"I could really use some help!" Zeek said as a tank began to close in. He moved the small buggy out of its line of detection but into the path of another cicada. The large one hundred twenty millimeter barrel took aim at Zeek. The lock on warnings blared in the cockpit as he knew the inevitable was coming. He was about to get blown to bits!

"Bingo..." A tank pilot said. Zeek closed his eyes hearing an ear shattering explosion. As he opened his eyes, he realized it was the tank that had went up in flames. Something powerful had ripped it apart!

"What the fuck was that?" Another tank pilot asked.

"I don't know! It moved so fast!" A crew member responded.

Still though, there were three more tanks surrounding Zeek. He knew that if he moved, he'd be in the crosshairs of another. Though, it was a risk he'd have to take. He took aim with his cannon, moving ever so slightly to the left. As he did the tank came into view.

"Found him!" The pilot said. The tank's barrel spun around ready to take aim at Zeek. However it was too late. Zeek had already locked on! Before he could shoot, a black streak across the sky blasted the tank from behind, "Fuck someone hit us from behind!!"

"Radar's picking up nothing!" A crew member responded as he turned the tank to see where the powerful blast had come from. Zeek squeezed the trigger, releasing a powerful anti-tank shell into the cockpit of the cicada. The tank went up in flames.

"There's something else out here attacking that's too fast to see! Be on your toes! I bet that Tanzanir boy has something to do with it! Everyone, have an eye on the ground and an eye on the sky!" The commander said.

"Roger..."

Now with only two tanks to worry about, Zeek regained his confidence. He pushed the left yolk forward, creeping up behind one. He fired a powerful anti-tank shell at the leg of the tank, causing it to collapse. The black streak returned, firing a deadly blast at the cockpit. The tank exploded wildly, debris flying everywhere!

"I saw it!" A crew member of the last tank said.

"What is it?" Someone asked.

"I don't know." The crew member said back.

"You DON'T KNOW?" The pilot screamed.

"It was moving too fast. I just know that whatever it is has the same type of weapons the tanks do." The crew member said back.

"Oh I could have told you that!" Another crew member responded.

While they argued, Zeek snuck in a few crippling rounds. It was finished off by another highspeed pass on a rotor bike. The tank fell apart as it was engulfed in an inferno.

"Zeek, what happened to the other guys in your company?" Sandles asked, steadily moving.

"Dead..." Zeek said, not pleased to admit this.

"Okay," Sandles sighed, "Boss, we pushed off about half of the tanks but still have a ton of racers left... What now? Are we still playing it safe with the rotor bikes and not being seen?"

"Yeah, keep the tug of war going... We need the cue from Zanir... How far are you...?" Alistair asked.

"I just got here..." I responded, opening the sun hatch of the hangar. I dropped in, seeing a number of guards surrounding the hundreds of kids zip tied, sitting on the floor. I didn't have my blades this run, forgetting them in all the chaos. This was going to be tough!

However, I knew this hangar. This was the very hangar with the nuclear fission reactor being built. Of course the process had stopped with the Revivalists invading. That meant there was a lot of structures for me to climb on to outflank these big clunky soldiers. I did just that, climbing up on the supports for the upper platform. I could see Basil sitting at the head of the crowd. He was in bad shape, having been roughed up something terrible. I had to get him and these kids out of here.

"This is like a repeat event..." The commander said.

"We said we weren't gonna fall for the same trick twice but we did..." A supporting officer said.

"How did they even know we're here! What's their motives this time? We're no longer in Jeurridam so what reason is there to fight?" The commander asked.

"I bet it has something to do with all these brats and this place..." A guard said, looking out over the terrified children.

"Those kids in the radio tower were sending for help." A supporting officer responded, "And help arrived..."

"We still have a few tricks up our sleeves. If they have come for the kids then we'll let them leave with them... There's no need for this senseless violence... So much money lost!" The commander responded.

"Are reinforcements on their way? This is the second time in a row we're getting decimated!" A supporting officer asked.

"I don't know... I lost radio contact thirty minutes ago..." An officer sighed.

"So we're stuck here again? We barely got away when the dam exploded! We're lucky this place was in the archives..." A soldier sighed.

"No we're not stuck here! We still have three fully functioning ships we can evacuate on... Two of those ships are filled with some very heavy artillery..." The commander said, growing frustrated.

"If we have heavy artillery, why are we not using it?" A soldier asked.

"Because we don't know what we're up against! The bandits are holding back and it's not making any sense right now! Something else is up..." The commander said back firmly.

"What do you mean?" A supporting officer asked.

"Soldiers out there have been catching glimpses of something moving too fast to see that has a lot of firepower! It's been taking out tanks left and right. Not even the racers caught a solid glimpse of it! This could be it but I'm not sure. They may have something else up their sleeves. There's a lot of money invested into this research and I can't invest any more assets if I know whatever they have is gonna wipe us out. It's not worth the engagement..." The commander explained.

"What? With all due respect, commander, this could keep us alive! No more people have to die! If you have something with the stopping power in those ships, use it! Whose side are you own, here?" An outspoken grunt said. It made the commander rise from his seat, very angered.

"I'm on the side you signed up for! Do you know exactly what you signed up for? You signed up to defend the assets of the nation of the Revivalists with selflessness and without thought! That means defending our military prospects at all costs! Forty percent of our reinforcements have already been destroyed and that number is creeping higher. The assets in the brigates are our top priority and you as a soldier should be aware of that! If we all die here today, that is just fine! We're defending what needs to be defended... You're an expendable... You're all expendable... I'm expendable..." The commander said through the grit of his teeth, "Now continue your duties..."

Not a single soul liked his speech. They didn't like his speech on them being valued less than mere machines. It didn't matter anyways. Slowly and stealthily, I began taking out the patrolling soldiers one by one. It took me around six minutes to round up everyone, using their very own zip ties against them. Last but not least was the commander.