Chapter 214: (Ralvex) (2/2)
**STAMPY HELP!** the bot squealed and fired again.
The ground trembled under Ralvex's feet as he pulled the gun up, firing at a large hovercraft that looked like it was heavy with munitions. The shells raked down the wing which suddenly came apart.
”OH SHIT, CLAMSHELL!” Ralvex yelled.
Stampy and Timmy hunkered down an a hexagonal pattern made of light covered them in a half-orb.
The craft nosed down just as the air defense stations opened up on it, raking down the fuselage and hammering at the other wing. The entire thing broke up, raining chunks of battle-steel armor, internal structures, and payload down onto the ground around Ralvex.
Payload that included high explosives.
Ralvex turned and jumped, hitting the wall and bouncing off, jumping again, flipping and twisting in mid-air, and landing in the standard pose, bringing his autocannon close to shield it. 525 barely got inside the protective housing before the jump and was locked in when first one went off. He locked his joints and inflated the pressure sleeve to max pressure, pumping it full with most of his remaining kinetic gel.
The world tore apart in rolling explosions that hurtled chunks of Precursor vehicle everywhere, the concussive wave slammed into Ralvex, who kept his neck straight, trusting his helmet to protect his head. The grav-spike howled as the blast waves pummeled him. His armor heated up and something slammed into him hard enough to take his breath away. A car slammed into him, flipped over his head, and vanished behind him.
The blast wave passed and he looked back down the highway. The mesa was 1,200 feet high, he was at the 800 foot mark, almost 500 meters of road down in front of him.
At the 400 foot mark the integrity fields had failed, the blasts scooping free large chunks of stone and throwing them into the sky. The blast had been channeled behind him and ahead of him, destroying more Precursor vehicles.
He checked his monitors and cursed.
His autocannon was reading failure. He stood up and checked it over. The housing was cracked and electronics could be seen inside. As he stood up he saw steaming kinetic gel leaking out of his joints. He'd taken a lot of hits. His right shoulder was yellow, his left leg amber on his HUD.
”Sound off.”
**STAMPY ALIVE**
**TIMMY ALIVE**
”Regroup,” he ordered. ”525, you OK?”
--almost bent antenna-- 525 sent back with a smiley face that rolled its eyes like it was crazy.
Ralvex lowered the cannon and triggered a burst. Nothing. The firing grip just clicked.
”Autocannon's busted. See what you can do,” Ralvex said, letting the harness pull it up into the rest position. He pulled around his rifle, loaded it, and checked the settings. At a full charge at the rate of fire he was using, he'd damage the barrel by morning.
But it was that or nothing.
His map updated. At the top of the ridge was his resupply and reload, delivered by Cutter.
It was just 600 meters behind him.
The only problem was the Precursor vehicles were already advancing up the bombed out highway. He knelt down, aimed, and fired. The mag-ac battle rifles sparked as they slammed into the battlesteel armor of the advancing vehicles. One shot hit one of the centipede legs at the front of the vehicle, snapping it free, and the rest shifted position to cover the jaws.
Lasers began snapping around him.
Tiny Tim rolled up out of the crater it was in, orienting the tandem 20mm rapid fire autocannons and opening fire. Its barrels were almost shot out so the thick lines of 4-1 APHEX to tracer wobbled slightly as the little force multiplier raked the oncoming Precursors.
Stampy jumped up out of the crater and ran for Ralvex.
**STAMPY HURT** the little drone squealed as it ran for Ralvex. Ralvex could see that the barrel of the hellbore was bent.
”Well, shit,” Ralvex said. He reached down, grabbing grenades off his belt and throwing them out. Microprism, thermal masking smoke, chaff, ferrous-smoke. The two warbois rolled through it, stopping next to Ralvex, who hosed a long burst through the clouds of concealment. Ralvex grabbed battle-screen projectors and threw them on the ground, linking them together as fast as possible.
The battle-screen came up as hv-rounds started bouncing off the rocks around Ralvex. The screen started sparking and flaring as rounds hit it even as the lasers and particle beams were shattered by the microprism mist.
--autocannon dead-- 525 said. --fix stampy--
He jumped from Ralvex's shoulder and glided to Stampy, looking the barrel over.
His radio clicked a few times.
”You still alive, Marine?” a voice asked. His armor ID'd it as HTR-3 from earlier.
”Still alive,” Ralvex said, gritting his teeth.
”You've got a payload here. Bunch of crates. Looks like a couple spare autocannons like the one you were packing. What do we do with them?” the Law Enforcement Officer asked.
”Just leave it,” Ralvex said. ”It's getting hot down here and I”m down to my battle rifle.”
”What happened to your cannon?” he asked.
”It's gone. Get into the shelters,” Ralvex snapped. ”You can't help me.”
The commo clicked and the Hasstlin was gone.
Tiny Tim was laying down the firepower, firing rockets as fast as it could. Ralvex undid the lockouts so that Tiny Tim could wet-print and kept watch. Any small drones in range of the rifle he snapped shot at, knocking them out of the sky.
His armor pinged and he looked back. The vehicle from earlier was hurtling toward him, none of the lights on. He could see there were two HTR in the front seats. He turned back to firing.
--gonna saw the barrel-- 525 said.
”We're not supposed to do that,” Ralvex said.
--that or nothing-- 525 said, popping the torch and starting to cut.
Stampy and Tiny Tim fired their mortars dry in a rippling burst.
The LawSec car screeched to a stop and one door opened, the HRT officer crouched down behind the door, waving his arm.
”We brought one of the guns!” he yelled.
Ralvex wanted to yell at the civilian to clear the area, to get out of there before the Precursors started homing in on the EM emissions of the car or the heat signature of the ceramic engine.
The HTR crab walked back, opening the back door, and pulled the heavy autocannon out, grunting.
Ralvex kept shooting at the drones, snapping them out of the air. One of the point defense guns had gone silent.
Ralvex turned and ran over to the HTR, lifting the heavy autocannon out of the LawSec officer's hands. His armor immediately began to synch up with the weapon. It was a BOLO rapid-print nano-forge weapon but it was within specs.
”You guys need to get to the shelters. I don't know how much longer I can hold them off,” Ralvex said. He took a long drink of water and tabbed up some gum.
Behind him Tiny Tim beeped and went to alternate firing, outrunning his nano-forge's ability to keep up with ammo consumption.
--done-- 525 said.
**STAMPY HELP**
”NO! Hold fire, Stampy!” Ralvex said. He turned back to the LawSec. I'm about to go atomic again. Get to the shelters,” he snapped.
The officer nodded, his eyes wide as the firepower from below picked up intensity and the battlescreen started snarling and crackling. He rushed back to his car as Ralvex connected his ammo pack to the autocannon and let it synch up.
”Officer,” Ralvex yelled.
The officer paused.
”Thanks,” Ralvex said. ”Now get to shelter.”
The unarmored car sped off as Ralvex cocked the autocannon and turned back to the man-made draw.
”Fire at will, Stampy,” he ordered, squeezing the firing handle.
And the battle raged on.
----------------
III CORPS
Units still widely scattered. Still rallying. 22% MIA but considered still in action.
------------
2 TELKAN SCOUT MARINES
Regroup when possible.
--------------
TF TIAMAT
Task Force is currently forcing Precursor ships back from the planet.
Second force, designated Tango Two, have arrived at the Resonance Zone via jumpspace.
Current opponents do not match weapons, tactics, or ship types of previously encountered Percursor.
Designated Type-4.