(By Baz)

Chapter I: RD Strikes!


It was a cold, cold night that evening. The frost had started to settle early on, and now the howling wind was biting through the blanket that Hellrazer was wearing. He refused to say anything, and instead shuffled closer to the fire. The situation had been getting progressively worse, and it was only a matter of time...

A series of surprise bombings by the Reservoir Dogs had sparked off a gang-war between them and the Police forces in action around the Omegan borders. At first, the defending forces had fought off wave after wave of RD bombers, maintaining a 24-hour vigil around key facilities that were prime targets to any military co-ordination. However, 72 hours into the conflict, the sheer numbers of the RD, using the guerrilla tactics that they had been practising for the past 25 years, had begun to overwhelm the already tightly stretched Omegan forces. No longer could the Omegan defence perimeters be maintained securely, and their forces were stretched past capacity in an attempt to save their few remaining outposts.

Back at Omegan Headquarters, Aphex sat around a large hexagonal table with his advisors, with his chin resting on his hands in contemplation. At that moment, the siren's wailed in the all-familiar sound of the commencing of yet another RD attack. Immediately, the shutters on the window began to close, encasing the exterior weak spots of the building in 12" lei-max armour - one of the new experimental materials found which had proven to be extremely effective at defending against the plasma-based weapons of the RD shock troopers, and now they're hit and run attacks had transformed into almost continuous attacks, as waves after waves of RD attempted to breach the defences of Omegan Headquarters.

"It's time," Aphex whispered, as Zygotic began to stand. "No more can we run from these vagrants. It ends, and it ends here and now." He continued. Zygotic nodded, and immediately began discussing a course of action with his advisors. The door purred open, and Reckless Youth dashed inside, panting from his exertion of physical energy. "We can't hold out against these much longer, Beta colony just vanished off the satellite". Aphex sank back down in his chair, and silence once again descended over the Council as they mourned the 33 million civilians who had just lost their lives on Beta colony, the largest city after the Omegan capital.

On the opposite side of the planet, in a room looking extremely similar to that of Omegan Headquarters, three leaders sat discussing the Omegan issue. "But we're being eradicated. It's Genocide what's happening here, and you're not willing to take action against it" Kelz argued. Kelz was the diplomat who had been assigned to find someone willing in an attempt to strike deep into the virtually undefended RD territory. However, things were looking grim as the thought of attacking RD sank into the other two alliance leaders, and the prospect of a rebuttal by RD forces at a later date. "We cannot engage forces such as the RD, their wrath is undiminished by the attacks on the Omegan survivors" argued Ruthless, leader of the alliance Ragnarok. "But Ruthless, ARROW stands for Honour, Justice and Integrity. We assist friends in times of need, be it without further assistance by other so-called 'friends'." He turned to Kelz, "Kelz, we will prepare, and assist, but you must understand that you may be forced to return the favour if the tables are turned." Kelz nodded, and slowly pushed the data-pad across the table to Nazar. Taking out his electronic tag, he signed the agreement and watched as it was pocketed it away. Kelz stood up, whilst both Nazar and Ruthless followed suite. "It's been nice to have this little chat," Kelz noted as they all shook hands, to the agreement of the other two leaders.
2 hours later, back in Omegan Headquarters, Reckless Youth was at the Central Command Post based inside the gigantic city. Looking at the scanner, he feared the worst. The amount of RD forces attacking in each wave was increasing by each strike. It just didn't add up, RD must have been getting help from somewhere, but the sources were sketchy and the initial scouting reports hadn't revealed any clues. Once again, the sirens wailed as yet another attack began. This time, however, unlike previous attacks, the Command Post shook. An icicle fell from the ceiling, striking the monitor behind where he was standing. Reckless Youth ducked, out of instinct more than anything else. "What in god's name was that?" he demanded, pointing at the nearest officer he could. "Scanning, hold on sir" he replied. "Target Confirmation, Particle tank, Sector 25, recharging" he continued. "Firing". The soldiers ducked once again as the Command Post thudded and rocked from the explosion. "TAKE IT DOWN!" Reckless Youth ordered, arrogantly smacking his fist down on the desk in front of him. "There's nothing left sir, we've nothing out there that can take out that kind of firepower". Reckless Youth considered his options. They could evacuate, and risk being run down by RD snipers and artillery, or they could hold their position within the city, and risk being annihilated by the increasing bombardments which were taking place as RD switched tactics. The situation seemed hopeless.

Inside the briefing room, Aphex looked pressured, as he considered the possibility of surrender. "I will die rather than to succumb to the RD miscreants" commented Zygotic, looking unhappily at the trigger of the firearm he was carrying at his waist. Aphex paused, and turned once again to the wall-wide Radar, and then once again to the status panel on the wall next to him, showing the operational status of the Headquarters. The building rocked once again, and the communication buzzed as Reckless Youth reported in "That's the Target Acquisition and Identification System down sir, got it with that last hit, and more and we'll..........." the line went dead. "That'll be Comms down." Zygotic commented, as the building settled after the last hit.

Reckless Youth lay there, lying on his back with a cut to his head. He pressed his hand to his head, and felt a slow but steady stream of blood trickling down his head. He muttered a comment about RD and sheep, but struggled to his feet. Leaning against the control panel, he gazed around as various screens flashed out. "Reckless to Aphex" he called, touching the comm. button, "Reckless to Aphex, respond". No reply. Looking at the status panel across the room he muttered as he saw that there were more none-operational systems than there were operational. He stumbled across the room, almost collapsing due to the blood loss. Reaching for the door, there was no response. He cursed, and sat down next to the door, watching the only monitor available left. At least they still had communications to the outside world.

Hellrazer woke up, feeling refreshed but hungry. He glanced around and looked at his soldiers. Reaching for his food pack, he hungrily tore one open, lifted up his respirator and looked away. Without looking, he poured the contents of his food pack down his throat, and grimaced as the taste of it hit the back of his throat. Muttering to himself, he stood himself up and bellowed "ALRIGHT FOLKS! UP YOU GET, OFF YOUR ARSES AND STAND TO ATTENTION!" The response was immediate, as the hundred soldiers shot to their feet. Looking overhead, they saw the fleet of helicopters making their way to the open ground in front of them. Assuming a quick march, they quickly reached the choppers. Dunnellon stopped, turned 180°, and then spoke to Ogreman. "They're all yours". Ogreman acted quickly, and within 2 minutes the forces were loaded up. Signalling the all clear, Ogreman saluted to Dunnellon in true military fashion, turned, and spoke with the pilot as the fleet of Helicopters rose from the ground and gracefully climbed up over the neighbouring hills.



Chapter II: Some Surprise Assistance...

The world slowly phased back into reality for Reckless Youth. Looking around, he saw that he hadn't yet been found. He glanced at the monitor next to him, and looked in horror at the 3 Particle tanks that had gathered.

He could clearly see from the display that they were recharging their vastly drained reserves, but it was a matter of time before it began again. At that moment, the radio crackled and sprang to life. "This is MDAlpha III reporting in, how are you guys hanging down there?" it sounded. "Who is this? What are you doing on this channel? This channel is supposed to be secure!" Reckless Youth bellowed from his seated position. "Only here to help, fancy giving us some confirmation anyone?" MDAlpha III reported in. Over the radio, the channel automatically switched as it found a new transmission source. "This is Ogreman, Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of ARROW. We heard you needed a little help Omegan, we're here to fulfil that, now auth' MDAlpha III, and look out you're nearest monitor", the radio crackled. Reaching to turn the nearest intact monitor to face him, he reached back to the radio and changed the channel back to the original source. This is Omegan HQ YR I reporting in, permission to engage accepted." He spoke to the radio. "Whoever you are, thanks" he added. Falling back to his seat, he watched as a missile streaked into view. 'What the...' he whispered to himself, as the missile impacted the armour of the first Particle tank, blowing the turret off and erupting the fuel tanks, rocking the tanks either side of it with the force of the blast. It was immediately visible that the RD forces were shocked, but they reacted well. An eruption of small-arms fire erupted upwards towards the incoming forces, and the screen flashed with the explosion of an object above the monitor, showering the area in debris. The radio erupted again "I seriously hope you're defences are still intact Omegan HQ, confirm". Reckless dived f

tl;dr

These causes could have been insanity, the forever cradling for sex, or nightmares of the demons that lie beneath. The walls were coated in moist condensation from the damp cold atmosphere. There was very little lighting, the occasional lantern here and there. It was an area that very few Omegans knew about, and that even less Omegans talked about. It was the type of place whereby if you were overheard talking about such a place; you were seen only joining those who were already there. The party of 5, consisting of Ascendant, Aphex, Ampy, Reckless Youth and ViLSE, made their way down the stairs into the corridors. It seemed like an endless maze, but Reckless Youth walked the path like he knew the entire layout like the back of his hand. The corridors were narrow, lined with stonewalls. Following turn after turn, the group silently arrived at a stretch of cells. There must have been around 20 there, lined one after the other along the stretch of corridor. Reaching the 4th Cell in the row, Reckless stopped. Giving the remainder of the group chance to catch up, he pulled out the set of keys, methodically trying each until he found the correct one. Unlocking the door, ViLSE instinctively raised his pistol, but Aphex instinctively dropped his hand in signal to lower it. “No weapons needed here ViLSE”, and with that Aphex and Reckless entered the room. Ascendant glanced towards Ampy, and then the remaining three followed suite.








AND

The beginning of part 2


Epilogue

From through the smoking lands that hand been the RD Empire, all was still. The remnants of the tall structures that had once dominated the skyline was now the smoking debris of a once powerful force.

The forces of RD had been almost totally annihilated, and nothing but small skirmishes between the RD survivors and the policing forces of TheOmega defence forces, in the desecrated and rubbled streets.

It had been two years since the now historic uprising of RD. They had almost totally wiped out TheOmega in one foul sweep, with only the sheer willpower and determination of Aphex’s fellow leaders keeping them alive. Somehow, with the help of allies and friends, they had mustered an offensive back on RD, and in a long, painful struggle, they had contained RD forces on their own soils, before gathering for a final thrust to the capital. The seizure of the RD Headquarters had occurred in under one hour, but had been costly. Over one hundred of Omega’s finest troops had lost their lives due to pockets of resistance and the automated RD control network. However, when the final floor was finally cleared, Mr Teal was amongst nort the survivors nor those killed. Instead, when the siege occurred, he had been far far away…

Chapter I: An unrelenting foe


The sun shifted on Zarubi’s sweating brow. Since moving from his apartment in the TIElands to join up with the warrior faction of SoF, life had been hard. Having decided for a military career after his release from the cells underneath Omega Headquarters, he had been conscripted into the giant SoF war machine, he was having a tough time coping with the enduring training regimes, and this day was no exception. “Five hundred and eighty one… Five hundred and eighty two…” he paused, sweat dripping down his neck, and he then shifted his grip to a more comfortable position. He hated chin-ups, he had been proficient at most of the training he had undertaken so far, but his body felt like an iron anvil against his muscular arms. Looking across at the other cadets, his eyes came face to face with Beer. Having been one of the original ICN freedom fighters some ten years ago, he had become attached with the nickname the recruits had given him: “Papa-Beer”.
“CADET!” Beer shouted “DID I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO LOOK AT ME?” he demanded. “DROP AND GIVE ME FOUR HUNDRED” he continued. Zarubi immediately dropped to the ground and began his push-ups with haste. He had learnt better than to argue back, looking over at the burnt xSx on his arm.

There was the noise of a jet overhead, possible multiple jets. He did not dare to look up, and kept his face fixed firm to the ground. Behind him, a petrol tanker exploded with an almighty bang, spewing molten petroleum over the troopers training around it. A hundred yards south, on the perimeter fence, a Fusion Tank was engulfed in an ball of flame. Another jet swooped over, clipping the trees as it went. This time the sound of a launching missile was audible. Another tank exploded, lifting thirty feet into the air before gravity got a-hold of the situation, pulling it back to earth, on top of the adjacent APC. There were sounds of shouting, and of his fellow cadets fleeing, but Zarubi kept doing push-ups for all his worth.

One of the SoF guardsman, mounted on the fortification near the gate, shouted “BOTS!” with a peculiar terror in his voice. The trooper on the ground he had been speaking too did a U-turn and headed in a sprint towards the Commanding Officer of the training outpost. At that instance, a section of the walled fortification collapsed, spilling rubble, whilst a thousand mechanical bots marched into the base. Fleeing in terror, the SoF troopers fled for the cover of the buildings. Zarubi looked upwards, almost fluffting himself at the sight. “Zarubi… RUN!” shouted Skitch, one of his companions. Zarubi leapt to his feet, and, seeing that the bots were cutting off his escape route back inside the base, he noticed the energy sword lying some 50 feet to the West. Beginning a rapid sprint towards it, he tried furiously to avoid fire from both friend and foe. Closing on the weapon, his left hand automatically began reprogramming the electronic servos on his robotic replacement leg. He neatly rolled forward, grasping the sword in one move, and rolling back out onto his feet. As he finished his manoeuvre, he hit the ‘Execute’ key on the keypad on his leg, and his servos activated, propelling him upwards some twenty feet. He landed gently on one of the remaining wall emplacements, surveying the scene. It was obvious that SoF were taking casualties. Most were already undercover inside the buildings and bunkers, but the Bots’ artificial tracking and targeting systems, combined with their amazing ability to soak up firepower at an astonishingly little impact to their subsystems, meant that they were superior to those of their more human opponents.

Zarubi saw the situation was looking grim, and instinctively flicked the switch on his sword. It crackled once, then again, before becoming encased in a blue swirling mist of energy. Immediately the Bots sensed the danger, turning and firing in his direction. But his reflexes were too fast, and he was already making a beeline along the wall at a sprint, on course to intercept the Bots at the rear of the brigade. Pulling two grenades from the wall-mounted cannon he was passing, he deftly removed the pins and threw them both. They landed approximately eight metres apart. Detonating, there was the familiar crackle of blue energy, as the bots where the grenades had landed powered down. “Gotta love those drain grenades” Zarubi muttered, turning his attention back to the threats ahead…