Blackwatch

[Ironwatsas]

Chapter 3

Onslaught.

"Five minuites to singularity." Came the emotionless female voice through the mech's datalink.

The man once called 'Detrich', wordlessly stared into the data panels and steam-guages on the interior of his mech's cockpit cocoon, his arms and legs working the humanoid mech's corresponding parts via control grips, motion sensors, and co-ordinated by an AI. Quite a feat considering the vehicle was flying at close to the speed of sound, almost a kilometer above the surface of Kyushu.

Consortium aerospace engineers and military analists have always maintained a 'think' outside the box mentality, wether it be creating man-portable recon drones propelled by razor sharp serrated blades, attaching holographic emmitters to space fighters to allow them to disguise themselves as asteroids or other ships, or in this case, taking a normally land-based mecha, attaching anti-gravity emmitters, high-powered thrusters, and retractable winglets, and adding spaceflight-capability to allow self deployability from orbit.

Such is the Consortium's ASCA (Airmobile Self-deployable Combat Armor) type vehicles. Most based off of several similar designs manufactured by Daumann or Ageria, stolen in Consortium raids, and unrepentantly modified from their origional form. While lightweight and sturdy, they are ill-suited for orbital or aerospace combat, as they are quite ungainly due to their shape and center of gravity, and their weapons are calibrated for destroying land-based vehicles. Hence, they were closely followed by a squadron of Airwatch Scimitar fighters modified into drones, and a pair of Mustang combat dropships carrying a number of infantry troops and Guardian robots.

The mechs and the dropships steadily descended toward their objective, a Samura industrial plant which was apparently built in part to disguise a military lab, hence, why the Consortium had decided to flex it's military muscle with a tactical strike. Detrich could see the facility toward the end of the valley they were descending into. A complex of large buildings and warehouses.

"Airwatch, assume vertical pattern 7.1.3. Keep it together, hold ceiling at six hundred stay together now... ready... SPREAD."

"Delta-11, continue descent pattern. Declination, 17 degrees, stay constant, decellerate at 2500 meters. Give word when you have visual on the LZ."

"Delta-1.1, Intel.Spike reports sightings of armored vehicles and personell in the vicinity of the main facility. LZ is hot."

"Watch the spread pattern, stay sharp."

Random chatter came over the comms from a number of sources. Detrich was fully aware of this, given his increased awareness capacity as the result of his Consortium surgery. While most Consortium troops can communicate silently through their Neurocytes, voice communication is nessiscary when the Neurocytes' processing capacity is focused on other things. In this case, the tactical datalinks and operations of the ASCA, monitoring everything from airspeed, ammunition and fuel, system integrity, climate control, and external conditions.

Detrich was conciously aware of his surroundings even without watching the holographic displays (though he did for redundant assurance that all was well). He could clearly see people and vehicles moving about the parking lot infront of the Samura facility, and could sense the incomming radar contacts without looking at his display. Apparently, the facility was better protected and secured then anticipated.

"Picking up incomming missiles..."

"What the...?"

"Maintain formation, evasive pattern 12, fire spoofer missiles, ping their targeting systems, and jam them."

"Keep the glide slope open for the landers."

The chatter resumed as the first tracers and plasma bolts whizzed by the flight wing, and explosions filled the sky around the group. Despite the chaos beginning to unfold, the Consortium troops remained almost completely calm and cool despite the chaos. To anyone else, especially hardened military veterans, this would be unnerving, if not downright 'creepy'. Despite the barrage, the flight group mapped the enemy firing solution, and thrusted latterally in several directions to throw off their aggressors' aim.

It was unclear who exactly the defenders were. Presumably either Hogosha, Farmers' Alliance, or a combination of the two. Samura security forces were not this well equipped, which was obvious, and the air defense strategies were inconsistant with Kusari Army tactics. The weapons fire was poorly aimed, mainly trying to establish a 'kill box' of lead, plasma, and flak. Of more concern were the three aircraft now taking off from the landing pads behind the factory, which flight patterns and energy emmissions quickly identified as Black Dragons.

"Three Bogeys, bearing 007, attempting to intercept. Airwatch to claw formation, open spread pattern."

"Flood, Coagulate, Clamp, Shield, Sterilise."

Immedietly, the Airwatch Scimitars punched their afterburners and swarmed toward the Dragons, having numbers and manuverability on their side. The Dragons fortunately went directly toward this inital threat, as did a few of the antiaircraft guns.

Below the squadron, in the main parking lot outside the facility, several defenders took cover, now realising the mechs and dropships were headed right for them. While lacking sophisticated targeting sensors for their weapons, the defenders possessed a few manually targeted antiaircraft guns and man-portable missile launchers. One of the men in charge barked orders to his men to fire on the mechs before they landed. Quickly, four launchers were leveled on the incoming landers and fired.

"Mud spike, 12 'o clock low, shield, evade."

The larger dropships fired spoofer flares and countermeasures to confuse the missiles', though one virtue of their small, cheap nature was their dogged reliability. However, two of the missiles missed while the other two flew home toward the ASCA. Detrich's mech shuddered under a direct hit to the torso, and another mech took a glancing blow to the leg. However, the missiles' simply lacked the punch to critically damage the vehicles, and hit the most well protected parts of the vehicles.

"Direct hits, non critical damage, continuing operation." Detrich said into his communicator.

"Ten seconds to singularity... nine, eight, seven..." the AI said as the mechs' punched their decelleration thrusters.

By this point, the defenders could do little to stop the oncomming mechs. Detrich was the first to land, tearing up a chain-link fence and crushing several cars and landspeeders in the parking lot as his vehicle recoiled and stood to combat stance. The second mech also made a perfect landing. The third however stumbled as it's leg collapsed, apparently due to damage to it's hydraulics from the missile impact. It's pilot attempted to get the mech back to it's feet and in combat.

Detrich saw this, and the oncomming and angry defenders marching toward him as he barked orders. "Landown, shield Astoria. Full pacification authorisation. Weapons free. Clear Landing Zone."

Detrich gritted his teeth as he raised his mech's rifle and leveled it on the regrouping defenders. With little hesitation, he depressed the trigger firmly, and all hell began to break loose...

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All that begins must end.