Chilled Death
07-04-2006, 09:51 PM
Beginning of the end
A Fan Fiction for the game Chromehounds.
Written By Chilled Death.
I was stationed in Tarakia, along the border to Sal Kar. My Heavy Gunner HOUND boiling under the intense desert sun. Sure she was running hot, but the new coolant system was helping. We were providing long range support for the Soldier HOUNDS on the front lines. It was routine stuff. We would get a call to point in a direction, shoot, and wait for confirmation of the hit. If we missed, we altered the shot accordingly until we got the kill. It was pretty dull stuff. Take an order, follow it, and wait to see if you followed correctly… I wanted the intense action the Soldiers and Defenders were used to. Heavy Gunning was interesting and all, what with the massive cannons and such, but I would seldom see the crushing blow that was critical to each victory. Little did I know, today I would see, and receive said blows, in spades.
Master Sergeant Terrence Shiner threw out the usual orders. “Move out. We go the call to lay down a blanket of fire from coordinates H4, to J4.” Every base had an effective range; it was divided into a grid coordinate system. Basically we got the order to rain hell upon a mile square area. We started our HOUNDS, and began taking aim at the target area. We couldn’t see our target, but we knew we were shooting at something significant. To receive a call for help from the Firebrand team meant it was a lot of trouble. We unloaded a first salvo in the desired direction, and waited for confirmation. A Soldier HOUND gave us a hit confirmation. Several explosions could be heard over the radio, coming from the Soldiers end. Then the channel snapped dead.
In reality, the Heavy Gunners had fired into the middle of nowhere. The Soldier HOUNDS of the Firebrand team were lined up, and had there cockpit blown up, point blank. An execution. A rather large Sal Kari Soldier HOUND was performing the act. Sporting several shotguns, it obliterated each of the 6 HOUNDS in the Firebrand team, one by one. One of the Scouts on Firebrand team tried to make a quick get away, but was subsequently destroyed by a Sniper HOUND off to the side of the execution. It was grim, and would soon become the fate of many Tarakian HOUNDS to come.
Something was wrong. The network area was full of interference. But a COMBAS stood not more than 200 feet from our positions. It made no sense. Then it hit us. We were under attack. No natural occurrence could cause this interference. All hell was going to break loose. I tried to raise the other members of my squad on comm., but to no avail. Our systems were jammed tighter than noose. It may have well been a noose. No communications meant any and all of our HOUNDS within the jamming radius were useless solitary machines. We fidgeted about, trying to decide whether or not to make a crawl for it, or stand our ground, and try to blast away the soldiers. We really had no choice. Or HOUNDS were no match in speed to that of the Sal Kari enemy.
The Sal Kari soldier HOUNDS, still unseen on the other side over a small rise, readied to strike the slow cumbersome Heavy Gunner HOUNDS. Their communications were still active. Each Sal Kari HOUND carried a small Network Area generator, separate from the NA provided by the COMBAS towers. The Sal Kari Sniper HOUND moved to the left of the Heavy Gunner cluster. It would pick them off from a distance when the time approached. It was out of the small communications radius, and was cut off from the rest of teams orders. It would wait to see the charge, and then fire, but he didn’t really have a choice right now. One of the Gunner HOUNDS turned in the Snipers direction. The pilot swore and ran for cover of the hill it was on.
One of my allied HOUNDS turned and fired its main gun at a hill in the far distance. I was surprised to see a reactor explosion from the impact area. That could only mean one thing. We had nearly been the targets for a Sniper, but that was the least of our worries. Hills on three sides of us, we didn’t really have a choice on which way to crawl, and with so many places for the enemy to come from, we were sweating. The Sal Kari HOUNDS were playing with my teams minds. Not charging, drawing it out for as long as possible. It made me anxious, when would they strike? Would they let us just walk out of here? Probably not…
The High Explosive, Armor Piercing round from the Heavy Gunner HOUND smashed into the Snipers generator. The pilot survived the detonation, only because he hid behind the strongest Sal Kari cockpit out there. Then the pilot looked down at the damage schematic. He quickly prayed, and gave blessing to his family, before disappearing in a flash of smoke and fire.
The Soldiers chattered over the private channels. They decided now was best. With the loss of their sniper HOUND, it wouldn’t be long before the Heavy Gunners could reload. Better charge when the enemy is down, than wait for him to level his gun. Each of the eight soldier HOUNDS charged over the hill, and down, firing Gatling guns, Anti HOUND rockets, Auto rifles, Shotguns, and a whole mess of other weapons. They all did the same thing. Take chunks out of the Gunner HOUNDS. They quickly circled them, firing all at once. It was a cacophony of explosions, gunfire, pings and tinks as weapons were fired and impacted on the armor of the Gunner HOUNDS.
Finally it was started. Although it wasn’t any better, now that I was being fired upon, but now I didn’t need to become more paranoid by the second. The comms still jammed, I took my best aim at an enemy HOUND, and let loose with my main gun, in all its explosive glory. Needless to say, there wasn’t much left of the enemy HOUND. All that was left was parts of the bipedal chassis, and a few ruined and twisted guns. I was amazed with my luck. My armor was holding out alright, although the front right leg was a little more damaged than I would have liked, and I had managed a kill. There was hope after all. With renewed vigor, I reloaded all my weapons, and turned to find another target. My jaw dropped in horror. Already, 2 of us had been destroyed. The sheer number of bullets flying through the air was killing us, slowly, but surely.
I turned and led another of the Sal Kar Soldiers. The amount of stress upon me was phenomenal. Time seemed to slow as I pulled the trigger button on the dual joysticks. I saw it, the shell impact. I had missed. One shell of the dual cannon had been off by a few meters, and the other only disabled a few weapons on the Soldiers right ‘arm’. I was horrified. Even If I did get the guns reloaded, what good would it do? My generator was nearly toast, all the smaller weapons were either destroyed, out of ammo, or jammed, and my chassis was failing. I couldn’t believe this was the end. I won’t accept that. This can’t be the end. There were 4 Soldier HOUNDS left. One of my squad mates had also managed to blow one straight to hell.
The Soldiers were chattering constantly. They bickered over the best way to kill the remaining Tarakian HOUNDS. Finally the Tactics Commander stepped in and ordered them to shoot out the Tarakians generator, without causing it to explode. Then they could follow the fate of Firebrand team.
The soldiers took there best shots, firing controlled bursts, disabling the first Gunners generators, then my generator. The turn speed of my HOUND slowed to an inch an hour. There was no hope now. The cockpit generator would only provide enough power for basic electrical devices like the network tuner, and the weapons computer. I had an idea. Taking everything except the targeting and firing modules offline, I turned the main gun slowly. Hopefully I could take a shot at the TC wherever it was. It wasn’t hard to spot. TC’s always sported larger NA generators. Or so I had thought. I looked closely. All the HOUNDS carried NA generators. They didn’t have a visible commander, yet. If I could survive long enough to identify, and kill the Commander, maybe a Soldier for good measure, then the Sal Kari forces might turn tail and leave. It was an extremely long shot, but that’s what Gunners did. Long Shots.
The Sal Kar Soldier HOUNDS were standing in a rough circle around the Tarakian HOUND. The Commander ordered its execution, through Rifles. The Soldier, bored and wanting to leave, thought that would take to long. Better to use the Shotguns and clean up quickly. He leveled his shotguns, and fired. The wide cone shaped spray of bullets, annihilated the Tarakian cockpit. It also destroyed the spare fuel tanks on the Gunner. The Soldier was engulfed in flame immediately, and quickly fried, the explosion disabling its movement. All it could do was sit and burn under the hot desert sun. The pilot mashed the eject button, but as the ejection pod was flying away, on fire, its fuel caught fire and exploded mid flight. He never saw it coming. The other Soldiers quickly gave a prayer in his stead, since he was unable. They turned on the last Gunner, ready to finish it.
They turned on Greg. He didn’t have a chance. But at least he took one of the :):):):):):):)s with him. I was alone. Outnumbered, maneuvered, and most likely outgunned. It was hopeless. I would never be able to get away now. A tear fell down my face. I had failed. Failed my wife, my son, and my country. There was a hole in the border now. All my fault. I closed my eyes and waited. Feeling a bullet tear into my chest extinguishing my life. Before I died, I spoke out in an inaudible tone. I love you…
She is finished.
A Fan Fiction for the game Chromehounds.
Written By Chilled Death.
I was stationed in Tarakia, along the border to Sal Kar. My Heavy Gunner HOUND boiling under the intense desert sun. Sure she was running hot, but the new coolant system was helping. We were providing long range support for the Soldier HOUNDS on the front lines. It was routine stuff. We would get a call to point in a direction, shoot, and wait for confirmation of the hit. If we missed, we altered the shot accordingly until we got the kill. It was pretty dull stuff. Take an order, follow it, and wait to see if you followed correctly… I wanted the intense action the Soldiers and Defenders were used to. Heavy Gunning was interesting and all, what with the massive cannons and such, but I would seldom see the crushing blow that was critical to each victory. Little did I know, today I would see, and receive said blows, in spades.
Master Sergeant Terrence Shiner threw out the usual orders. “Move out. We go the call to lay down a blanket of fire from coordinates H4, to J4.” Every base had an effective range; it was divided into a grid coordinate system. Basically we got the order to rain hell upon a mile square area. We started our HOUNDS, and began taking aim at the target area. We couldn’t see our target, but we knew we were shooting at something significant. To receive a call for help from the Firebrand team meant it was a lot of trouble. We unloaded a first salvo in the desired direction, and waited for confirmation. A Soldier HOUND gave us a hit confirmation. Several explosions could be heard over the radio, coming from the Soldiers end. Then the channel snapped dead.
In reality, the Heavy Gunners had fired into the middle of nowhere. The Soldier HOUNDS of the Firebrand team were lined up, and had there cockpit blown up, point blank. An execution. A rather large Sal Kari Soldier HOUND was performing the act. Sporting several shotguns, it obliterated each of the 6 HOUNDS in the Firebrand team, one by one. One of the Scouts on Firebrand team tried to make a quick get away, but was subsequently destroyed by a Sniper HOUND off to the side of the execution. It was grim, and would soon become the fate of many Tarakian HOUNDS to come.
Something was wrong. The network area was full of interference. But a COMBAS stood not more than 200 feet from our positions. It made no sense. Then it hit us. We were under attack. No natural occurrence could cause this interference. All hell was going to break loose. I tried to raise the other members of my squad on comm., but to no avail. Our systems were jammed tighter than noose. It may have well been a noose. No communications meant any and all of our HOUNDS within the jamming radius were useless solitary machines. We fidgeted about, trying to decide whether or not to make a crawl for it, or stand our ground, and try to blast away the soldiers. We really had no choice. Or HOUNDS were no match in speed to that of the Sal Kari enemy.
The Sal Kari soldier HOUNDS, still unseen on the other side over a small rise, readied to strike the slow cumbersome Heavy Gunner HOUNDS. Their communications were still active. Each Sal Kari HOUND carried a small Network Area generator, separate from the NA provided by the COMBAS towers. The Sal Kari Sniper HOUND moved to the left of the Heavy Gunner cluster. It would pick them off from a distance when the time approached. It was out of the small communications radius, and was cut off from the rest of teams orders. It would wait to see the charge, and then fire, but he didn’t really have a choice right now. One of the Gunner HOUNDS turned in the Snipers direction. The pilot swore and ran for cover of the hill it was on.
One of my allied HOUNDS turned and fired its main gun at a hill in the far distance. I was surprised to see a reactor explosion from the impact area. That could only mean one thing. We had nearly been the targets for a Sniper, but that was the least of our worries. Hills on three sides of us, we didn’t really have a choice on which way to crawl, and with so many places for the enemy to come from, we were sweating. The Sal Kari HOUNDS were playing with my teams minds. Not charging, drawing it out for as long as possible. It made me anxious, when would they strike? Would they let us just walk out of here? Probably not…
The High Explosive, Armor Piercing round from the Heavy Gunner HOUND smashed into the Snipers generator. The pilot survived the detonation, only because he hid behind the strongest Sal Kari cockpit out there. Then the pilot looked down at the damage schematic. He quickly prayed, and gave blessing to his family, before disappearing in a flash of smoke and fire.
The Soldiers chattered over the private channels. They decided now was best. With the loss of their sniper HOUND, it wouldn’t be long before the Heavy Gunners could reload. Better charge when the enemy is down, than wait for him to level his gun. Each of the eight soldier HOUNDS charged over the hill, and down, firing Gatling guns, Anti HOUND rockets, Auto rifles, Shotguns, and a whole mess of other weapons. They all did the same thing. Take chunks out of the Gunner HOUNDS. They quickly circled them, firing all at once. It was a cacophony of explosions, gunfire, pings and tinks as weapons were fired and impacted on the armor of the Gunner HOUNDS.
Finally it was started. Although it wasn’t any better, now that I was being fired upon, but now I didn’t need to become more paranoid by the second. The comms still jammed, I took my best aim at an enemy HOUND, and let loose with my main gun, in all its explosive glory. Needless to say, there wasn’t much left of the enemy HOUND. All that was left was parts of the bipedal chassis, and a few ruined and twisted guns. I was amazed with my luck. My armor was holding out alright, although the front right leg was a little more damaged than I would have liked, and I had managed a kill. There was hope after all. With renewed vigor, I reloaded all my weapons, and turned to find another target. My jaw dropped in horror. Already, 2 of us had been destroyed. The sheer number of bullets flying through the air was killing us, slowly, but surely.
I turned and led another of the Sal Kar Soldiers. The amount of stress upon me was phenomenal. Time seemed to slow as I pulled the trigger button on the dual joysticks. I saw it, the shell impact. I had missed. One shell of the dual cannon had been off by a few meters, and the other only disabled a few weapons on the Soldiers right ‘arm’. I was horrified. Even If I did get the guns reloaded, what good would it do? My generator was nearly toast, all the smaller weapons were either destroyed, out of ammo, or jammed, and my chassis was failing. I couldn’t believe this was the end. I won’t accept that. This can’t be the end. There were 4 Soldier HOUNDS left. One of my squad mates had also managed to blow one straight to hell.
The Soldiers were chattering constantly. They bickered over the best way to kill the remaining Tarakian HOUNDS. Finally the Tactics Commander stepped in and ordered them to shoot out the Tarakians generator, without causing it to explode. Then they could follow the fate of Firebrand team.
The soldiers took there best shots, firing controlled bursts, disabling the first Gunners generators, then my generator. The turn speed of my HOUND slowed to an inch an hour. There was no hope now. The cockpit generator would only provide enough power for basic electrical devices like the network tuner, and the weapons computer. I had an idea. Taking everything except the targeting and firing modules offline, I turned the main gun slowly. Hopefully I could take a shot at the TC wherever it was. It wasn’t hard to spot. TC’s always sported larger NA generators. Or so I had thought. I looked closely. All the HOUNDS carried NA generators. They didn’t have a visible commander, yet. If I could survive long enough to identify, and kill the Commander, maybe a Soldier for good measure, then the Sal Kari forces might turn tail and leave. It was an extremely long shot, but that’s what Gunners did. Long Shots.
The Sal Kar Soldier HOUNDS were standing in a rough circle around the Tarakian HOUND. The Commander ordered its execution, through Rifles. The Soldier, bored and wanting to leave, thought that would take to long. Better to use the Shotguns and clean up quickly. He leveled his shotguns, and fired. The wide cone shaped spray of bullets, annihilated the Tarakian cockpit. It also destroyed the spare fuel tanks on the Gunner. The Soldier was engulfed in flame immediately, and quickly fried, the explosion disabling its movement. All it could do was sit and burn under the hot desert sun. The pilot mashed the eject button, but as the ejection pod was flying away, on fire, its fuel caught fire and exploded mid flight. He never saw it coming. The other Soldiers quickly gave a prayer in his stead, since he was unable. They turned on the last Gunner, ready to finish it.
They turned on Greg. He didn’t have a chance. But at least he took one of the :):):):):):):)s with him. I was alone. Outnumbered, maneuvered, and most likely outgunned. It was hopeless. I would never be able to get away now. A tear fell down my face. I had failed. Failed my wife, my son, and my country. There was a hole in the border now. All my fault. I closed my eyes and waited. Feeling a bullet tear into my chest extinguishing my life. Before I died, I spoke out in an inaudible tone. I love you…
She is finished.