The convoy had little trouble crossing the river that was sitting between them and the enemy base, easily tearing through the mud and sand that laid at the bottom of its calm surface.

River was busy coordinating the tanks forward, splitting the convoy down the middle so they could surround the base and keep anyone from escaping.

Half the convoy went around the left and the other half to the right, making sure to keep a few tanks to cover both the front and rear gates.

Briggs watched with disbelief through the Legionnaire's camera system, looking on in amazement as the Pellet was doing strafe runs of the base's defenses.

Its powerful cannons tore up the walls, turrets and enemy troops, blasting them into oblivion with little resistance.

He looked over to River and asked a half serious half joking question.

"Should they have even bothered with giving it legs?"

River looked over to him, then chuckled slightly "We might have been done by now if we just used it to fly"

Nodding, Briggs turned back to his computer, then he seemed concerned "Looks like the Everest and Atlantis are struggling a bit with the two ships above. Olympus is still offline"

"They'll have to hold on a little longer." River said, holding onto her seat as the Legionnaire took a hard right to follow their part of the attack.

But right beside them, the enemy base was taking a pounding. What used to be a fortified position with four tall walls and an array of automatic guns was now a flaming junkyard. A few reinforced building were still standing, and one of them had a very big industrial door on the front of it.

As the tanks rolled around the sides of the camp, the door lifted up and opened, letting a large group of six soldiers in advanced looking armour run out and set up a few positions outside the lift.

Their armour was very bulky and looked mechanized. Their helmets were angular and robust, with a black visor covering their eyes. A slim trim extended just over the visor to block out the sun and protect against falling debris from hitting the visor.

The shoulder pads were bolted on to the chassis around the chest, and they each had a armour plate that was stood upwards to protect the head from the side.

Like a walking tank, its chest was pure armour and machine, with small compartments for storage and maintenance along its surface.

And the legs and feet were rectangular and industrial, with little glamour to them. They were there for protection and little else.

The sight of the new type of soldier was surprising to the convoy, but it didn't stop their advance.

River took note of the new types of weaponry they were carrying.

The largest one of the group looked like he was carrying an extremely large power cell on his back, with a thick power cable attaching it to a bulky and unwieldy looking energy minigun that was covered in tubing and devices. It had two chainsaw grips to easily fire from the hip, with one attached to the very back of the chassis and one just before the barrels of the gun itself exited the main body.

With three abnormally long barrels that were attached to a rotating base, it looked like it would could dish out plenty of pain in a very short amount of time.

Two of the soldiers were carrying heavy metal riot shields on one arm, and a small submachine gun in the other hand. The submachine gun looked similar in design to the minigun, with tubing and an energy cell that, although smaller, was still attached by a cable that was strapped to the soldiers' arm.

Another two had nothing like a barricade, but instead held hefty machine guns with both hands. The power cell for this one however was attached to the weapon itself, right on its side.

And the final soldier in the group was lugging around a new rocket launcher. It had three tubes to hold three rockets at a time, and they were taking aim at the Pellet which was flying directly overhead.

River looked down at her console and relayed the information to the convoy

"Be careful, armoured infantry on the field, equipped with energy weaponry that'll cook you alive inside your tank" she said, making sure that everyone understood.

Soon enough the camp was surrounded by the Enforcers and Legionnaires that survived the journey, and the Badgers were slowly inching forward to tighten their hold.

One unlucky Badger turned around the corner of the building between it and the soldiers, and before they had a chance to react the soldier with the energy minigun turned and opened fire. Bright bolts of blue energy struck the Badger, only milliseconds between each shot being loosed and sent toward its target.

In seconds, the whole front of the badger had been reduced to a soft and melting mess of molten metal before its back end exploded open due to the heat and pressure bending the metal. It's unfortunate driver melted alongside it.

River watched in surprise and sadness at the loss of the Badger, and then concern at the sheer efficiency and speed that the minigun could operate with.

She pressed her finger against the communication button "Dasyil, be careful. There's an armoured group of soldiers beneath you with energy weapons. They melted a tank in seconds"

After her communication ended, the Pellet immediately began to move so it could get a shot on the group. But the soldier with the rocket launcher wasn't going to allow that.

Pointing their barrels towards one of the thrusters that kept it aloft, the rocketeer pulled the trigger and ignited the missiles inside their weapon.

With a flash of light escaping the launcher, three rockets were shot towards the engine and they spiralled through the air with precision and grace. Each rocket struck an important component.

The engine itself, the rotating joint and the fuel line.

Debris were scattered everywhere as a result of the explosion. Giant shards of twisted metal crashed into the ground and stabbed into it like a knife on a corpse.

The Pellet began to list and lose control, without the thrust given by the destroyed engine it would prove impossible to fly and maintain control.

As smoke billowed out of the now flaming and blown open engine, the Pellet groaned and slid about in the air. It crashed into the side of an air control tower and sent concrete spilling down onto the ground below, before crashing into the ground where the main gate to the base was. Its body now twisted and broken beyond repair. Fire and smoke billowed out of the multiple holes that had been blown through it during the attack.

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"Dasyil! Come in, are you okay?" River called out over the comms. Fearful that she had lost a friend and the commander of the mission.

There were a few painstaking seconds between her question and a response.

Coughing and spluttering, Dasyil's crackly voice spoke back.

"We're okay... Most of us" he said, pausing to breathe.

"Keep going with the attack, we're going to arm up and fight on the ground." he ordered.

River nodded "Yes sir. We'll clear the area"

And with a simple command she ordered the remaining Legionnaires forward. If the armoured soldiers could easily melt a Badger, it would be senseless to try and send more.

Cracking the broken concrete beneath its tracks and twisting the metal rebar that stuck out of the piles of it, the Legionnaires moved forward and rolled into position.

As one Legionnaire turned a corner and its mighty double barrel turret took aim, the soldiers took cover behind a large piece of the air control tower that fell near them.

Both barrels ignited and sent two shells hurtling towards them at an unimaginable speed. One shell struck their cover and obliterated it. Three of the soldiers went flying into the air, including the one with the minigun, and the other three began to move towards the Legionnaire to avoid being in range of its guns.

A second Legionnaire moved up and aimed to stop them from advancing forward, with a bright flash its barrels ignited as well and two more heavy shells were loosed.

They cut through the air like blades and struck the ground right where their feet were. Their armour protected them more than anticipated, but it didn't stop the explosion from blowing their legs off.

The three fell to the ground and their yells could be heard, but their cries would fall on deaf ears as the first Legionnaire put them out of their misery with another volley from its guns.

The crews of the two Legionnaires would cheer for the successful elimination of the heavy troops, but the crew of the second Legionnaire would be silenced soon after.

Not paying attention to the three soldiers that were knocked away, three rockets from the same rocket launcher that shot down the Pellet struck the tank right in the side.

The first two blew a hole right into the side of the tank, and the third one detonated in the internal compartment. Killing everyone inside.

Counting this as a loss, the minigunner, the rocketeer and the last remaining assault rifle soldier ran back towards the big industrial sized door that they came from.

The first Legionnaire opened up on them with its heavy machine guns, but the bullets only bounced off of their armour like rubber bullets.

The soldiers charged through the hail of bullets like nothing was touching them and ran into the elevator shaft. Not wanting to waste time waiting to go down, the minigunner took aim and blasted a hole right in the middle of the platform and jumped down, with the other two following suite.

They had escaped, and River wasn't happy. She punched the arm of her chair in frustration before cursing, and driving forward.

Just as she reached the elevator doors she opened the hatch on top of the tank and stood up to get a better view of the situation.

Once she looked up and out, she felt refreshed to finally get a breeze on her face, and she took a deep breath of fresher air, even if the smell of fire and smoke were tainting it.

"River, are you alright?" Dasyil's voice called out.

River looked over in the direction of the broken and now useless corpse of the Pellet to see Dasyil and the handful of surviving crewmembers running over. They had armed and armoured up and were ready to fight on the ground.

Smiling, River nodded. Glad to see Dasyil again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you though sir, that was a big crash"

Dasyil nodded as he glanced back at the burning wreck, and winced slightly when a small explosion went off inside the machine he used to take down the base defenses.

"I'm alright. A few bumps and burns, but other than that I'm good"

River climbed out of the Legionnaire, carrying her machine gun with her. Briggs followed after her.

"I don't think we'll be able to take the Legionnaires down here. But we can bring a few Badgers. They were built for this sort of thing" she said gesturing to a few Badgers that drove past as they began to secure the area.

Dasyil nodded "Yeah, that seems like the best thing to d-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a blinding light filled the sky.

Everyone looked up to the sky as the clouds parted and a deafening boom echoed through the air.

Rocketing through the atmosphere uncontrollably was the burning wreckage of the Olympus Mons. Its hull was white hot and the air friction was tearing it apart, sending pieces of it flying all over.

The smoke trail marked the sky and the fireball was only getting faster and faster.

River's eyes widened slightly as she looked over to Dasyil "Did you have any warheads as part of the Olympus' armament for this mission?"

Dasyil seemed confused at the question for a few seconds before he realised what was about to happen.

He waved his arms and yelled out.

"Everyone get on the elevator now!" His voice was booming and demanding as the situation called for it.

Hearing the orders, everyone on foot ran onto the elevator, being careful not to fall in the hole that the minigunner had put in it.

Three badgers were able to get onto the elevator, but unfortunately the crews in the Legionnaires had to remain behind.

Briggs slammed his fist into the button to activate the elevator and they began to lower into the ground.

The metal shutters began to close and the last thing they saw before the last bit of light was blocked by the door were the Legionnaires beginning to move to a safer location and a great flash of light that hurt to look at even inside the lift.

Once the doors were closed, they all waited and held their breath as the metal lift creaked and groaned under the weight of the Badgers.

Soon enough the shockwave hit and shook the entire building, including the elevator platform. Those who could held onto the railings and prayed the cables held.

But shockwave after shockwave after shockwave struck the building and jolted the platform around like a cat with a toy.

But the shockwaves stopped, and they had a moment to rest.

River sighed as she sat her gun down and sat down against the railing. She blew air out of her mouth and looked at Dasyil limply "I wish we could have just bombed them from space"