Chapter 2
The beautiful woman backhanded the poor MP before re-materializing her sword and stepping slowly toward the metal machine.
“Careful Savage 2! What have I told you about playing with the invaders?” The internal suit radio crackled.
SFC Jennet Ming watched the enemy approach before sighing. “To maintain OPSEC and not let the enemy see us. But this one’s got some kind of shield or magic protection device that’s interfering with my aim. Though the .50 seems to be big enough to get through it, if I can just line up a good shot,” she replied.
Another THWUMPA-THWUMPA-THWUMPA punctuated the statement.
“Well hurry it up, we have multiple breaches to close, and Savage Company is already spread much thinner than I or Actual would like. You need to hurry up and kill that bitch to get your class prompt, then deal with her honor guard, and high-tail it back here for assessment and re-assignment. Copy?” the voice scolded.
“Understood LT, Savage 2 Over and Out.” SFC Ming replied before letting the maniacal grin spread across her face. She triggered the external speaker again as her opponent took up a defensive position 50 meters ahead.
“See, bitch, I pack a bit more of a punch, and I’m afraid I really can’t have you killing any more of my American friends. What do you say we get serious?”
Her target, verifiably the fae leader of this invasion, code named ‘Ice Actual’ laughed shrilly before returning the taunt. “It's good to see some of you humans have a backbone, not to mention something to back it up with. The rest of your friends died far too quickly. I’d be happy to get a bit ‘serious’ as you put it, so be ready, because the kiddy gloves are coming off!”
SFC Ming sighed again. Sometimes the enemy just didn’t understand what they were up against. She’d hoped her first real mission would be against something a bit bigger that could provide an actual challenge to the exo-mecha that Savage Company had been issued. It would seem the elves just didn’t stand up to the bar that’d been set by the Tower Survivors intel.
Ming triggered a sustained burst of the under-arm machine gun, as she stood up, swinging the other arm into position. The MP had been lucky with his grenade. Seemed the ice elves were weak against HE and metal shards flying around at fuck-you speed. Something the Mk19 automatic grenade launcher, which was the other standard exo-mecha weapon, could take full advantage of. Ming would have never tried this with her own country’s QLZ-04, as the range was just too close, but the American 40mm was almost pinpoint accurate in exchange for the slightly lower rate of fire, and the exo-mecha’s armor would shield her from any backblast.
The elf was too busy trying to deflect .50 BMG to realize what was going on until it was too late. Her last words were sucked away by the intense heat and concussive forces of 5 40mm HE rounds detonating within 1/8th of a second.
‘I didn’t even have time to savor the sense of victory’ she thought as a blue window filled her view
Kill Detected!
System Initializing…
Congratulations SFC Jennet Ming, And welcome to the system. You have been awarded system access for killing an invasion sub-commander.
Scanning…
You have killed an invasion sub-commander
Judging baseline stats…
You have been awarded the class mechanized soldier (uncommon) in recognition of your life experience. Would you like to accept?
[Yes]/[No]
SFC Jennet Ming mentally selected yes, before targeting the rest of the elves in fantasy armor drop suits. They died faster than their sub-commander had, lacking magic shields, or at least ones powerful enough to shrug off the powerful rounds Ming hosed them down with. She soon found herself pressing the large red button in the center of the exo-mecha’s controls. The automated return system would navigate back to the American hangar and underground bunkers, giving Jennet time to select the options she needed to, while making sure they were the most in line with her current MOS skill set.
Ming felt bad for the poor American MP, but at least he’d wake up eventually. The Air Force pilots had confirmed a good kill on the alien dropship, and the other invasion forces in the area were suffering heavy losses. The earth defenders had at least some advantages since the enemy seemed to lack adequate air-to-air weapons.
Ming also understood why the higher ups had opted to build specialized units like Savage Company instead of releasing information about the coming system apocalypse to the average citizen. Who knew what kind of panic the untrained masses would cause, and the only real intel the US government, or the governments of the world for that matter, had to go on was what a handful of returnees said they’d experienced in the Tower. The hologram-like recording crystals that she’d been shown during the initial incoming brief at Savage Company were enough to convince her, but it obviously wasn’t for everyone.
She’d certainly had her doubts when her PLA superiors issued her orders sending her to their old enemy, the United States, but when she found out they would be getting in the thick of things, she’d quickly decided to stay on with her current assignment..
Obviously some people would die in the opening moves, but supposedly the invaders were only interested in earth’s military installations. Knowing how their populace would panic, without really being able to do anything about it, most governments had chosen to keep their citizens in the dark, while doing what they could to ramp up military development during the last 6 months.
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Today would be day one of many, ultimately resulting in either humanity being subjugated, or fighting off the invasion and building up a defensive fleet of starships to return the favor. All planning would be above Ming’s pay grade though.
She would do her sworn duty and defend those who, as yet, couldn’t defend themselves, for the good of the party, and for the good of the whole world. Besides, it’d give her the opportunity to get out of a dead-end desk job somewhere and get into the action, which she craved.
Unlike most of the American NCO’s, almost all of the extra-national members of Savage Company had little to no combat experience, and in a way, this day would be a sort of trial-by-fire for them. The invaders wouldn’t take prisoners, not when killing would prevent any future uprisings.
In a way, SFC Ming envied the invading armies. They would have experience with the system, and some would be highly advanced, possessing powers and abilities that rivaled even the mythical Sun Wokong that Ming had idealized growing up. On the other hand, this would be the beginning of her own ‘Journey to the West’ in a way.
*******
CPT. Matt Williams stood in the center of a pentagram of technology. 5 tables arranged in a star shape, each with two workstations and a projector wired together, and feeding data at an insane rate. The Pentagon had dedicated civilian satellites to prioritize military traffic. The housewives of downtown Atlanta would be losing their collective minds right about now. Matt knew it was for the best possible cause. Earth was facing an unprecedented threat, and as the newly minted commander of Savage Company, he needed every bit of tactical information throughput he could get.
“Soto, is Savage 2 back yet, or is she still playing games with that princess?” Matt barked at his XO. The response was quick and to the point.
“She just got her class prompt and is making her way back. At least Ming seems to be playing straight for now. Priority tasking for the next group?”
Williams turned in a slow circle, desperate to make sure he didn’t make any mistakes. He couldn’t afford to miss anything and get anyone killed. The pressure to succeed was insane, but that was exactly how he liked it.
“Move Savage 3 & 4 to Gate 2. It seems they’re getting hit by some kind of stone golem, and they’re going to need the extra firepower to get solid kills. Then bring 5 & 6 back so you can get out there. Sitting here in the command post is only the best use of our talents for so long and I think things are about to slow down if the main sub-commander is done. We need to prove to the men that we aren’t just asking them to take these risks alone. I trust First Sargent Cabral will get here to take over command before then?”
“Yes, sir, he should be. He got a bit caught up at Gate 5 right before the attack started, but he’s almost here now,” First Lieutenant Lyndis Soto replied. “Prep systems for command change, but make sure to keep all the drones going. As soon as Canary 1 gets back, we need to have the swarm ready for the improvements that’ll come from his class.”
A young man with red hair and a beard looked up from a series of screens. “Will do ma’am. I need to rotate out if possible and get my class as well. The infrastructure is going to need a system update soon to handle the new information and abilities that’ll come from most of the leadership having system access. I know I’m not exactly critical yet, but I’d hate for something to go wrong because our comms network wouldn’t let us maximize data availability.”
Matt spoke up again while continuing to scan the screens showing various drone and exo-mecha suit feeds. “Don’t worry Canary 2, we’ll get you classed up. But we need to make sure we repel the attack too. We can’t afford to be the first base to go down. Fortunately the exp farming idea seems to be going well so far. Most of the lower enlisted are classed and racking up exp by keeping the front contained but not pushing the boss. We'll get the company ready for anything the elves can send at us.”
Half an hour later, First Sergeant Dirk Cabral strode purposefully into the command room, and the command of the intel network was passed to the company's most combat experienced member. “Get out there and get your class, sir, I can handle things here.” The First Sargent still had a powerful voice. Years of yelling at lower enlisted showed only in the hints of silver in his hair, and the stress lines in the older man’s face. Like all First Sergeants, Cabral maintained the kind of body an Olympic athlete 30 years younger would envy. 'Lean, mean, killing machine’ CPT. Williams whispered the mantra most career enlisted lived by.
“Well, I’ll leave it to you, Dirk. Keep my company out of the fire enough to not get burned, but keep the heat going. We need to go through the fire now while things are still this simple,” the captain instructed.
“Will do, Sir! I’ll keep the boys and girls racking up the exp. Now get gone and follow your own plan, Sir,” the first sergeant replied.
20 minutes of suiting up and doing system checks passed by in a flash. Latest on the comms was that things had cooled down in this area of operations, with the Air Force assets being tasked elsewhere. Matt hoped they would stay that way, but something told him it wouldn’t be quite that easy. After all, the system was supposed to help humanity fight the invasion, not avoid it entirely.
Essentially, the Intel provided by the returnee groups about ‘the system’ had been spotty. The system itself said it’d been designed by something or someone called the First People, as their civilization had been ripping itself apart. It’s objectives and goals remained somewhat hidden, but the governments of UN nations had decided any help would be better than no help, and accepted the system’s offer for aid.
Matt didn’t really care so much for the greater political motivations. For him, this was a chance to hold back the tide, giving as many of his fellow Americans as possible a chance to survive. While he didn’t agree with higher command’s choice to limit information on the apocalyptic invasion, he was a good officer, and had followed his orders.
CPT. Matt Williams came back to full focus on the present as his exo-mecha’s automated proximity alarms went active. Either he was about to run into a group of attackers, or somehow a large group of locals had spontaneously decided to hold a bonfire barbecue on base.
“Savage Company, this is 6 Actual. We're going to start wrapping this up, so this will be the final rotation of personnel. Anyone in the first three chalks who doesn’t have a class yet, move on to the firing line and lay some hate. Chalk 4 personnel who are close enough to containment zone bravo, take up positions and prepare to engage.”
Quickly flipping through different views of the battlefield, Williams toggled an internal comms channel with his XO. “Lyndis, where’s the boss? I’m not seeing any gold outlines. What happened?”
The XO was silent long enough for Matt to start worrying. “It seems the boss retreated through some kind of portal just before we arrived, sir. This is non-optimal. I take full responsibility.”
Matt sucked in a breath. Things just got harder. “Savage Company, change of plans. The boss seems to have retreated, so we’re going to have to go in after them. We're going to be cutting it close, so I’m going to need the rest of the exo-mechas to form up and help thin the numbers before we get swarmed. The XO and I are going to follow the bastard. That’ll hopefully buy us time before another round of troops drop in.” Matt toggled the company comm off again.
“Lyndis, how are you for ammo? We’re going to need just about everything we can carry just in case. Who knows what’s waiting for us in there, and I don’t want to announce ourselves more than we already have. This will basically be a modified HVT hit and run operation in an entirely unknown environment.”
The response this time was much quicker. “I haven’t had a chance to send anything yet, sir, so I’m still green on ammo. I copy on the FRAGO, will stand by to proceed on your mark,” the XO’s feminine voice crackled through the built-in speakers.
Matt waited a few heartbeats for the savage company lines to stabilize, before broadcasting a final time on the company net. “Savage 6 Actual preparing to enter the magical portal on mark. Stand by to shift and lift fire. Steadyyyy…. Mark!”
Matt pumped his legs, running at a dead sprint for the quickly diminishing swirling distortion in the air. He trusted the weight and armor of his exo-mecha to crush any elves that got in the way. The rest of the company shifted and then ceased their fire to avoid shooting him. Matt’s heart beat increased and a second adrenaline hit dumped into his bloodstream. He’d soon be in a fight for the future of humanity, just as alone as the original returnees doing their first tower run. Exhilaration and danger warred in his gut, urging caution but the possibility to gain an edge over even the other special response groups. Nobody knew what awaited on the other side of the magical portal, and the Savage Company OIC and XO would be the first to find out. Matt remembered the motto his father had repeated often throughout his younger life. “Rangers lead the way.” Matt might not command a Ranger company, but he could sure as shit lead the way here.