TFA3 2.2 – Dire Situation
Neutralized the inbound Riders from the south and the east to the last man was impressive feat, no question. Unfortunately, it was not enough. Without hindrance the inbound Riders from the north and the west approached Jack Sparrow. This two inbound Riders had strength no less than 800 Riders.
As soon as these Riders entered its effective range, 42 units Ripper Station fired Talon laser guided rocket to welcome them. Each Talon hit its target perfectly. As the result 42 Riders and their Cloud Hawks went down to the ground simultaneously.
However, the opening fire didn’t manage to scatter the Rider formation and bought the Ripper Stations additional time to decrease their huge number. The remaining Riders just determinedly continued their flight path, and tried to reach Jack Sparrow using the shortest route.
The Rider formation also didn’t flinch when Ripper Stations fired the second salvo of Talon laser guided rocket. Then, they entered the effective range 30 mm M230 Chaingun. Under the fire of Air Burst-Tracer and Armor Piercing-Tracer, the Rider formation finally reached Jack Sparrow and commenced their attack and they went straight to close quarter fight using combination of high-speed dive and Cloud Hawk’s claw sweep.
Currently, all Ripper Stations ran in fully autonomous hunting mode. In this mode, the Ripper Stations would form a very effective integrated close in air defense. And so, it downed the opposing Riders in rapid pace.
Unfortunately, the number of opposing Riders was too big. With ease they overwhelmed the Ripper Stations, and their effort showed a result in no time. Only two minutes after the contact, two Ripper Stations fell victim to Cloud Hawk’s claw and were crushed into pieces.
Once a crack in the air defense occurred the Riders immediately poured in to the center of Penna Hill, right to the array of M2HB gunners in the Rocky Field. These gunners primary mission was to give additional power to the air defense, but now they became the favorite target of opposing Riders because they were the only visible human target in the vicinity.
Corporal Mahoney just emptied the whole box of 12.7 mm rounds when one of Tuscan bowmen who were being attached to his team panicky shouted a warning.
“Take cover! Incoming Rider from left!!!”
The whole team immediately jumped to the foxhole next to the M2HB station. One of the team members even fell to the foxhole head first, but he didn’t give a damn about it and took a breath of relieve as he made it in time.
“What a darn huge bird,” Corporal Mahoney threw a curse a second after the Cloud Hawk’s claw passed the foxhole just a half meter above it.
“Corporal, can we stay here for a little longer? Just two minutes is fine.”
The team member who fell to the foxhole head first said with a slightly trembling voice, and Corporal Mahoney immediately gave him a sharp glare.
“No, let’s get back to our gun.”
“But corpo---”
“I said let’s get back to our gun, damn it.”
Without delay Corporal Mahoney peeked outside the foxhole, but he didn’t immediately climb out as another Cloud Hawk was approaching the foxhole. This time, the Cloud Hawk didn’t come in a high speed dive, but in slow and smooth glide with its wing widely stretched.
“Get your weapon ready,” Corporal Mahoney ordered as he pulled out and cocked his Scorpion Evo.
A moment later, dust flew to every direction as a huge Cloud Hawk was hovering just a dozen meters above the foxhole. The Rider deliberately positioned his Cloud Hawk in front of the sun, so its domineering shadow covered the foxhole.
Gulp!!
Corporal Mahoney and his men gulped hard as they realized their sidearm won’t be enough to kill the giant bird before it tore them apart into pieces. Even so, they gathered their courage to take aim using their shaking hand.
Meanwhile, the Rider on the Cloud Hawk’s back conceitedly smirked before saying, “What do we have here, a pack of trembling chicks?
I thought TF Amethyst’s warriors are the bravest among the brave, but it seems you are just a bunch of weakling in close quarter fight.”
“Said someone who brings a freaking giant hawk to a close quarter fight,” Corporal Mahoney mockingly said back, even though inwardly he was trembling very hard. “In a one on one fist fight, I bet even my grandmother will beat the crap out of you.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Well,” After a sinister smile the young Rider continued, “Whine as much as you want, but your time to die has arrived.”
“Not so fast,” Tuscan Guard bowman who stood next to Corporal Mahoney said as he loose an arrow coated in neurotoxin almost without aiming first, sending it straight to the small gap on the Cloud Hawk’s armor on its left thigh.
At first, the young Rider just indifferently looked at the incoming arrow. A single arrow won’t do any harm to his Cloud Hawk even if it managed to pierce its thigh. However, his face instantly became as pale as corpse when his Cloud Hawk suddenly stopped flapping its wing and fell to the ground.
“What the….”
Confuse was all over the young Rider’s face as from the saddle he kept yanking the leash in his hands, but his Cloud Hawk gave no respond. In the end, the young Rider never found out what had happened to his Cloud Hawk. Without warning, the second Tuscan bowman nailed his head and killed him in an instant.
“Damn amateur, talk too much,” The Tuscan bowman who killed the young Rider said before peeking outside the foxhole. Once he was sure no Rider approached their position he immediately turned his gaze to Corporal Mahoney. “Sir, let’s get back to our gun.”
“Yeah.” Wasting no time Corporal Mahoney climbed out of the foxhole, while inwardly he muttered, ‘Fuck! I forget we have Tuscan bowmen to deal with the Rider and Cloud Hawk from a close range.’
---
As the air assault went on, some Riders realized that the defender in Penna Hill avoided directing their fire power to the airspace around a huge tower in the south side of the peak. This tower had a shape like a birdcage. It was also high, huge, and lot of bowmen where stationed on each of its floor.
Wasting no time some Riders took initiative to attack it and their deduction was spot on. If they made their approach from the south, they could use the huge tower to shield them from air defense’s line of fire. Therefore, some Riders with ease reached the tower, and ordered their Cloud Hawk to use their claws to rip apart tower’s frame.
However, the fragile looking frame turned out to be far sturdier than their estimation. It didn’t budge even after the Cloud Hawk mustered every drop of its strength to grip and pull it.
At the same time, the Tuscan bowmen in the Net-centric tower didn’t just let the Riders and their Cloud Hawks did as they please. On the 6th floor, from behind a cover Lieutenant Grabo and his squad calmly peeked at the closest Cloud Hawk. Then, he turned his gaze to his best bowmen.
“Hit the joint between its torso and wing. Our arrow won’t be able to penetrate the plate on its chest.”
“Copy that, Sir,” The bowman firmly replied before coating the tip of an arrow with neurotoxin and nocked it on his longbow.
Twang!
Almost without took aim first the bowman loose the arrow. It flew straight to the Cloud Hawk’s joint between its torso and wing, and hit an unarmored spot. The sting made the Cloud Hawk slightly flinched, before tilting its head to the side, and then it used its beak to pull out the arrow that just hit it.
The Cloud Hawk then turned its gaze to a pile of sandbag where the arrow came from. With a threatened gaze it stared at bowmen who peeked at it. However, a second later the Cloud Hawk’s eyes suddenly rolled back. Then, its huge body suddenly lost any strength and slumped down, ignoring its Rider who was screaming in panic. The Cloud Hawk’s grip on the frame held on for a few seconds as its body hung upside down lifelessly, but in the end it loosen up and its body fell to the ground with a loud thud and crushed the Rider on its back.
Similar occurrence took place all over the Net-centric tower. Every Cloud Hawk that made a grip or perched on the Net-centric Tower were killed to the last bird, and their huge body fell to the ground, circled around the base of Net-centric Tower.
Once they found out that their arrow could kill a Cloud Hawk effectively, the bowmen immediately took position in the edge of Net-centric Tower. With full of confidence they nailed every approaching Cloud Hawk. In their last breath, some of the Cloud Hawks hit the Net-centric Tower, and they hit it with full power as they had already lost their ability to control their flight midway.
Loud thud was repeatedly heard, followed by the Net-centric Tower that slightly shook. Fortunately, the Net-centric Tower was built specifically to deal with such circumstance, so with ease it held its ground.
At the same time, the moral of Tuscan bowmen in the Net-centric Tower soar to the sky. Killing a Cloud Hawk with a single arrow was a dream for every bowman. And now, the Tuscan bowmen could make that dream into reality. Unfortunately, at the same time the Ripper Station was in a pinch.
Only twenty minutes since the first contact, the opposing Riders had disabled eight units of Ripper Station. Lieutenant Grabo had just turned his gaze to check the situation on the array of Ripper Station, when an opposing Cloud Hawk took down the ninth Ripper Station.
“This is far from good,” Lieutenant Grabo said as he clenched his fist.
And as if it was not enough to upset Lieutenant Grabo’s mood, a radio call from Command Center suddenly was heard on the communication line.
[All station be advise, second wave of opposing Riders are approaching our position from north and west, approximately 2000 Riders, ETA 12 minutes.]
“…”
[I say again, all station be advise, second wave of opposing Riders are approaching our position from north and west, approximately 2000 Riders, ETA 12 minutes.]
“…”
[Immediate close air support is on the way, so fight with everything you have until they arrive.]
“…”
[I say again, immediate close air support is on the way, so fight with everything you have until they arrive, and my God with us all.]
*****
Author’s note:
I just read that recently there are lot of impersonate case pop-up in social media. So, as precaution in case some goofs try to impersonate me and do irresponsible deed using my name, I have to warn you in advance, I don’t have account in Facebook, Whatsapp, or Instagram.
I only have one account in X and YouTube, which I use only to follow some content creator. In X, I don’t even make any comment. So, please be wary if you see an account in Facebook, Whatsapp, or Instagram using my name or make an impression as if this account is mine. Most of all, please inform me if you have such encounter.
Thanks and Best regard. Tropic Panda.