Alexis turned in her bed, groggy from a long night of repairing the electrical generators of the colony.
"Hey! Alexis! Wake up!"
The clanging of the man's fist against her garage's door rang through her ears.
"Damnit Jack! Shut up!" she shouted.
"The boys've returned home! They're missing parts!" Jack sounded a bit panicked. That wasn't good. Jack is the only other other true "engineer" in the colony, and they work together often. Fairly handsome and muscular, he is popular with the ladies. However, he's always been kind to Alexis, and she likes him well enough.
"They've brought news of an attack! We've gotta repair 'em right now!"
Alexis' eyes immediately shot open, realizing the magnitude of the situation.
"I'll be right out!"
"Meet me in the TACS bay! I'm leaving."
Alexis heard the crunching of Jack's boots on the snow.
Lex groaned and sat up, pulling her shoes on and sliding up her suspenders. These days she'd been used to sleeping in most of her clothes.
Stupid goddamn snow.. always ruining equipment..
She pulled them on over her black tank-top and she grabbed a long-sleeved red jacket and slid on her trademark red cap, her hair flowing down past her shoulders. She turned it around and fixed her hair in the mirror hanging in her room.
Lex's room was always messy. She was the only one who could navigate it. It really was just a small apartment attached to her shop. She worked mostly with Jack, when she wasn't alone.
Jack.. damn him.. I was sleeping so well, too.. Jack was a good guy, though. He'd done a lot to help her keep doing what she does best after everything went to hell in a handbasket a year ago.
She fixed her hair and moved to her walk-in bathroom to splash her face and wake up before she snatched her multitool and her tool box; she kept her pistol stuffed in her pants 24/7.
As Alexis opened her door, the freezing wind swept over her. Jack didn't warn her about the damn heavy snowfall outside. She trudged her way towards the repair bays, where the TACS had dragged themselves to. Alexis could tell as there were oil and gasoline trails leading to the depot.
Damn, what did they fight? Behemoths? Alexis thought as she approached the bay.
When she entered, Alexis knew something had gone horribly wrong. Men were being taken out of their TACS unconcious, bloody, and bruised. One person was sealed to his TACS as his flesh had become one with the metal. He cried out in agony as they tried to get him out. There were more medical staff that mechanics, and Alexis started to worry about the oncoming attack. Jack was over in a corner with one of the newer TACS, arming it with state of the art weaponry and changing it's cortex systems.
Lex clutched tightly to her jacket as she trudged to the repair bay. Coming inside, she was just about to say something when she saw the carnage inside. She winced and tried to look away as she moved to a second TACS and examined it, pulling out her multitool and 'jacking in' to it, wanting to give it a diagnostic while she examined it visually.
The TACS screen scrolled with information, stating it's memory from the beginning of the battle to the end. It had a live video feed that you could access, but the information on the screen stated:
Target Acquired, 9:43; Facing North
Gun shot 1-40, 9:45; Facing North
Gun shot 41-100 9:47; Facing North West
Target Acquired, 9:48; Facing North West
Missile Racks 1-3 9:49; Facing West
Right arm loss 9:51; Facing West
Missile rack 4-6 9:52; Facing West
Every other system ran clear and green, but the right arm was melted off, and some metal slag still dripped down slowly on the floor. As it hit the floor, the concrete smoked slightly. The body of the TACS has claw marks all over it, and some areas of the armor have been boiled away by something extremely hot.
Damned demons... Lex sighs and types in a checklist for the repairs, calling up for removal of the slag, repair of the surface shell, and complete replacement of the right armaments. She looked back at Jack. "What happened this time?"
"The boys are saying it's some kind of demon they've never seen before," He said as he pushed a rack of ammo into an elevator.
"There were eight of them, burrowed in the ground. When they past them, they were ambushed. Some of them leapt at 'em while the others spat some kind of heat." Jack looked into her eyes.
"They retreated as they lost one of their own. Apparently two of the bastards jumped on 'im. Torn to shreds, the poor guy."
With a frown he said, "Guess how many people they're missing and how many suits need to be filled."
She shook her head and clenched her fist. She'd seen this kind of carnage before, but it never became normal for her. She typed in the orders and moved to the next suit, giving it a similar diagnostic with a visual scan. She wanted to get the TACS into the shop as quickly as possible before she began working on them individually.
This TACS had minor damages, with only it's main machine gun feeds having constant jams. It appeared to have only superficial damage, and all of it's systems ran green.
Before Alexis could move on, Jack put a hand on her shoulder and said, "We need to talk."
Lex blinked and looked over at him. She stopped in the middle of her work. "What is it?" She slid off her jacket and tossed it aside as she turned to him. She feared it wasn't bad news. Seems all I get these days is bad news.
"When I said guess how many suits needed to be filled, I meant the TACS teams have lost two men today. And guess who they want to fill them? Us. Apparently we're being conscripted into the team for the battle."
Jack shook his head.
"I have a bad feeling about this. The two men they lost were considered their best. Whatever's coming our way, its going to be fierce and deadly."
Lex's jaw dropped. "WHAT!?" She shouted. "No! No way! What the hell are they thinking! Dammit Jack, I'm a mechanic, not a soldier!" She clenched, squeezing her multitool. "This is bull!"
Jack hurriedly grabbed her hand and pulled her into his office in the back of the bay.
"How do you think I felt about this when I first heard it? I said exactly what you just exclaimed.
"The team, they're desperate. Morale is low, and when I say low, there are some of them who don't want to go into battle."
Jack shook his head and placed his hands on Lex's shoulders.
"I don't know if the colony will survive without us. I've been thinking about it. Even with the howitzers and the tanks and the infantry, who always takes the most kills? The TACS. Lets cut 'em some slack, they killed fifty each last raid. FIFTY! With two of their pilots down, thats one hundred more of 'em to deal with. No one else here knows how to handle TACS as well as we do."
Jack opened a drawer and pulled out an old vintage bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a finger, then offered another finger's worth to Lex.
"It's your choice. I just wanted to let you know i'm going into that battle wearing a TACS."
She listened to him with a scowl, and when he was done she leaned against the desk with her arms crossed. She shook her head, thinking. When he offered the drink and told her he was leaving, she blinked and looked up at him.
"Jack.." She took the glass but she was too busy looking at him. "You're going..? Jack.. you know I can't run the shop alone without you.."
She looked down at the drink in her hand.. then downed it in one gulp and set the glass down. "Goddammit, Jack, this isn't fair.. I'm at my best in this shop. You know how fast I can get these TACS repaired here? You and I both know without this shop running here we would've been overrun a long time ago."
"Yes, the colony wouldn't be standing here today and it isn't fair at all. But since when has this world been fair..."
Jack grabs his and her cup and refills them again.
"I fear that if we don't go in, we'll be overrun anyways. I might as well contribute what I have left, and if that means going in as TACS, then i'll do it."
Jack laughs half-heartedly as he sips the alcohol.
"It's better than being a light infantryman, thats for sure."
She sighed, having to acknowledge that if they were going in, the best thing to go in with would be a TACS. She shook her head, still in disbelief. "If they send us out there.. every day lost in the shop is more equipment that needs fixing, Jack. I can't fight by day and fix by night. I have to sleep sometime.."
She looked down at her drink again and drank it. "But I guess I'd better come with you.. make sure you don't die on me. It's too much of a hassle to teach another young punk mechanic the ins and outs of my shop." She poked him with a resigned smirk.
"Hey, now," She snapped at him, glaring with a slight smirk.
Then she nodded. "Alright.. but I'd really prefer to fix the TACS we have in the shop before we leave. If we go, I wanna make sure my queue is all taken care of."
"Good.. means I can customize it." She nodded and saw him off. She shouted after him. "And we'll see whose skinny pale ass is running away when we get there!" She laughed, then sighed.. going into combat. Haven't done that since the first days..
She pushed the memories back and moved back into the shop, doubling her efforts by getting the TACS diagnosed and prepped for work.
Lex gets by four of the eight TACS that were damaged and, as Lex comes upon the fifth one, warning sirens around Belen whirred.
Lex hears Jack shout, "It isn't the demons! They couldn't have gotten here this quickly!"
"Then what the hell could it be?!" replied one of the TACS pilots.
Alexis then hears a sound over the whir of the sirens. Something she hasn't heared since Rapture. A helicopter, no, helicopters, coming in from the east. The sound was soon followed by the rumbling of tracks and the stomping of TACS.
A green light in the bay glowed overhead.
"Pilots! In your craft if it's been repaired, ONLY IF ITS BEEN REPAIRED!" shouted Jack.
Five of them scrambled in and the hatches sealed, one by one. Alexis couldn't help but marvel at them as they fearlessly marched out into the snow to meet the new comers.
Lex jumped at the sirens and groaned, rolling her eyes. But as she heard the sound of choppers, she blinked. "What on earth.. TACS and..helicopters?" She turned and watched the soldiers mount their own TACS. "Be careful out there!" She sighed, watching them leave. If only I had more time I could've gotten more repaired!
She quickly removed her multitool and crossed the shop towards Jack. "What in the blazes is going on!?"
"Only one nation would be foolish enough to use helicopters again: Russia."
Jack shook his head.
"There were rumors throughout the north east that Russia is mobilizing to push the demons back into Italy. Damned fools. There will never be enough man power. Who thought they would actually come? No one. And now when they do, they'll expect some support."
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Alexis turned in her bed, groggy from a long night of repairing the electrical generators of the colony.
"Hey! Alexis! Wake up!"
The clanging of the man's fist against her garage's door rang through her ears.
"Damnit Jack! Shut up!" she shouted.
"The boys've returned home! They're missing parts!" Jack sounded a bit panicked. That wasn't good. Jack is the only other other true "engineer" in the colony, and they work together often. Fairly handsome and muscular, he is popular with the ladies. However, he's always been kind to Alexis, and she likes him well enough.
"They've brought news of an attack! We've gotta repair 'em right now!"
Alexis' eyes immediately shot open, realizing the magnitude of the situation.
"I'll be right out!"
"Meet me in the TACS bay! I'm leaving."
Alexis heard the crunching of Jack's boots on the snow.
****, she thought, it's snowing!
Stupid goddamn snow.. always ruining equipment..
She pulled them on over her black tank-top and she grabbed a long-sleeved red jacket and slid on her trademark red cap, her hair flowing down past her shoulders. She turned it around and fixed her hair in the mirror hanging in her room.
Lex's room was always messy. She was the only one who could navigate it. It really was just a small apartment attached to her shop. She worked mostly with Jack, when she wasn't alone.
Jack.. damn him.. I was sleeping so well, too.. Jack was a good guy, though. He'd done a lot to help her keep doing what she does best after everything went to hell in a handbasket a year ago.
She fixed her hair and moved to her walk-in bathroom to splash her face and wake up before she snatched her multitool and her tool box; she kept her pistol stuffed in her pants 24/7.
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Damn, what did they fight? Behemoths? Alexis thought as she approached the bay.
When she entered, Alexis knew something had gone horribly wrong. Men were being taken out of their TACS unconcious, bloody, and bruised. One person was sealed to his TACS as his flesh had become one with the metal. He cried out in agony as they tried to get him out. There were more medical staff that mechanics, and Alexis started to worry about the oncoming attack. Jack was over in a corner with one of the newer TACS, arming it with state of the art weaponry and changing it's cortex systems.
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Ryttare Kelasin Luna Orelinalei
Target Acquired, 9:43; Facing North
Gun shot 1-40, 9:45; Facing North
Gun shot 41-100 9:47; Facing North West
Target Acquired, 9:48; Facing North West
Missile Racks 1-3 9:49; Facing West
Right arm loss 9:51; Facing West
Missile rack 4-6 9:52; Facing West
Every other system ran clear and green, but the right arm was melted off, and some metal slag still dripped down slowly on the floor. As it hit the floor, the concrete smoked slightly. The body of the TACS has claw marks all over it, and some areas of the armor have been boiled away by something extremely hot.
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"There were eight of them, burrowed in the ground. When they past them, they were ambushed. Some of them leapt at 'em while the others spat some kind of heat." Jack looked into her eyes.
"They retreated as they lost one of their own. Apparently two of the bastards jumped on 'im. Torn to shreds, the poor guy."
With a frown he said, "Guess how many people they're missing and how many suits need to be filled."
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Before Alexis could move on, Jack put a hand on her shoulder and said, "We need to talk."
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Jack shook his head.
"I have a bad feeling about this. The two men they lost were considered their best. Whatever's coming our way, its going to be fierce and deadly."
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Ryttare Kelasin Luna Orelinalei
"How do you think I felt about this when I first heard it? I said exactly what you just exclaimed.
"The team, they're desperate. Morale is low, and when I say low, there are some of them who don't want to go into battle."
Jack shook his head and placed his hands on Lex's shoulders.
"I don't know if the colony will survive without us. I've been thinking about it. Even with the howitzers and the tanks and the infantry, who always takes the most kills? The TACS. Lets cut 'em some slack, they killed fifty each last raid. FIFTY! With two of their pilots down, thats one hundred more of 'em to deal with. No one else here knows how to handle TACS as well as we do."
Jack opened a drawer and pulled out an old vintage bottle of whiskey. He poured himself a finger, then offered another finger's worth to Lex.
"It's your choice. I just wanted to let you know i'm going into that battle wearing a TACS."
"Jack.." She took the glass but she was too busy looking at him. "You're going..? Jack.. you know I can't run the shop alone without you.."
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"If I survive, i'll be back. They only want us for defense. I refuse to stay with them permanently, but i'll do it for our colony's safety."
He looked straight into her eyes.
"There are too many people I care about in this place to sit around and do nothing."
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Jack grabs his and her cup and refills them again.
"I fear that if we don't go in, we'll be overrun anyways. I might as well contribute what I have left, and if that means going in as TACS, then i'll do it."
Jack laughs half-heartedly as he sips the alcohol.
"It's better than being a light infantryman, thats for sure."
She looked down at her drink again and drank it. "But I guess I'd better come with you.. make sure you don't die on me. It's too much of a hassle to teach another young punk mechanic the ins and outs of my shop." She poked him with a resigned smirk.
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He winked at her. Jack stood up, downed his cup, and tossed it.
"Lets go, I'll show you our TACS. We've got some of the newer models."
Then she nodded. "Alright.. but I'd really prefer to fix the TACS we have in the shop before we leave. If we go, I wanna make sure my queue is all taken care of."
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Jack waved her off as he walked over to the fresh models.
She pushed the memories back and moved back into the shop, doubling her efforts by getting the TACS diagnosed and prepped for work.
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Lex hears Jack shout, "It isn't the demons! They couldn't have gotten here this quickly!"
"Then what the hell could it be?!" replied one of the TACS pilots.
Alexis then hears a sound over the whir of the sirens. Something she hasn't heared since Rapture. A helicopter, no, helicopters, coming in from the east. The sound was soon followed by the rumbling of tracks and the stomping of TACS.
A green light in the bay glowed overhead.
"Pilots! In your craft if it's been repaired, ONLY IF ITS BEEN REPAIRED!" shouted Jack.
Five of them scrambled in and the hatches sealed, one by one. Alexis couldn't help but marvel at them as they fearlessly marched out into the snow to meet the new comers.
She quickly removed her multitool and crossed the shop towards Jack. "What in the blazes is going on!?"
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Jack shook his head.
"There were rumors throughout the north east that Russia is mobilizing to push the demons back into Italy. Damned fools. There will never be enough man power. Who thought they would actually come? No one. And now when they do, they'll expect some support."