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[rasputinwrote]

Convoy Ops

Her eyes were tired, but the tension kept her awake. She raised her goggles to wipe some sweat from her eyes. The vehicle was dimly lit save for the small red lights on the front seats. Everything beyond the windows was pitch black. As she lower her goggles back down, the outlines of the other occupants appeared in orange, with markers denoting their callsigns floating above them. Looking outside, she could see the outlines of trees flying past, as well as the vehicle directly in front of them. From the back seat, there wasn't much for her to do, but she held her weapon tight regardless.

She flipped open the small diplay attached to her chest and positioned it so it could be seen when glancing down. On the screen was a map centered on 5 blue arrows. A long red line appeared in front of them, stretching from "5 minutes to contact," a female voice said in her ear.

All four soldiers shifted slightly in their seats. No one was quite sure what to expect; their brief didn't have any solid conclusions to draw from available intel. The vehicle slowed and the trees outside gave way to a large field.

"Let's just hope they don't want any trouble," said the driver.

"Maybe they're all still asleep," she replied with a thin smile.

[rasputinwrote]

Night Watch

It hadn't stopped raining all week. Sometimes, it would slow to a light drizzle or mist, but it always picked up again, even coming down sideways a couple of times. The pine trees surrounding them reached up and blocked most of the wind, allowing them to set a tend up over their foxhole. Even so, they had to throw branches in the bottom to try and keep their feet from sinking in the mud. The group had been on the move for almost a month now, and they were happy to sleep in the same place for more than a single night. Not that she would be getting much sleep anyway; it was her turn for guard duty.

She had her arms crossed, leaning on the earth in front of her. He goggles drew the tree trucks and bushes in orange outlines, and she gazed lazily down the hill. They were on the edge of the forest near the hilltop but were told to dig in and wait for further orders.

She figured they had probably outran most of their logistics as well as the heavy weapons platforms, considering the enemy hadn't actually committed to a real fight anywhere. Everyone knew it had to happen soon however; there's only so much ground one can lose before politicians get involved. And so, she sat in the mud watching for movement in the middle of a rainy night.

A quiet notification chimed in her earpiece, and she looked down to the screen attached to her plate carrier. "Seismic Detection Systems reporting potential activity in your area. Signature identified as XW-78 "Judgment" Heavy Weapons Platform. All units move to standby posture."

She pushed a few more button on her screen, sending an alert to the others earpieces, waking them up. While they turned their equipment on, she looked back out over the fields and forests below. Even with their enhanced NVGs, the rain would probably make it difficult to see anything too far out.

As she squinted, she became aware of a soft, rhythmic rumbling. She couldn't hear anything above the rain, but she could definitely feel it in the ground surrounding her.

Suddenly, she noticed movement in one of the forests. A tall, angular machine was slowly stomping through trees as if they were made of paper. Her onboard computer recognized the distinctive shape and immediately placed an orange diamond above it with the name "WX-78."

She was about to report this sighting up the chain when a brilliant beam of light connected the machine with a position somewhere in the woods on her left.

"Damn, did they really fire at this range? In these conditions?"

In the distance, the machine stopped for a moment before turing to face her hill and crouching down.

"Maybe they got lucky and hit a critical system or something."

Before she could consider any further, one of the large barrels on the machines upper platform began to move. She noticed this too late and before she could issue a warning, and even larger beam appeared, again connecting the machine to the hidden position to the left. This time however, there was a large explosion, and her HUD flashed an urgent message.

"Network Connection Lost: Personal System Performance Degraded. Auto Re-Route Enabled."

"Great," she muttered under her breath. There wasn't a lot her unit could do against something that big, not with their current weapons and weather.

"Re-Route Complete" flashed above her HUD, followed by a notification chime.

"All units, CAS is active in your sector, ETA one mike. Prepare to assess."

She heard them long before her onboard computer could establish a data link, but a pair of aircraft marked with blue diamonds came from behind, flying almost directly over her as they vectored toward the machine. As they got close, they each loosed several beams before pulling into a sweeping turn, attempting to hit it again. Parts of the machine were seemingly melting as molten metal slowly dripped down its legs. Unfortunately, this was not enough to stop it, and multiple small beams reached out, attempting to end this aerial harassment.

While the planes were undoubtedly equipped with multi-spectrum camouflage, at this range, the heat from their engines would be impossible to miss against the cold night sky. Within moments, the beams connected and both aircraft were turned into orange balls of fire and burning fuel, plummeting into the trees.

A second pair of aircraft flew in, this time dropping more conventional munitions and peeling off before the machine could train its Directed-Energy AA back at them. From the ground, she could watch the bombs as they silently fell toward the target, denoted as a blue triangle indicating the direction of motion. As the bombs made contact, the top of the machine was engulfed in a series of explosions, obscuring it from view.

At this moment, beams lanced out from both her left and right, hammering the machine. Parts began to glow as it's armor was heated to the melting point, before its left leg gave out completely, causing the machine to lurch to the side and crash into the trees. Even on it side, it was still clearly visible above the treetops. Cheers rang out from the other soldiers in her unit; they didn't know it at the time, but they had just achieved the first kill of a XW-78 in history.

[rasputinwrote]

Friends

He sat quietly on the edge of the treeline surrounding the fire. There were others around, probably 7 or 8, chatting and laughing quietly as they ate dinner under a starless sky. He dipped his spoon in the can and took a bite of the lukewarm food, his face expressionless. He was leaning against a tree with his knees pulled up comfortably. As he continued to eat, his eyes stayed fixed on the fire, flames quickly dancing before disappearing. As he stared, the fire slow seemed to get bigger, occupying a larger and larger space in his field of view. The crackling grew louder, drowning out the others sitting nearby. He squinted and realized that it wasn't simply a campfire, it was a vehicle. An APC, with its turret blown off and fire shooting out of the back doors. He ran towards it; his friends were in there! They were the lead vehicle! His friends that he'd met in training. His friends that he'd been drinking with when they got word that the war had started. His friends that had all fallen asleep together on the transport plane. His friends that had been stationed in this small town. His friends that had helped a local fix his car. His friends that had adopted a stray dog. His friends, his friends, his friends, his friends--

Someone lightly tapped him with their foot.

"You've got first watch."

He threw his empty can into the woods, stood up, slung his weapon over his shoulder, and flipped on his goggles.

"Roger sergeant."

He walked away from the campfire and into the dark woods.

[rasputinwrote]

Guard Duty

He took a deep breath and blew it out his nose. The air was hot and smelled dusty, but visibility was good. He looked out across the dry lake bed, shimmering in the heat. Nothing for miles, as far as he could tell. He slowly paced for a few more minutes before taking a seat again.

He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and tipped his head back. It was quiet today; the only sound was the low hum of the device attached to his chest. The chair creaked as he put his boots on the desk and closed his eyes.

"Sector 2, SOG. How's it look out there?"

He binked and shook his head.

"Sector 2, SOG. You there, buddy?"

He pushed his goggles up and rubbed his eyes. The screen on his desk told him a couple of hours had passed. He tapped the device on his chest,

"SOG, Sector 2. Lots of sand out here."

He rocked his head from side to side, cracking his neck a bit and took his feet off the desk.

"What's the status on the W.A.S.Ps?"

He looked down the screen and tapped a few of the icons.

"Everybody seems happy out there, nothing unusual."

"Good enough for me. I'll see you at chow."

He tapped the device on his chest again and stood up, his weapon bumping lightly against his abdomen as it hung from its strap.

He glanced around the small, dusty room and decided he needed some fresh air. He opened the door and stepped out onto the metal balcony. As he paced, he again squinted out across the flat expanse. The W.A.S.Ps were out there, diligently patrolling but hidden from view with their multi-spectrum camouflage. As he continued squinting, the HUD in his goggles helpfully began displaying green diamonds to indicate their location and distance. He got to nearly two dozen before he stopped counting and simply watched them slowly float across the landscape at various altitudes. They were far enough out that any movement would be detected long before he could see it.

He turned to go back inside but stopped when he heard a high-pitched beeping in his ear. He turned around and placed both hands on the railing and surveyed floating diamonds. A pair of the higher-up ones had turned yellow, indicating that movement had been detected. As he watched, a red triangle appeared as well, moving pretty fast based on its quickly-decreasing distance. Another missle, he thought to himself.

He smiled, knowing what was coming next. Two more had turned yellow and moved into formation with the first pair, forming a loose square. He tightened his grip on the railing, any second now. The four yellow diamonds turned red an instant before four brilliant beams of light arced across the sky. A second later, the red triangle disappeared, followed by a puff of black smoke. He kept smiling as he turned to go back inside.

The sound of the explosion reached him as he was settling back down in his chair. He leaned over the desk and doubled-checked the W.A.S.Ps status.

"Status nominal, all units are mission-capable"

"Thank you ma'am"

He leaned back and kicked his feet up. As he was drifting off, the high-pitched beeping returned. He opened his eyes but did not sit up. He looked out the window and watched as 5 red triangles popped up. The W.A.S.Ps reacted accordingly, quickly flying into formations to intercept. Must have been testing the waters with that first one, he figured, now they're really gonna let loose. Beams began flashing in the distance, replacing the triangles with debris clouds. With his feet still on the table, he clicked the device on his chest.

"SOG, Sector 2. We got some guys throwing sticks out here."

As he waited for a response, another wave of triangles blinked in.

"Sector 2, SOG. Confirm, we see the same on our end. How're our little buddies doin'?"

He watched them for a moment as more appeared before replying.

"Doing the Lord's work SOG, got a couple going back for gas but perimeter integrity looks good from here."

Another wave appeared, followed quickly by a second. More beams and more debris.

"They must be pretty bored out there, if they're gonna go to all this trouble SOG."

"Standby Sector 2, orbital assets are detecting increased activity in your area."

He put his feet down and began tapping the screen in front of him.

"Perimeter integrity at 85%. Multiple units recharging. At current consumption, perimeter integrity is expected to remain effective for four hours."

He leaned back again and watched the distant explosions. No way they had enough munitions to keep this up for four hours, right?

"Sector 2, SOG. Missile attack doesn't show any signs of letting up, we're monitoring W.A.S.P levels in your area, sit tight for now."

"SOG, Sector 2. Understood, standing by."

He crossed his arms and settled in to watch the show.

The sun was starting to set and the beams were still going off. The screen showed he still had about an hour left, but there were no signs the bombardment was letting up.

"Sector 2, SOG. Be advised, orbital assets are tracking multiple bogeys entering the atmosphere and moving toward your area. Total count is unclear; suspect multi-spectrum camouflage. Expect them to reach your perimeter in 10 minutes. How copy?"

"SOG, Sector 2. Good copy. Do we expect the W.A.S.Ps to counter?"

"Unclear, we're retasking friendly air assets in the area to your location, ETA 10 minutes."

"That's gonna be pretty close SOG, any chance you can tell them to pick up the pace a bit?"

"They're hauling-ass, but I'll let them know. Hold on, I'm getting some fuzzy contacts on our scopes; it looks like-"

Static screamed in his ear before the SOG could finish. It was quickly cut off by his onboard computer with a message flashing across his HUD.

"Network Connection Lost: Personal System Performance Degraded."

He quickly stood up and pressed his face against the windows. The diamonds were still there, meaning the backup LOS transmitters were working at least. Before he could sit back down, a single beam lanced out through the evening light, followed by another explosion. He furrowed his brow. The W.A.S.Ps only fired when their whole formation was ready, only firing as single units if they were desperate.

A single, low tone beeped once in his ear; a W.A.S.P had been destroyed. Suddenly, more beams began appearing and disappearing sporadically. More beeping in his ear as he sat down and frantically tapped on the screen.

"Mutiple units have been destroyed, perimeter failure imminent. Unable to access Joint Information Network, further analysis is unavailable at this time."

He slammed his fist on the desk. There was nothing he could do against aircraft from his position. He heard the rumble of engines getting louder. Even if they were invisible, you can't mask the sound in-atmosphere engines. Beams lanced out near him as his goggles darked to protect his eyes. He laided down immediately as he heard the beams impacting the wall below him. The fighters blew past his position as he heard explosions down the line on either side. Helpless, he listened as the noise from the engines began increasing in volume again. Another pass? Or were they simply heading back now that their objective was complete?

A single beam cut through the base of his tower. The screen on his desk immediately went dark as the floor began to tilt. All he could hear was the screech of metal as his world collapsed around him.