[HEAT]

Discussion Thread

February 17th, 2341
The Trench colony ORINA was going through its usual daily routine. Back-up solar panels were powering up to get ready for the heavy storms due to pass through their region. Oxygen levels were balanced and the population number was healthy at 12,566 civilians. The colony had no special purpose and was mainly just housing people previously from the southern America area.

At 4:31pm audio logs show a low level of panic among the population as many report feeling the floor rumble beneath them.

At 4:39pm the logs show that civilians are running riot and making a desperate attempt to escape as the loudspeakers inform them that the oxygen system is failing due to an explosion in the southern area of the station.

At 4:50pm the logs cut out after a short few seconds of static and screaming.

Investigations made by nearby colonies show the station to be completely destroyed and ripped apart. No survivors were found but high concentrations of EVO particles were found alongside an equal amount of an unknown element.
Scientists have been testing the element over the last few weeks. No major breakthroughs have been made as of yet but it is obvious it was used as fuel or ammunition for a weapon of massive proportions.
Evidence and reports from the audio logs indicate that the attack came from the ground.

The leading companies have all dispatched they're HEAT's to locate or acquire the weapon themselves.






　
　
　

“Descent speed, two-thousand six hundred per second. HEAT exhaust signals at zero. Optimal cross-section maintained. I-P-D-G detects no signs of enemy units at projected landfall.”

“Alright, Winder, start kicking in some dampeners, try and take out some of the Gs from this drop.”


Costanzas waited for the familiar heavy kicking into the HEAT, and after a few seconds:


“Deploy chute.”


The world flipped around as Costanzas’ world went spinning in favour of a different direction, pulling him a full inch upwards and darkness creeping into his vision. He mustered the strength to check the systems at the same time. Nothing was damaged, and he nodded in relief, despite the momentary pain in his head and everything turning grey before his vision returned to normal. It was going to be a smooth landing.
Just the one he needed.

Costanzas wiped the cold sweat off his forehead on his forearm. “Setup power to the reactor, Winder, I want it warm by touchdown.”
“As ordered, sir.”
“And break radio silence, I think they’re dying to know whether we’re alive or not.”
“Yes, sir.”


And, unsurprisingly, the crackle and static broke through to a voice repeating the same thing over and over again.


“Costanzas? Do you read? Costanzas, respond. Costanzas, status report - are you function -”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Command. Just taking some risks today. Everything checks out great.”

“Once you’re on the ground, Halcyon protocol requires you maintain radio silence until you confirm that the landing zones are clear. Do you acknowledge?”

“Yeah, yeah, I acknowledge. Let’s get this over and done with.”


“Good luck, Sidewinder.” The radio communication lapsed into silence as Costanzas shut it off.


“Warning, unidentified enemy air unit on approach at range fifty-thousand. I-P-D-G marks it as gunship of unknown make. Threat level: Caution.”

“Yeah, Winder, tell you what, let’s get the reactor going, drop the chute now. Run a diagnostic on the hardware on that thing and hit it with an ECM.”

“Sir, at this altitude the structural integrity of this HEAT cannot be guaranteed after freefall -”

“I know the math, Winder, just do it. And get the thrusters hot, I want to make this drop as painless as possible.”


“Yes sir.” Costanzas heard a snapping noise as the multitude of cables binding the HEAT to the parachute were ejected, and Sidewinder began to free-fall again. Sidewinder started up manual control, and eased the HEAT facing upwards.

He began firing off bursts of his boosters, feeling the jarring shockwave ripple through the HEAT every time he softened the acceleration of freefall.
Costanzas flipped Sidewinder onto its feet just before it hit the ground, and it took the entire strain of the HEAT not to shatter its joints from the impact.

When Costanzas awoke, he was hanging, from the feel of gravity, face down in his cockpit, from which he deduced that Sidewinder was kneeling forwards.


“Winder.”

“Yes, sir?”

“How long was I out for?”


“Thirty seconds and twenty-four milliseconds.” A pause. “We are undetected. Threat level: Caution.”


“Do you have the bogey’s systems?”

“Yes, sir. However, it appears to be a combination of new and old targeting and scanning systems, some of which are based off current systems. 100% success is not guaranteed -”

“Hit it with the ECM.”

“It has already been done, sir. For all intents and purposes, we are undetected.”

“You’re a godsend, Winder.”

“Thank you, sir.”


Costanzas pulled Sidewinder out of the freshly-made shallow crater, and quickly shuffled towards the nearest grove of dead trees. The ground was a soft, loamy soil that had probably been brought about by a bout of acid rain. Not quite the desert that expeditions to the ground had expected, but a wasteland nonetheless, with nothing but rock, uninhabitable river and large dead forests to break the monotony of the landscape.

The lone gunship whirred overhead, past the grove where Sidewinder was lying prone. Costanzas let out the breath he was holding when the gunship began to move away.
“Winder.”


“Yes, sir?”

“Power up the Long Tom and help me get a lock on this gunship.”

“Sir, I must advise that in this critical point of the mission, the fewer -”

“I know, Winder, but it’ll come back for another round. We’ll stay undetected. Uh, we will stay undetected, right?”

“Initial calculations confirm that the attack will not alert the enemy to the RPW’s signal.”

“Then let’s get this over and done with.”

“Yes sir.”


A second window extended from the cockpit wall, and Costanzas mounted his chin on the chin rest, making all the necessary adjustments for wind and ordnance drop while the HEAT AI began to make the minute corrections needed while keeping Sidewinder off the radar.

The slug tore through what could be assumed as the cockpit section, like a needle tearing through a bubble. The gunship wavered in the air, and then the front half disintegrated into shrapnel upwards without an explosion as the propulsion simply cut out and the remaining wreckage tumbled out of the sky like a rock.


“Run a general scan on the LZ, Winder.”

“No other enemy signatures detected.”

“Alright.” Costanzas reconnected his radio communication to the Trenches above.


“Command, this is Sidewinder.”

“Go ahead, Sidewinder.”

“Landing area is clear. We are good for launch. I repeat, we are good for launch.”

“Excellent work, Costanzas. Hold your position and maintain further silence until the rest of the Halcyon crew reach landfall, or the LZ has been compromised.” Costanzas decided to stay in the trees for now, as he powered down all his weapons and powered down his boosters to minimise his heat signature on the radar.

“Got it, Command.”

“Drip….drip…..drip…..drip”

The sound echoed in Hiro’s ear, nothing but darkness surrounded him yet the smell caused his stomach to turn.

“Drip….drip…..drip….drip”

Following the mental map he had of the complex Hiro walked silently in the dark until the light became visible.

“Drip….drip….drip”

The monotonous noise ceased as the winds from outside picked up, the heat of the scorched planet warming Hiro with every step he made. Nearing the entrance with each step he reached behind and removed his sunglasses from his back pocket, shielding his eyes before attaching his oxygen mask.
The winds picked up even more causing a sandstorm outside, it had been the same storm he had landed in and was also the reason no one heard him coming.

Emerging from the ruins of the old world Hiro stood and revelled in the heat from the planet, the feel of the wind was like a drug to him and for minutes he merely stood there and let the heat dry the blood soaked clothes he wore.
Looking down Hiro saw very little of his own flesh, most of his skin had been dyed red from his recent kills and he knew he would need to find water soon before the blood crusted over and began to smell.

Smiling under his mask Hiro made his way to his HEAT hidden behind a cluster of rocks nearby where he had landed it. Looking up at the mammoth body he grinned and remembered exactly what he had done to attain it.
Climbing up the mech, Hiro opened the hatch with his handprint and reached inside to remove his satchel bag.
Dropping back down to the ground he began the ritual of stripping off his defiled clothing, piece by piece he removed until only his oxygen mask and sunglasses remained.
Next he doused the clothing in kerosene in a nearby crevasse and lit it using his lighter.
As the last remnants of the raiders he had killed were slowly burned he turned his attention to cleaning off the blood.
From inside the bag he removed a large body of water and poured it over himself in short bursts, taking his time to wash as much of the blood as he could. As cold as Hiro knew his personality to be he didn’t want to cause anymore trauma to the local populace to whom had been plagued by these animals.
The people there had been kind to him and given him shelter after his escape from the overclass.
It was only fair he returned the favour by providing pest control for them, it’s not like he wasn’t used to war after all.

Time passed and Hiro dressed in his new clothing, feeling refreshed with merely the sand from the storm clinging to his skin Hiro climbed his HEAT once more before climbing into the cockpit and powering up.
The HEAT’s power core initiated and with it the familiar hum that Hiro loved began to course through his entire being. Pulling off his glasses and mask Hiro savoured the first breath inside his HEAT, the purified air system negating the poisonous atmosphere outside and recycling it into pure heaven.
Securing himself into his restraints Hiro pulled the AI unit over his head and prepared himself for the mental connection.
Blinking into connection Hiro felt his body connected to his HEAT as the mental voice sounded.

“Reaper Online.”

“Power up the main drive and begin ignition sequence”

“Powering up main drive”

“Good now plot course back to haven”

“Plotting course…overclass message detected, do you wish to intercept this”?

“Put it through”

As Hiro listened to the message from the overclass pertaining to the weapon Hiro knew he had to get his hands on it before the overclass. His whole life had been taken away by the company and it was only fair he take everything from them in return.

“Plot new route, intercept overclass fleet and engage overclass signature service”

“Course plotted, do you intend to take the enemy by surprise?”

“I intend to take the enemy out.”

Flexing his own limbs Hiro’s neural connection to Reaper ensured that the HEAT mimicked his move. Standing up the HEAT rose to full height before engaging the engines.
Hiro wiled the HEAT to begin the thrusters and with a single thought he rose high above the ground. Knowing he had to take care of a few loose ends Hiro mentally willed the Beta Cannon to activate and within a second the HUD appeared targeting the broken structure he had just cleared.

“Power levels at 20%”

“Fire”

The beta cannon erupted from the HEAT and within a second the structure that was under Reaper was just another crater on a broken world.

“Disengage firing sequence and plot course”

Moving to it’s owners will Reaper began it’s interception of the overclass fleet and proceeded to send out the codes that would show them as friendly reinforcements.
It was a crude method of blending in but Hiro knew the overclass rarely did visual checks and as a result a binary blend was easily accomplished.
Grinning with anticipation Hiro knew soon he would have all the carnage he wanted.

“Malcolm, get to the hanger.”

Malcolm continued working away at the targeting system that rested on the table in front of him. He ignored the voice that blared out of the speakers above him. He spun his chair around to grab a part off the table behind him, as he noticed one of the scientists standing in the doorway.

“Mal, you do know they’ve been calling for you down in the hanger.”

“Chill out, I’ve got to finish making these repairs before I do anything. Do me a favor and let them know I’ll be a while.”

Mal grabbed the part, and spun his chair back towards his work.

“You do know they’re not going to like that.”

The scientist sighed as he walked out of the room, and Mal went back to fixing his targeting system. A few more minutes he finished fixing it. He grabbed it and his tools and loaded them into his messenger bag and left the room.

Mal entered the hanger and made his way over to his HEAT, Sonic Boom. He opened up the cockpit and ripped out the targeting system out of it. He reached into his bag and grabbed the one he fixed, and put it in the slot where the old one used to be. As he did this, one of the high ups of walked over.

“Mal, why the fuck did it take you so long to get here?”

“I was making repairs to my HEAT, sir.”

“What was it this time, you always seem to be repairing something.”

“My targeting something seemed to be lagging and drifting off to the right. I built a new one, and I’m hoping it’ll run better than my old one did, I’ll be testing it out on this job, sir.”

“Alright, back to work then.”

Malcolm climbed into the cockpit of Sonic Boom as his boss walked away. Once inside Mal began flipping switches and powering up his HEAT.


“Malcolm Flynn here, I’m all ready to launch over here”

“ You’re late you know,”

“Yeah, yeah, so can I launch already?”

“Yeah, you’re all cleared to launch Malcolm. And just to let you know, Major Polin says there’s friendly HEAT’s and pilots out there today. Watch where you shoot.”

“Got it, so who else is going to be out there today, it’s always boring when I’m the only one.”

“MirrorShot has already been launched.”

“Alright right then, open that hatch.”

The hatch opened and Sonic Boom dropped out. Malcolm hit a few switches and the rockets flared on slowing his decent. Once his systems were stabilized, he plotted his path and then switched over to autopilot. After several minutes his radar picked up movement along the surface. Two mechs moving slowly along the surface. Mal didn’t recognize the models at all, so he switched on his weapons, and rocketed towards them.

As soon as he was with in firing range, Mal began to charge up the particle cannon. Once it was at a quarter power, he smashed the fire button and then particles exploded out of the cannon and smashed into the ground off to the left of his targets.

“Shit. I miscalculated the targeting system again.”

The cannon whipped up enough dust to provide cover as he dove forward. He powered up his claw as he burst forward towards his target. He moved into the dust, and right into the first mech, stabbing through the cockpit. The other mech recovered from the explosion and charged at Mal. Mal hit the button to turn on his particle sword and lunged into the oncoming mech. The beam cut straight through leaving it in two pieces. Once Mal finished them both off, he took to the air again.

As he was lifting off, his radio picked up. Mal recognized the signal, it was Casteen.

"This is Number 19 - Mirrorshot, recording on Raven Network. Any Wraiths or Pilots picking up this message must make radio contact immediatly. Friendly fire cannot be tolerated."

Mal grabbed his radio and connected to the signal.

“Hey, Casteen, It’s Mal, what’s your location?”

“If your looking for trouble, Your in the right place, Don't look at me like that, or I’ll head butt your face I’m a mean motherfucker, I was born that way, and just because I wear a skirt don't think I’m fuckin' gay.

Cause I’m an evil Scotsman, and Jimmy is my name, I’m a sheep shagger from Aberdeen, and causing pain is my game.

Now if your a woman, married or not, al take all your kit off and I’ll dive in your mot, I’ll take your legs and spread them wide, and then I’ll put a wet suit on and shag you from inside,

Cause I’m an evil Scotsman, and my name is Jock, and the girls are all gaggin' for a portion of my ten inch cock,

Yes I’m an evil Scotsman and my name is Jock.

I've got one hand in my pocket and I’m playing with my ten inch cock

I don't care where you come from, if your big or your small, I’ve fought the best, and I beat them all.
If your English or Irish, you wont have to die, but if you are a German you can kiss your arse goodbye.

I’m an evil Scotsman, and Jock is my name, if you don't like the rules don't play the fuckin' game, yes, I’m an evil Scotsman my name is Jock! And the girls are just dying for a portion of my ten-inch cock.

OH Yeah, Fuckers, Wankers, knob ends.”

The song in the cockpit ended and Hiro was mildly aware that he had reached his intended destination.

“Target located, preparing to send encrypted signal”

Hiro grinned with anticipation, his palms tightening around the controls at his hands as the mech dropped out of auto-pilot.
All of a sudden the radio crackled.

“HEAT code accepted, welcome to the fleet soldier”

Hiro knew his ploy had succeeded and the naieve fleet of the overclass had accepted the computer signal signalling them as friendly.
Remembering his training within the overclass, Hiro positioned himself at the rear of the fleet and began systematically carrying out low intensity scans of every mech and vehicle currently within his reach.
Two sub-class HEAT signals were picked up and Hiro mentally logged these as the immediate threat. In addition the overclass had sent out a hyperion battleship complete with full load of energy cells.

“Energy cell cache logged in main drive, mapping out remainder of fleet”

Hiro knew that a single blast from his cannon would be enough to ignite the energy cells within the goliath battleship, this would be the first strike before taking out the individual units surrounding the hyperion.

As the scans finished the HUD was replaced by a 3-D rendering of each vehicle within range, doing his best to remember each type was strenuous but Hiro had been trained since an early age for just these type’s of situations.

“Once the beta cannon is activated begin fluctuating friendly signal”

Hiro took three long slow breaths, closing his eyes and taking in the silence before the battle.

“Engage!”

The sound of the metal locks on the beta cannon resonated within the cockpit of Reaper, using the ocular targeting system Hiro fired the Beta cannon initial stage into the area where the energy cells had been scanned.
The sound of the energy increase from the main drive to the cannon vibrated the cockpit, Hiro watched as the energy released from the cannon and pierced the side of the goliath battleship.
Counting five seconds Hiro allowed time for the blast to find it’s target.

“We’ve been hit! Shit I repeat we have been hit”

Hiro didn’t wait for the remainder of the message, breaking formation he pulled his HEAT under the battleship and watched as the internal explosions caused the hull to crumble.
Targeting the two enemy HEAT’s by their signals Hiro increased the drive input and caught up with them in seconds.
His computer changing his electronic ID every time he made an attack meant that the overclass had no clue who or what was hitting them.

The locks from the beta cannon disengaged and Hiro powered the excess energy from the main drive into his energy lances.
The soft glow from the blades illuminated the cockpit and as he neared the two enemy HEAT’s Hiro adjusted the power to full before plunging a lance each into the rear of each enemy piercing the cockpit for the pilots.
A crude way of attacking but Hiro knew that without a pilot the mech’s were uselss.

Hit and run tactics continued for what seemed like seconds until finally all that surrounded Hiro was black smoke and empty skies.

“The Overclass fleet has been destroyed sir, do you wish to review the battle?”

“No, log the battle report in your main drive then plot a course back to the settlement”

“Sir I have to inform you that while I was scanning the fleet I picked up an encoded message retaining to a new find that has all the companies deploying their fleets”

Hiro’s interest was peaked, he had never heard of anything that would cause all 3 companies to amass a force so large as what was detailed in the data log. If the overclass want this weapon so much Hiro knew exactly what needed to be done.

“What information do you have about the area the fleets are converging?”

“Only that the companies are launching all available pilots to investigate”

The chance to go against more experienced HEAT pilot’s was indeed a good reason to investigate, but the chance to attain a weapon that all 3 companies wanted was the final straw.

“Lay in a course away from each main fleet, I don’t want to waste time and energy on any unnecessary battles”

The AI stalled for several seconds as Hiro held Reaper stationary in the air with the thrusters.
Toggling nearby switches Hiro allowed for the main drive to recharge, the direct sunlight here made it easy to regain the lost energy he had exerted from the overclass fleet.

“Route plotted”

Hiro’s ocular display showed the intended route the AI had proposed as well as the last scans that the overclass fleet had of the two other companies fleets and positions.

“Lay in the route and proceed at 60% thrust, maintain heat signatures to a minimal and continue with the recharge of the main unit”

Reaper began the sequence and Hiro felt himself pushed back into his seat.
The battle had left him disappointed, as with most battles recently he had yet to fight anyone with the same experience as himself.
Flexing his muscles in his arms and legs Hiro stretched out and yawned knowing he could afford an hour or so of sleep before he would be close enough to any fleet.
Grinning as he dosed off Hiro knew that he would have all the carnage he wished for.

Hiro was studying the information scanned by the enemies he had just dispatched, from the info it seemed that this weapon was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before.
Hiro’s mind wandered and recalled talk amongst the tribes on earth that something evil was working on the eastern coast.


"Hmm Maybe this is what they were on about"


The slow hum of Reaper’s thrusters seemed to dull, before the AI could even speak Hiro knew he had reached the first of the fleet.


"We are within scanner range of the fleet’s what is your command?"


Hiro pondered his next move; on the one hand he could use the codes he had received from previous battles against the two fleets now occupying the air space. However if anyone was on the ball he or she would notice his codes belonged to destroyed fleets and he would immediately be spotted.


"Engage the cannon, rotate angle so we are within sniping range and voice out power levels"


The sound of the locks disengaging from Reaper’s back immediately rang out, within a second the slam of metal on metal alerted Hiro that his cannon was locked in place and within another second the AI began it’s review.


"Power levels are at 100% we have stored an excess within the secondary drive also due to the relative clear skies on our descent"


The ocular display began to focus into the black smears in the distance, within 5 seconds Hiro had a perfect view of what seemed to be a Raven fleet.
Watching it intently Hiro knew that they would have their main task force including HEAT pilot’s within. His suspicions were soon confirmed as he watched two mech’s launch and detach from the main fleet.


"Log and identify the enemy HEAT pilot’s"


The AI remained unusually quiet and Hiro could only stare as he watched separate skirmishes develop.


"My drive has no record of these pilot’s"


Hiro cursed under his breath, when they built Reaper he had managed to steal multiple dossiers regarding most individuals within the programme however he had some gaps in his information.
Going in blind was exciting but at the same time stupid, Hiro had already watched two HEAT’s leave the main fleet, even if he got close enough without the main fleet knowing he had no knowledge of the pilot’s and their HEAT’s.
Hiro reached out and toggled switches allowing him to stay stationary at minimal energy output, using the scoping abilities of his cannon he watched as one HEAT pilot landed on the surface, it was only then that Hiro saw the mammoth pyramid.


"Is this where the energy burst was recorded as being fired?"


"According to the data taken this is indeed the indicated location"


Hiro pondered for several minutes as he watched the fleet move, Hiro knew it would be easier dealing with the HEAT pilots first but at the same time he knew he would need to deal with the fleet after and would be quickly surrounded.


"Can you identify the main ship in the fleet?"


"Confirmed"


"Locate and display"


Hiro’s grip tightened around the control pads, the ocular display outlined the fleet flagship. Extending his fingers Hiro flicked the safety and fired the main weapon.
Reaper shook as the cannon fired a long powerful blast towards the Raven fleet flagship, the system continued the stream of energy moving very slowly so that the beam tore through as much of the hull as possible as well as taking out most of the smaller craft surrounding it.

After 10 seconds Reaper fell silent once again, only the sound of heat escaping the cannon was noticeable to Hiro.

His position was blown but hopefully the ranged attack would take them by surprise and give him the edge as they would be in chaos.

Throwing Reaper out of it’s stationary position Hiro pummelled his HEAT into the body of the Raven fleet, not caring any longer
about being noticed he would take on anyone who got in his way.


Regardless of who they were.