Iron Stars - inheritor-city-assault

On a hill 5 kilometers out from the infested termie city north of Hilltop, the inheritor notables look on. The city is a place where nature and breach have reclaimed the landscape and twisted it into something that is a blend of both. This city once menaced a valuable Inheritor ally and prevented northward expansion towards the mysterious structures at the center of the planet, but no longer. Years of research into Terminal Breach Exposure have all yielded the same sad conclusion. The condition can not be reversed or changed and these feral once humans now outnumber those fortunate enough to be within resonator fields by factors of ten. A pair of heavy bombers, left overs from colonial days soar overhead, too high to be easily seen but the roar of their engines is unmistakable. One minute to target. Around you, several divisions of the Inheritor Army and their scant vehicle support form up into regiment sized blocks. They don protective masks and filters, preparing to march into the gas zone and do battle with the enemy once concentrations of them are found. In a splash of ceremony, every hundredth soldier carries a tall Inheritor Alliance banner, occasional splashes of pink and gold amid woodland camo and tan. The command tent is situated on an overlook, above the army and with a line of sight to the overgrown walls of the city beyond.

1

Jasper stands at the back of the tent and looks on over his men, he never thought he would be part of the military, let alone in charge of a battalion. Despite is anxiousness he knows Nathan would be proud of him. He reaches up and gently caresses his crystal rubrics near his neck He turns around back to his friends and the planning table “Inheritors, we are in a battle for our planets very soul. Today we make another step towards reclaiming our world. Inside that city right now is thousands of Terminals who’s very existence is torture to them, their mutations now their true forms. Many of these people used to be neighbors, friends, families, but now they are gone, replaced by their mutations. We have to help them, put them out of their misery so that the world cannot hurt them anymore. In less then a minute the ships will dump a poison gas of my creation over the city. This gas should be fairly painless, but it won’t kill everyone. Some may be mutated in such a way to be resistant, others may have missed the full exposure. Kror, due to his talent in psionics has the ability to impersonate a person to the DNA level, we have tested this with Terminal DNA and it works. Under the panic of the gas Kror will slip in and with help of a Argus web will direct our troops to large groups of survivors for us to clear out quickly. From there we will split off into groups combing the rest of the city. My personal group will be heading downtown to try to find the resonator, other groups will go out looking for any remaining terminals, power grids, water, and other lost infrastructure we can find and begin to repair. Is there any questions before we begin?”

Kror is standing beside Jasper as he activates the Argus suit. "Can you see my feed Doc? Making sure everything is ready before turning into a termie"

Wearing his new Storm Armor and holding his Breach Rifles, Goblin listens to Jasper. He nods from time to time, acknowledging to the general plan and when Kror asks his question, he raises his left arm to eyes' level. "I don't know about the other but I get you perfect on this screen." Looking then at Jasper, he adds another question to the list. "Do we get to command a regiment each or we will have smaller units with us? If that sergeant I met during my first mission is part of the assault force, I'd like to join his group if possible."

“Each regiment will be Solely focused on clearing out the main groups, so we will be in smaller groups taking on our tasks. While it will be dangerous, we can call for backup if we need it. Goblin, I’ll have that Sargent here for you. Kror, I can see it perfectly too but here” Jasper pushes a button on his Dataslab and a holoscreen on the table activates and multiple screens show a 365 degree view around Kror. “Ana here will also be able to keep telepathic contact with you if you stay within 100 kilometers of her, that way you can communicate with us through her. “ (OOC most of the soldiers will be doing their things in the background so it will be mostly Just us and maybe a few soldiers just so Neko doesn’t have to roll a million times against himself and we can save his sanity) “Any other questions before we begin?”

"That's shouldn't be a problem." "I'm good Doc, guess it's time to turn into a termie. Just don't shoot me would you?!" He says with a grin before closing his eyes with the DNA sample in his hand and focusing his mind on it. After a moment you can start to see Kror body changing before you own eyes, and in a matter of seconds where Kror once stood there is now a fungal termie. Lowering his head and stretching his arm he looks at it "It never fails to amaze me and a bit sickening if I'm honest."

Jasper jumps back slightly in surprise and reaches for his gun “I’m just kidding Kror, you look perfect, but yeah I suppose we could have gotten you a sample from a prettier Termie. Cameras still functional… check. Okay Kror, I promise we won’t shoot you, you ready to start?”

"Ready as i will ever be. Those bomber should be here any second. I will start my way into the city." Ana can you hear my thoughts? He then waits for her response before heading off camp and into the city

"Thank you. I have been unable to see him after he almost died. I hope he is fine." says Goblin to Jasper when he accepts to find the sergeant. Then, when Kror turns into a convincing Termies, Goblin pokes him with the muzzle of his rifle, liberating a bit of spores. "Ewww. That's gross. Next time, pick one of the feathers from the feathered Termies we found with Ana and Dalibor." says Goblin before laughing a bit.

"That's on Doc here." He says gesturing to Jasper. "I start to suspect he doesn't like me that much" he whispers to goblin with a grin

Goblin pokes Kror with his rifle one more time and grin behind his mask.

Overhead the roar of the bombers is louder. You can see them breaking through the clouds as they begin to descend- hoping to use level bombing for greater accuracy

9:43 AM

9:43 AM

One by one, the dozens of cannisters begin to tumble on glide paths toward the city and each of you are advised to get your protective gear on.

"Looks like it's my cue, see you all on the other side and wish me luck" he says loudly to be heard above the roaring sound of the bombers before heading into the city

Jasper presses a button on his Storm Armor and slowly a helmet folds into place and His voice can be heard through his suits speaker. Phhhzz…”best of luck, my friend. I owe you a strong drink after this. “

Following Jasper, Goblin seals his own Storm Armor as well. "Be careful, Kror. We will be there to exfiltrate you if things go wrong"

The cannisters are timed for release just 5m before hitting the ground. Dense clouds of pink-white gas begin to drift across the countryside driven by a strong tail wind and you see Kror vanish into the mist. The city is lost to sight, and everyone begins looking at the various monitors showing the feed from the Argus Web. There is a haunting animal shrieking coming from the city as the first of the exposed terminals begins to succumb from the gas, the cry is taken up by more every second as a chorus of the damned blows on the wind. Many of the assembled soldiers are likewise uncomfortable but to not break ranks aside from donning the last of their protective gear. Medics have been issued retroviral to assist with anyone accidently exposed- but everyone understands being hit in a chemical environment like this makes you as good as dead anyway.

11:18 AM

Moving closer to the city, from a half kilometer out Kror can see the large bulbous growths on the walls beginning to dry out, blacken, and shrivel. A terminal hunting pack that had been about to leave the city is dead right at the gateway. One has been crushed by one of the still releasing gas containers.

Ana have the right part of hair shaved and have a pink LED cable going from behind her right ear to her right eye. She is accompanied by Atzou, a former soldier that already put her Atmofilter, she have in each hand a drone marked with StarLuck logo. "I still can't believe we are doing it..." Ana say, vaguely looking the bombers. She return back at reality when Kror ask her via Telepathy if everything is OK (Telepatic contact - 1 Commited Effort) Ah ! Yes, sorry I can ear you and contact is clean. Good luck, I'm with you until then end. "Contact done with Kror. Scout plan can continue. "

Moving in through the gate Kror can see the terminals are facing badly against the gas though many knots of them remain, either inside protected buildings or simply with Bahrain adaptions to filter out the harmful contagions before they can hurt. The gate will need to be held to keep any inside the walls from escaping into the countryside where the eternal game of seek and destroy will continue again. Kror pushes a bit further past the gate into the city proper, looking to see where concentration of the enemy might be. (edited)

(survive/wis)

It all looks like an horror show, but kror knows this is the only way to deal with them, altho it makes it no less easy to watch. Ana you still got video feed? Those gates need to be shut down and patrolled so they can escape (11)

(So the gate is one of our mass combat victory points, if we hold it. ) Moving into the city you use your knowledge of hunting and tracking to find places that look like the wind might not carry this gas into them easily. This city once had a subway, and it looks like the tunnels have become hives of terminal activity. You can hear at least a dozen of them heading down the stairs of the closest station, and no doubt they've made something of an underhive here where the gas is going to have a harder time trying to reach.

I don't have the feed in front of me at the moment but I will forward the message "Kror is telling us that we need to control and defend the gates of the city to avoid terminals escape." Ana say while finishing to prepare the drones. "Is there only one entrance to the city ?" Ana ask both at the group and at Kror

Kror will have to find that information out when scouting it seems.

8:52 AM

(You can’t see the city now and he’s in the thick of the gas )

Kror looks around trying to find any gas canister still active to toss it down the underground entrance

It looks like one nearby is still dispelling the last of it, You'd need far more than this to sweep the tunnels and it looks like this is another job for the army

10:22 AM

(so we have 2 points found so far, and ana was going to suggest looking to see if there are other ways out of the city)

Seeing that one canister would make no difference Kror presses on trying to find other hiding places or entrances to the city and tunnels

(notice/wis)

(6)

You see many terminals going to the tops of buildings. The town also has a north gate but above ground it seems like there are only two ways out

Goblin looks at the video feed intently while Kror is progressing throughout the former city. Seeing all the bodies, he shivers a bit. "I might not like them, it's hard to stare at all these bodies like that. I hope we won't have to do that again."

(Vital points are the South Gate. The west gate and the subway tunnels. We can also throw city center in there, and I think the countryside is probably also a good one since we need to ensure there’s a blockade. Jasper and I will get the mass combat set up and we can roll for combats and missions will come from those results

“If we get this right we won’t ever have to do this again. “ Jasper says to Goblin. “Ana, let Kror know we are going to start sending our soldiers in, it’s time. “ Jasper lets out a nervous sigh before turning around walking to the edge of the tent and addressing the army over a loud speaker. “Inheritors, nervous waiting is over. The Inheritor Army has always been a key piece in insuring the future of the Alliance and today is no different. Just like the day we left the safety of our walls and ventured out to reclaim the wilds around our home, today we’ve come to reclaim another piece of our planet. “ “The time to act is now, 1st Dremlas Infantry Brigade secure the South Gate. 2nd Dremlas Infantry Brigade secure the West gate. 3rd Dremlas Infantry Brigade secure the Tunnel’s. Good luck, in hopes for the Grand Alliance, and as our Northern friends say, Strength in Unity.”

South Gate- 1st Dremlas Infantry
West Gate- 2nd Dremlas Infantry
Subway Tunnels- 3rd Dremlas Infantry
City Center- 
Countryside-

2

(Okay I’ve got a brigade in the subway tunnels. I’ve got a battalion at west gate. You take south with no resistance)

7:30 PM

The men begin moving forward. There is no speech from an officer or war cry denoting the fierceness of the fight to come. This is not a noble fight against an invader where there fighting men and women protect hearth and home. This is an extermination. This is necessary. This is something that will weigh on all the participants in some way or another. In grim columns, The men begin advancing on the city to whatever fate awaits them. (edited)

(Rolled an 11 for subway tunnels)

(Rolled a 12 in contest. Rolled a 1 for step damage. )

2

(I got a 4, so I'm now a fresh Battalion)

7:53 PM

(lets do west gate, and then I'll have missions)

( South Gate- Brigade-Readied.) (West Gate attack for 15)

(17 for me)

2

8:02 PM

(Now a bloodied battalion)

(Oof we take 5 step damage on west gate) (West gate-Readied Battalion) (edited)

(now it's a fair fight@

Kror, Inheritors soldiers are coming in the city, be careful ! Ana send a mental map of their 'future' position.

(Jasper and I rolled out the results and he’s going to frame the missions for us. We can decide who is doing what )

Copy that. Be careful out here, and let me know what i can do to help

*The multiple holoscreens throughout the tent show different feeds from the ensuing chaos. Many of the soldiers wear personal cameras for better coverage and coordination In the center of the tent is several holoscreens all displaying Krors position and each angle from his Argus web. As we watch him find the last of the entrances to the subway systems the sound of the army entering the city and securing the South Gate. Multiple feeds show little resistance from the Termies as they were quickly overwhelmed at the southern gate and the 1st Dremlas Infantry Brigade holds position. The sounds of gun fire, boots stomping and screams can be heard echoing thought the city and cause small bursts of light through the gas. Pressing deeper into the city the 2nd Dremlas Infantry Brigade separates and heads towards the Western Gate. Things don’t go as smoothly as many of the Terminals who took refuge on rooftops and hid in shelters nearby were able to put up quite the fight with the help of their of their salvaged weapons and home advantage. The feeds show multiple gruesome scenes as the Terminals kill thousands of inheritor soldiers many of the feeds flickering out. Much of the Dremlas army retreating into nearby building in hopes of forming a plan and gaining the advantage. The 3rd Dremlas infantry Brigade splits up and enters each entrance of the Subway tunnels and converges the Termies inside. The feeds show the Dremlas army clearing out the central tunnel, the Termies putting up a good fight with them mainly retreating into the smaller maintenance tunnels and slipping into the cracks and hand dug tunnel of their creation. * Jasper looks up from the screens and addresses his friends. “Well, it’s now our time, we should split into two groups some of us are going to have to help secure the Western gate and gain the advantage and the rest of us help flush out the rest of the subway tunnels before they regain formation. Ana let Kror know, have him choose.“

(We have two missions , clearing the former subway tunnels and helping containment efforts at the west gate. , let me know which one you guys want to do, both will run at the same time

(I'm good with whatever so I will wait and see if anyone as a preference before picking one of the two missions)

(We will split into two groups so both get done, wasn’t sure if that was clear

(It was clear for me :) )

(I’ll go for the subway tunnels)

(think I'm gonna help with the gate) (edited)

(The gate for me)

(It depends if Kror can easily join the gate without friendly fire. If no I will help him join the soldiers. I will join Jasper if not)

(my idea is to use the termie horn that Ana gave Kror to rally the termies on the west gate into a position where the soldier can ambush them)

10:44 AM

(and then revert back to my true form)

(We can get into specifics once the mission starts. I’m just trying to figure out who is going where.

10:45 AM

(They have no way to tell kror apart from anything else that looks like a terminal unless he stops his disguise , but that’s as deep into the planning as we need to get right now. I’m just trying to get a head count)

(Gate for me then as I was on a mission with Remi)

(So looks like goblin, remi and possibly kror at the gate , Jasper to the tunnels , Ana is waiting to get some details and Dali has not picked yet )

(sorry for the late entry, but I'd like to join in at the tunnels) (edited)

(Ana, any thoughts on where you want to help out?)

(Too many people at the gates. Kror, do you feel confident without my help to join the team ? I will join Jasper, to split our force even.)

(sure thing. Hopefully they will not blow me up

)

(Hop like a unicorn instead of walking. We will know it's you this way)

(Anyone else @Inheritor Alliance who hasn’t signed up for this want to?)

(I'll help out at the west gate, if thats okay)

(Looks good to me. So I’ve got remi, goblin, Dali at the gate and Jasper , Ana and kror in the tunnels

(that works for me too)

(Good for me)

(you swapped Kror and Dalibor, for me is good)

(Ya, Kror at gates, I'm in the tunnels with Ana and Jasper.)

(Okay, for quick reference, here’s the compiled list. Western Gate- Drang, Kror, Goblin, and Remi. Subway Tunnels- Ana, Dalibor, Jasper )

4

(okay, looks good to me, I'll get some threads written)

Nekosmash started a thread. 12/14/2021 8:54 AM [Open Thread]

Nekosmash started a thread. 12/14/2021 8:56 AM [Open Thread]

(going to tie everything in here) The combat in the train is swift and deadly. Goblin and his sword, Kror and his slip fields, Drang and his explosives, Remi's sharp eyes, and the singing spear of Jasper, Ana's technology, Dali's gun, and the steel determination of the Inheritor alliance reduce the interior of the train to organic wreckage and ruin. Battered and bruised, the alliance emerges from the tunnel , supporting the wounded between them as the sounds of skirmishing move deeper into the city. Another placed charge brings the tunnel network down, and with the gate choked off by debris the termies have nowhere to go that doesn't bring them to the business end of an Inheritor firing line. Fighting in small skirmishes and a few less pitched battles over the following week clears the city, and one by one as you emerge from recovery and the endless series of debriefings, the Inheritor flag flies above the re-captured city hall once again. Burn teams and patrols are going to have their hands full for weeks policing the last vestiges of the infestation here, but a major hurdle blocking your passage north has been cleared. Although no one will live here again, the plains are free from termie raiding parties now, and the bones of the old city may assist the creation of something new.

9

10:28 AM

(6xp, 500,000 credits for all)

Ana look at the flags of IA on the city hall. "It was a very long battle. So much misery and death in both sides. I hope it would be the last time we push our soldier do this atrocity."

Jasper nods and puts a hand on Ana’s shoulder. “I hope so too,but this is a victory, even if it’s a melancholy victory, it’s still a victory. Let’s go inside. I’d like to give a little speech. Heading inside Jasper walks to the podium. Addressing the survivors in city hall Jasper begins to speak. “Inheritor’s, we have been battling to save our lost city, and while things have been quieting over the last few weeks today marks the first day we can say we’ve reclaimed it. Today marks the end of one chapter, and the start of a new one, in the end we will reclaim Saliv. It is our destiny. Now that things are beginning to settle many of us will be returning home, to our families, to those who love and miss us, but let us take a moment to remember those who will not. Those who risked their lives and lost for the Alliance. Those who stood tall and did what was right, even if it hurt. Let us remember those who knew it was an uphill battle yet still fought. Let us remember them not as one but as individuals “ Jasper reaches into his bag and pulls out a handful of metal necklaces: the dog tags of various fallen soldiers he spent the last couple of days trying to collect, and one by one hangs each of them on the walls of the town hall before returning to the podium “But their lives aren’t the only we’ve lost. I can speak for most of us in saying it was hard striking down our neighbors, our brothers, our sisters was no easy task. no matter how warped they may be, they were still Salivians, they are still inheritors. And though it was difficult, we saved them from a life of suffering of ceaseless pain and agony as their mutations took over them. And although we cannot ask them, I truly believe they would tell us that we made the right choice.” “I’ve never been much of a religious man I’d like to offer a prayer for the souls of all our lost”

2:29 PM

“♩ Tell us you know where you’ll go Tell us you’ll find your way home. Wherever they are wandering let us hope they’re not alone. May all our singing follow them, and put their minds at ease Let all our voices follow them, like petals in the breeze. Please tell us, we’ll know where to go Tell us we’ll find our way home. ♩

2:30 PM

Jasper puts his head down in a moment of silence once he finishes

1

Goblin follows Jasper's invitation and follows everyone inside the city hall. He then listens intently while the man is speaking, thinking that he would be unable to talk so swiftly in public. Goblin is a man of action and he better speaks on the terrain and while things are hot so he is happy that someone else can carry this burden for them all. He stays silent during the prayer and quickly leave the place, already thinking about what he will do next.

some people are truly born to be leaders Kror thinks to himself while listening to Jasper's speech. After Jasper finish the prayers Kror approaches him "Bloody business that we were force to do, never taught I would see so much death and destruction in my entire lifetime, let alone in this short amount of time. Hope we don't need to go through something like this again." He says with a sad look on his face "We should build a memorial here, so no one forgets what happened here and the sacrifices that were made."

“I hope so too my friend, I don’t ever think I’ll forget the screams I heard. I think building a memorial is a brilliant idea. I’ll make sure it gets built. “

(If the city doesn't have a name, should we name it Terminal City ?)

(The city is named northfields )

12:30 PM

(but i dont think anyone would live trhere again, will probably be torn down and built elsewhere since its a chemical hellscape now)

2

1

(Kror, I will take back the armor. Jasper, I return you the power cell and knife. Thank you both

)

(sure thing. Thank your for the armor.)

(I’ll move this to archive later today )