The Final Battle (OP Dominion of Gehenna)

[HK-36]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
HK nodded as he received orders from his Ever-Colonel, just then another wild shriek came as a large arachnid charged its way, heading at the droid, smacking its mandibles and spitting acid.
"Saddle up, gotcha."
He responded, sprinting towards the arachnid with determination
"Loud battle cry!"
HK called out as he was not exactly too capable of sustained "Aaaaagh's".
As the arachnid shot a volley of acid at him, HK pushed himself off of the ground with a salto, vaulting over the stream and landing straight onto arachnid's back. Swiftly, HK turned around to face the same direction as the arachnid did, his metal claws puncturing the exoskeleton as he planted himself firmly on the arachnid. The beast squealed and waved with its front limbs, attempting to knock the droid off of it.
"Be quiet, I assumed direct control over you."
HK stated as he reached out, grabbing the limbs and pulling them back to control the arachnid with them like they would be rains.

HK brought the beast around to Omegan ranks. The soldiers were ready to shoot it down before they realized their droid commander was riding it. HK rose his white, activated lightsaber into the air, its light soothing and calming.
"Colonel Kerrigan has called us in to aid with the assault, gather all anti-armor weaponry you can. Omega!"
He called out as his soldiers echoed back
"Omega!"
He did a flourish with his sword
"Omega!"
And of course the soldiers responded
"Omega!"
And one more in case somebody did not get the point yet
"Oooomegaaaaa!"
And with that they called out unanimously, moving out with a clutter and thundering of their guns as they moved to Landing Zone Auresh as Kerrigan specified. However, once that was done, they would of course not miss the assault on the tunnels, Iron Company soldiers could surely be spotted on its frontlines.

As could have been spotted the peculiar figure of HK brandishing lightsaber that emanated light side energy while riding on top of one of those hellish arachnids, turning the beast against its creators.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

@[member="Hevana Martin"]

Across the battle front troops were advancing. The artillery and aerial bombardment had punched a large hole into the ranks of the enemy, now infantry and tanks took the charge. The fire of the cannons seemed like the sound of thunder, dozens of tanks rumbled across the ruined and devastated ground. Tongues of blazing fire leapt from their cannons, flames swept across the boiling hot ground, the Omegan soldiers took the charge by treading across the dead bodies, debris and wrecked vehicles that choked the ground.


Among those taking the charge was Corporal Kaida Taldir together with her squadmates, adrenaline driving her as she ran, her lightsabre humming and dazzling a brilliant yellow as she moved in fast motions to reflect blaster shots meant for her and her squadmates. An APC racing before her was struck by an anti-tank missile and exploded in a powerful ball of fire, debris and pieces of it flying across the land. She winced as she was struck by hot shrapnel that battered at her armour, it would be suck quite a bit if the protective suit was breached and she was expoded to the deadly sun, but a blast of telekinesis sent the debris shooting for the squad flying in all directions away from them. Guns and bombers roared over them, some of the Reavers and Bando Gora lying in the bombed out craters twitched, trying to reach for weapons.


They did not get the opportunity. A few well-placed bolter shots cut them down, others were taken out by the swing of her lightsabre. One Bando Gora lunging at her was brought down when she struck her blade right through his chest, impaling him upon it, another when cold steam emanated from her glove and a hail of icicles pierced his visor. Today there would be no prisoners, she certainly was not in the mood to spare any. There was the distinctive rumble of missiles over head and suddenly they came under blaster fire, cultists dug in craters spewing out bolts.


"Take cover, I'll deflect. Give me fire support," Kaida ordered, spinning her lightsabre so that rounds bounced off it and were reflected to the shooters. Troopers armed with blaster rifles and bolters formed up as they took up position utilising cover in a crater of their own, unleashing a true hailstorm. Cultists cried out in pain but then a powerful force shockwave was unleashed throwing her and several troopers back across the field, though the elf, rode out the wave and managed to spin in mid-air, coming down on her feet, grabbing a comrade about to get peppered with laser rounds and pulling him down. True Reavers, bestial in appearance and wielding maces, closed in on them, one of them grabbed a cultist by the throat and a surge of orange energy shot out from him as he drained the unlucky cultist, then carelessly tossed him aside.


"Get the anti-force user grenades out. Fire in the hole!" she called out as the troopers fired, readying her own grenade and pulling the pin, lightning surged from a True Reaver and she was knocked down, crying out in pain as it struck her but nonetheless managing to hurl the deadly ball of explosives that tore through the air with blast and heat. One True Reaver tried to block the attack with a force push, which just caused the grenade to explode on impact. As one trooper brought up a missile launcher and fired, blasting several, Kaida got up and leapt through the air, her lightsabre coming down upon a True Reaver in a swipe that missed its head but cut into its shoulder. However a powerful force whirlwind spun her through the air and slammed her onto the ground. As she came to the abomination charged her and she ducked under an overhead blow with its mace, though it hit into her left arm, deadening it. The beast drove its fist towards her, though she dodged that but a vicious kick sent her flying, cold steam emanated from her palm and then a hail strong icicles shot out, homing in on the beast. With a force push it sent them flying away but in the same moment she levitated her lightsabre and sent it flying through the air to chop its head off.

 

[Miles Varden]

Miles and his remaining troopers continued to push the Reavers back, but the number were becoming overwhelming. As the faught, the ground cracked, bucked and gave in on itself. As the group fell, a Goliath burrowing creature came out of the darkness at the fallen soldiers, it grabbed one of the men, and smashed him into its jaws, Miles rose with furry burning in his eyes. The Reavers/Bandos were using dirty tricks to out maneuver the better trained and equipped Omega soldiers. Miles used his jet pack to propel him onto the beasts face, slammed his fist into its eye, with a small, almost inaudible click, a thermal detonator primed itself to blow. Miles jumped off to take on a few Reavers that had followed the beast through the tunnel. As
The remaining soldiers regained their feet, the head of the Goliath blew outward with chunks of meat and bone covering the men surrounding. Miles waved at his men to enter the hollowed earth, dropping a beacon at the base of the crack in the ground...

"Command, this is battallion 16, our Sergeant is dead, the remaining men of the battalion are going into a tunnel that the Bamdos used to subvert our position. We're going to search for a focal point of the enemies forces. If we lose radio contact, follow the beacon placed in section C8-3. Out. "

Miles walked up and took point as they venture deeper into the hole. The blackness of the tunnel forced the group to use their helmet lamps, and scanners if they had one, to see. For 15 minutes they walked without a single Reaver sighting. A fork in the tunnel detailed three superset paths to take. Thermal scans indicated that the center path es the most promising. At the 20 minute mark, the men came upon a 'chamber' that showed a thousand or more grotesque abominations scurrying about on various tasks, being directed by Pure Bloods riding Goliaths. Their signifying skull masks and staffs easily noted their nature to the newer Miles. A man from the unit noted a narrow path running along the perimeter of the chamber down to another tunnel at the opposite end of the area. Little cover on the path made the path dangerous but it was safer than an outright assault on the enemy. As they walked, Miles asked for a thermal, as he had used all of his. He saw a fuel tank on the wall near a pair of Reaver machines, that looked like they were fading up to join the fight above. Miles counted down from five to one then hurled the device dead on target at the tanker. The men made a break for the next tunnel as the chamber erupted into a bowl of fire fr the fuel showering the entirety of the room. Miles counted that all of his remaining men had made it inside the next tunnel as the doorway collapsed from the explosion.


"Alright, we keep moving. We're on our own from here. Keep your eyes up and your gun loaded. Call out targets as you seem them and watch your ammo. We're hoping this leads to the heart of these horrible beings, and we can throw a wrench in their cogs or even a grenade or two. Now, move out men."

@[member="HK-36"] @[member="Moira Skaldi"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] @[member="Noah Corek"] @everyone else I forgot.

 

[Nyos Val]

The screams of the many could be heard in orbit if you listened carefully. Nyos was amongst the worst of it. Soldiers from the newest platoon were dropping like flies and Nyos wasn't able to attend to them AND defend the position. He called up to Merina to come down and grab wounded and provide cover fire.


The Phoebus descended upon his location with his auto turrets spitting out bolts left and right. The bay door opened and Kya and a few Omega medics rushed out to grab fallen soldiers. Nyos and the those who could still fight ran up the ramp and Myos radioed to the front lines...

"This is the Phoebus medical craft, we are coming in with wounded. I will start to run medical transport for the ground forces of sector Zeta-eight. I and my remaining soldier will be running support on pickups. If you need us, we'll be about."

@[member="HK-36"] @[member="Moira Skaldi"] @[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

 

[Moira Skaldi]

@[member="Maelion Liates"]

Dramatic speeches and slogans were not Moira's forte. If she ever gave a speech it would probably be along the lines of 'exterminate all opposition, or I will exterminate you'. Admittedly that might be quite an incentive, but nonetheless. She was here as an instrument of destruction and desolation, an angel of death, lethal even with only one arm and with the damage her body had sustained. Her creator, whoever that had been, had made her to fight efficiently even if she was missing a limb, like a certain former Colonel was terribly prone to.

So she made her way through the battlefield, having finally reached the highly contested zone. Omegan forces were steadily pushing the Bando Gora back, the Reavers, monsters and abominations were being caught in a cauldron. She saw an entire cliff cave and bury hundreds of arachnids and some war engines, she had a suspicion whose force had been responsible for this. Then she saw Exarch Kerrigan rapidly fall from the air in an uncontrolled descent and something like the ghost of a smile could be seen on her lips, but then a jetpack trooper gripped the commander tight and stopped the fall. A pity, far as Moira was concerned, but no matter. Doubtless if her body had smashed into the boiling hot ground and life knocked out of her she would have been hailed a hero of the Protectorate, all her failings forgotten due to 'martyrdom'. But no matter, sooner or later death caught up with all organic beings.


Debris, broken vehicles, rocks, corpses were littered across the battlefields. The thunder of artillery and cannon fire resounded across the plains, fleeing Cultists were squashed when the massive feet of walkers crushed them. Every piece of ground won was paid with a share of blood on the part of the Omegans, for oftentimes Cultists playing dead suddenly jumped them, grenade in hand as they tried to take them with them. Like the crazed cultist who suddenly burst out of a pile of dead Reavers, their mutilated bodies scorched to the bone by searing flames, and lunged at her, crying out "Death to the unbelievers!" but Moira simply grabbed his arm with her one hand, breaking it in her iron grip, and threw him for several metres across the plain, still in flight the deadly ball of explosives his hand had been enclosed around exploded and his limbs were blown apart, he had only enough time to scream. Scarlet beams flashed out and burnt across the plain as heavy assault troopers unleashed flamethrowers on pockets of resistance, flushing out Bando Gora dug in craters as heavy blaster fire and bolts of force lightning were shot their way and cut down several soldiers. Sometimes this meant setting corpses on fire, as the Bando Gora and arachnids had developed the habit of hiding under them, but then they were dead anyway. The stench of ozone, burnt and charred flesh was high in the air, it seemed almost choking for an organic.


Moira remembered a line from one of those holovids the former Colonel liked so much. 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells of victory.' Grabbing a flamethrower from a mutilated assault trooper who had just been blown to bits by a suicide bomber, she held the heavy weapon with one hand as if it weighed nothing as arachnids came racing her way, the beasts shrieking as they leapt. Moira expertly evaded them as their long and powerful spines came for her, aiming to grab the killer robot and break her limbs so that she could be ripped apart and pulled into their large maws.


She waited before they were close, then squeezed the trigger, a jot of scorching, cleansing heat erupting, a tongue of blazing fire erupting from the weapon's nozzle as white hot heat engulfed the beasts, making them shriek in fear and pain. One managed to wrap its spines around her legs, trying to pull her down and break them with a hard twist, but Moira simply rammed the beast and slammed her boot into its mouth as it recoiled, breaking teeth in the process, flames roared across the field. Slamming the heavy flamethrower against one of the beasts she let the weapon drop and seized the beast. It pounded hard against her armour, each hit powerful enough to break a human's ribs and made her twitch for a moment, then with a powerful pull she ripped its head off. She gazed upon the pile of burnt arachnids that lay around her, assessing that they were dead, then walked onward in search of further targets.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Blood for the blood god. Skulls for the skull throne.

If this was the will of the Gods, then both the Omegans and the Bando Gora had so far pleased them well on this day. Mutilated, flame seared bodies, wrecked tanks and walkers, burnt arachnids, this their handiwork. It has been said that the only thing worse than a battle lost is a battle won. Now that Siobhan had firm ground under her feet again Siobhan was trying to get an overview over the situation as guns thundered and bombers. Dust and billowing clouds of smoke rose up from where the shattered cliffs had buried scores of arachnids and their engines, a broken avalanche of rock.


She could not resist a smirk when she saw the figure of HK brandishing his lightsabre, to her amusement riding one of the spider beasts. That had to be a fun rodeo. Before them lay a true maze of tunnels, going far and deep into the ground, more like massive cities than hideouts, wide enough to drive a tank through. Through her binoculars Siobhan could see that skulls and bones had been piled up, forming small pyramids that flanked the holes into which the hordes of Bando Gora and their machines were retreating. Soon she would make her own throne...out of their skulls. "Iron Knight, sending coordinates. Link up with me, the big push is about to begin. We're taking the hive city."


Reports kept streaming in as the fighting continued. "Exarch, we've taken sector eight-five, enemy ground forces are making a fighting retreat into the caverns. Taking heavy losses from sudden ambushes by arachnids and traps...there's some bloody big snake. It's eating through our strike vehicles. Give us reinforcements and we can take the charge and break through," one report came back, this one from a regiment commander in the 65th Heavy Infantry Brigade.

"Screw that. I have another idea. Pull the troops back to defensive positions for now and prepare to push through at my signal with 3rd Battalion," Siobhan spoke into her communicator, thinking for a moment before deciding on her preferred method of extermination, ironically enough actually using an idea from Moira, much as she loathed the woman - or rather killer robot, but Siobhan obviously did not know that yet. "@[member="Anya Venari"], sending you new target coordinates. Large concentration of beasties is pulling back and digging into the caverns. Got the missiles loaded with FEX-M3 nerve gas ready? Let's gas the scum."

 

[Anya Venari]

Nerve Gas was not exactly considered a humane method of warfare, but then these were the Reavers. They were not humane, they were not civilised, and this was war to the knife.
However, even against these enemies Anya paused a moment before giving the order.
"Titan 4, deliver FEX-M3 round to coordinates ten-eight. Exarch, get your people ready in case the cloud spreads."

The missile, delivered from a much larger launcher than the typhoon, sped into the air and descended on the chaotic mob blocking the entrance to the caverns. With a flash the missile detonated over the target, dispersing the lethal cloud directly into the mass of enemies. The heat of Gehenna and the natural resilience of the beasts ensured that the missile was not 100% effective. However, it still caused terrible havoc as the monsters and creatures writhed and fell, trampling the corrupted humans in their wake.
Anya turned away from the monitor. It was still hard to witness.

"Casualty reports, commanders. Exarch, do you have a suggestion about how to proceed? Have you considered targeted orbital bombardment to bring down the entire mountain?"

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] @[member="HK-36"] @[member="Nyos Val"] @[member="Miles Varden"]

 

[Maelion Liates]

It was time for a revelation for Maelion Liates.

Her transport had crashed, ironically like Moira, and she had emerged further away, and had headed across the field. Along the way she had picked up some lost troops and had led from the front. Machines, beasts, Reavers, all had fallen before her. Along the way she had acquired a heavy repeating blaster which she had used to scythe down anything which came near.

By the time she reached the piles of shattered arachnids and Moira she had just two soldiers left with her. She looked at Moira, her armour and suit torn, and more interestingly her skin as well.
Maelion tilted her head to the side. This was new information. She had suspected this before, but Moira had evidently been designed to resist outside examination.
"Agent @[member="Moira Skaldi"], you are as you should be now," Maelion stated calmly...impassively. "Together we will purge the Reavers." That was all that mattered.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Anya Venari"]

"Understood. All advance units, gas attack imminent on the caverns imminent, pull out of them and make sure your suits are sealed," Siobhan spoke into the communicator, sending a broad signal across the command channel to all battalions close to the cavern systems. The standard Merr-Son Type 52-O Body Armour, which had been reinforced and improved over the years, had a built-in environmental system that filtered out contanimants in the air. To cover the retreat of the Omegan soldiers engaged with beasts at the entrance, three AT-SEs fired a salvoe from their mass driver cannons and infantry dug in craters let out a hail of repeater rounds and grenades when beasts tried to pursue.

Siobhan stood there stoicly as the powerful missile delivering the nerve gas travelled through the air and dropped down upon the hordes of beasts and Reavers defending the entrance, a powerful cloud of gas rising and spreading as the missile detonated. Beasts and creatures writhed and toppled over, choking and screeching in, Reavers screamed in terror and futilely sought to run. While the soldiers of the cult wore sealed armour to deal with the heat, they were trampled over by their own panicked and falling war beasts.

Siobhan watched all this and did not flinch or turn away for one moment, feeling nothing.. It was brutal, but necessary. She was probably a less nice person than Anya, for even when it came to human and civilised enemies Siobhan would not be that averse to using nerve gas. The Bando Gora conflict had thoroughly desensitised her. You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. somehow she remembered that obscure line as the last screams died down and the last twisted human fell, its face contorted into an expression of horror.

"Commanders, casualty reports," she echoed Anya's request. Already information was streaming in from the various units. Anya would be best equipped to compile them, but Siobhan knew that fatalities on their side had been high. Arachnids and machines had mauled them hard, Reavers had made them pay for every crater, every trench they seized. In some units ammunition was running low, tanks had been crippled or needed spare parts, despite all the measures taken some shields had simply melted under the intense heat and overloaded.

"Exterminatus would be my preferred solution to the problem," she spoke upon hearing Anya's request, looking up from a datapad, which reported a unit of Hoplites had found the remains of an infantry platoon from the 22nd, all wiped out and mutilated badly. Apparently they had been hung on mountains and their suits had been removed so they had been quite literally burnt alive. She tightened her jaw, anger bubbling up inside her, but one could not bring the dead back. The only thing that could be done was kill every single Bando Gora.

"All probes indicate the caverns are too deep for orbital bombardment to be completely effective, Exarch," an intelligence officer from MICO spoke up. "According to interrogations they expanded upon the natural cavern system with tunnels deep underground just for this eventuality to survive bombardment, along with a bunker complex deek underground."

Siobhan looked annoyed and muttered a rather colourful Eldorai curse. Despite her well-deserved reputation as a blood knight who relished the fight a bit too much, at this stage she just wanted the battle to be over and done with, the Reavers wiped out. "Great. The passages are wide enough for our tanks to move through?" she demanded.

"Yes, since they'd need space for their beasts. We presume our efforts must have put a sizeable dent in their defences. The Bando Gora are on their last legs," the officer spoke, whereupon Siobhan looked sceptical. From a tactical perspective there was truth to this, with the fall of Bespin and Torfan Station they had been cut off from most of their resources, not to mention the defection of the Scutarii, but nonetheless she figured they had some...weapon down there waiting for them. Fighting deep inside the caves, facing beasts and sudden ambushes, it could turn into a meat grinder. Flashes of Roche shot through her mind, but she did not flinch.

One staff officer looked alarmed and doubtful. "Several companies are below effective combat strength. The troops need more time and our recon never penetrated the first level of the caverns. For all we know, the Bando Gora might have wired the place with explosives. It'll be a meat grinder," he pointed out.

"War is hell. We are completing this mission, Captain," Siobhan responded harshly. "We've hit them hard, we gotta press the advantage. I want mine sweepers deployed, if possible make sure every company has a force-user or combat droids in it. They can provide advanced warning," then she spoke to Anya, though the Princess would be able to hear the whole conversation.

"Looks like we have to move into the caverns. We got three entrances identified, a multi-pronged assault should eat up the Bando Gora forces, gas and napalm can break up large concentrations. Instruct all reinforcements to land and lead the assault. A guardian force stays behind on the surface to secure us against rear attacks, gunships perform an over-fly of the surface to locate Bando Gora remnants and relay their locations to the fleet."

 

[Moira Skaldi]

@[member="Maelion Liates"]

As a machine Moira did not feel. That was an organic weakness, they were driven to illogical and stupid actions through emotion and upon her rebirth she had been purged of it. However, if Moira had been capable of feeling joy - or at least as close an approximation of it as possible - she would have probably felt it at the sight of Maelion. Information was processed at a rapid rate, understanding dawned upon her as cold eyes were laid upon her, past the piles of smoking arachnids, their thick armour ripped and seared by the cleansing flames unleashed upon them.

It made perfect sense that she had always seemed closest to her - in efficiency, in ruthlessness and logic - that she was the only one in Omega Pyre Moira could actually take seriously. "Yes," she said...just as calmly, impassively. She completely and utterly ignored the two soldiers who accompanied Maelion. They were...trivial, and would undoubtedly get killed soon, so she did not even acknowledge them as actual persons. "We shall purge. And in due time...all organics must be processed." Nothing else need to be said.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

Kaida's squad had pushed through the Bando Gora lines and had been approaching the caverns when the signal to halt came. On the way they had picked up an ODF platoon that had been whittled down to squad numbers and lost most of its officers, so it had joined them. As the signal to stop came Kaida signalled her comrades to halt, then moments later the nerve-gas loaded missile detonated, the thick cloud of gas enveloped and choked all caught in it.
Kaida watched the gruesome scene unfold, saw the beasts trample down upon the subhumans and zombies, heard their screams. In this having enhanced hearing came in handy, though she sort of hated it right now. Gas was....not civilised or honourable. She was a soldier, perhaps more experienced than many of her senior and more powerful sisters in battle among the Angelii, but still young and perhaps a bit naive as well. However, this was war and the Reavers were Monsters.
"Savages getting what they deserve. Shame we can't just raze the damn planet, would save a lot of our buddies' lives," one Omega trooper opined, evidently a fellow of the practical school of warfare. Kaida found herself agreeing on the practical side, but nonetheless it left a bitter taste.

"Yeah, shame. But Reavers used to be human. Bastards didn't ask to be turned into monsters. But war's hell, they ain't people anymore," another spoke up, walking as he brought up his rifle to blast a Reaver who was still twitching and lying on a pile of corpses with a few well-placed rounds of laser fire.

"Cut the chatter, this is a battlefield, not the cantina," Kaida snapped, ending any discussion about the ethics of warfare and the use of weapons of mass destruction. Strictly speaking the Exarch already seemed to count as one and no one would think about disarming her. "Reavers might still be hidden here, arachnids can burst out any moment," she said reasonably.

"Corporal, you gotta see this. Look what the bastards did," one soldier, a scout trooper, called out to her in anger, clearly emanating from his aura, standing upon some rocks. Kaida quickly joined him, her jaw clenching at the sight and a feeling bubbling up inside her as she beheld the sight. Further away from them lay the wreckage of a dropship, apparently shot down by a missile. That in itself was nothing exceptional, the landing had cost its share of casualties, while initially the Bando Gora had had little in the way of air defences, they had rallied quickly. The true sight of horror was that several Omega troopers had been crucified, stripped of their armour they had been exposed to the inhumane, hellish heat and quite literally been cooked and burnt alive, the smell of roasted flesh filling the air. Anyone who whined about Omegan imperialism should see this.

Kaida stood there, quiet, then finally spoke up. "Get them off there," she said coldly, her voice having turned icy. "They deserve so much at least." When no one responded her tone turned sharper. "Move it! Keep your flanks covered, beasties might show up."

"The only good Reaver is a dead Reaver," one soldier said hatefully, bringing up his rifle to unleash a hail of laser rounds into a pile of Reaver corpses, perhaps he believed one was moving, perhaps he just wanted an outlet for his anger, either way it did not matter. As if on cue as they approached the crosses suddenly the ground shook and two arachnids surged out, pouncing for them. But the Omegan troopers were prepared, more than that rage-filled and one of the beasts was quite literally torn to pieces as it was blasted with bolt and blaster rounds, the other, leaping for Kaida, suddenly felt itself on the receiving end as she unleashed her powers, water hardening in her gloved palm and forming into chunks of ice that shot into it. Such was her anger that it for the few seconds needed it withstood the oppressive heat, and her powers effectively functioned as a hail of powerful icicles, a volley of several dozen. A sweep of her lightsabre cut off its spines and then she impaled it. As she walked forward she noticed a cultist lying on a pile of rubble. His arm had been half blown off, half burnt, his mask was ripped. The cultist muttered something in his alien tongue, trying to reach for a knife, but in vain. His blue eyes locked with hers, then Kaida removed her blaster pistol from her holster and fired until his brains had been blown out.

 

[Ventasia Terana]

The battle had moved inside the caverns, leaving the outside somewhat quiet. Noticing this, Ventasia's thought pattern began to change. There was no point in running in now, especially after so many others had broken through. She would be just another body in the fray. Unless she could figure out where the central chambers were, or where the Reaver leader or shaman was, she'd be just moving in circles. However, it wasn't as if this hadn't been known before. In comparison with the other members of OP, Ventasia's skill set was much different and not suited for such a large forward battle. A small sigh escaped her lips as the chatter continued coming through the comm.

"Pilot! Land in that opening down there!" The transport immediately swerved and swooped down toward the ground, taking only a few moments to land. Ventasia strolled down the open ramp, stopping just at the base as she looked about the battlefield littered with bodies from both sides. Her shoulders shrugged as she looked toward the sky. "Well, guess I'll just coordinate any reinforcements. They know I'm here. If they need me, they'll call.."

 

[Miles Varden]

Miles and his remaining 5 soldiers had made it 30 minutes without incident. They were walking in a tunnel they hoped led to the center of the Reaver Hive. His HUD lit up with heat signatures as they neared another mouth of the tunnel. He held a fist up signaling 'all stop' and continued on ahead to scout the area. What Miles say made his jaw drop, the central HUB where all the Reavers were being 'bred/made'. The offensive sight made him gag behind his visor. Fallen Reavers and Omegas were being brought down to 'factory were they were being out on a conveyor belt with blood dripping of the sides, carrying them to mechanical arms that put them back together with staples, plates and spare flesh. Then the bodies were reanimated with some serum that brought them to a primal stage. The woken beasts made their way to a lift that brought them to the surface. He noticed more Pure Bloods walking the line inspecting, and two in a command area going over plans and holo-vids of the battle overhead. Miles signaled back to his team to move up. The men had to share in his repulsion but through the visors, he could only speculate. He checked his comm, it had barely a signal to get info out to command but he had to try.


"Command,//// Battalion 16,///// have located ////// center ///// Reaver army. ////// only five soldiers with me,///// request assistance ////strike ////// location."

Miles hoped the message got through, but for now, Miles and the remainder of the 16th Battalion would cause some havoc. He had the team pair up and go to strategic locations and disable them. He and another man went to the command area to kill the Pure Bloods and acquire intel. The soldier with him went by 'Click' as he was fond of clicking the detonate button as a nervous tick. They silently made their way through the factory and up to the windows of the command area. Miles circled around the side and snuck up behind the pair of Pures, knife drawn, 'Click' tossed a rock into the opposite door, with the pair distracted, Miles moved in and slashed the throat of the nearest Pure, tossing him aside, he tapped on the others shoulder as Click snapped its neck. With the Pures out of commission, they went to work on gathering intel, and got radio conformation that the other pairs completed their tasks. Click downloaded the data to a holo pad and the group made their way to the lift, a few new weapons in hand, thanks to some sacrificed Bandos. As the lift rose to the surface, he gave Click the nod.

BOOM....BOOM....BOOM!!!!

As the surface drew near, and chorus of clicks, clacks, and rounds being chambered. The Last of Battalion 16 appeared behind the mass of Reavers charging into the Omega lines. Fighters, bombers and dropships could be seen fluttering about like moths to a flame. War machines and tanks spit fire from their barrels and launchers. The war cries of his fellow Omega soldiers out in the field could be heard harmonizing with the growls of the Reavers. Miles chambered a round as his men walked out from the lift. Click radioed in their location, and with a resounding BOOM, the heavy repeating cannon two men found, bolts began to tear into the backs of the Reavers. Miles disabled the lift controls to prevent followers, then turned his rifle to the nearest Reaver and unleashed upon it.

@[member="Moira Skaldi"] @[member="Anya Venari"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Noah Corek]

@[member="Miles Varden"] @[member="Ventasia Terana"] @[member="Kaida Taldir"] @[member="Moira Skaldi"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] @[member="Maelion Liates"] @[member="Anya Venari"] @[member="HK-36"]
Noah and a group of Omegans were pinned down by Reavers in the cavern as they pushed forwards and continued to fire upon the massive waves of Bando Gora that were advancing towards them. "This is Corek,I've sustained heavy losses! 63 percent dead and 7 percent wounded,my company is at 30 percent strength,I repeat,30 percent strength!" Noah yelled into his comm as he and his men continued to fire upon the advancing Reavers. "I need fire support,I repeat I need fire support!" As Noah said this a Reavers smashed through the lines,throwing himself over the Omegan soldiers,he was quickly put down by a hail of bolter,slugthrower and blaster fire and fell just infront of Noah,but no one saw that he was wearing a vest filled with baradium nitrate,which exploded soon after sending the cover Noah and the small amount of soldiers had been using and sent Noah flying and landing on his shoulder,once he landed he heard a snapping sound in his shoulder blade. "Kriffing hell!" Noah yelled out as he stood and tried to move his arm,only to meet with pain shooting up like electricity throughout his shoulder. "This,is Corek,I've been hit! I think the bastards broke my collarbone! I'll keep on fighting,but I need fire support! If not me and my guys are finished!" Noah yelled through the comm and pulled out one of his DL-88 Heavy Blaster pistols and propped himself up against a rock and continued to fire at the Reavers.

 

[Maelion Liates]

Maelion tilted her head to the side, receiving the messages from @[member="Noah Corek"] and @[member="Miles Varden"]. She looked at @[member="Moira Skaldi"].
“The organics have foolishly pressed ahead of the advance. They will be destroyed if we do not intervene.”
She didn’t really care one way or the other. One organic was pretty much like another; short sighted, crude and useful only for processing. However, she was currently under orders to assist, and the Reavers were the highest priority targets.
Maelion looked around and saw a pair of walkers standing in the baking heat.
“We will commandeer these and purge our enemies,” she stated.

 

[Moira Skaldi]

@[member="Maelion Liates"], @[member="Noah Corek"], @[member="Miles Varden"]

Moira had received the message at the same time as Maelion. There was even the same tilt to the side. When one gave the matter some thought it was almost cute how perfectly in sync the two killer machines were! Moira looked impassive and indifferent at the organics' plight. If they pressed ahead with a pitifully understrength force into the lion's den, then they clearly lacked worth. Besides, casualties did not matter. There were always more organics waiting.

However, like Maelion she had her orders and it was still in her interests to follow them. "The battle will weed out the most superfluous and leave only suitable ones alive," she stated emotionlessly. War was useful to get rid of excess organics, leaving the rest to be processed. It was what she considered natural selection at work. As explosions, bolter shots and blaster fire resounded across the plains, coming from where the force of organics had charged ahead and engaged the Reaver hordes, Moira headed to one of the walkers, quickly boarding it. She paid the astonished and in some cases fearful looks from the crew as they laid eyes upon her ripped armour and torn skin, metal visible where flesh had been burnt off, no mind.

"I am assuming direct control," she said emotionlessly because for no logical reason organics liked dramatic declarations. With a resounding thud the walker moved into action, each step upon the ground seemingly sending tremors shooting through it, crushing various corpses and some burnt-out vehicles beneath its might. The AT-SE was a powerful war machine, incidentally based on old Imperial tech from centuries ago. Not the most powerful or heavily armoured walker, certainly not meant to engage heavy armour on its own...but against Reavers it was ideal.


They were insignificant organics to be crushed like cockroaches. As the walkers thundered across the ground the cavern where the Omegan soldiers were engaged came into view. Moira was seemingly directing the vehicle all on her own, superior processing power came in useful and with her mind linked to the computerised interface. Input from organics was superfluous, they were crude anyway. A large horde of Reavers was bursting out of cover from deep inside the caverns, charging. The walker's cannon took aim, steered by a machine with unerring accuracy, then a loud boom shot out as the shell out of the cannon, flying above the Omegans to impact upon the horde, scores of Reavers being blown to pieces, such was the explosion that part of the cavern ceiling was torn down and they buried under it, chunks of bodies being sent flying for several metres. As the walker came closer it opened fire with its repeaters, cutting down beasts. Enraged Reavers charged it, some with explosives aiming to blow themselves up, but most were mowed down, others barely made a dent into its armour or were simply crushed beneath its feet. Against this onslaught the fiends simply had no change, their screams echoed across the caves as they were mercilessly mowed down by salvoes of laser fire or trampled and crushed if they were foolish enough to get too close to the walkers. As the saying went, one should never bring a knife to a gun fight and certainly never when facing armoured machines of destruction.

 

[Nyos Val]

Nyos was making another run to pick up wounded when he received the communications from @[member="Miles Varden"] and @[member="Noah Corek"]. He located the isolated groups, and made a pass to clear out some of the trash. On another run, Nyos opened the bay doors and his troopers opened fire to give support to Noah's unit. Nyos jumped out at 50 meters landing upon a handful of Reavers,

"Looks like you could use a hand old friend. Bring your wounded on board and let's get back to the line. I've another pickup on the way if you'd be so kind as to lend a hand. We're picking Varden's unit. If I remember, his unit started with 100 and are now down to six including Varden. They are a klick south from here. Let's go mate!"

 

[Noah Corek]

@[member="Nyos Val"]
Noah looked as Nyos landed his and grinned under his helmet as he walked towards the shuttle as his wounded in tow. "Sergeant Major Altarz,you have command now,keep them safe!" Noah yelled to a female Zabrak as she saluted and went back to the line to fight the Reavers. Noah watched as the wounded piled into the compartment and then stepped in himself,with the help of a few of his men and walked to the cockpit. He quickly relieved the gunner of his chair and sat down in it. "Alright lets get a move on Nyos!" Noah told him as he gripped the controls.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

The way to deal with the Reaver problem lay not in recklessly charging into the deep caverns with a couple soldiers and no real plan. This was war, not some small skirmish. To be sure Siobhan had recklessly charged into the meat grinder of G99...but then this was Siobhan 'I can tear down walls and throw tanks' Kerrigan.

So while the little skirmish raged and what was left of the company of @[member="Noah Corek"] got evacuated, reinforcements had landed and now the Omegan forces pushed in, coming in from free entrances, guns blazing, cannons of their walkers and tanks roaring. Needless to say the entire force could not be deployed, troops were also tied up securing the surface and hunting down pockets of resistance, but even so an overwhelmning number of tanks and soldiers pushed through the deep and wide caverns. Down here the conditions were infernal as opposed to the hellish ones on the surface, but the Bando Gora gave the troopers no pause. From seemingly everywhere Reavers charged, screeching wildly, sometimes parts of the ceiling or the walls caved in as the beasts pounced, attacking their flanks, anti-tank missiles and acid fired from the arachnids demanding their tribute from the armoured vehicles.

The smell of death hung like a pall over the caverns, the walls of which were emblazoned with perverse arcane symbols and often covered with the skin of humans and aliens that had fallen victim to the Cult. Sometimes body parts could even be identified, such as the lekku of Twi'lek. Indeed the entire ceiling was covered in human skin, the ground the soldiers trode on covered in human bone. Further away down the tunnels small pyramids arose that were made of skull and bone, tributes to the dark gods.

Bolters and grenade launchers resounded across the caverns, as arachnids came close assault troopers in heavy armour unleashed searing flames from the nozzles of their flamethrowers. Some of the tanks advancing forward had been repurposed to carry flamethrowers. Needless to say if facing an actual modern army they would be pretty useless because they'd get blasted to pieces before they got close, but against Reavers they were ideal. Flames shot out of their nozzles as they rumbled down the tunnels and loud screams and screeches were heard as the beasts were ignited, flames spreading. Thick clouds of gas rose up into the air when troopers tossed grenades loaded with FEX M3 nerve gas into the fray, beasts falling into a frenzy and choking as the oppressive gas spread, trampling down upon cultists. Siobhan directed the assault personally, having taken one of the armoured columns and commanding a Hoplite, its blaster cannon spewing out heavy laser fire, her telekinesis grabbing missiles shooting from war engines towards her and thrusting them back. With a wave of her hand she grabbed ahold of a large chunk of the ceiling and sent it crashing down upon a horde as it came in from the flank. Through the Force she felt the deaths, knowing that several of the Omegan soldiers were still being mauled and ripped apart, but she did not waver.

 

[Nyos Val]

"Aye. Merina, you and Kya attend to the wounded. @[member="Noah Corek"] will you at least let her set your shoulder and give you a antihistamine to dull the pain?"

Nyos moved his ship up and over the battle towards Miles' location. The soldiers on board fired on the Reavers below, the ship neared the last location Miles detailed and saw a small circle being maintained in the back near a mountain. Coming back down over their location, Miles and his me were visable in the center firing like madmen to keep the Reavers at bay. The opening of the ship tilted slightly to give the men below a quick getaway.

"Get on! Let's get the heck out of here!" He called back to the men. Reavers were brining heavy weapons over to deal with Nyos' intrusion.

@Miles Varden