"This is Mantis Alpha-Seven to base. I'm getting traces of Red Transparent in my detectors, and plenty of it!"
The response crackles over the short-wave connection. "Excellent. Mobilizing the strike team. I'll be at your coordinates in twenty."
"Sounds good, captain. Seems to be coming from some ruined fort a little further into the woods.. I'll wait until you arrive to investigate further. Doesn't seem dangerous, but you never know."
The pilot is unaware, however, that he is being watched from beyond the darkness of the ruined castle..
.."That was all he said. They'll be arriving any moment, ma'am. If we intend to collect that crystal, we need to take action immediately." the elf relates breathlessly to her commander.
"Then we move - all of us. Get the hired swords ready, and start up the Vindicator.. if Blue Heliad is involved, we'll need everything we've got. With any luck, we'll get that crystal yet.. and teach them to respect the name Ms. Imperial Brown."
"Acolytes, our time has come. The Cult of Dragonblood has gathered here for years beyond count, in our ritual sacrifices to the Blood Crystal. Now, invaders come to steal from us our greatest treasure. It is time to show your devotion to the Crystal. It is time to defend what is ours!"
"This is 1st. Squadron, Captain Lance Silversun, reporting to base. We've arrived at the dropoff point; we'll retrieve the Red Transparent and bring it back to this location. Prepare for pickup on my signal. Over."
"Alright, crew! I know it's been a while since your last paycheck, but today's your chance to earn it. There's a priceless treasure hidden in those ruins, and if we retrieve it, you'll be living life on the high run for months to come. We're up against Heliad, and they're packing heat, so just get the gem back here - our dropship will pick us up the moment we have it."
"Positions, men! Ready yourselves for the taste of blood."
With that, Ms. Imperial Brown and her troop of mercenaries sprint forwards.
Most of its units encumbered with Heavy Armor, the Blue Heliad Sciences Squadron moves forward, but far more slowly.
Ares Periwinkle the Third, avian queen-goddess and ally of Ms. Imperial Brown, swoops over the stony parapet, attempting to blast the Dragonblood Sorcerer with her staff. He summons up a shield of glowing energy, deflecting her attack.
Ares drops gracefully to the ground as the elven scout joins her silently.
The Vindicator soars in, opening fire upon the sorcerer. His shields already spent, he's burnt to a crisp by the powerful laser array.
The rest of the Brown Company move hastily toward the ruins.
The Blue Heliad Scout, meanwhile, moves up and manages to kill a spider, but fails to damage the web it sits on.
His pathetic attempt is forgotten in the explosive fireball that results as the HV-1 Dragonfly opens fire, scorching the inside of the castle, blowing apart the ramshackle wooden wall, and killing the knights inside. The Dragonblood Inquisitor is disrupted, but alive.
As the Inquisitor rises to his feet, Ares flies over the wall to shove him down again before snatching up the key, which was tossed from its chest in the explosion.
The elf scout and a chain-wielding mercenary take up positions near the entrance to the ruin. Their dog is confused.
One of Ms. Imperial Brown's Cyclancers takes a Sprinting Charge at the MW-1 Daedalus..
But Critically Fails, instead performing a magnificent mounted pole-vault..
And coming to a crashing, disrupted halt behind the Military Walker.
The Vindicator, slowing in momentum, opens fire on the leg pod of the LW-1 Mantis.
There's groan of tortured metal..
And the leg detaches, causing the Mantis to crash down, shoving the Dragonfly aside as it hits the earth.
The MW-1 Daedalus, Heliad Scout, and Silversun himself all combine fire on Ms. Imperial Brown for a somewhat lackluster 23 points of damage..
Only to have her bail through the ruin's entrance and out into the forest.
The HV-1 Dragonfly, however, blasts apart Ares Periwinkle the Third, as the key falls from her talons to the ground.
It's snatched up by the chain-wielding mercenary, who immediately tosses it to the Elf Scout at the entrance.
She catches it gracefully.
The Vindicator opens up fire on the Daedalus, with the intent to disable the twin machine guns. It succeeds.
Ms. Imperial Brown follows up by blasting the pilot to meaty chunks with a Critical Success.
The Scout takes to scurrying up the vegetation..
And swings herself up onto the ramparts.
The HV-1 Dragonfly blasts the second Cyclancer off his vehicle..
While the Drone, armed with four machine guns, mows down the first one as he gets up from his crashed cycle.
Lance Silversun attempts to use his Blastgun on a few of the Mercenaries, but an unexpected kickback sends him careening into the undergrowth.
The elven scout dashes over to the chest, unlocking it to reveal a Red Transparent Crystal. She treasures the powerful tingle of sensation it leaves on her fingertips..
Before tossing it down to Ms. Imperial Brown, at her behest.
As the scout begins to climb down, Ms. Imperial Brown books it.
The pilot of the Vindicator, finding that victory is nigh, lands the aircraft closeby to Imperial Brown. The Dragonfly zips in, the Heliad Scout on the front attempting to incinerate the controls. He fails, however, and as the rest of the Blue Heliad forces mobilize all too slowly..
Ms. Imperial Brown takes off in the Vindicator, soaring towards the pickup point with the crystal in hand.
The Vindicator's long-haired pilot and a mercenary in a glittering white jumpsuit leap to attack the pilot of the Dragonfly, but as the Vindicator's pilot trips over his own feet, it's the Jumpsuited one who slashes apart the Dragonfly's master.
The chain-wielder and the elven scout, both dashing towards the pickup point, are blasted apart by Lance Silversun, who's ditched his armor in order to better administrate vengeance.
The desperate Heliad Scout leaps into the pilot's chair and guns the Dragonfly forwards, catching up with the Vindicator, but is unable to do anything else.
The Jumpsuited mercenary slashes apart the Scout as well, and hangs on for dear life as the Dragonfly comes to a crashing stop over the pickup point.
The pilot of the LW-1 Mantis, having been unable to do anything useful, has picked up a sword and is dashing towards the scene of battle. However, the Brown Company pilot is quick to lunge for him, hacking him down.
Lance Silversun is quick to repay the favor, shattering the pilot and the attack dog with the sheer concussive energy of his high-tech Blastgun.
But he's too late, as Ms. Imperial Brown stands victorious at the pickup point. "This is Imperial Brown to dropship; come on in. Target has been acquired."
Overview of the battlefield:
"Wow.. you guys are the only two left alive? Well, I guess less of the profit will go to paychecks than I thought. Should probably hire some new mercs, though. This isn't just any old crystal, though.. it's a valuable treasure, apparently, and it'll fetch a pretty price on the Galactic Market.."
"This is Captain Lance Silversun to Command. Mission was a failure - we were hit by a group of mercenaries, led by someone named Imperial Brown. The Daedalus and Mantis are heavily damaged, and we lost a couple of pilots.. the scum made off with the crystal."
"So it was a complete failure."
"No, sir.."
"One of the cultists was bearing a different artifact that you may find.. interesting."
A quick read? Yes, but it was an hour and a half of fun, and that's what Brikwars is about. I'm sure Heliad Sciences will return in the near future, as will Ms. Imperial Brown and her crew, with a larger map and a bigger battle. Out for now, but more to come!
