Private Buckley paced back and forth impatiently in the narrow manufactured trench running the length of the Sunnyvale valley. This multilayered trench system extending back 5 km from the start of “no-mans” land was flanked by the relatively small mountains or what Buckley would call hills back to the nearest mountain fortress. It was this critical gap in the mountains that needed the attention to stop an unchallenged charge straight into the fortress. The flanking mountains had subsequently been built up with fire bases or anti-air emplacements atop them. Buckley had been a frontline soldier until several unfortunate incidents had reduced him to a medical casualty due to PTSD. But with desperate times came a need for even for him to be forced onto the front again. Planet-XXXXXXX in the prime dimension of the Grand Alliance was only two jumps away from sacred Terra and was now prime territory for a beach head for any planned assault on Earth. With this in mind the defense of this planet was almost given as much budget as the defense of Earth itself. Still it meant that Buckley still had to undergo the age old duty of patrolling and firing behind cover. As far as Buckley could tell it felt like the vulture were circling over the nearly dead corpse of the Grand Alliance and all he could do was hang on and see where it went. Though with all the protection and preparation Buckley could see he was feeling a little confident about his future prospects of surviving.
The trench was built around a 2 inch thick sheet of Duratanium. This was good enough to absorb a blast from a heavy plasma cannon but the heat and residual energy would still fry whoever was behind it. On top of this was bonded duracrete layer 2 feet thick. This concrete concoction had carbon nanotubes mixed in which reinforced the compressive strength by a factor of three. This hardened core of the trench could conceivably stop most heavy fire up to and including tank or mecha weapons if the fire was glancing. To insure that whoever was behind the wall could survive the layering of armouring continued to include plasteel filled sandbags. Actually a plasteel brick in a special puncture proof bag, they were layered in a wall 3 or 4 bricks deep. The bags were also coated in a light refractive layer to better proof them against energy or plasma fire. Kinetic energy would break apart the bricks eventually but plasteel would just crumble into finer and finer dust and still be retained by their bags. The level of protection would go down but not entirely diminish. This was still not deemed enough and an additional layer of 4 inch thick special case hardened steel was thrown over this. Made to absorb heavy kinetic impacts the steel would absorb as much kinetic impact as possible and due to the ductility of the steel would continue to take the beating over and over again. Finally a layer of shaped, refractive ceramic was placed on top of the whole layer cake of protection. This special ceramic was made to ablate with heavy fire from energy weapons and to shatter violently to absorb kinetic weapons. All this protection and Buckley was also wearing a Ronin class power suit. Proof against most small arms fire it could take up to anti-material rifle fire if it was aimed at the segmented armored plates.
Armored bunkers sat next to the trench at 20 meter intervals all up and down the trench networks. There was better than several hundred from what Buckley could see with his naked eyes, probably closer to a couple thousand if he used augmented sight view. These bunkers could shelter 10 soldiers if artillery was getting a little too heavy but were normally crewed by a team of two. Behind feet of duracrete and duratanium these bunkers could take a beating even from mecha. On top these bunkers were ground radar, optical sensors, olfactory sensors and other such equipment to provide intel to platoon and up to army commanders. The offensive punch for these bunkers came from a turreted 30 mm reduced sized gatling gun normally found on an ancient A-10 warthog. Reduced in overall length and bulk these cannons still had the same effective deadliness. Paired with this was a 40 mm plasma grenade launcher to deal with heavy mechs or tanks. If this was not enough each bunker had six external pulse lasers to deal with enemy infantry but normally these were blasted off fairly quickly. Thanks to human ingenuity and adaptability many of these pulse laser hardpoints had captured enemy weapons bolted to them instead. In fact a good chunk of the defenses had been augmented by enemy weapons and technology.
Buckley still figured he would stick with what was reliable and he still sported the 10 mm assault rifle he was issued when he had landed. 10 mm was deemed a large enough caliber that even power armor could be cracked by repeated fire. Sitting on top of a full ammo box for the while Buckley figured that it should last him the rest of the war. It was close to 2000 rounds of ammo in 20 extended mag clips. Depending on who was going to knock at the door he might just sit it out as 10 mm bullets still had a limit in what they could do. “Try to inflict as much death as you could with as little attention as possible” was Buckley’s personal motto. This had served him well in many situations like when he was a Star Hornet pilot but the time they made him a Viggen pilot this did not work to well. Well he was stuck as a lowly grunt for the moment not that he wouldn’t want to pilot a mecha again but he wasn’t quiet in the right mental state. Checking on his squads mate to the right and left of him Buckley could tell they were getting antsy as well. It had probably been a week since the last batch of aliens had hit. They weren’t any of the big factions but with the Grand Alliance on its knees any ambitious faction would want to take advantage. They had been bunch of chittering bugs which they had dealt with quickly, didn’t possess any significant weapons that would pose a threat. It was an hour now since he last checked his watch; maybe he would get some rest…
The sky was lit up with blazing white streaks of kinetic rounds and the azure blue of heavy plasma. Even in the bright noon sun the streaks of death made the daylight pale in comparison. The eminent landing of the enemy forces was being met with heavy anti-air fire and all Buckley could do was cower in the trench and hope that the death being met now was enough to kill all landers off. A large behemoth class planetary fortress had revealed itself and was using its main plasma cannon to tag as many ships as possible. Predictably the orbiting defense fleet was already too busy to account for the swarm of landers making into the atmosphere and it seemed that these landers housed a most fearsome foe. Already the first of the landers had just set down followed by a couple dozen more and their hatches started to open…
Buckley had been firing his rifle for the last 3 days almost non-stop as far as he could tell. The 2000 rounds that he had used up had been replaced with a plasma rifle that was hooked up quite literally to a small fusion reactor. He still kept the rifle just in case but it was on its last magazine. The slimy lizards that had flowed out of the landers seemed endless in numbers. He was getting tired of putting the barrel of his gun over the trench wall and firing. A quick burst of fire issued from the swarm of lizard and hit the bare plasteel sand bags. The ceramic layer had been blown off in the first few hours and the hardened steel under that had lasted a mere day. Heavy slugs from rifles, thin deadly razors from rail guns, kinetic missiles, plasma and lasers flew towards the line of trenches. The storm of fire crashed against the still sturdy and hardened defenses as trooper after trooper ducked down or huddled in bunkers. It was a sea of puke green as far as the eye could see and Buckley had abstained from using any sensors in his suit as it would probably make him more forlorn to actually know how many lizards he still had to face. After what felt like an eternity the pressure of fire had finally subsided for many of the remaining humans to pop out of bunkers or ready weapons and return fire. First the artillery could be heard buzzing overhead as they narrowed in to lend some fire support. What remained of the fire bases were lending their artillery to the fray either as howitzers, mortars, missiles or whatever else they could field. Buckley believed he even saw a working trebuchet hurling rocks or whatever other junk they could find. His belief was confirmed when from the back a small VW bug was flung forward into the mass of the lizards. This assault was quickly followed by bunkers bringing 30 mm gatlings and 40 mm grenades into action. Lastly the troopers and whatever mechs that were left lent their fire into the crucible of death, even a few remaining Aries mechs were committing strafing runs on the horde. The ground was soaked in a river of red as the unarmored lizards were slaughtered by the return fire. Diminished in numbers the remaining lizards forlornly started to retreat as they were eventually all wiped out. Buckley numbly sat back down on his now empty ammo box and contemplated the last week of activity. He had lost over half his squad and the defenses around him had not faired that much better. Rumor was that the lizard fleet was finally destroyed in space and with this last assault they would have some time to consolidate and rebuild if anyone with the will to struggle was left. Buckley for however many times since he had started being a soldier felt like lying down and never opening his eyes again. This week had taken quiet a toll and he knew that this was probably not going to be the end by a longshot…
Somehow Buckley had found a way to survive and after 2 months of fighting and consolidation he was now a captain in a “battle tub” christened “Eve of Destruction”. A cobbled together mech the battle tub was best described as part armored car, part mech, part fire base and all badass. On top of two sturdy legs which could convert to tracked wheel mode the “Eve” was fast when it needed to be and stable if it needed to fire. The main body was a toughened “bath tub” (hence the nick name “battle tub”) of duratanium that was open from the top for easier loading and ease of construction. The right arm was the gun arm with a manipulator arm while the left one was strictly for combat and was fashioned as a pile bunker or lance. Bristling with weapon and equipment the battle tub made Buckley felt safe even though in the months that had followed had forced the defenders all the way back with their back to the fortress. Only a 1 km stretch of trenches existed now and the amount of bunkers that were left were far more sporadic. They had no more behemoths never mind much of a space fleet. Most of the armada that the Grand Alliance had was focused on holding Terra, indeed the days kind of looked grim. Enemies besieged them on all sides and only the prime dimensions were left. Well he had got a chance to be in a mech again even though he did have to share this honour with four other people. He was the commander/arm manipulator and in front of him in the only fully protected part of the mech was the driver. To either side of the driver were the communication officer/ gunner and the body guard/gunner. The final crew member in the rear was the engineer/indirect fire gunner. It was a pretty tight team now, especially after all the peril they had faced together. Every call for them to sally forth was getting more and more dangerous but they had little choice now, there was nowhere to hide anymore…
The Inferis fleet had landed unmolested and challenged not that there was no will to stand up to them but the reveal of any resistance from the ground would be met with heavy fire from orbit. The last few pockets of resistance were spread far and wide and each pocket had to look after themselves. It was unknown if the trenches could hold and the fire bases were no longer existent. What was left of the artillery was from the fortress itself and with the lack of resupply they had a fairly sizable contingent of trebuchets. Throwing the salvaged junk of war the amount of ammunition was for the moment endless. Madly rushing forward from the landers the crazed swarm of brainwashed shock troopers crashed the frontline. Taken from their own allies these shock troopers sported large bladed gauntlets with palm mounted plasma guns. They were all naked except for the gauntlets and bio-augmentation running up their spines and limbs and finished with black, featureless mask that covered their entire head. This fearsome crowd of once civilized humans now a blood thirsty, savage mob greeted the terrified defenders. Clamoring against the first trench the angry mob was stopped for the moment as the brainwashing had removed all intelligence and the only thing that remained was savagery. Directional claymore style mines went off again and again as the closeness of the enemy triggered switches. The mob was bloodied but not diminished in anyway in their blood lust. Already the mob was scrambling over the fallen bodies to get into the trenches and over run the defenders huddling in them. Ripped limb from limb or savagely torn to shreds the shock troopers continued forward even with heavy debris being flung by trebuchet into their lines. The trench lines were pretty much gone and the bunkers were inoperable or shut off as the angry mob was milling around waiting for a chance to satiate their bloodlust some more. Any human still alive in the field was in hiding and the ones left in the fortress were not letting anything in or out. Clawing madly at the large blast doors even under the heavy defensive fire the doors were molested and damaged but not yielding. As if on que for an intervention a Lord of the Inferis sallied forth at frightening speed on their bio-throne/battle creature. 8 feet tall, clad in jet black bone like armor topped by a bone white hideous helm the Lord stepped of its throne and undeterred by the storm of fire around it stepped towards the blast door. All the fire around it either bent away as if directed by an unknown force or impacted harmlessly. Reaching behind the Lord drew one weapon from the multitude that was mounted on its armour. The fearsome sword unfolded itself and solidified itself in an obsidian coloured blade 10 feet in length. Charging the blade for a moment it was then engulfed in a wreath of hellfire, slashing downward in a casual swing the blast doors were cleaved cleanly in half. Falling with a resounding thud the first of the doors into the fortress were thus breached. It was at this moment that Buckley was informed that he would have to sally forth in “Eve”…
To reach the outer blast doors took a 5 km journey from the center of the mountain. Currently there should be 4 more doors after the first blast door. In all it would take 3 days with a plasma cannon in continuous fire to get thru all five outer doors. Buckley figured he may only have 15 minutes to get into position as a distraction so that his comrades could form a defensive line all the way back into the heart of the fortress. His group was a mix of the best troops they could get in the precarious situation they were in. In the lead was one of the last Gaia force land fortresses, bristling with weapons and tough as hell this hovering super tank was ideal in the wide corridors leading into the mountain. Escorting the land fortress were two bayonet power suits, the only two Buckley had ever seen in his years of service. 7 feet tall and mounting an array of weapons they would supplement the already fearsome firepower of the land fortress. Rounding out the rest of the motley crew were a half company of Ronin equipped soldiers, a few armored troop carriers, a few old school M1A1 tanks, a few odd and sods of mechs and vehicles and the battle tub “Eve”. The passage way leading to the blast doors were wide and tall to allow for semitrailer or tank traffic in or out. It was dark for the moment as all power was directed to life support systems or the internal shields on the last inner blast door. Designed to be the final defensive barrier this shield was equivalent in power to most flag ships shield barriers. Due to the cobbled together nature of “Eve” whatever light sources they were able to scavenge were put on to “Eve”. Lucky for “Eve” they were able to find a complete front end of an old BMW with laser head lights and various LED projector headlights off a Lexus. What this meant was that the corridor was suddenly flooded with light up to a distance of 2000 feet. Of course this would negate any stealth tactic they were to use but the sense of security of walking down a well-lit corridor outweighed this. Flood lights taken from construction vehicles sat atop “Eve” and these were panned around slowly to provide supplemental light, these illuminated the barren stone walls cut into the mountain. Advancing forward at a steady pace the group was obviously scared but determined in what they had to do. Passing thru the last inner door a loud clanging sound could be heard as the blast doors were shut as “Eve” stepped thru. Looking back at what might be the last time they would see the doors the group advanced forward knowing that they would need to buy time for the final defenses to be raised.
The Gaia land fortress was taking the lead while “Eve” would take the rear, in between them the rest of the motley crew was assembled in columns with the mechs in between the troopers. A decade ago this force would have been “enough” to scare the bejessus out of anything the Golden Hegemony could field but in the years that followed this composition had grown obsolete. Questing for targets the pulse lasers, missiles and 60 mm gatling turrets of the land fortress swiveled in an arc back and forth. The pilot in her Banshee armor was getting heavy hand weapons ready as the main forwards weapons hummed as their safeties were disengaged. To either side the two Bayonet power armor readied their heavy weapons (a heavy plasma cannon for one and an impact cannon for the other) as their secondary weapons were primed for launch. In this brief moment when everyone was on high alert Buckley and indeed the whole of the small company felt invincible, safe even. Sensors still had not picked up anything and an eerie silence fell upon the group as they neared the last outer blast door. Completely vaporized except for a few fringes of metal of the frame the path into the mountain was open to the outside. A light breeze was blowing in from the outside and the cool chill from this breeze caused Buckley to shiver slightly as he hunched himself down in his command chair. He flicked on the switch for the heated seats (thank god for that BMW!) as he signaled for everyone to hold. The enemy should be here, something was definetly not right… As if to answer his concerns Buckley’s radio crackled to life as the call for the return of his group to defend against the newly decloaked enemy blared. Green smoke like figures materialized on the ceiling, the walls, in the front and then behind the company. As the smoke solidified into Inferis troops Buckley knew that they had missed out on a Lord. Inferis Lords had mutations and powers gifted from birth and he had heard of certain lords who could phase in and out of the physical realm, he had never heard of any that could do so with an army. In the moment before the enemy pounced on them there was a disquieting stillness and then all hell broke loose. The land fortress was opening up with all weapons and the forward pressure of lasers, beams and missiles was enough to check the forward group for the moment. Unhinging its limbs and growing in size the Throne creature was suddenly a deadly mix of jumping spider and praying mantis. Jumping from its throne the Inferis lord flew over the small army seeking a bigger target as the throne beast skittered forward thru the fire of the land fortress. Bobbing and weaving thru the fire the throne menaced towards the land fortress and the panicked pilot was reduced to firing with close in weapon to keep the throne off her. Unfazed by weapons that the fortress could bring to bear the throne wrapped limbs around the fortress and effortlessly crushed or sliced thru chunks of the land fortress. Unhinging its now visible jaw the throne let out a deafening howl that curled the blood of the human army. Articulate forward mandibles on either side of the jaw reached out and started dragging the pilot from her socket attaching her to the land fortress. There was desperation in the pilot’s movement as she squirmed to stay near the fortress or to reach whatever weapon she could. However the mandibles were strong and mercilessly they wrenched her forward visibly cracking the power armor as they did. In a frantic movement of limbs the pilot brought her hand blasters to bear against the thrones mouth to no effect, in desperation she started pushing against anything she could to prevent the inevitable, but that did not stop the throne from putting her helmeted head in its mouth and clamping down. There was a horrific spray of blood and then the body went limp and the land fortress was neutralized. While this was happening the frenzied mob was now cutting into the troopers as they leaped from the ceilings and walls. Even with mechs, tanks and troopers firing in all directions over half the force was knocked out in the first few seconds of panic. Large land mechs desperately tried to fire at the approaching mob but thru sheer numbers the Inferis mob managed to topple the mech and were now trying to drag the pilot out. A muffled gunshot could be heard as the pilot choose to go out on their own term. A M1A1 tank turret lifted into the air as mass plasma fire was able to chew thru even updated armor and the Bayonet power armour suffered a similar fate as without the land fortress to keep the pressure off the Bayonets were vulnerable to mass fire. Both of them were mercifully dispatched relatively quickly and not in a savage manner as some of their other fellow soldiers. While observing all this happening Buckley was also trying to save his own skin. Backing up on its tank threads “Eve” was running over anyone regardless of side they were on, all the while pintle mounted machine guns, arm mounted gatlings, grenade launchers, pulse lasers, rail guns and anything else they could fire were being used. What was in front of them was being housed down as they frantically backed up but the relentless mob had “Eve” surrounded. Then everything on “Eve” shut down.
“@#$#ers have the main power coupling disconnected!” screamed the engineer.
The undercarriage of “Eve” was vulnerable if anyone got really close and in this situation this was the case. Unbuckling themselves Buckley and his crew grabbed personal defense weapons or in the case of the bodyguard the pintle mounted machine gun and started firing at the mob climbing up the sides of “Eve”. They were almost in reach and then they froze with gun all pointed at the crew. Ignoring this most of the crew was emptying magazine after magazine into the frozen mob not noticing a flickering shadow landing without a sound behind the driver. Snatching the driver up with one hand the Inferis lord was standing in the middle of the battle tub. Everyone else was opening up on the inferis lord with their weapons but this seemed to have no effect on it. Still choking the driver with one had with the other hand the Inferis lord started taking apart the driver limb from limb. As if pulling an apple off a tree the lord had already ripped of both arms and a leg before the guttural screams of the pilots could be heard. The lord casually flung the delimbed pilot into the bloodthirsty mob below and more screams could be heard. At this point Buckley was not ashamed if anyone was crapping their pants right now because he most certainly was at least wetting them. Stabbing both gunners with concealed arm blades their bodies started to visibly swell even though they were in Ronin power suits. There must have been a highly virulent toxin on the blades to cause such deformity. Reaching there breaking point the gunners bodies finally exploded leaving only a bloody mess somewhat constrained by the power suits. Leaping from the tub the engineer either was taking his chances with the mob or running away. A soft crunching sound was heard as the Engineer had mercifully found a spot on the hard ground and had lept to his death. This only left a fully petrified Buckley to face the lord alone.
The lord slowly turned to face Buckley, their mask hushed out steam as the helmet released its seals and the lord revealed their face... The frantic screaming of Buckley echoed down the corridors almost to the inner doors but there was a silence of the tomb there as the shattered bodies of what was left of the human defenses laid in stillness…
Planet-XXXXXXX was devoid of life after this battle and would continue to be empty even after the dimensional paths had collapsed after the conclusion of the “End wars”. It may have been karma that acted as the Inferis for all their savagery and mercilessness were wiped from existence as they did to the Grand Alliance. No trace of what had happened were ever found and this may explain the foolishness or some would say bravery of the Superior Alliance as they ventured into these sealed dimensions undaunted…