General Vicente Rinehart was a simple man, a man who often called it as it was, a man who liked to see the world in black and white. But by no means was General Rinehart an uneducated man. He had gone through the West Point at the top of his class, he understood everything from advanced mathematics to human psychology and he hadn't become the commanding officer of Task Force Aegis by his good looks alone. So from within the command center of the military space station Independence, surrounded by dozens of computers and members of his headquarters staff, he was understood what it meant when reports of a sudden Polish uprising detailed rebel forces operating what was clearly Russian-supplied mechs, albeit outdated ones, began to stream in. And understandably, Rinehart was upset.

"Those motherfuckers," Vicente Rinehart squinted his eyes at one of the screens that played a video of Polish rebels crushing loyalist forces from the Varsovian Armoured Brigade, "They've done it now!" He then growled before grabbing a hold of a passing desk jockey, "Bring everyone up to speed, get them ready to deploy. I wanted to have boots on the ground yesterday."

"Everyone s-sir?" The soldier, a First Lieutenant from the United States Air Force, gulped.

"Everyone!" The General bellowed before throwing the man aside. Moments later, while the announcement was broadcasted through the station intercom for Task Force Aegis to scramble and make preparations to deploy, a Polish field operative was displayed on one of the command center's monitors. The operative, a member of the elite Operational Maneuver Response Group (GROM), updated Rinehart on the current state of affairs.

"They took us totally by surprise, General. More than a few high ranking members of our military just defected to the other side, taking with them plenty of good men. What's left of the loyalist forces are either pulling back towards the west or are regrouping at the capital, myself included. But General I've seen these mechs in action. We don't stand a chance unless NATO-" The operative, before he could finish his sentence, was cut off by Rinehart.

"NATO's still 'accessing' the situation, son. How long will your people be able to hold out at Warsaw?" Task Force Aegis' commander grunted.

"Not long, sir." The operator replied.

"Understood. I'll get back to you." The General nodded to one of his people and ended the conversation with the man. Once this was done, Rinehart weighed in his options, eventually deciding that before anything he needed eyes on the situation. Local assets in the area weren't equipped to transmit encoded messages back to the station, nor had they been able to give him any solid intelligence to act on. How many forces would NATO be fighting against if they sent in the troops? How well equipped were they? Were they all professional soldiers who had deserted from the Army or were there some militia assisting the rebel army? And who was to say the rebels consisted only of Polish separatists? Who's to say that there weren't some Russians or Iranians in the mix? To get a better grip on the full picture, and to start laying the foundation of any operation that would include the deployment of the Task Force, General Rinehart pulled aside another member of his headquarters staff.

"Gather up some recon specialists, and by tomorrow morning, I want them on the ground and getting me some god damn answers."

(Polish pronunciations- leave them to me lol. It makes for funny things to occur, and if I see something out of the ordinary, let me know. I might have a GROM character, a real Spec Ops character come into play at some point, with a custom CS (being a black ops operator, but I feel that this would be suitable as I'd understand the Polish kit and terrain and so forth).
(Also, since Blyskawica is an already attached to Aegis- no other Polish unit would be able to report, since they haven't been brought up onto the orbital platform yet.)
(Green Men= think what Russia did in the Crimea. Unmarked soldiers, militia that you can't call either Polish...or Russian. I should remind at this point, Russia and Poland are very, very different, so it would be more of the former than militia.)
(Podhale- a region/area in Poland)

0400 Hours
Somewhere North-West of Lublin, Poland

Blyskawica was an Aegis asset after all, but they hadn't been sitting in space, waiting for the order to drop. They would have been launched about a month before the start of the events, in full operational capability, but the situation had changed, and they hadn't left because of what had happened. Rather, they'd been holding at Lublin for the last six hours, and the events that had overtaken them in scale and ferocity. Since the Invasion began, had brought about a massive wave of enemy forces, things were very different. Polish Rebels? Every member of this unit knew full well...this was no Polish act of defiance. This was an Invasion, nothing less than that. Like the Russian Federation before it in Crimea, the CSTO was using green unmarked men from far away places to carry out the Kremlin's will. Perhaps NATO didn't see it this way. Perhaps they saw it as a group of CSTO funded rebels killing Polish Forces. It wasn't that. He knew it wasn't, whatever communication breakdown there was, he thought to himself, this was not that, it was a full-blown invasion for making this NATO member state a part of CSTO, and a client no less. Either way, Jan knew to himself that where he was right now, could at least tell the story to those above to intervene. God or Aegis, either would be great.

Jan looked over, the team looking out from the bushes, the darkness entailing the area with a certain shadow in the pine trees. There was six of them. Himself, Staff Sergeant Magda "Malinka" Malinowska, Sergeant Piotr Wojczechski, Corporal Jaroslaw Bogdanowicz, Private First Class Anna Majakowska, and Private Rafal Duda. The columns of scrap tanks were visible, as well as Polish Mechs, though those were far fewer in number. Rather, the sight of distant kit moving across the landscape, towards Warsaw could be seen.
"Major, this is Warrant Officer Adamowicz. We are in position in recce point Zulu Bravo, on the observation point. We see scrap metal below us...burning PT-91 Twardys' and Leopard 2A7 tanks. it's a fucking mess." Jan simply said, looking through his tactical visor, the exoskeleton's HUD picking it up easily, as the reconaissance team kept their head low, the observation point overlooking a wide plain from this particular bulge on the landscape.
"Copy that, I am putting you through to a higher command structure. Aegis needs our reconnaissance, we're the first respondents- and they want to know what the situation is. Company HQ is on the move- we're relocating to Radom, but we're about to become entrapped. Gentlemen, we may not be a Special Forces unit, but we're going to be under pressure much harder than them. Remember your training. This time, for the Ojczyzna (Fatherland). We give no quarter for these scum...and I know that for our great, great grandfathers, we have a debt to fill on the Russian killing business." Major Leszek replied, as Jan nodded, looking to the others, as the comm channel changed. He checked the MSBSA2, pulling out the partly empty magazine, and filling it with a few loose 6.5mm rounds, the rifle perhaps not the most modern, but an effective weapon that the Polish Armed Forces had at this time, with the cartridge hard hitting against anything that wasn't significantly armored. He switched his fairly strong English, though he carried a Slavic accent that you could easily tell existed.
"Hello, Aegis Station? This is Warrant Officer Jan Adamowicz, 1st Squad, Blyskawica Reconaissance Company, TF Aegis. We are six men strong, and have set up an observation post on the Lublin-Warsaw road. We're armed with Wilks and have laser designation equipment, alongside light handheld AMWs. We've got significant mechanized as well as armored forces rolling in, we spy various irregular forces of CSTO and seemingly local type, though it's likely to be Spetsnaz and CSTO "Green Men". Airborne Mechanized Suits have been spotted, this is an Invasion alright. More tanks, IFVs, mechs and soldiers of unknown type, either defected Polish kit or CSTO than I can count are to be pushing into Lublin as we speak, all friendly assets are destroyed, I repeat, all friendly Polish forces are getting hammered, we have a new defensive line at the Wisla (Vistula River). Scorched Earth until then- and we'll be trapped behind enemy lines. Command, we simply will not last. My team can continue reconnaissance of the main road through Lublin to Warsaw for the next six hours, then we are relocating. We will provide regular and consistent updates of troop movements and other intel. How copy?" Jan asked over the radio, waiting for a response from the General, as he turned, looking to the others, before then seeing the crate that Duda had placed down. It was containing a set of RPG-72 AMWs salvaged from the barracks, they had resupplied and were fully kitted from the last engagement. Things were at least calm now. They hadn't been a few hours ago.

---

Earlier that Morning...

0020 Hours
Lublin, Poland

"KURWA!" The noise of shelling outside the barracks was frantic. Moving out, the team sprung towards the armory, exoskeletons being donned as men clipped in, and Jan's second in command, Magda, a fairly beautiful redhead at about 5"11, found hers, taking her MSBS LMG, a bullpup drum-fed magazine in the back of the weapon, as the team rallied back outside.
"Situation is critical- Malinka, take Bogdanowicz, Duda and Majakowska, I'll take the other team as a fireteam. We have to hold ground here! Ura!" Jan yelled to the others, as they responded with a loud Ura, the Poles aware that things had hit the fan. The sight of parachutes, drop pods and the distant noise of jets and rockets was all the scarier. The barrack was right in the middle of town, and they needed to get moving. They'd never hold the town forever, but they had to at least get the civilians on the move, towards Warsaw. Moving out of the barracks, Jan moved with a certain pace and agility, like the others could with the Wilk 1A2.
"Got it, Warrant Officer! You three, with me, now!" Malinka yelled, as she held her weapon high, scanning her corners as they advanced.

Lublin in itself was a town that was fairly unchanged, even by 2058. It was mainly composed of terraced houses in the inner city, a more medieval sort of structure as blocks and plazas lined the town center, whilst many of the apartment blocks recently built on the outskirts were all but blown apart, many just coming down on the first sight of artillery. The place looked grim, but the centuries-old Royal Castle that dominated the middle of the town still stood, and that was always a good thing to know. It didn't really matter morale wise, but at least something was left, for the moment being that they hadn't touched.
"Major! We have a direct assault on Lublin coming, they've broken through the Strzeclcy Podhalancy Brygada (Polish Podhale Shooters Brigade), the town's basically unguarded and we have plenty of Green Men holding blocks here! Orders?" Jan barked through the radio, as they moved through the street, the sight of "Green Men", armed with shitty AK-12 rifles, being something that riled the squad. They moved tactically from car to car, the fire heavy as they took the team down, Jan leaping over a articulated lorry as he took out one of the men with a clean set of shots to the head while in the air, crashing down behind a concrete pillar, moving on the ground as he took out another pair, through their soft cover.
"Hold the town until further orders, we're sending you GPS co-ordinates to sweep and clear. Clean these areas, the Reservists will get the civilians out. You're our best shot at keeping that line open!" He heard, as Jan nodded, somehow to himself.
"Understood." Jan simply replied, as he moved up, leaping up onto a building, as 1st Squad continued, moving through the town and cleaning out resistance. They moved onto another street, a whole horde eliminated by Wojczechski's dated but modernized M32A4 MIGL (Multiple Inteligent Grenade Launcher), the weapon light in his hands as they moved with a fludity that the suspected enemy couldn't. They were not organized tactically, and didn't match in equipment. They made pace southwards, street by street, as Malinka's fireateam kept the lead on the streets below, Jan keeping on the rooftops, and laying down fire from above.

Moving forwards, they advanced into the town center, the sight of smashed billboards and screens across the place. The modern tech here was smashed to pieces, leaving the medieval core with just crushed glass, holes in buildings and general hell. This place was clear. A team of Polish Reservist soldiers held the square below, an Evacuation point. Civilians were rushing, some public buses had been taken, and there was a hell of a lot of people here. They were probably among the last batches to leave. A few buses already were moving, as Jan saw the Reservists look over, and one in particular yell.
"Szturm (Storm)!" He said, as Jan chuckled, leaping off the terraced building, falling about three storeys, and then comfortably landing before walking slowly, weapon slunked over his shoulder.
"Ogien (Fire). Get these people out here. Warrant Officer Adamowicz, I'm keeping your backs dry here. We have all hell coming down on us...I suggest you run too, this was the beginning." He said sternly, putting his tactical visor up, the digital camoflaged and exoskeleton wearing soldier looking far more elite than the Reservist did, frightened and worried, just wearing a red beret and an old uniform, as well as an older Beryl 5.56 rifle.
"Understood. Jesus Christ..." The Reservist Corporal simply said, as Jan looked over, loading a new magazine.
"Continue on- we'll keep your backs clean on the south. Squad, with me." He said, looking over to the others behind him, covering the back of the street, as he then thrusted back up, onto the rooftop, as the others followed.

The noise of artillery suddenly then boomed, as the team sprang, moving through the rooftops and alleys, with each member of the team moving with a due dedication. The noise of a punch through the air suddenly ricocheted, as a crashing noise occured. This wasn't an artillery shell. This was something else. The noise of it rumbling, as the parachute crashed down alongside the Russian Mech was a sight to see, the VDV that had joined it also coming on the opposite side of the block.
"Oh...kurwa...we need to stop that Mech, the Armia Krajowa can hold the square long enough to get our civilans out, but they'll get murdered. The VDV are almost as well armed as us, but with that Mech on side...they'll tear us a new one." Jan said bitterly, looking to the others, as they swept down into a small plaza, the noise of what sounded like at least two tons of airborne Mech sweeping the streets. It had a 30mm Autocannon, as well as probably four PKZ 14.5mm guns, which would cut to shreds anything. This was a massacre.
"Okay, Malinka, go with Duda on the floor, set up by that fountain- when we trigger it, I need you to try and kill it's support party. Rest of us, we'll ambush it from the rooftops. It's CIWS won't last long, if these RPG-76 warheads do what they do best." He added, the noise coming ever closer, as he moved down the tiled roof, three within the team armed with a pair of the seemingly dated anti-mech weapons, though the RPG-76 AMW was an incredible device in itself. An Anti-Mech Warhead, using a clever set of electronic warfare trickery, meant that up close, it couldn't be easily intercepted. And even if it was, reloading and firing another was easy. It could disable one, but not kill one to say the least. Which was all it really took, and Jan knew that in a situation like this, that was their best shot. Putting his MSBS on his back, he pulled out the launcher, priming the digital interface strapped to the side, and programming it for top quarter attack.

The mech came around, a Strelya-2AF. An Anti-Infantry, Urban Combat mecahnized unit, deployed by the CSTO's VDV Brigades, and painted in a Gorod green camoflage. This was a mech that was bipedal, standing about 11 feet, with significant armor designed for this sort of environment. A powerful CIWS system was outfitted, but against these RPG-72 AMW s, it wouldn't do.
"Now!" Jan yelled, as the Squad opened up, from two adjacent points on the rooftop, firing on the mech. The thermals and the support team weren't fast enough, as half the warheads were intercepted, as Jan realized it was turning. Two had hit, but the other one had been intercepted. And now, it was going right for one that it had seen. It turned fairly fast, and if it wasn't for Malinka and Duda opening up, he'd likely have not been breathing. He jumped as hard as he could, the Wilk replying with force as he was thrown into the air, giving him a chance to reload the RPG-72, and slot a new warhead into the front, before firing again, the unguided mechanism plowing into the top, as Jan came crashing down, the mech's electronics fried. The whole thing collapsed over, as the rest of the squad engaged, Jan still falling down. He was barely able to switch back to his MSBS, as he saw one of the Support team go down in front of him, and he crashed onto one of them, the landing hard as the Wilk barely compensated. He had hit hard enough with his landing to incapacitate the man, as he barely moved to cover, doing another short leap, the Wilk's cell at full pelt as he skidded behind a bollard, Jan realizing the rest were now gone.
"Haha! Jan, that was insane!" Duda said, as Jan chuckled, aware that he had been lucky, but this was something he shouldn't have done. He was calculating, but knew the risk he had ran. Moving to the mech, he withdrew his Glock, opening the hatch with a powerful tear of his Exo, and dragging out a wounded operator, Magda walking over and dragging out the second man, somewhat uninjured but too shocked to go for his sidearm.

"You bastards." Magda said coldly, as Jan looked to the others, the artillery and rounds going off.
"We cannot take prisoners. We'd never be able to guard you. Do not take it personally." Jan simply added, walking up to the injured man and shooting him point blank in the head, before walking up to the other soldier, who screamed out loudly in Russian, before a single cough of a 9x19mm round entered his temple. Birds fluttered, as he looked back, the sound of planes and more paras incoming bad. It was war, it was horrible, it was cold. Jan couldn't let pure emotion dictate what his brain told him. He just did what was logical, what made sense. You didn't have to be a Psychopath to survive a war. But to adopt a set of simple logic would keep you breathing longer than anyone who tried to feel that their enemy sympathized. These were evil bastards, who wanted Poland to become a client state of CSTO. And even if the men in the Mech were just paid and Conscripted, what would capture change? Besides, there was no way in hell a mech pilot would be allowed to live. They were skilled people. And letting them live would be a bad price to pay.
"Squad One, you still breathing? Squad One?"
"Affirmative. We eliminated around two squads of VDV and about two dozen "Green Men. I understand we have been fighting CSTO sponsored men..but what was that? We just fought a Strelya and two fireteams of accompanying VDV wanting to take the City Centre."
"Shit..the Reservists you met aren't responding. I recommend you fall back to the Barracks, we pulled out as many civilians as possible en route to Warsaw. We think CSTO is about to invade- that was the first paratrooper wave, and they have mechs far more advanced than what we've seen so far. I've sent a waymarker for Observation Point Zulu Bravo. We have other Blyskawica squads lining the road to Warsaw already telling us what we want to know about the advance. . You're the furthest away- and no doubt, you will see more troops than countable. Just remember what you do best, take the situation and report in once you are at Zulu Bravo. HQ is hellfire right now- last I heard, NATO forces have heard of the situation, but responding forces will take more than 24 hours. Lieutenant Colonel Aleks Valdemar has defected to CSTO forces, and he's got some serious militia and CSTO-aided troops brewing towards Bialystok and a regrouped military garrison deploying from Brest-Litovsk in Belarus in itself going straight towards Warsaw. We're actioning Plan Wisla, you know full well what this entails. We will move back to Warsaw in time- for now, let us hold the advance of this CSTO movement. Double time it, Squad." Major Leszek said, as Jan shook his head, putting his pistol away.
"Well...I don't want to say it's any worse, but if you heard that transmission, I can tell us all that things just got bad." Magda said, as the team nodded, everyone getting new magazines in.
"Of course. We're fucked! Fucking CSTO are sending VDV! I mean....the Exos they have, and that wasn't even the meanest of their mechs! We are fucked!" Pvt Duda simply said, himself being a gent of around 5"10, armed with a MSBS Carbine Rifle, oddly an older one that fired 7.62 rounds and wasn't bullpup, a strange design.
"Calm down, Rafal. We still have a part to play, is what we have. We need to leave." She said, adjusting her visor, looking at the deserted and partly destroyed Plaza, as the rest of the team knew that
"Let's go. We will get our revenge in time." Jan simply said, as he wiped some sweat from his brow with his glove, looking at his tactical visor and checking his energy levels, before leaping halfway up a building, and clambering up the rest, using the exo's sheer strength, before leading the way almost directly as the crow flew back to the barrack.

From there, over the next few hours, things didn't calm down. Less shooting, perhaps. And they'd swept through a mixture of VDV, Green Men and any hodgepodge force. They'd got any key supplies on their backs from the barrack, and using a set of Hover Quads, a newly acquired and NATO-provided piece of kit, made their way out of Lublin, tracking through the vast Conifer forests as they left the area behind, bombs and rockets leveling what was left of the medieval town. Jan couldn't help but think of his family in a way. That emotional thought stayed with him. Some NATO forces would come, and they wouldn't have to worry that when they fought, it was because they were NATO's right hand. Jan knew that right now, every bullet he fired, every command and every movement they made, would be so that his Fatherland would be free. So that Poles could live with Democracy, Free Markets, no oppression, a flourishing technological economy and at least enjoy Pierogi without getting shot at. But most of all, so that his direct family, his elderly parents wouldn't be threatened by gunmen in balaclavas with assault rifles, who intimidate, systematically torture and murder for pure anarchy and some "majestic conquest", that Poland would become if he didn't act. Right now, perhaps that was what was going on. They moved up a hill, the noise quiet as the reconaissance team pushed towards the set of markers on their visors, GPS co-ordinates that they followed to get to target. Perhaps NATO forces would come in and take the glory, and walk away tomorrow, but the real sacrifices made, would be his and his countrymen's alone, he thought to himself. Jan knew he would happily spill his own blood, of him and his own men to make sure that Poland remained free- and anyone that dared question that, Jan would happily want words with. You could call Jan critical, and he himself knew that he was greatful that they were getting NATO support, Aegis being a unit that he had after all, hoped to join. But just something inside hoped that it would come sooner, rather than later, and get these bastards out. Eventually, after around an hour of heading north-west, offroad and in the woods, they made it to their OP, unloading the equipment as the dawn slowly pulled up, the hill observing a wide area that they'd see the advance from.

(This length won't be my normal post. If you are offput, sorry- but I want to flesh out the universe that Jan and his men are in, and I assume the GM will be okay with this- if that's alright.)

The hiss of the oxygen helmet was the only thing that he could hear up here. It was peaceful really to be looking down at the Earth it was peaceful really. Course he was not here for a peaceful trip over the earth. No he was here to fall to it. Literally. Most people would think jumping from low Earth orbit would be insanity but Alec Connors thought over wise. His usual armor could not survive so he was wearing a reentry suit over it. The Irishman was being sent down to scout ahead for his unit's arrival and whole they were getting ready, he was getting ready to jump. He had been trained for HALO jumps with the SFA but not like this.

The pod he was standing it chimed and the door opened once he was over the drop zone. He was due for Lublin , Poland. The Russian seemed to be moving in the area and a scout was needed to check the LZ for the rest of the squads descent. He doubted they would be dropped this literally. He got up and looked down. He mumbled something in Gaelic before pushing himself off the platform as the suit took over nudging him towards the earth. Entering the atmosphere was jarring but he managed it somehow. As he began to reaching critical velocity he thought he might pass out. After a minute or two the suit began to slow him down before deploying the parachutes to slow him down. As soon as he landed he got the suit off and prepped his scout materials. "This is Stretch. Made it to the ground. Prepping for maneuvers. " He said releasing his two drones to start scouting the town and getting as much intel as he could.

He fired his grappling hooks and pulled himself onto one of the rooftops scanning the outskirts of the town. He had no idea if anyone else was being sent. "This is First Lieutenant Alec Connors. NATO. Calling to the Polish forces. " He said over their Frequency. His drones had figured this was their frequency. His voice was thickly accented and he sounded almost bored."Requesting rendezvous location. " Requested as his drones circled around him looking over the town.

[Space Station Inde the day before drop 1220-1300 hours]

Amy very much enjoyed the space station it was peaceful, almost like nothing could get them up here and her worries could be left on the ground. Everyday she would eat her lunch at the same view point so she could look down on the beautiful green and blue marble everyone on this space station called home. Just like the space station it looked peaceful from up here, but she knew it was anything but peaceful. War, famine and strife were king down there and she knew that eventually the general wouldn't stand for what Russia was doing and would send in Aegis. "But when." She thought, her answer came almost immediately like some sort of answer to a prayer. A drop trooper came walking up to her a corporal by the chevrons on his shoulder "Ma'am" The Corporal said giving her a salute. "You are to go to a briefing on Poland at 1300 hours." He continued. "Alright, your dismissed." She said, the Corporal just nodded and left leaving her standing alone looking out into the void of space.

[1300 hours]

The briefing started promptly at 1300 hours, gathered in the room were all manner of recon specialists within the drop toons. A major stood in the position of prominence all eyes were on him. "You are all gathered here because you are going to be hitting the ground in Poland by 0600 hours tomorrow. Some of you earlier than that. your objective if your with the first wave is assist any Polish ground assets, and ensure there is an LZ so the second wave can land and branch out. Orders and the times your leaving have been sent to your personal devices please review them now." He said, Amy pulled her personal device out of her pockets the message read like this "Staff Sergeant Hausler, you are deploying at 0400 hours, orders are to link up with any Polish ground assets and provide medical and combative assistance." After they were satisfied and questions were asked the group was dismissed.

They really expected her to drop in there without a unit and survive long enough to link up with a group of rebels? They must have way too much confidence in her abilities. But it didn't matter they assigned it to her and there was no backing out, the rest of the day passed in a blur to Amy a nervous blur, as the hour of reckoning approached the more her stomach gathered butterflies. Pre-operation jitters she always got them, even when she was a marine. But as the day came to a close she lay in her bed in her barracks awake her jitters not going away. It wasn't until her personal device alerted her that she had a message that the jitters were put aside. The message was from home, she didn't read it she figured it could wait until after her mission. But it did get her mind off of her mission jitters long enough to fall asleep.

[Space station Inde, orbit. 0320 hours]

Her personal device awoke her early that morning so she could grab a shower, some chow, and arm up. The armory was quiet but there were fellow soldiers in there arming up getting ready to drop into various parts of Poland. Amy's drop zone was 2 clicks outside the town of Lublin. Normally the armory was filled with guys and girls alike shouting "Get some." But it was a hushed silence, almost like what was happening in Poland was the start of another world war and everyone in here knew it but her. Amy had just finished making sure her weapons were ready so she moved over to her armor and started putting it on, it was a dull gray armor with no color or life to it, with the exception of a pair of angel wings spray painted on the back plate by someone in her unit who thought it would be funny, she looked at her helmet, the visor was a metallic black and made it look like she was wearing a giant pair of sunglasses, slipping it on it went through weapons and ammo checks, grenade count, and also told her to make sure her medical tools were up to standards which of course they were. She looked around some of the more experienced drop troopers were putting on drop armor. Others were heading for the "Baby carrot" drop pods She always went the baby carrot route didn't trust her own drop skills to be able to hit atmo with nothing but a few extra pieces of clothes to protect her.

Getting inside her metal coffin she made sure everything was up to standards before closing it and hitting the green light so the techs in the control room knew she was ready to launch. When everyone else hit the green light a techs voice filled her helmet comm. "Launch in 3.. 2... 1...Task force Aegis is now in ground fall. Happy hunting boys and girls." His voice was the only one she had heard that entire morning and when he went quiet so did everyone else there wasn't any mission chatter or show boating just the roaring sound of her pod slipping through atmo, then the sound of her counter thrusters engaging to slow descent to a crawl and finally the chute deploying bringing her softly to the earth.

[0405 hours, Land fall 2 kilos north east outside of Lublin]

When the hatch of her pod went off she was in a dead sprint for a copse of trees so she could watch her surroundings and formulate a plan. She got on her radio and sent an transmission out to any ground assets that had a radio in the area. "Poland, TF Aegis had made land fall we are friendlies, I am currently 2 clicks north east of the town. i would suggest any squad that needs medical assistance send me their position now so i can come in support, how copy?" She asked, hoping there were enough friendlies in the area to still make a stand.

Jan looked over, the radio cackling, as suddenly, a new transmission beckoned. It was Irish, deep Irish. He chuckled, looking to the rest, adjusting the resonance.
"This is WO Adamowicz from 1st Squad, Blyskawica Reconnaissance Company, speaking to all Aegis reconnaissance elements that are touching down. The Polish forces in Lublin do not exist any more- we've lost the town. The Strzelcy Podhalancy lost the line in the South East, the reservists got cut up within the town but managed to safely evac and remaining civilians. We are at a safe location to the North-West of the town, at a reconnaissance point marked Zulu Bravo. If you have a HUD system, I've pinged it to your secure frequency, you should see it. IFF tone will ping back with six times Wilk 1A2s." He said simply standing, his visor zooming in as he made out a figure through the focus that he got in one the eyes- this visor being an advanced optical package that was designed to give the recon operator less holding binoculars and rather, adjusting an optical camera instead to gain a focus. Connor's thermal outline wasn't sharp, but he was keeping out of the open it seemed.
"Holy shit. Connor, I see you, you're in a bad part of town. You might have some fun out there, just stay frosty. I'd not go in any deeper into town, stick to the edges and move towards us- the ping should be fully through now on our hill. We have an OPFOR of Green Men...essentially, Spetsnaz GRU, VDV and Vympel in militia equipment here. Some militants, but they number one to every two Russian undercover soldier. We saw a limited deployment of actual fucking VDV in the town, but we believe now it was part of the shock effort, not a widespread deployment. Move quickly, my friend- I think I see another friendly." He said, looking up, the sight of the drop, and the visor picking up the friendly NATO IFF tone.

"SSgt Hausler, your drop zone's vectoring close on Connor's, on the edge of the town. We will continue to hold our location- if you need firepower, we can paint targets for orbital munitions if you're in a tight spot. We'll carry on observing- it's about a few klicks to us, but you'll make it." He added, looking to the rest of his men, and the two women that were in the team. Malinka put her visor up, sitting down, checking magazines as she looked at the fire and bloodshed in the distance. The others were keeping an eye out on the flanks of the observation post, waiting for the next set of movers to push up.
"I have family in Rzeszow." She simply said, as Jan looked over, Magda "Malinka" Malinowska, her nickname in English being "Raspberry", his 2IC just sit there in some sort of static thought. Rzeszow had been the first town captured, and felt like it was now on another planet. Some signs were pointing to it. It was captured, simply another concession. Like Lublin.
"Did they get out? I mean...they were the first hit." Jan said, looking out on the fire, keeping tabs on his radio. The reason they weren't moving themselves right now was because it would be too risky, to comprimise their observation- the two fireteams of Duda/Bogdanowicz, and Wojczechski/Majakowska were keeping tabs on the movement of armor and troops from this hill in the general area, this place being a key outpost to spy and watch from afar on the enemies- and Jan doubted that Malinka would want to risk rushing across the hedged plain. Their suits were not invisible, but they were well thermally camoflaged, and it'd take a specialized operator to pick out there was much heat at all from the uniforms and suit, though it wasn't entirely perfect. NV or visible spectrum would be the easiest way to find them, but the team was well versed in hiding, and staying in the shadows from afar for extended periods of time. So for now, they had a good position, and could hold for a while.

The silence was long, until she added something.
"No...not sure what's happened."
"Mine's in Bialystok. There are forces there too. No contact home." Jan said, exhaling, as he stood, plonking his tactical visor back down, essentially a black visor that sealed up the helmet and brought about a HUD, as well as other tools useful for a recon unit. He knew they had a long fight ahead of them, as they waited, hanging on the hill and getting stock. They were here for the long term, and no situation was worse than this. The radio buzzed.
"Adamczyk, you copy?" He heard it buzz right in his ear, and he stood, looking over, Leszek's voice in his head.
"Abandon the reconnaissance post. We've got the footage and the map overlay done, the friendly teams are working on it- and we have Aegis coming in.. Get the other friendly reconnaissance units and head towards Marker Tango on the Hover Quads. You might need to ride through fire, and from there, ditch them. There is a small unguarded command post filled with Anti-Mech launchers recently delivered by a group of VDV, mainly Green Men but we think that the CSTO are giving them a little something. We need you to eliiminate. Afterward, fall back to your reconnaissance point and go quiet. Those two individuals will bolster your team- they have some serious kit, so I would hustle." Leszek said, as Jan nodded, again, into thin air for some Godforsaken reason. To himself to confirm, perhaps.
"Understood. We'll call out when we're at Tango, I see it's a stream of sorts, AMW (Anti Mech Weapon) post is about 600m away if the GPS on this thing is still good." He simply replied, as he knew the rest knew exactly what was going on.
"Are we about to ride into that?" Malinka asked, as Jan chuckled, just somehow wanting to not let this go to head.
"I can't believe it either, but somehow..this is ridiculous enough to work." He added, as the team regrouped at the stash point, where their equipment and the Hover Quads had been located.

The noise of thrumming rushed over the hill, as the six rushed out, moving through the fields and hedgerows, trying to keep out of sight from the main routes as best as possible. They had avoided the most of the enemy vanguard- the advance had perhaps stalled, as they got into town, and searched and raided the area.
"Alec, Amy, it's Jan. We're on the move, we've got the Hover Quads going. Look for us moving. I'll send Malinka to get you Alec- Amy, you ride with me. We have new objectives on an enemy Anti-Mech emplacement, and the opportunity to find some intelligence- before the rest of your unit drops, it could give us the edge. Keep your eyes peeled." He called out, as the Hover Quad lept over a hedgerow, the thing taking air as bullets flew past, Jan diving the thing into a hedgerow's cover, before the rest of the team regrouped and continued on. 500m to the two. The Hover Quads weren't loud, but they moved with a pace that over this terrain, even a regular wheeled quadbike or motorcycle would struggle to match without being suicidal. Leaping another gate, Jan braked hard and turned, looking down at the female medic, a visor covering her face and a M27 in her hands. Malinka herself saw Alec a little further along, closer towards the town, moving with a serious pace towards an old apartment block. They'd regroup in time- Malinka just wanted to get him out of that area, and back with the others.
"Up you get- you're riding shotgun. Welcome to Polska, home of the best and the original Vodka of the world, Pierogi, cultural heritage and now, people who want to murder us." Malinka said to Alec, smirking somewhat as she checked her MSBS LMG, the weapon mounted in a cradle on the windshield, magazine inside. Jan offered a hand to Amy back at the farm, just smirking himself at Malinka's comment.
"Soon to be cleared of people who murder us. That's SSgt Magda Malinowska, or just Malinka for short. Don't mind my 2IC." He said, aware that even in this situation, he had to somewhat keep spirits going, and to these new NATO boots on the ground, Alec and Amy, who had respectively dropped out of the fucking low earth orbit with a re-entry suit and a drop pod, this was something that perhaps would lift their spirits too. They had work to do, the dawn was coming and they had the right time and place to strike enemy. While Lublin was overwhelmed, perhaps now it was time to fight. Time to get back.

Knight groaned watching the live feed from inside the Patton, he wanted to be down there dropping shells and kicking ass sadly though he had to wait, he knew he platoon wasn't yet at full strength but they could make do. He carefully watched, he would have to pick a drop point some with easy access to the front but enough cover the Patton wouldn't be swarmed, hell if they performed well enough then they might be able to get the Patton refitted and a fresh coat of paint on him and more Mechs for support. He sighed swiveling the pilots chair he stared at a old photograph burned lightly on the left corner, it was of his old squad all dressed in clean armor smiling proudly to be picked for the unit, a blacks ops unit with a experimental Mech, they had a right to be proud. There had been ten of them, all but him now dead which is what had lead to his placement here. He thought back to the mission, he'd done everything right, even waited longer than he should have but he had to, he had to pull out otherwise the operation would have failed and of course he wasn't allowed to see a shrink about it because the whole damn thing was top secret! Pushing the guilt from his last field op out of his head he got up, shutting down the the view screen and opening the cramped hallway door that lead down to the troop bay. He walked down slowly pulling on his helmet and opening the channel he took a deep breath. "All 1st Breacher company personal report to the Patton in five minutes for briefing, then suit up and hit the armory." He said coldly, he was ready and this time he would get it right.

1st Lieutenant Dylan "Hero" Nicholson was in the training room on the orbital station. He had headphones in his ears and was listening to scream, an odd choice, as he threw combinations at a heavy bag. He noticed a couple of other soldiers enter they appeared to be pilots like him and they began doing weight training. Finishing his next few combinations Dylan decided to go see what division they were from. Walking over he took his headphones out and approached the two men. One was doing a bench press and the other was spotting him. Raising his hand to the one spotting Dylan began to speak "Hey im first lieutenant Nicholson. I run escorts for the patton in my mech rose. I don't think ive seen you guys around before mind if I ask what division your from?" he asked in a friendly voice.
The guy benching grunted then racked the bar sitting up and staring at Dylan with a look of disdain. Laughing to his friend he said in a sarcastic voice "Since when are kids allowed to pilot mechs." who quickly replied "Apparently recently" then he cast a glare at Dylan and said "We are both from Bonecrusher platoon. Also we are seasoned veterans so until you have some combat time get the hell outta here before we teach you a lesson."
Smiling Dylan retorted to this insult "Hey guys no offense meant, but if you want we could take this to the sim and see who comes out on top."
"Your on little punk one on one bring what you got."
"Lets do it" Dyan finished before heading to the simulation room with the two men.

[ Two Hours Later]

Stepping out of the sim room Dylan was chuckling to himself. "They put up a good fight, but in the end their arrogance lost them the day. They were really good though maybe they'll respect me-" his thoughts were interrupted by one of the men walking past and running into him deliberately making him stumble a bit. Dylan heard a voice behind him "So that's where you've been. Ive been looking for you for a while now, seems like your making friends already Hero." Dylan turned to find a friend of his from another platoon behind him.
"Hey Brick hows it going?" Dylan said using the man's nickname.
"Thought you wouldn't know. You better get prepped little buddy, the shit has hit the fan in Poland and they're deploying your unit."
"Really!? thanks for the heads up ill be in the barracks and armory getting prepped if you need me." Dylan said before turning and walking off. Brick just shook his head at his young friends enthusiasm.

[Ten minutes Later]

Dylan stood with in the armory putting his gear on. He wore an advanced pilots suit meant to offer some ballistic protection, but mainly meant to help the pilot deal with temperature conditions of both extreme hot and cold. He reached into his locker and pulled out his sidearm. It was a forty caliber semi automatic, given to him by Rosalie just before she had left him, Dylan gave a sad smile looking at it then holstered the weapon. He also pulled out a basic combat machete and strapped it to his back where it wouldn't interfere. Closing the locker Dylan checked the time and realized he was ready much quicker than he expected. He also realized that most of the lockers had infantrymen getting prepped. Dylan smiled to a pretty recon trooper as he passed noticing the cross on her exo suit that signified her as a medic.

Next he headed to the engineering department to watch the mechs getting prepped. Sitting down he watched as they prepped his mech "Rose". A voice with a somewhat Mexican accent came from hi left "She is a beauty isn't she. Your a lucky man to be her pilot, and just so you know I personally did all the maintenance on her." a Hispanic engineer stood there speaking to him.
"Carlos! hey man long time no see!" Dylan said jumping up to go shake the engineer's hand.
"Hey buddy I missed you to. So I heard your getting deployed soon, go kick some ass down there."
"Yeah sure no problem man." Dylan replied laughing.
"Hey look Dylan, I saw the roses on the mech. I know most people don't get it, but come on man she left you've got to move on." Carlos said placing a hand on Dylan's shoulder.
Nodding his head Dylan replied "If only it were that easy. Anyway I got to go get prepped and get my head in the game man i'm gunna see some action soon. Its great seeing you again though ill catch you for some drinks when I get back!" Dylan replied beginning to walk off.
"Sounds good! Take care of yourself down there!" Carlos called out after him.
Walking back to the barracks Dylan sat down on his bed and put his headphones in. He started listening to music as he got in the right mindset for the battle he knew was coming. As he sat there he took out his sidearm and took it apart and began to clean it. Soon the message arrived to report to the Patton, and Dylan was the first to arrive for briefing sitting down waiting for it to begin.

Locks' faint smile slowly fell into a grim expression.

So it finally started, huh.

It seemed that the carnage going down below had been coming a long time now, and Locks wasn't too surprised by the live feed. He wasn't so sure as to call himself a seasoned veteran, but he had seen some shit in his few tours. The adrenaline that would course through him before battles was long gone now. He tried to maintain a lighthearted attitude - something that seemed more and more difficult as he progressed through his military career. I must be getting old. He was turning 30 in a few months; it was the magical number of the end of his youth.

He felt comfortable enough, wearing a white wife beater and green sweatpants. He was a little chilly. He stayed quietly in his room, going through yoga positions he'd been taught when he first began fighting. They'd always helped him focus, especially before big events. Once he felt good and ready, Locks sat up on his bunk, looking at his beloved Sig Sauer. Sheila, he called it; the name was etched on the side. That's what he'd named his first dog - a chubby little pug. It'd been by his side since he'd graduated from the Academy. A parting gift from his parents. His thumb ran over the ingrained letters while he reminisced of his fat little dog. A smile drew across his face as a sharp familiar voice cut through the air.

"All 1st Breacher Company Personal report to the Patton in five minutes for briefing, then suit up and hit the armory."

Captain Knight Locks had met him for the first time not too long ago. In all honesty, he didn't mind operating under someone of the same rank. As long as Knight proved a good leader, Locks was willing to follow. That was still to be put to the test, however. Either way, that was his cue. Ben stood from his bunk and pulled on his black beret, signifying his rank. After placing Sheila on his hip he proceeded down to the Patton. Walking a distance in front of him, a young man seemed to be heading in the direction he was. Sure enough, he saw the younger guy enter the briefing area and Ben followed suit.

Alec listened to the radio message. He wondered if the knew Alwc was his first name? That's what he gets for having to first names. The town was crawling with puppets. By that he meant Russian supported units. They had strings all over them it was funny to see how unsubtle the Russians were being. He doubted that the Patton would be deployed yet. He hoped it would. He would like to see the enemies running in fear but it was not his call.

His drones were uploading everything they saw up to the base so a 3D model of the town could be made. Problem was that the center was a no go zone since it was crawling with the bad guys. Alec sighed and fired his hook to the next roof and the next after that heading towards the location he had reviewed. He had to get there quickly or there would his head. He had to finish his mission. He was just about to contact the team when he noticed a patrol who had decided taking to the rooftops was a good idea. They were not close enough to see him but their patrol would take them to him. Alec prepared a plan since shooting the pair would be impossible. So he decided to take out his kermabit. He had to be quick about this. One of the men lagged behind and his throat was quickly cut with a stab to it. Alec then moved quickly to get the other one. However this one was just turning to talk to his friend when Alec was close. So Alec had to quickly punch the man it the throat and then stabbing him like his friend.

After the bodies had been hidden, Alec continued on his way. A few minutes later he managed to catch up to his targets, the Polish team. "Top of the morning and all that. " He joked looking the team over. "So umm. This is not my strong suit. Meeting new people. " He admitted sounding worried behind his mask.

If one were to observe Warrant Officer Jackson P. DuBois in his natural habitat, one might notice first the thick layer of grime coating the majority of his uniform, or perhaps the slight sulfury smell of molten metal and burnt slag that hung in his cloths might make the first impression. Regardless, nothing about him was less inviting than the sound of his voice. Slow, almost monotonous, the word that rolled off of his tong were articulated and to the point, "It's about damn time."
As a man who had spent the last eight years in the Eastern Bloc, Jack could honestly say that the was was no surprise. In fact, he was almost happy that the conflict had gone hot. Only the thought his comrades facing death could sober his thoughts.
In due time, the Warrant Officer made his way to the Patton for briefing, as were his orders. Seeing Captain Locks nearby, Jack tendered a short but respectful salute.
"Are you ready for the big one, Captain?" He asked grimly. "This won't be any Afghanistan or Syria. No hearts and minds idealist crap is going to do us any favors. This is the real deal." The Warrant Officer, waiting for reply, reached into a pouch on his vest with the swagger that only a true Frenchman could manage and retrieved the nickle plated cigarette case which lived there. Placing the end of one loosely in his mouth, he offered a second smoke to the Captain.

"Roger that I'm Oscar mike, following Alec's sig keep your head down till then. Out." She said she took off at a dead sprint following Alec's trail her M27 cradled in her arms like a child safety off just in case. Poland now looked like any other place she's been to, looking at the ruins of the buildings she couldn't distinguish it from some south american country, a middle eastern town, or some rock in Africa. All ruins look the same and all towns and nations burn alike, but she couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for this place over all other places. Those people had been prepared for war, even the citizens knew they were going to be bombed at some point, but here in Poland nobody knew what was happening, and things had been relatively peaceful so nobody knew until it was too late, nobody knew until some mook in combat gear kicked them out of their homes and put a gun to the back of their head then they knew.

Following Alec's trail lead her to the outskirts of the town and she cursed anyone on her radio channel could hear her mutter a string of expletives that would make a sailor blush. Some of those curses were directed in Alec's direction and others at herself for following the trail he took without the same gear. Then her curses were cut off as she heard a group coming, thinking quickly she threw herself under a burnt out wreck of a tank and hid there laying completely still until the convoy passed. "YA videl, chto eto prikhodyat polos s neba o drugom kilometra otsyuda." ("I saw it come streaking from the sky about another kilometer from here.") One of the soldiers said, she didn't understand a lick of what they were saying but judging by the direction they were heading they were heading for her drop site probably to look for her.

As they passed she was a little shaken up, if even one of them stopped to take a leak she might of been found."Fuck me." She thought and vowed to be more careful from here on out. So she made a careful and slow pace making sure to watch her ass as she went around the outskirts of the town and onto the big ass dot that was Alec. "The doctor is in." She joked huddling up with the Polish group.

"On you get." Jan said simply in his English, as Amy clambered on, as he looked to the others.
"No time to waste. Daylight is coming. Hang on tight, Staff Sergeant." Jan added, as the fireteam set up on the column formation, Malinka bursting over a hedge with Alec, as they regrouped and headed south-west, around the town. It looked hellish, but they had other matters to get to. Tearing over the rugged terrain, the lack of contacts was surprising, but not entirely crazy to comprehend. They'd shoveled themselves into the town now, but the surrounding area, not so much. They'd lost some momentum, and Jan wasn't entirely sure why. It meant there wasn't much out here, in the farms and hedgerowed fields.
"We've got an OPFOR AMW outpost, potentially set up as a counter to airborne drops like the mechs that TF Aegis has. No doubt it could create a hailstorm to eliminate it, in the short term, plus we have a chance to get some local intel." He added, looking back, as they stormed onto a dirt road, hitting almost 90mph as they stormed over the landscape.
"Get magazines ready. Two minutes till we hit Site Tango." Jan added, as the noise of distant gunfire and artillery roared on, the whole contingent moving at a blistering pace.

They stopped by a small stream, the Hover Quads parked up as the team disembarked, Jan keeping his eyes open as he knew that they were now in an area that OPFOR could easily be trying to consolidate.
"Let's move out. Not try and raise too much attention. Yet." Jan added, as he jumped off his vehicle, MSBS raised as the others followed suit, the vehicles dropping to the ground as the engines were cut. The outpost was located within a village on a slight hilltop that jutted over the plain, staffed by about 20 "Green Men" and a few VDV soldiers, with technically advanced 9M112 Kamtchatka Anti-Mech and Anti-Tank weaponry, capable of firing over almost seven kilometers, though a newer model was fielded by the CSTO forces.
"Bogdanowicz, you and Majakowska, you go with Amy- you can take them and set up a different angle of fire and approach- . Rest of you, with me. We'll try and use Alec's recon to map out the hill, before shock and aweing them in the village itself, using the wood as cover from their counter-reconnaissance and line of sight to get close. These Wilks can move fast, so we want to be up in the village before they know we are here, I assume they have the launchers located on the northern side- so if we hit their flank, they will not expect us." He added, moving through on the side of the stream, in the bushes, as he kept his weapon held high, moving fast. Leaping up, he hopschotched onto a birch tree, barely grabbing a hold onto a thick part of the branches, the tree evidently shaking as he adjusted his HUD to focus on the camp, before coming down in front of the team, moving with a running pace as the team advanced out of the stream, and through a small forest of the birches, before clambering up the hill.

The odd patrol down the main tarmac road broke the silence, but they were going quietly for now, Jan letting the team do what it needed to. Amy could try and lay down a different line of fire where needed- but overall, they were pushing up significantly, in the early dawn. The village itself wasn't very clustered, being mainly red brick and modernized, the green entrance sign close by a ruined and rusted out bus parked by a small hut. The buildings in the village were partly destroyed, some crumbling and some just left empty, vacated. It was harrowing. This was Poland now. A few other cars, left behind, debris and casings on the floor joined it. Two civilian bodies.

Taking cover by a wide tree, Jan looked to Alec.
"You might want to grapple up this thing. Amy, you in position? We're ready to strike, I paint about five hostiles right in front of us, the launchers are in the northern side located by the Church." Jan said, as he readied himself up, then adding after her response, when it came.
"We're engaging. Light them up!" He simply spoke, as the words were followed by a decisive action. The five man patrol within the close side of the village was quickly clipped, their concentration and spread a little slacking for a "Green Men" team, who were supposed to be perhaps a little more refined. He could never tell the difference between genuine Polish rebels and those bastards- but it was something distincitve. Zooming the Holographic optic, the balaclava man came into sight and dropped like a stone, as Jan moved forwards, moving to a rusted out bus, moving to it's flank and shooting another man emerging from a building.
"Contacts, all ahead! Lay it down!" Jan added, as his squad, with their mixed MSBS rifles configured in their modular roles, laid down fire on the men that were now responding, the shock of an attack so close unexpected, but the resistance sharp. Jan ducked, as accurate fire pelted his position, chambering a new magazine as he cocked the silenced Polish rifle, and boosting upward, over the bus, before then moving again, the fireteam of his bounding as he knew Alec was covering them well, the team pushing in as Jan took out another hostile close by, seemingly a little differently camoflaged. Sinisterly so.
"Watch out, these VDV soldiers have got Exoskeletons! They're fucking well armored, double tap!" Jan barked, aware that whatever this kit was on the new wave of responders, it was taking twice as much rounds to take them out- they must have been wearing some fairly advanced kit, as opposed to the Green Men who were armed purely as rebels. He kept down behind a brick wall, the building he took cover behind a small two-storey house like most in this small village were, being moreover the size of a hamlet in Western terms. It wasn't signiificant, but the position on this hilltop over the plain was important, and they had to clear it. They had to make do without Orbital Strikes for now- even though Jan could have easily bunged a bright IR strobe over the village with the exoskeleton's sheer strength and called out a Tungsten shot to blast half the village to pieces and make this a lot easier, he knew there were other priorities right now- and perhaps not making too loud a noise to the other forces in the area would work better. While gunshots echoed and were loud as hell, the sight of a giant orange flare from the sky followed by a colossal bang would be too much and bring QRFs running. And that was never a good thing. Peeking around, he quickly moved back, as Duda sprayed in covering fire as he made it to Jan's location, taking out two of the men that almost had Jan in their sights, the noise of Russian on the other end just reinforcing the facts laid in Jan's mind. This was seriously fucking shady. Looking over, he lept up onto the roof of the house, flanking around as Duda followed up, moving with the liquid pace and agility that the exoskeletons that the Poles wore could give. The small Polish village was alight.

The city was a mess. Piles of rubble covered the streets, and the air smelled like death. Burned out husks of cars and tanks peppered Main Street, and there were more than a few bodies stuck inside them. The medieval architecture of the Polish city would have been beautiful, if not for the fact that they were covered in holes and fires raged unhindered across the rooftops. Bodies lined the sidewalks, evidence that civilians attempting to escape the carnage had been mowed down. A stone wall from a nearby building collapsed and smashed into the ground, causing Alexander Jaegers to jump in his seat. The Liberator’s body swiveled to face the source of the sound, the 25mm Assault Rifle in its metal hands pointed at the rubble. Alexander’s eyes scanned the building and the alleys to each of its sides.”Clear.” He spoke into his helmet’s built in microphone, his voice filled with a calm determination. The mech that stood slightly back and to the right of the Liberator stomped into view. It was Second Lieutenant Ford in his Mattis, 40mm Grenade Launcher in hand. The mech brought a hand off its weapon and gave Jaegers a thumbs up. The Liberator swiveled to the left, where Sergeant Makovic and Petty Officer Hazel were in their Ranger mechs. The four mechs were marching in a line down Main Street, weapons raised and eyes on their scanners. Somewhere behind the fireteam, Ensign Malone was set up for artillery support. Alexander had no idea where Warrant Officer Rodriguez and his Alder were; the Hispanic tended to operate on his own, and maintained radio silence until he engaged the enemy.

Suddenly, four mechs simultaneously opened fire on The Jaeger Platoon. Instantly, the Jaegers reacted. Makovic and Hazel split off to the leftmost side of the street and under the cover of a balcony. They each opened fire with their rifles on the Ranger mechs on the roofs on the right side of the street, who were returning fire with their own assault rifles. Jaeger and Ford copied the maneuver, moving to the rightmost side of the street and taking cover from above fire using a balcony. Ford fired a grenade at a Ranger mech using a mess of machinery on a rooftop as cover. The grenade exploded on the Ranger’s chest, causing the machine to cease fire for a moment and stumble backwards. Alexander swiveled around and fired with his assault rifle at the last unengaged Ranger mech. The Liberator’s cannon swung around and automatically targeted the Ranger that Alexander was shooting at. The loud retort of the tank cannon was followed a few moments later by rockets buzzing out of their tubes and homing in on their targets. The armor piercing tank shell hit the Ranger directly in the chest, punching a sizeable hole in the armor. The mech’s pilot was ever so slightly exposed; the shot had punctured all the way to the cockpit. Seeing this weakness, Alex switched to single shot fire and tried to shoot into the hole. Most of the bullets dented the armor around the hole. Others were completely off their mark.

“I’m hit!” Makovic cried. Alexander turned to look at the two Ranger mechs. Hazel was crouched next to Makovic’s mech, which was currently lying on its back, one of its legs blown off and lying nearby in a ditch. Hazel grabbed Makovic and began dragging him into an alleyway.”Ensign Malone, fire support! Now!” Jaegers cried into his mic.”Rodriguez, update the battlemap! I need coordinates!” The artilleryman growled into the radio.”I’m a bit busy!” North of Main Street, Rodriguez was engaging in a guerilla style fight against two more Ranger mechs.”Gah! Moving in to get a visual!” Malone informed the rest of the squad over the communications channel.”Ford, suppressing fire!” The two Mattis class mechs stepped out of cover, turning to engage the Rangers above them. The sounds of autocannons firing accompanied the constant chattering of Ford’s many machine guns as the two mechs poured on the heat. With their backs exposed, the two Rangers on the leftside rooftops took potshots at the Mattis’ backs. Even the thick armor of a Mattis couldn’t take this amount of sustained fire for too long. Ford’s Grenade Launcher successfully landed a grenade on one of the Ranger’s arms, blowing apart of wiring and screwing with the hydraulics. The Mech’s arm went limp to its side, and dropped its assault rifle in favor of its wrist-mounted machine gun. Alexander grunted as warning lights appeared on his screen: one of the Rangers had managed to damage his right leg, cutting the mech’s speed in half.”We’re clear!” Hazel yelled into the comms, and the two Mattis mechs moved back into cover.”Yo, Rod! I’ve got a visual on the two punks on your back: puttin’ rounds down range.” Malone informed the scout. Moments later the familiar plunking sound of a mortar firing entered the cacophony of battle. An explosion rippled through the streets, far larger than any of the previous ones. A cheer quickly followed.”Direct hit! One of ‘em’s down!” Rodriguez celebrated, before turning around and firing at the final Ranger chasing it.

Alexander focus his mind, shutting out the chatter from his platoon. He zoomed in on the injured enemy Ranger, aiming for the hole in its front. A single round left the Liberator’s gun, zooming through the air towards the target. The bullet entered the puncture wound in the mech. From there, Alexander lost sight of it: but he knew what was happening. The bullet hadn’t come out the back, which meant it was bouncing around on the inside. A half a second passed before the mech charged off the side of the roof and landed with a thud on the street below, unmoving. The pilot had to have been hit, and in a panic had slammed his or her foot down on the pedal and unknowingly sent him or herself to their doom. Turning away from the grim sight, Jaegers added his fire to Ford’s, who desperately needed the help. He wasn’t built for mech to mech combat. Alexander’s cannon fired off once more, but missed. On the other side of the street, Hazel popped in and out of the cover of the alleyway, firing at the mostly uninjured Rangers on the right side rooftops.”Surprise, pendejo!” Rodriguez laughed, firing off a pointblank burst of 20mm Assault Rifle fire into the last left side mech’s back.”You two took the other one down, then, I presume?” Alexander asked, as he and Ford moved from cover to help Hazel in his firefight.”Yep. Guy didn’t stand a chance.” Malone responded, as a mortar round exploded on the rooftop one of the Rangers was standing on. The two Rangers went down quickly to the combined firepower of four mechs firing at them.

”Tangos down. You finished yet, Warrant Officer?” Jaegers asked, turning around. The Alder and the Ranger had both dropped their Assault Rifles, and were engaging in close quarters combat. The Ranger swiped with its oversized combat knife at the Alder, but Rodriguez’s excellent piloting skills meant that he could dodge away from the Ranger’s clumsy strikes with relative ease. The Alder itself was pouring on the fire with its wrist mounted machine guns, which didn’t seem to be doing all that much to the Ranger. Suddenly, in a fit of anger, the Ranger threw his knife to the ground and brought up his wrist-mounted machine guns. Rodriguez was moving in an instant. The Alder dashed forward, pounding its fists into the chest of the Ranger, causing it to stumble. The lighter mech moved swiftly, grabbing one of the Ranger’s unsteady legs and pulling it out from under him. The Ranger mech fell over onto its back. Rod jumped onto the Ranger, using its own knife to slice a hole in the hull and revealing the cockpit. The Alder lowering a machine gun into the hole it had greeted and opened fire.

Alexander’s screen went black and a female voice entered the comms channel: “Simulation over. The 122th is victorious over the 63th.” The roof of the simulation chamber opened like a jet’s canopy, and Alexander climbed out the top of the fake mech cockpit and into the simulation room. His men were gathered together in front of their cockpits, celebrating yet another victory. Alex passed them and met the commander of the 63th in the center of the room. The two shook hands; their faces were solemn, but for different reasons. Alexander didn’t want to give the impression he was gloating, and the 63th’s captain didn’t want to show his disappointment in his team’s failure.”Captain.” Alex said, breaking the handshake and saluting.”At ease, First Lieutenant. You’re just as skilled as your superiors said you were.” Alex nodded at the compliment.”Thank you, sir.” As the intercom crackled to life, the room went silent as the order to deploy was given. The two platoons split up, and moved towards their respective armories.”Get to the armory and suit up. Meet me in the mech hangar once you’re all armed. Dismissed!” The men scrambled away out the various doors of the room, and Alexander grimaced.

He’d have to kill his first man today.

Alec figured that Amy was behind. Course he was impressed she had followed without the use of his gadgets. Few people could do that while keeping the self from harm. He had to being that up later. "Took you long enough. " He joked back surveying the team for his report. He was clearly dubious about the lack of heavier support. He had been trained to support mechs and of course long range warfare. However scouting was his best skill. His drones quickly reattached themselves to his suit as he went with the team.

Once they arrived Alec took one look up at tree and fired his grappling hook up into the tree. It was not an excellent spot but it gave him a commanding view of the area. He took his rifle from his back and got ready. With a quick hand gesture his two drones went off. One staying close to him whole the other roamed at a distance. His suit targeting activated spotting his first kill of the day. Alec sighted his first target, a soldier that appeared to be trying to figure out how to flank the team. He got his target on them, breathed out and squeezed the trigger. His silencer his the muzzle flash and the gun fire did the rest. The target fell as if God had just flipped the switch off. He kept this going, watching the squad as it moved , and firing at targets to keep the enemy at bay the best he could. He hoped he was not spotted.

((Glitchy thing!!!)

Sterling, along with several other infantrymen watched the live feed from inside the orbital station's weight room. Some men were lifting weights, others merely watched the feed. Sterling, towel draped around his neck winced as he looked at what was happening. It was no short of a slaughter down groundside, a surprise attack that no one was apparently ready for. There were some grumbles within the room. Some men pumped iron harder, tuning out the bad news, others had put their weights down, and several stood up, and started leaving the weight room, likely to get ready for their imminent deployment. Sterling had just started walking out of the gym when a voice cut through the otherwise silent station.

"All 1st Breacher company personal report to the Patton in five minutes for briefing, then suit up and hit the armory."

That was him. Sterling rolled his shoulders and quickly hit the gym's lockers, pulling on a pair of fatigue pants and boots along with his unit t-shirt. He turned out of the station's gym and began double timing it to the Patton's hangar, his boots clanging against the metal station floors as he walked through the ever-steadily growing throngs of people, the sudden attack on the live feed had the majority of the Task Force scurrying around the base and preparing for a drop. From what Sterling heard in the halls, a few of their operators had already dropped down and hit ground.

Peeling into the Patton's hangar, Sterling quickly identified the people in the already there. Captain Locklear was easily identifiable, from his black beret, to the fact that he was the only man comparable to Sterling in size- the two bear-like men could have been easily confused for professional football players with their sizable builds. Warrant Officer DuBois was in there as well, cigarette in hand and mouth. Lieutenant Nicholson was already in full gear, and prepped in the hangar, as was Captain Knight who piloted the Patton that the 1st platoon revolved around.

"Gentlemen," Sterling said as a manner of greeting to the officers. Decidedly casual, Sterling was used to being the only NCO's in a team made almost entirely of officers. They were, for the most part, professional men, who weren't anal about the idea that enlisted personnel bending over backwards for their power trips. On top of that, he had been serving under several of them for a while. Captain Locklear, Locks as the team called him, was a rough and tough infantry captain whom had long ago earned Sterling's respect. While Captain Knight was encased in the protective armor of his mech, Locks was on the ground with the rest of the infantry squad. The man was a straight shooter, a door kicker (CQB specialist), and a good soldier. If Sterling had to follow a man into hell, It'd be Locklear.

[ignore]

"I know most of you are recent transfers and that we currently do not have a full platoon, but shit is getting real down there gentlemen" Knight decided to speak casually, they might be under his command but he had read there files, no one here was about to question his right to command. "Now you may have noticed we are short a man, Second Lieutenant Connors dropped in to recon the site and bring us this." Placing a projector on the small table in the center of the Patton, lighting up a projected a blue 3D model of the town of Lubin in front of them based on scans Connors had taken. "This is our area of operation, now we will have soldiers from 8th infantry on site riding down with us, however they are only along to set up forward command post and give us a staging point. You gents will be seeing most of the action, now the Patton will arrive here on the outskirts of the town to the east, once down me and the 8th are going to be staying back and holding the drop point, I'll have the guns online, those of you with targeting systems have the right to use them on any and all targets in range." Knight said explain blowing up the eastern clearing they would land in and showing the staging area. "Once were down we are to link with Polish forces and our Recon teams. After this you will advance and clear the town. Now as for support, we will have limited air support as well as Mechanized forces on the ground. Nicholson you will be the escorting there teams though town and helping to eliminate any Mechs or armored assets.I know there will be other Mechs on the ground but I can't say for certain there order." Knight pulled off his helmet looking over the map once again not looking away. "I know some of you think less of Mech pilots and would prefer to take orders from Locklear but I promise you this, I may be leading you to hell but I promise you I will walk you all right back out, then by you all drink when were home. Now speak freely and ask any questions, I will tell anything you need to know." Knight said as he shut down the hologram looked at his men.

Dylan waited for captain knight to finish speaking and merely nodded saying "Yes sir". After the captain was done Dylan spoke up "Sir. When will we be dropping? Also sir please take this for me in case I get taken out while im escorting the others." Dylan said holding out a single dogtag to the captain. "If they take me out I need you to get this to 2nd lieutenant Reyes in Engineering. He will know what to do with it from there, sorry to ask this of you sir, but if something happens to me I want her to know." Finishing Dylan smiled.

"Kid relax, your gonna come back just fine." Knight said taking the tag just to settle him down, he had seemed nervous about his first combat mission "Most pilots aren't killed first day on the job, beside your a natural at this, so when you do get back tell her about it kid. If you don't wait to long." Knight sighed lifting the two chain around his neck, where he kept his dog-tag and a necklace of his fallen comrades tags, you can all see nine other tags on the necklace, on his dog-tags chain it he places Dylan's tag right beside his own. "Drop time is unknown, we are to go on standby until the General gives us the green light. The moment we know is the moment we go. Any more questions?"