After some time passing, the dropships of the 81st were fast approaching the planet, maneuvering around thousands of shredded starship debris from past battles, Anuria's orbit was a deathtrap for any pilot who came unprepared and lacked the training, most fortunate for the 81st Mobile Infantry that their pilots knew what they were doing, unfortunately, they were never prepared for what was to come next. Captain Ironside sticked around in the back of the cockpit, gripping tightly to the co-pilots seat's cushions, observing the outside as the group flew in a loose formation, it was comforting and unnerving that nothing happened yet, that he thought both his troops were going in intact, and that the enemy was planning something. Within the instant, one of the dropships furthest ahead of the group was hit by an incoming missile seemly appearing from nowhere, and on was engulfed in blinding light, followed by fast approaching wreckage from its fresh carcass, the pattern repeated several more times as more dropships were destroyed from the ambush. "Son of a bitch!" The captain exclaimed. "Where're they coming from!!??!" trouble wasn't over yet as the surviving dropships were assailed by energy weapons fire from the Ashtar corvettes, a few more shredded up by their attack, one of the hostile ships had came into view of the lead dropship. "Sir, we got an Ashtar wolfpack on our asses!" the lead pilot said. "Get us out of their aim!" He ordered as he turned back to the squad nervously waiting in the cargo hold. "Alright ladies and gents brace yourselves, we're going in real hot!" Despite being safely buckled in, Adam and the rest of his squad out of sheer habit, gripped tightly on their seats as the turbulence grew more intense. He closed his eyes, focusing on his family, calming himself. "[i]No way in hell I'll die here...[/i] He thought to himself, every second of survival being a damn miracle to him, especially what's pursuing them relentlessly. "Everyone, huddle in!" The Captain ordered as the surviving dropships moved closer to the lead ship as they passed through the atmosphere, the City within visual distance. "I think we lost'em sir." The pilot said with a heavy sigh of relief. "Good..." The captain replied with a hint of sorrow in his tone, over half of their company was blown out of the skies, their part in the mission to secure the districts surrounding the Forward Base was about to become a lot more difficult. ------------------------- [b][u]Kol'Kora, Federation Forward Operations Base[/u][/b] [img]http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q173/sigma830/RP%20Characters%20and%20Stuff/Rp%20stuff_zpsbjydfnbt.png[/img] "Hostiles on advance!" A soldier shouted, firing from cover along with several others. "Come get some!" An federation soldier of the Caadori species shouted, firing a heavy machine gun towards the charging Vaegir Penal conscripts. "I can do this all day assholes!" He continued unloading lead on the convicts until he heard several clicking sounds. "Reload!" He yelled, but before he got the chance, he was pulled down. "Masu! get in cover you mad idiot!" shouted the human next to him, pulling him down with all his might behind the safety of the makeshift walls they set up. "You're a sniper's magnet!" he shouted over the gunfire. Masu simply smiled, "Hah! Come on sarge, ain't nothing that can stop me, I'd say let'em try!" The Sergeant frowned to the over confident Caadori. "You're no good dead to the Squad, soldier." He replied as he placed two fingers over the right side of his head. "Control, this is Echo One, we're facing some heavy fire here, requesting some backup ASAP." A response came as a feminine voice replied. "Roger that Echo One, we're sending an Legionary in your way." "Much appreciated Control." The Sergeant then turned his gaze back to one of his soldiers, a member of the Naasu as he tinkered with a power generator, pressing down keys. "How are those Auto Turrets Sull?" "I'm working as fast as possible sarge!" He replied, frantically trying to turn the generator on. "You stupid piece of crap! Turn on damn you!" He kept shouting at the generator as it refused to power the auto guns that help protect the base's left flank. He then resorted to smashing it in frustration, however, in his recklessness he was out in the open briefly, and was shot in the arm. "Gah!" he yelped, falling to the ground in agony. "Medic!" The Sergeant cried out, and without delay a woman rushed over and dragged the injured Sull away into cover. The sergeant proceeded to fire blindly at the attacking Vaegirs, and before they knew it, a Vaegir Armored Car came crashing through, aimed at the defenders and ready to fire it's main gun. "Ah shit.." the sergeant said, and right before his eyes, before they could be blown to bits, From the left, the Legionary APC promised mere moments ago crashed in as well, right between the weakened defenders and attackers. The doors on the side slide open as a dozen Auxilia-class infantry drones rushed out of the armored vehicle, one of them approaching the sergeant. "Sgt. Mike Zaamil." It droned. "We have been ordered to cover your retreat." "Your timing is just so damn perfect." Zaamil complimented. "Echo Squad! Fall back to the gate! The Toasters are gonna cover us!" And with that, they all complied as they slowly fell back to the gate as they brought in the wounded, however, they unfortunately had to leave several others behind, those that were killed in earlier moments of the skirmish. Before long all the remaining Echos reached the other side, the large doors sliding closed. ----------------------- [b][u]Command and Operations Center[/u][/b] In the center of this ramshackled base, Colonel Itinus Kosh of the 701st Strike Battalion, the Battalion tasked with the push into the city, and several others watched over a holo-display of the battlefield, three platoons-worth of men, equipment and drones were struggling across several locations around the district they controlled, a few squads such as Echo were left to guard the base in case of Vaegir flank attacks that occurred not too long ago. The room begun to tremor, dirt and dust falling as they were being shelled by Vaegir artillery. "Damn it, they got us cornered, their getting serious this time." The Colonel said as he glued his eyes to the battlefield, Vaegir, and even other forces making a slow advance in great numbers. He turned to his Second in Command. "Any word on those reinforcements?" "Yes, sir." He replied. "We've sighted incoming dropships, they're ours." The Colonel smirked with the news. "We can not lose this beachhead we worked our asses on taking and defending."