[b]Collective Fringe Worlds. Aboard Floating Fortress AA-#04.
[/b]
	
	Seated at the head of the table, inside one of the many conference rooms of the Flying Fortress, Generalissimo Alexander Dollabella-Rybalsky watched as the transmitter activated, filling the empty seats with the holograms of the Board of Directors. The first meeting with all members in attendance since the start of offensive operations against the Agonis Collective.

	“Now that we are all here, brothers and sisters.” The Generalissimo started. “The meeting can start.” He pressed some controls in the console. “First order of business is the proposal we have received from the Musashi government about a cooperation pact against the Xeno Horde. The relevant documents have already been forwarded to you. So I assume we all had time to weigh the pros and cons of this proposal.”

	“I say we should accept the deal.” Director of Truth Fianecci spoke up, looking around to the other holograms in the table. “Another treaty with Musashi will further secure our border with them. We need this assurance to make our efforts in integrating the Lawless Zone easier.”

	“And what can Musashi offer to us?” Director of Safety Tanzin asked, frowning. “Those honor-obsessed degenerates are too busy with their imperialist desires in the Core to offer any meaningful help against our enemies. Be they machine or organic.” He snorted. “We've given up half of the Zone for empty promises and words.” A few other Directors expressed their support at that.

	“Your position on the deal with Musashi is already known, Director Tanzin.” Fianecci replied, venon dripping from her words. “You were outvoted in this matter. Accept it and move on.” For once, the Generalissimo agreed with her. The thought left him deeply unsettled.

	“Very well.” Director Tanzin gritted out. “But my point remains, we stand to gain nothing with this cooperation pact. When the time comes to fight the Horde we shall do it on our terms. Not at the beck and call of an imperialist tyrant like some submissive animal!”

	“Why not take the deal and break it later if its convenient?” Director of Production Aprayat suggested rather meekly. “We have no obligation to be honest with these backward leftovers of the Imperium. Let's say what they want to hear and act only if it suits our needs.” 

	“If we are to be taken seriously in the Galactic stage we must stay true to our commitments!” Director Shukar shot back, glaring at his fellow Director. “We cannot let zeal blind us completely to the realities of the situation.”
	
	“Watch your words, Director.” Tanzin warned. “They may be prone to misinterpretation.” 

	Aprayat flinched slightly, the hologram shooting a few glances around as if a battalion of the DirSaf goons would burst into his room to drag him away.

	“Director Aprayat is right.” The Generalissimo spoke up, looking straight at Tanzin's hologram. “We cannot afford to burn our bridges with our neighbors. Not now while we busy with Agonis and certainly not while the threat of the Horde remains.”

	“I couldn't have said better.” Fianecci added with fake sweetness in her voice. “I support the motion of accepting the pact.” And just like that the feeling of wrongness took hold of the Generalissimo, he realized that Fianecci probably had her own reasons for supporting the move. But given their shared history such blatant show of support was unexpected. And from the reactions of the rest of the Board, the Generalissimo wasn't the only one surprised by that.

	“Anyone else has anything to add before we call a vote?” The Generalissimo asked, taking control of the situation before the argument could restart. “New points please, we have already heard enough of the same prattling.” He finished, looking at Tanzin. When no one else spoke up he continued. “Then I call for a vote on whether or not we accept the pact of cooperation with Musashi.”

	The apparent union between him and Fianecci was  enough to sway the non-entities that would usually follow Tanzin's line out of fear and the pact was approved with a relatively comfortable margin of votes.

	With that done, the relevant parties were warned and soon after the message was sent to Musashi informing them of this new development while the Board meeting continued to address the other topics of the agenda.

[b]Heion. Contested Collective Fringe World
[/b]

[img]http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/killzone/images/5/57/Second_Extrasolar_War.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130513185021[/img]

	During the last weeks Collective forces in the system had suddenly increased their activity in the planet. A suicide space action had bought time for several convoys of ships to bring reinforcements and supplies to the Collective forces on the ground. And now they were rushing to press their advantage before the Totalists could bolster their presence on the Fringe World. 

	That was why Dvarza and several other officers were clustered around the nervous communications officer manning the console mounted in the basement of the ruined apartment building turned strong point in one of the thousands of ruined cities of Heion. The Collective push in the sector had been specially brutal and the forces operating out in the flat wastes around the city had been either destroyed or pushed back into the sprawling mess of ruined urban landscape.

	“U-understood, command.” The communications officer took off his headphones and raised his head to look at the group assembled around him. He stared, sweat dripping from his forehead as he finally spoke up: “Unfortunately there are other sectors with a higher priority on the list. We shouldn't count on getting any kind of substantial reinforcements or support any time soon.”

	Major Orestes cursed loudly, making the officer flinch in his chair: “From what I was told, the enemy has broke through some native units and is threatening our supply dumps.” He added hesitantly.

	“Alright...alright...”The Major muttered as he tried to regain his composure. “The Machines will be hitting us anytime now. We will just have to make do with what we have…” He turned to the others and barked loudly: “Out of my sight now! Get to your positions!”

	Dvarza didn't need any further prompting and rushed out of the basement and the building into the large cleared plaza where her battalion was deployed. Rubble had been cleared, gathered and moved to block access points and build barricades. Barbed wire, not really useful against the Collective, had been laid out all across the area and the entire approach had been mines and boob trapped. Further in the front, buildings had been blown out and cleared to create an open field of fire for the heavy guns.  They had weeks to prepare the whole area and yet the Lieutenant couldn't help but feel like their chances were poor. Specially since half of the company's vehicles had been permanently put out of actions and had yet to be replaced. The less said about those who still worked the better.

	The Lieutenant strapped her gas mask before entering her command post, a hole dug into the ground covered by a thick black tarp. It was cramped and only had the barest minimum of equipment, plus it would offer little protection against any kind of half-serious artillery bombardment. But still, better than nothing.

	And just as she had managed to settle between three others inside the cramped hole, the telltale  and faint sounds of combat started. Dvarza turned on the comms on her helmet and soon she was flooded by confirmations of contact coming from the companies deployed further into the sector. And by the sounds of it the Collective wasn't pulling any punches.

	Some meters behind the command post the company's artillery, also dug in, opened fire. For whatever good that would do. They needed at least divisional artillery to deal with a push this strong. But a quick log in into the divisional net showed that, once again, there were other sectors with higher priority getting their teeth kicked in by the Machines.

	Still, there was nothing for them besides waiting. Dvarza's company was pretty much the company's last line of defense and her battalion was the last line of defense of the company. Until the machines had managed to push through their outer lines further into the ruins there was little for them to do besides wait in anxiety and fear and hope that the Collective wouldn't just carpet bomb them into oblivion.

	Four hours later and the battalion hadn't exactly been carpet bombed into oblivion. They had however, gotten pretty closed to it when the Collective decided to silence their own guns. Half of Dvarza's carefully prepared defenses had been reduced to dust. And her battalion had been reduced to half of its original strength. The rest dead or wounded, and of the wounded only half would be worth treating. 

	On the bright side, her command post was somehow still standing. But half of the building housing the company's HQ was gone and Commissar Nigri had been hurriedly shipped back to the rearguard with an arm missing and the other holding his guts inside. Already Dvarza had to deal with cowards and dissidents herself, and the bodies of those who tried to skirt their duty had joined those killed by the bombing. There was no time to make an example of them so she contented herself with merely recording their names, the Commissar would decide if further action was necessary once he recuperated.

	It was also during these four hours that the Collective had methodically destroyed their outer lines and maimed the regiment. Four companies almost completely wiped out while their remnants ran, crawled or wandered into Dvarza's position. Those who still could fight were sent to the trenches, foxholes and barricades while those who couldn't were thrown into the basement turned makeshift hospital. A squad was still deployed there with orders to detonate what was left of their incendiary bombs if the Collective pushed them back. “Better to burn to death than be turned into a shambling abomination” Major Orestes had said and Dvarza agreed with him.

	And so, after four grueling hours of bloodshed the Collective finally started the push against last remnants of their regiment. There was no hope for reinforcements as the rest of the division was being mauled just as bad. And only now the penetration into their rearguard had been stopped. What strength the army had in the city would be focused on pushing the Collective away from the supply dumps. The units on the front, like Dvarza's would have to hold with what they had. They probably were already counted as acceptable losses by the General. Left to bleed the enemy before they reached the second line deeper into the city. Intellectually she understood the reasoning, but that didn't made the situation any better

	And to add the last bit of salt to the injury, she was forced to share her command post with Bitchface. “Lieutenant Naura needs somewhere to command her battalion. Lieutenant Naura's forces will help you defend your sector.” The Major had said before sauntering out of her hole back towards his own post in the basement. Problem wad Lieutenant Naura's battalion was pretty much reduced to her and 30 odd shell shocked survivors with no heavy or support equipment. There was no reason for her to not be out there in the barricades with what was left of her unit. But no! She had to be inside Dvarza's post, Dvarza's very small command post. At least she had stayed quiet the whole time, probably still shaken up  by the battle. 

“Not such a big mouth anymore, eh?” Dvarza thought as she smiled behind her mask.

	Another artillery barrage signaled the start of the Collective attack. The ground shook and the air was filled with explosions. Dvarza crouched by the hole's wall, covering her head. One of her sergeants finally lost her nerve and ran out. It would do her no good, the open ground offered even less protection than the Lieutenant's measly dug in post and even if the coward survived the battle, Dvarza would make sure to register her cowardice and let Commissar Nigri deal with her once this all was dealt with.
	
	The communications net was once again filled with noise as the Collective armor rolled in towards their lines. Major Orestes barked the order to fire at will and the entire line erupted with fire. Dvarze really could use another dose of stimulant right now, but she did not dare to take off her gas mask. 

	“I need to get out!” Naura blurted out. Dvarza turned quickly, hand on her sidearm ready to shot the other Lieutenant the moment she finished speaking cowardice. “I've got nothing to do here. My troops need me.” She finished, turning fully towards Dvarza, as if expecting something. 

	Dvarza nodded slowly, Naura grabbed her rifle and jumped out of the hole. Running towards the fight. She was brave, stupid but brave, that much Dvarza was willing to admit. At least now she had her command post back. 

	“Sergeant Petrenko.” Dvarza called out on the battalion net. “Report!”

	“Holding out so far, ma'am.” Came the strained reply over the sound of intense gunfire. “The Muncs aren't focusing their push on us. But we might get outf-GAHAHH! MY ARM MY FU-” The transmission was cut by a loud explosion that made Dvarza physically recoil. In the distance she could see that there was now a big flaming hole in their lines. And with sudden panic she realized that the enemy had already passed through their carefully prepared killzone.

	Dvarza decided that things were really starting to resemble JHS-294 now as she watched Collective soldiers rush to the breach in their lines. Dozens fell to their fire but even more came surging through the breach and fanning into their lines. 

	“BURN THEM! BURN THEM ALL!” Dvarza screamed into the comms. “DON'T LET THEM SPREAD TOO FAR BURN THEM NOW!” 

	On cue, several squads rushed into the developing melee, escorting soldiers armed with incendiary weapons. Engulfing whole groups of combatants in fire. Soon, the outer barricades turned into a wall of flames as both Collective and Totalist burned. The flamethrower squads rushed back towards the second line as burning figures ran out of the flames screaming in pain. Followed by the Collective drones, laying down precise fire and cutting down several of the retreating troopers before being put down by response fire.

	“We've got several large contacts incoming, ma'am!” The soldier manning the sensor equipment informed. “Walkers most likely, should be on us in a question of minutes.”

	“Do we have a visual?” Dvarza asked, turning back to him.

	“No, but I can guide the anti-tank guns with the radar coordinates.” The soldier replied.

	“Then do it.” Dvarza ordered as she turned to watch the flames. Waiting to see how long the Collective would take to overcome this new barrier. 

	The air was filled with the noise of the hidden guns opening fire. Smart ammunition and guided rockets took flight, disappearing over the smoke. Dvarza turned towards the soldier, awaiting for the results.

	“Three contacts down, maybe out of action.” He informed. “Oh, I can't get anymore readings.” He cursed as he punched the device. “They must be jamming our sensors.”

	Dvarza was about to give more orders when the entire ground shook. A deafening noise and a heavy blow to the back sent the Lieutenant to the ground. Dazed from the explosion, she felt herself being shaken before a heavy weight dropped over her. 

	Regaining her bearings, Dvarza noticed with dawning horror that the weight was a body and that there was fire coming from their rearguard. The Collective had flanked their position. 

	Pushing the body off her, the Lieutenant quickly scrambled to grab her rifle. Dvarza cringed as her hearing returned, the comm net was filled with chaotic noise, desperate calls for help and orders, Dvarza turned it off. She rushed out of the half collapsed hole to see that the company's HQ had been reduced to complete rubble.    Not wasting any time she dived into the nearest trench.

	“What now Lieutenant?” The soldier that helped her to her feet asked, not managing to mask the panic in his voice. 

	“What about the Major?” She asked dumbly, of course the Major was out of contact. An explosion like that probably vaporize the basement.

	“We don't know!” Another one added, sounding on the verge of panic.

	“Then we fight!” She shouted with false bravado, taking position in the lip of the trench and firing at the Varusch troopers rushing over the rubble at their rear. 

	“This is Lieutenant Dvarza!” She spoke on the company's net. “And as ranking officer I'm taking control of the unit!” Technically speaking that wasn't completely true, but she doubted anyone would be willing to point that out with them being essentially fucked.

	“The enemy is now on our rear! Are the flanks clear?” She asked as she fired another burst at the  approaching Varusch.

	“They're hitting us heavy on the right!” A voice Dvarza couldn't recognize at the moment, specially with the net distortion, cried out. “Bringing in the heavy hitters! Five walkers at least!”

	“Two coming over the fire wall!” Another one called out. Dvarza didn't dare to turn and look with the horde of enemy infantry rushing her trench.

	“The left flank looks clear.” Now Dvarza recognized the voice, Naura. “Light enemy presence and they're not attacking. We could try forcing our way out here and into the 23rd 's sector. Very little exposed ground. Just a lot of ruins and rubble. ”

	It could be a trap, leave an obvious way out to catch them in the open. Dvarza was torn until a trio of large walker crested over the rubble of their HQ. Immediately pulverizing one of their dug in APCs and two anti-tank guns. 

	“All remaining units! Fighting retreat towards the left bastion!” She barked into her comm. “Whatever heavy guns remain, focus your fire on the walkers!”  A chorus of affirmations followed

	Dvarza emptied her clip on a brute before crouching to reload. Another set of explosions rocked the ground and she rose up again to see a walker fall over smoking. Right before another took out the heavy weapons position responsible for the kill.

	“Out of the trench!” She ordered, rushing to jump out of the trench. Behind her the remaining troops followed closely. Sometimes firing short bursts at the Collective troops rushing their rear.
	
	The run through the open courtyard was grueling. Barely slowing down to fire blindly at their rear while being fired at from nearly every direction. What few soldiers remained behind to provide covering fire were easily cut down by the lumbering walkers.

	The “left bastion” was just a husk of buildings hastily reinforced by the army engineers. The only reason it was still standing wash because it was never the focus point of the bombardments. But with the number of Totalist troops rushing inside that was bound to change. A couple dozen were already taking firing positions with whatever heavy weaponry was left to cover the retreat of the remnants of the regiment.

	Dvarza ran through an open wall. The ground floor was packed with troops and the Lieutenant ran  through cramped corridors. Lost in the mob of rushing soldiers all heading in the same direction. Towards  the opposite side of the bastion, and hopefully escape. 

	“Alright! Pay attention!” Dvarza shouted, both to the troops around her and into the company's net. “Are the assault squads ready for the push?”

	“Just waiting for the go signal.” Naura replied through the comms as the building shook from a direct hit from the walkers.

	“Then go! We have no time to lose!” Dvarza shouted again. What she wouldn't give for a dose of stimulant right now.

	The stream of troops running through the corridors and rooms of the bastion eventually took the Lieutenant outside. Through the torn barricades and into rubble filled narrow streets. Already several Totalist bodies were strewn on the street while further down the first assault squads fought to clear the way to the mass of tightly packed ruins that would take them to the sector occupied by the 23rd division, hopefully they were still holding out.

	And so Dvarza ran. Firing blindly and without stopping she followed the flow of troops as scattered Collective fire downed soldiers around her. She was just about to dive into the cover of the clustered ruins when a shot took half of her leg.

	The Lieutenant fell to the ground shoulder first. She didn't scream at first, it took a while for her to see the half ruined leg dangling below her knee. Held only by a fleshy strip as the blood flowed into the  ground. Someone dragged her inside the lobby of the building as she screamed in pain and panic. 

	She was so focused on her ruined leg and the incredible mind numbing pain that she missed the syringe being jabbed in her arm. The chemical worked fast and before she could realize what was going on Dvarza lost consciousness.


[hider=TL DR]

-The pact with Musashi against the Barbs is accepted
-Stalemate on the front

[/hider]