LustForDecay

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

RECRUITMENT THREAD: roleplayerguild.com/topics/190048-the…

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

The automata's body jerked and convulsed as light shone through the holes punched into its body. Gouts of sparks spat out of its wounds as systems faltered and its huge machine gun clattered to the ground, targeting devices mounted onto it blinking wildly as their signal to their wielder vanished. The duo of reinforcements had begun sprinting and by the sound of their clanking footsteps, they were of a similarly heavy and roboticized build.

Combat Automata

One could almost think them human but their movements were rigid and strict, worse than any drill sergeant and even more deadly in their precision. Better AI than a supposedly independent post-Reckoning state should be able to afford; their eyes swept the rubbles and corners with their reinforced, modified rifles not necessarily following the exact center of their sight. Their central camera-eye might be looking in one direction but the weapon would always sweep around the periphery. A notably lesser calibre than the heavy gunner that Salvator had slain but given their more compact size, they could be swung considerably faster in a CQC situation and likely had a far higher rate of fire.

That is, if they saw the voidhanger. Even as the interference began to diminish, their rapidly cycling vision modules were forced to contend with a residual array of junk data and false positives. Both of them spread out, cautious not to joint their comrades immediately as they attempted to hunt down the now even deadlier, cloaked threat. One of them was near the body, sweeping its functionaly-an-LMG into the house and half crouching to diminish its presence.

The other looked over into the windows opposite of the house, suspecting Salvator had vanished within.

Meawhile, in front of the suspicious home with the partially ajar door (or what remained), the furious gun battle raged on. The submachine gun spat, its rounds slamming into multiple targets with vicious speed as the mag started to lower to near a quarter. One soldier staggered back as he caught a full spray, back pressing to the wall as he slumped forward seeping red into murky brown. The AP grenade fumbled out of his hands as life spilled into the filth, another shouting for cover.

The hostile was answered, just not the way he wanted to be.

Ilshar's ulvath responded and the human's body diminished in volume and mass. More rounds than his auagmented senses and digital systems could comprehend ripped into his body, stripping armor, biomesh, his entire left side, and chunks of flesh. A spurting, twitching mess of augmented cybernetics and reinforced bone emerged from 3/4 of a human body, petrified from shock and agony as another burst vanished the mutilated torso and the midsections of the two nearest CivSec troopers. The four remaining wisely dropped as energy beams seared out, digging into the neck of one, killing him with the shock of forced cauterization.

The other three were falling back, unwilling to commit to a fight against that much firepower after having been reduced to less than half their number. A grenade soared out - cylindrical and yellow-banded - and soon a grey smoke began to spew out as the remaining three shouted and fired a few tentative shots, scrambling away to regroup with the ethereal anomaly. Yet that left the pair of automata now to try and distract the rest of the Envenomed team as they changed their objective from hunting Salvator to spraying on the team. Firing from the same northwest position roughly as the first automata-gunner, a twin-barrel spray of automatic rifle fire ripped along walls and rubble, gouging out more cover as the two machines began to stride backwards, torsos twisting upon their robotic waists.

Back at the treeline, the now outnumbered scielto fired blasts of etheric beams at the approaching ZRF forces - luminiscent spears and blue tracer trails answering flickers of red-yellow bolts and greenish biospine rounds. As the ambush fell apart, the ether-dome field enveloping its user pulsed with anger, a wave of qillatu expelling and washing over the surrounding. Bark darkened as if shone by unseen lights, leaves curling as if in fear, the air itself darkening like burst vessels, and the ether-worm's connection to Ilshar diminishing for a brief but vital few moments. As if a cloud of murk had bustled into the tendril-like connections between the worm and its user, its sight was diminished and its very body would bristle; the radiation-like strain of ethereal byproduct (and etherealist rage) now inflicted onto the surroundings.

Unfortunately, rage is a poor substitute for competence. As in retaliation for the ether-glob fired like a howitzer, a lance of radiant light streaked across the sky in the gap between the treelines. Before the etherealist could even mutter what additional void-power it could, the beam slammed into its shield like a tidal wave concentrated into a horizontal pillar. Etheric colours of psychedelic variancy splashed and swirled outwards, bending to the unknown currents of a realm forced to clash with destructive forces of a more material domain. The blue and white melted the nucleus-like field, energy reacting to energy as an explosion erupted along the trees, sending foliage flying, wildlife scattering in flight, and vaporizing Ilshar's worm from the etheric blast.

As the dust settled, the sparking bodies of two gunner-automata twitching, a few rifle cracks disabled any residual fight left in the automata as a tall and charred body dragged itself across the crater where once stood trees and sloping hillside. A body that like Ilshar had guessed, was a scielto's. Etherically reactive membrane melted onto its rough, wood-like skin, its x-shaped planarian head stretching and convulsing, the tendril-wings turned into desiccated and burned stumps; a blasphemed parody of some divine nobility reduced to all cauterized fours.

Helpless before the sound of approaching footfalls and taunting shouts, angry grunts of pain and uttered curses of hate and defiance. While Ilshar's eye on the action had been practically evaporated, given by the trilling shrieks of pain and loud, vile dialogue it was clear that the leader of the squad was being taken care of with the hospitality of those they once ruled.

More shouts and weapons fire, warning shots as the tall alien was hoisted to its legs and a hot gun barrel pressed against the back of its head, drawing a reverberating, flanging scream as the three surviving humans yelled back. It was difficult to make out what exactly was being said but it was clear that the ambush hadn't just gone south but turned into the worst outcome possible for the security forces. More shouts and a something cracking audibly; human voices diminishing as something repulsive and in a tarrhaidim tongue was spoken out - screams as well, presumably the wounded from the ZRF as they tended to their own injuries, adding to the tension of the situation.

As if on command, the two remaining automata froze in place; systems still running but now inert.

From the bullet-ridden, partially destroyed house that had drawn them to the now ravaged settelement a voice creaked out.

"... I suppose there's no need for the signal now. A little hard to have done after I was separated and huddled up here, but alas, you have my thanks."

A com signal did pop up; the exact specific code, frequency, and phrasing meant for Echo and the others but so did an unarmed figure. A bandaged one, one eye and most of his head wrapped up in white threads (some sort of vrexul-derived biosilk likely). A human figure, male presumably, dressed in some sort of light ballistic kevlar and wearing a camo-patterned helmet, torn pants around the knees and thighs, and an empty holster on his side.

"Well, you don't look like the usual mercs they send. You got the signal and... well, best not to ask what happens when the planetary-national liberation movement gets to mete out poetic justice. So... the low down on the situation yes? Gather round, please? I'd like to be punctual here, the fact I'm still alive is a liability for more than just the Artelesian government. Your friends down in the valley are probably getting very impatient for that matter."

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Battle BDM: Axis of Advance - Annihilation

The reaper spat and its rounds flew, shattering the tatters of structure the hefty machine was silhouetted against before biting into armor. Ballistic padding met 10mm mullets, sputtering dust-like fragments as metal bit into layered protect and bit into the metal beneath. The machine shuddered and shook from the impact, it steel body lacking blood, flesh, and nerves as it swung its mag-accelerator gun and fired another burst, ignoring the human for the massive unztadtlige.

Bolts of light and flashing sparks pinged off of a glowing dome of light, flating up as glass would reflecting the rays of the sun. Echo's shield manifested in full sight as multiple rifles joined in, heavy duty armour piercing rounds shrouded in veils of energy slamming into it, sparking as they expended their power and shattered against it. The powerful device was holding but the cyberngetic organism was wise not to test it against the globule of ethereal power descending towards them.

Salvator had blinked away before the crushing impact, the unztadtlige slamming through multiple walls, Ilshar hunkering down; just in time for the angry globule to make landfall. For a flash of a moment the realspace blurring fields that contained it bulged and strained before they finally erupted open. The wild colours it contain expanded like gase and flame, space distorting momentarily as the laws of reality consumed those of beyond, transforming the burst of power partially into an blossom of force and matter-ripping ether. The entire front of the house, the stairs, most of its frontal wall, and a chunk of its roof were devoured.

The force of the blast washed the area in smoke and scan-jamming interference, momentarily turning most of the rifle fire into inaccurate sprays at last known locations. Kleo vanished first behind the voidfire then the smoke and debris in its wake, her cover shaking and trembling as a blast-wave rocked it to the core. The feeling of little chittering sounds, not heard via ears but against her thoughts, momentarily swarmed over her as realspace quivered in the wake of the hefty blast and the strange currents that flowed beyond it skirted the edge of mortal perception.

This artillery strike turned out to be a blessing.

The gunner-automata swivelled its head just in time for its camera and vertically-mounted PDW-barrels to see space itself morph and warp and a whole voidhanger trooper emerge. The magnum spoke a second faster than the twin barrels did, two bullets rupturing a camera on their flight path through vital systems and causing the machine to stagger. Its heavy weapons swung horizontally but its makeshift cudgel was no match for the trained movement of its opponent. Where Kleo's bullets had peppered his monofilament knife now dug, easily going through armor and feasting deep into the vital electronics beneath.

The newly made cavity erupted sparks as its arms twitched and head-guns spat wildly, peppering the house opposite of them. A shaky but resolute fist raised like a hammer, aiming to slam down on Salvator's skull. Brutish machine force that wielded its normally mounted heavy machine gun with ease now prepared to reduce the operative's braincase to pulp. The microform however could detect that it was not alone; there was movement down the street where the close-quarter fight was ongoing. Three bipeds, humanoid, armored, too distant to make out if they were more automata or organic, but it was clear they were hesitant to fire upon their ally.

Off in the treeline, more high-power automatic weapon fire shot out from a crossfire position; the same kind of machine gun wielded by the gunner-automata. Armor piercing rounds slammed against the warform's body, cutting through trees with ease as they focused on the bigger, lumbering threat. Rounds that might wound vrexul however pinged off its armor, burning it at best as AP rounds jacketed with energy sparked and burnt out. A flare of ethereal power kicked up as the yet unseen etherealist on the other side of the treeline, at the other side of the village, began to condense ambient ether around itself in response to sighting the walking tank.

In the meantime, their allies fired upon the now revealed enemy heavy gunners in the treeline, momentarily silencing them. Their allies were 3/4 of the distance to the threat, tying up any additional suppressing fire. They might have been guerillas but they were no less tenacious than the Envenomed squad.

With the sole heavy duty suppressing weapon taken out of commission, that left an even heavier weapon on the battlefield, one wielded in the endoform of Echo's massive arms. One that spoke with greater clarity and power than a mere mag-accelerator HMG, the very force of its firing shuddering the already damaged structure they stood in.

Where had once been a trio of houses to the south soon became impressionist ruins.

The first house's side-wall vanished into eruptions of smoke, shattered biomatter, and plasteel. A few loud sparking pings demonstrated where heavy duty rounds hammered against infantry armor, crushing through protection rated at best for rifles, not cannonfire. A body was visible, dancing in twitching and convulsing motions, human by way of form, bisected in a flash as its tattered torso disconnected from its lower one, a rifle wildly spraying in its single grasp as a spray of bluish-purple nutrient-fluid gushed out of two wounds.

The centre and then leftmost house were next as their rifles silenced to welcome the hellish cannnon tearing them open. The former house half collapsed, its bulk slouching towards the collapsing window as heavy duty rounds vaporized walls and supports, crushing whoever was unfortuante enough to be beneath. The latter house was a little more lucky as the soldier within tossed himself out of a side door, crashing through it hard enough to toss the hinges off and slamming into the mud with a practiced roll.

He stayed prone but crawled quickly, yelling something out back as his allies finally made it to the battlezone.

Visual of Hostiles

CivSec soldiers, at least eight of them in total, clad in a mixture of synthetic-ballistic biomesh layered over with what looked like recent generation UCL surplus armor. It was a far cry from the scavenged, lighter, mishmashed look of their rebel compatriots and based on their movement, they were hardly demoralized by the hellish display Echo had demonstrated. Many of them were already sliding into cover, target sensors scanning Echo and the others; any counter-electronic warfare suites the squad possessed would detect multiple waves washing over them. Echo was obviously made but they lacked a coherent read on the others.

The leftovers of the ether-artillery blast affected them just as much, but the smoke and heat-like blur was diminishing. As it did so, rifles firing energy jacketed rounds spat in staccato bursts as one of them began to unload his grenade launcher, sliding in a blue-tipped 40mm of some sort. The big autocannon bastard was the threat and the armour piercer was going to do the trick.

In their focus on the hulking unztadtlige however, they did not feel the shimmering in the air like fleshy mass sliding down a wet throat. The tingling on the flesh of augmented bodies from the ether-residue was diminishing but it was enough for them not to notice Ilshar summoning something foul and creeping from beyond the mortal plane. As rifles fired, the annelid entity snaked through the air amidst the smoke and the bullets.

It was easy to find its prey; Echo's warform might have seen it and most of the others probably felt it. Yet the worm itself would see the very area where space was now bleeding and gushing out ethereal power as a luminescent shield manifested dome-like around a tall, ominous figure lurking in the treeline.

They were smart; they'd sucked out the very light such a barrier might manifest but to the worm it was little more than slightly dimming a flashlight, turning the dial down just a little. And with the bullets and grenade-blasts this dome was resisting, it was hardly hidden. It was a strong barrier, one that was taking a large part of its users power but what specifically behind it was hard to detect.

Yet it clearly wasn't human; its body was large, tall, lanky almost yet rough and almost made of coiling, overlapping sinewy muscle and bark-like material. Its arms were quite long and ending in long almost tendril like figures, its legs digitigrade and with pointed hip-bones that stuck upwards past its waist. It looked almost skinny if only from that distance; it was not fully standing, its body seemingly covered in some kind of stretched, thin, yet glowing veiny membrane.

Its head was like a pair of wide, flattened shovels inserted into one another to form a symmetrical "X". Like those of a planarian, bending backwards as little dots glowed alongside them; eyes perhaps. It was hard to tell where it was looking from a glance but seeing as it was pulling backwards slowly (even if not leaving the battlefield), it was clearly not on the worm.

The annelid itself could feel just how densely concentrated the ether was around it; the sort of power possessed by a veteran etherealist. The guerilla team was likely the only reason it wasn't concentrating that power on more offensive means at the moment.

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

A discrepancy manifested on Echo's scans; a brief moment of ambiguity as the signal flickered and the ping distorted. Notes out of place on a melody, fingers tapping the keys a blink too late and the cohesion of a composition holding yet unintentionally altered.

It was for a flicker or two, the signal distorting as if by a fumble but that was all the sender needed. Electronic data interference manifested on the platform's HUD's and digital systems, crackling as an external presence attempted to tamper with their systems and processing capability. It was hardly the work of a digital warfare expert yet it was clear they weren't trying to cripple Echo.

If they peered past the veil of interference, they could trace the signal back to the very building the silhouetted figure was in along with another notable piece of information. The unknown entity was marking their direct location, painting them functionally.

Emanating from the opposite end of the settlement, an immense pulse reverberated not through the air but the flesh of realspace itself. Ilshar, Salvator, and Ahzahrizerahni would feel it; worming currents of power frenetic and wild as if running from the yet unseen threat, one that was near yet not immediately visible. It was not a pure ethereal current; it did not writhe and mold as a living thing mght but was rigid and logical in how it flowed and coalesced.

A triplet of THUD's emerged from the opposite end of the settlement, black football-shaped blurs shooting through the air, and slamming around the treeline where their local allies were located. While the squad was distanced sufficiently to avoid fragmentation and blast force, they could hear the buildings nearer to their allies shuddering fearfully before the explosive salvo.

Coms crackled but muted half-stutters and gargled tarrhaidim speech spilled out, too fragmented to discern. A few stray shots cracked out as their allies began to move, stumbling near the treeline as they attempted to circle around the right side, aiming at wherever the presumed grenades had been launched from.

Rapid footfalls, vegetation-hinge doors creaking, the sounds of wet dirt kicking up, the sounds subtle but not unheard amidst the longer distance engagement happening along the treeline edges. They neared, fast enough to be sprints, heavy enough to be armored.

Before they could manifest down the long, wide stretches of settlement their first glimpse of the enemy manifested in the windows. Through the curtains and the shadows, the bodies of rifles could be seen and the flat, unexpressive face-obscuring visors behind them. Three were visible, one in each the three houses facing the door they had seen the footprints on. One house directly opposite of it, another two off to its sides facing them diagonally - along with the building the silhouetted figure was in.

Immediately, they began to fire. Windows and transparent biofilters shattered and crackled as automatic rifle fire tore through. Multiple rounds slammed into Echo, violently pinging as they bounced off and flashed through the air, their energy-field generators shorting out. Even with the jacketing-fields on them, they were not enough to damage him. The others however might not be so lucky, even with the abundant cover around them.

From the house to the northwest where the silhouetted figure had been seen, another weapon joined into the symphony; this one too launching bullets. Heavy, loud, crackling suppression-sprays of bullets. The entire window and much of the surrounding walls were torn open in a spray of dust and fragments as a stream of heavier duty rounds ripped through the corner of another structure, the wall of the house they were facing, and right towards the squad.

It was enough that the bearer of the weapon could be seen, pausing to observe them after its hellish burst of heavy duty rounds.

Visual reference of enemy within the northwest house

As this hellish ambush continued, the ethereal pulse tangible to Ilshar, Salvator, and Ahzahrizerahni cased for a moment, the sensation draining as water seeping away into a hole. It was not dissipating; a flash of a second later and it flared like a ray of heat from a crackling fire. From the treeline opposite to where they had entered the settlement, a spiking burst of blue, pink, and white flared above the treeline, vomiting a massive glob of blue-white ethereal power high in the air...

Descending in a long arc of descent right towards Echo...

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

"Noted friends - have fun in there." The tarrhaidim soldier mused as he lay rooted in position, not before turning to Ilshar, his voice turning into a deep gurgle in a foreign, alien tongue far removed from English.

Translated from tarrhaidim language

"May the Worm-Totality's coils wrap around the neck of the enemy and the grip of your rifle."

Ilshar, Echo, and Salvator were near the centre of the settlement.

It wasn't in the most wartorn state it could have been, hardly what one would use for a convincing charity pleading commercial. Visible trails half-obsured by the mud and what appeared to be some rain from the night before lined across the muddy paths. Some wheeled and others uniformly flattened - antigravitational hover vehicles for the latter. Most of houses had a sort of ramshackle approach to them; geometrical and sensible in their shape yet whatever symmetry or sense that might suggest interrupted by slightly-pulsing, stiffening biomass like a mixture of moss and wood.

A few bullet holds dotted them, shrapnel wounds, windows dotted with tiny holes - few signs of break in or entry. The boot-prints lead towards one partiular house in the middle, mud smeared on the front steps and the door slightly ajar. From the gap and nearby window, they could peek inside to see the light peering in from the windows further illumating the footsteps. A living room was visible off to the side yet the footsteps lead down the corridor adjacent, towards a closed door. A door large enough for the Endoform of Echo to move through; its inhabitants were clearly not human given the relative size of everything inside.

Around them, most of the windows had been tinted black, covered with bio-film from the other side, or boarded in a few cases when they could not afford glass. This was one of the few that lacked such and given by the fewer bullet-holes on it, perhaps it had simply bee a less appealing target for whatever stray fire had punctured its walls.

Off in the distance, something massive thudded and rumbled with the crackling roar of a massive artillery blast in the distance and the settlement quaked in response. Windows wobbled, doors rattled, and the door creaked against its hinge as if beckoning entry into the structure. As far back as where Kleo resided, the forest shuddered not merely in fear of the shockwave of force, but as if in fear of when the next one would fall.

Movement again; rapid shapes bestial and low to the ground, skirting around the edges of the woods opposite to the way they entered. Their allies' weapons followed; the ground they stood upon was higher in elevation.

As the reverberation diminished, a ping manifested upon Echo's comms - the signal was nearby and data-crunching combined with tracking situated it roughly 45 feet to the northwest of the house, roughly diagonally off to the left - somewhere near the front of another house. It was the faded grey-white one, a few muddy stains along its walls, patched up holes filled with tarrhaidim bio-mesh hardened in the case of blasts, and a silhouetted figure in the window who raised a hand then vanished back into the unlit, shadowed room.

The ping repeated - a series of bleeps and blips, roughly congruent with the ones the ZRF would use, though it was far away from the coms-code they were supposed to use to identify and reach out to the informant with.

The Evenomed: Violent Military SciFi Action Across A Post-War Expanse

IC is officially up! Edited into the OP.

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

RECRUITMENT THREAD

roleplayerguild.com/posts/5430342

INTERCEPTED NEWS BROADCAST ACQUIRED WHILE TRANSPORTED TO TARGETED PLANET

"This is Cecil Hodges with the Solar Broadcasting Corporation reporting live from the scene on the Artelesia country-sector, continent of planet New Prosperity, where the Zanovia Reclamation Front has launched a massive offensive in the Rhodes Valley. Artelesia Civil Security have been deployed all throughout the country in the largest deployment since the beginning of the insurgency. As you can see, even far back in the security of the local bastion it's just an utter maelstrom."

"Heavy anti air fire and the smoke from multiple engagements have made it nearly impossible for most drones to get a clear view of the battle and all around me, we can see massive tank and troop movement. It is believed that the assault was specifically timed to interrupt the sector governor's speech concerning the continued support of the Intranszjednota for the ZRF, wherein... hang on, I'm getting a... EVERYONE, we've just been informed we need to vacate to the town hall, we apologize for the inconvenience, we will reconnect when-"



"-Well, that does not really answer the matter of why they can't be supporting the rebels now. Intransjednota leaderhsip openly calls for peace and the re-establishment of democratic processes but Reclamation guerillas are seen not long after carrying older issue bio-missile launch platforms and assault rifles. The smokescreen created by these calls to peace talks are but a stalling tactic that-"

"Do you have any idea just how widespread some of this technology is? This is surplus from the last ten years, we are a few short jumps from the Dominion's own border worlds General Tandianjung. Or is the Conglomerate's voidhanger associate fleet's 'observation group' in the general area somehow not an item of interest?"

"The Conglomerate has little need for another brush-fire wall with 'decolonialist' rebels; they have nothing to offer one another beyond some revolutionary fervor and mismanaged natural resources. Yrrkradia would never allow an obvious transfer of heavy weaponry to a world that could turn on them the second any League-supported government is ousted."

"Clealry if that is why the civilian colonialization effort past the Yrrkradian borders has seen such an uptick in military vessel along its various transport lanes that skirt near Artelesia's own. After all, the happenings on the world require a very close eye to ensure they do not spread beyond their boundaries to our own boundary worlds no?"

"If you are insinuating some sort of foreign intervention on MY own part, I'll have you know Krasavan himself has issued plans personally to simply patrol our own lanes and-"

"Everyone knows 'patrol' can mean a million different things, such as when the last colonization sector patrol just 'patrolled' its way into the aerospace of a nearby Black City and-"

"If you are going to simply regurgitate the same nonsense the rest of the modernist faction's news jockeys vomits the second OUR borders require additional security-"

"This is NOT a matter of patriotism general, this is a matter of strategy, the Dominion's borders are being stretched precariously thin again and-"



"-The fact that the corporate news apparatus simply refers to it as 'militarized police action' in one minute and 'mass deployment of armor and artillery' the next is a reminder that they are far, far more fanatical to their cause than the supposed zealotry of the ZRF. The 'brush fire' isn't some campside fire pit, it's an inferno. We're seeing either a collective delusion to keep their settler-bourgeoisie placated or easier for their extrasolar private sector buddies to ship in yet another 'humanitarian' supply wave that JUST so happens to be overseen by a security force of ex-aesir League security detail."

"Secret remains open; concealment of true meaning not aim but refusal to bow to Intransigent narrative vital as show of confidence in proxy-colony self-governance capability. Sazan Kal-Hayalat useful figurehead - moreso to League, even Congomerate propagandist than Intranszjednota media-mechanism. Civilian casualties from CivSec settlement raid - 'We condemn the cruel strategies of Kal-Hayalat and demand the immediate cessation to aimless barbarity, to broker peace talk with the intrest of stopping the humanitarian crisis.' Wordplay - deadliest of settler-government weaponry, of Solar Movement for Democracy playbook."

"Oh no doubt we have seen those wheels turning. Actually, last night I had tuned into one of the vrexul forum-broadcasts, I believe the one you sometimes engage on as a speaker, and there was an analysis of the last six or so years of conflict coverage; before and after Sazan had been put in charge of multiple detachments. He went from just another guerilla leader to the face of the war effort regardless of how much he actually lead. Though, I think it's fair to have some criticism of the man; he talks up a storm - land redistribution, crush the scielto-human supremacist state, power to people-"

"Rhetoricist. Old skill. I remember well, when in the Reckoning, infantry within the Yrrkradian Vrexul Legion - Sazan frequent author of Dominion-leaderhsip speeches, even their speaker if the higher-up was insufficient regarding charisma. Tarrhaidim auxiliaries demonstrated verneration of oratory capability, myself surprise at lack of religiosity. Sazan possessed prior war hero status in prior conflicts on Zanovia, even before the scielto-human coalition arrived - must not overlook his status prior to the ZRF foundation. Nor his cunning: easy target for news-narrative as Public Target, itself a media-narrative Sazan utilizes for legitimacy among Reclamation ranks."

"Seems to get him targetd more often; not just by mortars and spec-ops. Like they think he personally used up every nano-regen pack and shot every crippled civilian while stroking his handlebar mous- wait, no, tarrhaidim don't even choose facial hair mods when given the choice do they?"

"Sazan useful but Sazan is not... not classifiable as 'friend'. ZRF a movement of liberation, not ideology. Something to remember."

Overture: Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls

The ride up the old, ill-maintained forest paths of the mountainous hillside was not an easy one, either for the ZRF scout group on their all-terrain jeep (an old Dolsilvec-era donation from back when Zanovia was a Dominion world) or the massive scielto configured into a tank-like walker form. The path winded over gnarled roots and steeping ground, huge portions gouged from dense roots down to thickly packed soil by stray artillery from ZRF and Civil Security alike. Sometimes, they'd need to drive over a massive overturned tree looking as if it was stuck in the throes of agony, body half mulched by some unseen gunfire, all the while twin-rotor-wing VTOL's flew overhead trailed by zig-zagging biomissiles.

On a huge hilly region overlooking the Rhodes Valley they had been steadily advancing higher and higher, nearer to the central line of the enormous natural structure. The higher they climbed, the more they could see past the thick cover of trees. Flashes of light soaring skywards; tracers, shells, missiles and the aircraft that whizzed in their wake, occasionally sparking from a glancing hit or a direct strike, sending out sparks and energy-shield flashes when not bursting into flame for a comet-like descent. The opposing hillside, far on the other side of the valley, flashed with bolts of pink and red whether into the valley or between its shrouded depths. It was no less of a battlefield and based on the sound of sonorous explosions echoing out, shaking the trees of their particular mountain-hill, it was no less of a dangerous position.

"You - mercenaries? Money of scielto and human-settlers not that good nowadays huh?"

The voice was a gargly froth, coming from the mouth of a tarrhaidim trooper as their jeep managed to find space to jostle up by the walking tank. There were roughly six inside - one mountaing a twin-barreled electro-spine machinegun, the others behind its windows that had recently rolled down. Four of them were tarrhaidim, irregular in their bolted-on armor and ballistic padded fatigues, faces covered in strange veiny patterns fluctuating colours and textures as they mimicked whatever vegetation they could see. The one on the gunner spot was a human as was its driver.

Both wore similar armor minus the body-bolting, their faces concealed by darker gas-mask like helmets, their lightly red tinted eyes glaring full throttle ahead... or at their allies. Older edition Intransigence tech, likely from its early days when modified mining and biohazard protection equipment had seen a military makeover.

"Seen many of you, mostly with security-scums. Maybe League bigshot, think this is easy place to rack up our heads and fatten their coffers. You can tell; good tech, good training, but no real hate in heart or lust for the fight. Like their leaders; business-person."

The jeep rumbled on a little further as the roads widened somewhat as did the intermittent flashes against the cloudy sky. Light was beginning to peer through the once grey clouds as if gouged by the anti-air lasers and ether-mortars that had been blasting away non-stop. The trail was no longer ridden with gaping holes or blasted trees; it appeared moderately maintained.

"Not complaint - observation," The tarrhaidim trooper continued. The driver and shotgun-seat passenger were pointing to a few large pushes as they moved the vehicle over, attempting to park it somewhere they could conceal it. "Just curiosity. Maybe we get a few volunteer battalions - Conglomerate, Intransigence - but they do not often last."

As they exited the vehicle, pulling various brushes and vegetation over it, the squad of six looked over to the huge tank and its deadly cargo, spreading out as they motioned not to the trail but the sloping ground it ascended past. There were footsteps notable on the ground but there was no real concern; these were their own and it appeared this was not a small scouting group but a part of something bigger.

The ZRF troopers didn't know that, but these were no mercenaries they were escorting to a rallying point. It was a miracle they had even been able to be assembled on such short notice. The Envenomed were a secretive group, one that chose its own with utmost precision, yet assembling them all in one place was not an easy task, especially one with as many League covert fleets and heavy duty air surveillance as Zanovia.

The mere insistence on using its native name instead of the scielto Artelesia was not just the Intransigence's form of respect to those struggling against colonial rule but also a reminder of their intent. One that was being expressed in a group of six now instructed to dismount and follow.

If there was one thing no doubt on everyone's mind as they advanced on foot, it was how secretive this was. The Envenomed were proffessional, cryptic, their leaders offering the bare minimum. The nature of the work was deeply unpleasant and perhaps it was a mercy its operatives were spared some of the details. Yet this had been even less than that. There had been barely any time to meet-up and get to know their fellow team members before they had been collected from neighboring systems, no real mission information beyond "our contacts will handle that, just follow the locals", and the most of a tidbit they could get was "meet the informant at the rendez-vous location then advance."

At least they'd provided the particular coms-code - something to send out once they were close enough to wherever the informant was hiding. Whoever it was, they had all the information they needed for the mission.

At least it appeared they would have some firepower backing them up. Locals, training and discipline to be determined, and the staging area at least appeared... quiet, about as quiet as it could be with the distant howls of void-artillery and deathly judgement of bolt-tracers ever flashing in the background. The view of the valley as almost hypnotizing as a creeping carpet of small incendiary infernos, flaming dead armor, and the insect-small shapes of large ground vehicles dragging themselves across the distant hell-torn earth.

Up here in the wilderness, the dense foliage tightened and darkened, opposing the scouring hunger of the afternoon sun and almost trying to veil the sight of carnage below. The path squished somewhat under their steps, the soil moist thankfully not with innards and vitals-spray - just good old moisture. The trees here were gnarled and occasioanlly arrogant enough to send their roots across the road, yet it was an otherwise dull hike. At least, until the blocky shape of corrugated metal housing and blocky, tarnished construction greets their sigh through the treeline.

The locals stopped, the lead human raising his fist and crouching as he falls in behind one of the trees. The rest spread out, prone against the roots, scanning the small settlement. A village of some sort, abandoned with the onset of violence in the region. Footsteps are present on its muddy streets but every windows is closed as is every door visible.

"Your contact, he is here. Handler, black ops, turncoat..." The tarrhaidim mused. "You... have some kind of call-sign for him? We had a team was with him... but were told to stay quiet, do not want anyone listening in. We are mere rebels; not fancy off-world mercenaries, so our coms less concealed. We are at fringe of CivSec control... so I am told."

The buildings here look dated, poorly maintained, weathered, but the squad can see along the ridged scrap-metal there's also signs of reinforced tarrhaidim biosynthetic materials. Probably a reinforcement before the conflict reached this part of the country-sector; faint bullet markings can be made out along a few of the structures, deep grooves in the soil likely from heavy boots. There's footsteps but it appears that they all lead to various structures, maybe whoever inside is merely waiting for the coms signal.

"We stay on over-watch. Curious as to what such fancy mercs do... but, would rather not be vanished the next day for being such an inconveience." The tarrhaidim joked, a few chuckles exchanged among the squad... until one of them suddenly snapped their rifle off to the right, following something as his long-barreled weapon shakes a little. He adjusted the scope, his tarrhaidim ocular-clusters notably shifting beneath the fabric covering most of his features.

"Something spooked; probably local vermin. Profile low, shaking leaves. Not our concern. Comrades, you go on ahead, we watch for any unwelcome visitors." The tarrhaidim kept his eyes peeled as the rest sweep around. This close to enemy lines, nobody wants to accidentally even hint at their own presence in the region.

The Evenomed: Violent Military SciFi Action Across A Post-War Expanse

@Dead_Cruiser when can you get your CS up?

Everyone else including those who wanna join - the IC will be up soon!

The Evenomed: Violent Military SciFi Action Across A Post-War Expanse

A lore document currently containing the history of the setting has been added into the OP!