Off the rails (Gear)

MKR

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#1

As dawn broke upon the historical city of Moscow a truck entered the city from the east. Inside were two young looking men, one lanky looking guy behind the wheel and a dirty blonde in the passenger's seat that was all the way down, snoring away. The truck would make its way to the industrial district and park away from any cameras and eyes that may want to take a look at it or the storage buildings it had parked next to.

The one behind the wheel turned to his sleeping companion and spoke up.

"Excuse me Sir, but we have arrived thirty minutes ahead of schedule." He blandly said.

A pair of blue eyes opened and closed a few times before they looked over to the driver.

"How often do I need to tell you tin can, don't call me 'Sir'. Save that for the boss. Once you do that I'll start using the name you got given instead of metal containers or your serial code." The blonde replied with a hint of annoyance, he stretched himself and pushed his seat as far back as it could before resting his feet on the dashboard.

"Excuse me Roman, but we have arrived thirty minutes ahead of schedule." the bioroid said in that same tone.

"There you go! Well done 'Anthony'. So, you said half an hour early? So that gives us an hour before the rendezvous with the locals, I think its time we do a check up of what the boss left us."

Anthony nodded and opened the door promptly.

"Hey! Hey! Hold on a second." Roman said as he set his seat straight. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Going to open the storage facility." Anthony replied.

"Without a coat?" the human questioned.

"I do not require a coat. Internal heating will nullify any negative effects from weather."

"Well that's where you're wrong. For this mission you have to appear human, don't want our friends to feel uncomfortable after all. So, what do humans need when they step outside in Russia at 9 AM in the dead of winter?"

Roman looked at the bioroid, who looked like he had just walked off the set of some third rate action flick in his mind. Why all of the droids who actually looked human had to look not a day older than 25 was lost to him.

"A coat. I understand." The bioroid grabbed the two winter coats hanging behind them, handed one to his superior and only after putting his on opened the door once more. Roman followed him outside shortly after, some sort of body armor now partially concealed under the winter clothing as he stepped outside and followed his companion to the large metal doors.

Domashev Roman Yakovich was not a name that would appear in any records, at least not with his face, but despite the impossible distance he had traveled to get here Moscow was still his city even if it was a different Moscow. Most of it even seemed as he remembered from his youth so that certainly helped. However he still was somewhat disappointed he was not assigned the mission in Colombia, the weather there would've been much more tolerable he thought as he shook around in his coat.

His companion, 'Anthony Miller' wasn't even human to begin with, but for what it was worth these skin wearing tin cans were some of the best pilots they had to offer and would help nicely with actually getting this mission done on time. The door to the storage facility was pushed up by the bioroid as Roman contemplated the odd pairing and the two stepped inside.

"Not even a bit warmer inside, and a whole lot darker. You go find the light switch and lets see what the boss meant with blast from the past." the human said.

The Bioroid silently walked towards a switch and pushed it, causing lights to flicker for a moment before turning on. A smile crept upon Roman's face as he watched the two machines stored within and looking at them it suddenly made a lot more sense why their truck had been carrying hand held mech weaponry on the way over. The man thought about how pissed the Directory going to be that not only a supply train was going to get ambushed on track, the assault was going to be led by two of the machines it despised most. Guarlions, painted a bright white just like the snow outside adorned the inside of the storage facility.

"Load up the weapons in the truck and divide them equally. I'm going to remove any kind of trace of our presence here for after we're done."
 
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GEAR

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#2
There was an old saying, once - a joke. It went along the lines of:

"The United States spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing a pen that worked in space. The Soviets used a pencil."

Lieutenant Ivan Biskov was reminded of this whenever he was handed stacks of paperwork during a shipment, like today. Words couldn't have described how a data-tablet or slate would have made his life easier - but the harsh weather conditions, and the general neglect heaped on Eastern Europe by the Directory had forced he and his crew to revert to... Traditional methods, as it were.

A tall, robust, middle-aged man whose face was decorated with stubble, Ivan made his way through the rumbling cars of the thundering military transport train, occasionally stopping to take a pencil from his ear to scribble something on the stack of paper attached to his clipboard, frequently accompanying it with a burst of smoke from the cigarette clasped between his lips.

"Taskforce Upsilon, huh..." He muttered under his breath. "Sounds like a big waste of money to me."

"Your tax dollars at work."

Biskov looked up with a start to see Bosco Sokolov, the train's conductor, a short, thick man with equally thick glasses and curly hair that was unbefitting of his military station. Operators, however, were getting hard to find out in this part of the world on account of the rebel attacks - so for the moment, he let it slide, giving a lazy salute with the clipboard before handing it over for inspection. Bosco looked it over, leaning against a wall, as the train trundled over yet another rough patch, casing the lights overhead to rattle threateningly in their cases. He ignored it, as he usually did - after experiencing railgun rounds impacting a car, he was hardly phased by something as small as a bump in the road.

His thoughts were interrupted as Bosco spoke up, suddenly.

"Hey, Chief..." He asked; "What's the destination for the container on Car #4?"

"Oh, that, yeah. It's for the suits in Brussels, I gather, some kind of prototype."

The two turned their heads, as one, craning their necks down the adjacent hallway, which led to the car in question. Wisps of white mist curled about the floors, snaking from underneath a sealed entrance that was locked tight. Nobody, as far as they understood, was allowed in or out, save the specialized maintenance teams at each station. Finally, Bosco asked what they were both thinking:

"...What kind of prototype mobile weapon is kept at freezing temperatures?"

Ivan just shrugged in response, taking another drag on his cigarette as he handed the clipboard back.

"I don't know. I just move things."

He gave the conductor a reassuring slap on the shoulder, trying to instill him with some confidence that not even he felt at this particular moment.

"Just... Keep your distance, and we'll be rid of it in no time."

He looked out the window at the howling storms. Prime weather, he thought...

For an ambush.

"...I hope."
 

MKR

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#3
Two voices talking in Russian would approach the storage facility fifty minutes after the pair had arrived one woman in her twenties and a man somewhere in his fifties at least covered in heavy clothing. Both walked up to the facility, the woman spoke up, still in Russian, as the man glanced over the pair.

"Excuse me, but where is the train station?" She asked. A code phrase that was set up so that the local elements or themselves wouldn't accidentally get associated with the wrong group.

"We can help make one." Roman answered as he gestured for his companion to open the door.

The woman smiled, but the man kept a neutral face as he muttered to himself.
"We did not agree to meet a boy band." this statement caused the woman to halt her smile.

"Of course." Roman said as the door behind him went up. "You agreed to these."

He took a step aside allowing the man to look inside, the two white Guarlions now fully armed stood there in their full glory. Openly defying any Directory regulations by merely existing. The man's eyes went wide for a second before turning to Roman.

"I see you are more than just some pretty boys. Good, we'll meet again at point C. Karolina will give you the comm details, now be quick the Directory is not going to wait for us to get ready."

The woman nodded as the man walked back the way he came.




Thirty minutes later the two Guarlions sat on point C alongside two modified Landlions, specifically adjusted for use in snowy terrain. Wind and snow bashed against the frame of all four machines, it did not look like this snowstorm was going to stop any time soon. That same gruff voice from earlier, who Karolina had now named "Commander Boris", spoke up through the private comms channel.

"We have ten minutes until the train arrives at the optimal location. Travel there will take five minutes, nearest Directory troops are stationed fifteen minutes away combined with how much time would be needed to mobilize and receive any distress signal we have at most twenty minutes until reinforcements arrive should the signal scrambler not work. But seeing as Mother nature is on our side that scrambler may not be needed to work." The man grabbed the controls of his Landlion and the other three machines followed behind.

The location on the track they had chosen was still a fair distance before the bridge over the Volkhov river because while a bridge was a prime location to stage an ambush its proximity to a town would do the group no good as it gave the Directory easy access over the roads.

No, instead this small part of railroad where the closest roads were at least a dozen kilometers away were the optimal location, bar the railroads there was no indication that civilization even existed in these parts with the snowstorm also concealing that last hint of life. Roman took his Guarlion's blade and began cutting the rail into pieces as the Landlions set up on opposite ends of the railroad. On the border of what was visible through the snow they would be pounding the train and any escorts it may have with their railguns once it arrived.

Roman's Guarlion would hide just slightly further back while Anthony hid behind where the train was destined, or doomed if you preferred, to stop. His task was to prevent it from simply backing out and heading back to Moscow. Which, while the Guarlions could easily keep up with a train, was less then preferable.

Now all they had to do was wait.
 

GEAR

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#4
Sure enough, exactly as predicted, on came the train.

It was a brute of a transport - its sides thick with pitted armor plates, bristling with firepower, thundering through the dark, stormy weather with smoke billowing from its stacks, headlights gleaming. It churned forward through the snow, bulldozing everything before it in its path, like a metallic monster. It was over 20 cars in length, each standing over 40 meters in height - enough resources to fuel an entire war. It was through this system that the Directory had once managed to suppress the entirety of Eastern Europe, and it was through the railroads - not the skies - that their hand was kept on its throat.

The lead car hurtled towards the ambush point, seemingly unawares... Yet, as it began to draw near, there was the distant screeching of brakes being applied, intensifying in volume and pitch...

Until the wheels had come to a complete stop, about 50 meters from the break, steam hissing through the air. Over the communications arrays, some loose radio transmissions were detected, being transmitted from the train's signal - a man's voice, gruff, yet assertive, speaking for the benefit of the various control towers that monitored the shipments.

"...track damaged, signal... -khail Team, chec…"

In the rear of the train, one of the cars lit up, and began to unfold. Within their confines, several humanoid shapes could be made out - but from the current distance, they were murky at best.
 

MKR

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#5
"Well that is new. We didn't have that back home." Roman thought as the train came to a halt. He shrugged mentally, he would get to show off with some newly gained intel about Directory trains however so that was a plus. Just meant he would have to get more serious with the goons. His Guarlion shifted the burst railgun it had around in the snowy ground, lying in wait for the murky figures to step out of the train alongside the landlions.

Behind the train Anthony received the transmission and began analyzing it, one of the advantages of lacking vocal cords and instead having an artificial voice was that it made one a great impersonator. But the comms of the train would have to be disabled or jammed for it to be entirely effective. That was for later however, for now his blade would cut into the track behind the train. Farther away then originally planned in an effort to not make whatever had caused their timely stop realize there was no longer a way back, then just like the others Anthony grabbed his railgun and took aim.

And then, all at once it happened.

After the mechs had moved away from the train sufficiently, no matter in what direction, a cacophony of gunfire came down from the snow. Two shots each from the burst railguns held by the Guarlions and a heavier round from both of the Landlions. The Landlions and Roman aimed to take out the train's support while Anthony began systematically shooting at the turrets on top of the train. Which made the fact that these railguns were made to penetrate enemy armor quite easily, especially those of the Landlions, quite handy.

The simultaneous fire was for a multitude of reasons, appearing as if one had a larger force than true was an obvious one but it would also force the enemy to spread out to not leave any of their flanks open. With any luck disabling the accompanying mecha would allow the longer range Landlions to snipe the train's armaments and plating from a safe distance to disable the transport.
 

GEAR

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#6
Railgun rounds shrieked through the frozen air, smashing into the side of the armored train in a series of billowing explosions, like lamps lit up briefly before being smothered by the storm. Black smoke poured from the damaged cars, as within them, Lieutenant Ivan growled and held onto a support beam for dear life. As soon as the rocking subsided, he rose to his feet, cigarette now effectively bifurcated as he removed it from his lips.

"Damn Terrorists...!" He spat, raising a radio to the side of his head as he did to bark an order:

"Huckebein teams, deploy!"

Outside, the obscured forces that had previously been barely visible came roaring into view, thrusters flaring. Four mass-produced Huckebein Mk-IIMs, colored in a faded tan and traveling at low altitudes, fanned out from the right hand side of the train, each one cradling in its hands a standard-issue Photon Rifle as their emerald visors scanned the storm. In the rear, four more could be visible starting to deploy from another car - this group appearing more heavily armed than the prior, their arms cradling the intimidating, boxy forms of Rectangle Launchers.

Two of the train's mounted guns were destroyed in the onslaught - but the remaining three now hummed to life, swiveling into action as they began to draw a bead on the vectors of where the attacks had struck from. In a series of flashes, they began flinging artillery rounds into the locations of the shots - haphazard to be sure, but the explosions caused by each round on impact ensured that despite their questionable accuracy, anything struck would quickly regret it.

The Huckebein teams began to spread out - two went directly forward, and another away from the train's flank at a forty-five degree angle. They hadn't managed to sight either the Guarlion, or the Landlions…

Not yet, at least.

Enemy Force Composition:
8x MP Huckebein Mk-II
90mm Cannon x 3 (Cargo Train)
 

MKR

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#7
Inside his Landlion Boris grunted, their initial volley had gone wide and now the Huckebeins were searching them. In their search however, the Directory bastards had given him a clear shot. He adjusted his aim towards the Huckebein that was moving at a 45 degree angle in his direction and fired the large railgun. His and Karolina's railguns were made for extended use and as such held a total of ten shots and after that one 8 remained for him. The Guarlions the boyband used held 6 bursts of two shots each although he wondered how much that blonde would wait before charging in. The commander also noted that the turrets were now live and directed his Landlion slightly to one side to avoid any retaliatory fire.

On the other side of the train Karolina had the same idea as her commander, intent on taking out the Huckebein closest to her and the one she had the best sight on, then began immediately calculating an angle to take out the turrets. In her opinion trying to dodge an enemy firing wildly had no real impact, they were playing a guessing game anyways. As such she preferred playing this as a race against time where eventually her position was going to get struck, she just needed to strike first.

Roman scoffed at the miss, but instead of aiming at the two approaching Huckebeins he shifted his aim towards the 90mm cannons on the train, intent on taking as much of them out as he could before the Huckebeins spotted him. He had a special plan for these goons which would also give him a nice excuse to use his better weapons, sure he could fire a gun just fine should the weather allow him to actually aim but his true skill lay in close combat and simultaneously using the built in vulcans of the Guarlion and the Assault blade they had brought with them.

In the back Anthony noted the appearance of the heavily armed Huckebeins and had no intent of even allowing them to fire these guns. The Bioroid fired his burst railgun at the group of four, or specifically at the rectangular launchers they held. Using their heavy payload he intended to cause a chain detonation in the Rectangular launchers capable of heavily damaging the Huckebeins that held it.
 

GEAR

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#8
Anthony's strike worked better than he had likely expected. The burst railgun shots lanced out - and struck true, penetrating the Rectangular Launchers, causing an array of cries to go up briefly from the Huckebeins before the entire squad vanished in a violent explosion that shook the entire area, as well as the train itself, which rocked and groaned treacherously in its tracks. Flames and cooked off rounds spat in all directions - including towards Anthony himself, rounds detonating in the air all about him as they threatened to tear his Armored Module apart.

As the remaining machines looked up, startled in the direction of the explosion, Boris' railgun round slammed home, splitting one Huckebein apart at the waist as it collapsed, damaged beyond repair. Its cohorts, however, immediately returned fire, Photon Rifles blazing as they sent a reflexive barrage towards the Landlion. To make matters worse, he had now managed to attract the attention of the train's 90mm cannons, which now began blazing in his direction, adding to the onslaught that now lashed around him. Karolina, for the time being, was spared from harm - but for how long was uncertain.

Within the bowels of the train, Ivan rose to his feet groggily, His hand came down from his head, now soaked with blood, and he saw only hazily now the spot where his head had impacted the wall as the last car had been caught in the explosion. Hatred curdled in his heart, cold and remorseless.

His father had told him about the so-called Revolution... and how thanks to it, Russia would never be free again. The "freedom fighters"? Nothing more than godless murderers. The radio was screaming something he could only vaguely hear, something about losing five units in an instant... and he could practically feel the noose starting to tighten about their neck. You heard stories, of course, of what they did to those they caught.

His gloved hand groped across the floor, coming across the clipboard. Shaking something from its surface, he shook free a small, red envelope into his waiting, bloodied palm. It had a black "4" printed on it, along with printed text, stating:

[FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY]

In spite of himself... Lieutenant Biskoff grinned.

Enemy Force Composition:
90mm Gun x2
MP Huckebein x3
 

MKR

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#9

Seeing the Huckies aim at 'Commander' Boris the blonde haired Shadow Mirror operative adjusted his sights and his aim. That girl and the bot would handle the turrets, besides he had the perfect shot lined up. The Directory mooks had opted to shoot from the same location they were at before. Another two rounds left the barrel of the Guarlion's railgun, five volleys left, this particular set was aimed at two huckebeins that had lined up during theit surprise at the explosion in the back. As he fired his guns Roman wondered about this Upsilon the debriefing mentioned, the one these supplies were supposedly for, it would be the same as the one on that propaganda news reel that had been playing on loop on basically every Directory owned channel for the past two days. As the Russian from another Russia readied the railgun for another shot he smiled at the idea of some stereotypical elite soldier types getting uppity because some 'revolutionaries' had destroyed a cargo train.

Meanwhile in Boris' Landlion things were going less smoothly, the enemy had turned all its firepower on his Landlion, luckily the machine's unique leg-like threads allowed him to easily move around in the snow, firing a barrage of Machine Cannon fire as he zigzagged away into the heavy snowfall and away from enemy eyes. But the man's age had gotten to him somewhat as just when he thought to be home free a shot from the photon rifle nailed the front left thread, causing it to lock in place and sending the Commander into a spinning motion until he got control back of the unit.
He could still move, but he'd need to move the thread upwards to not just rotate in circles, which mean he was about to lose out on valuable mobility.

On the other side of the train, Karolina was sweating bullets, they were after the Commander and if one of those turrets nailed his cockpit directly he was done for. Luckily she had been preparing the perfect angle, well, semi-perfect as she couldn't exactly wait to double check her math at this point. Her landlion angled its railgun slightly upwards and rotated more towards the front of the train before releasing the fateful projectile. These weapons were made to pierce heavy armor and with the right angle they could just pierce one of those turrets cleanly and detonate on another. Which was exactly what she was planning.
With no time to waste she set to creating two sets of calculations, one for if a turret survived and the second to lay down the hurt on any remaining huckebeins.

Anthony blinked, he hadn't expected that they would move in the optimal way for him, the raw destructive force unleashed would not go unnoticed by any military installations so the Bioroid kept his eyes on the Directory channels so he could intercept any inquisitive commanders. For now one thing was sure however, if he held onto the railgun it would detonate in his hand from the stray explosions, which would be less than optimal. As such the weapon was tossed into the high explosive fireworks display, where it joined in the cacophony of gunpowder. The Guarlion however would not stick around for that, there was something to capitalize on, the train was unstable enabling a maneuver that would not only get him out of danger for the time being but also severely hamper the enemy.
The white Guarlion activated its boost drive, shooting over the train carts and making a U-turn a short distance away. Its shoulders opened as it returned to the train. The Sonic Breaker attack pattern had been loaded and the Guarlion had engaged the infamous blue forcefield associated with it, however it had a different purpose than usual this time. With the train still rocking from the explosive force released next to it the Guarlion would give it a decisive push with its force to get at least one of the carts to derail, dragging possibly up to the entire train with it.
 

GEAR

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#10
Within the ruins of the train’s interior, a trail of blood droplets led the way to the door of the fourth car, now ajar. Within the dark, smoky confines, Lietenant Biskoff’s features were illuminated by the light of a pedestal mounted touchscreen, which he hurriedly tapped away at.

He almost couldn’t believe his luck at getting to use one of these things after all, he thought - though of course, it would be right before he was about to be killed.

But...

Even if that was the case... He still had one trick up his sleeve.

>TSENTR PROJECT OS Ver. 0.9b
>PLEASE INPUT ACTIVATION KEY
Ivan fished the small envelope from earlier out of his pocket, tearing it open with his teeth, as it dropped a clear; green card into his palm. Without a moment to spare; he slid it into a card reader mounted to the side of the tablet, and was rewarded with a reassuring hum of activating machinery.

>EMERGENCY ACTIVATION KEY ACCEPTED
>INITIALIZING COMBAT MODE...
“Now then...”

Somewhere to his right, a set of long, slender fingers twitched as electricity flowed into them.

Get to work.

As if in response, a crimson, cycloptic eye lit up in the frigid darkness above him.




Anthony’s Guarlion slammed into the train - and it was in that exact moment, as Karolina’s own bullets slammed home to silence the frontal turrets, that the entire thing buckled and groaned, fountaining black smoke, as it leaned treacherously...

And then...

Fell.

The entire convoy lurched sideways with a scream, fatally wounded.

Time would almost seem to slow down for Anthony, however... as he would have caught the merest glimpse of something - a red light, an indistinct silhouette, that seemed to be staring directly at him as the train turned, hunched atop the cars... and yet, in that instant, it vanished - perhaps nothing more than a mirage in the snowstorm.

As the smoke cleared, and he surveyed the train however, something would have become immediately clear: the previously tightly sealed fourth car...

Now lay open.

Roman would have been surprised to find himself the new target of the Huckebeins, as they suddenly pullled away from Roman’s damaged unit as one. For once, perhaps driven by desperation, the Directory’s rank and file exhibited some of their training, and his shots managed to hit nothing but air. His reward was a barrage of Photon Rifle blasts as they began to close ranks, the lead unit drawing its beam sword threateningly as it accelerated.

But for Boris...

Everything would seem quiet. The ECM interference across the battlefield - and indeed, the storm itself - had intensified to what seemed like an extreme, to the point he could barely see his hand in front of him.

So it was, he would have been barely aware of the movement in the snow behind him, as something approached - fast, too fast, too quiet for something of its seeming size and gait. Out of the whiteness, a long, bone-like arm tipped with bladed, gnarled fingers stretched out, hovering for the briefest of moments over his Landlion... and then dropped, carrying enough force behind it to shred the Armored Module in half with a single blow.

1547257265724.png
 
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MKR

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#11
Roman smiled, they had finally gone for him. About time too, being in the thick of it was more his style, the railgun was exchanged for the Guarlion's iconic assault blade as the operative waited a second for the photon rifle fire to pass over his hiding spot and when the time was just right, the white mech meeting the lead huckebein in close combat. Keeping the blade wielding directory unit between itself and its photon rifle using companions.

Boris let out a breath of relief, the directory goons had opted to go after another, the railgun began to be angled to take a shot against the ranged huckebeins when a chill ran across his spine, before anything could be said and done the landlion was decimated and the pilot within slain. Over their comms channel the first second of the destruction could be heard before only static came from Boris' landlion.

"Commander?" Karolina spoke up first, her voice was shaky, how did this happen? The huckebeins were busy with Roman and reinforcements were still at least eight minutes away. She wanted to know what had happened but she knew better than to just rush in, her Railgun was aimed at one of the huckebeins with a photon rifle and she shot with the same resolve she used to take down the turrets. Boris wasn't responding, and that sounded like an explosion she would expect the worst for now but hope for the best. The commander had taught her that much.

Anthony took his assault blade, taking note that something was most likely around, a note that would be confirmed in his mind as Boris fell silent. Roman and the local friendly element would be able to handle the Huckebeins and the unknown was an unknown, for now continuing the mission was his priority.
His Guarlion landed on top of the train, it was time to examine the cargo and find its weak points.
 

GEAR

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#12
Boris' Landlion sunk to the snow, spewing smoke. Blood and oil mixed in a steep, v-shaped breach that ran down its head and torso, dripping down onto the snow below. There was a noise, a guttural, wrenching, tearing whine - and then the machine's railgun clattered into the white, as the rest was slowly dragged away, into the frozen Hell beyond.

Roman's assault blade clashed with the lead Huckebein's lit plasma blade in a shower of sparks, the two machines struggling against one another as their engines flared. The Huckebein, for its part, seemed unable to overpower him - but it had a few tricks of its own, to say the least. The unit's head lit up, and the sound of gunfire rang out as its twin-linked machineguns blazed to life, blasting away at the face of the Guarlion, aiming to smash apart the fragile electronics that made up its sensory array as its companions moved to flank the two of them, now having the operative surrounded on three sides.

Only for Karolina's shot to ring out as it slammed straight into the back of one of the Huckebeins, causing it to tumble, doll-like through the air, its torso blown apart into a series of tatters - before exploding furiously, sending shrapnel splattering across the fields.

...Yet, for the other Landlion pilot, not all was yet well. The mist about her seemed to coil closer, and intensify, isolating her from her comrades - even her radio gave only soft, satiny static. Her proximity alarm, however, was working as well as any other - and it blared a sudden warning as, to her immediate left, something dark and indistinct came thundering out of the dark, aimed to bowl into her in a what appeared to be a full bodied tackle, with enough force to - not quite bowl the Landlion over, but to at least rock it considerably on its four legs.

A snap on the machine's controls carried the Landlion away as it swerved to avoid the object as it burst through the cloud...And in that split second, Karolina found herself face-to-face with the bloodied wreckage of Boris' unit, its limbs shorn off, hurtling through the air. As it passed her, in the distance, there was a blue gleam -

A ray of light punched clean through the torso of the Landlion, puncturing its reactor... and the Armored Module detonated with an earth-shattering explosion, transformed into a living bomb that was more than capable of crippling - or destroying utterly - her own machine.

Anthony landed on the train, the material bending slightly under the weight of the Armored Module, but pliable enough to withstand it. As his sensors scanned the contents, it would have produced for him three immediate cars of interest:

One was black and boxy, locked up tight, and appeared to be some fashion of security storage - yet, why it had not deployed its contents like the rest of the carriages was uncertain. Another, a long blue affair, looked from its heat signatures to be carrying some manner of electronic devices - possibly data servers containing vital information. Lastly, a long, low, red carriage seemed... distinct from the rest, its top littered with several large tanks - thermal imaging seemed to indicate it contained numerous bodies, but in this weather, even that seemed unreliable.

The clock was ticking, as the net closed ever tighter around his comrades.
 
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MKR

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#13
The explosion shook Karolina's landlion causing her to be flung in the direction opposite to it, in this case, quite possibly luckily for her, further towards the train. As this land bound unit mimicked its sister unit the damaged it sustained in the immediate explosion became clear, the front of the unit was dented and let out a hiss at it plunged into the snow with the back at the very least not charred from direct contact with the detonation. While the railgun did seem to be functional still, with the way the Landlion was lodged into the ground and the damage it had sustained it would be unable to pull itself out of the new crater to use it in the first place. Inside the cockpit however Karolina was working on trying to enable a system, any system, to fight back against whatever just used her commander's unit as a weapon.

With the initial scan of the train's cargo done Anthony made his Guarlion head to the direction of the explosion post haste, resulting in him being met with the half buried landlion. It didn't take an AI to figure out what was going on here with the recent explosion and the fact that Boris' landlion was no longer active. The bioroid took one look at the unit and, accurately, estimated that the only weapon that was going to ever be using again were the homing missiles on the back of the unit.

"Miss Karolina, if you are still there I hope you don't mind if I borrow this." Anthony said over their comms as he landed next to the Landlion.

"Yeah I'm still here... And borrow what?" the woman responded, only to be met with a warning on her screen that the right arm of the landlion had just been torn off, the one holding the railgun.

The Guarlion pulled off the charred remains of the Landlion's arm that still clutched the heavier railgun. The android estimated that while there had been some damage to the externals by the explosion earlier the internals of the gun would operate for another shot, perhaps two if the first came out clean. The barrel of the rifle would have to be supported by his second hand for a stable shot however. So the forbidden mech got in its stance, finger on the trigger, adequately supported by its other hand and eyes on the surrounding to spot whatever was roaming the snowstorm.

"Miss Karolina, when I tell you to fire your homing missiles fire them immediately, do not hesitate a second."

Inside the cockpit of the landlion the Russian woman finally recovered from the shock of what Anthony just did, but agreed nonetheless. They had trusted this group enough to team up. If she wanted to have any chance of avenging the commander she would have to continue that trust.

Over by the train The first few bullets from the Huckebein would hit the sides of the Guarlion's face, it was quite hard to dodge projectiles from this range after all, but the rest would find themselves going over the white mech as it ducked downwards and did a quick movement backwards. A distinct buzzing now coming from the assault blade, anyone familiar with a Guarlion knew the implications behind that.

Inside the cockpit Roman had had quite enough of the fun and games now and now instead opted to kill two birds with one stone, if this goon wanted to be clever he would show him a what for. The Guarlion dashed back into melee range, still in its crouched position, but instead of the sword based attacks it had done so far it would drop the assault blade and attempt to grab the Huckebein's legs.

Should this feint and grab tactic work he would fling the machine back towards the Photon rifle wielding unit, quick draw the burst railgun and try to do both of them in with one shot, be that from piercing both units or from one of the two blowing up.
 

GEAR

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#14
Pi Pi Pi…

Within the confines of the train, Lietenant Ivan monitored the battle from a darkened room, watching as it played out from the tablet he had acquired from Car Four. He took a long drag on his cigarette, the vapors reminding him of the mist from the room earlier, as an indicator popped up on the screen.

MISSION STATUS REPORT:
ONE TARGET DESTROYED
ONE DAMAGED
TWO REMAINING

AI0, ENGAGING.


That thing, he thought, that monster was doing about as well as he expected... but the game wasn't through just yet. There were still some terrorists left, and at this point, he wouldn't rest until every single one of them was dead and buried, left to disappear in the winter snow. At length, he lifted a radio to his face, giving a wry grin as he spoke, his voice transmitted over the train's speakers.

"Going back for your friends is admirable, tovarisch... But, if you had any sense, you'd have taken what you came for already."




As Ivan's voice crackled to life over the loudspeaker, there would have been a similar glint in the whirling white void to the pair's left - and the bright blue laser pulsed into being again, snaking briefly along the ground to scythe into the downed Landlion, attempting to detonate it much in the same sense as it had the prior unit, causing damage to Anthony's Guarlion.

Meanwhile, as Roman seized the oncoming Huckebein, his attempt at hurling it would have been suddenly foiled, as the machine also engaged its own thrusters, resisting his pull as the two machines grappled with one another. Slowly, the Guarlion was gaining ground, its more powerful motors overpowering the Directory machine - but not fast enough to stop what would come next, as the Huckebein pilot cried out to his partner:

"Sasha, get it!"
"Leave it to me!"

The second unit charged in from behind, discarding its Photon Rifle, and drawing a pair of sleek knives that glimmered in the flickering light. It closed the distance between it and the Gauarlion, and swung one of the blades under, into the waist of its target, attempting to violently rip it through the abdomen - and thus, the cockpit, without endangering its fellow.
 

MKR

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#15
Roman smirked despite his predicament, it looks like he just might have the ace of the squadron in his hands. Guy sure was acting like it. Nevertheless, he was smart enough to have his buddy back him up giving Roman only a short window of opportunity to do something about this whole predicament. Yet, that smirk prevailed. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, sure his plan had failed but a new opportunity had arisen. Some might call it inhumane but...

Inside the cockpit a switch was flipped, usually this was a getaway tool. The ASRS was something next to no machine could hope to outrun, but in this case where Roman needed a quick reaction that speed was about to be used as an offensive tool. Seeing as the Huckebein already had issues keeping the Guarlion's strength in check and the two were ever so slightly elevated it would give the poor directory goon nothing to hold on to, with only his own thrusters to rely on.

The Guarlion however, would use its boost in speed to slam the Mass Produced machine directly into the front of the train, with the aim to turn it into a pancake. A process that would take a moment at most.

Over at the Landlion Anthony was perhaps literally steel faced staring down the source of the blue light, as it came into being he fired the railgun round directly at its source, alongside that he spoke up.

"Miss Karolina, fire every missile 20 degrees right then go forwards with all engines."

The Landlion did as told, all homing missiles firing off into the distance, going after the railgun round directly for the source of the beam and immediately after the threads of the machine spun into action, letting the machine leap out of the crater... And right into the path of the beam which, instead of the reactor as their foe intended, would find their home in the cockpit. Karolina let out one final gasp of surprise as she was met with the blue light as the first thing she saw after digging herself out of the dirt and snow, but then turned quiet.

The Landlion began to spin after the impact, its remains plunging into the snow a short distance away from Anthony's Guarlion which dropped the railgun into the snow, it had become useless after its last usable round. The bioroid was not about to amuse this man who thought he already won with a response however.
 

GEAR

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#16
"My father told me a story, once. He learned it from the Algonquins, the tribes, in the west."

A figured watched in the wastes, as its shot hit home in the Landlion's cockpit. It was incapable of feeling satisfaction as it checked off the second of four boxes in its metal target list, when a sudden alarm caused it to sit a little more alert than it had previously. In the distance, Ivan's voice could still be heard as he chuckled over the loudspeaker, evidently enjoying the show.

"Of a monster, a cannibal they feared, one that would come in times of famine."

Unlike the others in the storm, it was far from blind. In fact, the current situation made the perfect battlefield conditions for it to thrive - its sensor arrays had been carefully calibrated and designed in such a way that not even the ECM fog it had strewn about the battlefield could truly impede its vision. As the missiles loomed up at it out of the gloom, its lithe, bony form hunched back... and then sprung, apelike hands pounding the snow as it ran, back-mounted ramjets flaring as missiles rained all about it in a symphony of destruction.

"It would eat... and eat... and eat... but its hunger could never be satiated, leaving it thin and wretched, like a ghoul."

Several projectiles - including the railgun rounds, expertly loosed from the makeshift cannon, came close - only to splatter harmlessly against a wall of crackling particulate, sparks crackling along the figures hull, illuminating it in the storm for just a brief few seconds... but enough for the Guarlion to get a good look, as the Energy Field began to disperse.

"They called it the Wendigo."

It must have stood over thirty meters tall, even with its profile hunched and slouched. It was all thick, bonelike rows of metal, arrayed about a rotund, spherical belly backed with a flexible spine, which terminated in a head which could only be described as ghastly. One bulging metallic eyepiece contrasted with the sunken state of another, inside which a remarkably realistic eyeball rolled about, coming to focus on the Guarlion, over which it glowered rows of needles, set not unlike teeth in a vent-like "mouth", from which gales of white smoke fumed, as the monster vanished back into the storm.

Gnssshhh...

"And now, it's coming to get you, tovarisch!"

Meanwhile, the Huckebein pilot grappled with the Guarlion. He was losing ground, and he knew it, but he just had to hold on for a few seconds more-

That was, until the shoulders of the Guarlion seemed to ignite, and he found himself being cannonballed back through the air, so much that the Personal Troopers airbags deployed, muffling his sight as he managed to cry out:

"A Boost Drive?! Aaaaaaaaaghhhhhh!"

Roman's burst of speed carried the two forward, and the man's scream was silenced for good as the two hit the ground with spine-shattering force, the last sound being the wet crunch of broken bone... and it would move no more. The second unit, for the moment, appeared to be nowhere in sight - giving Roman a moment to regroup his senses... and to contemplate his now spent Boost Drive, the device's condensed charge now expended.
 

MKR

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#17
Anthony spoke up over the comms as soon as Ivan had concluded his introduction. His Guarlion slowly making its way back to the other Guarlion, keeping its eyes on the storm for any enemies. Be it the Wendigo or the last Huckebein.

"Roman the unknown enemy has been identified as the Wendigo from project Wendigo. One of the many shelved projects found among Tsentr's remains. Using the demonstrated combat strength so far caution is advised, extended data is available at base."

The Russian pulled his Guarlion off the remains of the Huckebein and spun it 180 degrees around, picking up his assault blade as he looked around.

"Well I suppose we'll have to see how strong it is for ourselves, one of the goons is still about somewhere too." With that said privately Roman switched to his speakers.

"Ty slishkom mnogo boltayesh', if you like delivering speeches like that perhaps you should have gone for the theater instead?" the blonde haired man said, these kinds of people bothered him to no end, commanders that just sat on their assess while their goons fought. Sure there were some like that among their number too but the boss himself was the first and last to be out on the field.

His Guarlion changed the grip on the assault blade as the external speakers turned off.

"Anthony, you've been made to be better with a gun so take my railgun when possible after we're done with their goons all we need to do is rummage through their stuff, see if anything's worth taking and then give the guys over in base a light show."

"Affirmative."

With their exchange done the two guarlions and their pilots put their focus on the battle.
 

GEAR

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#18
If Ivan had a response, it was muted - he simply chuckled at the man's bravado - and with a click, the line went silent. Was he so confident in victory he felt no need to further monitor the proceedings? Or was there something else at work?

Grrggk…

In the distance, Anthony could hear a sudden shriek of groaning metal, growing louder in intensity with every passing second.

Grgggkkshaakkk...

All of a sudden, it halted - as out of the gloom loomed something vast... The blackened remains of one of the train cars came roaring at him, slamming into the ice and tumbling forward as it attempted to crush him below its bulk. There was no sign of the Wendigo... Not yet, at least, but the ECM interference now clogging his sensor arrays indicated it was close. Watching, and waiting for its moment to strike.

Meanwhile, Roman for his part - also a target of the sliding disaster - would have noticed something else. In the direction the Huckebein had been located, there was a spark of light. Something rocketed up into the air, and burst like a miniature sun, sending multiple colored rays into the dark. A flare, it seemed... But, for what purpose?
 

MKR

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#19
"Incoming!" Anthony announced, having his unit jump forwards to let the train cart pass by his side having the projectile become a piece of cover for his use. Roman on the contrary however took to the sky in a forward lurch, the cart sprinkling up the snow behind him. His attention turned to the origin point, and afterwards to the flare clear in his sight.

"Flare on your 5 o clock." the human said to his companion. Disgruntled at the prospect of trains being lobbed at him and now flares being thrown about, there wasn't supposed to be anyone in range to see this especially with this weather so what purpose did it serve. Whatever it was he didn't like it, his Guarlion floating above the cart.

Anthony's Guarlion scanned its surroundings, not intent to be surprised by the Wendigo he had the Guarlion prepare to instantly lurch at the beast's large eye and embed its assault blade into it the moment it showed itself. As such the Bioroid, while he heard the remark remained quiet and focused.

In the sky roman turned his attention to the point of origin for the projectile, attempting to see what had used it as a weapon against them.
 

GEAR

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#20
Both Guarlions vaulted the oncoming train car on jets of plasma as it screamed underneath, coming to a shuddering halt among the ice. They turned their gaze immediately in the direction of the assault, their already taxed sensors reporting little...

Exactly as predicted.

From below, positioned immediately on the other side of the train car, a pair of arms snapped up out of the gloom like a steel trap, closing around the legs of Roman's Guarlion as it rose, clamping tightly about its ankles.

The Wendigo regarded the two from below with a glare, having approached from behind the obstacle all along, its near-silent ramjets and ECM effectively masking its presence until the very last second - when it was already far, far too late. Yet, there was only a fraction of a second to reflect on its presence as Anthony's charge was interrupted, the Wendigo violently dragging the second unit into the path of the first to intercept the oncoming blow, letting it drive the whirring blade directly into its ally's chest with a squeal of grinding metal.

Overhead, there was a high pitched shriek, one that would have been immediately familiar to anyone with even passing familiarity of the Lion series: Boost Drives. Not just one, but a staccato rhythm filling the air - at least six separate machines, in all likelihood a Directory fast response team.