Outpost 1

High Stakes Low Blows

    Taco made his way out of the Comm Room slowly. Stepping over the body of Baxter he could see that the room was empty. From the security monitors he could see his fellow mercs were at a standstill against a scattered group of androids holed up in the  tank farm area.
      Panning the outside camera he could make out a grouping of personnel carriers headed to the back 40 area towards a large cargo transport that was closing its loading doors.
      He stuck his head outside  to see if there was any activity going on in the hallways and was surprised to find a contingent of Eastern Shoal mercs standing ready.
      "Who's in charge here?" He asked aloud.
      "That would be me." Max answered as he stood up from among a group of soldier crouched behind a makeshift barricade.
       "What's the Commander doing in there?"
       "Doing? He was shot dead about 20 minutes ago! He was killed by the Red Lands Tech and accompanied by one of the Brotherhood guards! Why didn't you stop them?"
        "We had no idea!" Pushing Taco aside he rushed in to see for himself followed by some of his officers. As he assessed the situation he came out of the room and began ordering his men out into the field.
"GET OUTSIDE! THERES A BATTLE GOING ON AT THE BACK 40 THEY'VE KILLED THE COMMANDER!"

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Outside the mercs advanced towards the tank farm. For reasons they couldn't understand the fearless Androids were no longer firing. One by one they began finding Droids totally immobile like eerie statues of men in various positions of attack.
Shooting at them physically they would topple over unresponsive.
"What's going on?" One of the sergeants asked. His men would search and poke but could only shrug just as confused as their leader. "Someone must have shut them all down."

Turning their attention to the group of troop carriers approaching the Red Lands Transport they began joining the rush to the west side. Seeing it as the the last enemy hold out. Their excitement grew as the rebel forces began to encircle 189.

From the top deck Raiders manned the guns trying to fend off the mass of Rebels encroaching from all directions.

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        Reese reached the outer door and skidded to a stop by the onramp. Banging on the door one of the Raiders pulled him in as the mercs began focusing their firepower on his vehicle.

I reached the main bridge of 189 completely out of breathe as the vessel began taking hits from the outside.
"TAKE US UP DJ! GET US OUT OF HERE!"
Without saying a word he hit the rockets and lifted the ship straight upward. The force jolted everyone off their feet momentarily as we took off at a steep angle.
From a distance an automated rocket shot off. It missed the vehicle by hundreds of feet.

"DJ did you maneuver the ship out of the way just now?" I asked.
"No Joe I had no idea they were shooting missiles."
"Hmmm.... very interesting." I began to wonder about the auto defense system. Picking up the ships Comm I called for the techs.

"What's the last known status of the auto defense system does anyone know?" I asked on an all call shipboard radio.
Coming into the room Major Dome walked over to me. "I left it out of calibration. They won't be able to hit you even if the ship were sitting still."
"Great." Turning back to DJ I said, " Turn this ship around DJ."
"WHAT? We barely made it out alive! What do you mean turn it around?"
Major Dome chimed in "I know what he's doing DJ turn it around."
"Well no disrespect Joe but I ain't about to commit suicide. Why don't you tell me what your planning."
They CAN'T hit us in the air DJ! We can go in low and strike them and they can't hit us!"
"You sure about this cause there's no back-up y'know"
"Trust me DJ we'll be safe."
"Well...... If it were a direct order I suppose..." he added hesitantly.
"As of now DJ it's a direct order." I emphasized for everyone to hear.

As we approached at high speed we could see the majority of the Rebels still gathered near the back 40. Obviously they had discovered the basement entrance and were in the process of clearing out the area room by room. The soldiers outside began shooting with their light weapons as we flew overhead well beyond the range of the disruptors.

DJ enabled the missiles and looked to me.
"Do you want to target the Personnel carriers Joe?"
"No I have a bigger prize in mind. Just hold it steady for a few seconds." I said as we passed over the majority of the Rebel force. Down below they were scattering in multiple directions sure that we were about to drop something on them.
"Here let me find the target." I said sliding into the gunners seat.
I moved the marker forward past the water tanks, past the building and slowed as it went by the front gate. Seeing the 2 large outdated Rebel Transports I zeroed in on them and locked it in. Firing repeatedly I sent a series of missiles into each of the 2 transport vessels to ensure their complete annihilation.

As the explosions began rocking the ground we could see the surprised expressions of Rebels on the ground. They ducked and ran as their only means of escape from Phobos exploded before their eyes.

Captain Beans watched it all unfold from the Navigators seat. "Interesting strategy Mr Snow. A little crude even barbaric but very effective."
"I figure they won't have any options left now that they're stuck here."
"Not bad for a beginner." Major Dome added. "That's definitely an advanced level move."
"Thanks Major. Think they'll call for a truce?"
"Pretty sure they won't have a choice now Mr Snow."
Flying overhead I couldn't help but take note that the place was a mess and it would take a fortune to fix all the damage. All I knew was that I was dead tired. I made a mental note to be sure and let the boss know I never wanted to do another pig run again.

THE END