Suddenly the alarms sounded as the jump portals opened and hundreds of mechs had started pouring through. James was already riding out on patrol, which was going to prove a lucky break for him. Chatter over the comms was suggesting major problems in the Mech bays, the muffled sound of explosions coming from the main base indicated that some one or some thing had already penetrated the outer defenses.
“Shit” thought James, “wrong place, wrong time again.”
“Chief, this is Blewitt one-niner, making my way to base. Where are they hitting from Chief?”
“Negative, Blewitt one-niner, negative, mech's are malfunctioning back here. I repeat friendly fire in the Mech bays. You are ordered to Support Commander Kelley at gate Alpha-Foxtrot four.”
Brian Kelley was the leader of the clan, usually when he was in the action, it would be the big boys like Teaxe and Sheri giving him the support. Something was not right.
“Confirm base, proceeding to gate Alpha-Foxtrot four”. James was halfway there when he was flanked by a group of familiar mechs, He recognized straight away that Shauns Krampus smurf Mech was leading the group. “Good to see you shau.....” Krampus mech opened fire without warning, a full salvo of Rockets, followed quickly by the slam of a massive number of projectiles.
Two of James Mechs buckled and collapsed immediately unde the onslaught, several others smoked and sputtered as the nanobots desperately tried to keep them running.
“Cease fire, Shaun seven-sixty, you are firing on a friendly, repeat your blowing your own guys away”.
The firing did not stop. If anything it intensified, lasers and ice weapons looking to find the breaches in mech armor that the missiles and projectile weapons had carved into James Squad. James ordered his squad to take evasive s, still calling over the comms for Shauns squad to cease fire.
“Blewitt one-niner, this is base. Shauns squad is 5 clicks from your position, they are not firing on you, repeat not firing on your position”
“Then who the heck is blowing the smeg outta my squad base,” replied James
“Unknown at this time, evade if possible, destroy if necessary Blewitt one-niner, that is an order”
James Jinked left as yet another salvo of missiles descended on his position.
“Blewitt one-niner to squad, take down those mechs, repeat take 'em down.”]
“But sarge..”
“That is an order squad.” James then whispered to himself “And gawd help us if we are wrong, Shaun's gonna want some serious repair bills paying.”
James squad wheeled around, looking to pick the weak points in shauns Mechs, just as he had done in training. The fighting was fierce, but James won. He won more easily than he should have, and it was weird, Shauns skills had always out matched James, and this squad of familiar mechs hadn't operated in the usual tactics for Shaun.
“What now sarge?” said one of the privates in the squad.
“We still have to reach Commander kelley at the gate, our orders still stand, double time squad”
“But Sarge, we're in shape to support in a portal incursion!”
“Peterson, if we don't reach the commander, we won't be in condition to do anything, now lets haul ass and get there” Replied james. The private was right, but there was no way he was letting the commander down.
“Blewitt one-niner, Base here, come in please”
“Base, this is Blewitt one-niner we are on route to support Commander Kelley, sorry we got a little bogged down, what the Smeg is going on out there?”
“Blewitt one-niner, orders stand, make best speed to support Commander Kelley. Please be advised, there are multiple malfunctions on Squad mechs which are unmanned, several have been spotted operating by remote. If you encounter any squads except Commander Kelley's or Peli's you are too engage and destroy. I repeat engage and destroy.”
“Base, please give authorization code, I could swear you just told me to blow our own clan members away?”
“Blewitt one-niner, Base repeats, If you sight any mechs not belonging to either Commander Kelley or Captain Peli you are to engage and destroy. Authorization code one-six-Deca-five-five-aplha-zulu.”
Well the authorization code was authentic, but what the heck was going on to warrant those orders? “You heard base team, keep an eye out, and engage if spotted.”
“Erm.. Sarge?” Queried Peterson.
“We have our orders Peterson, unless you want to be up on a disciplinary, I suggest you follow them.” Interrupted James.
“Yeah, but sarge, aren't those your Ants making a bee-line for us??” James scanned left and could hardly believe his eyes. They were definitely his. Some were still trailing charging cables, and several looked like they had taken some serious damage. A warning sounded from James Consoles as laser locks were registering from them.
“Open fire, all weapons, splat 'em” Ordered James. The Ants were no match for the biggest and baddest of James Team, but they had still put a few decent hits in to the squad. “This day is just getting weirder and weirder” Though James. “And I just got them all buffed an all”
Another click, and James Squad had reached Commander Kelley's position. The sky was thick with smoke with mech after mech pouring through. Ignis, Anubis and Boreas mechs spewing out of the Vortex. Commander Kelley and Captain Peli where already laying down a rain of suppressing fire from either side of the giant ring.
“ Good to see you James, Get your dreadnought and Frigis up on the left flank. The rest of your squad watches our backs” Barked Commander Kelley. “If your mech goes down your on ammo finding duty, so consider yourself warned, this is gonna be the fight of your life”.
For the next 12 hours the onslaught continued. Peli's greater knowledge of tactics allowed for the Smurfs to stop too many of the enemy mechs from breaching the kill zone in front of the gate, whilst the lesser pilots watched the rear, mechs from all of the clan members stomping in trying to reach the big mechs defending the immediate area around the gate.
“Not my axe bot,” cried Peterson, as the one mech he own swooned under from the withering laser fire of his clan mates. As the smaller mechs fell, their unlucky pilots found themselves dodging live fire and explosions trying to find any sort of ammunition which might be suitable for the larger mechs. The laser turrets on James Jaddoon were in danger of melting from the heat, whilst his Frigis had long found it self frozen in place, weapons still firing into the abyss of the wormhole. Slowly the size of the mechs began to diminish, although not their numbers. A row of Shocklites piled with nuke burst through the Gate, temporarily knocking out the larger mechs of Peli, James' Ogguns plugged the gap, buying valuable time for the nano's to try to get some semblance of life into Peli's Antithesis before the next wave swarmed through.
“Ammo's getting low” Called James.
“I don't care if you have to throw rocks and harsh insults at 'em, Keep firing” barked Kelley.
“Last one standing, gets his mechs repaired for free,” Joked Peli, a stray missile exploding just in front of him. The remainder of his armor trying to soak the damage before smouldering into ash. “Not sure my shields can hold much more of this punishment” Yelled James
“You don't get to die till I order,” Replied Kelley “You keep firing, even if your mechs legs buckle and your cockpits crushed, you stop and you'll have me to answer to, and that's an order.”
The last order seemed to lift the smurfs, the grunts desperately trying to keep as much friendly fire off of the Captain and the commander. The smoke was so thick, none of them could make out more than muzzle fire coming from the gate, and still the fierce crossfire continued. Finally the ammo counters reading zero, the laser temperature gauges screaming in protest, and the missile racks long emptied, the onslaught ceased. The enemy had finally run out of mechs. Either that or there was simply such a pile of scrap in front of the gate that nothing more could physically materialize.
The troops were still tense, aware that any moment another wave could be pushing through, straining their eyes for the laser lights of another mechs punching through the gate. They slowly became aware, as the thickening choking fumes cleared that the gate had finally closed. No one breathed, waiting to see if another portal would open, minutes passed by, no one speaking save to confirm they were still standing.
“Base to Blewitt one-niner, Blewitt one-niner, report please.”
“Gates clossed, Captain and the commander are still here and we have held our position.”
“Roger that Blewitt one-niner, hold position and await further orders. By the way, Shaun says you owe him for two new Krampus.”
“Base, this is Commander Kelly, tell Shaun, if he wants to keep count, he owes me for three new Bishops, so he can shut up or pay up”, interjected Commander Kelley. “The kid did good, he proved himself when we needed him and didn't loose his cool under pressure, so he can back off, and you can get me some beers.”
The Portals stayed closed, no new gate activity reported. The damage to the base had been massive, with more than a few nukes going off within the bays, causing secondary explosions in the ammo silos and Generates. Much of the Mechs that had not been on Patrol were completely destroyed beyond any kind of repair. But the Smurfs had held, and James had proved himself worthy of being with the Brigade.
Right place, right time, if he had been trapped in the base, chances are he wouldn't be here, knocking back a warm beer with the boss, smoking debris warming the evening sky. It was gonna be a great evening, and James was with Brigade to stay.
Submitted by James Blewitt#865153