In the wake of Clan Wars 3313, the disappearance of the Krampus mechas, and the surge in Ambershard Deathstalkers, the strangely painted army of Ghengis Khan decided to rain down upon everyone’s head. Claudio Cappannari stood on an embankment looking forward into a seemingly bottomless cavern. Cavern you say? On the jungle moon? Why yes true believers, during every other half-cocked, hair-brained random feck storm going on, the Jungle Moon of Rizpah was found to be home to an endless maze of tunnels and caverns under the mantle. This played hell with them during the Ambershard Invasion, but now that most of the bug-like trouble makers have been burnt out, it will serve the purpose of the mercenary clans in the upcoming battle.
Behind him, he heard approaching footsteps and labored breathing. Corporal Mary Beth was coming back with a status report and a package for Claudio form command.
“Up here, Corporal.”
<huff, huff>”Be right”<foof>”There, sir.”
As she trudged up the remaining incline to reach Claudio, she reached forward with a rather bulky, yet light package.
“Here you go sir, straight from command.”
“Ah good, open it please. Mind you keep it right side up.”
“Yes sir.”
As she started cutting open the seams, Mary could feel separate objects shifting around in the box.
What the…
As she reached in, she pulled out two folding chairs, a small folding stool, two sets of rangefinder glasses, and one slightly dusty bottle of Scotch.
What the…
As she reached in, she pulled out two folding chairs, a small folding stool, two sets of rangefinder glasses, and one slightly dusty bottle of Scotch.
“What is this, a picnic?”
“Why, did they include lunch? Are there snacks?”
“No sir, just chairs, a stool, some rangefinders, and a bottle of hooch.”
“No sir, just chairs, a stool, some rangefinders, and a bottle of hooch.”
“Hey now! Knowing FJ, that bottle of so called “hooch” is most likely older than you are pup.”
“Sorry sir, I’m just a bit wore out from the trek and slightly confused is all.”
“That’s okay Corporal. Set up the chairs and stool and prepare to watch something not many get to see.”
Once the chairs were set up, stool between them, Claudio motioned her to take one of the chairs and flipped her one set of rangefinders. He then produced two crystal stemmed glasses (those weren’t in the box! Where was he holding those?) and proceeded to pour the amber colored liquor into both glasses.
“Okay Mary, report!”
“All members of Arcane Sanctuary, Project Mecha, and Crystal Dragons are in place sir and waiting on your call sign.”
“Excellent! That completes the roll call. Sit back Corporal Beth and get ready for the show.”
“Sir, I’m a bit confused about that. What exactly is supposed to be happening? Shouldn’t we be above helping Ruby and Sapphire in holding the Khan warriors back?”
“Ah, normally I’d agree with you there, but this is more of a cure wrapped inside of a deception.”
“Uhh, that doesn’t help clarify things sir.”
“Excellent! That completes the roll call. Sit back Corporal Beth and get ready for the show.”
“Sir, I’m a bit confused about that. What exactly is supposed to be happening? Shouldn’t we be above helping Ruby and Sapphire in holding the Khan warriors back?”
“Ah, normally I’d agree with you there, but this is more of a cure wrapped inside of a deception.”
“Uhh, that doesn’t help clarify things sir.”
“Okay. Picture this. Those weirdly painted mechs up there? They’ve been skulking about in various places of interest for a while now. There have been reports on them from all sectors. Now you have a whole new evildoer, who has the latest “dirt” on us and is bent on Galaxy-wide domination.
Our guess is that this Ghengis guy is most likely a front for someone else. Someone who has been around yet out of sight for a while who is hoping to get a measure of our abilities. So this is why we had everyone buy as many Red Ants as possible, level them, and gear them up. Here, one second…”
Claudio took a transmitter out of his pocket and put it up to his mouth.
“All Clans, repeat. All Clans, on my mark in 5, 4, 3, 2,, 1, Mark!”
Beneath their feet, a low low rumble could be felt. On the far side of the cavern, at the edge of the darkness, thousands upon thousands of little orange eyes flickered to life. A red carpet seemed to be being drawn up the sides of the enormous cavern.
“That’s so weird, is that what I think it is?”
“Put on your rangefinders and find out”
As Mary put on the rangefinders, she clicked the autofocus button on the side, then brought the zoom to x10. The far side of the cavern was solid Red Ant Mechas, using jump jets to scale the walls on their way to the surface.
“We figured the best way to hide our strengths was to take advantage of the recent Red Ant breakthroughs and apply a nearly forgotten tactic used by the Great Ghengis Khan’s ancestors themselves, the Human Wave. Only with mechs. And these caverns we found thanks to the Ambershard purging are just the right size for holding a force of them large enough to completely bury the competition.”
“I must say sir, very impressive. We defeat this Khan fellow while at the same time being misleading as to our strengths.”
“Yes, we thought it was pretty neat-o. Now shut yer yap and pour us a couple more. I want to sit back and enjoy this. Operation Red Carpet is a go.”
