Normally one would think discretion would be advised, but the remaining 30 mechs of team 1 all charged towards the melted door of the defenders. Mech combat wasn't that new to everyone as gamers have been doing it since as far back as the 20th century, but what was new was having to cooperate with so many other players at once where you had to worry about knocking someone over or shooting your teammate. What normally should've been an organized approach ended up being a bunch of players jostling for position to get in first like holiday shoppers on black Friday.
"The cattle are entering the barn!" Gray yelled out, the rest of Team 3 laughed at this because from their vantage point it truly did look like a herd of mechs marching into a barn.
One advantage to using plasma is that the actual projectile doesn't make a lot of noise so they base's main door melting didn't draw much attention unless the enemy was looking in the general direction of the door. The defending mechs were not very well coordinated so it took them a few precious seconds to respond to the door being melted.
Enemy mechs started to return to the main gate as fast as they could with the intention of creating a murder hole since the attackers could only enter the main gate 2 at a time at most.
"Snipers, aim for the defenders returning to the main gate, need to keep them from encircling the main gate!"
The advantage of defending the base was that you had turrets and walls to help you defend, the downside is that you had turrets, walls, and other structures in the way. Gray was hoping the snipers could take out a few of their legs in some of the more delicate spots creating obstacles for the defending mechs to have to work around before they could gather back near the main base's entrance.
Gray saw a large metal cylinder that looked like a fuel storage tank that some of the enemies were using for cover. Aiming his Battle Rifle, he fired a few rounds at it and saw only one hit but being unable to puncture it due to being beyond effective range.
"Alice, continue to focus on the defenders near the gate, no need to destroy any mechs, just keep aiming for the arms and legs! I don't know if I'll be back…" Gray said to Alice
"Back from wha…" Alice started to say as Gray's mech bounded past hers and stomped heavily on the steep slope leading down to the base. Gray was unable to stand his mech straight up due to the steep incline so instead he opted to go into a sliding position with one leg kneeling and the other one extended straight to try and keep himself from sliding.
"Yep, this won't work…" Gray thought to himself feeling silly for thinking that he could just run down that steep incline that he now discovered was not even climbable. His mech was slowly inching down the steep incline as he tried to dig his mech's feet into the solid ground but he was unable to get a foothold on anything.
"This is about to get fun!" Gray thought as his mech started to slide more leaving him fully exposed to enemy snipers.
__________
"Thank you everyone! Thank you for supporting me and our wonderful nation!" Princess Bang-gwi said with earnest.
After singing 8 different covers of various popular songs, the audience was really getting into it. The princess only had slightly above average talent in singing, but her composure, personality, and enthusiasm made her stand out compared to other female singers. Plus it helped that she was drop dead gorgeous and royalty as well… Some of the male audience members probably couldn't name even one song she sang.
"My friends, I am a little nervous, this is going to be an original song that I've never performed for anyone outside of the palace, I hope you all enjoy!" the Princess said with a smile.
The Princess looked amazing in the pink evening gown that was made for her to be identical to Miss Maven's. While she may have been lacking in certain 'areas' compared to Miss Maven, she still had the aura and charm of leadership that didn't come across as haughty compared to most royals. The Princess really liked the dress but she couldn't sing any of her favorite rock songs in it as it was too hard to move fast in it since she loved to dance while singing.
The Princess took the mic in both hands and was looking down solemnly, a slow drumbeat played in the background followed by a soulful whine of an electric guitar.
"That you like me is what I hear
So why are you never near
Baby tell me, I need to know
Come on, where should I go
-
No more words, no more strife
Let me get on with my life
Please… just please… let… gooooo,
Your answer, I already knooow…
-
Sitting up here
Wearing my crown
Nothing to fear
Yet you let me down…
-
Your words they can cut me so deep
I have to cry myself to sleep
Baby tell me, what did you do
Come on, I already knew…
-
No more words, no more strife
Let me get on with my life
Please… just please… let… gooooo,
Your answer, I already know…
-
Sitting up here
Wearing my crown
Nothing to fear
Yet you let me down…
-
I miss the touch of your hand
It warmed my soul
My heart of glass turns to sand
Where did you go…
-
Where did you go…
Without me…"
-
The crowd was silenced after her song, some of the grown men were even crying.
"Thank you again, everyone, that was 'Without me'. I wrote it for everyone that has ever lost someone important in their life."
The crowd once again erupted into cheers for Princess Bang-gwi. The Princess wished that she could do this all of the time, but she was also saddened when she remembered that most of the men and women in the audience tonight were soldiers and may not be able to come back.
The Princess declared energetically "I don't want to end tonight on a sad note, so it's time to do a song that's for me as well as for all of you, a final song to make this a night to remember! Put away those damn glow sticks, break out your lighters or anything you can set on fire, we're ending this with 'Let it all burn', a cover of Miss Maven's latest song which I'm sure most of you have heard!"
The crowd started to get even more excited as many of them knew this song by Miss Maven since she passed by recently.
Wanting to emulate Miss Maven, Princess Bang-gwi wanted to sing it exactly like Miss Maven.
"Can you hear my song of yearning...
Can you see my passion burning...
I need a hero to save me...
Please hero set me freeeeee!"
As the last word 'free' was stretched out by Princess Bang-gwi, the background music started to kick in and pick up with a heavy bass guitar beat that got louder with each second. As Princess Bang-gwi stretched out the word 'free' her hand looked like she was reaching up and out to something or someone, a small trigger appeared in her hand which she immediately pressed as she remembered Miss Maven did. There may not have been a curtain to burn, but just like Miss Maven's dress before, Princess Bang-gwi's dress became engulfed in flames and burned to ashes immediately revealing her outfit under that was a tight black leather sleeveless vest with leather pants and black leather boots.
"Welcome to the nightmare!" Princess Bang-gwi screamed as her band started their opening number.
Or at least… that's what Princess Bang-gwi expected to happen… She was about to start singing the rest of the song when she noticed some audience members staring with their mouths hanging open and several of the male audience members with blood dripping from their noses then Princess Bang-gwi looked down, shrieked, knelt and then covered herself up as best she could as Chuhan Jwi came running up to the stage to put a coat on Princess Bang-gwi. Instead of just her dress turning to ash, the clothes under it all turned to ash as well giving everyone in the audience a concert they truly would never forget!