"It begins." Genevieve fixed a chair just outside her little sister's apartment, gazing out into the center of the city. A series of tremor aroused the entire city with dusts, as smokes appeared, snaking its way up from the source of the disturbances.
The third floor of the building was already a good vantage point, and she was prepared to stay outside for a long time, watching everything unfold. Sitting down, she noticed Sy's body language, quickly grasping the man's dubiousness of the entirety of what was happening. Crossing her legs, she explained, "I don't have much experience between the conflict of mech guilds. And, I believe, that is the case for this occupation of Logria. From what I can dredge up from my memory of basic military textbook, we sit this one out and wait."
The brief information gave Sy some form of clarity. There were many things he did know about the mech factions. The posture of his body relaxed while leaning his weight against the wall. He said, "I guess no military response from the Union."
"This AO Guild, I don't know their exact origin. They're doing it with precision and care. The violation they committed was directly disrupting the function of a settled planet from a faction, but I bet they're prepared for it." Genevieve mused, continuing, "By avoiding civilian fatalities, they're trying to open up negotiations with the Union."
Sy let out a sigh, feeling dejected. Here he was buying books, an attempt to study before the representative of the Union's Mech Association arrive. And yet, in a turn of event, an ambitious guild had suddenly emerged, cutting off the planet from the outside, delaying his preparations to become legit in the mech world. A wishful thinking would be that it will all go away soon. But it will not.
Whoever pulling the strings in the transport ship was up for the task. Logria still reeling from the storm, did not have the excuse to be exempted from an orbital assault, but presented a good opportunity. Anyone with a strategic mind would find it as a good staging ground. Poor, underdeveloped, and undefended, someone took advantage of this. Not to mention the coming war, which provided a good distraction for the Union, they executed their plan perfectly. The young pioneer could only speak his mind on the matter, "I don't know the proper etiquette around here, or how the guilds operate, but these guys are only here to lure something.. or somebody."
'The GT!' Genevieve mentally noted. Sensing the low spirit of the man to the side, her eyes sparkled as a thought to lighten up the mood came to her. Stifling a chuckle, she suggested, "I can fill you up with the details, so long as I sit on your lap while doing it."
Her words drew a smile on Sy's face, who retorted, "We'll have to find a new chair. The one you're sitting on can't support both our weights."
The two laughed.
Laira and the three girls were peeking through the narrow gap on the door, showing disgust on their faces upon hearing the two flirt.
-----
Meanwhile, on a huge crater, a drop pod spat out a bridge right after a hatch opened on its side. The first AO mech finally stepped out into the city, easily smashing a few debris with its metal feet. It was slim. A light mech. The tight and solidly compact armor on its frame indicated advance engineering, delivering good protection, and articulation for its limbs.
Originally painted grey, replaced by a camo of brown and orange to match the current environment, the light mech surveyed the city for a moment with its humanoid head. The crushed roads and vehicles, with a few collapsed buildings - affected by the impact the drop pod caused upon falling with its entire weight on the ground, entered the screen of the pilot.
It was a wreckage! Imagine if the drop pods went down in peak velocity, instead of just a few hundred meters drop.
After a moment, seeing that there was no threat, the light mech motioned with a hand, pointing a finger forward, as a frightening sight came after. Half a dozen of heavy mechs made their way outside, bulk with thick armor platings and fully armed with destructive weapons. All sporting the same hue as the light mech. As the big slugs leaped down on the ground, they created further damage into the surrounding infrastructures when their enormous weight collided with the earth.
The 30 stories buildings only reached the heavy mechs' chest, not even half the size of the collosal war machines. It was as if the heavies could uproot the structures from their foundations and swung them around with ease.
These mechs were all 6th Gens.
As the heavy mechs secured the perimeter, wings sprouted on the light mech's rear. It took off from the ground, quickly reaching the roof of a skyscraper. After planting a signal booster, which blinked online with a green light, the flyer then searched for a solid place to perch, in order to provide assistance to the ground from above.
--
While the operation was underway on the planet's surface, Vasquez was confronted by two individuals.
The man standing on the right was looking neat and clean. Unlike, the commander who did not even bother fixing the collars of his uniform.
"Commander," The man subtly saluted, "I was informed that you want the operation done ahead of schedule."
"Wilkins." Vasquez gave his second in command a one look over, before giving his command, "I want you down there commanding the drop squads. If you have questions, do it now."
"I was sent here for the sole purpose of keeping you in check, commander." Wilkins said, brushing his black hair to the side, "You have a tendency to get in the cockpit of a mech, and the guild master made sure that I won't let that happen. As long as you're in the ship giving orders, that would indicate that I'm doing the job well."
"Off you go then." The commander sniffed, reminding, "Keep those idiots down there in good order."
"Lieutenant Campbell of the Specialists Corps, commander." The woman beside Wilkins finally introduced herself. She stated, "Requesting permission to join Wilkins."
"Lieutenant Campbell. You are a valuable asset of this expedition. I will not risk sending you down there until the city is totally safe." Vasquez dismissively responded, reading an incoming report of a well defended PDF base.
"With all due respect, sir. The data report stated that the city will be overrun by sundown. I need to be there inspecting the Union's tech. The sooner I summarize a technical report of the Union, the better. This mission would have completed 75% of its task by then." The lieutenant defiantly declared.
Wilkins to the side flinched when the woman called Vasquez, 'sir'. The commander would rather be called in his name than with a military customary.
Even the captain stole a glance at the expression of the commander.
Vasquez had a colder look on his face, as he turned his attention at the woman. However, he managed to control himself, as his men began to fear that he would let out some steam. Lowering the morale of his men was the last thing he wanted to do.
He observed the dark-brown skinned woman. Sexy lips. Attractive eyes. She was pretty, he admit. An agent of The Kingdom of Xepp, planted in his ship to do a specific intel gathering on the Union. It irritated him most when a patriotic young person showed their bravado. Something which reminded him of his younger days.
One thing that one would immediately notice with the young woman was her bulging chest. If she was a mech, she would have tripped over after taking a single step forward with those oversized parts. Vasquez would like to see that. Regretfully, she also had a huge deposit on her back, counterbalancing her front.
"Fine. Permission granted." The commander snorted, waving a hand, losing interest.
The two rotated on their heels, exiting the bridge to prep for their descent.
When they were out of earshot, the captain remarked, "You handled that well, commander."
"It's useless giving your piece of mind to young bloods. They'll have to experience it on their own." Vasquez said, while skimming through another report.
"They'll have to learn the hard way." The captain added.
"Incoming report of the PDF's movement, commander, " A ship crew shouted, "They're congregating in the command center of the Starport. They refuse to surrender!"
"Tell the men to secure the base of the Starport. Let the PDF keep the command center." Vasquez' order confused some of his men. He cleared, "I only need access to the Starport's log. We might have caught some big fishes in our net. This important people might encourage the Union to act against us. I'm planning to release hostages to prevent such scenario."
"I feel like a terrorist." The captain joked.
"Indeed. We are." The commander grinned.