[center][img]http://s.pro-gmedia.com/videogamer/media/images/pub/large/gsitiberium1.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][h1]True Grit[/h1][/center]
[center][h3]Part 2[/h3][/center]

[color=gray]Hark was standing in the hastily set up command tent in the crater of the moon. The winds outside were howling powerfully since Alexis' move with shooting the WMG through the moon's atmosphere. The marines had to spread out the legs of the anti-ship cannons so that they wouldn't blow over from the gusting. Lightning crackled and thunder boomed, a hurricane had enveloped a large portion of the moon's surface. Simply put, things had gone to hell on the surface. The sand was blowing so hard, soldiers could hardly see twenty feet in front of them. Hark had ordered that all troops were to wear their hostile environment suits. Luckily, the anti-ship cannons were networked with the Lincoln's targeting computers and the onboard AI. Despite the extreme weather conditions, the cannons would fire as though it were a beautiful day on Earth.

A holodisplay similar to the one on the Lincoln's bridge sat in the middle of the tent's space. Hark looked it over, watching the battle in orbit unfold. He let out a whistle, impressed with how well the battle carrier had tackled the odds; then again, it [i]was[/i] Alexis commanding the ship. When the holodisplay pinged another hostile signature, Hark put himself into motion. He secured his full face helmet before leaving the command tent, he had to brace himself for a moment as the wind almost took him off his feet. He navigated with his hud as it highlighted every solid surface and person in sight despite the sandstorm. The large cargo carriers had been grounded since the battle in space began. The marine detachment had hurried the supplies out of them and set up a quick firebase. Sandbags were set up along the ridge of the crater, the blowing sand did well to mound up around the outsides, creating a natural barrier in front of the bags. Heavier gun emplacements were also set up around the perimeter, Crowe Smartguns and STAKEN chemrails mounted on bipods.

Hark didn't stop to admire the firebase, however. He made to one of three of the orbital guns and looked into the terminal. The gunner sat in the seat, patiently, he had validated the Lincoln's targeting network. [color=white][i]"Waiting on the order to engage, sergeant."[/i][/color] the gunner said.

[color=white][b]"Hark, the trap is sprung, you've got your prey."[/b][/color] Hark heard Alexis over the radio.

Hark nodded, [color=firebrick][i]"There's your damn order, son! Light her up!"[/i][/color]

The gunner put his hands on the two control sticks, [color=white][i]"All guns, open fire in sequence."[/i][/color]

On that order, the first cannon fired into the sky, followed shortly after by the second and then the third. The three cannons alternated between one another to provide a constant stream of fire. The destroyer was right above the firebase, its belly facing the planet. The cannon shots began to hit, none of them missing thanks to the Lincoln's targeting systems. The shields hadn't yet been raised since it wasn't in the battlespace. The shots pummeled away at the belly of the beast, water spewed out of the hull in a great geyser as the H2O reservoir was penetrated. A rocket bay was hit also, causing a large explosion to billow out from the ship.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBJGk80ZKXo](Mood Music)[/url]

The destroyer reacted quickly, shields spooled up seconds after the barrage. Soon the shields were fully raised and the anti ship cannons were losing effectiveness. They continued the bombardment on the destroyer, it would only be a matter of time before the shields broke and the cannons would wreak havoc again. The destroyer rolled its starboard broadside to face the planet and returned fire with its two deck guns. The Coalition destroyer didn't calculate for the extreme winds on the moon, it had never been like that before. The winds caught the returning shots and made them veer off course. It wasn't long before that problem was rectified and the deck guns began to bombard the firebase in return.

There was a heavy thud and a concussive wave as one of the destroyer's rounds landed a direct hit on the command tent Hark had just been in. Hark's comm lit up with radio chatter from his men. Screams of pain from the survivors of the first strike could be heard over the rest of the reports. Another round from the destroyer hit the ridge of the crater and blew out a large portion of the defense perimeter. The cannons continued to return fire to the destroyer. Marines were running in every direction to their posts, medical personnel were trying to help with the wounded. The marines within the command tent that had survived didn't have time to put on their helmets, sand scraped along their faces from the high winds.

The next shot from the destroyer hit one of the cargo transports but the heavy shield of the vessel deflected the shot into the ground right next to it. The explosion rattled the entire firebase. Hark's radio chimed in his hear, it was the Lincoln's AI, [color=royalblue][i]"Sergeant Hark, scanners show that the Coalition destroyer had deployed drop pods and a pair of Ferir II MAS units."[/i][/color]

Hark called over the radio to his the two platoons, [color=firebrick][i]"Lock it up, marines! We've got company! I expect once the bombardment starts then the real fight'll begin! Get your war faces on, men!"[/i][/color]

The medics did well to turn off the wounded marines' comms. The lack of screaming and cries for help got the rest of the marines back in line. Shortly after Hark's brief command, squad leaders acknowledged and got their positions. Hark made sure one of the squads did their best to fix the perimeter where the orbital strike had landed. Hark slung his shotgun over his back and grabbed an assault rifle from one of the dead marines. [color=firebrick][i]"Rabbit, I need a status report on that squadron of yours."[/i][/color]

[color=ffdab9][i]"My Sparrow is fired up and ready. One of the SF pilots was caught in the blast at the command tent, she's dead. The other two pilots are ready to launch but they're apprehensive with this weather. It might be better if I flew solo on this one."[/i][/color]

[color=firebrick][i]"Copy that, leaves the firebase for now so a lucky shot from this bombardment doesn't get at you."[/i][/color]

[color=ffdab9][i]"Sergeant, my orders were to support and protect this firebase. I'm not leaving. Don't you worry about me."[/i][/color]

The shells continued to drop from orbit but not to the same effect of the initial few. Out of the company of two hundred men that deployed to the moon, forty had died in the bombardment. Hark knew that Coalition destroyers had a platoon's worth of marines aboard but some woudl stay behind in case of a boarding action. The two MAS units were equaled, if nor surpassed, by Sara Lin of the 7th. With the defensive fortifications, Hark had good feelings about the upcoming battle.

Hark's hud pinged, causing him to look to the sky. The Coalition drop pods and MAS units had entered the firebase proximity. [color=firebrick][i]"Look alive, marines! Hostile forces North and East. Rabbit, engage those MAS units!"[/i][/color]

[color=ffdab9][i]"Already on it!"[/i][/color] the pink sparrows lifted off slowly. The MAS listed a bit because of the high winds but Lin corrected herself. The pink MAS flew off to meet the enemy in battle.

Hark heard gunfire and ran to join the firefight. Once he reached the ridge of the crater, his hud highlighted the enemy forces in red. The sandstorm was too thick to see with his own eyes, everybody participating in this battle would be relying on their gear. Tracer rounds whizzed past Hark's head as he ducked behind a sandbag. A marine looked to him, [color=white][i]"Ten foot mobiles fifty meters out! Two RAV's just behind!"[/i][/color]

Rapid Assault Vehicles, or RAV for short, were fast one man skirmishing bikes. They often used hover tech to glide over difficult terrain. Mounted on the back of Coalition RAVs were high caliber autocannons that infantry wouldn't be able to carry without an ultra light MAS. One of the RAVs opened fire on their position, the mounded sand in front of the barrier took the blows, spraying the sand in every direction. Hark peeked his head over the sandbag and saw the highlights of the Coalition marines approaching quickly. He raised his rifle over and fired two quick shots, the highlights went prone and returned fire.

The distinct pop of gunfire was muffled out by the high winds. The marine next to Hark rose over the cover and opened fire, [color=white][i]"Hostile down!"[/i][/color] he said as he ducked back in cover.

Hark fired over and dropped a second Coalition marine. The RAV spewed another volley of death at the emplacement. The heavy gunner to Hark's left caught three rounds, two in the chest and the third in the neck. He dropped back, his STAKEN was ruined from the valley. Hark growled, [color=firebrick][i]"Somebody handle those RAVs!"[/i][/color]

As if on queue, Lin's sparrow flew over head and blanketed the area with rotary cannon fire. Both of the RAVs crashed into the ground, their pilot's dead. One of the Ferir's was in pursuit of the much faster sparrow. It launched two missiles to give chase, the sparrow quick boosted vertically and the missiles tried to right themselves. They turned sharp, but the winds threw them off balance. Lin span around and  fired a missile back. The Ferir was too heavy to perform the maneuvers that Lin was pulling off. Before the missile could hit, Lin opened fire with her rotary cannon, the plasma kinetic rounds ripped the shield apart for the missile. The arm of the Ferir went flying into the sandstorm. The sparrow burst forward, using the sharpened edges of the rotary cannon to slice from shoulder to leg of the Ferir. There was a screech and the metal hulk fell back into the sand. The sparrow was already gone to deal with the second Ferir before Hark could give congratulations.

More fire crackled over Hark's head. Another two marines joined the four already at the emplacement. The second one didn't get in cover fast enough and caught a bullet to the leg. He fell to the ground, another marine moved out to pull him in cover. [color=firebrick][i]"Get him patched up!"[/i][/color] he said and fired another volley into the sandstorm. Another hostile went down.

[color=ffdab9][i]"Watch out behind you!"[/i][/color] Rabbit warned as she flew overhead, unleashing hell from her rotary cannon at the other Ferir. The Coalition MAS launched a missile at one of the anti-ship cannons and destroyed it. The other two cannons were continuing their cycle of fire at the destroyer in orbit. They corrected their pattern when the first cannon went down.

Lin sped forward and tackled the Ferir to the ground. Now within the Ferir's shield space, the Sparrow had already won. With a jab from its bladed cannon, the Sparrow let loose a torrent of fire from within the Ferir. Sparks flew in every direction. [color=ffdab9][i]"Enemy MAS units down. Providing fire support."[/i][/color] The Sparrow lifted off and began to strafe the incoming attackers.

The Coalition marines that Hark was dealing with were now just twenty feet out. He quickly unslung his shotgun and pumped it. When the first four-eyed marine appeared over the sandbags, Hark's shotgun blew out a hole in the man's chest. He fell backward silent. The marine to his right was locked in a deadly melee with another trooper. With knives drawn, the marines struggled to push their blades into one another's hearts. The brawl was cut short when Hark kicked the Coalition marine off of his comrade and fired his shotgun into. Hark glanced at his recovering marine, [color=firebrick][i]"Get on your feet. There's still a fight to win."[/i][/color]

The marine nodded and collected his rifle. The two fought off the rest of the Coalition marines at their emplacement. There was one enemy left, Hark dealt with him personally. With a pistol shot to the leg and another to the four-eyes' dominant hand, Hark had disabled him. [color=firebrick][i]"Subdue him, he's coming with us."[/i][/color]

The other engagement was won for the UEE but at a greater cost. If not for Lin's covering fire from above, they would have lost the emplacement for sure. All clear reports started to come in, Hark relaxed. A quick roll call with the company showed that they had lost fifty marines and had another thirty injured. The breach in the perimeter was credited to the heavy losses. The wounded marines were being taken to a hastily set up triage station.

Once the destroyer had found out its attack had failed, it began to bombard the firebase again. But Hark noticed something strange about the shells, they weren't [i]shells[/i]. It was debris. Hark raised a brow as he heard the report over the radio, [color=white][i]"This is Gemini 2, the Coalition destroyer has been eliminated. Good work on crippling it, marines."[/i][/color]

Cheers of victory sprang up over the radio.[/color]