Max didn't poke his head into what Rishun's hacking could be capable of, but when done properly, an EW operator could be a warrior in a world beyond the physical. That said, while Rishun was perhaps digital, Max was more....analogue. While her antics had turned their digital landscape to black and confused them, Max on the other hand was someone who could take advantage of that. It was easier to put a bullet in something sometimes than hack a system, he mused, checking his UAV feed and watching on as he listened to the otter's response. 

[quote=@Esailia]
"You may be right, but just as I coerce machines to tell me things, you can coerce those soldiers to tell you things, if we capture one. Software tends to be easier to break than hardware..."
[/quote]

"Aye...taking someone from there isn't going to be easy if we run in and kill everyone there is. Which I feel might be about to happen. Have a listen." Max said, hearing the gunshots and mortars down on their flank, the noise of the GEARs getting into engagement noisy and clattering, the sound of weaponry bigger than small arms a sure-sign that Captain Blade had begun the fight, the 20mm opening up and roaring into life, audible from even here.

[quote=@Esailia]
He had a point, though, so she added quickly "If I had to choose, I would suggest we ask for a distraction, then we assault together after that IFV is down. No reason to split up yet, and you told me to stick to you, right?"
[/quote]

Max nodded to himself, raising his stance a little higher as he swiped away a couple of the camera feeds, keeping the thermal and overall UAV one open, with the main coming back to the Lion Rampant's camera systems.
"I think we already got our distraction. They won't help us, but these lads here are looking the wrong way. Alright...we'll assault together. We have the advantage on them here as we'll come from an unexpected angle, so maximum aggression it is. No backing down once we open up." Max said, raising his 30mm and cooly pulling out the 30mm round from the large rifle, followed by the magazine that gently dropped into his GEAR's left hand. 

With a slight swipe, he replaced it with an Armour-Piercing magazine, marked with a special red and gold stripe on each mag, the round a little more specifically made at breaching armour. A 30mm round could already punch through armour, but this round was specifically designed to kill light tanks and IFVs, and with the optics setup Max had, it was quite easy. Flicking through, he found the FLIR change from white-hot to red-hot, giving him an even more impressive vision of the IFV in the distance as he raised the rifle, poking it against a tree and gently preparing himself. Zooming his optic in, he could see the engine block, and the side of the ammunition dump inside the IFV. The lion knew that a basic IFV like this wouldn't stand a chance- the round would turn the block to pieces, and the ammunition dump would just make the thing go up in flames...with any poor bastard inside.

"Got the IFV in my sights. I should make easy work of it. But after that, get ready to move up, quick. I'll snipe anyone in the open then push up to you. Ready up, Rishun. Shit is about to go off." Max said, as he tapped Rishun's GEAR with his spare hand, taking the aim nice and steady. A GEAR would appear to be a rocksteady platform for shooting, but the other factors meant to get this shot set up, Max had to take his time and make every round count from the bolt-action 30mm rifle. 

"Firing in three, two, one...mark." And with that, Max clacked his joystick's trigger for the first time in a very long time, sending a 30mm round flying from the rifle, the enormous shell casing pinging off Rishun's side and making a howling noise. It sounded like a thunderclap, the recoil kicking into the GEAR's shoulder as Max rechambered, hearing the noisy metallic clang of armour being breached. The IFV was limp, as Max pushed the bolt forward, firing again. The loud ping that followed in the distance being the engine getting killed as the motors and turret of the IFV went out. Another one. This time, the bit below the turret. Shot, and quicker than Max expected, the IFV erupted, the turret blasting off as the ammo store went up, Max wooping as he patted Rishun on the side.

"Go, go go!" Max yelled, reloading a regular anti-infantry magazine back in as he shoved hard against the trees in front, almost going arse-over-tit as he skidded down the muddy bank, out into the open and in the felled forest on the incline to the comms post. All hell was let loose, as the alarm blared, the fire from the IFV disrupting Max's NVGs and IR a little, but not enough to make him turn it off, the Lion Rampant getting muddy as he thundered into the treeless forest. 

--------

[quote=@Silverwind Blade]
"Hunter One here, encountered enemy resistance, continuing to move on position. All other units; check in with progress, keep 'em on the run and don't give 'em a chance to get dug in or recover from the missile attack".
[/quote]

"Understood Hunter One, we're charging in now. IFV at the comms site is out of commission...will update on the rest shortly." Max replied, seeing a couple of infantry fire down on the GEARs charging across, Max skidding to a halt by a large tree stump and taking a shot at the infantry group at the top. He knew he was taking the attention off Rishun by doing this, as he put a couple of rounds that way, making them think twice about firing back- his 30mm rounds were like lightening bolts, and despite peppering him, he was holding his own. The group scattered, aware of the marksman's 30mm, and aware that if they were close together, they'd get turned into goo as a group, not on their own. At least they had the sense to shit themselves when they heard a 30mm round nearly hit them, the lion mused. 

"Contact, top of the hill! I've got half a dozen in my sights, light em' up!" Max called out, taking out two unknown hostiles with a well placed couple of round as he finished his magazine off. He cleanly reloaded, but knew he had to push, while he had them scared and worrying now.
 
Moving up, he held the rifle in his right arm, raising his GEAR's left and punting a few HE grenades up into the comms post, at least suppressing it for Rishun's movement as he took the rifle back into hand, establishing another position to fire from.
"They're getting suppressed Rishun, push forward while their heads are down!" Max added into comms, emptying the rest of his mag at the top of the hill and where his thermal imaging had seen them get in position, unsure in the blur of conflict what it was like. For what it was worth, with a GEAR it felt less personal- it felt a lot more robotic, cold and removed to some degree what you were hitting. And with a 30mm rifle, it was gonna be a bad day for anyone that Max had it pointed at. He couldn't say for sure how many he'd gotten, given how fast he was having to use his rifle, that never changed- but it felt like at least 4 or 5 had been taken down by him already. The lion on that note reloaded once again, moving up towards Rishun's position and getting ready to move onto the peak of this comms post.