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[color=LightCyan]"Sword Bearer, the second wave,"[/color] an attendant said as he approached, [color=LightCyan]"they're getting--"[/color]

The Sword Bearer held up his hand to silence the attendant.

[color=Lime]"They are performing their sacred duty to the Celestial Throne,"[/color] he said, his voice calm and even, [color=Lime]"one that we will all perform in our own time, with gladness in our hearts for furthering the purpose of Heaven."[/color]

[color=LightCyan]"Y-yes, Sword Bearer,"[/color] the attendant acknowledged.

For a moment, the Sword Bearer studied his young servant, a teenager barely out of school. When he had pledged himself to the cause, the attendant had been full of fire and righteous certainty. Now, he saw doubt in the boy's eyes.

[color=Lime][i]Could he be the mole?[/i][/color] he found himself wondering. [color=Lime][i]Has his faith in the glorious crusade faltered? Even if it has, does the boy have the spine to act on it?[/i][/color]

[color=Lime]"You are afraid?"[/color] he asked the attendant as the radio behind him buzzed with the screams of dying men.

[color=LightCyan]"I.....I am nervous, Sword Bearer,"[/color] the boy answered.

[color=Lime]"Of dying?"[/color]

The attendant shook his head.

[color=LightCyan]"Of failing,"[/color] he answered. [color=LightCyan]"Of dying without performing my service to the Throne."
[/color]

Slowly, the Sword Bearer nodded.

[color=Lime]"The mercenaries and their Battlemechs may be formidable,"[/color] he began, [color=Lime]"but ultimately they are useless things. They have no purpose, no duty in their existence, no loyalty to anything but coin. [i]You[/i], my boy, were given a mandate from Heaven. They cannot possibly stop you."[/color]

[color=LightCyan]"Yes sir,"[/color] the boy said, still shaky, but a bit more confident. The Sword Bearer smiled.

[color=Lime]"You will not die uselessly today,"[/color] he said. [color=Lime]"Take up a weapon; you will be one of the fortunate aboard Gonggong."[/color]

[color=Lime]"....G-....Gonggong?"[/color] the attendant gulped.

[color=Lime]"Go now,"[/color] he ordered, [color=Lime]"it is nearly time to depart!"[/color]

As the boy ran towards the enormous armored mass some fifty meters away, the air itself trembled from the roar of massive fusion engines.

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[color=SkyBlue]"Looks like the second wave is starting to break,"[/color] Lieutenant Lyons reported as they looked at the tactical readout on the screen.

[color=Crimson]"What were they thinking?"[/color] Cadet Windham asked, the question more rhetorical. [color=Crimson]"I mean, a couple of up-gunned civlian trucks and dune buggies, against a heavy 'Mech lance? Why didn't they just turn around when they saw they couldn't win?"[/color]

[color=Khaki]"Who knows,"[/color] Cadet Higgins shrugged. [color=Khaki]"Fanaticism can make people do crazy things."[/color]

[color=Olive]"They're trying to clear the way,"[/color] Colonel Wayne stated, his eyes firmly on the monitor. [color=Olive]"The first wave was to make us scatter, to throw us off our game. Now they're trying to clear a path, make us spread out to protect civilians or take cover from the rocket fire."[/color]

[color=SkyBlue]"Make way for what, sir?"[/color] Lyons asked.

[color=Olive]"For the main event,"[/color] the Colonel answered.

[color=Khaki]"Incoming transmission on open comms,"[/color] Higgins reported. [color=Khaki]"Sounds like it's coming from the OpFor command."[/color]

[color=Olive]"Put it through,"[/color] Gaius ordered.

Higgins nodded, then switched on the speakers.

[color=Lime][i]"....said that in ancient times on blessed Terra,"[/i][/color] came a voice over the open channel, [color=Lime][i]"that the great serpent Gonggong caused disasters on a cosmic scale. In a display of his omnipotent rage, the serpent smashed his head into the side of the Buzhou Mountain, one of the eight Pillars of Heaven, a blow so mighty it shifted the axis of Terra herself. This blow caused rivers to change course and flood the land, filling the world with death and suffering.

"Today, mercenary scum, you have invoked the wrath of the serpent. The god of disasters moves in the world of mortal men once more, and will bring about a mighty flood to cleanse this world of its sinners. Today, we rattle the pillars of Heaven! Today, the hierarchy of the multiverse changes! Say hello, mercenaries, to Gonggong! And say goodbye to existence!!!!"[/i][/color]

As the transmission cut off, a new blip appeared on the Mobile HQ's sensors.

[color=SkyBlue]"New contact, Colonel!"[/color] Lieutenant Lyons said, [color=SkyBlue]"Looks like a big one!"[/color]

[color=Crimson]"Seismic sensors are picking it up,"[/color] Windham chimed in. [color=Crimson]"Looks like it's something in the range of....frackencrack, 500 tons?!"[/color]

[color=Olive]"A land train,"[/color] Colonel Wayne surmised. [color=Olive]"Probably packed with explosives. If that thing gets within half a kilometer of the dam, even if we disable it, it'll have too much momentum to slow it down."[/color]

[color=Khaki]"So we just focus-fire on it until it--"[/color]

[color=Crimson]"Shit, radiological alert!"[/color] Windham interrupted. [color=Crimson]"There's a big spike in the center of the mass!"[/color]

Colonel Wayne's eyes went wide, then he immediately opened up a channel to the Green Knights.

[color=Olive]"Green Knights, Gawain Actual!"[/color] he shouted, his composure slipping just a bit. [color=Olive]"Large enemy unit inbound, there is a nuke on-board! Repeat, active nuke on the field! Intercept and immobilize before it reaches 0.5 kilometers. Sergeant Dalton, prepare your team for a boarding action!"[/color]

[color=Khaki]"A boarding action?! Are you f--"[/color]

Before Higgins could finish his sentence, Lyons clamped her hand over his mouth.

[color=SkyBlue]"Sir, shouldn't be ordering a withdrawal?"[/color]

[color=Olive]"I'm not letting them kill an entire city,"[/color] the Colonel said. [color=Olive]"If they're throwing everything they've got into this, then so are we. Now it's all or nothing."[/color]