Cath

The Cradle

“So that’s why I can’t hit them!” Athena exclaimed. “I can take Thebes on, but that’ll mean leaving centre.” Knossos said. “I think we have another problem too. Kjartan just floated past me - that means we need to prop up the apartments now.”

Knossos glanced up the steps to hole where doors had stood moments before, and could see fire licking up the walls. “Indoor team, Kjartan is KIA. What is your status?” He called. “Could use some support! Contact left!” The squad leader yelled.

Carthage suddenly appeared in front of the opening, moving across the lobby while firing her SMG. Knossos pivoted and shot at her - she skittered away from the door frame straight away. “What are your orders, Team Leader?” Knossos asked Vreta as another tungsten round whistled over his head and dispatched a runner.

The Cradle

Athena sent another round down range on Vreta’s mark. A sizable flurry of masonry burst into the air, followed by the floating shell of a marine. “Good hit, reloading.” Athena reported, just when an energy burst from the newly repositioned peppered her position. She slid back down out of sight and ejected the remains of a tungsten bolt from her chamber.

Thebes ducked back away from the hole he was shooting her from and unclipped the battery from the rifle 595 had thrown him with a satisfying click. He clipped a fresh, undamaged one into the socket and aimed down range again. Athena couldn’t suppress the battlefield if he was suppressing her. “Push up!” He commanded, pivoting to shoot at Vreta again before peppering Athena when she reappeared.

---

Carthage rippled to her feet as easily as if she were a marionette. She looked for her shotgun but couldn’t see it - it must have stayed in the lobby. She unstuck an SMG from the magnetic strip on her back and fired at Kjartan through the hole he’d made into the other apartment. He blocked the energy barrage with his shield, got up and charged back at her.

Carthage glided, ducked and juked out of the way of his hammer at lightning speed as they danced around the apartment, trashing everything around them to pieces. She used her SMG like a knuckle duster, darting in to jab Kjartan with it and get a few shots in under his armour. Stray energy rounds splattered all over, including from the lobby where a firefight raged.

Just when it seemed like Kjartan might be gaining the upper hand - scoring a jarring glance with the edge of his shield, an armoured hand smashed through the ceiling above his head. It reached down, wrapped around the berserker’s neck and lifted him three inches off the floor. He roared and swung his hammer at Carthage, who easily dodged. He then jabbed it at the ceiling, trying to dislodge this second assailant. The hammer got stuck in masonry.

“You’ve gotten sloppy, big man. We’ll need to teach you a thing or two.” Carthage chuckled. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” Kjartan howled in anger as she sprayed his vulnerable body with energy fire until he died. The arm above released him and slid back through its hole. Kjartan began floating back to spawn. Carthage turned her attention to the fight raging through the partition wall.

The Cradle

Carthage’s jump jets pushed her back out of the path of Kjartan’s hammer; she could almost feel it swishing past her face. The soldier to her right didn’t move fast enough and took the full brunt of the swing to his helmet, propelling him against the wall.

Kjartan blocked most of Carthage’s shotgun barrage with his shield and crashed into her. She held onto his shield to avoid being trampled and they crashed backwards through the wall behind her. They tumbled to the floor and Carthage used Kjartan’s considerable weight to propel him over her head with her legs. He smashed through the other side of the apartment they found themselves in.

The one Red marine left alive in the lobby, plus the couple still in the corridor began trading furious energy fire with Blue team soldiers clustered around the first hole Kjartan had made. A grenade bounced off one of the walls and lodged next to one of the doors. A deafening explosion ripped through the lobby setting everything on fire and blowing the doors out into the street.

---

A couple of Blue team members floated back to spawn from the grenade barrage. A couple of Red team members subsequently died trying to push up immediately after. Knossos peeked back out from behind his cover and saw 595 sliding down a pile of rubble on the other side of the street, making a run for the flier.

He unclipped a boxy shape from his utility belt and chucked it at her. It flew through the air, unfolding into a miniature limpet drone with tiny rotors. Halfway through the arc it took on it’s own flight. It buzzed over to the Agent and attached to the back of her body before erupting into a huge fireball before she could reach the flier.

Knossos had no time to celebrate, as a heavy door smacked him on the back of the head, knocking him over.

The Cradle

Thebes quickly returned to a kneeling position once his vantage point had been sniffed out. He peeked through one of the holes the rail gun had made at Athena. He marked her on his team’s HUD. “Agent, give me some cover there. The rest of you, get some more grenades on my secondary marks.” The rail gun fired again, and another hole appeared right by his helmet. “Now!” He shouted.

595 popped out from behind a pile of rubble behind the wrecked car, with a sighted assault rifle. She got a few hits on Athena while she was reloading, forcing her to back down. At the same time, six grenades rained down on the middle ground, near where Knossos and half a dozen marines were keeping the area locked down. They all exploded at once, throwing a curtain of rubble twenty metres into the air.

Thebes grabbed one of the new holes in his mobile cover and pushed it so it was still facing the middle but was more diagonally oriented toward the inaccessible apartment block. Then, he used the hand hold to pull the car toward the side of the arena. Since he wasn’t picking the whole thing up, this went quicker than before, with him making up a few metres.

The Cradle

The flier stopped moving and crunched back onto the floor debris. Athena put another round through the top of the vehicle, but still no one floated out. “Where are they?” She muttered.

“Taking heavy fire!” Knossos reported, crouching behind a street lamp with his shield flaring. Athena could see half a dozen members of the opposite team were staying back and popping up to shoot a few bolts before taking cover. The rest were creeping forward. “Ok, we’re in position! Suppressing fire!” A marine sergeant yelled, peeking out from behind a street food stall counter just as someone peppered him with energy rounds from a gap underneath the downed flier.

---

Carthage moved quickly through the dimly lit corridor, flanked by marines. She kept her shotgun raised and low light vision enabled. Some of the marines who weren’t augmented opted for using torches. The beams fingered shadows gathering all around them and glistened off rivulets of water streaming down the walls. The explosions, energy fire and mag-acceleration from outside sounded muffled and distant. Carthage focused on her slow, even breathing as they advanced.

They emerged from the corridor into a modest reception area. A concierge desk and a pile of military hardware boxes sat opposite a set of heavy double doors. Another fire door presumably led to the other wing of the building. Carthage silently indicated they spread out, as much as they could, and move to that door.

They were halfway across the lobby when she motioned for them to stop again. She felt something. The operator checked her motion sensor; the enemy was through that door, but one object in particular was heading straight for them. Carthage listened hard, peeling back layers of sound until she heard a *crash* and then *thud thud thud thud*. She could recognize those footsteps anywhere.

“Open fi-” She had time to yell before Kjartan exploded through the wall opposite them in a shower of masonry. “I’LL STRIP YOUR FLESH, WHORE!” He roared, swinging his hammer in a wide arc that covered practically the whole room as energy rounds erupted from every angle.

The Cradle

Athena got up and moved from the upturned flier. Staying low, she ran closer to the accessible block of apartments, where a large pile of masonry had fallen from the top levels to the street below. She climbed up the heap until she could peek over, then quickly arranged the bricks into a stable firing platform for her railgun.

“They’re moving the cars!” Knossos reported, firing over the top of the military blockade he was hid behind. Another grenade exploded by a cluster of destroyed vehicles. Two members of his team were propelled through the air and into the window of a small jewellers shop on the spawn-side of the street. Glass sprayed everywhere, and a shrill alarm rang out over the top of rippling energy fire exchanges across the width of the street.

“I see it.” Athena, sending a tungsten round through the top of a flier that was making its way slowly across the battlefield. It kept coming. “Spread out!” Knossos called, firing and moving, an energy round fizzing off his shield.

Kjartan reached the access bay door first, promptly smashing it open with his hammer. “You two, check the upper floors. Sound off if you find anyone.” The drop troop team leader ordered, before setting off after the berserker along the ground floor. The other four troopers followed.

The Cradle

Athena sprinted off the mark, well aware that taking out key targets now would allow them more time to take ground. There were a few piles of rubble that were higher than everything else, but they weren’t immediately accessible. Instead, she ran to an upturned flier and rested her railgun on its undercarriage.

Looking down the sights, she saw flickers of people moving in between the obstacles at the far end. She focused as laser fire began crackling around them. Even though the sim had changed all their armour colours, she still caught a glimpse of Carthage’s distinctive profile running across the road. She was covered by other running bodies, and there was only a split second window in between cover, but Athena didn’t waste that chance.

She took the shot, and a loud *crack* filled the arena. Athena was accustomed to seeing bodies explode into lumps of flesh at this point, but instead two of the opposite team floated into the air, their shield bright red to indicate they were dead. They drifted back toward the Red Team’s spawn area. Carthage wasn’t one of them.

“I missed her, Carthage is in the building. Changing position.” Athena reported, just as a grenade exploded near their position. She dived to the floor as a curtain of dust rained down on them. “Move!!” Knossos called, jogging through the dust cloud between Vreta and Athena with the bulk of the troops behind him. “Follow me, stay low!”

The Cradle

Knossos nodded and stepped back as the final couple of seconds ticked away. “Yes, team leader.” He turned to the rest of the soldiers clustered around them. “You heard the man! Get tactical, we’re taking the centre. I want to hear comms all the time, especially from inside those apartments.” Knossos and Athena went to the edge of the forcefield keeping them in the spawn area and got ready to run.

Kjartan laughed maniacally, bashing his shield again. “No retreat! No surrender!” The drop troops who had elected to support the berserker were assembled in tight formation behind him, and for good reason.

The clock reached zero, and a loud klaxon sounded. The forcefield vanished, and their shields flared up to show they were active. “Let’s go!” Knossos shouted, and they all surged forward as one.

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Planning the simulation

The Cradle

Athena nodded and hefted her rail gun. With an effective range of ten miles, she’d have no problem projecting power along this hundred metre stretch of road. She was essentially holding a miniature version of the main gun on some classes of warship.

Knossos stepped toward Vreta. He felt the Rothian was slightly out of his depth, but made sure not to come across as pushy. After all, this was just a PR exercise for the Sacred Band, and Thebes had given the leadership role to Vreta as a mark of respect. “We should prepare for the possibility that they’ll hold us in the open-air lane to push hard through the apartments. Thebes will be playing to his strengths, just as we are.”

Knossos spoke quickly, with one eye on the clock as it ticked past fifteen seconds. “I could go with Kjartan, or you could commit more troops there. Eight people may not be enough. Alternatively, we can stick to the plan and I will try to lock down the front entrance to the building. What do you think?” The veteran soldier wasn’t clear if the Rothian had received formal military training before, but something told him the alien was a quick processor of information, which was crucial for leadership.

“Decide quickly, Lizard Man! We won’t wait.” Kjartan hollered from the edge of the zone. He held out his left arm, and armour plates slithered away from well-protected parts of his body to form a hefty rectangular shield attached to it. Kjartan slammed his hammer against the outside of his new shield, creating an intimidating rattle.