Chromehounds Ascension of the Noble Angel Squad Chapter 1: Rise of the Angels With the Neromius War in full swing and with the Cerberus Squad disbanded with the death of Edguardo at the hands of his last rookie, the need of mercenary forces grew exponentially as the world began to follow suit and fell into war itself over politics regarding the conflict. America, Great Britain, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, and the Middle Eastern Union all took a side and dove deep into a war through proxy via their respective allies. The Republic of Tarakia received aid and military hardware from America and Great Britain which spurred the hiring of new Hound pilots. Many of the Hounds worked freelance and answered to no one but their bank accounts. Raefzceal mercenaries where stretched beyond their limits and the freelancers filled the gaps. While as well trained and equipped as their Raefzceal counterparts, the freelancers also brought a wave of lawlessness to the region as Hounds where let loose against the enemies of their respective employing nations. Bands of Hounds could be seen attacking settlements and towns holding them hostage for a ransom and ambushing military convoys hauling gold and silver which helped to fund the war effort in the region. Even as the mercenary threat grew, not all mercenaries followed the same path of chaos and blood for money. A mercenary squad called Noble Angel under the employment of Tarakia was hired to hunt down rogue Hound squads that presented a direct or indirect threat to the people and lands of the Republic. They believed in fighting away from local populations and near vital infrastructure, and that wars should be fought between the armies of each respective nation. The Nobel Angel squad worked tirelessly in order to ensure these conditions where met before they entered into battle. However, with the squad being on the go, their ability to repair and re-arm was severely diminished, resulting in several enemy ambushes that crippled a small settlement. After a third contract negotiation, the Nobel Angel squad secured the funds to build a mobile command center which could store, repair, and re-arm the Nobel Angels’ Hounds on the go, giving them far better ability to combat the enemy on their terms. As the war moves on the Nobel Angel squad continues to fight the good fight for the peace and prosperity of the people of not only Tarakia, but for Neromius as a whole. Unfortunately, their mission will not be easy to accomplish as rogue Hound squads like the Dark Arrow squad, The Karobi squad, Valhallian Hammers, and the Sacred Sanctum Raiders stand in their way and with no intention of going down without a fight…. (Tarakian/ Sal Karian Border- 0200 hours) “Are you sure the informants was telling you the truth? I mean, with the war still going on people need the money and I’m fairly certain I would say anything if my family was starving,” mentioned Lucas Karington the current Tactics Commander of the Noble Angels as he sipped on his cup of coffee while looking over the latest NA scans and leaning back in his chair. “I’m quite sure he was telling the truth… Mainly because he gave the information gratis. But he knows that if the info is legit that he and his family safe passage from the settlement back to the capitol city.” replied Jason Xavier Lucas nodded silently to himself as he watched the active NA scans. For the most part everything was quiet, and the squad began to let their guard down as the night wore on. The other squad members outside of contact range awaited the first shot to erupt in order to secure the local COMBAS towers to keep them from the enemy for use. As the cold began to set in, Lucas clapped his hands together and gave a hearty huff of hot breath to warm them up. The combination of warm breath and cold air produced a steady stream of steam that fogged up the main console screen temporarily. As the fog vanished Lucas saw three blips on the NA scanner. Sitting up quickly, Lucas spilt his hot coffee on his leg causing him to scream noiselessly in his mind. “Jason! Three target to our eleven o’clock! Can you authenticate?” shouted Lucas through the closed communication channel. Jason began to flip switches and press buttons on his main console activating his Hounds onboard weapons camera to obtain a visual confirmation of the targets. “Jason! Can you confirm the targets?!” called Lucas again. Acting rapidly, Jason swiveled the camera to his eleven o’clock and without hesitation confirmed the targets. “Targets are two soldier class Hounds and one defender class Hound! Defender has a HFW-SNP09 Sniper Rifle Cannon. Take out that weapon first,” said Jason as he took control of his Hounds long range weapons (two HFW-CAN-05’s with DU Armor-piercing rounds), took aim at the defender’s rifle, and let loose two well aimed shots that ripped through the armor shell of the rifle, detonating the round already in the chamber. The resulting explosion sent a small fire ball into the air, letting the other squad member know to secure the local COMBAS towers, thus increasing the effective range of the squad so they can see the true scope of the threat. The two shells of the rounds fired fell to the ground, crushing a small tree and boulder. The hum of the reloading mechanisms finally stopped, and the ready light for the weapons came back online. Jason quickly reacquired his target and fired two more rounds into the generator of the defender, sending debris and burning fuel all over the defender’s chassis. Lucas watched the battle ensue via his NA scanner. Suddenly the NA area he could view grew to nearly 60 miles from his location. With a much larger NA to work with he began to scan the area for threats to the squad and the settlement that lay beyond. After a quick scan of the combat zone, Lucas found three Hounds making a bee-line for the settlement, apparently trying to avoid being sky lined and targeted by Jason’s cannons. “Eric! James! John! Intercept the three targets moving in your direction… They should be entering into visual range in about 30 seconds!” shouted Lucas as he grabbed a hold of his hounds controls and started to turn around in order to put his Hound in range for his sniper rifle; a precaution should Eric, James, and John failed to stop them in time. Step by step Lucas’ Hound turned about, knocking over trees, picking up speed as it did. Eric, who was piloting a bipedal soldier Hound, was already moving into position in order to intercept the Hounds trying to move on to the settlement. As his Hound rounded in between two hills he was greeted by the sight of the first of the three Hounds moving towards him. Moving quickly, Eric engaged his weapon systems and pulled the triggers of all four of his Hounds HFW-MNG-12’s, letting them push out hundreds of 100mm rounds which struck the enemy Hound in its legs, causing them to fail. As the guns continued to fire, Eric tilted his trajectory up ever so slightly. Soon multiple, smaller explosions erupted from the enemy Hound. Chunks of armor and parts fell from the Hounds super structure. Eric exhaled as if he had held his breathe during the entire encounter. Surveying the enemy ahead of him was like looking upon a small soda can after being shot with an automatic BB gun. Eric flipped his comms channel on and called back to Lucas. “Lucas, this is Eric, HOUND name ‘Barricade’. One enemy destroyed… no sign of any… belay that! Two enemy contacts just entered visual range!” Lucas cursed beneath his breath. “Confirmed… James… John move to intercept!” As the two enemies came into full view they began to fire their HFW-RFL-01’s at Eric and his Hound. Round after round whizzed towards Eric and Barricade, some striking the armor plating that lined the outer sections of Barricade’s hull. “This is Eric! I’m taking fire from two enemies to my twelve and eleven… damage is minimal… weapons still on cool down! Need back up now!” Almost right after the call was given, both James and John came into firing range and gave immediate support in the form of a barrage of anti-Hound rockets. The attack produced an uncountable numbers of explosions which turned the area into a crater field. One after another, rocket after rocket, the area was punished. Within all the smoke and dust Eric could see the occasional orange and red glow and the low rumble as a rocket would strike the enemy. As the last of the rockets landed, Eric engaged his thermal-vision in order to survey the damage dealt by his team-mates; all the while taking control of Barricades weapons in order to draw a bead on any enemy Hounds still functioning after the attack. As the thermal engaged the numerous hot craters turned his screen into connect the dots game. As he looked around the image of burning wreckage greeted his screen. Eric moved forward into the smoke and found the wreckage to be that of a Hound, the fetal shot being a rocket scoring a direct hit on the enemies cockpit section which took it down. Followed by 5 or so secondary strikes on the legs and generator area, causing the Hounds reserve fuel stores to combust. Continuing his scan of the area he was greeted with a single round that grazes his thermal imaging device causing it to fail while it performs a diagnostic. As his screen returns to normal viewing settings he makes out the outline of a severely damaged Hound who’s mobility chassis is in shambles and all but one weapon is on fire or on the ground. Eric approached the broken Hound and opened a channel to see if the pilot was still alive. “Attention pilot of the Hound…. Are you awake? Are you injured?” asked Eric as he trained his weapons on the still functioning weapon. After receiving static feedback a few sounds broke through… “This is Aaron, pilot of the High-Roller ( static with a cough)… To whom do I owe this honor?” Eric replied in turn “This is Eric, pilot of the Hound Barricade, squad member of the Noble Angel squad. Are you injured?” The reply was delayed…”Just my pride… why don’t you just finish me off?” asked Aaron as he unbuckled himself from the pilot seat giving him some room to move a small metal panel that was close to falling on him. His cockpit was beyond repair as wires and panels where left dangling where they were; only a few dim emergency lights and a single console provided a little light, just enough to allow Aaron to see in the rough shape his Hound was in. As the static played back through the speaker Eric trained his weapons on the center of the cockpit then a reply came through. “Eric…I’m not hurt to bad… just a few bumps and bruises… My Hound is ruined…(static)… Why haven’t you killed me yet?” Eric replied by blasting Aarons last working weapon and spoke “Make any false moves and I will… if you comply with my commands you’ll be just fine. Noble Angels don’t kill unless we have to.” Aaron laughed over the speaker “Very chivalric of you and your squad, but a policy that may end up getting you killed in the end.” Eric was getting tired of wasting time and instead began to call out orders to Aaron to follow. ---------------------------------------- OOC: If your interested in jumping this Rp all you need is a small bit of know how and a good point of entry :)
