1. North of the Mines
The sun was reaching its peak when the squad parked the vehicles in the lowered narrow dry river bed. The Squad had cramped into the ATT while Basilus took the LTT with Mira. They skirted the colony and drove over the dry lands; evading the craters and high mound of sands to reach this narrow dried river.
Sargeant Reagan suggested that they ride on the dried river bed as it offered them cover from the wind and also the Draconian. The river bed was about five metres wide and two metres deep and deeper at five in some stretches. The heat from the scorching sand was enhanced by the dry soil, was hotter in the river bed' making it every uncomfortable to move around in the ATT. The suit they had on have a cooling ventilation at the chest and helm but its the limbs which are mostly affected without the cooling liquid.
The Squad Leader and the Sergeant of the Bikers crawled their way up the slope to do a surveillance. Once at the top, they peeked over with the Viewer on the Draconian convoy of two Vampires and three Armored Troop Carriers with mounted rotary guns on the top seen at two hundred metres. Each Carrier carried twelve troopers with the driver and gunner. There was also three Wheelers doing the escorting.
"Advanced squad. Probably to established an advanced command post." Sergeant Reagan confer his opinion. Basilus nodded and then crawled back. He brief the squad and told them to get ready to leave. Sergeant Reagan came sliding down and shouted.
"I think they spotted our position. One Vampire and three Wheelers on route here."
Basilus looked at the Sergeant before he gave instruction. He asked the two drivers of the vehicles to drive off down the dried river bed. The remaining biker remained there for instruction from his leader.
"Take your position on the slope of the river bed now." The Rangers took their positions in the dried river bed which was higher here at five metres but there were a lot of eroded sides to hide in. They have covered themselves with the soil and remained hidden.
The three Wheelers came to the edge and stopped there. The there Wheeler were waiting for the Vampire to arrive as it took a longer route before it find a lower slope go down into the narrow river bed. It drove up the position where the Wheelers stood waiting overhead. The Vampire found its route a difficult one as the steep slopes hindered its maneuverability of the guns and they are too near the slopes on both sides.
When the Vampire stopped its movement at where the Wheelers were, Mira and Marc took out the three Wheelers. The snipers had crawled up the slope further back and remained on top eyeing the three Wheeler.
Marc took the first shot with a head shot on the rider at the left side of the Helm, while Mira went for the second rider under the armpit shot; piercing both the hearts. The third rider reacted to the shots but was too late as Marc second shot hit the the third rider from the rear of the Helm.
Ar the same time, the Rangers hidden among the rocks slipped out and placed explosive between the Vampire tracks on the right side. They then ran further to the rear as the explosives would immobilized the tank. Once that was done, they would take over it. The explosive went off as planned with the tracks blown off but only a small section.
The driver of the Vampire tried to move the tank but it was not slow in responding to the steering. The gunner tried to move the guns to find it locked from traversing by the narrow slopes; it was a dead target for the Rangers. The driver opened the cover and climbed out with his rifle ready. Basilus who was climbing up the tank on the side, took care of the driver with with a short burst. Tank crews do not wear armor like the Rangers.
Basilus had climbed up the tank on its hull side when another crew came out but again he was shot by the Ranger. Basilus then threw in a flash grenade down the open hatch. After the explosion, he climbed down the hatch to go inside the turret. He had drew his PH450 and shot at the tank crews inside. The crews were stunned by the flash grenade, were too slow in responding to the new threat. The crew taken care of and Basilus climbed out. He gave out new orders.
"Tasha, move up the slope. Take over the Wheelers. We need it for the next fight."
Tasha got Andre and Kurata to assist her to ride the Wheeler down to the river bed.
"Leader, we got the rest coming at us." Tasha reported in as she sat herself on the Wheeler. They been trained to operate on enemies vehicles including Vampire.
Basilus looked at Tasha who just sat there. She was playing up to her resistance on being told to take command. He thought hard and then he called in Pete to climb into the tank. He looked back at the Wheelers, and asked them to join up with Sergeant Reagan up ahead. The Wheelers sped off as Pete climbed into the driver seat.
"Pete, can we move this tank?" Pete slipped in the gear and gunned the engine. It still works but the tracks are heavily damaged. Pete managed to move the tank but its very slow as it drag on the engines. They reversed not more than twenty metres before they could find the tank coming to a complete halt. Marc and Mira had joined them in the Vampire and removed the Draconian.
By then the other Vampire have arrived at where the Wheelers were before. It went close to the edge and stopped there.
At that time, the bikers attacked the troop carrier which was unescorted which stopped to wait for its armed escort. The Vampire on the slope heard the attack and tried to reversed by veering to the left but it did not see the Vampire commanded by Basilus aiming its gun at the exposed bottom front hull
"Fire at the Vampire." Basilus command his tank crew as he watched Marc adjust the gun targeting system. Mira was manning the auto loader while Basilus looked at the Viewer. He was watching the Vampire that might get into action. The gun went off and the high explosive projectile hit the other Vampire on its right front side to blow up part of the track.
"Aimed again." Basilus shouted out his next command. The other Vampire had tried to moved back again but with its tracks damaged, it was struggling on the edge. Its front guns started shooting but the elevation was not effective. Basilus took the second shot but missed the tank and hit the slope instead. The explosion loosen the soil on the slope and the Vampire Tank slipped downwards. As it laid downwards on the slope, Basilus then fired off the third shot and hit it on the right side of the turret. The Vampire Tank burst into flame on that third shot.
"Bail out!" Basilus asked the squad to bail out as he left an explosive at the ammo storage.
The bikers with the Wheelers went for the carriers but the Armored Troops carriers had its guns trained on the bikers. The carrier opened its rear door to allow the Draconian troops to exit. The troops spread out to take cover on the ground covers to lay fire on the approaching bikes.
Tasha was the first to be shot followed by Sergeant Reagan. They were hit by the guns and their bikes went into several somersaults before crashing into the ground.
"Bikers, withdraw!" Basilus gave the order as he can see the odds are against them. They are Infantry Rangers and not bikers. The rest of the Rangers withdrew but Andrei pulled up ahead to picked up Tasha but she was already dead. The other Horsemen biker also went for the Sergeant but he was too late. The Rangers retreated back to the dried river bed. The new order was to recon further to the back of Flat Top. As they make their way there using the river bed as cover. They could hear the barrage on the settlement.
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