Fragments Gallery
Reavers: Assault
The cold steel in his hand flickered in the fading light as gracefully flew through the air. He drew his limbs against his body as he descended and hit the ground in a roll. Swiftly regaining his feet he sprinted forwards before sliding behind a mound of rubble. Muffled blasts sounded against his cover. The energy weapon fire quickly dissipated on impact with the loose rubble.
In the twilight, the city square was rapidly going dark. Piles of debris and loose stone, such as the one Sellsword currently sheltered behind, were scattered across the old fashioned cobblestone. Decimated buildings surrounded the square, some still standing and others just ruined heaps of materials. Most of the cities on outlying planets looked like this now. This was the price of the system-wide war.
Makeshift fortifications had been erected on the far side of the square. That was where he was headed. The rebels currently manned the fortifications and so they held the advantage this square provided. He was here to see that they wouldn’t hold it for long.
Sellsword’s fingers tapped on the device strapped to his wrist, it sounded an affirmative beep as the command sent. A stream of pulse cannon energy discharge shot overhead towards his suppressors as the Reaver’s autopilot swapped priorities from stealth to pilot protection. He glanced back as the Reaver’s active camouflage disengaged to reallocate power.
It was an imposing machine. Fourteen feet of hardened carbon alloys encased in an advanced energy dampening nano-coat. Another extended burst of weapons fire flew overhead as the Reaver presented itself as a new target. The shields gleamed as they blocked the onslaught. The shields, powered by a small reactor core at the center of the construct, could almost indefinitely withstand the fire currently directed at it. To cause any damage it would take a heavy cannon; such as one installed on a starship, aircraft, armoured vehicle or Reaver; or specialty weapons designed to break down force-shields. Intel suggested this group of rebels had neither.
The soldiers who faced him were used to fighting neither a Reaver nor its pilot. Those who survived might learn something.
With the Reaver to cover him, he rolled himself over the rubble. Scrambling to his feet he force-grappled to a nearby building, gaining speed as the tech took hold and dragged him forward. Energy blasts from inaccurate enemy weapons struck the ruined buildings behind him as he sailed through the air. At the last possible second, he dropped the tether and dove through a darkened doorway.
As suspected the room was occupied. Light arms fire rattled off his personal shield as his helmet automatically shifted to night vision. The lone soldier in the room gleamed red in his visor.
“Surrender,” he ordered, his one cold and callous.
The soldier replied with another burst shot towards him. He wasn’t concerned, a weapon that light would take a significant amount of time to drop his shield. Still, he didn’t want to unnecessarily deplete power that he may need later.
He was across the room in a heartbeat. There was a crunch as Sellsword drove his blade directly through the man’s body armour followed by a thump as the soldier slumped to the floor. These soldiers had no idea what they were dealing with.
“Sellsword status?” his comm crackled to life, “Other pilots are in position.”
“Primary is good to go Watchdog,” Sellsword replied, “still en route to secondary.”
“Understood. Pilots, haywire is a go.”
Sellsword sent another command and the readout on the screen confirmed the power reallocation on the Reaver was complete. Time to introduce these rebels to the full might of a Reaver. The twin cannons opened fire on the fortifications. The first was a high power energy rifle, the second a cannon firing 60mm rounds. Screams erupted as the weapons fire smashed into the barricade. The rounds smashed through anything they hit while the rifle blasts fried any organic materials they came into contact with.
“This better work,” Sellsword muttered as he eyed the far wall of the room. He tapped his helmet and toggled on the newest technological enhancement his suit had received. His vision blurred as he phased out. To others, he would seem fuzzy but brighter and more visible. Energy blasts would still hit him but projectile rounds were less likely to. An added benefit and primary application of the device was that he could walk through most solid material. Another toggle enabled the advanced thermal vision installed in his helmet. The walls surrounding him appeared dark, with no residual heat bleeding through to suggest a presence in another room around him.
He took off, sprinting directly at the wall before him. It tingled as he passed through. In a flash, he was through the next wall and then the one after. Unfortunately, his grapple would not work while phased, his own two legs would do for now.
“Closing on target,” he sent through the comm.
Outside the Reaver continued its barrage. It was lighting up this sector in a way that was sure to bring rebel reinforcements. Of course, Freya, Scarecrow, Vandal and Countess were also running the same operation so the rebels would be hard-pressed to reinforce so many locations across the city. Of course, that was the point.
These rebels didn’t know what they were dealing with. He was coming.