Earth, time
1734 seven hours after mission began.
"Commander, our forces are under attack!" an AI reported to the Cybran, who was busy finishing off the last couple Seraphim snipers that somehow bypassed his defenses, with each shot creating a sizzling noise as each sniper that was hit destroyed by his upgraded ACU, or Armored Command Unit. He made a mental note so after this battle, he will personally see Dr. Brackman to allow him to personally sack the person who designed his AI.
"WOULD YOU SHUT UP! THAT'S THE SEVENTEENTH TIME YOU REPEATED THAT! Yes, I know THAT MY FORCES ARE UNDER ATTACK! I AM A COMMANDER, AND I AM LEADING A DEFENSE HERE, SO SHUT UP!" he snapped angrily.
"Commander, our forces are under attack." as the AI was about to finish, Blade began to smash his head into the back of his chair for a few seconds and then returned to command his forces, but unlike other Cybran commanders, who relied on stealth and speed since Cybran units aren't heavily armored, with the rare exceptions, Blade used defensive tactics to stall hostile forces to allow him to get access more powerful designs, which had more firepower and armor and experimental units, to his favorite experimental unit, the Megalith Spiderbot. Of which, he still had eighteen in working order, and ten to be repaired by UEF Support Commander Collins.
Blade had the duty to ensure his base was aircraft free, and went to work having several upgraded engineers to assist him while leaving his other engineers to do the rest. He was rather impressed of how many 'Loyalist' units he was able to deploy... during this extended engagement, along with Collins' 'Percival' armored assault and 'Titan' heavy assault bots to accompany his Loyalists to bolster their defenses, since the Percival was capable of withstanding heavy punishment, while the Titan had shields. Many that would see the Loyalist being used as a defensive unit would sound rather ridiculous, since it's armor, or lack thereof, was meant to withstand smaller, shorter engagements, compared to the Percival, but to Blade, his reasoning was sound, since his Loyalist units were equipped with a missile defense system, increasing his 'wall' of defense's chance to last long enough for Princess Rhianne Burke to close the quantum rift, ending once and for all, the war.
The Seraphim were relentless, causing many units including a couple of unfortunate 'Monkeylord,' Spiderbots to be destroyed. The signature of more sniper bots past his defenses meant that he wouldn't be able to hold his line for much longer, since the Seraphim began to mass units, instead of sending in a single file line to their doom, which to Blade was rather amusing since it was like they were lining up to die.
He began to think through his options, he could regroup all his forces together to allow him to have strength in numbers to match the Seraphim or... make a last ditch effort to strike back buying more time for Burke, it was suicide, but he'd been through worse. He began to contact her to inform her of his plan when he stopped, deciding to inform Collins of his scheme first.
"Collins, Collins, come in." Blade announced into the communication channel.
"Collins here, reporting Blade, situation gone up?" he asked because during the course of the battle the only time Blade would contact him is when bad news came up, such as a horde of assault bots, along with a few anti-air units breaching their left flank two hours ago, leaving Collins to use his Gatling bots to mop them up along with a few Gunships that Blade had deployed, and subsequently lost, to counter attack the force resulting in more than half of Collins base defense force destroyed, alongside the few Bricks that were freshly made to Blade's annoyance.
"Can I ask you a favor?"Blade responded tersely.
"Blade, don't tell me your planning something stupid..." Collins retorted praying that he wasn't.
"Uh... it is, I am planning to buy Princess Burke more time, by going full offensive on this one, and if I don't make it back... I programmed all my forces to revert to you, if I go down the drain." Blade demanded, in a tone that would not broker disagreement.
"Understood sir, it has been an honor serving with you." Collins solemnly replied.
"Hold it, I'm not dead yet." Blade concluded as he began trying to reach Burke while his defenses were getting hammered by a never ending assault, having a few casualties whenever the Seraphim broke past the kill zone closer to the Loyalists, Titans and Percivals along side with a few on-station defenses, such as nearby SAM systems including a few artillery platforms setup back at the base.
"This is Princess Rhianne Burke. Commander, what do you need?"she asked, predicting the commander would need assistance or to tell her to speed up because his forces began to be overrun with Seraphim.
"I would like you to tell Brackman I might not be coming home, I have devised a plan to buy you more time, your highness." Blade answered.
"That is?"Burke asked, as she wondered why he would not come home to Brackman, but she was more interested in his plan.
"Burke, I'm going on the offensive. It's the only logical reason, and plan, that could stall them long enough for you to close that rift, and if I fall, Collins will resume command from here on, then." he answered with full confidence, not showing a hint of fear or hesitation.
After getting to know him after a few missions he was deployed into, she knew he would ignore her advice against it. With a sigh she replied, "I will inform Brackman... I wish you good luck, Commander Blade." Ending the transmission between the two, he began to mass his forces to attack organizing each unit into formation leaving the massed Loyalists in the front and the heavily armored Percival units in the back knowing they would last longer after they been organized he then began sending each unit, including his ACU, he began his plan... to take as many Serphim bastards down along with him as he could.
His forces were met with heavy fire and started returning fire at the same time, causing both sides to start into a direct charge to annihilate the other. While the Loyalists were fighting whatever Seraphim they crossed paths with, a Percival got a clean head shot towards an enemy assault bot, killing it, while Blade began firing at more dangerous targets, such as large experimental units alongside his Megaliths, who began filling the air with flak as they began to be swarmed by large numbers of air units that were focusing on his Loyalists and Titans.
His Loyalist forces were starting to dwindle, and he had before only to direct his Megaliths towards the enemy air forces, making each one a scrap pile while keeping mindful of himself, since his ACU's personal stealth generator was now down, creating more problems for him. As a few Seraphim units began to attack from the rear, he turned around, carefully bringing his ACU's built-in Heavy Microwave Laser to bear upon the rear force. The air filled with the sound of something not unlike a sizzling pan on a stove, and a beam of hot laser began to make short work of the lightly armored Seraphim units, only to have more arrive.
"No freaking way," he thought as he began firing multiple shots at each unit, only to notice his Loyalist battle line was wiped out and his Titans were suffering casualties, but he was still amazed at how his Percival units who were now in the thick of the fighting, had been completely ignored as most of the Seraphim's forces were focused upon the Megaliths, the Titans, or his own menacing ACU.
"Commander, our forces are under attack." the AI repeated again, and Blade took out his rage towards the Seraphim as they began to do a number on the command unit as he yelled a battle cry.
He soon noticed that his Titans, or in this case Collins' Titans, were all but destroyed, leaving him with the Percival bots firing at everything Seraphim. To his dismay, he lost one Megalith from the five that accompanied him, leaving four. He decided if he failed Collins would have a few Megaliths to command, as he was now at the point where his command unit would possibly explode, when he noticed a familiar object in the sky. It was a Seraphim bomber, this one a model that will kill him, even if it missed.
"A noble end..." he thought, as the bomber began close the distance, getting ready to strike. He then yelled four famous words that would be remembered throughout time and space.
"See you in hell!" he exclaimed as the bomber began its attack towards him, he saw the bomber release its payload, and then it hit him.
Time: unknown
Planet: unknown
"Systems rebooting. Complete, welcome back Commander." a female voice greeted him.
Knowing it was the AI he asked, "What happened?" Knowing that he should be dead, he waited expectantly as the AI began to find the answer.
"Situation unknown. Lost contact to support commander Collins and Burke... Brackman is not responding. We are either in a location or planet that is too far away to establish communication links. Alliance status is unknown." it answered.
"...Damn."
"ACU status?" he asked to be answered imminently by the AI.
"Status of command unit is one hundred percent. No damage." the AI's answer startled him.
"WHAT THE HELL... I WAS IN HEAVY COMBAT AND BLOWN TO KINGDOM COME! HOW IS THIS COMMAND UNIT WORKING AT TOP CONDITION!!" he demanded. After a couple of minutes he knew it wasn't going to answer, "Fine don't answer, are there any nearby units at all?"
This time the AI did answer, "Two operating Loyalists along with a Percival and a Tier 3 UEF engineer. All at one hundred percent. They are inactive, waiting to be commanded."
"Do it," he ordered.
"Standby..." at this, the Loyalists began to stand upright while the Percival had trouble getting up the engineer rolled past the ACU, waiting for something to do. The AI chimed in again, "All units online and waiting for orders."
With the Loyalists and the Percival keeping a lookout, he then ordered the engineer to lay the foundations for a base of operations. The engineer went about its duty, constructing power generators and fabricators. His own ACU built a land-unit factory to create additional units.
Blade then noticed that no anti-air units had come with him, leaving him vulnerable to air attacks, and this environment was possibly hostile. Ignoring the vulnerability for the moment, he also spotted a nearby forest and wanted to know the surrounding terrain. He decided to have his factory build a dozen 'Hunter' scout units to go about mapping the surrounding area.
As the Hunter units worked their way into the forest, they collapsed trees left and right, unaware of what Blade had in store when he encountered the planet's inhabitants.
*Chapter End*