The Emprye Strikes

Pacific States Coalition, two miles from the border with Primm, Emprye

Colonel Johnathan Wallmeyer stared intently at the militarized border at Primm from his command post at the Primm Valley Golf Club. He knew that the higher ups back in San Diego wanted action, and they wanted action now. More specifically, they wanted the so called threat at Primm to be eradicated for whatever the PSC had in store next.

But the colonel was only the fourth man to be assigned to this duty. Three other individuals had tried, and failed. Usually, they would have secured control of the small village, only to be repulsed by Emprye forces based in Jean. The only thing that prevented full control of the valley being lost was the artillery stationed at Ivanpah, and the die-hard garrison assigned to Nipton. Elsewhere, along the so-called 'Primm Line', Colonel Wallmeyer knew that pretty much, the PSC and Emprye were evenly matched.

He then turned over to the map tacked onto the clubhouse walls. It was this map that tracked all the units Emprye had in the area. It didn't look good for him, especially against the so-called weak spot at the Primm Solar Plant. Recon had finally confirmed that more units were moved to the area to prevent any surprise attacks. That plan was no longer available.

Wallmeyer knew that unless he launched an attack within a couple of days, he would be doomed to a staff job, or worse, a military prison. He needed a miracle. He needed a weak spot in the area. He just needed the cards to work his way for once...

Inquisitor Eisenhorn walked up to Captain Tim Matthews at the procession.
"Well, how does it feel? You are a cybernetic, just like us. Allow me to introduce Lord Inquisitor Selrac Faust. He now presides over our Emperor's interests."
A tall built man encased in psionic ice strode forward and shook Captain Matthews hand. "I am honored Captain. I have unfortunate news however. We have received reports that PSC and Emprye are preparing for something big. I think the Blackheart incident have set them off. Would you join us in our investigation?"

Tim thought for a moment, then replied, "Sure. But before we commit any real forces, I would suggest monitoring the area and see what happens. It may just be the two forces having a small fight, or it could be potential war. Let's make sure we're not getting into our heads."

Tim then waited for the two Protoans to confer before saying, "Miranda, how is your AI protocol going to work now that I have some cybernetics within me?"

"Essentially, you've been integrated with a light system," she commented. "From what I can deduce, these implants will give you a better reaction time and will help increase the rigidity of your limbs, giving you a slightly higher pain tolerance. There is something else you should know."

"Yeah?"

"It seems your body is taking these new implants well so far. You may notice a slight body fatigue for a few hours though as it conforms to the new structure. But anyways, if you choose to do so, you can always see about upgrading or getting new implants. But I would highly recommend you talk with your doctor before doing any surgery if you choose that path."

"Don't worry, I will."

========

Meanwhile, PSC/Emprye Border

"Colonel Wallmeyer! Look at this report!"

"Give me that." The colonel took one look before turning to the man who brought it and asked, "How recent is this?"

"This was taken about an hour ago."

"Alright then. Looks like we have a potential strike point then. You can go back to where you came from." As the aide left, the Colonel eyed the report again and couldn't believe what he saw. Apparently, Emprye had moved some forces away from the critical Primm Power Plant road that connected the town with its power source. If he could get enough men in, it would finally give him a way to take the town. But he knew he had to act fast because once word spread, all sorts of reinforcements would come from nearby Jean, and the last thing he wanted to face was their heavy guns. But this would pretty much be his one chance to do something along this front.

"Attention all units, the time has come," he announced into his radio. "It is time to move out and do what we were born to do. The target is Primm. Move in through the outlet road east of the town. Show no mercy. Show no quarter."

"Very well Captain. We shall proceed to the border of Emprye." said Inquisitor Faust.

The Forge Masters began to instruct servitors to begin loading up Thunderhawks with Stealth6 material mainframe suites and essential personnel. It was there that Captain Matthews caught the eye of Inquisitor Faust.

Faust smiled. "The Ice? It looks rather intimidating but please be assured, it is only a psyker frost. You need not to worry."

Primm

As soon as everyone started to move, the inevitable happened. The Empryans launched their defense of the small town. It started small, with simple small arms fire to slow down the encroaching PSC forces. But as more came in through the small opening east of the city, snipers and mortars started to enter the mix.

"Lieutenant!" one of the PSC captains called on the road that served as the Empryan line.

"Yes sir!"

"Send your men east to the power station and check for hostiles. Clear it out, position a couple of guards, then report back on the double."

"Affirmative!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the attackers readied themselves for what would surely be fierce close quarters combat in the abandoned restaurants and hotels of a once grand mecca of gambling....

Meanwhile, Van Klaren Air Base, Zeeland Province, Canton Rouge

"Any idea why we're stopping here?" one Inquisitor asked.

"I think Matthews insisted on picking up a couple of scouts to help out," a second replied.

"Well, as long as he doesn't bring an entire army. We're supposed to travel light, after all."

"I know, that's why he said a couple of scouts, not a whole army of commandos."

Rather than listening in on their conversation, Captain Matthews was busy checking out satellite feed of the PSC/Emprye border. What he saw surprised him: the PSC had begun moving in. He figured he would tell Faust and Eisenhorn this, but not right now. He wanted to see how the situation would turn out before making any sudden decisions....

"It appears that the PSC is attacking Emprye. What treachery can you make of this Inquisitor Faust?" Eisenhorn asked.
Faust didnt answer at first. His eyes were closed in concentration. "This situation has become interesting. Let us go to the Captain and see what he wishes to do."

"Captain Matthews, are you aware of the PSC offensive?"

Tim nodded, then replied, "Indeed, I was waiting to see if the situation changed in any way before notifying you. Let me check on it again to see if anything has changed." He took another look at the satellite feed, and what he saw shocked him...

========

Primm, Emprye

"Hold the line!" an Empryan soldier shouted in the center of the town.

"Which line? We're being hammered on our southern and eastern flanks!" another replied. By now, the PSC had begun making their way in the town, but the fighting was slow, given the nature of having to clear the place building by building, street by street, and room by room. Obviously, Emprye was doing their best to stem the invasion. But the PSC was not going to have another failed invasion of Primm. They were going to achieve victory one way or another.

"Sir, what are we going to do?" a third soldier asked.

"We stand and fight!" the first soldier replied. "This is our land, and we will either push the invaders back, or we will die defending our home! Show them no quarter!"

Deep down, he knew that the defense was futile. The PSC had more men coming in, and soon, they would have their tanks from Baker moving up, and he also knew about their air bases scrambling fighters and bombers from Miramar, March, etc. All he could do now was delay the inevitable. But for how long?

Inquisitor Faust could see the images that Captain Matthews was seeing. It was unbelievable. The PSC forces were pushing in the Emprye countryside with almost nothing keeping the surge stemmed.

"Well, we have a choice. We can either let the PSC conquer Emprye and see what happens, or we can simply ignore it and go about our way. I'll let Captain Matthews decide what he would like to do."

Tim turned to the inquisitors and replied, "We should move in to the Primm area and scout for intelligence. From there, we'll see what happens...wait. Something has come up in the area."

"What exactly is it?" Inquisitor Faust asked.

"I dunno, but it looks like just as quickly as the PSC moved into Emprye, they're stopping all of a sudden. But they aren't retreating either. I wonder what could be happening."

========

Meanwhile, Primm

"So how many men did you capture?" A PSC lieutenant asked a sergeant.

"You mean how many surrendered to us or how many are left after some of the privates did a shooting spree."

"The second thing."

"Then about thirty. We did have forty, but we decided to have ten of them be executed to serve as a warning for any potential hiders. But why aren't we moving into Vegas? We have a numeric superiority here."

"Because about a few miles up the road, Emprye has a nice air base, and they also have a few tanks in the Vegas zone. If we advance without any support, we're as good as dead. You do wish to live, don't you?"

"Yes sir."

"Then continue searching the town for any additional Empryans. I want the city clear by dusk. We'll be setting up camp here for a day at least while support from Miramar and Pendleton arrives. I don't want to lose this town just as quickly as we've gained it."

"Yes sir."

========

Above Canton Rouge airspace

"So if you're serious about scouting the area, how do you suppose we get in then?" Inquisitor Faust asked.

"If you look to the east of Primm," Tim started. "an abandoned airfield exists. It's about five miles away, and given that at the very least both sides will be too focused on trying to get at the other side to notice a few planes coming in. If we're lucky, there could be other aircraft or armor in the area to drown out any noise we might make. But if you have another suggestion, I'd like to hear it."

Inquisitor Faust nodded his approval. "We will get into cover with no problem at all. I suppose that the Empyreans will have no idea that we are in, mainly because of the PSC keeping them busy. And PSC will be preoccupied with the Emprye army. Ingenious, Captain.

Faust put his head in his hands and began to recite some verses. Curious, the Captain asked him what he was saying.

Faust replied, "A simply prayer to Deus Mechanicus. The Machine God. We may need everyone machine we have to protect us."

Abandoned Airfield, Emprye

"Be ready to move when we stop. The longer we take, the more likely we'll be spotted."

"Affirmative."

With a thud and a jerk, the planes hit the tarmac and came to a stop. To everyone's relief, there was no sign of vehicles or any infantry coming to stop them. A perfect entry. As soon as the last soldier hopped out, one of the newer Protoan recruits asked, "What is the plan?"

"I will leave that up to the Captain to decide," Faust responded, turning to the Captain.

"There are two points of interest," Tim started. "Southeast there's a town called Nipton on the PSC side of the border which may be a jump off point to consolidate the line. And northwest we have Primm. We'll split into two teams and check each site for intelligence, while leaving a small security detail here to make sure nothing happens here."

"I will lead the men into Nipton," Faust replied.

"Very well, I shall the rest into Primm," Tim added.

========

As the Primm patrol group started to make their way into town, an eerie silence was felt, save for the ambient low roar of vehicles making their way into the new front line. All of a sudden, the group stopped as someone noticed something.

"What is this thing?"a Protoan asked while he picked up what appeared to be a small radio.

"That's a Mark III Personal Communicator System used by Emprye," Tim said. "And it looks like it's still working. Let's see if it's saying anything."

As he turned the knob, he could only pick out one message from it:

"This message will repeat itself. All Empryan ground forces operating in the Primm quadrant of the Mojave Line, be advised that the town has fallen to the Pacific States Coalition. We are establishing a new front line two miles north at Old Ranch Road 498. Repeat, any Empryan units who hear this, proceed to Old Ranch Road 498 and await further orders. This message will repeat itself...."

After hearing the message, the patrol continued on. As they made their way into town, they could overhear what appeared to be a quick interrogation:

"You, Empryan officer, what do you know?"

"I know I won't tell you anything."

"Oh really? Perhaps waging a total war against all of you will make you talk?"

"Hah, that will only rally the Empryans to drive you out of here."

"Then perhaps harming you will get you to talk?"

"Do your worst, Pacifican scum."

What followed was 90 seconds of hard punches to the man before he finally cracked.

"*Cough* You can't stop it....Los Alamos.....it will be.....your end...."

"Los Alamos? Think we should notify General Smith?"

"Possibly. Better to be safe than sorry."

Meanwhile, Tim and his men had practically overheard the entire interrogation. He wasn't sure if this was a ruse, but he didn't want to take any chances. He reached for his own radio, and said, "Inquisitor Faust, it appears we've found something, and it's not good. Apparently, some facility under Empryan control called Los Alamos may be making what appears to be a way to stop the PSC, how copy?"

Faust replied, "Los Alamos? I believe from our latest scanner reports they were trying to make some kind of laser system that would destroy any mechanized vehicle on impact. Which would greatly annihilate any way the PSC could perform a proper attack, seeing that any of the people caught in the vehicles would also be killed. I suggest that our teams move as fast as they can towards Los Alamos."

Faust turned to his Skitarri. "Men, it is your turn to serve the Machine God. Let us give glory to all those who have fallen and do not make their sacrifice in vain. Move to Nipton!"

Later, Airfield, Near Primm

"Faust and the men that he has elected to go to Los Alamos should be here any moment now," Tim commented.

"Yes. Meanwhile, we've gathered a map of the facility so you can plan your attack," a commando replied.

"Good. Let's see what we've got. It appears the facility has a main research building in the northwest sector of the base. Near it, there's some auxiliary buildings for storage and housing."

"So how are you gonna get there?"

"Looks like a couple of miles out, there's a valley opening and the mountains should mask any parachute drop."

"Sounds good. What are those staying behind going to do?"

"You'll pretty much be tasked with keeping eyes and ears on this area. If it gets too hectic, feel free to pull out. Just try not to get seen, the last thing we need is to be fully drawn into this mess."

Ooc: sorry for the delay. RL
Faust and his men began preparing for the attack on nipton. Before they set out, they had a stealth thunderhawk squad fly in and drop some precious Leman Russ battletanks. These tanks had a massive cargo bay to house the troops.

The road to nipton was booby-trapped with land mines and Emprye gun nests, nevertheless Faust pushed.

30 miles out, Faust ordered his lead tank to raise turret and fire the main cannon. He knew it would impact just on the outskirts of the city, but would give them a great psychological advantage.

Nipton

It simply came with a massive bang. Granted, most of the town garrison had already left for Los Alamos, but those who remained behind were immediately scared senseless when they saw the massive explosion coming from the cannon. Their first thought was that the enemy had brought in massive artillery cannons, but they couldn't be seen. They then assumed that an air raid had occurred. This naturally made the PSC tense, as they now thought more air raids were inbound, no matter how insignificant they believed the Empryan Air Force to be.

Meanwhile, later on, Faust and his team had made it to Nipton, where their first sight was emptiness save for one lone soldier who was obviously dying. He simply kept muttering, "Los Alamos...Los Alamos....must stop.....Los Alamos...."

"There seems to be no one here, Faust," one Protoan soldier replied.

"Then radio Captain Matthews and inform him we are making our way back. It seems Los Alamos will be the new battleground in this war."

OOC: Sorry for the late and brief post. Blame college!

ooc: me too lol

"Los Alamos seems to be the place that this war will take a new turn, Captain Matthews. Get your men ready for anything that may come up." Faust turned and looked at his men.

"All units move into the city and take point on the western side of the city. If they want to make a lil war, we'll help give them one. I want tanks hidden in the tree line with active camo on. When I give the order, you will fire one them."