Gender Gear: Code Blue - the Pilot

"Whacha got, Holls?" asked a husky man wearing a NorGuard infantryman's uniform.

"Not sure, but what ever it is it's kicking up alot of dust." answered Holls as he adjusted the scope on the thirty caliber machine gun mounted on the back of an Off Road Vehicle (ORV).

"Are you sure it's not a Sandstorm forming?" asked the husky man.

"Can't be, Sarge. The pattern's not right." Holls responded as he looked over his shoulder. "It has to be some kind of vehicle, but it looks more like it's closer to something that's mansized. If I had to guess, I'd say that they're ATVs."

"Well it'd be mighty unneighborly if we didn't say Hi." Sarge said as he walked over to his ORV grinning at the driver. "Let's hit it!" Commanded Sarge as the drivers of the ORVs exchanged looks and started up their vehicles.Sarge and Holls held on tightly to the hand grips on their thirties as the ORVs sped toward the sighting of the dust cloud.

"EARTHERS!" Shouted Benny, Holls' driver, into his boom mic. Benny really didn't know what to make of the strange looking vehicles. They almost looked like Earther Frames, but these seemed as though they were too small to be Earther Gear knockoffs. The only telltale was the CEF emblem that all Terranovans knew all too well.

Without waiting for any additional orders, Holls opened up with his heavy machine gun. The RATATTATATAT sound of Sarge's thirty soon followed. Their first shoots were wild as the two fought for balance as much as they tried to aim. Eventually, Holls was able to "walk fire" unto his targets clipping one of the Earth units and nailing another square in the chest... or at least what was supposed to be its chest. Sarge laid down some "spray and pray" as three of the Earth units took cover behind a rock cropping. The trio began to return fire, the buzzing of their gatling guns the answer to Sarge's attempt to suppress them. Benny manuvered into the lead position and began to weave his ORV seemingly erratically until the ORV began in a circular pattern around the survivors of the group that Holls had opened up on. Sarge's driver, Nanny, had manuvered his ORV in a similar manner and had began to encircle Sarge's targets as his thirty began to eat away at the Earther's cover.

Split into two groups, the Earthers were unable to achieve fire supperiority and were gunned down by the thirties of Sergeant Chris "Sarge" Tull and his Norguard Deep Desert Patrol (NDDP) unit aka N Deep Team. N Deep Team and others like it had become the back bone of the NorGuard presence in the Badlands during the Interpolar War when the bulk of the Northern Guard resources had been diverted elsewhere. Unlike other Polar Units, N Deep Teams earned the respect of Badlanders by working with local law enforcement to stop raids by Rovers and have even been known to attack other Northern units trying to pillage small towns and homesteads.

As the N Deep Team paused to reload their weapons and contact their HQ, the buzz of more gatling guns came to life. Benny grabbed his assault rifle as he dove away from the driver's seat of his ORV. Nanny had already began firing as he propped a foot up on the dashboard in an effort to steady his aim as he cut loose on full auto. Sarge and Holls seemed to fumble with their ammo belts as Benny and Nanny continued to lay down covering. Unfortunately for the N Deep Team, even though the shots fired by the pair of drivers were deadly accurate, their assault rifles lacked the punch to make it past the armored Earth troops.

"Do you guys mind hurrying it up?" Nanny inquired talking out of the side of his mouth while continueing to fire his weapon. "We're hitting them, but they ain't goin' down."

"Got it!" Sarge called out as he opened up on the Earthers. This time Sarge's aim was spot on as he didn't have to fight to stay in the ORV while shooting. Sarge nailed one in the head creating a "pink mist." Holls had no need to let the Team know that his weapon was up as he let his thirty do the talking for him.

This time the Earthers weren't as easy to kill since the N Deep Team had lost their edge they had when they were mobile. The Earthers had manage to encircle their prey, but the thirties forced them into cover preventing the Earthers from getting any good shots at pair of ORVs. Fustrated, Nanny swore and threw his assault rifle into the passenger's seat and began looking for the grenade launcher he kept when he needed something with more punch. Just as Nanny managed to bring the grenade launcher to bear, he took a round to the abdomen and slumped over the steering wheel.

"MAN DOWN!" Sreamed Sarge as he continued to fire at a pair of Earthers sharing cover.

"On It!" Shouted Benny as he raced over to Nanny ignoring the medic bag behind the seat, intending to use his own personal first aid kit.

"This is Rat One to any nearby unit. " Holls called into to his boom mic as he fired with one hand while switching his radio to an open channel with the other. "We have engaged Charlie Echo Foxtrot units. Possible armored dismounts. Requesting assistance, medical if possible. We are pinned down and have wounded. We are zero five klicks North of the Ingram Homestead. Transmitting exact coordinates via attached text." Holls continued as Benny reached Nanny.

"He's still alive!" shouted Benny as he pulled Nanny out of his seat and behind the cover, albeit relative, of the ORV. As Holls scored a hit on one of the Earther units, Benny took out a utility knife and began cutting away Nanny's BDU shirt. Praying that Nanny had worn his vest, Benny found little comfort when he discovered that the round had gone through it. Benny slid his hand under Nanny to feel for an exit wound. "And Prophet wep!" Benny exclaimed as he discovered that the round had gone completely through Nanny. "Stay with us, Bro. We're gonna get you outta here." Benny said more for his own comfort than for Nanny's.

"Seems a shame that the cavalry should arrive on time." teased a Samson pilot as he brought her hopper into a hover causing a brown out forcing the Earthers to change positions and move closer to get a better shot. The N Deep Team took full advantage of this as they were using IR goggles. Without cover, the Earthers were running ducks (which isn't all that different from sitting ducks if you've ever seen a duck run).

With the Earth Forces dispatched. the Samson pilot with unobstructed view gave the all clear and began to bring in the Samson in for a landing. As Benny continued to apply pressure to Nanny's wounds, Holls began to pull out the rigging gear to secure the ORVs while in transit. Sarge stayed on his thirty and continued to cover the N Deep Team and their ride. As the rear ramp began to lower, Nanny began to come to.

"I'm dying and she's making jokes." Nanny managed trying to sound as pathetic as he could. (Which wasn't all that hard given the circumstances)

"Never thought I'd be so glad to see you flygirls, Double Jay." Sarge teased as levity began to work its way into the situation. Benny helped the crew chief get Nanny onto the Samson as Sarge and Holls slid into the driver's seats of the ORVs. All in all, it took ten minutes from the time the Samson landed until Double Jay had the hopper back up in the air and headed for a nearby health clinic (although by our standards it was more of an animal hosipital except they also treated people). Even though Nanny had regained consciousness, he had lost alot of blood and time was of the essence. Double Jay and the N Deep Team knew he didn't have long. While on the way to clinic, Double Jay dropped a bomb shell on the N Deep Team.

"I just thought you'd like to know, Sarge, but you boys weren't the only ones hit. Looks like the Earthers are ready for round two. They're saying that it's a second invasion."