DK-13's Story

Anna wiped sweat from her face as she entered the mobile base. It was cooler here but Anna still felt miserable only the sight of her DK-13 brought a small smile to her face as she walked by the hanger.
Anna climbed higher and higher until the commander's room came into view.
The door was open and two other pilots stood there. Mirerva and Raiza if she remembered right

"Commander, could you please at least look decent when the others arrive...? I don't think they wish to see this...." Raiza said

This caused Anna to raise a brow as she walked closer and peaked in. Her eyes went wide shocked as she said "What the Hell!?" In Russian.

Anna was gald that was over she walked out without a word heading to the hangers and the one thing that would chill her out her DK-13..

Anna ran her hand over her tank as she walked around it admiring it. She smiled and climbed up on her tank. Laying down on her tank she stared up blankly at the top of the hanger clearing her mind she closed her eyes relaxing trying to drown out the mess of a morning she was having.

Anna pulled her mp3 player out placing the earbuds in her ears she closed out the world lost in her music....

Haven's hangar. The one area in this ship that never slept. The incessant banging of heavy machinery and hissing of steam would drive lesser men insane. But of course, Black Fang's engineers, like the Silhouettes they maintain, were made of sterner stuff. Genna sat upon a crate as she took a break, her bright pink hair bouncing as she observed a book in her hand.

As she heard Raiza's approaching steps, the pink haired engineer sprung up, then immediately hit the suspicious book behind her back. "A-AH!" She squeaked out, eyes large and round as a hamster's. "I-I wasn't looking at pictures of-"

She immediately stopped herself as the variable pilot made her request. Her quivering lips turned into a cheeky grin as her ears picked up on Raiza's technical terms.

"Heavy weapons module, phoenix missiles. Got it! No problem!" Genna stood on her heels to seem taller, then gave Raiza a salute."Consider it done~!"

The pink haired engineer, deciding that her break was over, walked over to the side to pick up her equipment. A set of wrenches, heavy duty pliers, keys for the hangar cranes... She relayed Raiza's request to her senior officer, and together, the mechanics worked together to fulfill it.

After half an hour of working, Genna shouted aloud to her mechanic team."Hold on! I need to go take a pee!", before jumping off the Polaris' right wing and bouncing away. The sweat and grease all over her clashed quite jarringly against Genna's saturated pink hair.

As she ran halfway through the hangar, Genna suddenly stopped at the sight of the DK-13. The machine's lack of treads had always caught her eyes.

"A hover tank, huh?"

Against her better judgement, the engineer hopped onto the tank's hull, observing its every detail. Simple. Light. Sleek, very much like most of the Silhouettes, and totally unlike the heavy, blocky, and clumsy support tanks. Her eyes then wandered to its pilot, dozing off with her earphones on. She couldn't help but grin.

"Ufufufu... she seem so peaceful. I guess I shouldn't bother her,"

And with that, Genna leapt off the tank, and continued on her merry way to the restroom.
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Nearby, the mechanics conducted routine maintenance upon Minerva's Sarissa. Neither conversation nor eye contact were shared between them and the icy pilot, and the silence further emphasized the mechanical ambience in the background.

"All sensors in working condition," one mechanic said aloud.

"On-board ammunition at maximum stock," another reported.

Amidst the noise, Minerva's sharp ears could make out someone approaching. Straight at her. Slow, but deliberate.

It was him. Renzam Aubrey. The Diesever's new pilot, wearing a purple uniform which matched him as much as the lavender matched the Diesever. He stared at her from behind, one hand in his pocket.

"...."

A moment of silence passed.

"......."

A long moment of silence.

Renzam tilted his head slightly.

"You knew my brother," he suddenly blurted out.

Renzam turned slightly, and looked up to his Diesever. A fresh coat of lavender and dark purple paint over its chassis. A brand new pair of arms, with a humanoid Silhouette's trademark articulated five-fingered hands open and relaxed. Most of the Silhouette's upper body had been replaced after its previous pilot's grisly death, though aside from the paint and thigh-mounted giant sheathes made to house the Silhouette's knives, its lower body was mostly untouched.

"What was he like?"

Anna was awoken by someone climbing on her tank. She only got a moment to see it was Genna who left before she could even get a word in. I should do something Anna thought as she sat up. She gave herself a sniff and desided a shower would be nice...

Anna always had extra clothes and supplies stashed in her DK-13 which she took out. With all things ready she headed to the showers in the restroom.

The restroom was clear save for Genna and herself. And Genna was busy so she walked into the first shower closing the curtain behind her she stripped and turned on the water...

Anna was grinning after her talk with Genna but soon turned to a frown as she heard the announcement over the comm. She rushed to her DK-13 climbing in and starting her up.

The HUD came to life before her a full view of what was around her. Cameras on the outside of her DK-13 showed her a 360 view on screens just as clear as if looking though a window. Other screens flashed words in Russian telling Anna how much ammo, fuel, and such.

Anna grabbed the controls as DK-13's hover jets came online making the tank rise from the ground hovering several feet above the hanger floor as Anna checked in. " This is Blizzard, Death Knight tank DK-13 is online and ready."

The Gobi Desert. 1400 hours. Haven's defense force mobilized around the massive mobile fortress. The Diesever, the Sarissa, the DK-13, and four tanks watched over the starboard entry, while the Paladin, the Stinger, and five tanks stayed vigil by the port side, both entryways pivotal for the masses of refugees which came. The nine tanks which accompanied the five silhouettes were considerably more primitive compared to the DK-13, built for suppressing and defensive fire instead of direct MASS combat.

"Heyyyy, Babe... hic... sweet... tanks ya got there....," a drunken tank driver called out to Anna, his slurry voice providing static through the intercomm.

"Marcus?! Have you been drinking AGAIN?" another tank driver reprimanded him.

From his cockpit, Renzam watched as thousands marched upon the ramp. Fathers. Mothers. Children. Merchants. Tradesmen. People of various shapes, sizes, color, and origin, yet of one destination. The Diesever's iron fingers wrapped around its bazooka's handle as the massive weapon rested on its shoulder. "This will take a while...," the spiky haired pilot thought aloud, transmitting his voice through the intercom. "Thank heavens this monkey suit has built-in air conditioning...."

Black Fang ground troops stood in front of the Silhouettes and the tanks, deployed to maintain peace and order, and, like the tanks, not to fight the MASS. One of the younger troopers looked up, gazing at the Stinger and the Paladin's huge and mighty forms, and whined, "Why can't I get one of those?", prompting an older trooper to bark at him, "Hey! Kid! Focus!"

"Scorpion has deployed the Stinger's scanner drones. Analyzing data...," Tsubaki's voice reported across each of the defense force's cockpit communicators. The operator's eyes and fingers moved about rapidly in the navigation tower as she shared a live feed from the drones' perspective. A steady, rhythmic beat. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"This is Black Fang's outrider force, we'll scout from ground level," a hoarse voice remarked. Heavy engines roared across the dune sea as Black Fang soldiers rode atop rusted, yet agile jeeps. What the Stinger's scanner drones couldn't pick up from a certain distance, the outrider force would catch with their eyes. Until the sandstorm comes, that is.

While Scorpion's drones and the Outriders kept an eye on the ground, the Polaris and the Corvidae took to the skies, soaring across the blue expanse and followed by five less advanced, non-Silhouette worthy fighter jets, each bearing the Black Fang sigil upon their left wing, each following the lead of the two Silhouette pilots.

"Let's do our best, Madams!" one of the fighter pilots encouraged them.

Far ahead, across the ocean of sand, the fighter squad could see it. Colorless, formless distortions in the air, creating ripples the size of olden skyscrapers. A low, droning noise emitted from within, as the indescribable distortions swelled and contracted...

"I-is that it? Freaky..." one of the fighter pilots stammered.

Rhys looked across the desert, or more accurately stared at the massive sand wall mere inches in front of his viewport. So much sand, if some crazy person could gather it all they could make a massive city made out of sand. A reassuring thought which kept the buzzing nervousness in the back of his head. Sure, they were in danger of getting killed by some alien which would unnerve most people. But the last thing to do was show any of that, or even hear yourself with panic in your voice. Keeping a brave face would be pretty good for moral. "Alright everyone! Let's do some hard work out here. Let's go kick some mechanical ass and get back home in time for lunch. So, anyone know who our fireteam leader is? It would be a good idea to establish a squad leader to maintain order. You know, one person to give the orders instead of a mosh pit of ideas when things go to hell. Last thing we need are mix-ups." Rhys asked.

Sure, Rhys was no tactical genius or even a soldier. However one thing everyone could agree on was a head figure to keep them organised and running together as one. "Oh, and when we do get back I got cinnamon rolls for all of us. So let's work up an appetite!" Rhys added with confidence. A big grin plastered on his face which no one would see. One thing he learned, if one person is confident then others will be less tense. If he could show everyone that if they work their hardest they can win any battle, and with the weight of the civilians his determination could only grow at this point. "Time to see the enemies hand..." he muttered to himself.

Flying through the sky once more, it reminded Raiza of the older times she had, when everything was peaceful, where she could fly where she wished, how she wished, and had not worried about a MASS of flailing tentacles trying to kill her. With the sun gleaming in through the canopy once more, Raiza took a light breath, reminiscing in the days she so longingly missed. While there was a squad of five fighters, along with Polaris and Corvidae, it was notable that the pilot had not moved like her usual antics, more so flying straight, letting the jet itself fly, while keeping it level. It'd look bad should Raiza, someone whom credits herself with no crashes in any manner, just suddenly plummeted into the sand. Meanwhile, her mind drifted to her life before the MASS, wondering if the little plane she had been working on was still in working shape. Raiza was no engineer when it came to the more up-to-date jets and Silhouettes, but older planes she had some knowledge on, and could do minor repairs, it felt much easier to repair an actual engine, rather than.... Whatever powered the jet, it was lost to the woman as to what it was that caused the jet to fly.

Though said daydream was cut off by the chatter over the radio, mainly a few tank drivers bickering, since one was already drunk, at a mere two in the afternoon, well, it's five'o'clock somewhere.... A light laugh came from Rai, as she listened to the two argue a degree before the Outrider Force chimed in, giving a notice that they were scouting the ground, Raiza opened her radio to them, "You all be careful now." her words sounded that like a mother's, she didn't wish to see anyone else die, having dealt with the MASS for a while, she has seen various members of the Black Fang fall in combat, though several pilots chattered to Camille and herself, as they flew, she made a promise to every one of them, including Camille, and the Silhouette pilots on the ground,

"So you all know, I will do my best to make sure you six get home. Even if it means I push death to reach you, if you're in danger, and need help, I'll be right there. Let this be a promise to all of you." Her words were serious, Raiza wished to remain with the same squadron for as long as she could. Though one of the younger pilots pointed something out, that caught Raiza's attention, distortions, at the distance they were at, the distortions were faint, colorless and nearly invisible, rising as high as what Raiza had remembered were the massive skyscrapers she saw as a child. An instinct kicked in, as her Radio soon was alive once more, as Raiza's throttle increased ever so slightly, as Polaris entered combat speed,

"Distortions detected. Eighteen degrees Northeast, distance Five-hundred (NM). Closing in to engage. Adjusting course by fifteen degrees."

With Polaris speeding forward, Raiza prepares for the fight to ensue.