Antares Fiction: Arrival- Part Three

<<Part Two

The Command Module was in the center of the installation. It had several wings shooting off of the central hub. Jeanne imagined it looked like a snowflake from above. Aesgir led her into one of the briefing rooms, where the rest of Kilo Squad had already gathered. They leaned against a holo projector with an hologram of Vihera rotating slowly. A tall bald man stood among them, the green light of the hologram illuminating the hard features of his face. Jeanne noticed there was a dark scar across his right eye which seemed to reflect light like a cat’s. Jeanne assumed he was Commander Juywut. 

     “Good, you are all here.” His voice was gruff and gravelly. “You must be the newest member of Kilo Squad,” he barked, looking at her.

     “Yes ser.” Jeanne saluted. 

     “At ease, I’m not fond of protocol, makes me target. Gather round.” Jeanne relaxed and joined her squad mates next to the projector. 

     “I’m sending Kilo Squad up north into the Highlands, to the Gaerlei Valley. We’ve picked up some interference in Grid Sector Alfa-Charlie-Six, and all the scout drones we’ve sent up there have disappeared before they were able to transmit any intel.” Cmdr. Juywut manipulated the hologram and zoomed in on the sector to which he was referring. Jeanne was surprised to see that his left forearm was completely bio-mechanical. 

     “The IP is five-point-six kilometers from the last drone’s last known location. You are to search the area for the drone, recover it, and mark it for pick up. Then you are to scan the area in a five kilometer radius for the source of the interference. Once you complete your sweep, proceed to EZ Alpha for extraction. The SatTopo map will be uploaded to your suits TacNav. Any questions?” Cmdr. Juywut placed his hands behind his back.

     “Will we have any support?” asked Aesgir.

     “In the situation where support would be required, Fire Base Restrepo will be available with gunships and X-gun batteries,” 

     “How will we be inserting?” asked Zephor.

     “The IP is in clearing near a river, the transport will land and dust off as soon as you are clear,”the commander paused, and when no further questions arose he spoke again, “This is just a scouting op, I don’t want any unnecessary risks. You all be careful out there. Who knows what sort of nasty beasts crouch out deep in the bush. Good luck.” Everyone nodded, and filed out of the room.

As soon as they returned to their barrack module everyone pulled off their dusty fatigues and filed into the attached washroom and shower. Jeanne noticed that all of them except for Zephor had numerous tattoos. The water was hot and gave off the scent of various metals. She felt her squad mates eyes watching her as the water washed over her. She had never been particularly shameful of her body, but their stares made her uncomfortable. 

After they had showered they pulled on their under armor body suits. The suits were like a second skin and were made up of nano fibers that were impervious to traditional weapons such as slug throwers and projectile weapons. They were tight but didn’t restrict movement. The outer armor connected to the UABs and added protection from modern weaponry. 

As they suited up Jeanne spotted that each of her squad mates armor had small bits of graffiti drawn over them. Aesgir had a pair of cornix birds painted on both sides of her breast plate. Amkell had written, ‘Kill an Isorain for Mum’ in a heart, on his shoulder, and ‘Fun Here’ on his groin protector. Damari had numerous tally marks on his his arm guards, and ‘KILL ‘EM ALL’ scrawled on his shoulder. Zephor simply had a smiley face drawn on the back of his armor. How can they not be busted for that? 

Once they had suited up, they filed out with their helmets tucked beneath their arms and headed to the armory where they retrieve their plasma carbines, and grenades. Damari was equipped with a Plasma Lance. They then marched to the landing pad. As they approached they were greeted by a spotter drone. 

     “Good morning Kilo Squad,” said the drone, it’s voice was precise and mechanical.

     “Morning Zima,” grinned Zephor, “You ready for a hike?”

     “Affirmative.” Aesgir ordered them to mount up, but stopped Jeanne before she stepped into the troop compartment.

     “Hold up a moment,” she said. 

     “Yes?” asked Jeanne, her stomach clenched.

     “Are you good? ” questioned the SL, her blue eyes staring into Jeanne’s purple.

     “Yeah. I just don’t feel like I fit in with the rest of them,” admitted Jeanne. To her surprise, Aesgir grinned.

     “That’s normal. Don’t take it personally. They’re still getting over Lakan leaving. Damari likes to pretend he’s the biggest baddest motherfucker in the galaxy, but he’s really nice once you get to know him.”

     “What happened to Lakan?” 

     “He got a medical discharge. Seizures.”

     “Oh.”

     “Don’t worry about them, we’re a team. I would put my life in their hands in any situation. They’re good troopers.”

     “A-a-alright,” stammered Jeanne.

     “You’ll be fine.” Aesgir slapped her shoulder, “Mount up!”

Antares Fiction: Arrival- Part Two

Part One 

     “Hey! Cherry! Wake up!” 

Jeanne rolled over in her cot. She was having such a good dream. She had been at home, she and her brother were hanging out in the family pool. Her mother was sunbathing on the beach chair nearby and her father was grilling burgers. She smiled. It had been so long since they’d been all together.

     “HEY! Greenie! Wake the fuck up!” Someone kicked her bunk, and she jolted awake. Damari stood over her, his arms crossed with a sour look across his face.

     “What the fuck is wrong with you!?” she shouted.

     “It’s wake up time!” he growled. Jeanne groaned, and swung her feet over the rack and stretched.

     “What time is it?” she yawned.

     “0500,” replied Damari, “The rest of the squad already left for the mess.” She heard the woosh of the door as he left. 0500? Damn. She still was recovering from jump-lag. She drowsily pulled on her trousers and boots, stepped outside. She was blinded by the bright morning light. There is no way it’s 0500. He must have lied. She wandered in a daze to the module marked ‘Mess Hall’. 

The food was the usual military issue stuff, though this had a distinct metallic taste to it. She sat with her new squad and ate quietly while the rest of them talked amongst themselves freely. 

     “Hey, top?”

     “Hmmm?” groaned the SL.

     “Have you heard what’s the next patrol schedule like?” 

     “Amkell, I just woke up. At least let me have my coffee please, until then, shut up!”

     “You don’t have to be a bitch Liz,” chuckled Zephor. Jeanne looked up, unsure of who he was referring too.

     “You know I’m not a morning person…” grumbled Aesgir into her mug, "To answer your question, Amkell. No." 

Jeanne returned to her tray and toyed with her food. Her thoughts drifted back to her dream. Suddenly she couldn’t remember her brother’s face. She racked her memory, trying to conjure an image. Unable to, she tried to retrieve the image from her pocket, but realized she had left in in the barracks. She swore silently and finished her meal. She got up, deposited her tray in the receptacle and hurried back to the barracks module, hoping to get a few moments of rest before she was beset upon by Damari or one of the other members of the squad.

She sat on her rack and pulled out the image. She didn’t know why but she wished even more to be home than here. I’ve never had felt homesick before. Serving the Pan-Human Concord is something I’ve wanted to do as long as I can remember. Something about this place…

Her thoughts were interrupted as SL Aesgir poked her head inside the barracks.

     “I thought you would be here. Come on, we need to get to the command module for briefing.”  

Jeanne tucked the image back into her jacket and pulled it on. She followed Aesgir through the rows of barracks. Drones and other troopers milled about doing their tasks. No one paid her much attention, though she felt as if everyone knew that she had just arrived.

Antares Fiction: Arrival- Part One

The humid heat of Vihera hit Jeanne like an asteroid smashing into a planet’s surface, as the transport’s ramp lowered. Her uniform clung to her as sweat poured from her brow and trickled down her nose. Her chestnut bangs were plastered to her forehead. She pulled her duffle and armor crate down the ramp onto the tarmac. She was momentarily blinded by the double suns, high in the reddish sky. Heat waves made the surrounding drab buildings look shiny and distorted.  She and her fellow troopers were immediately beset upon by a dog faced sergeant who barked at them to maneuver of the tarmac and to the staging area. They double timed it and filed into a neat line. The dog-faced sergeant called for an equally gruff-looking clerk with a datapad. A pair of Interceptor bikes sped past kicking up an orangish cloud in their wake, which flew into the trooper’s faces. Jeanne resisted the urge to wipe her eyes. The sergeant stood in front of the rank and glared at them.

     “Listen up! Welcome to Fort Kyllan! Contrary to what you’ve heard, this deployment is not going to be an ice cream social! Unfortunately this post isn’t on the frontline, but we are still at war! There will be no fucking about!” he shouted over the roar of the transport lifting off, kicking up more debris.

     “Junior Sergeant Rispoli will give you your squad assignments and you will report to your Strike Leader! Rispoli if you would please!” The clerk stepped forward and began to call out names and assignments. 

Jeanne was assigned to Barracks No. 53 and Kilo Squad. She struggled to pull her crate across the dirt paths and streets that made up the installation. Her fatigues were soaked, and covered in dust, by the time she found her barracks. Pausing to take a breather, she wiped her brow with her sleeve; leaving a rusty streak across her forehead. She hit the door control and with a swoosh the entrance slid open. She tugged her crates inside, and let her eyes adjust to the artificial light. 

There were four troopers sitting around a table that looked up as she entered. She blinked and took in her surroundings. The barracks were nothing like what they had at her previous post. They were plain and mostly unadorned, save for the few pictures the troopers had pined up. The bunks were basically glorified cots. She became aware of the looks that were boring into her.

     “A greenie?” asked one of the troopers. The one who had spoke was barrel-chested and had a bandanna tied around his mellon. 

     “I guess,” shrugged a thin man with hair that matched the dust that had coated Jeanne’s uniform. A blonde woman sporting a buzzcut got up from the table and stepped up to her.

     “I’m Strike Leader Aesgir,” she introduced herself, “You must be the replacement for Lakan?”

     “Uh… I-I-I guess, ser,” she stammered. A rumble of laughter erupted from the three still seated. Aesgir cracked a smile.

     “I’m not a Ser,” she stated. What’s your name?”

     “Jeanne Lankford,” Jeanne had to force herself to not add Ser at the end.

     “Your bunk is over there.” She pointed. “Unpack and get your armor stowed.” Jeanne nodded and dragged her kit to her assigned bunk. As she unpacked she overheard the others muttering to each other.

     “She’s a cutie isn’t she?” asked the one with a square jaw and tousled hair.

     “If you say so Amkell,” grunted the one sporting the bandana, “I just see another sack of meat we are going to have to take care of in the bush.”

     “Will you bet please?” cried the Strike Leader. Jeanne heard the shuffle of cards and the clack of plastic being tossed onto the table. The redhead cursed and folded. Jeanne filled her footlocker with her effects and then moved to the armor rack and began to place her suit inside. There was an uproar as something happened at the table. 

     “How the fuck do you always win top?” shrieked Amkell.

     “Because I’m amazing,” chuckled Aesgir. 

     “But you’ve won five hands in a row!” complained the man with the bandana.

     “It’s not my fault that you have an obvious tell Damari,” grinned the SL.

     “She’s gotta be cheating. Counting cards or something,” suggested the redhead.

     “Nah, You see Zephor, she’s got a marked deck,” said Damari.

     “Well if you want to play with your deck I’ll still kick your ass,” shot Aesgir.

     “I’m broke!” complained Damari, “You got all my cash!”

     “Alright! We finished then?” grinned the SL. There was a scraping of chairs against the floor and the bustle of movement. Jeanne sat on her bed and sighed. She felt so out of place. She pulled a image of her family from her breast pocket. It was of the last time they had all been together, before her mother was deployed. Her brother left the day after that, then she was given her orders to report to training. She looked at her father’s broad grin. He had lost his arm during a accident, and it was replaced with a bionic one. Jaeson, her brother took after their father, sharing the same nose and broad grin. She smiled, remember the terrible jokes that they would share. They usually made her and her mother groan. She took after her mum. Most people thought they were sisters at first.  They had the same chestnut hair and purple eyes.

     “Hey, you got any smokes?” came a voice. Jeanne ignored it, assuming they weren’t talking to her.

     “Hey cherry!” She jumped as someone kicked the bunk.

     “Hey!” she turned to see who kicked her bunk. Damari stood at the end of her bed. 

     “Are you deaf or something?” he growled.

     “No.”

     “Then why didn’t you answer?” 

     “I, uh… thought you weren’t talking to me.”

     “Sure. Do you got any smokes?”

     “No. I don’t smoke.”

     “Damn shame.”

     “Oi! Damari! Leave her alone!” called Amkell, “I got a new carton over here. Jeez!” Damari stepped away, leaving her be. She heard him mutter something, but she couldn’t make it out. 

Part Two

Review: Beyond the Gates of Antares- Strike Vector One: The Xilos Horizon

Yes I still have my Star Wars Comforter.

Minor Damage

November 7th marked the release of Warlord Games' newest game, "Beyond the Gates of Antares" from the mind of the amazing Rick Priestley (notice me senpai!). I had preordered the starter box "Strike Vector One: The Xilos Horizon", which arrived today!

The box arrived in good condition, though the book had some slight wear around the binding, but nothing major. Before I delved into the contents of the box I cracked open the book and was greeted by that wonderful new book smell. The artwork is absolutely fabulous, as one would expect from Warlord Games book. It's well put together and easy to read, but it doesn't include an index... Not sure why, I remember hearing once that British publishing companies don't include indexes. But from my quick flip through the book seems to be so well laid out that an index shouldn't be necessary.

Miniatures and Dice

Now to the contents. Since I preordered the box set I received a print of the cover artwork signed by Rick (which I plan to donate to the FLGS), and the Exclusive launch figure, "Fartok: Leader of Battlegroup Nine"; which is a nice model. I don't really want to go into a review of the sculpts of the figures, but I am always impressed by the Warlord sculpts. I also received the Transmat Station pre-order bonus. I honestly didn't think I would receive the Transmat station, due to it being a limited offer(?).

The box also came with a set of dice, and Order Dice in the colours of the Ghar and Concord (the two factions included). The black die is a "Distort Dice", whose mechanic's I'm not so sure about just yet. But I know that the Ghar have technology to mess with Space-Time. One of the most interesting things that were included were clear red plastic pin markers with a dial, that denotes how many pins a unit has on it. There is also a set of Template and Shot tokens in clear-blue plastic.

Pin Markers

Over all I am very impressed with the contents of the Starter Box and look forward to running demos at the FLGS! I'll post an article with my thoughts on the universe and mechanics when I get to have a closer look! But so far the thing's I've read are very exciting! This all coming from the person who when asked by Warlord if I wanted to demo the Beta Rules, I said no. At first glance it looked too much like Warhammer 40k, and I wasn't interested. But now that I've seen more and more of the universe I've fallen in love!

Template and Shot Tokens