The Conflict on Hai Shi Dao

By ThePieMaker

Chapter One

Do you remember the Conflict on the island of Hai Shi Dao? No? Well then, it is one you must simply hear about; let me attempt refresh to your memory about the struggle. It was the year 2082, and mankind was once again at war with itself. The battlefield was dominated by huge robotic war machines known as Vertical Tanks. The island of Hai Shi Dao was a manmade island in the Philippine Archipelago, developed halfway through the 21st century as a center oftrade throughout the world.

The cause of the whole incident is one you might find interesting. On August 2nd of 2082, the congress of HSD, Hai Shi Dao, demanded the withdrawal of the Pacific Rim Forces, a multi-nation cooperative organization. The first elected president of HSD, Gormit Sin, was appointed the head of the new Hai Shi Dao administration, and requisitioned overseas assets and ordered the relocation of all foreign-affiliated forces on the island .With this declaration, HSD forces invaded the surrounding waters and neighboring islands. Taken by surprise by this attack, the Pacific Rim Forces were obliterated one after another. On August 12th of that same year in an effort to seize Hai Shi Dao, the Pacific Rim Forces organized an expeditionary force led by the 7th Special Panzer Division. The 90th Transportation Unit equipped with an assault landing craft and the 8th Joint Mobile Unit consisting of the 8th Mechanized troop were deployed to carry out the amphibious operation on Hai Shi Dao.

Several hours before the beginning of the operation, all of the soldiers participating gathered in the briefing room. “Alright gentlemen”, declared the commanding officer, “our battalion will now begin our amphibious operation on the coast of Hai Shi Dao. The operation will commence early today at 0400. At 0530, after the preliminary bombardment by the 8th Joint Mobile Unit, Vt’s will be sent out from the assault landing craft to strike at enemy garrison troops. Recon reports that there will be three enemy platoons near the landing point equipped with Vt’s and mobile cannons. In addition, reports state that the garrison troops that occupy the coastal arena consist of a tank troop and two coastal gun batteries equipped with forty-eight centimeter guns. Although there seems to have been no increase in enemy strength, there may be some potential resistance from the coastal guns and field batteries units occupying the northern area. Best of luck gentlemen!”

Chapter Two

Several minutes before landing on the beach at 0530, our hero, codename Oscar 3, was anxious for the fight! During his previous training exercise, the guards protecting the training field had been surprised and taken down by enemy Vertical Tanks. Fortunately, due to our hero’s quick thinking, and perhaps some beginners luck, he was able to use his training VT to repel both of the attacking enemies. By doing so, interest sparked in the minds of the leaders of the 7th Special Panzer Division in addition to his superior officer whom he saved during the attack, who recommended him highly to the generals, who in turn granted our hero the honor of First Contact.

When the landing bridge splashed into the thick, murky water off the coast of the island, Oscar 3 gulped and restated to himself, “Just like training, just like training.” On the long range sensors he saw several enemies who were fielding inferior VT’s, which could easily enough be destroyed by his assault class VT. Unfortunately, all four of these foes were protected by the Forty-eight Centimeter coastal gun batteries. Moving closer to attempt an attack would result in total defeat. Suddenly, a transmission came in from command. Broadcasting to the entire platoon, it noted, “We have multiple reports of mines scattered throughout the plains. Be extra careful!”

Just seconds after the communication ended, BOOM! His friend next to him hit a mine. The leg of the vehicle was torn in two, decimating the walking components, while making the Tank fall to the ground, unusable. The gun appendages flew in-between our hero’s arm and middle body section, jamming his ability to switch weapons successfully, which limited our hero to only one of the three weapons on his platform. Unknown to the mechanized troop in the field, the preliminary bombardment earlier that morning had done more damage than anticipated. Five of the six coastal batteries had been destroyed. Due to this fact, both our hero Oscar 3 and his superior Oscar 1 engaged the enemies and were narrowly able to destroy the several VT’s piloted by the faction of Hai Shi Dao. After the skirmish, our hero’s onboard computer told him that vehicle integrity was nearing ten percent and it recommended withdrawal from combat.

At the hanger, our hero was told that the forces of HSD retreated within a mere hour of resistance. Never before in the history of VT combat had a battle been over so quickly. That day there were many happy soldiers in the 7th Special Panzer Division. Sadly, this joy did not last for very long. About three hours after the battle finished, the emergency callout rang throughout the base signaling that there was a dire danger upon them!

Chapter Three

It was nearly time for bed and after a day like that, our hero was indeed tired. Suddenly, an alarm rang throughout the base. Yelling, shouting, people dashed every which way. Sprinting out into the hallway, our champion was jarred around by the hustle of other pilots scrambling to get to the hangar. Keeping his cool, Oscar 3 managed to get to the hangar before the passageway was destroyed by fire. Several other pilots were already booting up the power systems on the assault Vertical Tanks.

Hopping into his custom variant of the M-7 Decider medium class VT, built by Komatsu Land Systems, our hero’s onboard computer told him that seventy seconds was required to make his VT fully operational. Worried that seventy seconds would result in the destruction of his VT by the enemy artillery, he started the warm-up sequence. About twenty seconds into the start-up process the computer told him that the platform was sustaining damage. “Estimated hull integrity at eighty percent,” the computer told him. A VT across the shelter exploded in a fury of Howitzer shells shot by the enemy. Fifty seconds into the start-up process the computer again said, “Hull integrity below Sixty percent.” Another VT reached critical damage and exploded. Unfortunately for our hero, this one exploded much closer to him that the previous one.

The explosion caused a fire to erupt in the hull of our hero’s M-7 Decider. Main power was required to bring online the internal extinguishers. The fire was rapidly eating away at the cockpit and its protective armor. The end of seventy seconds could not come soon enough he thought. Eventually the fire was extinguished, but still Oscar 3 could not breathe a sigh relief because Vehicle damage resistance was nearing forty percent. Darting out of the hangar, our hero was just in time. Thirty seconds after he exited the hangar, it collapsed in a thundering crash of flames and twisted metal. Only he and one other pilot from a rival platoon survived along with Oscar 3. A radio transmission came in from the nearest intact command establishment, “Forget about saving the base Oscar 3. Right now there are four support class VT’s armed with 370 millimeter Howitzers approximately 1800 meters east of your location firing on our VT transports and supply lines. We need you to climb the hill where they are entrenched and take them out. We are all counting on you!”

1600 meters from the hill, the officer on the radio said “The best way to destroy a support class VT is to close the distance because the Howitzers have a minimum range of 800 meters. Typically support VT’s have little defense against opponents inside of the range of their artillery cannon. When attacking the VT, you should aim for the base of the Howitzer piece, where all the ammo is stored, with luck; a direct hit should cause the ammo to explode, rendering the Howitzer useless for future engagements.”

The pilot from a rival platoon agreed to help attack the enemy support VT’s. Soaring along at 140 kilometers per hour toward the enemy-occupied hill, our hero and his fellow pilot split up. Driving on opposite sides of a hill, the other pilot encountered what he thought was a VT belonging to the Hai Shi Dao faction. The enemy locked on to the other pilot’s VT, shot a flash of blue light, and drove on.

“That was odd,” noted the other pilot, “That thing seemed too short to be a VT.” Several seconds later, the pilot got a warning of artillery being fired at him. “Impossible, they aren’t even locked on; how could they know where I am without locking on!?” “Hull integrity below eight percent,” voiced the onboard computer. Maybe there was hope for him if…..BOOM! The VT exploded in an instant due to a direct hit near the cockpit. “Ha ha,” cackled the pilot of the enemy support VT. Fortunately for our hero, the death of his companion brought about the sense that all of the Pacific Rim Forces VT’s had been destroyed, which made it relatively easy for Oscar 3 to sneak up the hill that the enemies were. “There they are,” our hero pointed out, “Time for some vengeance.”

Chapter Four

At first, our hero thought about the different ways to approach his enemies. Should he charge with guns blazing, or should he quietly pick them off one by one? He wisely chose the latter.

300 meters and closing, Oscar 3 substituted his eighty millimeter chain gun for his ALC 205 Accelerator Plasma Torch, which was a melee weapon. Use of the Plasma Torch must be carefully planned and timed to ensure that the opposing VT does not move out of the way. A mistimed Plasma strike will leave the attacking VT open for a nasty close range counter attack by the target VT. However, a direct hit with a PT, Plasma Torch, will usually result in total vehicle destruction. When activated, the Plasma Torch sends the attacking VT shooting forwards for 200 meters. Once the target is on the ground, the attacker usually is able to dispatch the opposing VT before recovery is possible. Still, concentrating fire on the base of the PRF, the pilots of the support VT’s were unaware to our hero’s presence due to the loud Howitzers that were fired. When the first enemy Vertical Tank was downed, his communication was disrupted by the electrical charge that surged through the cockpit. Before the enemies realized what happened, our hero was able to down another enemy VT through two successive shots. “Two down, one to go” our champion thought to himself. The last Artillery VT fired a volley of Mark 34 Land Area Rockets. Sidestepping, our hero was able to avoid three of the four rockets. The last one struck him in the body of his vehicle, “Hull integrity critical” remarked the computer. Sidestepping again, Oscar 3 put one shot of his Twin Rifle into the base of the artillery gun belonging to enemy. The gun exploded resulting in the VT falling over and toppling off the nearby hill. “Revenge is sweet” muttered our hero in confident way as he looked upon the charred remains of his late adversary. A transmission came in over the radio, “We have just received an order from the hierarchy of our platoon. We need you to report to the briefing room and prepare for an immediate assault of the Nan Jiang weapons testing facility.”

After shutting down and petting one of the base’s stray cats, our victor made his way to the briefing room. The instructor had just started the briefing. “Our reconnaissance activity revealed that the facility in the Nan Jiang valley is an important enemy weapons factory. Tomorrow at 2200 hours our battalion will penetrate the weapons factory with all of our VTs in an effort to gain military control over the facility. Reconnaissance has also confirmed that there is a mercenary group called Jaralaccs who are working with the normal VT guards. In some ways this mercenary group could prove to be more troublesome than our normal enemies. Be very cautions. Also, this will be your first fight at night. All of you should read the “Night Scope” section of your manual carefully. Because the facility is underground, once inside, you will be unable to receive surface scans, and supplies. You may expect to find several layers throughout the fort each one with increased security and VT presences. We move out in six hours. Try to get some shut-eye if you can, you are going to need it!”

Chapter Five

Several hours before operation began, our hero was discussing equipment with the requisitions officer. “How are we supposed to invade the weapons facility with only First Generation VT’s? How does our battalion expect to be victorious with the limited types of VT’s that we have?”

Roy, the officer replied, “Hey man, listen. I’m not allowed to tell anyone yet, but I’ve been informed by Colonel Mustang that our battalion will receive the new Prominence M-1. It is rumored to have thirty percent more battery than the ones we pilot now, as well as an Override function and Forecast Shooting Systems.”

Our hero responded, “Could you remind me what Override and Forecast Shooting System are?”

Roy answered, “Of course. Override was developed after several skilled pilots requested it. It disables the speed limiter that protects various joints from wear and tear, resulting in an increase in speed. The limiter lock is turned off when you activate the function. Reactivate it to reengage the lock and turn Override off. Battery regeneration is five time its normal rate when Override is engaged. Unfortunately, fuel consumption is also increased by ten times because of the increase of speed and battery regeneration. The Forecast Shooting System is a firing system, obviously, designed to analyze combat data and movement patterns of enemy VT’s. When F.S.S. is activated, it switches the firing mode to advanced, allowing you to automatically shoot at the location where the enemy will most likely be next. The estimation data on the enemy’s next movement is not perfect, and if the opponent is well trained then he can perform moves that the F.S.S. is incapable of estimating, so there are some opponents that the F.S.S. will not be effective on.”

“Roy, all I asked for is a brief reminder and you are ready to give me a whole run-down on the thing,” exclaimed our hero.

“Sorry about that, I got a little carried away,” grumbled Roy.

Finally 2200 hours arrived. Our hero found himself at the outskirts of the valley containing the facility. Powering up his new type VT, the Prominence M-1, and Oscar 3 wondered how sound the information about the facility actually was. Sneaking toward the alleged position of the facility, our hero was discussing how the other pilots felt about driving the new type VT. “Well,” said one of the pilots, “it looks like it came right out of a garbage compactor.” Another pilot remarked, “That’s nothing, I once piloted a VT that…….”

“Cold Start 150 Meters! We have contact with the enemy!” advised Oscar 3. “You guys take him out, I’ll go on ahead!” “We will catch you up sooner than you think!” foretold Oscar 1.

Further down the valley, our hero spotted the door to the facility. Radio transmissions were being blocked by an unknown source emanating from under the ground. “It must be buried deeper than we originally thought,” supposed our hero. Brave, but perhaps a bit foolish, he decided to enter alone, because if he waited there would be less of a chance to capture prototypes of VT’s or other equipment.

“The facility would most likely sabotage their work rather than let us get it.” assumed Oscar 3. Right after entering the passage way, our hero turned a sharp right turn leading into a large hallway. There was a door about 100 meters in front of him. Opening it, our hero relaxed for a bit because it took about thirty seconds to fully open. He started forward once again when one of the mercenary VT’s sidestepped in front of him! Expertly sidestepping again, forward this time, the mercenary shot out anti VT mines at our hero’s VT. Two of the three missed their mark. Only one of the mines hit, but our hero still fell to the ground. Knowing he couldn’t get back up lest the Jaralaccs variant C use his devastating mining drill, our hero shot three rounds of his 315 Millimeter rapid-fire rifle into the space between the leg and body, severing the leg from the rest of the VT. Once the mercenary had fallen, our hero was able to stand up and continue. “I must be much more careful if I’m to continue and win this fight.” With that, our hero descended into the unknown depths of the facility.

Chapter Six

Going down the nearest elevator, our hero wondered what waited for him throughout the seemingly bottomless facility. On the lower level, he was in long hallway leading to the other side of the facility. Walking down the corridor, Oscar 3 looked to his right and noticed a large gorge inside the facility with another passageway on the far side. Walking down the corridor, our hero was attacked by eight cannons stationed on the other side of the valley. Fortunately, the cannons were not equipped with F.S.S. he was able to avoid them by moving sideways repeatedly. Because the cannons were only moving minimally, he took little damage and dispatched five of the eight cannons before reaching the end of the hallway.

Arriving at the end of the corridor, our hero opened the door leading into the next room. This was a hallway turning right to another sharp right. There were two doors on opposite sides of the room. A radio message came in through communicator, “Oscar 3 you are in a dangerous situation, you must pull your unit out now!” ordered the voice.

“With all due respect Argus, if I leave now the enemy could very well destroy what we came here for today. I must continue to prevent them from destroyed everything important!” “Well, if you feel that way, check everywhere! They could very well hide the supposed prototype of the new class third generation VT anywhere,” complied the voice. With that, our hero ventured into the nearest room to his left. Opening it, he noticed a door on the far side of the room and walking up to it the lock on it letting it fall open. Unfortunately, the sought VT was not behind the wall.

Moving out across the gloomy hall to the other door, Oscar 3 thought to himself, “Maybe I should not have gone on alone. If I need to eject, there will be no one to save me. I could die.” He did not have much time to think because the door in front of him started to open when he was still 100 meters away from it. A Jaralaccs variant C came walking through the door.

Lurching forward with his Plasma Torch armed, our hero struck the opposing VT and it fell to the ground. Breathing a sigh a relief, our hero prepared to finish the enemy. All at once, flames engulfed Oscar 3. Dodging backwards, which let the Jaralaccs C get back to his feet, our hero rapidly worked to put out the fire. Lurching forward the enemy attempted to use his devastating melee weapon on our hero. Expertly evading the Cutter Boom, our hero put three rounds into the back of his enemy with his 315 millimeter rapid-fire rifle. Sidestepping right behind a wall, the enemy recovered himself and turned around. Once again engaging, our hero was able to avoid several shots fired by the foe but took multiple proximity grenades. Fortunately for our hero, because of the Plasma Torch strike and the three rounds to the back, the enemy was gravely weakened and was eventually dispatched.

Moving into the room, our hero thought to himself, “There was a mercenary guarding this room, so there must be something of importance here.” Moving to the far wall, our hero opened the door and held his breath. Inside there was only space. Moving out once again, our hero knew he would encounter the cannons once again, but this time he would have cover behind a wall. Using said wall, he effortlessly slaughtered the remaining three cannons.

Moving to the third and final level, Oscar 3 journeyed down the corridor. After destroying two missile turrets that attempted to ambush him, he chose right when he came to a fork in his path. Moving into another room, he noticed a door on the far side. Once he opened it, it proved worth searching for. There it was, the fabled third generation VT which boasted triple the battery power of any VT known to man. It had half again as much top speed, unique weapons, and stood tall above everything else by at least seven meters! Taking pictures of it with his onboard surveillance camera, he hacked into the fort’s databases using his capture Intel now sneaker. Backtracking, he took the left at the fork. Opening another door, and was told by the onboard computer that by the current scans, the next room was the last room in the facility and he was nearing the end!

Chapter Seven

Nearing the door, our hero checked his radar to see how far away the rest of his team was. Once the report had been given by the team leader, which was that they just entered the facility, Oscar 3 was forced to enter the final room alone. After he opened the door, he was surprised to see another reinforced door shielding the final room. Unfortunately due to the structure of the door and electronic security locks, conventional weaponry would take about two hours to breach its thick armor. Perhaps by using his plasma torch he would be able to accelerate the process by 3000 percent, which, if it worked, would open the door in minutes because the weapon would overload the electronics, weakening the door greatly. Holding his breath, he zoomed forward and struck the door. Nothing happened. Again he tried, luckily this time the door creaked and groaned. The electrical charge seemed to be working. With another blow, one of the door hinges started to break. With the third blow, the door ripped in half and slammed to the ground with a crash.

There it was.

The entire third generation VT prototype that the whole mission was about, was on the far side of the room. At the moment Oscar 3 stepped into the room, another Jaralaccs VT entered the area. This one was vastly different from the others, boasting impressive armament, and mobility. It was also very intimating. He had only heard extremely deadly rumors at that. Fighting him would not be easy, especially if the pilot was experienced. Luckily our ace had both sides of the door he had just blown open to take cover behind, while the enemy had nothing. Boom! Boom! Boom! Three successive shots were fired from the pilot from Oscar 3’s main cannon. To our ace’s great surprise, the mercenary had no trouble dodging all three shots. “This is going to be a hard fight,” remarked Oscar 3. Returning fire with his short range High Velocity Missile launcher, our hero was struck soundly in the side because he didn’t sidestep fast enough. “Hull integrity nearing sixty percent,” vocalized the computer. Sidestepping once again, our hero shot once again at his enemy, scoring several hits. Retreating back to cover, Oscar 3 switched to his Aslam Self-guided missile. Shooting a missile around the corner, the enemy did not have sufficient time to release chaff, and promptly was stuck by it. Dodging a volley of rockets, our ace found himself once again behind cover. He noticed that the foe was slowly creeping closer to Oscar3’s proximity. Scoring another hit with his guided missiles, Oscar 3 observed that the adversary’s VT was smoking slightly. Hopes rising, our daredevil sidestepped out into the open once again and fired with all his weapons! Expertly avoiding all of our protagonist’s volleys, the villain struck our hero cruelly in the side with two of his shots from his Mk Land area rockets dealing severe damage to Oscar 3. “Hull integrity at eighteen percent, caution is advised” warned the A.I. knowing now that he could not win in a fair fight, frantically, our desperado rushed forward armed with his Plasma Torch. Striking the foe with a direct hit, our hero’s joy was short lived. Not even flinching, the enemy returned the favor with a savage blow to the main body of Oscar 3’s VT. The piloted VT was ripped in half by the titanic force of the enemy’s cannon. “Hull resistance critical! Eject! Eject! Eject!” Blared the computer. Shooting out the back of the VT, Oscar 3 was scarcely able to avoid death. Reeling backwards, the VT creaked, whimpered, and toppled on its back. Flung across the room, our hero was deposited safe from the blast. The enemy however, was not safe.

Because the VT had erupted in such a fashion, the foe, who’s VT was still partly intact, burst into flames, forcing the opponent to eject. Once on foot, a brutal fight was sure to ensue. Both men, being honorable, decided to forgo the use of guns in their fight and see who was stronger! Walking towards his foe hero avoided the first blow swung by his foe and punched him firmly in the stomach. Throwing several punches, our hero was sprawled out on the floor by a rigid kick to the head. Quickly regaining his feet, Oscar 3 prepared for another go. Cart wheeling gracefully, the enemy evaded and caught the head of our overwhelmed individual in between his feet and flung him, once again, to the ground. “I’m losing, I’m going to die! This is not happening!” thought our hero. Trying to recover himself, our hero was jumped upon by his challenger. Throttling him, the enemy was nearing victory. Reaching down, our opportunist got hold of his knife hidden in his boot. Plunging it into the torso of his enemy, Oscar 3 regained his feet and the upper hand! Stumbling back, the opponent roared, pulled the knife out of himself and rushed at our hero. Slashing our hero through his arm, the opponent almost thrust the knife into Oscar 3 but stopped, lurched forward, went cross-eyed and fell back, dead.

Bandaging himself up with the first aid kit inside the smoldering remains of his once amazing VT, our champion waited for the rest of his team. Once his team arrived, he and others set off to the prototype VT on the other side of the room. Not knowing that it was booby trapped to explode if anyone was within 100 meters, the team was dismayed when the prize was on the floor, burning up. Fortunately, a tape was recovered showing a training exercise and exactly what the VT was capable of. Exiting the facility, our victor was rushed to the nearest medical base to be treated while his team went on other missions.

Several weeks later, the Oscar platoon was called into the briefing room. The briefing officer began, “Welcome gentlemen, tomorrow at 0700, our forces will begin our operation on the Xin Feng Tian plains. Our division’s mission is to destroy the VT troops that are concentrated at the center of their defensive line. Information tells us that the enemy VT troops mainly consist of the Capital Security Division with new type VTs, codenamed Regal Dress. This will not be an easy battle, but we are confident that with your elite band of men, our chances of winning this fight will be greatly increased. Good luck Gentlemen!

Chapter Eight

A day before the largest battle in VT history began, Oscar 3 was preparing himself for the biggest engagement of the war he would yet face. The battlefield would be ridden with traps, adversaries, and perils. Many of the VT pilots would not live to fight again. They were prepared for that though, because otherwise they would not have trained for years to be where they were now. Provided with the newest equipment, which had been tested and released just for this engagement, our hero was deciding how best to arrange his weaponry so that his VT would not be too heavily laden. He decided to have one larger weapon that would enable him to fight the new type VT called Regal Dress. He asked his friend Roy about the new Rail gun GA 11.

Roy replied, “Well, the Rail gun is a tricky weapon. (http://www.lineofcontact.net/loc_weapon.shtml#RAIL-Ga) It fires high velocity, electromagnetically accelerated, non-explosive rounds. Tremendous damage is achieved without the need for explosives due to the extremely high kinetic energy of the projectile at the time of impact with the target. The energy expenditure required to discharge a rail gun slug is immense, so much so that only VTs with properly configured power transfer systems are capable of mounting the weapon. During the firing cycle a distinct blue glow can be seen around the weapon from the charging propulsion coils. Experienced pilots will be able to see the charge and avoid the shot, but this weapon is relatively new so most will not know how it works.” Once he was done with that, Oscar 3 also took several smaller weapons that he would used to fight the older less agile types such as the Vitzh type and the Vortex type. He determined he was satisfied with his armaments so he went to bed. Tomorrow would be a long day.

He dreamed of conquest and victory.

Early in the morning, all personnel were ordered to attend a meeting of great importance. This meeting could be the ending to this war. The officer in charge started to speak, “Last night, terms of surrender were given to the capital city of Hai Shi Dao. This was sent in an effort to avoid unnecessary destruction of their “beautiful” city and the plains we were just about to assault. We are merely waiting for them to sign the script, and then we can all be done with this war and leave this island. That is all, dismissed!” The rest of the day was filled with volleyball on the sand and weightlifting.

In the afternoon of the next morning everyone was called once again to a meeting. The officer started to speak again, “Men this war is not over. Several hours ago, Hai Shi Dao announced that they are refusing to sign the script. Hence a full scale invasion of the city and surrounding plains is now unavoidable. Our main goal is to breach their defenses and destroy the presidential palace where their leader, Gormit Sin, resides. The only order concerning this mission is to bring an end to this war. Ready your VT’s men, we are expected to be on the outskirts of the city within two hours.”

After they were out of the hangar, the VTs were airlifted by VT transports to the outskirts of the Xin Feng Tian city. One and a half hours later, all VT’s and their pilots were ready for what would be the largest, most important battle of their lives. The VTs’ were split up throughout the plains into eighteen groups; each group contained three VT’s. The enemy was rumored to have much more. Fortunately they were older types which were much slower, had inferior weapons, and were much more fragile. Destroying them would most likely be easy, but being surprised by the newer types would be the most dangerous. But that’s why the VTs were in groups of three. Sneaking up on someone is much harder when they have two others are watching. After dispatching the advance guard that patrolled the outskirts of the city, our hero and his company moved into the plains surrounding the city. Only one of their VTs took minor damage. “We are moving into the plains to try find a way past into the capital.” informed Oscar 3. “Roger that Oscar 3, the other teams are just a few minutes behind you.” replied Argus, the officer commanding the current mission. Suddenly, two of the new type VTs came walking out of the nearby trees. “Two enemies ten o’clock!” exclaimed our hero. Immediately sidestepping to the right to avoid incoming attacks, the three VTs returned fire. The Regal Dress’s easily dodged all attacks thrown at them and moving closer, fired rounds from their 135 Millimeter Machine guns. Unable to evade most of the rounds, Oscar 2 took severe damage. Several seconds later, the VT which Oscar 2 was piloting went up in flames. He unable to put out the inferno and was forced to eject. Switching to his new Electromagnetic Launcher GA 11 in order to down these impressive VTs, Oscar 3 wondered if he would be able to defeat these powerful enemies. Firing it at the nearest enemy, Oscar 3 noticed his battery power level completely drain to empty rendering him unable to sidestep. Although he took several hits, the results were well worth it! The particle shot at the unparalleled speed of any weapon ever. Ripping entirely through the enemy, our hero could tell that terrible damage was dealt. Several seconds later, the top half of the body fell to the ground, instantly signaling that the VT was destroyed. The legs stood still for a few seconds then exploded blaze of blue heat. The other foe was still alive though. Dodging a Plasma Torch strike from Oscar 1, the opponent had nearly destroyed him. The last Regal Dress was unable to elude the Plasma Torch attack from Oscar 3 though, toppling to the ground. He was quickly exterminated. “Sir, My hull integrity is at twenty-four percent, may I withdraw?” asked Oscar 1. “I love that show!” responded our hero. “I knew I should not have said that.” gulped Oscar 1. “Let us continue a bit more before we withdraw and get repairs,” ordered Oscar 3.

Annihilating several older VTs, Oscar 1 as well as Oscar 3 were ready to depart. Lagging behind due to leg problems, Oscar 1 was pursued by anti VT helicopters. Shooting guided missiles, most of the helicopters were smashed by the eighty millimeter chain guns belonging to the Oscar team. Unfortunately there were too many. Sustaining critical damage, Oscar 1 was forced to eject from his VT. Finishing off the rest of the helicopters, our hero was surprised when his VT short circuited. He had walked right into a trap! Because his VT had no power available he would be unable to eject until he started back up. Unfortunately, a Regal Dress VT stepped out of the nearby swamps, intent on killing the poor fool who walked into the trap. Our hero knew now that nothing could save him. He would not make it back from this war alive. Unable to move, fight, or run, Oscar 3 had no choice but to try to regain power before his VT exploded. This power up sequence took too long however. As the finishing bullets hurtled toward our hero’s VT, Oscar 3 picked up a picture of his family and held it close.

Several seconds later, he was no more.

This is not the end of my story though. The rest of the VTs were able to penetrate the capital city of Xin Feng Tian and destroy the presidential palace. Gormit Sin’s personal jet attempted to take off and fly away but was quickly shot down by the pursuing VTs. On December twenty fifth, the Pacific Rim Forces identified the body of the former president, Gormit Sin. With a second intervention from the European Union, a cease-fire agreement was made between Hai Shi Dao and the Pacific Rim Forces. The new administration of Hai Shi Dao officially expressed their participation in the Pacific Rim Forces. Accepting their proposal, the PRF organization promised their cooperation in the postwar reconstruction efforts. The HSD conflict that spanned over a two-year period had finally come to an end. Even though our hero had fallen, his legacy would be remembered throughout the war that would be come to known as, The Line of Contact.