Ironclad

Ground Zero

Alarms were blaring as technicians and operators scrambled across the Pellet in order to fix damage caused by the explosion and the bombers above, which had been knocked out of the sky by the immense shockwave of the orbital bombardment. 
Dasyil was left dazed by the event as he collected himself and looked around, seeing that they had been damaged by the blast.

He sat up and held the back of his head for a moment, before looking to River "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned for her.

River didn't seem fazed at all by the ordeal as she stood tall with her arms folded, he looked over to Dasyil and nodded "Yeah. I'm alright. Not my first close proximity strike" she said calmly.

Both impressed and slightly scared of her toughness, Dasyil turned his attention to the crew "Damage report?" he called out.

He watched as the technicians got the data, and displayed it on screen.
It was pretty bad, the rear right leg had been severed by the stray shot of their plasma weapon, and multiple guns and cannons had been completely sheared off by the shockwave. They had lost half of their arsenal already. 
Frustrated, Dasyil pressed his palm to his cheek as he sat back and thought of the options. He drummed his free hand on the arm of the chair, and he could feel River's gaze on the back of his head.
He exhaled.
"What's the magnetic cannon looking like? Do we still have that at least?" he asked.
Unsure of the answer, the technician got to finding out.

"Well, we still have our tanks and troops. We could advance normally if the Pellet is no longer operational" said River, she looked over to the still closed blast shields covering their view of the outside.
Dasyil nodded "We could, but we need to see if we can get the Pellet walking again before we decide anything else. This is our most fortified position, even if it's dead in the water..."

The technician turned back and nodded "Alright sir, the magnetic cannon is functional, although we can only operate it at half of its normal effectiveness."

Dasyil nodded and sighed "Better than nothing. What about getting us walking again? Have we got people on that?"

"Yes sir"

He nodded, pleased with that. But his attention was brought over to the windows as he heard the blast shields begin to lower. As they did, the extent of damage the orbital strike caused was revealed.
Dust had been kicked up and the entire area looked like it was in the middle of a dust storm. Fires raged across the trees, both fallen and still standing. 
The ground had been scorched and nearly turned to molten slag, and a mushroom cloud was rising up into the atmosphere where the shell actually impacted. Although there was no sign of the enemy ship, which had Dasyil worried.

River looked out and then frowned "Well, this place will be toasty for a while" she said, then looked to Dasyil "What's the plan then commander. The longer we stay here the more likely they are to attack, we can evacuate the crew and move with the tanks. We'll be quicker, more agile and harder to pinpoint."

Dasyil was contemplating things, then he looked up to her "Well. We can't leave the Pellet. It's too valuable.. Leave a skeleton crew, and take who you need with you. I'll stay here and give orders. And if we can get it working again we'll be able to support you"

River raised an eyebrow "You think you'll be able to catch up with me?" she said, then pulled her large machine gun off of her back "I'll be impressed" she said as she walked out of the ops center, and Dasyil could swear she swayed her hips. Either way, he didn't have time to think about it, as he looked up and sat back in his chair "Alright. I want everyone capable on repair duties.

But he couldn't seem to get River off of his mind.

River however was quick to gather a large fighting force to disembark with. Many of the tanks were manned and she had an even spread of Enforcers, Badgers and Legionnaires.  The plan was to have the Enforcers and Badgers lead at the front and have the heavy weapons of the Legionnaires protect them from the rear. It wasn't the ideal strategy for the situation but River had to work with what she had. 
She looked on from a vantage point in the hangar as the crane lowered the tanks to the floor one by one and watched as they rolled down the huge open ramp onto the glassed ground.

They gathered together in their formations and awaited orders, but River wanted everyone to be ready and out of the Pellet before giving out any more orders.
She watched closely as the soldiers waited in lines to be given a tank. Much like a line at a rollercoaster, they would wait for their seat to roll forward and climb in, and the people behind them would step forward and repeat.

She was brought out of her thoughts when a man of wider stature approached her. She noted that his already dark skin was covered with oil and dust. He must have been helping engineers repair things. He saluted her and stood straight "General, I'm Major Briggs, we talked on the Olympus briefly. I'm usually responsible for the permanent soldiers stationed onboard, so if it's alright with you, I'd like to be involved in any way I can. The men and women here are my family" he said, passion in his voice and determination in his eyes.

River admired that, she nodded "Alright then. You'll be with me in a Legionnaire. I'll need you to be my voice when we move out"

Briggs nodded and looked over to the soldiers, he knew exactly who was part of the Olympus' crew and who wasn't. It was important to him to know his soldiers. River respected an officer who treated those under him with respect and fairness, and even equality.

But there wasn't time to let her thoughts wander, she looked on as the last soldiers rolled out of the Pellet, and her Legionnaire was lowered to the ground by the crane. The crew that would be working with her climbed in and she and Briggs made their way down and to climb aboard.

The Legionnaire was a behemoth of a tank, with four independently moving treads with their own suspension, the Legionnaire could easily dominate any terrain. 
It's double barrelled mini-magnetic cannon was on a base capable of three hundred and sixty degree motion. And it's machine guns were just as mobile. However its experimental plasma cannon could only face forward, and such the entire tank had to face towards the target in order to use it.

As she climbed in, she took a seat in the roomy cabin and looked at the driver and other crew members. Briggs sat just across from her on a computer screen and looked on at the screen which displayed the view of a camera on the outside. They began to roll off the back of the Pellet and began to drive forward in formation towards the enemy base which was a few miles ahead of them. 

Dasyil watched the tanks vanish into the smoke and dust as he sat in thought, although he was concerned for the battle ahead, he couldn't get that red hair out of his mind.