Ironclad

Burning Valley

As the tanks rolled across the scorched earth, crunching the burnt wood and bushes into ash and charcoal, River was watching the view screens closely for anything out of the ordinary. She was on high alert. They had a whole ship hidden, anything could be out here and ready to pounce on their convoy.

The Enforcers and Badgers took the lead as planned, scouting out ahead of the slower Legionnaires and making sure everything was safe. Vision however was less than optimal. The entire forest had been turned into a burning maze. Fires were raging all around them and the smoke had made it impossible to see anything for more than a few meters. But the constant embers and flames that licked at the sides of their vehicles certainly made it toasty inside. Thankfully they had bee designed with working in the vacuum of space, and were completely airtight and could recycle the air for extended amounts of time. All they had to do was turn up the air conditioning a little. 

Briggs was sitting just to the left of River on a smaller station, monitoring and communicating with the other tanks in the convoy

"Badger 9, you're veering too far from formation, bring it back in line. Enforcer 2, bring your air filters online before you suffocate"

River watched him for a moment, before bringing up her own screen. It was a direct satellite image from the Everest up in orbit so she could more effectively coordinate the force she had. However it was very difficult to tell what was where due to the smoke and fire. But she could finally see just how big the crater caused by the orbital strike was. It looked to be two hundred meters in diameter and was covered in fire and smoke.
She cracked her knuckles and exhaled, before she scanned the area for anything else. 

"No sign of the ship that we shot. That's concerning, unless it got completely obliterated. But even then we would see pieces of it around. I think it got away somehow"
She said, scanning across the land.

Briggs looked to her and nodded slightly "Even if it did, I'm sure that plasma weapon isn't functional ma'am"

"Yes, most likely not. If it shows up, a sustained barrage from the Legionnaires should be able to bring it down in its damaged state"

Briggs nodded and turned back to his screens, and things were quiet for a few minutes, before he spoke up again

"Ma'am. Badger 1 just reported that the only way towards the enemy compound is through a valley. It may be a trap"

River looked to Briggs, then brought up the satellite images. She looked closely and thought about her next move. It didn't look like there were any major fortifications on the mountains. But it would take half a day to go around the whole mountain range.

River juggled options in her head before she sat back "Push on through. We don't have the time to go around. I want the Legionnaires to spread out through the convoy so they can't trap all our heavy armour in one place if it is a trap."

And the convoy obeyed, rearranging themselves to what she desired, and began to roll down through the valley.

River's Legionnaire was in the middle of the line, keeping an eye on things up front.

But back onboard the Pellet, Dasyil was still overseeing repairs. He was awaiting news on if the Pellet would be operational in time, and decided to clear his mind in the observation deck. 
It was normally closed and sealed off during battle due to all of the glass, but provided an ample view of everything around the machine.

Placed on top of the Pellet, just behind one of the large gun batteries, it was a circular room made of reinforced glass. Some of the panes had been broken and the floor was littered with shards of glass that crunched under Dasyil's boots.
He looked out at the burning forest and took a deep breath, the smell of fire and smoke filling his nostrils, and a smell he was all too familiar with. 
He could hear the crackling and snapping of the wood, and he allowed himself to drift into memories of his days as a soldier. 

He remembered charging through the burning rubble of a small village on Europa, seeing innocents caught in crossfire and unnecessary collateral damage. Despite being a high ranking officer, Dasyil himself detested fighting. All he wanted to do was settle down and start his own family, but the fifty years of fighting across the solar system had stopped him and many others who just wanted the same thing. 

Worried that his career had made him a bitter, tired old man. He looked up at the orange smoke covered sky and prayed. He wasn't a religious man by any notion, but he felt that if there was some higher being, the least he could do for the bloodshed he had only added to was apologise. 

He would stand there and pray for a few minutes, and then it dawned upon him that he didn't know what he would do after this operation was complete. The Pro-Independence forces would be finished after this. 

He exhaled and chuckled to himself, scratching the back of his head as he pondered on what he would do next. 

He turned and walked to the elevator to go back down to the main decks "Not as young as I thought I was" he mumbled to himself.