HELLDIVERS:The Chance Meeting

Hell's Creek

It wasn't long before Caleb and the others were back on foot with Farkas and his Helldiver platoon, taking heavy fire from Automaton units spread out across Malevelon. He and Anastasia took cover as Lieutenant Kraus called in an artillery barrage from an overhead Paris-class Heavy Frigate. The 5cm cannons started laying into the enemy-owned hilltop ahead of them, poking out from the sprawling jungle. Craters formed under explosive barrages, while the enemy's own cannons tried to return fire, only to be blunted by the shields.

The gun-shaped black warship overhead continued firing her cannons. Her name was marked on her side, the UNSC Speak Softly did as her namesake slogan, her guns firing away despite being the smallest of the suite of weapons available to the decently-sized warship, but she maintained a certain level of temperance, compared to the ship she and three other sisters of hers had been assigned to escort.

It was rather relaxing, honestly. Ignoring the mortar fire, Robot chatter and the likes, the group could watch an entire warship laying waste to their enemies while they kept their eyes peeled for further hostile units. The explosive rounds from the Paris-class Frigate's cannons made very short work of the enemy hilltop defenses, turning the entire hill in itself into a lunar surface.

Ana sighed deeply as she and Caleb stood to their feet, checking their gear. She spoke to them, "We're nearing our Evac sight. Think we're still being chased by that platoon of Berserkers...?" only to look back and watch in the distance the horde of what looked like devils with chainsaws for arms running through the jungle. She winced, then whispered, "Yeah, we are..."

"Let's get moving..." Farkas ordered as he primed a 500 kilogram bomb strike and threw it to intercept the enemy bot unit. The creatures seemed to notice the Beacon, hear the scream of the Jet Engine and watch the bomb land between them, their confusion exacerbated by the fact they were staring at basically the biggest available payload to Super Earth. Thank the Maker the 'Bots were stupid some times, Ana thought as the bomb went off, shaking the very ground beneath their feet.

"What're we even doing this far forward?" Ana asked Farkas as they walked.

"Covering the retreat of a SEAF Infantry Division," Farkas replied, causing the others to pause. He told them, "The Automatons didn't just hit you UNSC folks hard, the SEAF standard military is having a rough time all over the place, what with Automaton reinforcements and outposts appearing all over the place..." as he watched an Automaton Dropship up ahead get shot out of the sky by the UNSC's newest-deployed units:Sun Devil quad-mount anti-air tanks.

Ana watched the tracers lighting up the night sky from the FOB that was currently being used to evacuate the wounded of that specific sector. They were still on the backfoot, despite seeming redeployments across the front lines. The ODST Regiment currently engaged in operations in and around Malevelon had been reporting ever-increasing rear-guard Automaton patrols, meaning the bastards were wisening up to their deployment of shock troops into their rears.

Add to that the Automatons slowly realizing that they were facing two enemies, one whose armed forces were, at minimum, as well-trained as these Helldivers supposedly were and the other being their old enemy and the fighting on Malevelon had gotten terrifyingly fierce, unlike many other planets around the sector and its surroundings. Draupnir, as an example, was facing at most a token force of Automatons.

They would probably focus on those other planets later down the line, she thought to herself as they marched forward, only to pause as Caleb approached and offered her his canteen. She nodded, realizing she'd been licking her lips for a bit, before thanking him quietly, taking the canteen and taking a quick swig of water. Then another. She needed to stay hydrated, she thought. She offered a king smile to the man and handed him the bottle.