THE GRATTAN
CAMPAIGN
PART 12- BLOOD OF ICE
This page continues the chronological log of our Second Votoms Campaign.
7212.11.02- MOUNT TAGREN, GRATTAN
The Stray Dogs have been through hell and back... Still leashed to
Lieutenant Fugue, they have now reunited with the Grattan Military
forces after a bold rescue by Major Perdas Grane and his armored war
train. Now it is time to repay the favor... Mick
Wansboro, Maxim Hiflen, and Burt Buton must go on a dangerous
mission ordered by Major Grane, that could get them inside the
heavily defended Tagren Mountain Base. The base is now
controlled and inhabited by DEFCOM- a defense computer gone berserk
with the power to take control of unprotected ATs!
Mick and Burt use their lighter, fast ATs to bait DEFCOM controlled
Scopedogs into range, where Maxim can activate a stunning device
they got from Grane. The device is short ranged and only has
one charge, so they have to make it count.
Mick gets their attention with a blast from his Solid Shooter, and
Burt baits the two Scopedogs into range of Maxim's waiting Tortoise.
Once stunned, Mick hacks into the cockpits of the two
Scopedogs. They won't stay stunned for long... Maxim
pulls Mick's Octova AT out of sight. Burt finds the rotting
carcass of a dead pilot still inside one of the Scopedogs! In
his disgust, he neglects to hide his Purple Bear AT before he and
Mick have to scramble inside the Scopedogs.
Once hidden inside the enemy Scopedog ATs, they reactivate all too
soon, and DEFCOM's programming takes over, spotting and destroying
the Purple Bear threat! The two pilots can do nothing but
watch in horror, hoping that they did a good job of disabling the
internal sensors of the ATs they are now trapped inside.
Thankfully, the two Scopedogs don't seem to notice their new
passengers hidden inside, and return to Tagren Base to refuel and
reload.
Inside is a massive hangar filled with dozens of captured ATs that
DEFCOM can control for its own purposes. A Repair AT begins
maintenance work on Burt and Mick's ATs. Will they ever be
able to get out without being noticed?
Finally the repair AT completes its work, and Mick sneaks out, along
with his pet Kizzard. But Burt stumbles noisily out of his
cockpit, and the repair AT turns to investigate! The
Kizzard dashes across the hangar and into some barrels, distracting
the repair AT long enough for Burt to get to cover unnoticed.
Mick has no trouble hacking open a door that leads deeper into the
base, and the two pilots and their pet proceed into the
darkness. Apparently DEFCOM doesn't bother wasting power on
lighting, as the base is completely unmanned apart from the ATs and
machinery it can directly control. The three
infiltrators follow power cables snaking down the corridors, hoping
they will lead them to the Main Transmitter Antenna, the destruction
of which is their mission and possibly the best way to cut DEFCOM
off from its emotionless AT minions...
Meanwhile, Perdas Grane orchestrates and deploys his attack force
from the railway that passes close to Tagren Base. Two Astrad
Heavy Tanks deploy from the flatbed car of the war train...
...and are joined by Maxim Hiflen's Rising Tortoise. These heavy
units will form the initial attack force. By attacking Tagren
Base from the outside, they hope to buy the infiltrators more time
to shut down DEFCOMs control transmitter from the inside.
As the attack force approaches Tagren Base, the scale of their task
is staggering. Massive defense towers and dozens of Sliding
Beetle ATs protect the massive fortification!
Maxim leads the attack, opening fire on the Sliding Beetle ATs under
DEFCOM control. The heavy ATs are tough, but not impervious to
Maxim's Triple Solid Shooter fire.
One of the Astrad tanks, under the command or Rotweil, charges
boldly towards the tower, taking some damage from the defending ATs.
By backing up into the tower's blind spot, the Astrad tank is
protected from the static turrets while it engages the enemy ATs
with its massive guns.
The other Astrad, commanded by Lieutenant Fugue, backs into one AT
while blasting at another.
But DEFCOM doesn't fear death, and the pinned Beetle AT fires its
Rocket Gun at point blank range, destroying itself and the Astrad
tank! Lieutenant Fugue abandons his stricken tank just in
time, much to the relief of Maxim. Lt. Fugue is a
Leash Controller, which means the men under his command must keep
him alive or they will automatically be punished by the Leash
mechanism installed in each one of them. Since that includes
Mick, Burt, Rotweil and Maxim, it is critical that they do what they
can to keep the Lieutenant alive!
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