A mission gone wrong

The transport carrier lumbers its way over the expanse of farm districts and light industrial until housing districts can be seen rising like a wall above the landscape. The distant ring can be seen curving out of sight into the blue atmosphere contained by the bio-controllers.

Alex knew the wall of housing was a hot point of contention when Trihand first moved into the sector. As he understood it, it was converted to a fortress that took thousands of lives to take. He shivered as he thought of it, merely acceptable losses to his superiors. Thankfully the tall buildings passed quietly as the ship moved onwards into the expanse of civilian districts beyond. For another 3 hours the ship moved forward, passing over miles and miles of housing. A yellow light filled the hangar bay, notifying the troops of their passing of the "safe zone".

Now in disputed territory Alex shifts nervously as he thinks of Olivia's words earlier. "Hey commander is there really no Intel?" He questions hopefully.

"None that you want to hear gunner, just when we drop keep those weapons primed." Her voice has a slight air of detachment, maybe it's just a routine sortie. At least Alex hopes thats what her disinterest means.

The light in the hangar turns a dull red as Alex feels the ship slowing. The mech stands on its two legs, the panels of data begin to light up with information about the area below. A warehouse district, holding tech components. The mech steps towards the bay doors on the side.of the ship, open to the outside.

A view of some low storage tanks takes Alex's attention just as the mech steps out of the airship. The sickening drop takes him by surprise but suddenly stops as the hulk of metal crushes into an open area meant for flying shipments coming in.

"Eyes and sensors up Gunner!" Olivia barks at him. Their mech moves into the tight quarters between the storage buildings, it's 16 foot form coming up to the middle of the huge cargo doors that are spaced evenly along the long rows of buildings. Thuds that shake the ground echo behind them as mech after mech drops from the ship.

Alex scans the areas ahead, devoid of lifesigns he relaxes in the mech. Maybe their presence alone is enough to push the resistance out of this area. He is about to ask Olivia why they're here if there's no one to stop them as the first of the hidden explosive devices trigger. The lead company of scout mechs were strung out between two long warehouses that both were suddenly just not there as high explosives erupted with a deafening report.

As if in slow motion Alex watched as the shockwave struck mech after mech, rending their armor like paper and sending the 3.5 ton machines flying into the sky. His instincts acted faster than his thoughts as he saw his mechs gun laden arms move in front of them to shield from the blast.

He couldn't remember the blast hitting them, nor the jolt of **** from it. Only a few moments later he felt the uncanny sensation of falling, down and down. A speck of grey skylight peeking down from above. And that's all he felt until a sudden stop that blacked out his vision and memory entirely.