Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – Battlezone Debut

Zeta 04 is a dry, craggy barren world nearly devoid of life and holding a thin atmosphere. One of its many anomalies is the high magnetic flux in various regions, affecting not only terrain, but the equipment onboard military vehicles and in the armored suits of soldiers. For example, this squad of Farren-Sieg corporate soldiers trekking through a high-flux zone to penetrate the current combat line made by Sigma Dynamics. The info-visors inside their helmets are malfunctioning due to the magnetic storm of the area. 

The many floating boulders, crackling with electricity and obscuring vision, make them nervous despite knowing it would be impossible to be sniped, or encounter an armored vehicle or gunship. The squad of 6 soldiers are comprised of 3 riflemen, 1 designated marksman, 1 demo-expert, and 1 battlefield technician. Their mission is to penetrate enemy lines, infiltrate the enemy field base, and sabotage it, disrupting their chain of command and allowing the FSC platoons an opportunity to move forward.

The battlefield in question is currently being fought in a treacherous craggy area, full of natural tunnels and valleys. The predominant force in this skirmish is infantry, with gunships regularly patrolling the wide and open valleys, hunting for infantry that is out-of-place, or other gunships. The gunships of Sigma Energy Dynamics have been putting quite the pressure on the opposing sides, with their cutting-edge design. They were VTOLs with mechanical wings that could fold in & out between hover and jet modes. They had a crew of one pilot, one gunner, and an electronic warfare operator. 

The gunner operated the nose-mounted RFL-EMG (Rapid Fire Light Electromagnetic Gun) and deployable smart-missile tubes, while the e-warfare operator scrambled the systems of nearby vehicles. These frightening vehicles were known as Sigma's Ravens, as they were more than a match for FSC's last-generation VTOLs armed with dual-chainguns and anti-armor rockets. They were meant to be lighter and faster, but only proved to be suitable prey for Sigma's cutting edge craft.

The searchlights of a Sigma VTOL, a Hunter-series EM-MGS-75, swept past the gloomy entrance of a cave, the threatening growl of its thrusters passing by as a squad of FSC soldiers huddled within, stacked against the wall. The squad consisted of 5 members, 3 riflemen, 1 machinegunner, and 1 medic. They waited a few moments, letting the engines of the VTOL fade, before the squad leader motioned them forward. Out they came, exiting the tunnel obe after another as their visions fanned out, scanning the rocky valley. There was a tunnel directly infront of them, across the valley. This was their destination, but not the one they arrived at.

In a moment, as they were exposed in the middle of the mostly-open ground, several gunshots resounded through the air, bullets flying straight into three of the squad members. Two riflemen and the medic were shot, the medic dying instantly. The last two acted quickly, diving behind the nearest boulder they could find along with their wounded teammates. It was an ambush, an unexpected but effective tactic from Sigma Command. The gunship had an infantry squad following in its path, and when the gunship detects any signals, it alerts the squad behind it.

Meanwhile, in a different section of the battlefield, there sat an armored vehicle with a third faction's insignia on the side of the turret. The insignia was a tank turret with stars surrounding and trailing behind it, the insignia of the mercenary group Metal Shell. This vehicle was Judge-1, a next-generation mechanized armored vehicle. The angular titanium-nano composite armor had 4 independent treads connected to the primary chassis. The turret had dual SC-EMCs (Supercharged Electromagnetic Cannon) mounted on it, and a 20mm chaingun on top. The vehicle was also equipped with Anti-infantry incendiary explosive devices mounted on the edges of the hull.

It also had a cutting-edge sensor suite acquired from Sigma Energy Dynamics themselves, though this was prior to the current contract Metal Shell had accepted. This tank was completely packed with all of the next-generation equipment, and was designed to be an unstoppable force. As such, the crew of Judge-1 were fairly relaxed.

Tank driver: "Commander~ Can I please just do it? We've been waiting for hours, all for nothing."

Tank Commander: "Negative, Specialist Kira. Endure the boredom. Same for the other two E4's."

Tank Loader: "Understood sarge, I just don't wanna die in this expensive coffin without seeing it transform at least once..."

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Tank gunner: "Understood Sargent first class Tokugawa. I can endure, since I can fire the guns."

Tokugawa quietly sighed at the exhausting nature of his subordinates, but smiled at their relaxed mood even on a battlefield. The Loader, Dino, tried to stretch as much as he could in the confined space while groaning in frustration, and the Gunner, Tyrant, or Ty as his friends call him, simply smiled cheekily at Dino, his long time friend. The Thykion reactor of the tank hummed quietly in the back of the tank as it charged the high-capacity capacitors.

Then the mood turned serious in the blink of an eye as Tokugawa barked out orders to the tank crew.

SFC E7 Tokugawa: "Hostile Raven inbound at 10, approaching at 25 km/h. Elevation 200, activate Mechanized Legs to adjust angle. Load Solid Shell Sabot."

As his orders reached the crew, they were done in a matter of seconds. The turret turned to aim at the expected angle with a whir, as the front two treads unfolded forwards partially. This angled the vehicle about 20° upwards to increase the firing arc of the cannon barrel. At the same time, a Solid Tungsten Shell was loaded into the left gun barrel, then the right barrel was loaded as well.

The sensor suite in the tank was equipped with an electronic warfare package, granting it the capability to become effectively invisible to hostile sensors. And so, without a clue in the world, one of Sigma's Ravens slowly appeared in the canyon, humming along without detecting the armored vehicle poised to strike.

SFC E7 Tokugawa: "Fire."

The left cannon of the tank began to buzz with energy, a loud humming emanating from the vehicle as the capacitors energized the rails within the cannon barrel. The crew of the Raven began to pick up an unusual energy signature, and began to try searching for the cause, but it was too late. BOOM! Crackle... The air cracked with lightning, as the hyperaccelerated projectile ripped straight through the gunship, tearing a hole through it before it detonated violently in a red & blue fireball.

The vehicle returned to it's standby formation and began to move on to its next position. The crew of Judge-1 returned to their normal mood after confirming the area was clear of hostiles, the grinding growl of the treads and engine was only masked by the crackling, burning wreckage of the gunship it left behind.

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