Assault on Air(1)

In the sky, five massive airships from and a few smaller airships from the Republic's Liberation Air Fleets fought off against the Machine Empire's aircraft. They were able to put down a few of them but the Machines shot a lot more with their superiority weapons. 

"One minute!" The announcement came over the worn headsets of the gathered soldiers. Each soldier carried a variety of combat gear.

Right now, a platoon of soldiers were inside of one of the many D-30s. Another prewar vehicle Caitlyn remade, a large advance Vtol equipped with tilt jet propulsion system enabling it to fly in both planetary and space environment. It has a speed of 8000km/h and top speed of 100,000km/h, rate of climb 5000ft/minute, performance range of 2000km and combat range of 900km. 

These transporters belong to the newest design using experience gained in the war during the a thousand years before. The main different is the carry capacity, D-30 is troops transport capable of carrying ten Tanks with the additional of 100 fully equipped soldiers. 

Both are capable of limited fire support with 1 SWARM (Smart Weaponry Assault and Replicate Missiles) pod and 2 three-barrel rotary 20mm, they also fitted with a deployment shield for a more effective deployment in the heat of the battle.

The interior of the aircraft was lit up with a green glow while the tail end of the cargo hatch had swung open, exposing the inky darkness of the night. The temperature drastically plunged when the hatch was opened and the cargo master shivered.

"30 seconds!" The cargo master yelled. "Get ready to jump to your deaths!"

Standing at the edge of the cargo hatch, a Legionarie Commander, who has a red armor unlike his troops looked down at the ground where several tiny pricks of light could barely be seen from their height. He turned to his team who had formed up in a row and waited for the order from the piloted AIs controlling the aircraft.

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"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" The countdown switched the red jump lights to green and the Commander waved his hand forward, and his troops didn't hesitant to jump one by one. "JUMP JUMP JUMP!"

One by one the rest ran out, with a team called Vanguar-1 leading the jump, followed by Vanguard-2 to 25. 

One hundred bodies pierced through the air, reaching terminal velocity, and the only way to spot each other was from the weak glow of of their armor. 

The Legionnaires Commander looked back to the ground, the flashes of explosions highlighting the air and its surroundings. Their targets lit up briefly under the barrage of explosions, the massive airship looking like a tiny egg from the height he was at.

The egg grew larger and larger as his altitude dropped lower and lower until his meter started beeping. He activate the propulsion on his back, slowing his speed down.

The size of the airship grew larger and larger until it covered the Commander entire view. He kept his knees slightly bent and seconds later he landed running on a section of the top deck without incident. Quickly, he tossed out an infra beacon, to further mark the landing zone for the rest of his team that was still falling down.

"Vanguard-1 all here?" He did a comms check with his team who started replying.

[Affirmative.] A soldier alongside many others said in unison.

"Good, everyone formed up at my position!"

Following the instructions given and their memorization of the footage of the top section of the Republican's Flagship, they made their way towards hin. In the background, a thump of explosions continued on as more and more troops landed on the deck of the unsuspecting Flagship. Yet not all managed to land safely on the target. Some missed the airship totally and landed in the forest while others misjudged their landing on the cluttered deck, and injured themselves.

They now with only 83 abled men and six injured, formed up before heading towards the suspected entry hatches that were identified by Intel. The wounded were given recovering magic by medics before they hobbed along. The Legionnaire Commander that leads an entire team headed towards a suspected observation hatch. They managed to find the hatch but it was locked with magical runes embedded on jt.

"Breach it!" He ordered and one of the soldiers started removing a breaching charge from his dimensional storage. He slapped the charge down against the hatch before tearing the friction tab off the breaching charge and igniting the fuze.

"Fire in the hole!" He yelled and he rolled into cover with the rest. A thumping crack and the magic that was cast on it just vanished followed by a tremble of the decks signaled the breaching charge had ignited. "Go!" .

The men bounced out from cover and rushed towards the destroyed hatch. They peered into the hole and found a dimly lit tunnel leading down into the airship with a ladder. 

When the Commander landed at the bottom of the ladder, he quickly drew his pistol-like weapon out and checked both sides of the corridor ensuring the way was clear. "Area clear! Go!" He ordered the rest down before he contacted the rest of his team. "All Stations, Vanguard-1 has secured a beachhead over."

"Roger!"

Just as they began to move, a couple of crew members of the airship dressed in white jackets appeared around the corner of the corridor. For a moment both sides stared in surprise at each other, before a fury of suppressed pops knocked both Republican crewmen down.

"Shit," One of the soldiers hissed. If the enemy don't know anything is wrong, now they do.

"Hold the breach!" The commander ordered. "The rest of the teams are coming!"

"Grab the bodies, go!"

Two soldiers ran forward and checked their corners before dragging the bodies out of sight. Finally, the other members of the assault team came sliding down the ladder and the commander met up with the team leaders. "Is that all of you?"

They all nodded. "The rest found another way in."

He nodded back, their communications were cut off when they entered the airship, as if there were magic jammers around, "Alright! Then each team picks one way! We need to move fast, soon, someone will be looking for the missing crew!"

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The Republican Fleet Captain of the Flagship was frowning at the scenery outside the crystal windows. He clenched his teeth in anger at the invaders, no, the Metal Demons he had heard that subjugated the entire Eastern Region in a matter of months, which is by far impossible and makes no sense on how they were in the republic territory without getting informed. 

With his first battle against them, he realized that they had weapons that were beyond their own from the way they were bombing his fleets and ignoring their magic, while his troops could only suffer.

The sense of unease in his heart grew stronger as he stared out into the night, making him wonder if he should surrender or retreat now.

But...

Choosing either of those options might make him a coward, they have like fifty Airships left in this battle out of eighty for the past hour.

"Damnation to these invaders!" He cursed as he felt trapped. He left his stateroom and headed towards the bridge. "We should retaliate!"

He grabbed an object out of his pocket and put out a magical communication device to contact other fleet captains.

"This is a captain of the Yulhi flagship, focused on firing on all of the enemy airships!" The Republican fleet captain ordered loudly.

[Roger that. Stand by Captain-... What the?! We're under attack!]

"What's going on there?! What's your status!"

[They're here! Oh by the gods! How did they-... Oh no! They made it here! We can't hold them up! There's too many of them! SHI-.....]

Then it went silent as the fleet captain put down the communication magic device on the desk. All of a sudden an explosive sounded as the ship had been invaded. 

"What's going on!" He and his commanders all looked around as they all felt a quiver beneath their feet.

"Captain, we... seemed to have been boarded!"

 The Captain's expression changed several times from shock to anger. 

"What!?" The commanders and even the Captain were surprised by the news. "How did the invaders enter the flagship?" A commander roared. "What are the escorts doing? Are they all sleeping?"

He slammed his fist on the table and growled. "This is a disgrace to our great nation! How dare they step onboard our sacred ship!?"

"FIND THEM AND TAKE THEM ALL OUT NOW!" The captain roared.