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When it was all said and done, the Tumbler Pin had to be the most ridiculous award in the PAC Army’s inventory, even if it was made specifically for us Titan-Jumpers, squads dedicated to Titan assaults. The handful of soldiers who had earned the award were in no condition to keep fighting. Three had died from their wounds shortly after the award was presented to them and six others were discharged because they could no longer serve the PAC Army in active duty. I wanted to serve my country and didn’t really consider it a goal to gather the useless ornamentation for a uniform that I rarely wore. Anything that didn’t have full body armor and equipment harnesses wasn’t worth its weight, especially on the battlefield.
“Gamma Squad, move out! That Titan’s core is open and waiting for our arrival,” said our squad leader, Gamma 1 for this mission, but we just call him “Boss”. We all boarded the air transport and took our assigned positions just as it took off from our Titan deck and passed through the energy shield. “You know the drill! Pod onto the roof and enter through the Starboard vent port. The other squads knocked the door down, now we just need to mop up.” He said it like we were just going to walk in there, plant our explosives and bid farewell, but we all knew what we were in for.
The war was entering its prime; both sides were throwing everything at each other and new tactics had been formed. Everyone knew how the Titan became the epitome of modern warfare, but they didn’t realize how soon war would arrive. The European Union had become complacent; they had completed construction and distribution of their latest defense technology: the Anti-Titan Missile Silo. These stations were fully automated and could deliver multiple warheads on any Titan within range. They carried a specialized payload that would unleash a focused EM-pulse that played havoc with Titan shields and significantly damaged Titan Core Integrity. With these silos deployed to every strategic location near their borders with the Pan Asian Coalition, the EU could move their Titans to the Mediterranean where they expected the majority of fighting to take place. Strange to think that the EU didn’t learn from the mistakes of the Maginot Line in World War II.
The Pan Asian Coalition concentrated their efforts on espionage and infiltration of the new missile defense grid. The EU was right in thinking that Titans couldn’t attack those locations defended by the silos, but they weren’t invulnerable. Research had indicated that the silos had backup protocols that would prevent anyone from turning the silos against their masters, but that lead to a more permanent solution. A computer virus was created that would take care of the defense grid for us; a little too well. The virus would cause the silos to lose all of their war book classifications on friendly and enemy units, their initial targeting parameters and finally their uplink with EU Command. There would be no way for the EU to recalibrate all of the silos without extensive work; certainly in the timeframe we were giving them. Since all of the silos were linked together, the virus jumped from one silo to the rest in a matter of hours. The EU didn’t even know what hit them.
“Hang on back there! They still have an operational AA gun so this will get a bit dicey,” the pilot yelled over the radio. We were 500 meters from the enemy Titan and making our final equipment check. Boss told us to pack for short range combat so that was the ammo I packed; Lambert carbines, Voss Assault Rifles and Gamma 4’s Sudnik and Malkov would all need extra ammo when things got hot. My own Shuko would go through ammo faster than anyone else’s, but I had enough inventory in my ammo hub as long as the fight didn’t last longer than 4 hours. At this rate, it would be over in as many minutes. I have heard that the Clark Shotgun was better for Titan assaults, but I haven’t been certified for it yet. It didn’t matter; I had a few other things to throw at the EU troops waiting for us.
It was amazing how quickly this all turned into a routine. Shortly after the EU missile defense grid was hacked, Operation Rolling Thunder was initiated. Several PAC regiments crossed the EU border to establish dagger points that could strike the European strongholds. The first battles heavily favored the PAC army as the EU scrambled their remaining defenses to turn back our advance. The few EU Titans left in the area made a bold stand against us, but they weren’t expecting the next part of our plan. While the missile defense silos were dormant from the computer virus, they were still operational. Our personal combat computers were uploaded with a hijacker program that would uplink with the silo’s wireless data links when we got in range. We couldn’t put in any permanent code since the virus was still active, but we could give it temporary combat commands that would attack any Titan we selected. There is a standing joke among the PAC Army about the look the EU Titan Commander’s face when he saw his own missiles impacting on his hull.
After the first battles, the EU quickly adapted our hijacker program from captured equipment and research. Titan Missile Silos became the beacons of modern warfare. The stage was set for the Titan battles we fight today; each side racing to get control of nearby silos to bring down the enemy’s shields. Once the shields fell, squads would board the Titan and systematically take down their systems one by one until the core could be destroyed. That was our job right now.
“Alright, that Doragon is distracting the AA, so get ready to pod out.” Our pilot brought the transport around until we were directly over the enemy Titan. Boss gave me the signal to pod, so I left my seat and entered the hatch in the center of our transport. As the hatch sealed behind me, I grabbed the two hand-holds in front of me as each of the walls of the small compartment closed in on me. Just as they sealed together, it felt like the floor dropped out below me. My squad mates hated pod drops, but I liked them a lot better than freefall. The rocket pack on the bottom of the pod would slow me down just enough to prevent that freefall sickness and would allow me to land on the Titan below.
As soon as the pod touched down, it cracked open like an egg while I tried to get my bearings. I scanned the area and gave the all-clear signal just as the rest of my squad landed around me. “Form up! Gamma 2 has point! Gamma 6 has the rear!” Boss barked orders while we headed down into the Titan. I was the last to go into the vent, but I knew from the chatter that there was no opposition in the vent itself. The EU had hit upon the tactic of placing squads on the Titan roofs and vents these days so I was glad we didn’t have to fight our way in.
Once we reached the cargo bay, I saw the reason nobody was in the vents or on the roof; the remaining EU troops had holed up in the Core room laying down suppressive fire against the attackers. The other PAC squads were successful in destroying the 4 consoles protecting the Core, but planting the explosives on the Core itself would be rough. What was left of Beta and Delta squads were scattered about the Cargo Bay trying to punch through; there was no sign of Alpha squad.
“You know what to do, prep for advance!” We took up positions near the main cargo ramps as Boss took aim with his Voss to find the distance of the Core window section. Gamma 2, 3, and 4 would toss grenades into the core on the right side while Gamma 5 and I laid down suppressive fire. “Now!” yelled Boss as he himself fired his PK rockets into the left side of the core room. As the last of the grenades rolled into the core room, Boss ordered us in. Gamma 4 deactivated two APMs while I immediately threw down my ammo hub in a good location and I made my way to the back of the core room. I placed a sentry gun in the back doorway where enemy reinforcements would soon come from.
“Gamma 2 and 3, set explosives! 4 and 5 guard the front! 6 and I will hold the back!” Boss was following standard procedure when it came to Core attacks, we could only hope the enemy didn’t have any surprises. The floor lurched beneath me as another Anti-Titan Missile hit the hull; my combat computer confirmed that the core integrity was down to 50%, we only needed to finish the job. My sentry gun gave an affirmative beep and started tracking incoming targets, enemy troops were approaching. Boss didn’t miss a beat, he tossed a smoke grenade into the rear hallway to slow them down, the sentry gun started firing at the nearest target, unaffected by the smoke. I leaned against the left wall and Boss was against the right; we would catch anyone coming through the doorway in a crossfire. That’s when I heard the hiss of a grenade bounce off of the sentry gun’s frame. I dived out of the way as the explosion tore apart the sentry gun and an enemy soldier ran through the doorway.
Boss dropped the EU soldier with sustained fire and then switched over to his PK rockets to fire just past the doorway. The angle was precise because each of the rockets exploded on the other side of the wall from my position. Gamma 3 shouted that they were almost set with the explosives right when another enemy soldier came through the doorway. Boss couldn’t switch his rifle back to auto fire in time so he pulled out his pistol while falling back. The bullets weren’t strong enough to punch through full body armor and the EU soldier took aim for a kill shot. I levered my Shuko and pulled the trigger, raining bullets into the soldier’s back. He fell forward on top of Boss, who promptly threw him off and stood up. He gave me a nod of approval just as Gamma 3 declared that the explosives were primed.
“All squads evacuate Titan!” yelled Boss over the primary radio link. Once we reached the cargo bay, Gamma 3 and 4 pulled the trigger to detonate the explosives attached to the core reactor. The shockwave knocked me down as the floor started tilting upward in front of me. Boss picked me up and we ran for the exit as systems started shorting out all around us. With the Core containment field down, it was quickly overloading with catastrophic effects. Everyone, EU and PAC alike, abandoned any attempt at combat as survival became first priority. I would find out later that the Titan floor was tilting because the forward gravity lift had been knocked offline from a ruptured power relay as the core went critical. I also credit that failed gravity lift with our lives since the Titan started moving forward and down very quickly, away from our landing zone. By the time we got onto the rear deck, we practically had to climb over the edge to jump for safety. The rest of our squad had already escaped and Boss made sure that I jumped with him. I pulled the cord for my parachute as soon as I was clear of the deck, I hated freefall.
I was a dozen meters from the ground when the sky turned white. The enemy Titan was coming apart at the seams and rained debris all over the area. My body armor took several hits from small Titan pieces, but it wasn’t serious. The Titan had actually moved quite a distance from where we jumped by the time it exploded thanks to that broken gravity lift. We never would have survived a Titan explosion above our heads, much like the other recipients of the Tumbler Pin.
Long after the battle was over; my entire squad was presented with numerous awards. Among them was the Tumbler Pin. We wouldn’t be the last to receive it, but we were proud to be some of the first that were able to place it on our uniform and get back on the battlefield a few months later.
“Gamma Squad, move out! That Titan’s core is open and waiting for our arrival,” said our squad leader, Gamma 1 for this mission, but we just call him “Boss”. We all boarded the air transport and took our assigned positions just as it took off from our Titan deck and passed through the energy shield. “You know the drill! Pod onto the roof and enter through the Starboard vent port. The other squads knocked the door down, now we just need to mop up.” He said it like we were just going to walk in there, plant our explosives and bid farewell, but we all knew what we were in for.
The war was entering its prime; both sides were throwing everything at each other and new tactics had been formed. Everyone knew how the Titan became the epitome of modern warfare, but they didn’t realize how soon war would arrive. The European Union had become complacent; they had completed construction and distribution of their latest defense technology: the Anti-Titan Missile Silo. These stations were fully automated and could deliver multiple warheads on any Titan within range. They carried a specialized payload that would unleash a focused EM-pulse that played havoc with Titan shields and significantly damaged Titan Core Integrity. With these silos deployed to every strategic location near their borders with the Pan Asian Coalition, the EU could move their Titans to the Mediterranean where they expected the majority of fighting to take place. Strange to think that the EU didn’t learn from the mistakes of the Maginot Line in World War II.
The Pan Asian Coalition concentrated their efforts on espionage and infiltration of the new missile defense grid. The EU was right in thinking that Titans couldn’t attack those locations defended by the silos, but they weren’t invulnerable. Research had indicated that the silos had backup protocols that would prevent anyone from turning the silos against their masters, but that lead to a more permanent solution. A computer virus was created that would take care of the defense grid for us; a little too well. The virus would cause the silos to lose all of their war book classifications on friendly and enemy units, their initial targeting parameters and finally their uplink with EU Command. There would be no way for the EU to recalibrate all of the silos without extensive work; certainly in the timeframe we were giving them. Since all of the silos were linked together, the virus jumped from one silo to the rest in a matter of hours. The EU didn’t even know what hit them.
“Hang on back there! They still have an operational AA gun so this will get a bit dicey,” the pilot yelled over the radio. We were 500 meters from the enemy Titan and making our final equipment check. Boss told us to pack for short range combat so that was the ammo I packed; Lambert carbines, Voss Assault Rifles and Gamma 4’s Sudnik and Malkov would all need extra ammo when things got hot. My own Shuko would go through ammo faster than anyone else’s, but I had enough inventory in my ammo hub as long as the fight didn’t last longer than 4 hours. At this rate, it would be over in as many minutes. I have heard that the Clark Shotgun was better for Titan assaults, but I haven’t been certified for it yet. It didn’t matter; I had a few other things to throw at the EU troops waiting for us.
It was amazing how quickly this all turned into a routine. Shortly after the EU missile defense grid was hacked, Operation Rolling Thunder was initiated. Several PAC regiments crossed the EU border to establish dagger points that could strike the European strongholds. The first battles heavily favored the PAC army as the EU scrambled their remaining defenses to turn back our advance. The few EU Titans left in the area made a bold stand against us, but they weren’t expecting the next part of our plan. While the missile defense silos were dormant from the computer virus, they were still operational. Our personal combat computers were uploaded with a hijacker program that would uplink with the silo’s wireless data links when we got in range. We couldn’t put in any permanent code since the virus was still active, but we could give it temporary combat commands that would attack any Titan we selected. There is a standing joke among the PAC Army about the look the EU Titan Commander’s face when he saw his own missiles impacting on his hull.
After the first battles, the EU quickly adapted our hijacker program from captured equipment and research. Titan Missile Silos became the beacons of modern warfare. The stage was set for the Titan battles we fight today; each side racing to get control of nearby silos to bring down the enemy’s shields. Once the shields fell, squads would board the Titan and systematically take down their systems one by one until the core could be destroyed. That was our job right now.
“Alright, that Doragon is distracting the AA, so get ready to pod out.” Our pilot brought the transport around until we were directly over the enemy Titan. Boss gave me the signal to pod, so I left my seat and entered the hatch in the center of our transport. As the hatch sealed behind me, I grabbed the two hand-holds in front of me as each of the walls of the small compartment closed in on me. Just as they sealed together, it felt like the floor dropped out below me. My squad mates hated pod drops, but I liked them a lot better than freefall. The rocket pack on the bottom of the pod would slow me down just enough to prevent that freefall sickness and would allow me to land on the Titan below.
As soon as the pod touched down, it cracked open like an egg while I tried to get my bearings. I scanned the area and gave the all-clear signal just as the rest of my squad landed around me. “Form up! Gamma 2 has point! Gamma 6 has the rear!” Boss barked orders while we headed down into the Titan. I was the last to go into the vent, but I knew from the chatter that there was no opposition in the vent itself. The EU had hit upon the tactic of placing squads on the Titan roofs and vents these days so I was glad we didn’t have to fight our way in.
Once we reached the cargo bay, I saw the reason nobody was in the vents or on the roof; the remaining EU troops had holed up in the Core room laying down suppressive fire against the attackers. The other PAC squads were successful in destroying the 4 consoles protecting the Core, but planting the explosives on the Core itself would be rough. What was left of Beta and Delta squads were scattered about the Cargo Bay trying to punch through; there was no sign of Alpha squad.
“You know what to do, prep for advance!” We took up positions near the main cargo ramps as Boss took aim with his Voss to find the distance of the Core window section. Gamma 2, 3, and 4 would toss grenades into the core on the right side while Gamma 5 and I laid down suppressive fire. “Now!” yelled Boss as he himself fired his PK rockets into the left side of the core room. As the last of the grenades rolled into the core room, Boss ordered us in. Gamma 4 deactivated two APMs while I immediately threw down my ammo hub in a good location and I made my way to the back of the core room. I placed a sentry gun in the back doorway where enemy reinforcements would soon come from.
“Gamma 2 and 3, set explosives! 4 and 5 guard the front! 6 and I will hold the back!” Boss was following standard procedure when it came to Core attacks, we could only hope the enemy didn’t have any surprises. The floor lurched beneath me as another Anti-Titan Missile hit the hull; my combat computer confirmed that the core integrity was down to 50%, we only needed to finish the job. My sentry gun gave an affirmative beep and started tracking incoming targets, enemy troops were approaching. Boss didn’t miss a beat, he tossed a smoke grenade into the rear hallway to slow them down, the sentry gun started firing at the nearest target, unaffected by the smoke. I leaned against the left wall and Boss was against the right; we would catch anyone coming through the doorway in a crossfire. That’s when I heard the hiss of a grenade bounce off of the sentry gun’s frame. I dived out of the way as the explosion tore apart the sentry gun and an enemy soldier ran through the doorway.
Boss dropped the EU soldier with sustained fire and then switched over to his PK rockets to fire just past the doorway. The angle was precise because each of the rockets exploded on the other side of the wall from my position. Gamma 3 shouted that they were almost set with the explosives right when another enemy soldier came through the doorway. Boss couldn’t switch his rifle back to auto fire in time so he pulled out his pistol while falling back. The bullets weren’t strong enough to punch through full body armor and the EU soldier took aim for a kill shot. I levered my Shuko and pulled the trigger, raining bullets into the soldier’s back. He fell forward on top of Boss, who promptly threw him off and stood up. He gave me a nod of approval just as Gamma 3 declared that the explosives were primed.
“All squads evacuate Titan!” yelled Boss over the primary radio link. Once we reached the cargo bay, Gamma 3 and 4 pulled the trigger to detonate the explosives attached to the core reactor. The shockwave knocked me down as the floor started tilting upward in front of me. Boss picked me up and we ran for the exit as systems started shorting out all around us. With the Core containment field down, it was quickly overloading with catastrophic effects. Everyone, EU and PAC alike, abandoned any attempt at combat as survival became first priority. I would find out later that the Titan floor was tilting because the forward gravity lift had been knocked offline from a ruptured power relay as the core went critical. I also credit that failed gravity lift with our lives since the Titan started moving forward and down very quickly, away from our landing zone. By the time we got onto the rear deck, we practically had to climb over the edge to jump for safety. The rest of our squad had already escaped and Boss made sure that I jumped with him. I pulled the cord for my parachute as soon as I was clear of the deck, I hated freefall.
I was a dozen meters from the ground when the sky turned white. The enemy Titan was coming apart at the seams and rained debris all over the area. My body armor took several hits from small Titan pieces, but it wasn’t serious. The Titan had actually moved quite a distance from where we jumped by the time it exploded thanks to that broken gravity lift. We never would have survived a Titan explosion above our heads, much like the other recipients of the Tumbler Pin.
Long after the battle was over; my entire squad was presented with numerous awards. Among them was the Tumbler Pin. We wouldn’t be the last to receive it, but we were proud to be some of the first that were able to place it on our uniform and get back on the battlefield a few months later.
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