Attack of the Killer Tilapia (Beamer)

[Galadare]

You make a second pass, hacking madly at its tentacles.

The guppy rolls onto the side you were hacking at, rising like a prefabricated wall. Suddenly the other side of the fish erupts in a great fireball and the wall topples back over.

You see Joyride on the other side of the squirming fish, with only one of his missiles remaining, while Clepto's machine lies on its back with wisps of sickly green smoke emanating from hundreds of tiny holes in the machine's armor plating.

In the distance you see the other fish rushing toward the shore, then a series of explosions send it down, then the Zippos rush forward and start burning it, careful to stay clear of its death throes.

You see two more Zippos marching your way and Tanaka's voice comes over the comm: "I thought you might want a little more fire for your–"

Tanaka's banter is cut off by a message from your infantry support: "This is Sergeant Bhermann, we're sustaining heavy fire from some…ugly things. Requesting backup. Over."

As if on cue, the two guppies quiver and pop, showering the area with a variety of squirmy monstrosities. Some are all tentacles and as large as elephants while others are as small as rottweilers and armor plated. The only two things they all have in common is their nasty dispositions and the fact that they are swarming inland.

[Beamer]

Beamer calls over the intercom, "Do we happen to have any flammable oil based chemicals around? I would love to drops a shower of napalm about now."

He sits back and watches how the creatures move before he begins his attack. He is specifically watching to see what they are attempting to attack before he decides what would be best to attack with and pops off a few shots in a spread to hopefully bloody up the water.

"I need our inland foot soldiers to form a tight wall, and spread your ammunition into every one of these things. I want to see a Red Sea by the end of the hour."

He takes bitty into the sky for a minute to get a birds eye assessment of the situation as well as to determine if there is any cover for his non armored crew.

As he is lifting into the sky he remarks, "Joyrider, while I appreciate your willingness to save my backside, be sure to make your last big shot count. Coordinate with another pilot."

He chuckles, "Clept, what are you doing putting a screen up for me. Find the parts you need to get moving again or at the very least sing me a song while your bed is being flooded. What support can you still offer hun?"

He waits for the reply and laughs at Tanak's remarks, "Tanka, let's wolf pack these things. I would love to hit them hard from both sides as they are coming into our human wall on shore."

[Galadare]

"Flamable oil?" Tanaka says, "All we have is the fuel for the Zippos' flamethrowers. And that's starting to run low. And how do you propose–"

Tanaka's transmission is cut off when some kind of giant mantid comes out of nowhere and cleaves his wing-man's machine in half with one of its scythe-like talons. Tanaka peppers the beast with rounds from his autocannon. It goes down, but a wave of smaller critters mob him, even going so far as to scale his machines legs and suicidally jam themselves in his actuators. While he's busily swatting the swarming critters, another of the elaphantine mantids emerges from the marsh and charges him.

Other parts in the line are also beginning to buckle under the weight of the advancing monsters. Somewhere to your left, a Zippo explodes. The fireball destroys one nearby Ape and cripples another. Reports of ammo shortages filter in from all along the line.

Then it gets worse. Garrett and Giuliano set fire to a thicket containing a pair of Apes and some infantry. The blaze scatters the surviving infantry and puts up a wall of thick black smoke that obscures their location. Wilden joins them, shooting out the knees of another Ape in the process. Garrett calls to Taylor over the comm, but Taylor hesitates then moves to cover one of the disabled mechs.

In the confusion, the surviving mechs form up in twos and threes to effect a fighting withdrawal.