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Peacekeepers

Prologue

Disputed Space Chara System, Braka Prime Destoa Mountains

October 3, 2551 CE

Lance Corporal Cassandra Hofmeister sat in her seat as she waited for the green light to finally turn on. The rocking of the shuttle and the imminent deployment on her first real combat operation left her nervous. The Doberman, fresh from training following her volunteering in an experimental program, had planned on being a Marine. She was for a time before the reforming of the Corps. She was put into the Peacekeeper Corps shortly after coming out of her procedure. Still, even with the name change, she sat in her heavy powered armor and waited. Being the squad's heavy weapons specialist definitely had some perks.

"Ever been to Braka?" Vladimir asked. The human private had joined only three months ago and was rushed through the basic training. The fact that he was in this operation had Cassandra worried, but she also supposed that almost everyone in her squad and platoon were new so it wasn't much of an issue. After Vladimir asked the question, he quickly followed it with, "Not that you'd have been here of course. I just remember growing up in the Terran Quarter."

"I know. You told me this when you got brought in." Cassandra said with a bit of a chuckle. She knew why he added on the second part of the comment. Her genetic modification was a bit odd for some people. "No, I've never been to Braka before now. Hopefully we don't stay, but I think we're going to be stuck here for a while once we get through this."

Vladimir looked around the shuttle, from front to back and then back to Cassandra. In his lighter powered armor, Cassandra couldn't read his expression, but she assumed it was first combat jitters. "I actually do like the planet. The Brakians are hard headed but they're usually nice you know?" He lowered his voice to say "I really don't want to shoot at them."

"Hopefully we won't have to." Cassandra said, not bothering to lower her own voice. "If this goes well there should be no shots fired."

That made Vladimir shake his head. "Do you really think the Brakians are going to let us roll in and take over the base?"

Cassandra, despite the limited room and her own limited movement thanks to the "No, but that's why we have guns. Just follow orders and we'll make it through. I don't think Command would send us here if we were going to lose." As she watched the light on the shuttle, she took a moment to activate the low-light visor. They were arriving at night after all.

In March, President Ganesh announced the dissolution of the Colonial Alliance and the establishment of the Solar Republic. Backed by the nations of Earth, the new Republic had the authority, strength, and influence to finally bring the Sol Sector under its control. Chief among those that needed to submit to the Republic were the Brakians and the Tesgno. As the Peacekeepers began their operations on Braka, other divisions were moving into Procyon and Great Home to bring them back under control.

To those in the Peacekeepers that had been Alliance Marines, the fact that they were beginning such operations was shocking. Just last year the Alliance had been rocked by the invasion of a powerful foreign state, but the Alliance ultimately prevailed. In the wake of the great victory the first actions taken were to begin rebuilding the Navy to be larger while bringing the nations of Earth under the influence of the Alliance. Many happily joined with the Republic - most notably Europa Federalis, the Pan-Asian Commonwealth, and the American Alliance.

In the time between the announcement of the new Republic being founded and the beginning of the operations on Braka, the military was reformed, the nations of Earth were absorbed, Omniwatch was brought to its knees and dissolved, and the other corporations were forced to disband their private military forces. The systems once under corporate control were taken over by the Republic. Some corporations resisted but with the new military strength of the Republic they were quickly crushed. As October came, the explored area of the Sol Sector was brought under the Republic's banner except for Chara and Procyon.

That was going to change.

Several large shuttlecraft moved quickly over the lowlands near the Destoa Mountains as part of the operating moves of Operation Stellar Shield. Due to the nature of the operation, the Brakian forces on Braka Prime weren't notified of the Republic's arrival. The idea, according to Admiral Endymion, was to ensure that any resistance was swiftly crushed by the Republic to allow a smooth transition to Republic control. The first wave of the forces would be the reformed Alliance Colonial Marine Corps - now the Republic Peacekeeper Corps. It was a peacekeeping operation according to the media statements. In truth it was just an invasion by another name.

In the lead craft were B Company of the 3rd Mobile Peacekeepers Regiment. In all about 120 Peacekeepers sat on their benches, strapped in tightly from the orbital insertion of the shuttle. Most were human, a handful were Brakian or Tesgno, but the ones that stood out were the ones that were neither. As part of an old Omniwatch program, now shut down with the dissolution of the corporation, Alliance Marines were given significant bonuses in exchange for volunteering for a new genetic modification program. Taking Terran canine and feline gene stock the program modified the soldiers to a form of their choosing. Such soldiers were deployed to Great Home and Braka Prime as exchange officers to help them blend into their environment more.

Those soldiers, in what would likely be a long occupation, were going to be invaluable to the Republic. To have soldiers that the civilians may be more comfortable around would make any occupation considerably easier. At least that was one of the main ideas behind the project. As well as having units that could work with the native population of Chara and Procyon, the modifications typically added muscle mass and size to those subjected to them. This made them particularly useful for using heavier armor and weapons.

"We'll be touching down in about two minutes." Captain Perry said through the company communications band. Only the squad sergeants and platoon commanders picked up that band. "Expect light resistance. The BDF doesn't know we're coming, but they'll probably detect us. To review, on arrival, move to the air base quickly but cautiously. Avoid contact if possible until we're in the base. If civilians see us, disregard them. Don't fire until fired upon."

The lead shuttle began to lower its altitude, heading for a prepared clearing in the forest just a few kilometers southeast of the targeted air base. Ahead of the landings, inserted special forces units had cleared landing sites for the Peacekeepers across the planet in key areas. As the lead shuttle touched down softly in the clearing, the other two shuttles proceeded further southwest into the forest to another clearing directly south and southwest of the airfield. In all, about three companies of peacekeepers were taking part in the operation. They were going to be up against, at worst, a full division of Brakian motorized infantry but more likely at least a battalion if they moved quickly. Once they had the airfield and brought down the defense systems, reinforcements would be able to land.

With a shake as the hydraulic pads absorbed the weight of the landing, the shuttle touched down in the clearing. As soon as the pads touched the ground the rear door lowered allowing the two infantry fighting vehicles to roll off the back with the powered peacekeepers following to either side of the vehicles. The added firepower of the gauss cannons were expected to be a necessity if they truly went up against the full division. If the Brakians resisted, they'd likely deploy whatever armored vehicles they had and given the already small strike force any possible advantage would help.

"Squad, we're moving up to here." Sergeant Aston said. The human sergeant had served in the Marines during the Great Interstellar War. From was Cassandra pried from him, he had been able to board one of the Imperial warships and capture it along with most of the crew. Those people were sitting in a POW camp on Mars still. He was made a sergeant with the formation of the Peacekeeper Corps and the need for NCOs to fill the ranks. "Hofmeister, make sure you're loaded. We'll be in the town in a few minutes."

Cassandra checked her gun as she moved into position with the rest of the squad. Being the heavy weapon specialist, she opted for the heavy machine gun. Thanks to her powered armor she could carry the 17mm rifle with no issue when it had to be mounted for use by standard infantry. Like all of the Republic's new weapons it was a simple gauss weapon. Against powered infantry, the standard penetrator rounds could easily punch through once it brought down shields. But against softer targets, such as the Brakians, she had loaded explosive rounds. A small charge was placed inside the round and the round itself was shaped and designed to break apart in the explosion. It was useless against most powered armor, but against unpowered infantry it was devastating.

"I've got the HE rounds in, sergeant." Cassandra said after flipping up the cover on the gun and checking the rounds to make sure that was what she had. She had no issues with using the penetrators, but she'd rather not just punch holes through any resistance.

Aston didn't say anything about the rounds as the squad moved into the forest. With the new upgrades to the armor hardware, the helmet visors showed friendly markers in green on sensors and blue for the squad. The squad markers also included formation markers which the squad leader controlled. Aston has selected a wedge formation with himself at the front, Vladimir and Kovac behind him to the left and right, Cassandra to the right behind Kovac, and Edwin to the left behind Vladimir. In all the squad had one leader, two rifles, one heavy, and Edwin served as the squad's combat technician.

With the first waypoint nearly two kilometers ahead the squad began to move quickly through the forest. Only about 200 meters ahead are the backs of the first houses of the town. The plan simply involved the company using the houses and buildings as cover as they moved forward, except for the IFVs. One platoon should have loaded into the IFVs and would take them through the roads. The idea was to get Brakian attention on those while the rest of the company moved through alleys and stayed largely hidden.

Aston held a hand up as the squad reached the edge of the forest and took a knee in the bushes. Cassandra followed suit as best she could. Her heavier armor only really allowed her to crouch slightly. "Company is moving up. We're holding until they catch up." Aston said. He took a glance back at the squad and then looked forward again.

Behind her, Cassandra heard the rumbling of the approaching IFVs and glanced back as well. About ten meters away the IFVs rolled slowly through a cleared path. Though she couldn't quite tell, it seemed that the path was cleared by the same special forces that made the clearing for the shuttle. It would make sense. She didn't think that the IFVs could run down trees. Even if they could it would make a lot of noise.

"Let's move." Aston said, pulling Cassandra's attention forward. "Move through this alley then cross the street to the other one. Do not stop for anything."

Cassandra saw the narrow alley that might have fit two average Brakians side by side between two fences of the houses. The fences were open at the back but going into the yards themselves would give the squad away by anyone that happened to look out a window. Even though it was somewhat dark, ambient light from the town made it not quite entirely dark. Cassandra allowed Edwin through first and she took the rear of the squad as they went single file up the alley.

As the squad exited the other side a few meters later, Cassandra noticed a Brakian woman clinging to the side of what Cassandra assumed was their house in fear. Cassandra looked to the squad a moment and stopped. _"Don't worry, it's just exercises. We got a little off track. Sorry about that."_Cassandra said in Brakian Common. With her modified physiology she could actually speak it convincingly rather than relying on a translator implant.

The Brakian relaxed a bit and appeared to let out a sigh of relief. "You all scared me. Alright, stay safe!" The woman said before proceeding through the gate in the fence into the backyard.

"What was that, Hofmeister?" Aston said after noticing Cassandra had fallen behind.

"Calming the civilian, sergeant." Cassandra said as she returned to her position at the back of the squad just as it entered the next alley. "They seem to think that we're Brakian soldiers. I told them it's just exercises, and that we got a little lost."

Aston let out a grunt. "Good thinking, but don't fall behind again. We can't risk alerting people too early."

Cassandra rolled her eyes. She knew the sergeant's way well enough to know that he didn't often give a completely positive comment. "Yes sergeant." She said. After all, there was no sense in arguing it.

As the squad exited the other side of the alley, now in the patch of forest behind more houses, they returned to the wedge formation and entered the forest once again. The path that the sergeant plotted and that showed up on Cassandra's visor showed that they were weaving through the forest to get to the main road of the town. From there it would be a straight shot trough some alleys behind businesses to get to the base.

The move through the forest took only a few minutes. At this time of night, no one was on the paths for a walk or something. At least the sensors didn't pick anyone up. Cassandra zoomed her visor's map out as they exited the forest once again. With the zoomed out view she could see the company's platoons scattered over a line about 600 meters across. Her platoon was a bit more scattered than the rest, in part due to the fact that they are deep in a residential area and large groups would be more easily noticed.

"Move right. Fast. We're cutting through the yard. Stop at the corner of the house. We may have to make a quick move over the road." Aston said as the squad moved forward. He set another waypoint for the house he mentioned.

Cassandra moved into a careful jog toward the house while the others ran. Her extra weight meant that if she was running she'd just make more noise than was reasonably necessary. This close to houses, that wasn't a viable option. In a matter of moments, she arrived at her spot at the back of the squad and carefully pressed against the house. She made sure not to make any noise.

"Police. Get down." Aston said as he reached an arm back and gestured everyone down. While the squad took a knee, Cassandra only crouched slightly again. She might as well have stood for all the good it did. The police car passed in front of the squad with its blue lights flashing. The bright lights illuminated everything as it passed, including the squad and their black armor for only a moment. It kept going however and Cassandra heard the sergeant let out a sigh. "Alright. Move to this point. We're almost to the central area. Move two at a time at full speed."

The point the sergeant put down was about 300 meters away. Cassandra zoomed her visor in slightly, seeing the point put them in an alley between two businesses. Both businesses seemed to be closed, and Cassandra hoped that they actually were closed. She also noticed a group of Brakians on the porch of one of the houses.

"Sergeant. Third house, right side." Cassandra said as she put down a marker for Aston. "I see four Brakians. I think they're in uniform but I don't see any guns. Might be off duty BDF."

Aston was quiet for a few moments. "You're right. Good call." He said. "Alright, Hofmeister, let's try something. You speak the language and look the part. See if you can distract them."

Cassandra was quiet as she processed that. Distracting them could mean almost anything. "Sergeant, what might you have in mind?"

"Go up and talk to them. Make something up." Aston said. "Keep their attention on you for a bit. I'll give an all clear when we get by. I think your equipment will keep them looking at you."

Nodding at the idea, Cassandra figured that could work. They didn't look armed, and she supposed they may be intoxicated enough to not even notice anything out of the ordinary or question it. "Alright, will do sergeant. Moving up."

Cassandra stood up and walked forward nonchalantly. She simply carried the heavy machine gun as she walked up the sidewalk. If she at least _looked_like she was supposed to be there it may raise even less suspicion. The concrete under her armor cracked a bit with each step as she approached the house, getting the attention of the Brakians on the porch before she was quite in front.

"What the hell is that?" One of them said, jumping up from his spot on the porch.

Figuring she could act surprised herself, Cassandra quickly turned her head toward the porch and the Brakians then rolled her head to appear to feign that it was nothing. She took a few steps forward onto the lawn and raised her free hand. "Good evening." She said in Brakian Common. That seemed to at least make one of the Brakians relax. "The Republic got us these suits, and we're trying to test the damned things."

"I didn't hear anything about that." The larger lupine Brakian said with a growl.

Cassandra laughed for a moment's reprieve as she tried to recall the name of the nearby military base. "Yeah, I know. That's the problem. We are testing these out of Fort Blackwall."_That sounded right. There was a small Army base to the south where they had tested Alliance equipment that was sold to the Brakians years ago. _"The navigation system seems to be... poorly calibrated." She added on with a shrug. "Where am I? I don't recall this area near the Fort."

"Terran tech, right?" One of the vulpines said with his own laugh. "This is Destoa AFB. Or at least the town for it. You're way the hell out of the way... who are you?"

Freezing up for a moment as she tried to remember Brakian Army ranks and name structure, Cassandra was pretty sure she didn't actually remember any of it. Clutching at what she hoped was right she said, "Ah, right. I'm... Corporal... Amyata. I'm with one of the experimental warfare units."

That seemed to get a few looks from the Brakians, but ultimately the lupine shrugged. "I guess you can't be fully honest with us if you're testing those things." The lupine said. "Well I guess you might as well head for the base and let them know what's going on. Good to see that the Republic is finally giving us things. Maybe we'll get real armor one of these days."

Cassandra relaxed a bit. She had thought that would give her away. She supposed that they were drunk enough after all to not really question it. "Perhaps. This is just one that we're testing though. Maybe they'll finally do the right thing."

"Alright we're clear." Aston said. "Good work, Hofmeister. Come on over."

"I need to get moving though. I am sure they'll be hunting for me if they can't find me." Cassandra said. "Have a good night."

"Enjoy that suit! Looks like fun." One of the Brakians said as Cassandra turned and headed off toward the alleyway and the rest of the squad.

Knowing that she was being watched, Cassandra walked normally down the sidewalk as she had been doing until she finally crossed the street into the alleyway next to the rest of her squad. Once she was out of sight she kneeled down slightly behind a dumpster. "I am actually surprised that worked."

"You and me both. Good job." Aston said as he stood up. "Alright, we're almost to the base. The IFV group hasn't made contact with anyone yet, but they did get civilian attention. The police may end up responding to them. The rest of the company is almost in position. Our platoon is the last one to get in position. A and C companies are also in position. They're waiting on us. Let's move."

The alleyway that the squad stood in was a straight shot behind businesses to the fences of the airbase. They'd have to cross a few streets, Cassandra noted as she took her position in the squad. She was getting into the habit of playing with the map as they moved toward the base. As with crossing the roads earlier, the squad simply ran across as quickly as possible after ensuring that the road was clear. The alleys were empty as well surprisingly.

"Update. Apparently, an alert went out to the civilians." Aston said as the squad moved through the second to last alley from their ready point. "Nothing too serious. People have been reporting black figures moving around and the alert was for everyone to stay inside while the police investigate. That works better for us. A Company's IFVs were also stopped by the police but one of the Augments were able to talk them down."

Augments. Cassandra hated that word. While it was technically correct, it carried a highly negative connotation with it. Augment was sometimes used to refer to the Marines that underwent the Omniwatch gene modification program, such as herself. She did it because she was offered a substantial bonus, a promotion to lance corporal immediately, plus some choice in what she would be at the end. There was risk involved and about ten percent of those that volunteered were killed or severely disabled, but it was worth the risk for the chance to be a bit different.

Of course, the modification was permanent now that Omniwatch was gone. Not that she minded. She had already gotten used to the Doberman look. Of course, the more devoutly religious people found it disgusting to change one's form so fundamentally, but they relatively rare. Still, being called an Augment just sounded wrong, even if that was the term usually used for those like her for lack of a better one. The full name though in the census was 'Augmented Terran', which at least sounds marginally better to her. It at least recognized that they are at least somewhat still human.

Cassandra kept her silence on the matter though. She knew the sergeant had at least some respect for her, so there was no reason to be offended at the remark. "I guess I see the idea behind having us here." She did say. "That's a few times now we've gotten us through possibly bad situations."

"Agreed." Aston said with a slightly more upbeat tone than normal. Of course it still sounded tired and annoyed, but only slightly less so. "I won't lie, I was skeptical. Already you showed that you're rather useful here. Now let's see if you're any good in combat."

"With respect sergeant, hopefully that won't be necessary." Cassandra said.

"You know how the Brakians are." Aston said. Given that the squad, other than Cassandra, is completely human and Cassandra is at least part human still, the remark didn't bother anyone. They all knew how the Brakians were indeed. Territorial and hard headed at best; aggressive and confrontational at worst. "Hold. We've got people on the street." Aston said as the squad reached the end of the alley. The sensors picked up a group of Brakians around the corner. "Edwin, get the drone up. Let's see who they are."

Edwin, across the alley from Cassandra, dropped his rifle. The sling attached to a rig around the shoulder caught it, hanging it to his right side. He reached over his shoulder and pulled out a small, four rotor drone. Cassandra had seen it in use before. From the helmet Edwin could control it with a mental link. Silently the drone lifted up and flew over the buildings then came down in the road, hovering a few meters above the ground. Cassandra could only see the HUD outline of the drone as its IFF signal came through.

"Looks like three police officers and one BDF trooper." Edwin said. With the built-in communications, the microphone picked up the slightly quieter talking. Any louder might have been heard. "Assault rifles and armor all around. No helmets. Interesting."

"Try to get them away from there." Aston said quietly. He was at the corner and if he spoke normally it would have been heard most likely.

Cassandra had a thought cross her mind. "I can try to intimidate them." She saw Aston look back to her. "Let's be honest; none of us have suppressed weapons and a noise might only put them on edge. We have a smoke grenade right?"

Kovac nodded. "Yeah, I've got one."

"Good. Maybe we can throw it out near the edge of the alley. They'll hear it go off and look. It might alert them, but then I turn on the armor lights and visor lights and step out. It might be intimidating enough." Cassandra said. As he said it though it increasingly sounded ridiculous. "Or to not sound like some stupid roleplay game idea, I can simply modulate the helmet and scare them with the gun. It's a huge thing you know."

"That is better." Aston said. "The first one was stupid. Go ahead. If they open fire though it might blow it."

"I know." Cassandra said as she stood up and moved toward the corner carefully. She needed a bit of time to modulate the helmet's speaker so that it sounded louder and rougher. Satisfied with the modulation she took a long step out of the alley and took aim at the soldier and police officers. She attempted to say something, but the helmet speaker failed to work.

In the awkward silence the group had initially taken a step back, but that changed almost immediately as the BDF soldier opened fire with his assault rifle. The first bullet impacted her armor and hit in the chest but the shields immediately activated with the first bullet. The burst was absorbed easily enough. Her shields glowed a bright blue with each bullet that hit and it caught the police off guard. One officer dropped his rifle and ran while the other two kept falling back. The one soldier however tried to keep firing even though the gun had jammed.

With the advantage, and the gun already leveled, Cassandra let loose a burst of six rounds into the BDF soldier. He had no time to react as the first bullet exploded on his chest plate, the second exploded on impact with his head, and the rest landed center mass. The loud bursts from the machine gun followed by the explosions of the rounds surely alerted everyone around. When Cassandra let off the trigger, the BDF soldier was a bloody mess on the ground. The explosions and metal slugs had torn through his thin armor. His ribs were exposed and the organs inside were bleeding profusely while half the skin on his face was torn away and the skull shattered where the round impacted.

The sight of the soldier being absolutely destroyed by her gun, she fired a few other shots at the fleeing police officers. She intentionally missed them just to scare them off, but she figured they were going to flee even if she didn't shoot at them. Compared to the BDF soldier, they were just civilians ultimately. Cassandra didn't feel right shooting at them since they were just doing a job. The soldier though was an actual threat.

"God damn it Hofmeister!" Aston shouted. "What the hell happened?"

"My speakers aren't working, sergeant." Cassandra said as she stood in place with her gun still pointing forward. Killing someone was just catching up to her and it was nothing like the simulations. Seeing the mangled body below her was... disgusting. "It's, uh, kind of unfortunate."

Aston grabbed Cassandra's arm. "You think? You better be ready for contact. B's moving on the base now." A few hundred meters away sirens from the airbase pierced the relatively quiet night. With some anger Aston released Cassandra's arm. "Alright squad, prepare for contact. The operation is unchanged. We're getting into the base by any means. We are close enough that we might be able to avoid the worst of the fight if we get in there.

Several loud, staccato explosions echoed through the air near the base, which Cassandra knew were the cannons of the IFVs. As she tried to listen in to the sounds around her the sergeant and the rest of the squad continued to advance down the alleyway with little caution. Cassandra stopped to catch up to the squad. The formation marker had been removed and the squad itself was all over the place as they advanced toward the base. Instead a waypoint marked the location of the gate onto the base.

Aston slowed the squad as they stepped out of the alley and onto the road just outside the fence of the base. A thin belt of grass separates the fence from the road and a trench appeared to run behind the first fence. To the right of the squad the IFVs of B Company rolled through the gate, accompanied by a platoon of peacekeepers marching behind it. The gatehouse had a dark plume of smoke rising from it, though it seemed that any fire that had been there was now out.

"Let's follow them in." Aston said, pointing at the company entering the base with no further resistance. "Maybe they're still scrambling."

The squad moved toward the gatehouse as the other platoons arrived at the gate and entered in a scattered manner as opposed to the orderly entry of the other platoon and IFVs. With no cover inside the base, Cassandra saw no reason to rush inside when they aren't under fire. The way this is going, now that silence returned to the night as the siren went quiet and gunfire stopped, Cassandra had to guess that the Brakian Defense Force is standing down now that they are aware it's a Republic strike force.

As Cassandra passed into the gate she noticed the bodies of a few BDF soldiers on the ground. With the quick glance she notes that they are not as badly mangled as the one she had killed, but she assumed that they were probably killed by the IFV, judging by the state of the gatehouse. After the glance, Cassandra went back to scanning the base.

"Major Ghora just reported that the base commander is standing down." Aston said as the squad marched into the base. "I guess we win. How's that for starting an occupation?" The anger from the shooting earlier faded into a laugh.

"So why did we hit this base sergeant?" Cassandra asked. She had to guess that this base is important for some reason.

"It's a key part of their defense network." Aston said as he pulled his helmet off. "It connects to their planetary defenses. Other bases were hit so it should give us control of space and air superiority. Now the fun begins. I believe Landgate is getting hit now that this base is down."

About six hundred kilometers to the east, the Brakian capital city of Landgate enjoyed the protection of this airbase and its defense network, or so Cassandra assumes since the sergeant phrased it like that. As the center of Brakian political power, the location of the Republic's embassy, and home to a large expatriated Terran population, Landgate is absolutely essential to controlling the planet and its people. That the peacekeepers would be landing in force there told quite a lot.

"So what's our new orders?" Cassandra asked as she removed her own helmet since the fighting seemed over. "Are we just holding in place?"

"I believe so. Despite the slip, good work today, Hofmeister." Aston said. "I guess we could just sit around the gatehouse and see if anything happens. At least it will look like we're running the place and we can control entry."

Aston, since he removed his helmet, couldn't actually set a waypoint for the squad so he simply pointed at the gatehouse. Cassandra was more than happy to just stand guard for a while. As she stepped up to the gatehouse and noticed the few bodies, Cassandra pointed to them. "Vladimir, Kovac, why don't you throw the bodies in the trench over there? It just doesn't look good for us to have dead dogs lying around."

Without any questions, or the sergeant saying a word about it, the two walked to the bodies and, with the powered armor, easily lift them. A few steps later and they unceremoniously drop the bodies into the trench. Cassandra just nodded once they dropped the bodies and leaned against the partially destroyed brick wall of the gatehouse. It was a good first operation. Now she just hopes that the rest of the occupation will be this easy.