Battle of Montecito

Taking place on January 29th, the Battle of Montecito involved numerous Pummelboys and factions struggling for supremacy in the disputed territory of Montecito California. The Battle was one of the opening conflicts of the Pummel Wars.

## History

### Montecito, California

During the War of 2069, much of the state of California had fallen to the forces of Forrest. With the US military withdrawn, the area quickly became lawless. Forrest's minions would become scattered later in the war however, leaving what was now Cowboy Country a disputed territory fought over by several factions. The area of Montecito California was a low priority backwater for years, picked over by bandits and scavengers.

### Gathering Storm

The network of surveillance devices used by the Republic of Port Townsend to watch over the West Coast had been unusually quiet in the months preceding the battle. Nearby Marrowstone Island had appeared abandoned, with no sighting of Forrest for days. When a satellite detected an unusual power surge near Montecito, a small task force from the RPTGDF was dispatched to investigate. The team lost contact with RPT headquarters as they neared the anomaly, only able to send a single message back to command. The minions of the Orange Guardian were massing in the area, and worse still, Forrest was gathering them together. With no other alternative, RPT command sent in their most elite warriors and the legendary Field General TiburcioSoccer64 to stop whatever nefarious plans had been set in motion.

Unbeknownst to both the RPTGDF and the Orange Guardian, the secretive Pummelcorp had also discovered the anomaly, and deployed a force of robotic soldiers in order to claim it's power for their own goals of world domination. The Pummel Corporation would use any means in order to secure Montecito, and quickly took control of a small estate in the area to serve as a base of operations. Pummelcorp scientists set up listening devices to monitor the wasteland, and sent out patrol teams to search for the source of the anomaly. As the frequency of these expeditions increased, so too did their skirmishes with the minions of Forrest, and the area quickly became an all out warzone.

As the clouds of war gathered, rumors began to swirl among the scavengers and bandits of Cowboy Country. Men talked in hushed tones of a shadow, a void in the shape of a man, blacker than the night he walked through. Entire squads of Pummelcorp bots would disappear in the night, swallowed up by the dark. When dawn came, those who dared to stray from the makeshift towns would find the corpses of Forrest's minions piled high, each one dispatched by a single shot from a revolver, or torn to shreds by razor talons. Cadger Calloused had arrived in Montecito, drawn to the squabbling factions like a moth to a light. With single minded fury he tracked his way through the wasteland, swearing that this time, he would hunt down Forrest, and bring an end to the Orange Guardian's reign of terror once and for all.

Meanwhile, the US Marines had been monitoring the situation from a distance. As the value of whatever had been located in Montecito California became increasingly clear, US military command decided that the anomaly needed to be recovered or destroyed. In the interest of preserving national security, they elected to deploy their most elite warrior. Under cover of night, a single UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter soared over the desert. Deploying by parachute, and with a full crate of extra steel chairs, Argus Chesty landed on the outskirts of the town of Montecito. The legendary warrior quickly dispatched a nearby Bot squad, and set about the task of locating the mysterious source of power.

Panthera Amazing, draw to the commotion, arrived alone in search of the anomaly. Cowboy Country was her territory, and she would be sure that no one else would take it from it's rightful masters. Anything here would be claimed in the name of the new Cowboy republic.

High above the wasteland, a strange ship made it's way through the clouds. The archaic vessel was held aloft by unknown means, gliding through the sky on a strange blue glow. It's captain, the enigmatic Freebooter Fast scanned the ground through a spyglass. He could feel the presence of the mysterious source of power even from miles away, and coveted the profit he could make. As the ship dropped anchor, the Admiral knew he would soon become a very wealthy man indeed...

### The Battle Begins

TiburcioSoccer64 made his way through the courtyard of the Riven Rock estate, flanked on each side by elite GDF soldiers. He triangulated the position of the lost expedition, ordering his escort to fan out through the building. As he breached a large double door, his worst fears were confirmed. The team had been wiped out to a man, but not before taking at least a dozen Demons with them. The room was piled high with bodies, and the RPT general could smell the horrid stench even inside his armor. The team leader had died attempting to hold shut the front doors, which had been barricaded closed with furniture and planks taken from the walls. Before he could pry it open, TiburcioSoccer64 heard the hiss of his radio as it crackled to life. Forrest's minions had surrounded the estate, and were attempting to force their way inside. Gunfire erupted from around him as his soldiers opened fire on the surrounding cultists. Riven Rock was under siege, under lockdown.

Forrest watched on as his minions charged at the estate building. He knew he had the advantage, a handful of GDF soldiers would not stand a chance against the full force of the Underworld. The keeper of the Orange Guardian had more pressing concerns. Argus Chesty had been spotted nearby, facing down an entire platoon of Pummelcorp bots. Someone with that kind of power could pose a serious issue for his plans, and needed to be stopped. Reaching out through the void, he called to his chief lieutenant, Occultist Spunky. The Red Guardian would not let him down.

Argus Chesty smashed another metal chair into a bot, breaking it's head into pieces. The disposable robotic soldiers were no match for the power of a Guardian, but for every bot he took down, two seemed to take it's place. He found himself pinned against a wall, surrounded by too many bots to count. The tide of robots surged forwards, and Argus lost his footing. Just as he was about to disappear beneath the metal wave, he saw what looked like a strange ship emerge from the clouds. The roar of cannons drowned out the metallic shrieks of the bots, and scores of metal men were incinerated in fire. With a bellow, Freebooter Fast dropped from the skies into the iron horde, each swing of his sabre cleaving swathes of robots in half. Pinned between two Pummelboys, the remaining bots fell in minutes. As the Admiral shifted his attention to the Pink Guardian he hefted his blade and began to breathe a challenge. But just as the last bot hit the ground, a burst of smoke engulfed Argus Chesty, dragging him away into the shadows.

The Purple Samurai readied his sword as he set another lighting mine on the door. The cultist horde had breached inside the building, and he had already suffered heavy casualties. He stepped back, and the door buckled under the weight of a dozen Demons clawing their way inside. Just as the first entered the room, his electro mine activated, sending bolts of lighting into the careening horde, turning them into charred corpses. Before he had time to celebrate, he saw a figure wreathed in flame in the doorway. Forrest sent Tiburciosoccer64 flying through a wall with a burst of fire, and stepped forward into the room.

The stones of the courtyard shook for a brief second, and the shadows seemed to grow darker. In a dark burst, Argus Chesty was hurled out of the Shadow Realm and onto the broken cobblestones. He had barely a second to regard what had happened before the wall on the far side on the courtyard exploded open, sending a man clad in purple cyber samurai armor flying.

Tiburciosoccer64 landed like a cat, thrusting his sword into the ground to slow his momentum. As he looked up, he saw the armored figure of the Orange Guardian walking towards him. All around the courtyard were dozens of Forrest's minions, and more seemed to pour in every second. He yanked his sword from the stones, and stood back to back with Argus Chesty, prepared to meet the horde with his full strength.

As Occultist Spunky flew towards the location where Argus had been spotted, he found not the Pink Guardian, but the Aquamarine one. Freebooter Fast watched as a flight of harrier jets, each one emblazoned with the symbol of the Cult of Forrest, screamed towards his ship. The Admiral's cannons belched fire towards the fast approaching aircraft, sending one careening into the plane next to it. The flight of harriers launched a salvo of missiles, and explosions rippled across the hull of the mighty skyship, knocking off a precariously perched crewman. The next salvo of cannons found their mark, and the right wing of Spunky's jet went up in a burst of fire. The Red Guardian opened the canopy of his plane, and sent it flying straight into the skyship's hull. A split second before the jet slammed into the side of the vessel, he leapt from it's cockpit onto the deck of the ship. Freebooter Fast accepted his challenge, drawing his sabre and charging forward to meet the attacker.

As the skyship drew closer to the site of the Riven Rock estate, Tiburciosoccer64 and Argus Chesty fought for their lives against Forrest and the Demon horde. Although outnumbered, the two fought bravely. But even still, it was a loosing battle. Each fireball left deep scorch marks on the Lavish Lightning's armor, and each claw and tooth left gouges in Argus' Kevlar. High above, Occultist Spunky proved no match for Freebooter Fast on his own ship, and was thrown off the edge. With his opponent dispatched, the Admiral steered his vessel into the melee at Riven Rock.

Just as the battle seemed lost, the roar of engines bellowed over the sounds of battle. From the East, 18 armored Chevy Silverado trucks rolled down the road towards the Riven Rock estate. Each one mounted a .50 caliber machine gun, spitting bullets into the hoard of Demons. In the bed of the lead truck stood a figure clad in knightly armor, augmented with alien looking cybernetics. The Renegade Knight fired another salvo of red hot lead, tearing Demons limb from limb. The trucks circled the battle scene, shattering Forrest's minion's resolve and sending them fleeing the battlefield.

Freebooter Fast leapt down from his ship onto the roof of the Riven Rock estate. Seeing the melee down below, he raised his pistol and took aim at the two Pummelboys fighting for their life in the courtyard below. Before he could take the shot, he heard a rush of air from behind him. Turning to meet this new arrived, he watched as Cadger Calloused materialized from the Shadow Realm. The Midnight Ranger fired a trio of explosive rounds into the Admiral. Caught off guard, and without his ship, Freebooter was knocked back off the edge of the roof. He tumbled to the ground, landing in a heap.

Seeing the tide of battle turn, Argus Chesty lunged at Forrest. But the Orange Guardian was too fast, and parried the attack, before bringing his mace crashing down onto the Pink Guardian. Argus collapsed onto the stones. But it was all the distraction needed. Tiburciosoccer64 swung his katana forward, wincing as the blade found it's mark in Forrest's side.

Forrest stumbled back in shock. Then, a low laugh began to roll from his faceplate. The Tyrant pressed a button on his gauntlet, and a flaming portal roared to life behind him. As he fled into the portal, he pressed another button, and hidden charges scattered around the estate detonated one by one. With the estate collapsing around them, the Pummelboys turned and began to run.

Before Cadger could finish the fight, the Admiral's skyship flew overhead, descending it's anchor. Freebooter Fast grabbed the chain, hoisting himself up. Seeing the battle was lost, the ship rapidly sped away from the exploding estate. Tiburciosoccer64 picked up Argus and threw him onto the back of one of Chevy Silverado trucks, before leaping aboard himself. All around them, the ground seemed to shake and collapse, as if tearing itself apart. As the trucks rapidly sped away from the scene, a massive bolt of energy struck down from the sky in the center of the courtyard. The battle and ensuing explosion had been enough to activate the anomaly. Energy began to surge around the Riven Rock estate, and the ground itself opened up. A swirling energy vortex, easily a hundred meters across tore open beneath the crumbling buildings, swallowing the estate entirely.

## Aftermath

As the Silverado Trucks sped away, Tiburciosoccer64 stood on the edge of the Vortex Portal, looking down into it. With the other Pummelboys either missing or too heavily injured to argue, he claimed the site for the Republic of Port Townsend, deploying a beacon to call for reinforcements. Whatever secrets the strange anomaly had would now be used by the RPT in the fight for survival.

Back at Marrowstone Island, Forrest healed his wounds and began the task of rebuilding his strength. With the portal in RPT hands, it would not be long before they had the upper hand in the battle against his forces. Forrest could not let this happen. Considering his options, the Tyrant began to ready his next devious plan, an attack that would surely turn the tide of the Pummel Wars.