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"I asked a friend of mine a question who was there during the Battle of Praxium. He was a squadleader for a group of naval specialists who are sometimes tasked with land duties. I asked him what stood out during this battle that differed from the others, as according to him, most of the battles he fought so far was more or less similar in tactics, logistics, etc.

According to him, the mission to retake the bridge at Praxium started out like any other battle he fought in; numerous sector scans were deployed along with air strikes to soften enemy resistance. After enemy positions were compromised, he and his squad along with a couple of hover tanks were sent in to physically retake the bridge. Pretty simple orders, he commented. As he and his company moved across town and onto the bridge, they heard a faint echo. This echo was unlike any other heard by him or his teammates. The echo didn't match any of the sound-bits produced by the familiar robotic enemies he had fought before. As the company moved along the bridge, the echo changed in volume constantly. Every step [my friend] took managed to emit either a soft hum or a loud hissing hum, similar to that of Earth snakes, except this hiss sounded mechanical and distorted. As they moved further along the bridge, all they can hear was this hum. Their footsteps were barely audible. The soft hum of the hover tanks' engines were now replaced by loud distorted hisses.

The tanks were then ordered to move forward along the bridge to investigate while the squad was told to sit back. After a few minutes, smoke started to enveloped the bridge. The squad lost sight of the tanks and the hissing got more intense. As per training, the squad maintained their positions. Suddenly in the smoky distance, they saw six red lights in the shape of a T. The hissing got louder and louder as this T shaped-light started getting closer and closer to the squad. Soon the outline of a large bipedal being began to show. The squad stayed where they are, weapons up, as this being revealed itself through the smoke. What stood merely meters away from the squad was this large, towering robot boasting heavy autocannons for arms and a turret mounted before the 'head'. The squad stood there dumbfounded before [my friend] screamed, "RUN!" off the top of his lungs. The squad didn't listen. They couldn't hear him; he couldn't even hear himself. The hiss was so loud that he couldn't give instructions to his squadmates standing right next to him. The robot aimed at the squad and got ready to fire. Seeing how this was futile, he instantly ran in the opposite direction, trying to get clear of the smoke, the robot, and the cacophony of loud hisses and hums.

After what seemed like an eternity he finally reached the start of the bridge, broad as daylight and with utter silence. This silence lasted only for a moment as he heard a wail above him and the sound of a large explosion just seconds after. The explosion cleared the smoke from earlier, producing its own smoke. However, the smoke cleared quickly, allowing the lone squadleader to investigate. As he walked along the bridge, he noticed a large gap between him and the other side of town. Apparently the wail he heard was a friendly jet flying by to drop a bomb directly onto the bridge, annihilating the only link from this side of town to the other. His company is completely decimated, with no sign of his squadmates or the hover tanks anywhere. Everything is now silent, with the exception of the rushing waters below. He sat down amidst the rubble listened to the water for a good while before he called for evac.

Apparently, what happened, which I found out after asking around, was that one of the hover tanks encountered another robot after leaving the squad behind. They engaged fire and before long, both tanks were rendered nonfunctional. A surviving crewmember was able to call in an air strike to destroy the bridge, hoping to take out the robot before it can take out the rest of the squad. It is all assumptions after this point, but that crewmember hoped that my friend would have led the squad out of the bridge after receiving word that both tanks got destroyed. It is safe to say that that crewmember didn't count on there being a second robot, the one that would engage the squad, along with the hiss that was so loud that all communication seemed futile.

After my friend told me what happened on the bridge, he finally answered my question. It wasn't the loud hissing sound that stood out to him, which I thought he would have answered; what stood out to him was the sound of the water he heard as he sat down in the rubble. He told me that at that moment, he forgot what water sounded like. It was like hearing it for the first time, he added. He said that that mechanical hiss was so invasive and overwhelming that he forgot what water sounded like, the thing that he trained in for years. He sat there, dumbfounded, for a while before calling for someone to pick him up.

Reports confirmed that sector scans didn't pick these robots up due to advanced stealth coating.

Further reports confirmed that this loud mechanical hiss were produced by these robots along with the smoke.''

Description
"I asked a friend of mine a question who was there during the Battle of Praxium. He was a squadleader for a group of naval specialists who are sometimes tasked with land duties. I asked him what stood out during this battle that differed from the others, as according to him, most of the battles he fought so far was more or less similar in tactics, logistics, etc.

According to him, the mission to retake the bridge at Praxium started out like any other battle he fought in; numerous sector scans were deployed along with air strikes to soften enemy resistance. After enemy positions were compromised, he and his squad along with a couple of hover tanks were sent in to physically retake the bridge. Pretty simple orders, he commented. As he and his company moved across town and onto the bridge, they heard a faint echo. This echo was unlike any other heard by him or his teammates. The echo didn't match any of the sound-bits produced by the familiar robotic enemies he had fought before. As the company moved along the bridge, the echo changed in volume constantly. Every step [my friend] took managed to emit either a soft hum or a loud hissing hum, similar to that of Earth snakes, except this hiss sounded mechanical and distorted. As they moved further along the bridge, all they can hear was this hum. Their footsteps were barely audible. The soft hum of the hover tanks' engines were now replaced by loud distorted hisses.

The tanks were then ordered to move forward along the bridge to investigate while the squad was told to sit back. After a few minutes, smoke started to enveloped the bridge. The squad lost sight of the tanks and the hissing got more intense. As per training, the squad maintained their positions. Suddenly in the smoky distance, they saw six red lights in the shape of a T. The hissing got louder and louder as this T shaped-light started getting closer and closer to the squad. Soon the outline of a large bipedal being began to show. The squad stayed where they are, weapons up, as this being revealed itself through the smoke. What stood merely meters away from the squad was this large, towering robot boasting heavy autocannons for arms and a turret mounted before the 'head'. The squad stood there dumbfounded before [my friend] screamed, "RUN!" off the top of his lungs. The squad didn't listen. They couldn't hear him; he couldn't even hear himself. The hiss was so loud that he couldn't give instructions to his squadmates standing right next to him. The robot aimed at the squad and got ready to fire. Seeing how this was futile, he instantly ran in the opposite direction, trying to get clear of the smoke, the robot, and the cacophony of loud hisses and hums.

After what seemed like an eternity he finally reached the start of the bridge, broad as daylight and with utter silence. This silence lasted only for a moment as he heard a wail above him and the sound of a large explosion just seconds after. The explosion cleared the smoke from earlier, producing its own smoke. However, the smoke cleared quickly, allowing the lone squadleader to investigate. As he walked along the bridge, he noticed a large gap between him and the other side of town. Apparently the wail he heard was a friendly jet flying by to drop a bomb directly onto the bridge, annihilating the only link from this side of town to the other. His company is completely decimated, with no sign of his squadmates or the hover tanks anywhere. Everything is now silent, with the exception of the rushing waters below. He sat down amidst the rubble listened to the water for a good while before he called for evac.

Apparently, what happened, which I found out after asking around, was that one of the hover tanks encountered another robot after leaving the squad behind. They engaged fire and before long, both tanks were rendered nonfunctional. A surviving crewmember was able to call in an air strike to destroy the bridge, hoping to take out the robot before it can take out the rest of the squad. It is all assumptions after this point, but that crewmember hoped that my friend would have led the squad out of the bridge after receiving word that both tanks got destroyed. It is safe to say that that crewmember didn't count on there being a second robot, the one that would engage the squad, along with the hiss that was so loud that all communication seemed futile.

After my friend told me what happened on the bridge, he finally answered my question. It wasn't the loud hissing sound that stood out to him, which I thought he would have answered; what stood out to him was the sound of the water he heard as he sat down in the rubble. He told me that at that moment, he forgot what water sounded like. It was like hearing it for the first time, he added. He said that that mechanical hiss was so invasive and overwhelming that he forgot what water sounded like, the thing that he trained in for years. He sat there, dumbfounded, for a while before calling for someone to pick him up.

Reports confirmed that sector scans didn't pick these robots up due to advanced stealth coating.

Further reports confirmed that this loud mechanical hiss were produced by these robots along with the smoke.''