C&C Red Alert 2: Path to Oblivion
A science-fiction story by Heretic75. This never happened.
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Please note that the character names are friends from the Official Red Alert bulletin board over at Westwood. I COULD have changed them, but felt the need to keep the contents intact since when I first posted it on that very board.
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London. November 1972.
"Officer Heretic?"
Heretic stopped talking as his name was spoken out, and quickly faced towards his class lecturer.
"Well, do you have an answer?" the lecturer requested again, "Or were you not paying attention?"
Several of the other boys laughed discreetly. Heretic stayed silent.
"Would you be paying attention if your base was about to be crushed by fifty of the soviet union's new apocalypse tanks?" she walked towards him, "Or if you had just received warning that the soviet forces in the area had just completed construction of a nuclear silo? What does it take to get your attention, officer?"
Heretic looked blankly at her, obviously not amused that he was being picked on in this way. Then someone else stood up.
"He's quite a field officer, ma'am" it was Soda, "In fact, command has projected him to be the best commander in the whole allied force. When he gets there that is."
Soda was always sticking up for him. He was a fine officer himself.
"So I have heard" his lecturer turned and returned back to the front of the class. Letting out his breath, Heretic nodded his thanks to his friend.
"Gunnery practice later, you ready for it" Heretic asked Soda as they walked down the corridor.
"More than you are!" he laughed back.
As they continued down the corridor, Heretic saw her. A girl whose beauty was beyond comprehension, and by the looks of it, she was a trainee officer too. As their eyes met, he knew he felt something unlike anything he had ever felt before.
Keeping his eyes firmly on her, he didn't realize that Soda had noticed her too.
Detroit City. February 1984.
"Tell the engineer's to get moving. We need that War Factory repaired within the hour."
Heretic sighed as he realized that there was no chance. No chance to save this base. His assistant hurried off to send his message, while Heretic desperately tried to develop some strategy that would hold off the third soviet tank rush this week. A rush that was heading his way.
Walking through the walled enclosure of the construction yard, he could see that the engineer's were already working flat out to get his requested prism towers built and placed. It was hopeless however.
He'd received reports this morning that the soviet forces would arrive by midnight. Spy satellite pictures had shown approximately ten Apocalypse tanks, a dozen flak tracks and a small number of Rhino heavy tanks acting as support. He himself had only a handful of Rocket IFV's and the odd Rocketeer here and there.
The last tank rush had crippled his forces. And he knew he had to fall back.
"Sir!" his assistant shouted to him from across the yard.
"What is it?" he called back, heading towards him.
"A second Allied base has been established in the area, seems command knows about our situation"
"Nationality? Who's the commander in charge of the base?" Heretic questioned. This was good news.
"German Forces, sir. Led by an American commander that they call…" he checked the printed report, then added, "…Sodacider, sir."
Heretic put up his hand for the assistant to stop. He looked at the man who had just helped to bring back memories which he no longer wanted, then without another word, turned and walked towards his quarters.
"Red Rascal, get down!" he shouted to the GI nearby. Heretic moved quickly, and flung himself at the trooper, landing them both hard on the floor an instant later, just as a string of bullets filled the air where Rascal had previously been standing.
"It's an ambush!" he heard someone call out at the back of the squad. Looking back, he could see that his men were pinned. Snipers. It had to be.
As he tried to move out of cover enough to spot the enemy, he saw a flash of light in a nearby building and instinctively ducked back into cover as the bullet hit the ground just centimetres away from his head.
"You should know not to move too close to enemy controlled buildings, officer Heretic"
He was about to turn when he felt the gun pressed into his back.
"Wow. That was fast" He commented as he turned slowly. The woman who had spoken holstered her weapon and smiled proudly, "It's Tank Girl, right?" he added. It was her. The girl he'd seen a few days back in the corridor. Beyond her, he could see that the rest of his squad was in a similar position.
"That would be me. I must say, I expected a bit more of a challenge from someone who is reported to be the finest officer in the allied forces" she replied.
Battle Training. Rubber bullets. He'd never been able to concentrate in simulated environments, he needed the real thing, the fact that people's lives were at risk, before he could play for real.
"My apologies" he said simply, "how about we go to dinner to celebrate your success?"
She looked at him. Then smiled.
"Sir?"
Heretic came out of his thoughts and focused on the assistant who now stood before him. "Yes, what is it?"
"Latest satellite images show that the oncoming soviet forces have changed course. They are now heading much further east than expected, towards Washington"
Washington. Made sense. The resistance there was holding up pretty well.
He stood up from his chair, and was about to leave to check on the reconstruction work when he realized something. Stopping abruptly in his stride, he turned back towards the assistant.
"Won't that take them on a direct path through base alpha-two-seven? The primary airforce command centre in this sector?"
The assistant seemed to think for a moment. Then nodded slowly as the realization hit him too.
"Get everything we've got ready to ride out within the hour." He ordered, "wake the men, tell them to prepare for an offensive."
The assistant nodded, and left quickly. Outside, he could hear the alarms start to sound as his men were woken. Standing, facing the window, he watched as the base suddenly leapt into action. Looking out farther, across the horizon, he knew that Sodacider was out there somewhere, building his own base with which to defend this area from attack.
Sodacider. His ally. His friend. No. That could never be true again.
She was wonderful. They had so much in common.
They had talked forever about the basic principles of prism technology and had debated how to correctly produce good morale amongst troops under their command. She was funny. She was independent. She knew what she wanted and how to get there. She was everything he had ever dreamed of, and more.
Sooner or later, the night had to come to an end. They had parted at her doorstep, long past midnight.
And as he walked home alone, along the empty streets, he knew he was in love.
The fleet of vehicles moved at top speed over the barren surface of the half destroyed roadway. They were going to attempt to reach the airforce base before the soviets could reach it themselves.
"How long till we get there?" Heretic asked the driver of the Grizzley tank as he moved up from the passenger compartment.
"At this speed, ten minutes, sir" he responded.
"And the soviets?" Heretic continued.
The driver looked down at his readouts, pressed a few buttons, then answered.
"Eight minutes, sir" he said grimly.
There was silence. They all knew how fast Apoc tanks could wipe out a base. Those two minutes were all they needed.
"Hey Pete!"
Pete looked down towards the voice which had called him.
"Pete, come on man, come for a drink with us" it was Smellycrap, "You look like you need it"
"Nah, I can't, gotta clean this baby up." He said, as he continued to clean the side of the Harrier Jump Jet, "You know me. Work first, play later"
Smellycrap nodded, "Yeah, well maybe later" he added, then headed back to join the rest of the pilots who were hanging out in the barracks.
Pete looked at his work. The Harrier looked as good as new.
He was about to climb down and join the others, when he thought he noticed something on the horizon. Squinting a little, he tried to make it out. A minute passed, as he continued to try to identify the strange glistening dots.
Then suddenly, his eyes widened as he realised what they were. Jumping into the cockpit in record time, pulling the hatch shut, he watched as the first salvo of shells hit the walls of the airforce command base.
They were too late.
Heretic watched as the remains of the buildings burned in the night sky. Closing his eyes briefly, he mourned those who had died here. Those who he could not have saved.
From within the confines of the Grizzley's armoured hull, he couldn't feel the heat of the flames licking at the air around them.
The base was in ruins. The walls, the defences, the barracks, airbase structures, all flattened to the ground by the sheer power of the soviets weapons. He noticed, also, that the Harriers hadn't even managed to take off to defend the base, as they too were lying in ruin on there landing pads.
No wait. There was one unoccupied grid.
"There's one Harrier left." He stated, looking at the driver, while pointing to the grid.
The driver looked where his commander was pointing, then shrugged "It could have been shot down somewhere else, sir."
Heretic knew the driver was right. He dismissed the idea of trying to find it, and was about to order his units onwards, to attack the flank of the soviet forces, when the vehicle intercom sprang to life.
"Sir, we are no longer receiving messages from home base. It's like the communications just cut off, sir"
Heretic pounded himself for his own foolishness.
Book of standard military practice, page 112, paragraph three, The Decoy manoeuvre. He knew it as well as he knew his own mother, yet he had fallen for it.
The soviet force he was pursuing, was not the true force at all.
"Turn the column around." he spoke, hiding the anger in his voice, "take us home… or to whatever's left of it."
He stood up from his seat. Looking to his left, a few metres away, Tank Girl did the same.
"Trainee officer Heretic, trainee officer Tank Girl, for the smuggling of illegal substances throughout the military training complex, this court hereby finds you…" the Judge waited briefly, and the accused held their breath, "…guilty as charged."
The anger within him urged him to lose control, and seeing Tank Girl fall to her seat, tears in her eyes, he lost it.
"We are innocent!!!" he shouted, "Are you blind to the truth?!"
"Order! Order!" the Judge repeated, smashing his hammer on the desk in front of him.
The guards grabbed Heretic's arms from behind to restrain him, and as he struggled, he could see that Tank Girl was being pulled away too.
"Leave her alone!" he managed to shout amongst the riot.
This was wrong. They were innocent. Innocent.
A tear formed in Heretic's eye. Partly from the memories, partly from the sight of what was left of his base.
He'd left hardly any defences at all, and from the wreckage he could tell that a swarm of terror drones had swept through the base cutting down the GI's he had posted at the main entrances.
There were at least fifteen destroyed terror drones littering the landscape, so he knew the defenders had stood to the last. Despite all that had happened, he was proud of them.
Then one of the drones got up. And ran for his tank.
Through a hail of shouting, the gunner managed to fire off one shell at the drone before it landed on the hull. But it wasn't enough.
Heretic could feel the shaking of the vehicle as the terror drone started to slice through. A second passed. Then it was inside. The driver screamed as the drone appeared right before him from above, and could only watch as his chest was sliced up by the drone's fragile legs.
"Shoot it!" Heretic ordered the gunner, as he himself grabbed a rifle from the wall of the compartment. As it tore through the wiring of the tank, it sensed the bullets that were damaging its armour, and leapt to their source.
Within seconds, the gunner lay dead on the floor of the tank, and the drone eagerly spun around to continue to rip the internals of the vehicle apart.
With the tank shaking violently, Heretic could sense the damage that was being inflicted, and hastily unleashed a whole clip into the drone.
Spinning around again, the drone leapt for him. Falling flat to the floor, it smashed into the ammunition at the back of the tank but managed to pick itself up in an instant.
Leaping again, Heretic had no chance to avoid it. Still on the floor, the drone landed above him, and it was all he could do to attempt to parry each blow from it's piercing legs with the rifle in his hands.
In a desperation blow, he struck the rifle at the centre of the drone with all his might.
And watched as the life drained from it's soulless body.
Catching his breath, he somehow managed to push the carapace of the drone off him, and tried to stand.
Sodacider. His only hope.
"The conscripts have breached the outer wall, commander!" Awesomedan shouted to his commander.
Looking around, Sodacider could see that he was right; "Everyone fall back!" he called out to the GI's near him. Watching as they abandoned their dug-in machine gun posts, he shot a conscript who came into his line of sight.
Awesomedan was the last to leave his post, and Sodacider saw the conscript a second too late. He could only watch as his fellow trooper's body filled with holes and fell to the floor in agony.
He was still alive.
"Sir, we have to fall back now!" the trooper behind Sodacider beckoned for his commander to join him, "If we don't re-establish a perimeter…"
"I know" Sodacider cut him off. But his eyes couldn't leave the downed trooper even as he turned and ran.
Passing several burnt out pillboxes as he ran, and watching the desecrated ground beneath his feet so as not to trip, he hardly noticed Keepgettinbanned vaporize before him.
"Tesla troopers!" someone shouted, and he instantly increased his pace.
Someone else disappeared just to the left of him. And then they were in.
Turning as the doors closed behind him, he wiped the sweat from his forehead.
It was too quiet.
As Heretic's small column of units approached the outer perimeter of Sodacider's base, he could see that there had been some heavy fighting there. However, he could make out several structures still standing within the inner walls.
His convey passed over a large amount of dead troopers, from both sides it seemed. But that was all they found.
Moving through the outer walls, they still met no soviet opposition, nor could they see any trace of the base's defenders.
Coming to a stop before the gate of the inner walled complex. As he climbed out of the top hatch of the IFV he had been travelling in, he was about to order someone in the squad to force the huge doors open when allied GI's suddenly surrounded them on all sides.
The gates opened slowly. As it did, he could see one man standing alone in the gateway.
Fighting hard to control the emotions which threatened to overcome him, he knew he had come face-to-face with Sodacider once again.
Half running for the door of his so-called friend's apartment, he didn't even bother to knock.
Barging in, he could see the look of terror in Sodacider's eyes immediately. As he moved for the back door, Heretic was already there and struck out fast before Sodacider could react.
Going down to the floor instantly, Sodacider clutched his broken nose. Heretic was far from happy with that however, and pulled him up off the floor quickly.
Throwing him across the kitchen table, Sodacider landed hard behind the kitchen compartments on the other side, and didn't try to stand.
Heretic stopped. Leaning against the wall at the other end of the room, fighting his anger, he slid down suddenly onto the floor, and came to a rest sitting on the floor just out of view of Sodacider.
"Why?" he called out, "Why did you set us up?"
Sodacider didn't answer.
"What's wrong with you! I thought we were friends!?" Heretic continued.
"I…I'm sorry…" he heard come back from the kitchen area.
Before either of them could continue, Heretic's mobile phone beeped.
He reached down for it and pressed the answer button. "Hello?" he inquired as he placed it to his ear.
A man answered. "Trainee officer Heretic?" he asked.
"Yes. Speaking"
"We couldn't find you at home... I'm afraid there has been an accident." The man finished.
The two forces had joined together to establish an effective perimeter. Heretic's troops were getting on well with Sodacider's own. However, the commanders were not.
Heretic couldn't bear to talk him, but he knew that any plans that they came up with would have to be done together. Heretic's solution was to send his own second-in-command Morphious in to talks with Sodacider.
But that would soon change.
Suddenly the speakers set around the base blared into life. "Warning. Short range tactical missile silo detected."
And Heretic knew he was
needed now more than ever.
"Twenty minutes until launch." The voice continued as he ran for the command
centre.
Heretic was in the command building within a minute, "What's happening?" he called out to Sodacider.
"The soviets have finished construction of a nuclear silo, in a small base ten minutes south from here" Sodacider answered quickly.
"OK everyone," Heretic called out to the personnel around them, "we need every man armed and ready to move out within five minutes, that means all of you too"
Sodacider stepped in when they didn't start to move, "Come on! Get to it people."
The command personnel all nodded and filed out of the room to prepare for the new offensive. As the door closed behind them, Heretic and Sodacider were alone for the first time in twelve years.
Sodacider was about to speak when he felt the gun being trained on his head.
Heretic stood at the other end of the room, pistol drawn, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now." He moved closer, taking care to keep the gun aimed precisely at Sodacider's head, "You never did tell me why you did it."
Sodacider looked down at his feet in shame. Then pushed the table in the middle of the room over hard. It hit Heretic and he grimaced, but quickly regained his posture. But not before Sodacider had drawn his own handgun.
They stood there, handguns pointed at each other, neither prepared to put their weapons away.
"You shoot, and your coming with me" Sodacider commented.
"You think your fast enough?" Heretic quizzed.
"Remember I always got better scores than you on gunnery practice?" Sodacider continued.
"That was twelve years ago. I've had a lot of time to improve." Heretic countered, "Why did you set us up? Why?"
Sodacider seemed to panic, "Jealously, Ambition… my god, there are tons of reasons!" Heretic listened, "You always had everything! Predicted to be the best commander in the force at the young age of eighteen! The greatest girl I've ever seen would have been yours too! You had a loving family, a great life, and what did I have? Nothing! No one cared about me! It was always you!!"
There was silence for a brief moment.
"You don't know do you?" Heretic asked eventually.
Sodacider looked puzzled, "Know what?"
"She killed herself that night." he said slowly.
He had ran nearly half a mile to her apartment. The rain was heavy and he was soaked. When he arrived he was out of breath, but that didn't matter. As he turned the corner, they were already loading the stretcher into the ambulance. Reaching it just before the rear doors were closed, he knew it was her.
"Wh…a..t..? Why?" Sodacider couldn't believe this and struggled to complete his sentence. His handgun fell to the floor.
Heretic tried to continue, "She was a career woman, her father was furious at her tarnished record, too many people were talking about her, she couldn't take it all."
Sodacider looked up and saw the gun still pointed at him.
"By god, I wanted to kill you that night… that's why I left." Heretic concluded, feeling the hatred burning within him.
Outside, the combined army was ready to move out. Twenty Grizzley tanks, Twelve IFV's, fourteen squads of GI's and a small squad of Rocketeer's awaited their commanders. Then they heard a gun fire.
Morphious threw open the door and entered the main room of the command centre, gun drawn. He saw Heretic instantly, then looking to his left, saw Sodacider too.
"We heard gun fire, sir." Morphious inquired.
Sodacider pointed to a corpse at the other side of the room. Morphious leant to try and make it out.
Heretic helped him out, "Crazy Ivan, or more precisely a Chrono Ivan." Heretic holstered his weapon, "seems the soviets intended to blow this base while we were gone."
Sodacider cut in, "That means they know we are coming. A frontal assault will surely fail."
Morphious moved over to check that the Ivan was dead, and Heretic noticed the backpack that the Ivan was carrying. Shifting his gaze to Sodacider once more, he spoke.
"Do you think it would fail if their Tesla Coils were offline?"
Sodacider looked at him, slightly puzzled.
Heretic grinned, "I say it's about time we used their own equipment against them."
Morphious was the first to realize the plan. Sodacider wasn't far behind.
"Move the column to the main entrance of the soviet base." he ordered Sodacider, "they'll take you for a fool and underestimate our chances. That's when the power will go down. I'll do it myself." He moved over to the Ivan and started to unbuckle the backpack from the dead mans waist.
Sodacider looked back as he reached the door.
For a brief time, their feud would be forgotten. But only for now. He still had a lot to pay for.
Heretic appeared deep within the soviet base. There was no sound at first, and all he could see was photons of light zigzagging before his eyes. Looking down, he could barely make out his own body as he was chrono-shifted into position behind the front lines of the enemy stronghold.
Mere seconds past, but for him, they seemed to take forever. Suddenly his hearing returned, but he still could not move.
Instantly, he noticed the barking dog on the horizon. It wasn't looking at him, but it drove fear into him nonetheless. Dogs were a chrono legionnaires worst enemy. But he wasn't any normal chrono trooper, he was fully kitted out with sniper rifle, machine gun, explosives and grenades.
A one-man army so to speak.
He looked down at his watch. Just six minutes until Sodacider arrived at the head of their combined forces. Six minutes for him to cause as much mayhem as possible.
As his body slowly started to phase back into real time, the dog's patrol route was leading him closer and closer to Heretic's hidden position.
Suddenly it looked up. And saw him.
Sodacider looked out the main viewer of the veteran Grizzley light tank. The column was moving at top speed to their destination at the front of the soviet base.
His forward scouts had reported at least seven Tesla Coils stationed there. Along with the heavy line of units ready to repel any attack.
Amonshaw turned to his commander, "This is really not a good idea, sir."
Sodacider had to agree. But it was also the only chance they had.
Amonshaw flicked a few buttons to activate the primary turret, "How do we know that he'll get the power down in time?"
"He'll do it." Sodacider stated with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.
The dog was running for him as fast as its tiny legs would take it. Heretic instantly started to panic, as he watched it run. Twenty metres away. Fifteen.
Suddenly the transition ended, and Heretic was in real-space again. He swung the sniper rifle from behind his back in an instant, clicking the safety off.
Ten metres.
Moving the rifles scope to his eye, he quickly adjusted for the short range. Knelt and took aim.
Five metres. It started to pounce.
The shot hit it and it fell to the ground.
Without wasting another second, Heretic was on his feet and darted for the nearest cover in the direction of the Tesla Reactors.
"Sir?" Amonshaw alerted his commander.
Sodacider looked up.
And saw the Kirov airship approaching them in the sky high above.
He had placed charges on four Tesla Reactors. The plan was to detonate them all at the same time while he was hidden.
He had passed the nuclear silo but had been unable to get close enough. Too well guarded for his liking. Sodacider would have to take it down.
Looking east, he noticed two more Tesla Reactors separated from the rest.
Lifting his watch, he could see that Sodacider would be here within two minutes.
He darted for the nearest building, avoiding all the patrolling Conscripts easily. But as he rounded the next corner, he almost walked straight into a single Conscript trooper.
The gun was to his temple much faster than he had anticipated.
Sodacider could see the base clearly now, but that Kirov was nearly above them.
The Rocketeer's were trying to take it down, and he watched as they elegantly swooped around it blasting it with everything they had.
But the damage was minimal, and he knew they wouldn't destroy it before it could commence its deadly bombing run.
The earth ahead of them started to rumble, Sodacider couldn't tell if it was because of the approaching soviet defence forces, or because the Kirov had started to bomb the ground ahead of them.
Either way, things weren't looking too good for the home team.
Heretic was forced down onto the seat.
Opposite him sat what he expected to be the Russian commander of this base.
They had taken his equipment, his backpack and weapons. That included the detonator for the bombs which he had planted.
He managed to look at his watch, one minute until Sodacider hit the perimeter. Damn.
The Russian looked at him, "What is your name and rank, soldier?"
Heretic just glanced up. And felt the gun butt hit him hard on his back.
"Name and rank." The general repeated.
The Rhino lurched to a halt and it's cannon spun around tracking for targets.
Moments later the Grizzley next to Sodacider's own erupted into flame and came to a sudden halt.
"All units break and attack!" Sodacider called out across the intercom.
Behind him, the battle group split outwards and started to take firing positions. Ahead of him, he could make out several Rhino Heavy tanks, supported by a small group of flak tracks. Above them the Kirov continued to rain it's death upon them all.
Another tank erupted as the plasma bomb hit it dead centre.
Sodacider could only watch as his IFV's tried to concentrate on both the Kirov and the attacking forces. He knew he had to provide them with as much cover as he could.
"Split into squads," he ordered, "Two tanks covering each IFV"
The column formed again, then adjusted to Sodacider's instructions. He watched as the groups each took to their own direction and targets.
A Rhino exploded a few metres away as one squad combined their firepower.
Moving his own squad forward, he hoped Heretic had those Coils powered down.
Time was up.
Sodacider would know by now that the Coils where still in operation.
Heretic cursed himself for his foolishness.
"I will not repeat this again…" the general stated, clearly agitated.
"My name is Heretic, Force Commander of the Seventeenth Battalion Allied Forces. Happy now?" he replied grinning cheekily.
The general looked deeply at him, "Well… Commander, it what seem that your forces are crushed. Your base in ruins." The general stood and copied Heretic's grin, "And soon Washington will be in ruins, once my nuclear missile is ready to launch."
Heretic laughed mockingly.
"I think not, general."
With that, the table between them was flipped towards the Russian interrogator, and before anyone could react, Heretic was over the top and already clutching the handgun that the General had holstered.
Moving behind the General, Heretic held the gun to the Russian's head and cocked the trigger.
As the guard evaluated what to do, Heretic gave him only one choice, "Take me to my equipment." He dug the barrel of the weapon into the General's head, "or, I could just blow his brains out, your choice."
Another Grizzley burst into flame to his right. The IFV's were being protected well, but at the expense of the tanks.
A plasma bomb landed behind him and one of his squad's IFV's exploded instantly.
Sodacider looked up. The Kirov was in flames, but it wasn't slowing the thing down at all.
"Everyone, push forward." He shouted over the intercom, "we don't have much time."
Half of his forces had been cut down, but the Soviets were certainly taking casualties too. Most of their Rhinos were now burnt out shells on the muddy battleground.
His squad passed through a gap between two smoking flak tracks and as the thick smoke cleared he could clearly see the outer perimeter walls less than thirty metres away.
He looked at his watch. Heretic should be done by now. Looking up at the immense coils just behind the huge armoured walls, he couldn't make out whether they were still functioning or not.
As his units formed together once more, darting amongst the remaining Soviet forces, they pressed onwards towards the main entrance.
Hearing the intense battle in the distance, Heretic knew he had to complete his mission now.
They were walking down a long corridor towards the armoury where his equipment was allegedly being held. The guard was making sure to take as much time as possible.
He didn't have time for this. Shooting the guard unexpectedly, he smashed the butt of the gun on the General's head, knocking him out cold. Then ran for where he believed the detonator to be waiting.
"The Tesla Coils are still online!" someone shouted over the intercom.
And he was right. Sodacider watched as one tank after another disintegrated before his own eyes.
Suddenly his own tank shook violently, and several readouts and control panels exploded outward as the Tesla burst short-circuited many of the Grizzley's electric components.
Amonshaw glanced at him but said nothing.
"All unit!" he cried out "Hold your course!"
By now the Soviet Rhino's were attacking their flank, and the IFV's were fast turning into burnt out wreckage at the back of the group.
"We are outnumbered, and outgunned, Commander!" Amonshaw stated heavily, "the best we can do is to get the hell out of here!"
"No!" Sodacider almost shouted, "He'll do it. I know he will."
Heretic ran down the corridor, threw open the door. Shot the first Conscript that he saw.
Another screamed something in Russian and let out a stream of bullets from his gun.
Heretic dived for cover behind a low desk, and barely made it.
The firing stopped, and he was up faster than he thought possible, his bullets ripping through the Conscripts flesh.
Sighting his backpack, he ran over to it, rummaged around inside.
A Conscript entered through the door. Turning quickly, Heretic struck him down with a single shot to the forehead.
He pulled something out of the bag. The detonator.
Catching his breath quickly, he flipped the safety over, then held down the button. In the background he could almost feel the explosions that were the annihilation of the entire base's power supply.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain just below his heart. Moving his empty hand down to his chest and then bringing it back into his sight again he found his hand entirely covered in his own blood.
Somehow turning around and despite his blurring vision, he managed to glimpse the Conscript who had snuck up on him from behind.
Before he stumbled silently to the ground beneath him.
Another tank disappeared. Then another.
Sodacider knew this was it. A noble ending.
His GI squadrons were beginning to reach the perimeter now, behind the rest of the group, but they were no help now. There wasn't enough time.
Ahead of them, he could see a Coil charging, and he knew where it was aiming. He waited for the inevitable. He waited eagerly for his death.
But instead, the ground shook violently without warning, and on the horizon he could make out four huge explosions as the reactors were destroyed in an instant.
Without power, he watched each Tesla Coil go offline within seconds.
"That crazy son of a bitch did it!" Amonshaw called out.
The rest of his platoon was cheering too.
Sodacider returned his thoughts to the mission, "Okay, lets take that Silo down."
His last four tanks pushed forward into the base unopposed.
Ahead of them the Silo started to open up.
"General Aximi?" the Conscript repeated.
The general came to. He was dazed, but remembered enough of what had transposed.
"What has happened?" he asked the guard.
"The power supply has been cut off, General, the Tesla Coils are offline. A small number of Allied tanks has entered the base, heading for the Silo, sir."
"Our defences?" Aximi asked his conscript.
"Our remaining units will not intercept the Allied Forces before they reach the silo, sir"
The General stood, and was clearly full of rage, "Get my Apocalypse ready… I'll handle this myself."
Four minutes.
Time was running out. Sodacider looked down at the tank's display readout's and could see clearly that it was already way above recommended top speed.
He glanced at the driver, who returned the glance.
They would make it. Barely.
Suddenly, the tank to his left rocked heavily on it's chassis, and the turret section ripped away from the base, both hurtling over on the landscape as the force of the blow which had hit it, tore it in two. Another blast disintegrated the turret, and the chassis continued to spin backwards as it burned.
"Apocalypse tank! Coming in fast!" he heard over the intercom. "Sir, we…" the voice was cut off as the tank behind Sodacider's own erupted upwards in an immense flame of destruction.
When what was left of the tank landed abruptly on the ground once more, he watched as the whole charred hull burned furiously. This was no ordinary Apocalypse. He hadn't seen firepower like that before.
"Stay on target!" Sodacider called out. Three minutes.
More shots of extreme devastation rained around them as the Apocalypse somehow gained up on them, it's double barrel's firing shell after shell at the Grizzley's before it.
The last two tanks weaved elegantly as they attempted to dodge the shots that would ultimately annihilate them in an instant.
The silo grew larger as they grew closer; it's sheer size blacking out the night's moon.
"Sir, how do we propose to blow this thing we get close enough?" It was Cyphon, the driver of the other remaining tank, "Even our combined firepower won't stop that thing in time."
He was right. "Just aim for the missile." Sodacider suggested, "It can't launch if it's not there, can it?"
Cyphon chuckled over the com. He didn't get to do anything else.
The tank exploded as the shot hit its target. Sodacider could only watch as the burned-out shell dropped back into the distance as his own tank continued onwards. Alone.
Two minutes.
His hand reached up to the desk above. Gripping it as tightly as he could, he pulled himself up.
His vision was foggy and blurred, but he could still make out his equipment on the table to the right. Slowly, half crawling, Heretic arrived at the desk and reached for the chrono backpack.
They were hit. The controls within the tank suddenly grew flames as one system after another failed and cut out. Sodacider reached for the hatch above him. Opened it.
Another shot landed close to the disabled tank, even as Sodacider climbed out. He jumped down, ran onwards, then turned his head to check on the driver as he ran.
The driver was half out, when the third shot tore the Grizzley into pieces.
Picking up his pace, despite the sudden shockwave of the erupting tank, Sodacider ran for the silo. Feeling the ground collapse behind him as another shot landed close, he reflected on what was obviously the end of his life.
Another shot landed closer. Sodacider was flung from his feet and landed facing the way he had come. He could make out the Apoc just fifty metres away. Next shot would hit. He was sure of it.
Suddenly, something moved in the sky beyond the smoke and the darkness. Something small and agile… it got closer, and even as the Apocalypse bore down on him, he somehow managed to fix his gaze on the object that was approaching them.
An object in the sky… a harrier.
Pete watched the flashing fuel warning. He had been airborne for far too long, if he was to be of any help, it had to be now.
He looked out across the battlefield, saw the tank that was chasing the lone soldier heading for the silo.
Within seconds, his course was adjusted and his missiles primed.
Sodacider watched the missiles leave the small aircraft, watched as they struck deep into the armour of the Apoc, blowing whole sections of armour off instantly.
As the harrier flew low over its target, he also saw the anti-air missiles on the Apocalypse shoot up at its airborne enemy, mere moments before the tank erupted into flames before him, sending him reeling back suddenly.
Pete looked at his display. He knew he couldn't lose the small missiles which had locked onto the heat being emitted from his harrier. Cursing himself for his own foolishness, he looked down at a picture of his wife and children slowly. He would miss them. He was to leave the forces in two months, just in time for the birth of his third child.
Gritting his teeth through teary eyes, he swung the plane around and aimed the nose at the silo. He'd never make it.
One minute.
Sodacider picked himself up, sprinted for the silo with every last ounce of strength he had left. As he looked up, he could see the harrier heading for the silo ahead of him.
But it never got there. He could only watch as the missiles trailing it, caught up and hammered their explosive blows deep into the hull.
Within seconds the harrier was no more.
Cursing, Sodacider ran. His life had been spared. But for what?
He wouldn't make it.
Couldn't make it.
Less than thirty seconds remained, he knew it. He was still a good hundred metres away and he was running at a pace he never knew his body could handle.
His mind clearly wasn't working. What did he intend to do once he got there?
Questions started to sprout in his head.
He ran. Why? To be swallowed up by the missile's flames as it launches?
Ten seconds. Noooooooo!! He almost screamed to himself. He would do it!!
He was about to run up the ramp leading to the silo, his determination pushing him forward. He never got chance.
Ahead of him, in a burst of tremendous power, which knocked him flying back off his feet onto the heavy dirt behind him, the silo exploded.
Lifting his head enough to look at the mushroom cloud that was appearing before him, just beyond the ramp, he tried to work out what had happened.
This wasn't right. He hadn't done anything.
He tried to stand. Found he couldn't move his left leg, and winced as he noticed the pain for the first time.
Lying back again, he lay, almost calmly as the fires beyond the ramp burnt with a rage he never seen before. The flames played tricks with his eyes and he found himself almost watching strange patterns in the now ravaging fires.
As the explosion began to settle, Sodacider passed out.
He felt himself being lifted onto the stretcher, felt the stretcher be pushed into the medical vehicle, felt the vehicle start up and begin moving.
Opening his eyes slowly, Sodacider could make out a man sitting besides him.
"Just rest." The man told him.
He couldn't. He needed to know what happened. "Heretic?" he inquired.
The man didn't answer.
"Is he okay?" Sodacider continued.
After a brief pause, the man spoke up "There has been no sign of him. Rescue units are presuming him to be dead." The man looked directly at Sodacider, "I'm sorry."
High above the battlefield, on a hill next to the soviet base which was now in the same state as his own base, Heretic watched the ambulance drive off in the distance.
He held a cloth to his wound, and stood just off of a small road leading no-where in particular.
Looking down at the floor, the chrono-backpack remained at his feet. It had saved them all. It had only taken seconds to chrono-shift to the nuclear silo, set it to destruct, then shift back to where he was now.
And Sodacider was okay. For some reason, he was glad. And he had watched just to make sure he was found. Heretic smiled after realizing the hate was gone.
It wasn't your fault she died. Not your fault at all.
Behind him he heard a car approach and then come to a stop behind him.
"Want a lift, Mr?" someone shouted to him.
Heretic turned to the driver of the automobile, and then looked back across the horizon.
"Yeah…" he replied.
"Where you heading?" the driver continued.
Heretic looked out across the battlefield that they had created. Watched the ravaging fires and the smoke that urged to conquer the sky. Saw the destroyed units and un-moving corpses. A second later, and the Sun appeared from behind a small ridge, and as the smile returned to his lips, he spoke again.
"I'm going home."
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- Heretic75 [ heretic bloodline ]
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15/01/01