01: Flank Attack
Will sat his quarter at Wolves HQ. After their confrontation with Caulder, the Earth had been making a speedy recovery. Things were still not the same. The entire surface was divided into regions: A-Zone meant habitable or able to sustain life with minimal threat, B-Zone which was were most of the population lived, not quite as clean as an A-Zone but almost, then there was the C-Zones which people were not advised to enter. Any military personnel who went in, and out often were not the same, or didn't come out at all. They had to be heavily sterilized and all their equipment destroyed upon entry of an A or B-Zone. C-Zones could not sustain life for a simple reason: a heavy concentration of radiation from the meteors that had hit Earth just years ago.
A Wolf suddenly barged into Will's quarter. "Sir! Non responsive units have been spotted just southeast of our position," said the soldier quite frantically. There had been no hostile contact for two years.
"Soldier, what confirmation do we have," asked Will. The soldier explained a radar more detailed then Will needed to hear, but he was right. There were definitely two units, apparently tanks with a nearby HQ just out of the Wolves HQ. "Have we tried radio contact," asked WIll again.
"No sir, they're not responding to anything, we also deployed warning flares." Warning flares were a canister that sprayed purple gas upon impact to ward away hostile, or curious on comers to stay away because this was a military area.
"Do we have any units ready for combat in the armory," asked Will.
The soldier nodded "Yes sir, I'll get them ready sir." An unmanned UAV confirmed the thoughts that there were two hostile tanks nearby, there was also a confirmed siting on an HQ not too far away either. The only combat ready units in the armory were a recon unit and a mech unit with a rig. Will took command, and joined linked to the soldiers' public radio channel.
"Alright guys, we're outgunned by these tanks, they'll shred through that recon and the rig in not too long at all, so it's a matter of storming their HQ. Bravo squad, you're to board the rig with Gamma and head for the HQ. Echo squad, shield them from tank fire. The outer armor on the recon should shield you for a few shots, but if not try to ditch in the nearby mountains. I'm sorry soldiers we're low on rations so you'll have to conserve fuel if possible. Use the mountains near their HQ as well to shield you from the tanks."
Within minutes the battle was under way, Bravo and Gamma headed through the woods and got within a click of the HQ un-noticed. Echo was not far behind them. Upon their exit of the forest the hostile tanks caught sight of the convoy and headed for them. The squads got ready to be hammered, but then heard the distinct ting of bullets off metal.
Will's radio channel cracked indicating someone was trying to link him. His HUD showed it was Echo squad. He accepted the link and listened "Sir, I think the hostile tank's main cannons are offline. They're firing at us with their secondary machine guns. We're five-hundred meters from their HQ now and we're going to ditch in four-hundred."
"Good job, link me when you've entered the HQ." Will signed off the channel and examined the confrontation from the UAV. In another five minutes Bravo, Gamma and Echo had out maneuvered the tanks, and Bravo squad had breached the enemy HQ. Will's radio channel cracked again, and he accepted. "Sir, we're in the HQ and there's no resistance! None! I think we're in the main room or something of that sort, there's no personnel looks like they've ditched. We've confiscated some papers and are returning to HQ. No losses today sir, complete success!"
Without saying anything Will signed off. Five minutes later the soldiers returned, were debriefed, and WIll examined the plans. They explained a missile that held a tonne of liquid, called Hydroporium. This was something worth a look at. Suddenly WIll's radio crackled from an unknown contact "This is not the last you will hear from us," said an agitated Russian accent. Until now no one had even considered who the CO might be. The world would be plunged into a new apocalypse. Something that was deliberate.
