Authors Note: This takes place in the universe of Rostil 4.0 (which I am now putting its story projects under the Storm & Fire brand) on the Max Barry online game NationStates. Special thanks to A Most Sovereign Lady for collaborating with me on this story.
Warning: This story has been rated M for scenes of graphic and of disturbing nature. You have been warned.
Operation Greyhound
A Storm & Fire Short Story
Written by
Christopher Manson
and
Astrid Wells
Doriande City, Dorian Republic
1980
Major Melania Kaube, head of the Euro-Asian Army's commando forces stood in a radio room in Doriande City. She listened to the radio chatter of commando squads operating throughout the Dorian theatre, thinking about the missions that these people are in; thinking about the fact that these missions are no different from the one she took part in in 1962 in Central Uhlanga.
Central Uhlanga; a nation that had won its independence from the Estainians in 1947. In 1958, a communist revolt broke out. However, the military forces under General Muda Oyendalu had foiled the communists' take over. In the immediate aftermath, General Oyendalu and his cadre of fascist generals and politicians reorganized the Central Uhlangan Confederation into a "constitutional monarchy" known as the Central Uhlangan Empire; otherwise known as the Uhlangan Empire, with Oyendalu crowned "Emperor" Oyendalu I; who spent the equivalent of over 20 million Californian Standard Dollars, a quarter of the nation's annual income, on his coronation ceremony alone.
It was under this "constitutional monarchy" that Oyendalu I and the fascists had openly began persecuting and torturing what they deemed as those who were "impure", which were ethnic Estainians, Darcsen, Eurasians, political dissidents and ethnic Uhlangans who willingly worked with them.
It was after a group of schoolchildren were massacred that both the Estainians and Eurasians decided that enough was enough, and begun preparations for Oyendalu's removal from power. By October 7th, 1962, they were ready to strike. Melania, who was at the rank of Captain at the time, was part of this endeavour.
Petersburg, Central Uhlangan Empire
7 October, 1962 - 0445 Hours Local Time
"The Naval Air Arm has begun its bombing mission." 1st Lt. Svyatoslav Utkin stated as air raid sirens started going off all over the city. Douglas A-4 Skyhawks and Heinemann HJ-5 Minervas began dropping bombs on C.U.E military installations in the early morning hours of October the 7th. The Naval Air Arm's purpose was to, not only take out the C.U.E's command structure, but also to distract the C.U.E's military while the Estainian and Euro-Asian ground forces moved in on the Parliament.
"Right that's our cue. We move through the city and link up with the Estainians. Move out!" Captain Melania Kowalczyk replied to her squad, the Euro-Asian Army 5th Commandos. Almost immediately, she and her squad started moving from their starting point at the Euro-Asian Embassy toward their objective: The Parliament building.
As they rounded a corner, they came across a C.U.E patrol, armed with Ostrov M1951 automatic rifles.
"Enemy patrol. On me." Melania instructed her squad as she methodically shot one of them in the head with a 7.45 millimeter round from her Belkan National Armory StG-55 battle rifle. Within moments of the soldier going down, the rest of her squad downs the other patrol members.
"Everyone good?" Melania asked.
"We're good." 2nd Lt. Hannah Wieck replied.
"Alright, keep moving." Melania ordered.
"This is Lima Niner! We're hit! We're going down!" the frantic radio calls of a nearby Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter was heard as it was shot down by AA guns. The radio calls went silent the moment that the UH-1 hit the ground in the slums.
"Lima Niner, this is Hotel Six, come in! Come in!" the radio call of another nearby Huey is heard as it tried to re-establish contact.
"Hotel Six, Lima Niner's gone." The radio chatter continued as Melania and the rest of her squad advanced through the street. They soon came across a lone C.U.E soldier.
"Take him out, Wieck." Melania ordered. Hannah then started sneaking up to the lone soldier. When she got up to him, she covered his mouth with her hand and stabbed him in the throat.
"He's down." Hannah said, and the squad continued on its way. While they were doing so, they heard an ominous broadcast on the city's loudspeaker; it was Oyendalu I.
"Wananchi wa Petersburg, I, mtawala wako sasa tunawasihi ninyi, katika saa hii ya giza, asafishe watu mchafu mara moja na kwa wote!" ("Citizens of Petersburg, I, your Emperor now implore you, in this dark hour, to purge the impure peoples once and for all!")
"What did that son of a bitch say?!" Svyatoslav asked, both confused and alarmed.
"He said that the 'impure' are to be purged." Melania replied, her face turning pale.
"Shit! I hope the Embassies aren't being targeted!" Hannah cursed, knowing what this meant.
"We better hurry." Melania urged as they picked up the pace.
"Your collaboration with the Impure peoples is proof of your guilt. By my decree, the execution of those who work willingly alongside the Impure are to begin immediately!" The sound of Oyendalu continued, this time in Eurasian.
Before their very eyes, the commandos saw C.U.E soldiers shooting at what looked to be a group of Darcsen civilians; men, women and children. The commandos began charging toward the C.U.E soldiers with the intent to kill them and to save as many civilians as possible.
Firing their StG-55s, the Euro-Asian commandos mowed down the C.U.E death squad. After the last C.U.E soldier in the group was killed, Hannah went to check on the victims to see if any were still alive and in need of medical attention.
"Are any still alive?" Melania asked. The only answer she got was Hannah shaking her head 'no'.
"Fucker! I'll make sure Oyendalu pays!" Svyatoslav cursed.
"There will be bloodshed soon enough, Utkin. For now, we focus on our objective." Melania reassured.
"...Alright." Svyatoslav reluctantly replied.
"Wieck, ready to put that flamethrower attachment to good use?" Melania asked.
"You bet." Hannah replied, holding her StG-55 with said underbarrel flamethrower attachment on.
"Good." Melania said, patting her StG-55's grenade launcher attachment.
The squad continued onward until they unexpectedly crossed paths with a Maxwell Type 41A3 Athena infantry fighting vehicle.
"Shit! IFV!" Svyatoslav cursed as the IFV in question started firing on them.
"Get in cover! Don't make yourselves an easy target!" Melania urged as she and the others ran to find cover.
Suddenly, the IFV started offloading infantry. A few infantrymen approached Hannah's position, to which they were burned alive by her flamethrower.
While this was happening, Melania and Svyatoslav were shooting their StG-55s at the remaining infantrymen, with Melania occasionally firing a grenade at the IFV, which proved to be little good.
All of a sudden, the IFV was destroyed. Melania and the others looked around confused, until they saw an Estainian Type 60A2 Parker main battle tank approaching.
"Yeah!" Hannah shouted as the tank rolled by.
Melania saw an Estainian officer and decided to approach him.
"We're Euro-Asian commandos. Don't shoot!" She said trying to inform the Estainians who they were.
"Stand down, men! It's the commando team we're supposed to link up with." The Estainian officer ordered as he stepped forward to make contact.
"Captain Melania Kowalczyk, Euro-Asian 5th Commandos." Melania said introducing herself.
"Sir Henri Arendale. I'm the ranking officer for this unit." the Estainian replied.
"I'm hoping that you guys are aware of-" Hannah tried to inform Henri.
However Henri interrupted her, "Yes, I know. We've heard the broadcast as well. I intend to make that so-called 'Emperor' suffer for his crimes."
"That makes two of us. When do we start off for Parliament?" Svyatoslav asked with elation.
"Immediately." Henri replied. The Estainians and the Euro Asian commandos headed off toward the Parliament building.
The vulnerability of the tank in urban settings as pointed out by Captain Kowalcyk kept the Parker to a supporting role, with her commandos and Sir Henri's accompanying riflemen forming an infantry screen around the vehicle's perimeter as they advanced through the streets towards Parliament. The advance was not untroubled, as they approached the grandiose building visible in the distance, the resistance of their enemy increased twofold for each step they took forward, or so it seemed. The Parker's main gun barked out in response to the low and hulking form of a nearly identical counterpart the turret of which was traversing to their position. Outside of the armored vehicle the Eurasians and their Estainian counterparts engaged the rival tank's supporting infantry in a short lived and brutal firefight. "Stay alert people, the fewer of us dead the better I like it." Captain Kowalcyk said what Sir Henri was thinking when they approached a square that was far too open for his liking, debris littered the field where the Eurasian Navy had done a number on the center of the city, where the command center for the Uhlangan regime's forces were, as a result many of the buildings had been destroyed or at least damaged.
"Panzerfaust! Panzerfaust!" Svyatoslav yelled, the Parker kicked over into reverse, tracks throwing up dust and debris from the ground as the Eurasians and Estainians threw themselves into cover, 2nd Lt. Wieck fired off her rifle, a rather precise, if not lucky shot, downing the Uhlangan with the antitank rifle before he could fire, that however did not stop the three other shaped charges from flying forward. The first of them veered off to the side, striking a building and raining down bits of masonry on their heads, while the second hit the Parker directly to the frontal armor. Fire and smoke enveloped the vehicle, its main gun firing in defiance and obliterating one of the positions that the enemy had fired from. "We're fine!" Sir Henri took a sparse second to bellow into the infantry phone that one of the men outside the tank had scrambled for foolishly to check on their compatriots. "Reload!" Henri scrambled upwards, opening the hatch to his tank and manning the machine gun and providing a more direct form of supporting fire for the commandos.
"Move up!" Captain Kowalcyk bellowed over the sounds of the fighting as their enemy decreased in number and began to fall back into the Parliament building itself with the task-force chasing after them.
"This is it! We're almost to our objective!" Melania shouted to the others as they pursued the Uhlangans into the Parliament building, cutting down several of them in the process.
Upon entering the Parliament building, the commandos and Estainians encountered stiff resistance from the Uhlangans. It was at this point that both Melania and Hannah decided to use their weapon attachments once again.
"Burn you sons of bitches!" Hannah screamed as she used her flamethrower attachment on the Uhlangan soldiers, burning them en mass. Any that remained were blown to pieces by Melania's grenade launcher and cut down by Svyatoslav and the Estainians. The Eurasians and Estainians continued, leaving the tank behind outside, and kept encountering fierce resistance as they neared Oyendalu's office, to which they were cut down in heaps.
"I'm running out of ammo here!" Svyatoslav shouted as he shot another Uhlangan solider with his StG-55.
"Do everything you can! Use the enemy's weapons if you have to!" Sir Henri shouted as they continued through the hallway.
"Fuck! I'm out of ammo!" Hannah shouted as the last of her StG-55's ammo was spent. Thankfully, she still had her flamethrower and used it on the enemy soldiers.
Both Melania and Svyatoslav expended the last of their StG-55's ammunition and picked up a couple of M1951 automatic rifles that the Uhlangans dropped. Thankfully with plenty of ammo.
Bursting through the door, they found Oyendalu sitting at his desk, staring defiantly at the Eurasian commandos and Estainian troops. Svyatoslav aimed the M1951 at him, ready to pull the trigger.
"Don't you dare point that weapon at me, Eurasian dog!" Oyendalu shouted.
As the Eurasians and Sir Henri looked into his eyes they saw the evil and madness in this Fascist emperor.
"Tell your men to stand down, or I will put a bullet in you!" Melania ordered, training the M1951 on him.
Reluctantly, Oyendalu made a broadcast throughout the nation, "This is your Emperor. All troops stand down. Anyone who disobeys this order will be shot."
"Your reign is at an end, General." Sir Henri said to Oyendalu as the dictator still smiled defiantly at his captors.
"What are you going to do? Parade me as your prisoner? Put me on trial? Execute me? And knowing you Estainians, torturing me is out of the question." Oyendalu questioned defiantly.
"Your call, Sir Henri." Melania said to the Estainian as a few of his troops entered the room.
"No. No such honorable things, you are not worthy of honor, dog." Henri said pointedly, his voice cold. The knight flicked his sword, the gleaming red drops of the Uhlangan troops flying off and through the air to the floor. "Haul the dog up." Two of the Estainians stepped forward before the Eurasians did, dragging the 'Emperor' out from behind his desk. "On your knees, dog." When the man was defiant the Imperial soldiers kicked his knees out from under him. "You stand guilty charged of genocide, mass murder, numerous other war crimes and petty charges." Henri leered down at the self-styled Emperor, his eyes as cold as his voice. "You are right, Estainians do not partake of such black arts… Normally. You however, are deserving. I am not adverse to torture in moments like these. Men. Flay him, slowly."
"Y-you can't!" Oyendalu cried, a surge of panic in his voice as the Eurasians turned away as the two Estainians holding the 'emperor' drew out their field knives, they'd taken the order literally. The general's screams were bloodcurdling but ultimately very swift, the entire 'session' took less than seven minutes before Sir Henri stepped forward and mercifully cut the man's neck, he bled out swiftly after that.
"Captain, did you ever send anyone to the roof to plant the banner?" Sir Henri asked.
Turning to the Estainian, Melania pulled out three flags; one Estainian, one Eurasian and the third being the Uhlangan Confederacy flag, and replied, "We're on our way there now."
"Good. Let the city know that Central Uhlangan Empire is dead." Sir Henri answered in elation.
Heading up to the roof, Melania, Svyatoslav and Hannah prepared themselves for any resistance. Surprisingly, the Fascist Uhlangan troops obeyed their late 'emperor'.
Now on the roof, the Eurasian commandos placed the three banners after cutting down the Fascist Uhlangan flag. An hour and a half later, the new prime minister, Beshi Mwengwe had arrived and gave a broadcast.
"Citizens of Central Uhlanga, four years ago, our freedom was taken away by an evil dictator who was hellbent on genocide. Now, we stand in the dawn of a reborn Central Uhlanga with freedom and equality returned to us. I, Prime Minister Beshi Mwengwe, hereby declare the Central Uhlangan Empire to be no more, and the Confederacy restored!"
The people of Petersburg were cheering, even singing the Confederation, Estainian and Eurasian national anthems in celebration. The fascists were officially removed from power, and the Central Uhlangan Confederation restored.
"We did it. It's over." Svyatoslav said to no one in particular as they watched from the rooftop beside the banners.
"Yeah. And lets all be proud that we helped make that happen." Melania replied. Hannah started humming the Eurasian national anthem, to which Melania and Svyatoslav joined in.
It was over. They won.
Melania Kowalcyk continued her life as a career soldier after the success of Operation Greyhound. By the time the Dorian Civil War broke out, she got married, was at the rank of Major and became the leader of the Euro-Asian commando force.
Svyatoslav Utkin retired from the military after the mission. He later got a steady job to which he was later laid off. He was found dead a two years later in his home in Sankt Ark. His friends say he drank himself to death.
Hannah Wieck, much like her squad leader continued her life as a career soldier. She later became the lead member of the 14th Commandos and is currently serving in the Dorian Civil War.
Sir Henri Arendale continued to serve in the Estainian Imperial Army, eventually he married a Eurasian soldier and retired in the 1980s, relocated to Eurasia and lived out his life in general quiet, occasionally teaching at the Sankt Ark Military Academy.