It's a simple job, all you have to do is be on time and do exactly what they tell you too. But that's garrison life it doesn't prepare you for war. Shortly after the fuel reserves across the planet dried up war broke out, it was never a question of if it would happen. The question lurking in the back of everyone's mind was always when. And when it did it when down straight in our backyard. The coastal states got hit the hardest. Russian cruise missiles knocked out any ships we had to counter them. And then they hit any defenses we could set up leading inland. Some kind of new "warp" missile, designed to literally fade from existence and reappear inside the target. Our tanks got annihilated before they could get off the trains and convoys. We had to resort to good old fashion infantry tactics and airpower. Helicopters for whatever reason could still manage to dodge the missiles. the Russian never added a lock on feature to them, don't know if it was intentional or the missile couldn't keep the lock after it would warp. The brass wanted one and seemed willing to sacrifice any amount of infantry and helicopters to do it. So that's were I end up, in the troop bay of a rotor bird. Heh "rotor bird" just a stupid little nick name I like to call our helicopters. We were going to drop behind enemy line and try to seize one of the missile platforms used to fire the warp missile. They looked like a miniature version of the thing they transported the space shuttle on, Except with a lot more missiles. Plan was simple, the gunships would roll them up like a beetle on shit. Then the carriers would land and let us infantry go in and finish off anyone that's left. Simple right? Well a plan never survives contact with the enemy, there's a reason that's a saying. While the damned warp missile can't lock on the Russians sure have a lot of stuff that can and within moments of cresting the hill enemy Sam sites took out 3 of our gunships. Splitting our offensive punch in half. I was both lucky and unlucky enough to have gotten a window seat and I could see the enemy armor. There was far too much for the shoulder fired rockets we brought. I could see the gunships, their missile racks spitting death and their chain guns stitching crossfire into the enemy's ranks. They peeled off right on schedule, the amount of enemy dead was certainly not on schedule. But hey! Were infantry, we go where the fighting is the thickest and we win. The ramps dropped and time seemed to slow as rounds ricocheted all around the cargo bay. Before I knew it those who were alive made it out and the carriers peeled away taking a horrifying amount of flak as they ran. The pilots job was only half over, they still had to come back later when the job was done to pick up the wounded. Now on the ground our company had to cross a field full of flechette mines and razor wire. Forward we ran, straight into the gates of hell. It all passed by in a blur, though certain scenes will forever be burned into my memory. A squad of soldiers being torn limb from limb by a flechette. A soldier tangle in razor wire gunned down without a second thought, his lifeless corpse hanging in the wire. A flame thrower engulfing a group of Russian soldiers defending from a trench. And then before I knew it where at the base of the platform. Now the fun part, we launched our ascension cables watching as they wrapped around the guard rail before pulling taught. The small motor smoking from the speed and weight of a soldier in full combat gear. Over the top we went, I felt a small ting of pride.
"so this is what my great grandfather experienced" I thought to myself. Yes, over the top indeed. I just hoped he was smiling down on me right now. That I'm doing him and all those who came before me justice, I certainly thought so. The platform had 2 tiers in its construction. a base for the massive treads underneath to support, and a smaller 2nd tier for the warp missiles to be stored and fired. We cleared the first tier easily enough though we continued to suffer heavy losses. We probably had less than a platoon left. The stairs were a death trap with gunners on the top, and mines along the stairwell but we had to go up and we already used our ascension cables. One of our grenadiers had an idea and grabbed the body of a nearby Russian soldier. He planned on using it like a riot shield, that's sick but it might just work. Before our leadership really had a chance to stop him he charged up the stairs detonating all the proximity mines along the stairs and sprawled into a grapple with one of the enemy gunners. We followed him up making short work of the enemy gunners at the top of this set of stair. The gunners at the top of the other stairs turned to engage us. We took cover unable to help the grenadier locked in melee combat. It was at this point the other team sent the only drone we had up the stairs sacrificing it to take out the mines. Followed closely by the remainder of our forces. Our two forces converged on a centralized enemy. We were to close though and friendly fire was a major concern. So we did the one thing that made sense, we charged. Pulling my knife from its sheath I ran at the nearest Russian soldier and knocked him to the ground with my soldier. Quickly scrambling on top of him I put all my weight behind the knife and forced it into his chest. And then I sat there watching this enemy soldier take his last breaths before his eyes glassed over, he looked like he was the same age as me. The rig was clear and the enemy armor taken care of now that the Russian anti air was silent. I took it all in, the death, the destruction, For what? So our nations could warp missile the crap out of each other? So many young soldiers died today. It doesn't seem worth it.
Sometime after securing the rig we got word from HQ that we had a very large enemy mechanized infantry group moving in on the rig.
"took em long enough" someone to my left said aloud
HQ wanted us to load up as many warp missiles into the carriers as we could. Considering the lack of bodies going home I hope they really get use out of all those missiles. We kept getting situation reports from a drone watching the enemy formation. The closer they got the more we felt like a bullseyes being painted on our backs. After what felt like an eternity the carriers returned. We wasted no time in loading up as many missiles as we could. I became clear very early on we couldn't take all of them. There simply wasn't enough time. The fifth carrier had taken off loaded to the brim with wounded and warp missiles when the first APC came over the hill with its auto cannon blazing. We planned for this however and moments later a shoulder fired rocket slammed into the side of the hardened steel hull of the APC.
"everyone gets on a carrier or be left behind, MOVE!" someone had screamed into the comms.
No one needed to tell me twice. I ran for all my worth for the carrier, more and more armored transports followed up the first one over the hill. The enemy soldiers disembarking and advancing to wipe out all those on their way to the carrier. We lost more soldiers than I would have liked, though the only number I would have liked would be 0. After what seemed like an eternity I'm at the ramp of a carrier and quickly haul myself inside. Turning I watch as the last 2 soldiers sprint for the safety of the carrier's troop bay. Everyone else is pouring rounds at the advancing enemy soldiers. I reach my hand out to pull them in and yell out to them. The farthest of the 2 ends up getting cut in half by a heavy machine gun. The last one was within grasp, before a spray of red burst from his chest. I could see the look on his face, such hope of safety only to have it snatched away at the last moment, his body fell just outside the ramp. I closed my eyes and slammed my fist into the ramp controls and it slowly closed up. I could feel the carrier lift off the ground and start hauling its metal rear end to get out of the warzone. I slumped into the seat and peeled off my helmet. I looked inside and noticed the blood caked on the helmet pads. I didn't know if it was mine or the Russian soldiers, or the soldier at the ramp. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back not sure how I should feel with the adrenaline still pumping. Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion and metal screeching. I looked down at the now spinning floor of the carrier at the warp missile sitting on the floor, with a very large piece of shrapnel sticking out of the middle and a visual distortion seeping out of the missiles wound. Another explosion rocked the carrier and the spinning increased, I felt something slam into me and I go numb at the impact site. I hear a weird noise mixed into the following explosion as the warp missile in the center of the craft detonates. The carrier hits the ground with loud and bone jarring crash and I am thrown from the cargo bay. My back hits something with a sickening bone snapping. I could hear people running around and the continued groaning of metal as flame consumed it. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was the sound of sirens and my vest being pulled as I started being dragged. Then blackness overtook me, good thing too because all I felt was pain.
