Author's Note:
This is a continuation of my D-Day fanfiction and the aftermath and subsequent events after the D-Day Zenebas invasion of ZAC 2042. While some of it is fictional, most of it is based off the actual Battle Story of the Zoids franchise and fanbooks. Enjoy and please review, it keeps me going. =D
ZAC 2042, March 23rd
D-Day D+5, 0815 hours
Bareshia Bay, Zenebas Territory of the Central Continent
Helic Base Camp G2
Technician Officer (3rd Class) Matthias Perry was rather irritated to find his morning's rest broken by his friend Tech. Officer (1st Class) Felt Treus' vibrating hands on his shoulders. As Matt's vision slowly pieced together, the looming shape of his fellow officer yanked him up with a jerk while he fought, though since still delirious, fought back rather futilely. It was when his sight finally cleared up and the objects around his quarters stopped looking like f*****' lava lamps that Matt turned to Felt with a hissing and very annoyed, "What?!"
Felt seemed to ignore Matt's fuming but continued on rather ignorantly, though his voice was considerably strained, "It's the CO, man. I was just jogging around trying to find some sulfur powder for this bloody finger," he paused to exhibit his messily amputated finger, "when the Sarge hurriedly hollered at me to call you!"
Matt's mind suddenly snapped back to focus. His CO was calling him? Tech. Sergeant Eltham Bryce was calling him? Sure as f*** there's something going on, he told himself silently as he leaned out of bed, What could it be? A promotion, a re-deployment, or a change of squadron? Matt could feel the excitement pounding in his heart as he tore off his rest garments and asked,
"Where did he say I have to meet him?" Matt queried, "Did he say anything about it?"
"Nothing at all," Felt replied, equally confused, "He just told me to call you and both of us are to meet him outside the mess hall."
Again for a second time, a lightbulb snapped inside Matt's head. "Mess hall? Has the breakfast been served yet? Don't tell me I missed it for a second time!!" he yelled as he stripped off his pants and slipped the army-issue khakis over his patched boxers. Felt's smirk cemented the revelation.
"Oh, shut up," Matt snarled as he pulled the technician-issued sky blue smock over his torso and grabbed a brown jacket before walking over to his crowded and dilapidated table, selecting a few special tools and sliding them into his tool case, "Why aren't you bringing your tools anyways?"
"He never said we had to bring our tools so I'm not bothering," Felt replied, smiling that angelic smile of his that would make anyone just wish to place a halo over his head, "Who says we have to do any work anyways? It's the 19th ED's (Engineering Division) shift today morning anyways and ours isn't till eight."
"Better safe than sorry when you're around with the Sarge," Matt reasoned as he fastened the two clasps of the case and slung the nylon strap over his shoulder before grabbing the final accessory of his technician attire, the iconic patrol-style cap.
"Hhn," Felt sneered with a slight mocking in his voice, "With this smile, I can get mountains to move."
"Yeah sure," Matt replied with an equally discriminating tone as he opened the door out of his quarters, "Then why don't you get those f*****' Zenebas bastards out of our damn nation before they advance any further and eat up our f****** capital?"
***
Sergeant Bryce was not a particularly happy man this particular morning. Part of the reason why were the soaking puddles and dew that had gathered on his track boots and the soft drizzling was driving his ears mad. And the other half was that he had been waiting for over ten minutes for two technician officers who were supposed to meet him at the mess hall. He adjusted his boonie hat as he watched streams of men from over seven divisions stream into the massive mess hall, originally a cathedral for one of the local towns until it was bombed-out by the Zenebas aerial bombing campaign.
Bryce sighed as he thought back to the surprise invasion of the Zenebas forces. The Zenebas forces were defeated back in ZAC 2040, pushed back into the Dark Continent of Nyx but military forces were still posted on duty and an operation during ZAC 2041 was about to be launched to finish off the Zenebas forces in Nyx. Had they known (if the rumors were true) that the Zenebas had allied with Guylos forces they would have stopped the f****** delay s*** and launched the damn operation over a year ago. But now they were too late, and over hundreds of men from both the Dallas Triangle and Round's Mountain bases were killed in the Zenebas amphibious assault.
He had been stationed in Round's Mountain during the attack and had evacuated along with several others through a subterranean passage while the 17th and 19th Zoid Divisions had fended the invading Zenebas forces off, giving Bryce and the other men time to escape. With no warning, an explosive bomb, later identified as a material-absorbing mineral called 'deochalcum,' exploded from within the mountain base and men of both forces were lost. Bryce and the others had no choice but to flee from the area before the Zenebas forces swooped in from the jungle and secured POWs.
Since then they had set up a new base camp, identified as 'G2' in the abandoned ruins of an old town. Three other camps, call-signed 'G1,' 'G3,' and 'G4' had been set up in different areas around the Bareshia Bay in the hopes of holding out for awhile while support was called from the Helic capital of Helic City. According to reports at least, reinforcements were expected to arrive within less than a week or so, with the closest available military base being at Aarhem, over two-hundred kilometers away from Bareshia Bay.
The sergeant shook the thoughts out of his head as his two men stumbled through the rain towards him, one of them holding a tool case. Tech. Officers Matt and Felt waded through the line of soldiers lining up outside the mess hall (potentially beginning some squabbles along the way) before making it through and pausing right in front of the sergeant, clearly breathless while Bryce gave them a cynical look. It was Matt who first spoke,
"Yes, sir, you called for us?" he asked, his throat still panting like an asphyxiating dog.
"Indeed I did," Bryce said as he secretly smiled in his mind. 'Indeed I did' was a phrase that he liked to think he coined and used at every moment possible, "Indeed I did call you. You two are familiar with basic-degree Zoid mechanics, are you not?"
Matt's eyebrows turned to a frown. Sure, they both had some skills with Zoid technology, both of them having served in the Delpoli campaign of ZAC 2030 when Zoids were at their peak and they appeared to be the 'rage' amongst both factions. It was natural, they were significantly easier to produce, being developed from raw biological matter provided by Mother Nature. Matt for one though, held a certain aversion to the biomechanical creatures, viewing them as somewhat like 'freaks' and 'impostures of sentient beings.'
"Yes, sir," Matt answered, "Though we haven't serviced a Zoid in years." It was true though, after the D-Day invasion in which both bases were conquered in less than a day and the enemy penetrated over fifty kilometers behind enemy lines, Helic Zoids were becoming scarcer as the time went by.
"Same here," Felt agreed, "The last Zoid I serviced, or rather the Zoid pilot, was a f****** jarhead who was stuck in the cockpit of a Guysak."
Matt chuckled at this but Bryce appeared extremely unamused. Gritting his teeth ever so slightly, he turned to them and said, "Whatever, but as long as you can do it I need the both of you to head down south using the recon Sandspeeda Zoid."
"Do we need to test-drive the Sandspeeda or what?" Felt asked, a faint hope lingering in him while flashing that 'angelic' smile.
With the smile working its charm and much to Matt's annoyance, Bryce grinned back and said, "Nice try, hotshot, but there's a makeshift field camp down there for the 17th Aviation Zoid Regiment. They've been deployed there to intercept anymore enemy bombings in the air but the problem is that the Zenebas have deployed an EMP tower close to their position. We need you two to head down there and disable it."
"Well, why us, sir?" Matt questioned, a little confused, "Any other ED can do it. Why don't you ask the 19th, sir?"
"That's because the EMP is an IEMP, or improvised EMP. It was made in a hurry but sure does the job of disrupting our Pteras' Magnesser Wing flight technology. See, this IEMP was made out of the chassis of a Red Horn."
Matt's eyebrow rose a small inch as Felt muttered, "Charming."
"I was afraid some of our techies might not be familiar with this Zoid s*** and recalling a comrade of mine who commended you, Perry, on your activation of a damaged Garius in the Delpoli campaign, thought of you two." The sergeant paused for a moment as if gathering his thoughts before resuming, "Just out of curiosity, how did you do it?"
"Hot-wiring, sir," Matthius replied, grinning from ear to ear, "Technically illegal by military-code regulations but it was a desperate measure in a desperate situation. Wasn't awarded any damn medal for it though, sir, other than Lieutenant Hasseus' commendation on my CV."
The sergeant nodded in agreement, "That's good enough." Reaching into his half-soaked sling bag he drew out two identification passes with the word 'ENGINEER' written on it in bright blue. "These are Class 3 ID passes, you'll need them to get pass the gendarmeries set across in roadblocks leading to the makeshift camp."
The two engineers each took one pass and clipped it onto their lapel as the sergeant drew out a much-abused field map and a paracompass before handing them to Matthius. "Once you meet up with the 17th AD (Aviation Division), you will be escorted by a few of their men on ground as you make your way with these items to the IEMP while having air support in the form of our only Double Sworder, whose technology is not affected by the pulses of the device."
"It's expected for a few of the Zenebas ostruppen to be guarding the sector around the IEMP. I want you to two to disable the device, not blow it up since I don't want to attract any unwanted attention. Recon informs us that there are no less than five ostruppen squads located in the sector." Bryce took a breather as he led the two men towards the stable-turned-makeshift Zoids hangar towards one of the three heavily damged Sandspeedas.
"I want you two to leave right away. Good, Perry, I see your kit." Bryce noted (while Matt smiled) as he tapped the console of the Sandspeeda tightly. "I'm sure you two will be able to figure out the control of this Zoid, two of you will be riding on one. Are you two armed?"
"No sir." Felt answered for the both of them. They had both not fired a single firearm since basic training.
"Ok then, head off to the grocery shop, or rather, armory department and ask the man there for two M36 beam pistols and two extra clips. You have my permission." Sergeant Bryce responded. The two engineers nodded as Bryce wished them good luck and strode off, leaving the two men to head off to the armory department to purchase some very potent 'groceries.'
As they trudged through the muddy grass, Matt turned to Felt with a mocking, "Never said we had to bring tools, he said!"
***
The 24-F2, nicknamed by Helic soldiers as the 'Sandspeeda' seemed almost reluctant to get its biomechanical engine running as it spluttered. The Zoid was in bad shape, clearly having seen its share of service as dripping muck of oil seeped through the chinks in its armor and its engine coughed as though its 'throat' was being constricted. The heavy machine-gun mounted in front was nearly unclasping from the front bumper and Matt found three spare rounds within the storage packages located on the sides of the Zoid. This particular Sandspeeda was a modified version, as including the standard pilot/gunner seat also had a built-in one on its rear and over the engine for a secondary passenger to seat in.
"Did you know that unlike most Zoids who have at least 45% of base-biological matter the Sandspeeda only has less than 9% of bio-material in its genetic makeup, it being mainly a construction of human researchers?" Felt piped as he slung his technician tool bag over his shoulder.
"Did you know I don't give a s***?" Matt shot back, a little irritated at the moment as he struggled to get the damn Zoid to work. The air in the stable was stuffy and the dirt and grime off his face was mixing with his perspiration to form a rather disturbing aroma that wafted off him.
'Sorry, Officer Grumpy," Felt teased light-heartedly as he reached for the pilot/gunner helmet that lay on the pilot seat. It was a field grey helmet with an in-built visor, reinforced chin strap and an electronic microphone built onto the side. He slipped the helmet on, found the cushions inside a rather comfortable fit and declared, "Ok, I'll be riding this baby!"
"If you can get this abominable offspring of yours to move!" Matt yelled back before finally bashing down on the contraption. Suddenly, as though wishing to prove itself, the engine roared to life and the cooler fan began to rotate and the front glider wheels begin to spin.
"I've got the magic touch…" Felt hummed as he got onto the pilot seat and strapped himself in before grabbing the console steering wheel which doubled as a pivot for the high-powered machine-gun. The special program built into his helmet was connected to the electronic iron sights of the machine-gun, aiding him if the need should arise for him to fire at the enemy. Felt turned back to Matt who was just furiously strapping himself into the rear seat and drawing out his M36 pistol. "You ready?" he asked.
"You got it."
The Sandspeeda roared to live as the machine began to hover a few inches off the ground and float over the grass, sending the morning water droplets spraying everywhere and the grass to tremor as the machine silently ascended and Felt carefully maneuvered it out of the stable whilst Matthius unfolded the map after taking it out of his huge thigh pockets and double-checking with the paracompass to check which direction they were going. The needle of the device spun carefully as Matt told Felt to keep the Zoid stationary for awhile. Matt had to keep mentally reminding himself to think of the compass in the opposite direction as he was sitting with his back facing the front.
"Right, I think I've got it."
The next hour was held a nice sensation for Matt, and certainly was one of the few moments of the war he'd remember to his deathbed. The cool and calm breeze of the wind whipped in their faces so rapidly that even Felt took off his helmet to let the air whoosh through his auburn follicles. The Sandspeeda had a few sputters here and there as its exhaust pipe belched out redolent fumes of miasma into the air, something Matt felt oddly guilty for. The ever-droning hum of the Sandspeeda's hovering did not stop the technician officer from gazing at awe at the flocks of birds soaring in a V-formation above them, similar to the way Pteras units would do so.
On the battered tar road littered with craters from explosives, mortars, and Zoid tracks they would often encounter marshy areas where huge puddles of water had gathered from these craters and the water would fountain up towards them when the Sandspeeda hovered over it, a fetish which Felt annoyingly took up during their journey there. The thick conifer trees stood massive and grand while their branches shivered and swayed with the wind of the early morning and the clear blue skies and their snow white clouds loomed over the two engineers who were still advancing along the road and towards the makeshift outpost.
Halfway across there and from the distance with his helmet off, Felt spotted three gendarmeries, or 'military police' occupying the distance ahead with one sigh-bearer standing upon what appeared to be the broken head of an abandoned and dead Command Wolf with the other two standing outside a guardhouse, both of them carrying stun rifles armed with live rounds. Before Felt could inform Matthias, the two men with rifles stood up and pointed them towards the advancing Sandspeeda with a loud, "HALT!"
Felt complied, pressing the break on the Zoid as its engine slowly died and the front wheels scratched onto the pavement while Felt carefully set the Zoid down and Matt turned around and hopped out of his seat to greet the two gendarmeries.
To his surprise, the two police still kept their rifles pointing towards him and as he raised his hands up in the air, one of them said, "Beyond!"
Matt recognized the security call sign codeword for the Helic forces deployed in Bareshia Bay and responded with the correct return word, "Duty!"
Matt let out a sigh of relief as the gendarmeries placed their rifle barrels towards the ground and slung them over their shoulders. One of the gendarmeries, a short, stout man with a bushy beard extended his hand with a greeting as Matt took it, "Guard Sergeant Aryes Talent, 74th Military Police Company." He adjusted the ochre armored gorget on his neck, a symbol of his status as a police in the army. "You two are sappers, I take it?"
Felt propped off his vehicle as the sign-bearer gendarmerie that stood on top of the Command Wolf's head resumed on, using a periscope mounted on a stand. He walked over as Matt introduced the two of them, "Not exactly," he began, tapping his service cap, "We're technician officers. I'm Tech. Officer Matthew Perry and this is my partner, Officer Felt Treus, both of us members of the 24th Engineering Division. We've been sent here by our CO from G2 to meet up with the 17th AD near the makeshift camp."
"I'm afraid if you wish to cross us, you'll need Class 3 passes." The police patiently explained though Felt could make out his fingers silently reaching for what appeared to be the sheath of a bayonet.
"Here," Matt said as he spotted the finger motion too, showing the two passes pinned to their shirts. The other gendarmerie, who introduced himself as Sergeant Rupert Show, drew out a radioactive authenticator from his ammo vest and ran its scanner over their passes before the flickering light on the device turned green, verifying the passes' authenticity. Sergeant Show declared them clear as Guard Sergeant Talent patted Felt lightly on the back and said, "You're good to go."
"Oh, and just in case you're not sure where the outpost is," the Guard Sergeant added, "Keep heading off in this direction and then drive across the Ruädich canal which will be towards your east, or right."
Matt and Felt thanked them as they got onto their Sandspeeda while the sergeants cleared the crow's feet roadblocks painted in yellow and black and Felt drove the sputtering Zoid onwards towards the makeshift outpost.
***
The 17th Aviation Division's outpost was designed to be able to deploy aerial Zoids and anti-air weaponry in the blink of an eye. With only a day after Helic forces were driven back from both the Dallas Triangle base and the subsequent explosion of the Round Mountain's base, the general of the Bareshia Bay sector, General Frank R. Kades sent out a commission for over four engineering divisions to work in tandem with the 17th AD for the construction of a fast-attack aerial assault outpost. In three weeks engineering and sapper teams worked their asses off to construct 'foxholes' for Zoids to be kept in and deployed when the time called for it. Modified Mammoths constructed by EDs had their beam guns on their trunks removed in favor of a mounted excavation device design to construct a ditch of sorts interconnected by trenches created from the many canals that littered the area.
Other than storing Zoids in the outpost, most of them consisting of customized Pteras and a single Double Sworder, there were also members of mechanized divisions stationed there to operate the many Anti-Zoid (AZ) long-distance cannons and soldiers stationed in more foxhole craters surrounding the perimeter of the position to ambush any enemy infantry happening to cross by the area or to inform forces back at the outpost of an enemy Zoids assault. Right now as the IEMP disabled all the electromagnetic devices surrounding the area the Pteras units were rendered virtually useless and only being able to patrol on ground. The AZ cannons were not working either though, with the electromagnetic disruptions preventing their beams from firing at the far distances they were designed to fire at accurately.
"The magnetic disruption has reached up to levels of a whopping 6.5 tesla in the past few hours," Lieutenant Farthing Weber muttered bitterly as he inhaled while the cigarette was in his mouth before releasing a neat streak of nicotine-stained smoke into the air.
"F****** great news isn't it," Second Lieutenant Yanks Joe agreed in resentment, "My cannon-boys can't even fire their damn weapons…even the infantry can't shoot beam rifles and have to rely on those pathetic human-style conventional firearms!"
"Yeah, I-" Lt. Weber paused as he spotted a Sandspeeda unit in the distance hovering towards them and he dropped his cigarette before crushing it with his foot. "Must be them," Weber said to Joe, "The cap said he was sending two techies only."
The lieutenant and his subordinate walked up towards Matt and Felt who were just propping off the Sandspeeda before Weber walked up and signaled two other men to head over and park the 24-F2 in one of the makeshift hangars. Matt gazed around as the two men walked over. There seemed to be buzzing activity everywhere in the form of scattered ditches and interconnected trenches where men walked under the wooden planks above passing supplies, adjusting frequencies of their radios, mechanics servicing Zoids and men fixing barbed wire. Seems like they've taken quite a beating, Matt noted as he saw massive blackened and charred plunges into the earth and cries of men from a small building beside a dirty Mammoth which appeared to be a medical ward.
"Hello there," Weber said, taking the initiative while the two tech officers seemed busy looking around, "I'm Lt. Weber, the man in charge here and this is my subordinate Lt. Joe."
"Tech Officers Felt Treus and Matthias Perry of the 24th ED reporting, sir!" Felt responded with the furious grace of a typical soldier.
"At ease, officer," Weber commanded before getting directly to business, "You two were sent here to help with the EMP?"
"Yes, sir," Matt confirmed before pointing towards the service mechanics, "Just out of curiosity, sir, why haven't you instead chosen to use one of your mechanics, they must have some knowledge of Zoid technology."
"Yes, but none of EMP-disabling," Weber explained, "Whereas you two are familiar with both EMPs and Zoid technology, I believe?" he inquired.
"EMPs yes, Zoid technology to a limited extent," Felt added.
"That's good enough for me." Weber continued, "Two of my men are already preparing that Double Sworder for takeoff. I'll be placing Joe here in charge while me and four other of my men escort you towards the IEMP, located a short distance away from here." He pointed to their kits as he spoke, "I see you have your equipment. Are you armed?"
Felt tapped the holster that slung vertically over his shoulder, the straps connected to his belt. "Laser pistols, sir."
"They won't work with the IEMP around." Weber said, appearing quite flustered. "It appears your CO wasn't aware of that. No matter, I'll ask my men to bring up two rifles for you guys." He then turned to Lt. Joe, "Yanks, bring these two over to the perimeter where Eddie and the rest are. I'll be there in a minute. Oh, and tell West and Yuena to get the Sworder deployed. Pronto."
***
Matt felt like a VIP as the four men surrounded both him and Felt, each of them treading careful steps in the woods, their boots softly crunching over the many fallen leaves. Each soldier had their rifles stealthily pointing in a different direction with the clip slammed in and safety cache off. Matt and Felt on the other hand, were tripping over roots and gripping their tool kits tightly while their own rifles dangled uselessly from their shoulders. Weber didn't seem irritated by this though, probably because he was too busy whispering into the headphones connected to a field radio that was strapped on his abdomen, keeping in constant touch with the Double Sworder which soared above them, both sides relaying information.
"We are approaching the target," Weber hissed into the microphone like a serpent as he gripped the handle of his rifle tighter and pressed the stock against his chest, "Visual confirmation by binoculars. Weber, over."
"This is Flybird 1, we are soaring approximately thirty feet above the ground, that is if the tachometer is working." A voice muttered through the headphones as it crackled in Weber's ears, "We have visual confirmation of the target, it's laying horizontal, made from the torso of a Red Horn unit with what looks like the pulse's main motherboard frame located on the top, apparently utilizing raw energy provided from the Horn's Zoid Core. Flybird 1, over."
"Weber here, how many enemy positions are there? Weber, over."
"Flybird 1 here. Hold on, zooming visual optics to enemy position…." There was a brief pause before the co-pilot resumed, "Identified seven positions of unknown enemy numbers, field purple attire identifies them as ostruppen units. Most of them are located behind scattered materials around the outpost but there's what appears to be a three-man crew manning a mortar farther north of your position. Flybird 1 over."
"Roger that. I want you two to target the mortar position, effectively disabling it while randomly firing at zones where you can spot enemy positions while we flank them from the right. We clear? Go time is approximately three minutes from now. Weber out."
"Copy that, Weber. We're clear. Flybird over."
"Ok, let's get this done and over with. Weber, over and out."
The lieutenant turned back to his men and informed them, "The Sworder will approach there in about three minutes. There are about seven groups, including a mortar team which the Sworder will first dispatch before swooping around to scatter the other groups, signaling for out flank to the right to enfilade them. To be able to flank 'em, we'll need to cross the canal leading over the bushes there."
The other men nodded in silent agreement whilst Matt and Felt continued attempting to move cautiously. Weber turned back to face the front and led his squadron and two tech officers further down the woods to the canal which, if the map was correct, would lead them to the canal which ends at the Le Braquette locks, its halfway distance being in the exact spot where the enemy was.
***
When they arrived near the canal, Weber ordered each man to take off their belts, pockets, vests, and exterior jackets, any form of material that would weigh them down. Much to Matt's and Felt's annoyance, it turned out they wouldn't need their rifles anymore and left them near the edge of the canal instead being given combat knives to arm themselves while the other soldiers drew out pistols and screwing on their silencers. Weber had to carefully teach the two technicians how to hold the blade of the knife between their teeth without filleting their tongues. The men had to remove their helmets (and service caps) too but kept their dog tags in their pockets.
"Ok," Weber began to brief as he checked his watch. Two more minutes, "The canal is shallow enough for us to tiptoe on but you'll have to keep your weapons and for you two, your tool cases, up in the air as we cross the water. It'll probably reach up to your chest. I'll tie a static cord around all of us by our pants so we don't get lost in the fog up ahead. I want Teldam to remain here and take care of our equipment while Eddie and Thomas take up the rear and me and Saddis take up the point, with these two techies in the center. We'll cross the canal and once we arrive there I want you all to remove your boots and remove any excess water before waiting patiently for the signal and then moving out when I give the go code, clear?"
The men, including Matt and Felt, responded with a unanimous 'clear' as the man named Teldam slid all their packages carefully behind a bush before taking his own rifle and taking a kneeling stance, ready to open fire at any approaching enemy. Weber began clipping the line on the belt loops around their pants before being the first one to descend into the canal. Holding his pistol high in the air with one hand and gripping the white plaster of the canal's sides with his other, he slowly drifted into the chilling water, his cord whipping as he went in and extended his toes. Giving the signal, Saddis followed before Matt and Felt entered the water too.
The water was blindingly shivering in the morning, with the fog ahead merely impairing their vision even more. Matt shivered as the water partially seeped through his tan undershirt and he gingerly placed the knife between his teeth while balancing the rather heavy tool case over his head. Felt trailed closely behind, struggling with the tool case too and before long, all of them were treading in the water, making soft ripples behind them. The tools within the cases made odd creaking noises as the journeyed through the canal, carefully avoiding the slime emerald moss which crept up from the sides of the moist canal and the occasional invertebrate skittering up the canal or the dead carcass of an animal drifting in the waters.
When they arrived at the designated area, Matt could already make out the sounds of massive explosions and men screaming, running around in panic as explosions filled the area. Seems the cavalry is here, Matt said in his mind as Lt. Weber hoisted himself out of the canal and the others likewise did the same. Each of them individually snapped their length of the cord and disconnected it from their pants before, just as the lieutenant had commanded, poured out the gathering waters from their boots and sliding them back on, with the soldiers double-checking their pistols' interiors while Matt and Felt gratefully took their knives out of their mouths. Weber signaled for them to be silent as he carefully trudged up the path first while ordering the others to remain in their place.
Matt stood shivering in the air, his whole body from the chest level down dripping wet as he gripped his tool case, holding its side with his left hand and gripping the combat knife with the other. A tense sensation began to drift up in him as the soldiers around him wordlessly waited for their lieutenant to return from his trip up. Sounds of battle could be heard as a stunning array of blinding fire filled up the sky, causing explosions to ring through the whole woodlands of Bareshia Bay. Right when Sergeant Thyce Eddie was about to signal the team to move out as Weber had not returned in less than two minutes, the lieutenant suddenly appeared, sliding down the slippery grass.
"I've dispatched two of the ostruppen but I can't see any further than that because of the trees. We'll have to navigate through them before we can get our asses over to the other side." Weber informed, "Come on, we don't have all day."
His soldiers obediently complied as their boots gripped the slope and they began to pull themselves higher up the slope and through the thickets of bushes and tangle of roots. An ominous breeze came in from the north, making the branches of the trees tremor as leaves floated down upon the four soldiers and two technicians who strafed carefully around the narrowly placed trees before passing by the men whom the lieutenant had killed. Matt saw that each one of them had a carefully placed and silenced bullet in their heads. Turning away in disgust from the scarlet blood which had begun to cake around the area, they walked around AZ-RPG (Anti-Zoid Rocket-Propelled Grenade) crates that were littered in the area and pushed on.
The sounds of gunfire will still raging on before an igniting explosion occurred, though the cause of it was too far away for Matt and the rest of the men to see. There was the occasional murmuring from the Zenebas soldiers and the odd sounds of something heavy trampling on the grass. Matt's heartbeat began to quicken in fear and he turned to see Felt who was equally jittery, fiddling with the nylon wrapped around the handle of his combat knife, his face an image of anxiousness and fear. Matt felt exactly the same as they pushed through the final growth of small raspberry bushes to find a haunting sight that would cement the feeling of dread that had surrounded them the whole time.
Matt looked ahead to find the charred fuselage of the Double Sworder in the center, right next to the Red Horn IEMP with many equally burnt bodies of Zenebas ostruppen surrounding it and the debris which must have exploded from it. Matt could even make out one of its antlers impaled into the grass as fire and smoke billowed from its interior. There was no way Flyboy 1 could have survived that crash. Weber took a prone stance and drew out his field periscopes, tightly pressing the zoom-in click wheel and letting out a bitter, "Damn."
Even at this distance, Matt could still see that the IEMP was undamaged though there were definitely heavy ostruppen casualties. But what had caused this imminent destruction? Perhaps the Zenebas troops were in possession of AA (anti-air) weapons that recon was not aware of prior to this incident? Thoughts ran through Matt's dazed head as he wondered whether there were any more enemy soldiers remaining. His question was answered with the silhouettes of approaching Zoids who ran through the flames, entering into their sight.
Two Black Rhimos units supported by a single Dimetrodon blazed through and Matt could tell they were one of the new Zoids developed by the Zenebas in their exile in Nyx. Matt noted the destruction of the Sworder by the Dimetrodon's still smoking 20mm linear laser guns, clearly not affected by the IEMP due to some faction-specific related technology and the Rhimos units' electromagnetic cannon. They trudged forward in lumbering, mechanical fashion as the ostruppen troops ran out to greet them. Weber turned back to his fellow men and saw them all, including Matt and Felt being equally stunned and shaken by the sudden turn of events. Now instead they were the ones who would be running away. Weber wiped the mixture of water, grime, and sweat off his face as he struggled to retain his composure. Trying to disguise his fear with determination, he spoke to his men with tight lips, "We're going to abort the mission. We're heading back to the canal and getting the f*** out of here before they c-"
WHOOOM!!!
A massive round from the Dimetrodon's TEZ laser gun smashed close to them, instantly shredding and burning Weber and Thomas into pieces that flayed violently in the air, raining blood down upon the remaining soldiers who toppled backwards by the force of the impact. Dirt rained down upon them too as the fallen leaves and debris surrounding them blew away too. Thick smoke lingered in the air as pieces that were thrown high up in the air began their descent and Matt, who had smashed right into the trunk of a tree, struggled to maintain his focus. He had already lost the grip of his knife and could see his many tools and devices scattered around his feet, some of them causing bruises to his skin and tearing his wet smock.
I can't…can't see anything….noth….nothing….
The thoughts ran wildly in his mind. Have to f-find F-Fe…..Felt…. Gripping the bark of the tree tightly with one hand and its gnarly roots with the other, he wiped the mixture of dirt and blood off his face as the leaves stuck in between the threads of his hair shuddered and fell off. In the distance, the sounds of shouting Zenebas soldiers and the imminent advancing of the enemy Zoids came closer and closer as Matt attempted to push himself up, struggling as he held the tree tightly by the sides and feeling his whole body numb and as twisted as a ragdoll. His head felt as though it was a weight weighing a thousand pounds and there was still the shrieking ping from the round, temporarily disabling his hearing.
As he fought to maintain control, Matt blinked his eyes furiously and managed to spot Felt by his bright blue uniform in the distance. Limping over, he could feel hot blood dripping out of his mouth as he stepped weakly around the ripped body of Weber, whose abdomen had been gashed and blasted open, with his entrails having smeared crimson blood everywhere on the trees and earth. Using the trees close-by for support, Matt managed to lumber over to where Felt lay and nearly fell down to the ground as he shakily attempted to wake Felt up from his knockout.
"Felt…." He muttered hoarsely, "F*** it, Felt…"
A groan was the only response from Felt as Matt turned him over to find a sharp streak of flesh and blood on his side, clearly having been impaled by shrapnel. Matt looked down and saw Felt's amputated index bleeding anew. Felt moaned as Matt pulled him to his feet as they trudged carefully down and further into the woods as another round exploded near them, sending a single tree toppling onto the ground with a sickening thud that made more leaves and dirt ascend with the wind. The branches of the trees shook violently as the Zoids made their way through the woods and began firing their beam machine-guns at Saddis and Eddie who ran awkwardly further into the woods before getting torn to shreds by the rounds of energy emitted from the guns of the Zenebas weapons of destruction. Matt could feel his body getting seized in a confusing turmoil of agony and shellshock as he tripped over a root but managed to break his fall by grabbing another tree's body.
Whilst the Zoids had gone off in another direction, two ostruppen who had tagged along noticed Matt and Felt and ran towards them, one taking a kneeling position to pick off a round but narrowly missing Felt by the thigh. The other one slid his bayonet into his rifle and charged at Matt who was still stunned by the impact of the blow and was struggling to stay conscious. Felt, whose hearing was not impaired, turned around quickly and just as the ostruppen charged, rammed him in the abdomen rapidly and effectively knocking the wind out of him with a whopping crack! Felt then stumbled to the ground, his body nearly giving way before the enemy Zenebas Zoids suddenly broke through the trees and began firing at them!
Matt could make Felt next to him, squatting on the ground as he tried to compose his breath before another round exploded near them, a second time toppling them through the bushes which bruised and ripped their clothes and skin apart, sending them toppling like contortionists out of the woods and down the slope towards the canal where they fell into with a splash. Matt's vision became blurry and the last sounds he heard was those of Zenebas ostruppen slipping down the slope to fire a few last rounds into the war, just as a precaution to check if they were dead.
Felt…f***, where is he….
Bubbles….I can't breathe….what…..
Zenebas….Zoids…..s***…..
F***…….
Private First Class Timothy Zantard came down the slope and stopped right next to Private Danes Raemus before loading in another clip to his semiautomatic rifle and unloading more rounds into the canal, the bullets making tiny ripples in the water. When his whole clip was unloaded he holstered his rifle and turned to Raemus, "You think they could take that?"
Danes Raemus looked down and saw his reflection turn crimson in the water.
"F*** no, no one could have survived that."