The Battle of the File Archipelago
(August 3rd 2018-August 6th 2018)
Day 2
Morning began and hell broke loose once again. The battle began as soon as the first daylight came up. The French Marines had quickly embarked on their APCs while the Jungle Troopers and Deep Savers secured a beachhead for them. The fight for File Island 1 will be long and hard, they all knew that.
Once the vehicles hit the sands, the infantry got out, reinforcing the beachhead for the others. The soldiers were greeted with the terrifying sounds of the rail guns, shooting at the other islands and their troop carriers, trying to cut them off from their own supplies and support. The Imperials had the higher grounds, deep in-trenched and heavily defended with small bunkers and firing positions.
"Secure the beachhead!"
Nathan dived on the sand, barely missing several incoming enemy fire. The fine and white sand was now stained with the blood of the dead and wounded, constant screams and gunshots echoed in the air. The trooper crawled his way forward, away from the beachhead and into the fray; either die helplessly on the beach or die fighting your way up.
Joining the others at the peak of the dunes, he racked charging handle of his Famas and fired a couple of shots. Others followed suit, firing at will under their commander's orders. Ahead of the French were the Jungle Troopers' Marines, acting as the vanguard of the invasion force, taking most of the brunt of enemy fire.
A loud electric whir caught their attention. Looking up at the mountain, they watched with fear and dread as one of the rail guns slowly pointed its cannon at the beach. Its sparks quickly intensefied as it prepared to unleash a violent strike.
Thunderclaps and thunderous explosions intervened behind the infantry Marines. Three Leclerc Battle tanks arrived at the coast and immediately targeted the rail gun turret. The cavalry have arrived in the form of three 58 tonnes war machines, courtesy of the 12thRégiment de Cuirassiers. The previous rail gun took massive hits, the cannon destroyed, unable to lash out its ammunation and exploded internally, consuming the four-digimon crewmembers in its spectacular and thermal implosion. The shockwave could be felt throughout the entire island, kicking up sand and dust while some palm trees near the fort were cut to pieces.
With heavy support on their side, the Jungle Troopers cheered at the humans before making a frontal charge at the disturbed enemy line. From the beach, the VBCIs and Leclerc tanks provided suppresive fire, the 20mm rounds did quick work with the hostile foot soldiers while the 120mm HEAT shells obliterated the fortifications. In addition with their superior firepower, the tanks are integrated with unique auto-loading systems, increasing their rate of fire significantly.
While supported by land, the coalition force is also supported by air and sea. From the sea, the Deep Savers' Assault Regiment provided close-artillery fire, able to pin down enemy trenches with a wide assortment of conventional and "digital" ammunations.
From the air, a squadron of Tigre attack helicopters from the 1st Combat Helicopter Regiment suppressed the enemy front by raining down lethal doses of 30mm rounds. The imperial troopers were helpless against the air force, they weren't quick enough to retaliate. Digimon were dismembered and utterly destroyed by the powerful rounds; few were resilient enough to be wounded, and even so, they would have preferred a quick death rather than a long and painful one.
With the enemy force pinned and pounded by the combined arms, the Jungle Trooper Marines further pushed upwards, gaining more terrain and in the process of capturing the first trench line.
"Let's go, men! We're pushing up!" Ordered their captain courageously, ignoring the bullets flying near him as he was standing out of cover.
As ordered the soldiers got out of cover and went up the mountain with their digimon allies. The terrain was steep, irregular and deadly. Projectiles were constantly flying in every direction. High explosive shells and missiles rained down on the battlefield, the cannons' thunderous fire rang constantly in the archipelago. Deafening whistles of death alerted the soldiers in the field to cover before the ground shook violently.
The VBCIs continued to lay down suppressive fire, spreading bursts of 12.7mm rounds and 20mm rounds at the mountain. Joining the infantry were the VABs, controling the island's only dirt road leading to the fort. Meanwhile the tanks held their ground, targeting the fort to pin enemy machine gun positions.
The human soldiers advanced quickly up the mountain, wiping out any remaining resistance, clearing out the first trench line before moving on the second one. What they lack in profenciency in hand-to-hand combat, against digimon opponents, was greatly compensated with their firearms and combined arms tactics. Human weaponry has always had a slight edge in lethality and accuracy compared to their digimon counterpart.
Nathan's rifle barked in short, rapid bursts, each burst connected to their target, center mass, enough to kill or injure them. What takes a combattant out of the fight is enough for any human soldier. A second squadron of tanks arrived to the shores and pounded the fortress, restricting the enemy units to fire down upon their allies.
Gunfire, artillery shot, moans and cries of the wounded, bullets flying and explosions erupting, all rang painfully in his ears as he manoeuvres around the chaotic battleground, waving and miraculously avoiding flying lethal projectiles while following Sergeant Manara's lead through the second trench.
Suddenly he felt a powerful force pounding him to the ground to his right. Surprised and now gasping for air, he looked up to his assailant, choking him to his eventual death. He was a WereGarurumon, covered in blood and mud, the canine's face had a large wound across his snout and left eye, gauging out blood. His left arm was burnt to a crisp and his torso had several holes flooding the dark crimson liquid that formed thick rivers on his tainted fur. Trying to fight off the large bipedal wolf, Nathan managed to get on top of his adversary after one of his strikes hit his wounded left eye. Now with the upperhand, he took out his combat knife lunged for the digimon's heart. WereGarurumon caught just in time with his burnt arm while the other tried to choke the human again. The power struggle lasted a few seconds, seconds that felt like hours; Nathan swiped the blade across the wounded forearm, making the wolf cry in agony before swiftly plunging the knife in the throat.
His body spazzed uncontrollably, his face written with fear as he gasped for air and coughing out large amount of blood before slowly dying and disappear in a cloud of data. During this horrific scene, Nathan had to watch his opponent's death right before his eyes, staring at his eyes blankly, against his own will. With a gasp, he sat dazily on the duckboards, panting heavily as the adrenaline rush fades away. The hand now holding the bloodied knife trembled slightly. He gathered his composure and retrieved his FAMAS. The battle isn't over yet, and so the mission continues.
Minutes later, after the enduring, harsh and dangerous climb, clearing one defensive line after another, the French Infantry Marines and the Jungle Troopers reached the fort. The air strikes were very effective. Pools of blood and military equipment lay scattered on the cobblestone floor, indicating the spots where digimon fell to the attack helicopters' devastating attacks. The fortress was completely disfigured thanks to the combined artillery and air strikes of the coalition forces. Only one rail gun turret was spared from the destruction, the others were unretrivable and beyond repair.
They were given a small moment to breathe but soon after the soldiers are going to storm in the Imperial military complex.
"Frag out!" Announced Manara before tossing the handgrenade in the entrance tunnel.
The squad backed away and awaited for the explosion. The tunnel shook violently, the shockwave sent light vibrations on the metal door. Opening the door, black smoke puffed out, obscuring the soldiers' vision. Corporal Chief Alexandre Lettier led the assault team, flashlight on and weapon drawn and ready to shoot on sight. Gun powder filled the air in the concrete corridor, dust cloud lowered their visibility and stinging their eyes. At the end of the corridor was a stair case that led down to a large open space. The area had three other corridors: front, left and right, all led to a different part of the military cave complex. As the squads dispersed to overwatch each corridor, Manara looked around the area to find some sort of indication to where these corridors lead to. Meanwhile more troops poured in and awaited further commands. Eventually, Lieutenant Dubois arrived just in time for Manara to finally find a map screwed on the stone wall.
"Any idea where these hallways lead to, Sergeant?"
"Yes, my Lieutenant. Left one leads to the armoury, front leads further deep in the base and the right one leads to a serie of living quarters and a mess hall." Manara reported dutifully.
With a nod the platoon commander informed the other platoons and instructed several squads to certain corridor. He, along with two squads, will clear the barracks and the mess hall.
First squad was at the lead with second squad and Dubois just behind. The group moved cautiously, the dim corridor unnerved them, expecting at any time some kind of ambush from the enemy. Later they found themselves in a hallway with a row of eight doors lined up on each side of the hallway. The wooden doors had a four-digit number sign on top of them, indicating the dorm's number. The two squads split up and took one side, clearing each dorm methodically. They were empty, most of them. After going halfway through the row however, a light 'thud' was heard at the end of the hallway. One of the soldiers looked down and swore loudly.
"GRENADE!"
Everyone jumped to cover, inside the empty dorm rooms before the handgrenade exploded. Nathan jumped in the room just in time but the initial blast fogged his senses, his ears were only hearing muffled noises, voices and 'bangs' could barely be recognized. Looking back at the hallway, he spotted fiery strobes of light flying left and right. He knew what was happening, it was an ambush.
Another French soldier crawled his way in, his right leg badly injured. Without thinking, Nathan got up and helped his fellow brother-in-arm, lifting him and putting him at a safe corner of the room. The soldier was a Corporal, from First Squad.
Seconds later, the voices were clearer and gunfire filled the hallway. He could hear French yelling and the enemy shouting. More explosions shook the hallway of dorms, the enemy was relentless. Cursing himself, Nathan sat up and lifted his FAMAS to his right shoulder, aiming the doorway, ready to protect the wounded soldier. A Commandramon got in, thinking it was clear, completely oblivious to the two troopers on the ground a mere two meters away, one was aiming his weapon at his head. Nathan pulled the trigger, three shots connected to his target's skull. A distinct metallic 'ping' resonated before he fell with a heavy thud.
The firefight was still going on. Nathan crawled his way to the door frame while the other wrapped a tourniquet above his wound to stop the bleeding. Peeking out at the other end of the hallway, enemy troops were slowly advancing. Fortunately, they were focused on the others at the other end than to him. He took out his last frag grenade and tossed it at the group. He heard one of them screaming before being silenced by the grenade. But that didn't stop the enemy, more were pouring in around the corner, outgunning the French Infantry Marines.
Nathan fired a couple of shots around the corner, immediately pinned down in response by a hail of enemy fire. He heard his fellow soldiers backing away and the enemy getting closer towards him. He crawled back in the dorm, sitting on the dark corner next to the Corporal and waited for them to go in the dorm. Hopefully they weren't wearing any NVGs or other gadgets that could help them see better in the dark.
Enemy troops passed their room, until a group of three cautiously went in the dorm. If he was going to die here, at least he will die fighting. The Corporal shouldered his FAMAS, slowly racking the charging handle to minimise any noice. They both silently shook each other's hands and bid good luck. Nathan adjusted his red dot sight at the doorway and waited, his breathing calm and slow.
A Butterflymon was spotted, a burst of three rounds spewed out of the rifle, all three shots connected to his torso, spilling out blood on the doorway and his teammates before falling on the stone cold ground. A gasp escaped and a Galgomon rushed to his aid. Five rounds connected to his spine and ribcages. The gatling gun wielding digimon fell on top of the wounded soldier while the last one, a Sealsdramon rounded the corner at opened fire in the room blindly with a submachine gun. By a miracle, all shots were missed and Nathan fired back but missed his target as well. The wounded Galgomon was about to shoot back but was quickly terminated by the other soldier, shifting his rifle at him and fired more shots. Sealsdramon called out for help to the other imperials.
Nathan cursed and leaned to the side to get a better eyesight on the digimon. His leg poked out, he pulled the trigger, two shots hit their mark, the third scraped the concrete wall. It was chaotic in the small dorm. Nathan, fearing that more will come, pulled the lone bed beside him and threw on its side in front of them, using it as a visual cover from the enemy. He quickly reloaded his weapon while the other peeped out behind the bed. An enemy trooper was already pulling the wounded insect digimon to safety. Their hostage was gone, things will get harder for them. Several bright flashes lit up the room, shots zipped passed them, blinding Nathan's eyes behind the NVGs. Cursing and getting desperate, he fired back blindly. The exchange of fire went on for a couple of long seconds, the imperials were taking light casualties by the two stranded French troopers.
"...Fuck..." The Corporal breathed out in amazement.
All of the sudden, an explosion was heard outside the dorm. Imperials were shouting and shots rang out. That was when Nathan realised they were safe, reinforcements have arrived. He peeked out of the bed and fired back, killing two other hostile troops before his rifle was dry.
"Reload-"
A Musyamon let out a ferocious war cry and charge at them, the katana raised above his head and blade pointing at his target. Nathan kicked the bed towards him, the obstacle stalled him and Nathan jumped on him with his combat knife out. The samurai dropped the katana by Nathan's force and the two struggled for dominance. The digimon got the upper hand and strangled the soldier with all of his might. Nathan brought up the knife closer to the opponent's neck which he reflectively blocked it with one arm, giving him a small opportunity. Using all of his strenght, the French soldier pushed the samurai back to the ground, now on top and pinning one arm, he thrusted the blade towards the chest. Musyamon still fought back hard however. He punched the human, disorienting him and kicked him away.
The undead samurai picked up his katana and was about to charge at him when three rounds shot through his chest. His body fell with a heavy 'thud', his sword dropping beside him. Crimson rivers spilled out of armour before the body faded into data particles.
Nathan got up and leaned against the wall, panting heavily and dryly. That was the second time he almost died. After his thumping heart drown out of his ears, he noticed that the firefight outside went silent. This could either be a good or a bad sign. Preparing for the worst, he grabbed his FAMAS and slowly walked to the door frame.
"Johnny!" He shouted in the hallway, hoping for a friendly response.
"Hallyday!" A French Marine answered close to him. He sighed in relief. "Don't shoot at the back, friendlies over here! I have a wounded in here!" Nathan warned as he waved his left arm out.
Two French troopers with NVGs took a peek around the corner and spotted him. Nathan laughed in relief as the others helped him and the injured Corporal out of the dorm, patting his back in reassurance. Lieutenant Dubois walked up to him with relief on his face.
"Glad you made it, son."
"Thank you, my Lieutenant," Nathan replied happily before he looked at the other troopers around him, "Uh, where is the rest of my squad?" At that, Dubois frowned and sighed sadly.
"They... didn't make it, Nathan, they were the first to fall from the initial ambush." He reported grimly.
"What?"
"I thought you were killed. That ambush massacred our forces. I'm sorry, Nathan."
The trooper stood in stunned silence. His entire squad was wiped out, his friends killed, the men he bonded with that became his brothers, gone. Sergeant Manara, the one who helped him get through certain hardships, gone. A heavy weight was felt on his shoulders and a pang of grief and guilt stung his heart, a headache soon followed suit. He was the lone survivor.
"Do you want to go back to the surface?" Dubois expressed his concern to the PFC.
Nathan's head perked up, "No, sir, I wish to continue." He requested coldly. Dubois felt bad but they needed as much men down here as possible. With a defeated and regretful sigh, he assigned Nathan to another squad and continued to venture in the tunnel complex.
"Alright, soldiers, let's move out and be done with it quickly!" Chief Sergeant Chevallier bellowed sternly as he leads the platoon.
They've reached the mess hall, flashlights lighting up the large empty area. The men spreaded out, scanning each nook and cranny to avoid another ambush. The place was trashed, tables, seats, plates and ustensils were scattered around, the men concurred that the enemy left the place in a hurry. After a thorough search, the mess hall and kitchen was cleared.
They continued further deep into the mountain, the air still and quiet. The sound of their boots on the damp concrete floor echoed painfully loudly in the corridor, the men were beginning to worry about it. The corridor was surprisingly steep, evident by the fact that some of them almost slipped up by the sudden descent.
Finally, at the end of the long corridor they found themselves in a large open area. It seemed like some sort of dock or loading area for supplies, indicated by numerous steel beams, metal walkways crossing above the canals, metallic crates and vacant rubber motor boats present beside the concrete platform at the center. Four canals connected and surrounded the platform, coming from four different paths. Upon further inspection, they noticed that they came from large steel floodgates, probably built just below the mountain and well hidden by the natural blend of rocky formations and local foliages.
Stepping forth, the platoon was waved by another platoon a few meters away to their left, coming out of another corridor. The two platoons stood on a smaller platform, a single walkway connected to the main square platform at the center.
The other platoon volunteered to cross first, Dubois's men took their positions to provide overwatch for them. Once the platoon was on the platform, Dubois led the men while the others secured the area. Concluding by the fact that the area was cleared, the French soldiers began opening the metallic crates carefully. What they've found was a gold mine. Weapons, ammunations, medical supplies and lots and lots of explosives, ranging from anti-personnel mines and fragmentation grenades to the imposing anti-vehicle rockets and artillery shells. There were even "special" typed missiles: plasma, EMP, incendiary, gas and more that could only be defined to the humans as witchcraft. But among these crates was one that stunned them for the worst.
As they broke apart the padlocks, Nathan and another trooper opened the crate with black and red hazard symbol on the sides. Inside there were dozens of piled up crates carrying "rail ammunations", the same ones used on the automated turrets but at the center laid a single and heavily armoured box. Walking towards it cautiously, they inspected it warily, searching for any indication for what it was. Nothing. Hesitant, Nathan called his platoon commander for an order, not wanting to blow himself and the others by accident.
"Sir, I think we've found some sort of WMD," Nathan reported nervously, "What should we do?"
"Open it." He simply ordered.
With a nod, he and the other trooper slowly and gently opened the container's heavy steel lid. In it, stored in comfy foam cases were three missiles at an arm's length. On each of them were red bold "X" markings on the olive drab shell.
"Oh putain..." One of the soldiers in the back said.
"A-Are those nukes?" A sergeant asked with worry.
"Doesn't seem like it," Chief Sergeant noted next to Dubois, "But I haven't seen anything like it before."
"Whatever it is, we have to secure them." Dubois stated firmly, "Inform the Captain. I want men to carry the rail ammunations and these WMDs, carefully!" He ordered to the rest of his platoon.
The troopers hurried to carry as much ammunation as possible. "Spectre 1, this is Spectre 1-1, we've have a stockpile of conventional weapons, ammunations and supplies, what are your orders? How copy?"
"Repeat-*static* having some-*static*-" He closed the line and opted to tell the Captain personally. "Chief Sergeant! I'm leaving you in charge of the platoon and hold this stockpile!"
"Yes, sir!" Chevallier saluted sharply. Meanwhile the other platoon, Third platoon, crossed to the other side to scout out the other end of the cave.
Minutes passed eversince then, the platoon under Popeye's command took cover behind the crates in silence. Only the small natural waves of water echoed in the cave. There were some occasional coughs from the soldiers but nothing more.
A soldier merely observed the water, admiring its gentle and pearly blue colour but then he noticed it moved movement agitated frequently as it somehow moved towards the platform. Before he could speak out his concern to the others, a bubble like object shot out into the air and falling next to him. His survival and training instincts kicked in: rule number one in the Digital Front, never trust something by its appearance and assume the worst. Assuming the worst he did. He kicked the bubble-like object back into the water before ducking for cover.
"BOMB!" He yelled before water violently erupted upwards, raining the nearby soldiers.
"AMBUSH! CHECK THE WATERS!" The Chief Sergeant shouted sternly and opened fire once he spotted a Divermon coming out of the water.
Sporatic fire ensued in the cave, the gunfire echoed loudly in the area as the men hurriedly shot the water once they spot a figure in the water. They immediately noticed that they were outnumbered and now surrounded by the aquatic force.
Third platoon was also caught under enemy fire, the two platoons were caught off from each other.
Another "bubble bomb" was thrown at them by a passing Depthmon. This time the French troopers didn't have enough time to throw it away.
"BOMB!"
The men dived for cover, the bubble detonated engulfing two soldiers in its blaze. More Divermon then jumped onto the platform and charged at them.
"Contact to our left!" Third Squad's Sergeant warned before he took a harpoon through his chest.
Nathan quickly spun around and fired multiple bursts at the marine digimon, half a dozen fell to their deaths in seconds. More troops joined in to push them back in the waters. He struck his rifle's buttstock across a Divermon's face before kicking him away and fired two shots center mass. The digimon cried in agony as he fell back into the water. Little by little, the soldiers found themselves surrounded, taking three more loses and four severe woundeds.
Soon, a grueling close quarters battle ensued on the platform. Rifles barked, bodies fell, and later combat knives were used. Those who manned the Minimis were fortunate to take out dozens of hostiles, letting their weapons spew out hails of hot lead.
Nathan sliced the Divermon's neck, blood rained on the ground, before he tackled another one that charged at the Chief Sergeant. These imperial troops were easier to handle in CQC, he had already personally killed five of them before he could switch back to his FAMAS. The Divermon were no match against their weapons, their scales weren't strong enough to halt 5.56mm rounds, the bullets punctured easily into their flesh and fell quickly to the Marines' blades.
"Shit! Fall back! We're no match against them! Run!" One of the Divermon shouted at their comrades.
They quickly scattered back into the water, dragging their woundeds with them. The fighting didn't end there however. Third platoon fought their way back, linking back up with Second platoon. Superior in firepower, the infantry Marines gunned down the incoming enemy force. Their weapons echoed loudly in the cave, the bullet casings dropping small melodical 'pings' in the chaotic and loud orchestra of rifle and machine gun fire.
The muzzle flashes were brighter in the dimmed area, blinding the enemy as they were unable to respond. It was soon their turn to fall back.
The men thought the battle was over however a large thud contradicts their hopes. Coming out of the water and stepping onto the platform was a large aquatic creature. It towered over the soldiers with its long members and tentacles. Its three blood red eyes stared down at them with a malicious, toothy smile. Its two tentacles launched themselves at the troopers as it swiped its massive claws around while letting out a terrifying maniacal laugh.
"Guilty Black!" Black grotesque looking ink shot out of its mouth, envelopping two unfortunate soldiers. The two of them fell on their knees, unable to move or stand. "Neck Hanging!" The two tentacles grabbed the helpless soldiers and crushed them with brute force. A rain of gore and blood washed over the terrified troopers, witnessing two of their fellow brother-in-arms killed in the most horrible way.
The MarineDevimon continued his onslaught, slashing and crushing his preys. Their bullets merely scraped the Ultimate-level digimon. Nathan aimed for his eyes and fired a couple of shots, effectively disrupting the digimon but angered him even more. In response, he received a powerful slap from one of his massive tentacles. Nathan felt his body launched to the air before harshly hitting his back against a crate. He let out a pained gasp once he hit the ground. Wincing as he sat up uncomfortably, he felt his back throbbing with immense pain. Desperate to get back in the fight, he crawled to the side to pick up his rifle. The screams and cries of his fellow Marines rang in his ears, filling him with a sense of guilt and desperation, hopeless to help them.
Gradually he managed to grasp his FAMAS and rolled to his back. The red dot sight adjusted towards MarineDevimon, the dot hovered on his chest. The monster picked up the badly injured Chief Sergeant. The digital beast was covered from head-to-toe in human blood, guts and entrails were strewn around the platform, men lay on the cold concrete either dead, wounded and in extreme pain, or gone insane, too traumatised to fight back. For those who are fortunate enough to be spared quickly grabbed the wounded and dragged them out of the platform.
His left arm trembled violently but his will steeled over. With a dry breath, he inhaled and held it. His right index slowly pulling the trigger. A three-round burst shot out of the barrel furiously, hitting their target at center mass.
MarineDevimon let out a irritated growl and dropped the wounded NCO down, slowly making his way towards Nathan. His blood red eyes glared at the lone soldier, his throat emitting a ferocious growl while bearing his bloodied sharp teeth.
Three more shots came out but did little effect on his, very pissed, target. 'Click' 'click', his rifle went dry. Nathan cursed under his breath and reloaded quickly his weapon, ignoring the incoming large monster. After racking the charging handle and pointing the barrel at its objective, he came face-to-face with the digimon, a few meters away from each other.
Nathan glared back in defiance, his fingers ready to fight back. "Come on, do your worst!" He taunted boldly. Though he knew he was going to die, he planned on taunting the digimon as long as possible to buy his comrades enough time to escape and regroup.
The aquatic demon emitted a maniacal laugh, echoing eerily in the cave. "A bold idiot, I will gladly crush you to a pulp and decorate this place with your gu-"
Then a loud eruption resonated suddenly, followed by a high pitched sail. The marine devil looked to the right and took a missile to his face. The blast exploded and burned the head along with half of the torso. Nathan felt relief as he was saved just in time by the others before everything went black.
With fury and determination, the French Marsouins unleashed a hellfire of lead. The bullets teared through the digimon's weakened scales and flesh, the dark blue blood spluttered on the ground, mixing sickly with the burgundy blood.
The body disappeared into a data cloud before it hit the ground. The company of French troopers moved in, securing the platform before it split into three platoons.
Dubois watched over the scene with shock and nausea. Like him, some of the soldiers didn't have the stomach to glance at the bloodbath, emptying their breakfast on the ground, while others dreafully collect the dead and the remaining wounded Marines.
"My lieutenant," Called out a soldier. Dubois spun around and faced the platoon's combat medic, "Chief Sergeant Chevallier is... gone. He had his left leg amputated and had severe trauma to the chest and head, he suffered from internal bleeding, punctured organs and broken bones." The medic reported grimly.
"Thank you for the report, Corporal." The Lieutenant saluted, the medic replied with the same gesture before resuming with his tasks.
As the men proceeded with extracting the dead and wounded out back to the surface, Captain Lebel was overseeing his men. He spotted Lieutenant Dubois among the men and strided beside him.
"How many have we lost?"
"Twenty... maybe more," Dubois let out a frustrated sigh, "Fuck, this is a nightmare... I hope this island is worth it." He added with a tint of anger in his voice.
"It will, Lieutenant," Began the Captain, "Without this island, the enemy can't control the waters nor could they obtain easily their... more special supplies." Dubois hummed in agreement.
"That is true, my Captain, three nukes now out of their grasps."
"Exactly... this should give our forces a better advantage in supply lines and naval support." Added Lebel while formaly placing his hands behind his back. "We will leave this base to the digimon before 1800 hours. Then next stop, the city of Majuula."
"Already?" Dubois asked with a chuckle.
"Well of course! Anything with a beach to capture is up to the Infantry Marines." Stated Lebel with fake enthusiasm.
The sun was slowly setting as the French Infantry Marines waited patiently for the transport helicopters. The digimon of the coalition had already set up their camp at the base of the mountain.
Exhausted and hungry, the men calmly ate their combat rations, friendly idle chatter and laughter echoed in the warm tropical air. The men exchanged certain food for another with each other, a meal for a meal, a Commando bar for a soup packet...
Nathan coughed dryly as his chinese shrimp and chicken soup was heating up. He covered his nose from the pungent and foul stench of the fire. His new squadmates did the same as their meals were being heated also. Some of them even chuckled at the sight of soldiers, sat in a circle with their nose covered.
While waiting for his soup to cook, Nathan played with his match box out of boredom, he flipped the carton box around, staring mindlessly at the black and white images of the Eiffel Tower and of the Arc de Triomphe.
Soon after he took his metal spoon and slowly stirred the soup before carefully pulling it out of the small fire kit. A thick cloud of smoke shot out from the fire, hitting Nathan once again with the horrible.
He coughed a couple of times before taking a small sip from his camelbak. Silently, he ate his asian soup while his new "squadmates" talked with each other animatedly.
A soldier sat beside him, a metal spoon on one hand while the other held his meal, the young man sat cross-legged and let out a sigh.
"Nathan, right?" He asked with a friendly tone.
Nathan nodded in response. The other Marine offered his right hand, "Name's Kurtis." He greeted with a smile.
Nathan quietly shook his hand and resumed eating his soup. Kurtis shrugged and ate his meal. After a couple of moments of silence, Nathan finally spoke up.
"You know you're going to get a stomachache with the mexican salad." He said as a matter-of-fact.
"It's better than menu 7 at least." Kurtis shot back with a grin, "This is actually my third one." He added almost proudly.
Nathan, on the other hand, stared at him with worried eyes, "You're going to regret those soon." He warned him ominously.
As if on cue, Kurtis's stomach growled loudly and instinctively, he clenched his butt. He dropped his meal and held his stomach. Another growl came, twisting his inside.
"Oh fuck!" Was his last words before he dashed away for a nearby bush; his squad and friends laughed uncontrolably.
While the humans at the top of the mountain were enjoying their small break, some soldiers were sent to the beaches to maintain the vehicles and patrol the coast with several digimon troopers.
Brigadier Emilien Baska, part of the reconnaissance squadron of the 12thRegiment de Cuirassiers, had his eyes set of the peaceful beach of the island, admiring the view and enjoying the cool afternoon breeze.
That said, he wished to continue his sight seeing but he has a job to do. Behind him, waiting inside the Vehicule Blindée Léger, were his teammates. Maréchal des logis ("Sergeant" in the Cavalry) Lucas Maëlle was on the radio with the other recon teams. PFC. Adrien Vallette was on the 12.7mm machine gun turret, scanning their surroundings.
"Baska!" The team leader called him loudly, "We're moving out! Hurry your ass up!"
As ordered, Emilien jogged towards the VBL and hopped on the driver's seat. The light recon vehicle roared to life, the doors closed shut. The vehicle stirred and drove off, kicking off sand and dust behind its path.
"Listen up, we'll be joining Golf-3 to the south, apparently they've found something... interesting."
"'Interesting'? How so?" Asked Vallette with growing curiosity.
"We'll see it later, private."
Once arriving to destination, the squad disembark and were stunned to see a large vault door built into the face of the mountain. Joining Golf-3 were two other recon squads, awaiting for further orders. Golf-3 took four prisonners; Troopmon, their weapons confiscated and hands binded behind their back.
As per usual, the undead soldiers remained silent, their slow breathing being the only sound they were capable to however was their lifeless stare at the door, their eyes were directed at the metallic vault as if expecting something to happen.
The squad leader of Golf-3, Maréchal des logis Bappé, was interrogating the prisonners but entirely failed, not a single word had been pronounced, not even a threat or an insult.
"What have we got, Bappé?" Maëlle asked as he inspects the vault door.
"Nothing,*sigh*, this is problematic..." He stood back up and stared back at the menacing vault door, "We found them guarding this vault, whatever it is inside, they really want to keep it out of plain sight." He guessed nonchalantly.
"Do you think there are any weapons inside there?" Asked the squad leader of Golf-4, his hand barely touched the smooth seamless steel door.
"What should we do then?" Vallette chimed in, letting out an amazed whistle at the sight.
"I've contacted the chief to send some guys for the prisonners." Informed Bappé, "We should wait until then before we can do something."
The others agreed and walked back to their vehicles when suddenly they heard a faint roar from within the mountain. Everyone got startled and were on edge, weapons up and eyes scurring for any suspecious activity. A demonic and hollow bleat echoed within the mountain, the soldiers turned their heads towards the vault door.
Then a violent 'bang' shook the massive structure. Something was ramming itself out. The ramming became more aggressive and with increasing force. The vault slowly starts to bend outward, the metal creaking and groaning under the merciless and ceaseless rammings.
The French Marines hurried to get behind their vehicles and aimed their weapons at the door, a couple of AT-4s pointed at the same direction. They waited nervously for the vault to break open.
Multiple faint howls and feral growls could be heard in addition of the rammings and hollow bleat; it was certain that there were more who wanted out of their imprisonment.
Eventually the door gave out from the harsh and brutal beatings it received. It fell with a loud 'thumb', crushing the ground with itenormous size and weight.
A light mist came out of the ominous and dark cavern. The smell was horrible, the smell of decay and death was heavy for some Marines, some gagged and covered their nose.
A beast soon walked out of the mist. It was a tall and intimidating creature, covered in dark violet fur and sickening white pale skin. The creature was a humanoid ram with black featherless wings, a pair of gigantic horns. It wore over its torso an ebony chestplate with a crimson demonic pentagram carved onto it.
Its two blood red eyes examined the humans below it with hatred and a predatory gaze. Its massive hands slowly curled into fists, slightly shaking with uncontrollable rage and eager violence.
Following behind it were a couple of much smaller beasts. Red skin and covered with brown fur, their lifeless eyes looked around the environment, their malicious and hysterical smiles growing wider once their empty bloody orbs laid on the humans, sensing their fear, making them drool, hungry for their souls.
Fear was their nectar, and they shall have a grand feast upon it.
The giant ram creature, known as Mephismon, cracked his neck, the muscles snapping. A wry smile etched of his goat face.
"Kill them!" He commanded to his cohort of Wendimon.
"Open fire!" Maëlle shouted before the wendigo digimon charged at them.
Sporatic gunshots and blood-curling screams silenced the whole company of men on top of the mountain.
Confusion spread amongst the men, some were apprehensive and started to don back their combat gear. Soon everyone quickly grabbed their helmets and rifles, preparing to defend themselves for an upcoming ambush.
The NCOs barked orders while the platoon commanders tried to get any information on the situation below.
The communication traffic was filled with panic reports and confusion. They were in disarray and caught off-guard by a surprise attack.
The fighting below the fort increased in intensity and ferocity. Avian digimon could be seen moving out in towards the fighting.
"Sergeant, what the fuck is happening down there?" Asked a marsouin with apprehension in his voice.
"We're under attack that's what matters." The sergeant quickly replied, shutting him up.
A beastial howl was heard from within the fort. The soldiers spun around, uncertainty gripped their minds.
Collectively, they looked around them when all of the sudden a blur of red and brown jumped out of the fort's entrance.
The creature landed with a heavy 'thud' and instantly lashed out of the nearest Marines. Screams and sporatic gunshots rang in the air.
The ferocious beast swung its massive arms at the humans, crushing their internal organs and bones with its raw strenght and force. Its smile growing wider and laughed hysterically.
Bullets punctured its flesh but did little affect to slow it down. The adrenaline allowed it to become bolder and more ferocious.
The French troopers focused on the digimon, firing speeding hot lead at it. Unfortunate troopers were crushed, stomped and thrown around by the mad digimon.
The monster leapt into the air and landed near Nathan's squad. They ran away in panic, few kept firing at it. Nathan quickly backed away as the creature now laid its insane eyes on him.
He was about to turn and run away but was grabbed by the digimon, pulling him to it by his right foot. A surprised yelp escaped his mouth. The monster stared at him like a child playing with a toy.
Nathan struggled to get his FAMAS up, the weapon was hanging on him by its straps. The Wendimon opened its mouth, showing its horrifying teeth and spread its horrid breath.
It was going to eat him. On instinct, Nathan pulled out combat knife and stabbed it on its left eye.
The monster let go off him and howled in pain. He hit the ground with a grunt and crawled away.
"Fire at will!" Commanded Lieutenant Dubois, the Marines kept firing at it with cold-blood.
The Wendimon covered itself as it lost its adrenaline flow and surprise advantage. It stumbled backwards and whined in agony. Riddled with bullet holes and covered in its own blood, it fell on its knees and fell to the side. Its data flowed away to the wind.
Just as they were about to breathe in relief, a couple of Marines spotted more Wendimon climbing the face of the mountain for them.
"In position, Marsouins! They are coming for us!"
Firefights and frantic close quarter fights spread across the main island. The coalition forces tried their best to quickly regroup and eliminate the ever growing threat.
An enemy they'll soon find out comes from another world. It will be Hell on Earth.
Day 3
Past midnight and the fight still goes on, now spread across File Islands 4 and 5.
The French Marines of 5th Company laid in their fox holes and behind their cover. The fight to push back the creatures out of the fort had been long and hard but now they expect a whole wave of these monsters to charge up the steep face of the mountain.
In the distance, 4th Company and the Jungle Troopers were fighting back the undead creatures, green tracers, bright strobes and explosions whizzed and erupted across the island like a chaotic light spectacle.
Three bright orbs shot into the air overhead the Marines, casting their glow and illuminating the ground.
From there, the French troopers prepared themselves for the fight. Their bodies tensed and breath held, adrenaline pumping through their hearts and muscles, eyes wide open and behind the gun sight, the index finger slowly touching the trigger.
Barely seventy meters in front of them were two dozen Wendimon, sniffing the air for their next fearful preys.
But their preys can fight back with discipline and determination.
Without a single word from their officers, the men automatically opened fire, showering their targets with angry flashing bullets. The first volley of automatic fire decimated the creatures. Walking amongst them was their identified leader, Mephismon.
The demonic goat stared at the soldiers with pure hatred and uncontrollable rage, completely ignoring the flying bullets. In a blur, the hell spawn flew across the battlefield, taking the brunt of the incoming fire.
"Death Cloud!" He roared, generating a dark cloud around himself, corroding everything in its path.
Plants and grass crumpled into lifeless weeds, bushes and trees were extinguished from life, bullets fell short from their intentional targets.
A squad of Marines ran away from cover as both the corrosive cloud and the demonic digimon came towards them.
Mephismon lunged himself onto a soldier, crushing the man with his hooves before grabbing another soldier and tossing him to the cloud.
Like a sentient being, the cloud's maw opened up and swallowed the man, its corrosive ability eating away his skin, flesh and bones. A painful and long death for the unfortunate victim.
Ahead of the Wendimon, Mephismon continued his merciless onslaught on the human soldiers, shrugging off the bullets tearing his flesh apart.
With a click, Nathan's bayonet was fixed on the rifle's barrel. The mad goat demon was getting closer but his movements were getting sloppier, underestimating human firepower.
He lifted the FAMAS to his right shoulder and took aim, the red dot on the demon's chest. He squezzed the trigger, a three-round burst shot out of the barrel at 1000 rounds per minute, easily penetrating Mephismon's natural tough skin.
The goat monster groaned in pain and spun around, facing the human. Nathan fired two more bursts in quick sucession before turning heels and running away. Eyes focused on him, Mephismon flapped his bat-like wings and leapt into the air.
Reaching a certain altitude, he dived head first for his target, his small army of Wendimon did quick work with the rest of the humans.
Flying just overhead the French troopers, Mephismon landed on the ground with a strong pounce, sending a light shockwave around him. His blood red eyes glared at Nathan, snarling furiously.
"Bordel! Just fire the damn thing!" Nathan yelled urgently before diving for cover.
Behind the demon, on top of the mountain, was a lone VBL, its 12.7mm machine gun aimed at his exposed back. As ordered, the gunner fired the heavy weapon, bright red tracers flew out of the barrel and pounded Mephismon's back, destroying his wings into mingled pieces of muscle and skin, and peppering his back with gaping bullet holes, his spine turned to bone dust and he was bleeding profusely.
The devil digimon roared in agony, he w as exposed, weakened and now surrounded, every human soldier around him opened fire unrelentlessly, giving him no room to escape.
Just as he was about to take his chances to fly away, an AT-4 rocket soared the battlefield and struck him on the left side, the rocket crushing his bones and flesh before soon exploding in a fiery blaze, engulfing most of his body in flames.
Only a few remains of his fur and arm was left of him. With the leader dead, the Wendimon were in disarray, quick to fall back only to meet their short end by the tanks on the beaches and the French soldiers on the mountain.
From the skies, attack helicopters and Jungle Trooper Marines mowed and chase down the fleeing monsters without mercy.
The battle was over in half an hour.