"In modern war... you will die like a dog for no good reason."-Ernest Hemingway
London, England
August 11th, 2011
Rifleman Eric and Rifleman Stanley were pinned down smack dab in the middle of the street. Well they weren't the worst off. They had amble cover behind an overturned lorry. Rifleman Eric peaked over the cab and jerked his head back down as a flurry of rounds cracked by.
"The piss we gonna do?" Rifleman Eric asked as he checked his 40mm grenade launcher. He stood up and fired the grenade. The low thump couldn't be heard over all the shooting and screaming. Rifleman Stanley peeked around the truck and looked down his ACOG scope. What he saw truly frightened him. Whatever he was looking at was no shorter than two meters. It hid behind a small wall on the side of the ramp that ran up to the bridge. Its head looked like an American football except larger and had a large cheese grater looking eye. The most interesting thing was its skin. It wasn't all metal like they thought. He noticed that it was more of an organic skin with a metal exoskeleton covering the arms, legs, and bits of the chest. Rifleman Stanley seemed frozen to the spot when he noticed that the Tinnie was looking right at him. It was its skeletal like arm brandishing a six barreled weapon. Rifleman Stanley pulled back just in time to see several lances of fire zip past.
"What the fuck are those!" Rifleman Stanley screamed over the gunfire. Rifleman Eric shrugged and leaned around the bare engine block of the truck to shoot.
Lance Corporal David sat huddled in the Tide Tables Café. He had dropped his rifle when the ambush sprung itself upon them. He wiped his sweaty hands on his fatigue pants and grabbed his Browning Hi-Power out of its holster. He looked among the men strewn about the street for any familiar faces. After a few seconds he just gave up. A hunched figure came running towards him from across the street. He raised his pistol and squeezed the grip. He lowered it once he recognized the face of Corporal Willis.
"You hit?" Corporal Willis asked as he knelt down next to Lance Corporal David. He patted himself down and weakly shook his head.
"Where is your section?" was the next question.
"I..I…I don't know." Lance Corporal David stuttered. Corporal Willis shook his head and slapped a new magazine into his rifle.
"I'm taking your section and flanking the enemy. You just stay here." Corporal Willis ordered. Lance Corporal David nodded happy with his order.
Rifleman Andrew stood across the street from the Tides Table Café in a clearing of trees. He and Rifleman Anton were acting as point men for the section. They moved in a double staggered column. Behind them was Rifleman Alex and Corporal Willis in the second row, Rifleman Kyle and Rifleman Eric in the third row, and Rifleman Stanley finished up the column watching the rear. They moved quickly stopping every few seconds to stop and listen for sounds of enemy movement. The only thing they heard was the same thing they've been hearing since they got there; shooting and explosions. The men kept silent and kept their heads on constant vigils. They would not get ambushed again. After getting through about a fifty meters of woods they were met with sands under their boots. Corporal Willis now took point leading the men along the edge of the woods towards the bridge. The men were hunched low and stepped carefully. They had little idea how many Tinnies were on the bridge but they did have the element of surprise. They entered another patch of foliage right next to the bridge. Corporal Willis looked at all the men and nodded in approval. They each took one grenade off their tactical vests and pulled the pins. Corporal Willis did his too and took a deep breath. The grenade arced through the air followed by six more grenades filled with RDX explosive. Rifleman Anton fired a short burst into the air and joined the others as they lunged over the railing and ran to the other side of the bridge. They threw more grenades as a flurry of fire decimated nothing on the other side. Several explosions tore across the bridge silencing all fire. Corporal Willis led the men back around the woods and onto Bridge Street. Most of the wounded that were lying in the middle of the street were now dead. Severed limbs were scattered about like Halloween decorations. The men who could stand stood hunched over with weapons at the ready. Some collected the dog tags from their fallen comrades.
"Leftenant Erin!" Corporal Willis called. Lieutenant Erin looked up from pulling the tags off a body and nodded. He picked up his rifle and jogged to Corporal Willis.
"Bloody ace job taking out those Tinnies. Thought we were screwed for a second." Lieutenant Erin said wiping the blood on his hands on his fatigue pants.
"How many casualties do we have?" Corporal Willis asked. Lieutenant Erin looked over his shoulder at the bodies in the street and shook his head.
"Twenty-two dead, double that wounded. No bloody way we are getting all those across the bridge before more Tinnies hop on our arses. Speaking of the bridge where the piss are those engineers that are supposed to be blowing these things to Kingdom come?" Lieutenant Erin said looking around.
"Leftenant, HQ is on the net wondering why we aren't back yet?" a young Rifleman wearing a radio pack said handing the receiver to Lieutenant Erin. He snatched it and started screaming.
"Exactly what the fuck is going on! There were supposed to be engineers on the bridges but all we found were fucking Tinnies! You have ninety-nine and a half million UAVs in the air and you can't warn us that there are Tinnies waiting for us around the fucking corner!" Whoever was on the other end mumbled a reply they couldn't here. Lieutenant Erin took a deep breath before continuing.
"Roger that. We need immediate helicopter extract. We have multiple wounded in critical condition. I don't know how long they can hold. I don't know how long we can hold either. If any Tinnies show up I don't think we can offer much resistance."
Rifleman Andrew was close enough to hear the reply. His grip tightened on his weapon as his brain filtered the information.
"Leftenant Erin we have a problem. At least a company of Tinnies are heading towards you. They want that bridge. Challenger Twos are on their way. The Fortieth Commando Battalion is gearing up to reinforce your position. Set up a casualty collection point at the foot of the western side of the bridge and defend it. We'll provide as much air cover as possible but don't expect much because they are making a major push near Campden Town. If we can get some bombers over there to drop that bridge in the water we will. Your standing orders are to hold the western side of the bridge. Godspeed." Lieutenant Erin swore and stomped his foot at the ground. He motioned for the men to gather around and waited until they did. He addressed the large group with a professional and stern tone.
"Okay, mates. We're almost through. Our orders are to hold our side of the bridge until they send some bombers to sink the bridges. We can expect a few Challenger Twos supporting us when they arrive and the Fortieth Commando won't be far behind them. Get all the wounded across the bridge and set up defensive positions. Half of Second Rifles will defend Richmond Bridge. I'll take the other half along with what is left of my unit and defend Twickenham Bridge. Who is the most senior officer in Second Rifles?"
They looked at each other comparing rank patches. Apparently Captain Barrios had bought farm during the ambush. Major Matthew Flemming stepped forward and said, "Guess I'm in command. The short, stocky man sported a well groomed mustache that would have put Lord Kitchener to shame. His bushy eyebrows were slightly singed at the ends and his helmet had a large chunk missing from it. His face, like many of the other soldiers, was covered in dirt and grime. Lieutenant Erin nodded and divided the remains of 2nd Rifles roughly in half. Corporal Willis' section was one of the fully intact ones to go with Lieutenant Erin. After a short jog they arrived at the bridge. The partial remains of sandbag barricades provided perfect cover but most of it was on the other side of the bridge. The men labored quickly in the August heat making more barricades and fall back positions.
"How many soldiers are in a company?" Rifleman Andrew asked Rifleman Kyle as they pushed the remains of a burnt out car in the middle of the bridge.
"Dunno for sure. Like one hundred men. Why?" Rifleman Kyle replied as they stacked extra sandbags in front of the car for better protection.
"So about fifty Tinnie are going to be coming towards us and fifty for the other bridge, eh?" Rifleman Andrew said as he checked his field of fire through the car's shattered windows.
Rifleman Kyle thought for a second and said, "Holy shit that is a lot of Tinnies." He looked around at the few men remaining from 2nd Rifles and Lieutenant Erin's mix matched unit. He roughly estimated they had a platoon of men working to turn the bridge into a killing field. Rifleman Kyle shook his head and got back to work.
Rifleman Alex took a swig from his canteen and passed it to Rifleman Stanley. He and Rifleman Stanley were on the only thing that overlooked the bridge from a decent height. Rifleman Stanley and Rifleman Alex lay prone on a train car on the Richmond Railway to the right of Twickenham Bridge. Rifleman Stanley was to pick off targets on the other bridge while Rifleman Alex kept the Tinnies off their own arses.
"How much ammo you got?" Rifleman Stanley asked counting his own magazines. Rifleman Alex made a quick count and frowned.
"Three boxes of ammunition including the one in me weapon, two rockets for me LAW, and four grenades. Not enough in my view."
"Better than nothing." commented Rifleman Stanley as he wiggled about trying to get comfortable.
"Too true, mate." Rifleman Kyle replied.
"Corporal Willis! Look what I found?" Rifleman Anton shouted as he and Lance Corporal David waved to Corporal Willis. He double timed to where they were standing in front of a partially collapsed apartment block to the right of the foot of the bridge.
"What is it?" Corporal Willis asked. Lance Corporal David and Rifleman Anton headed a bit deeper into the rubble with Corporal Willis close behind. When he saw what they had found he couldn't help but smile.
"Don't you just love the Yanks?" Lance Corporal David said smiling for the first time in a while. A Land Rover Wolf had smashed into the building totaling it completely. The driver still sat in the driver's seat with a bad head wound. The stink coming from the corpses was bad but they could deal with it due to the vehicles contents. It was an armed version of the vehicle sporting one M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun, a L7A1 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Gun, and a MILAN ATGM complete with launcher.
"That Browning is gonna be useful. Anton, get some men in here to salvage all the ammo for these weapons. David, I want you to report to Lieutenant Erin and tell him about our finding. "Gotchya." Lance Corporal David said and ran off.
Corporal Willis watched as the men worked to dismount the weapons with wrenches and screw drivers. Once secure he consulted Lieutenant Erin about where to put them.
"We have a lot of ammo for the L7 so we can mount that on the train by my sharpshooter. One of your men will have to man it though. For the Browning we only have two hundred and fifty rounds for it so we have to use that carefully. I suggest we put that near the foot of the bridge so if we are pushed back that far we have something to hit them hard with. The MILAN can be set up in the middle of the bridge and given a clear view of fire so if the Tinnies bring up one of those walking tanks we can knock it out." Corporal Willis suggested sketching the plan on an etch-a-sketch they picked up.
"I think the MILAN should be deployed in the front so we can knock out any Tinnie armor that decides to come at us. Why let them take half the bridge before knockin' em out. I don't mind the L7 on the train. I'll send one of me men to man it. I like where you plan to put the Browning." Lieutenant Erin said making his own adjustments. Corporal Willis observed the map and pointed to the far side of the bridge.
"No, sir. Not as much cover on that side you see. Tinnies can easily take it out. I think my plan will work out better." Corporal Willis said. Lieutenant Erin nodded taking in the information.
"Mkay. We'll go with your plan. I'll get me man over on that train. You get some men to set up that MILAN. Make sure it has extra cover. Hurry up too. We don't have much time." Lieutenant Erin ordered. Corporal Willis saluted and got to work.
Lance Corporal David had regained most of his senses. He wasn't sure what made him zone out before but he couldn't let it happen again. They were spread out evenly on the bridge. The men were all hidden behind sandbags or burnt out cars and even large chunks of rubble. When the Tinnies came they were bound for a surprise. Lance Corporal David felt much more confident. He checked and rechecked his L85A2 and flicked the safety off. He now knew what he was fighting. He couldn't say he wasn't scared; if he did he would be lying to himself. The best way you could put it was he was now prepared mentally. He pulled back the charging handle to his rifle and peaked over the low wall of sandbags. Not much longer now.
Rifleman Stanley's eye was glued to his scope. He was keeping a close eye over the other side of the river waiting for any signs of movement. He blinked a bead of sweat from his eyes and continued scanning the other side of the ridge.
"I have to drain the weasel." Rifleman Alex said rolling off his belly. The soldier who Lieutenant Erin had sent over was a lance corporal named Jack Brun from the 3rd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. He chuckled softly as Rifleman Alex rolled to the side of the train and pissed. Lance Corporal Jack didn't like being so exposed. He had mounted the L7 on a tripod to provide the most stable firing point. He had no loader so he had to do it all himself. In preparation for this he had several belts of ammo neatly coiled at the base of the tripod. He tapped his index finger on the trigger guard growing impatient. Whoever said waiting was the worst part of war was dead on.
"Enemy contact reported!" came the call over the radio. Everyone tensed up in unison. They were fighting the same enemy that had fallen from space only a few hours ago and gave them a good licking at Richmond Green. Rifleman Stanley saw figures running hunched over towards the bridge. He watched as a lance of Tinnies made their way up crisscrossing stairs on the other end of the bridge. He noticed a Tinnie that looked different from all the others. It was about a meter taller and the smaller Tinnies seemed to go wherever it pointed. It seemed to dance gracefully along the ground on its long thin legs. Rifleman Stanley put what had to be an officer Tinnie in his crosshairs. He immediately reconsidered and put a bit of a lead on the target. He took a deep breath and let half of it out. As the officer Tinnie marched up the final set of stairs, Rifleman Stanley gently pulled the trigger. There was a bang and a second later the officer Tinnies chest had a gaping hole in it. The other Tinnies looked stunned as their leader fell backwards into the dozen or so Tinnies. Rifleman Stanley didn't let up. Another group of twelve Tinnies marched cautiously onto the bridge. A quick check revealed no officers so he just went for the closest one. The Tinnie took a round in the head spinning around but getting back up soon after. The other Tinnies fired their weapons in random patterns not sure where the shot came from. The first line of defenders on the bridge stood up and fired a volley of short bursts. Three Tinnies immediately toppled over and one just exploded. The others were quick to take cover and return fire.
Rifleman Andrew ducked down below a large chunk of concrete as a flurry of enemy fire whipped past his head. He waited until the fire dulled before firming his grip on his rifle and standing up to fire again. He fired at a Tinnie taking cover in the stairwell of the bridge hitting nothing more than concrete. He fired a 40mm grenade into the alcove killing everything in it with a thump. He readied another grenade and sent one flying towards two Tinnies that slid to the cover of an ice cream truck. I struck the ice cream truck blowing it in two and sending the Tinnies sky high. They landed somewhere in the river two seconds later. The crack of Rifleman Stanley's rifle had a slightly comforting tone to it as the head of another Tinnie suddenly expanded and it crumpled to the ground.
Lance Corporal Jack traded tracers with a Tinnie on the other bridge. The Tinnie's rounds went far overhead while Lance Corporal Jack's rammed home. The Tinnie's chest sparked and it dropped like a sack of potatoes. He raked his machine gun over the bridge keeping the Tinnies pinned. He swore when his firing pin hit empty air. With the barrel smoking, Lance Corporal Jack began reloading his L7. He took his canteen and poured half the bottle over the steaming barrel. He put the canteen down next to his ammo and pulled back the bolt.
"Oi, Jack! We got Tinnies comin towards us!" Rifleman Alex shouted placing three rounds into a Tinnie's chest at the foot of the railway. Lance Corporal Jack swiveled the L7 towards the opposite end of the railway. There were about a dozen or two Tinnies heading towards them. There was something strange about them. They were just shy of two meters tall and seemed stockier. The new Tinnies had a weapon graphed onto their right hand but their left hands were free. They didn't move like regular Tinnies either. They skillfully weaved side to side with the grace of a ballerina. Lance Corporal Jack fired a prolonged burst just as the Tinnies let loose a barrage of fire. Lance Corporal Jack didn't notice he was screaming as bullets ricocheted all around him. He shook the gun side to side quickly throwing up a wall of lead. Two Tinnies got hit and fell into the river. Lance Corporal Jack felt a thump in the middle of his chest and the smell of burning flesh immediately filled his nose.
Rifleman Alex looked over his shoulder just in time to see Lance Corporal Jack slump backwards with a smoking hole in the middle of his chest.
"Stanley, cover me!" Rifleman Alex barked over the fire as he crab walked backwards to Lance Corporal Jack's limp body. He fired a burst over Rifleman Stanley's head striking one of the advancing Tinnies in the leg. He leaned over Lance Corporal Jack's body and listened for a heartbeat. Nothing. He swore and mounted the L7.
"Keep your head down!" Rifleman Alex yelled as he fired off a continuous stream of fire. It wasn't the most accurate but it produced the desired effect. The Tinnies tried to bob and weave their way around the fire but no amount of fancy moves could have saved them. They toppled over like dominoes as they got closer.
"What is that?" Rifleman Stanley asked. Rifleman Alex turned the L7 towards the other bridge and froze. One of those walking tanks were pointed right at them.
"Run!" Rifleman Alex screamed as he picked up his LMG and went to jump off the train. He was about to jump when he noticed Rifleman Stanley wasn't behind him. He looked back and saw the marksman struggling to untangle his tactical vest from a protruding piece of the train. Rifleman Alex repeated every curse word he had ever learned as he ran back to Rifleman Stanley.
"Come on! Come on!" Rifleman Stanley pleaded. Rifleman Alex pulled his combat knife out of his boot and started cutting off the straps. Rifleman Alex looked up just as the Tinnie tank let loose a salvo of 16 missiles. Knowing the end was near, he covered Rifleman Stanley's body with his own and screamed.
Rifleman Anton watched the missiles streak and slam into the train. The train was blown clear off the tracks and was thrown amongst the combatants on the other bridge. His immediate thoughts were of Stanley, Alex, and the other soldier.
"You sons-of-bitches!" Rifleman Anton screamed at the top of his lungs as he stood up and shot at the Walking Gun. Rounds pinged harmlessly off the Walking Gun but he did manage to drop a few of the Tinnies working to reload the thing. The Tinnie manning the gun kept its head down as more of its allies fell.
"Hit it with your LAW!" Corporal Willis shouted as he slid next to Rifleman Anton. Rifleman Anton nodded and unslung the rocket launcher. He lined his sights up on the Walking Gun and prepared to squeeze the trigger. The Walking Gun looked little more than a shiny box supported by four ant like legs. The only weapons it seemed to carry were 8 rocket tubes on each side.
"SOD OFF!" Rifleman Anton screamed as he jerked the trigger. The back blast threw up a wall of smoke behind them and a fountain of flame erupted from the front. The 66mm rocket hit the Walking Gun just as it completed its reloading cycle. The 66mm high explosive anti tank rocket ignited twelve of the sixteen rockets loaded into the Walking Gun. The Walking Gun and about six Tinnies disappeared in a raging fireball that shot up twenty feet into the air.
"Cease fire! Cease Fire!" Lieutenant Erin yelled running up and down the line. They all held their breaths waiting for the smoke to clear. A universal feeling of relief was felt all around when a light wind cleared the bridge and revealed nothing; nothing except for one Tinnie struggling to move with both its legs blown off. Lieutenant Erin's eyes grew wide with the thought of a prisoner.
"Someone go bring me that Tinnie!" Lieutenant Erin ordered pointing at it. Four men scrambled from cover and dragged the Tinnie back. Everyone crowded around the wounded Tinnie filled with curiosity.
"Fuckin ugly bugger." Rifleman Eric noted. He was right. It was one of the officer Tinnies. It had three legs but two of them were blown off. Its skin was light brown and reminded the men of wet canvas. It eye was just a slit with something constantly running back and forth along it.
"Kind of looks like ya mum." Rifleman Kyle replied with a sly grin. Rifleman Eric shot a look at Rifleman Kyle that could have froze the Sun before returning his gaze to the Tinnie.
"So this is what killed Alex." Rifleman Anton said spitting on the Tinnie.
"Is it alive?" Rifleman Andrew asked. As if in a response to the question the Tinnie jerked to life. Half a dozen men filled the Tinnie with enough lead to drop an elephant. What looked like water poured out of dozens of holes all among the Tinnies body. An explosion on the other bridge drew the men's attention.
"Get those men on the radio." Lieutenant Erin ordered slightly annoyed. After several minutes the rifleman with the bulky radio just shook his head.
"I ain't gettin nothin, sir." the rifleman said with a frown.
"Damn. I know they are still alive. You can still hear the shooting." Lieutenant Erin said as he turned to Corporal Willis. They all knew what was coming.
"Take your section and go check up on them. If everything is okay then radio in. If things are FUBAR then still radio in." He then turned to the radioman.
"Rifleman Justin, go with them. You're their connection with us. Don't die."
"Yes, sir." The pimply faced rifleman said. Corporal Willis ordered all the men to fall in a circle around him.
"Okay mates. The game plan is simple. We are goin over there and see if they are okay. If they are we can come back and watch em interrogate the Tinnie but if things are a bit sticky than we are stayin. Our prime goal is to protect Rifleman…"
"Rifleman Justin Dunks. Nicknames Too Tall." the radioman said with a shy grin.
"I see why." Rifleman Kyle said looking up at the two and a half meter tall kid. Corporal Willis shot him an icy glare.
"Our prime goal is to protect Rifleman Justin here. Without him if we do get blown to bits they'll send another section to get killed too. I prefer that not happen. Roger?"
"Roger." said Rifleman Anton.
"Roger." Rifleman Andrew.
"Roger." Lance Corporal David.
"Roger that." Rifleman Kyle.
"Roger." Rifleman Eric.
"Roger, Roger." Rifleman Justin.
"Okay, mates. Let's go check up on our boys. If there are any Tinnies we are going to blow them to Hell. For Alex and Stanley!" Corporal Willis said turning towards the other bridge.
"For Alex!" Rifleman Anton shouted pounding his chest.
"For Stanley! Rifleman Andrew barked nodding his head.
"For Jack!" Rifleman Justin shouted making a fist.
"Okay. Now let's move before the fight is over." Corporal Willis ordered. The men filed in behind in and they started jogging. It was true; they all wanted to get back in the fight before it ended.
A plume of flame shot up in the middle of the bridge signaling the fight was very much still going on.