Chapter 7:
Operation Burning Sun
Part 2
Tyler sighed tiredly as he rechecked his weapon for the second time that morning. Currently, he was inside a small tent within the Imperial Palace perimeter that Admiral Junia had allocated to him. The night before, he and what remained of Alpha 2 and 3 had regrouped with the main ADVENT forces within the Imperial Palace, along with the Exile pack and their one POW. Upon arrival, they had been greeted by a very relieved Admiral Junia who had thanked them for finding her hound squad and destroying the enemy artillery. Tyler had handed her over the intel they had recovered from the spec ops squad, but before Tyler and the admiral could retreat to the command tent to plan their next move Tyler had received a burst transmission from Captain Abrams of Alpha Company that Bravo 2 had destroyed the jammer at the Tokyo Tower and that the 77th had taken heavy casualties upon their landing.
Admiral Junia had allocated three APCs to Tyler and without wait, hurried off to their south to regroup with other 77th HVG forces. Upon their arrival at Ark Hills, where Bravo 2 was holding the area for additional ADVENT units from outside the city to link up with them. There, Tyler had learned that Hopkins, along with Sergeant Ortega, had moved to investigate some activity to the west at the Hikawa Jinja shrine. Just as the remainder of Hopkins' squad relayed this, they could hear heavy gunfire coming from the direction of the shrine, and quickly soon after, the panicked cries of Ortega and an ominous red flare. Tyler and his three APC's immediately responded. What they found when they got there was chaos, as the courtyard was covered in the mutilated bodies of enemy soldiers and a heavily wounded Hopkins who looked like he had nearly had his face clawed in half, and that was without factoring in the other, more serious wound.
Tyler, as a frontline soldier at times, had seen a few ways to kill people. What had happened to Hopkins was something that would be forever ingrained into his memory. The entirety of Hopkins' chest armor on his left side was scorched at the very least. Just to the left of his heart, the man's flesh had been incinerated, leaving the charred white of exposed rib and light sheen of desperate blood plasma. Looking closely at the armor as medics attended to him, Tyler was astonished to see that besides the armor and the ballistic gel layer, Hopkins had also slipped on a Kevlar vest AND ceramic plates for protection. And those were likely the only reason he was, debatably, still alive.
At that point, reinforcements had arrived from ADVENT units outside the city and with the added security, it allowed Tyler to call in medivac for Hopkins, who was now back at the 77th base undergoing emergency treatment.
The advancing ADVENT forces had taken over with securing the areas to the south, east, and north of the Imperial Palace allowing Tyler to gather all remaining 77th HVG forces and regroup them at the palace, now that it was no longer under attack. He and the rest of his men then took a well-deserved nap until the morning when Tyler had been called by Junia to report to her command tent in combat gear to develop their next plan of action.
As Tyler finished getting his gear ready, his sharp eyes caught a shadow out of the corner of his eye near the entrance of his tent. "Report" Tyler said, already knowing who this was and was soon greeted by the form of a black armored human walking out of the shadow.
The armor that covered the man was not only midnight black, but covered every part of his body leaving nothing exposed and was laden with an armored storage compartment that Tyler knew was full of ammo and explosives. The man gave a quick salute before reporting. "Here ta give you our status update sir."
Tyler nodded before indicating the man to proceed.
"Ghost Squad, along with Foxtrot and Echo Squads, successfully inserted via stealth craft to the south and captured the nearby airfield with no casualties. We then waited for reinforcements and managed to disappear before any of them noticed us. At that point, our three squads separated and went to complete our own duties with Ghost hitting enemy spec ops units, Foxtrot securing various cultural artifacts from looting, and Echo beginning intelligence and counter intelligence efforts," the man replied with a gruff British accent.
Tyler nodded. "Good work Price, so how do you think our black ops teams did in their first emergency deployment?" he asked the leader of Ghost Squad.
Price gave a low chuckle. "Near textbook, nobody saw a damn thing."
Tyler gave a triumphant grin. "Good, I don't want to tip our hand too early. Carry on Price, this battle's not over yet."
"You got it sir" Prices voice replied even as the man cloaked his armor again and left the area while avoiding detection from any of the nearby ADVENT troops.
Tyler got up from where he was sitting and made his way out of the tent and toward Junia's command tent. Along the way, Tyler thought about the conversation he had just had with Price and remembered his decision to create a secret branch of the 77th. Initially, Tyler had meant the black ops division to be his personal squad, but he quickly realized that it would be more beneficially to have a team of troopers that he could deploy without the oversight of ADVENT command. Command had already demonstrated a level of incompetence that Tyler found abhorrent, and their stifling of resources to the 77th had forced Tyler to the conclusion that if he had wanted to make the 77th one of the best units in the ADVENT command structure, he would have to take matters into his own hands.
His first order of business was contacting Richard Price, an old friend of the family and former British SAS. The man was officially retired from the military however he was having trouble adjusting to civilian life under ADVENT leadership. When Tyler had contacted him and after meeting and an explanation of what his plans where Price had agreed to head up one such group before telling Tyler he would contact him again after he finished setting up a staging area. It was just before Tyler had saved the Viper nest that he had been called by Price to inform him that he and some of his old trusted comrades had established a base of operations in the Philippines and were ready to begin operations.
Despite the fact that he now had access to his own black ops unit, Tyler knew that he needed to get his hands on some top line gear in order to avoid detections from the Elders or ADVENT, however he had been stumped on how to accomplish this before remembering the old XCOM base that ADVENT had destroyed during the initial invasion. The area was now within ADVENT controlled territory and since its location was no longer a secret no XCOM or resistance forces had dared to search it. ADVENT forces likewise had not bothered to clear out the base as most simply viewed the technology their as laughable compared to that of ADVENT and so the base stood there in shambles with nobody willing to shift through the wreckage to see what's left.
Tyler had relayed his instructions to Price to infiltrate and search the base while he was responding to the attack on the Viper nest. The plan had gone off without a hitch as the commotion of the attack on the nest and the resistance's use of chemical weapons had helped distract ADVENT from any strange activity at the old XCOM site. Tyler hadn't planned this last part, but was no less thankful for the unexpected boon.
The raid had gone off better than Tyler could dream as the team had shifted some rubble and found areas that ADVENT forces had thought destroyed. From these areas, the team had recovered schematics, research notes, and a few raw materials that they had brought back to their base. The only thing stopping them from creating some of the inventions was finding an expert in alien technology field that was low profile enough for them to recruit without alerting ADVENT.
Shaking his head to dispel his thoughts, Tyler saw he was approaching Junia's command building, a small prefabricated structure that was sitting in the center of the Imperial Palace grounds. The grounds themselves had been fortified after the arrival of ADVENT reinforcements and now had reinforced alloy walls and barricades. ADVENT forces where moving throughout the area mostly ADVENT troopers, Vipers, Sectoids, and the occasional Hound. There were no prestigious units like Mutons, Ethereals, Archons or other such 'higher' species as in an ironic twist of fate, they were all at Yellowstone fighting what the Council had determined was the important fight, meaning that the only forces that could respond to the enemies real assault were the units that the Council had deemed as lesser. Tyler honestly was glad that none of the Yellowstone forces had redeployed as the supposedly 'better' units would have tried to steal the show and antagonize the other units that had arrived.
All of the units present in Tokyo knew that this was their chance for glory and prestige, and so were working seamlessly with their allies to coordinate their efforts in containing the enemy units. The fact that they were working under the eyes of an Ethereal Admiral and the Dragon of the 77th likely helped inspire them to put forth their best. Tyler honestly was greatly impressed at their efficiency in working together as it had surpassed any other elite unit he had encountered before in his service to ADVENT.
As Tyler approached the small building, the two guards gave him a curt nod before allowing him to open the door and step inside the archway. The room he found himself was rather spartan by ADVENT standards, with only a communications station in the corner and a large table in the middle being the only things one could describe as furniture in the room. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of alien alloy that provided the building with some protection, but also made the interior of the building resemble a silver prison cell. The only sources of life in the room were the three individuals surrounding the large table and the Viper manning the communications station.
The three individuals were a mixed batch consisting of a Viper, a Sectoid, and of course the Ethereal Admiral herself, Junia. The three looked up at his entry before recognizing him making the Viper straighten up in her stance, while the Sectoid regarded him with curiosity. Junia's reaction was a little more laid back. "Ah, Major, good to see you well. If you would join us, we were just going over plans for our counter attack," the Admiral's feminine voice reverberated from all around the room.
Like most Ethereals, Junia preferred to speak using her psionic power to broadcast her voice instead of speaking normally. Also like most Ethereals, she wore a face concealing helmet and heavy cloak while she floated about a foot off the ground. The only difference between Junia and other Ethereals were the colors of her cloak, with the shoulder pads on her clock being gold signifying her Admiral rank and the cloak itself being purple instead of read signifying her affiliation with the ADVENT Navy.
Tyler always thought that the Ethereals floated so that they would always be taller than those they were addressing, in a way portraying themselves as above all other races. However, Tyler also suspected that the Ethereals physical capabilities might be lacking as he had never heard of one fighting in hand to hand combat, even when at close range. Unlike the typical Ethereal who largely seem to regard other races as inferior, Junia seemed to willingly integrate herself with her fellow officers, welcoming their presence and their opinions. Tyler suspected that getting attacked and brutally curb stomped the yesterday had pretty much destroyed whatever feelings of superiority the Admiral may have had. Now she was just glad to finally have some back up to relieve the pressure the enemy had been putting on her and her remaining forces. Tyler nodded to Junia before walking forward and joining the three at the table which was lain a holographic map of the battlefield.
"Before we begin, I believe some introductions are in order," Junia stated before gesturing to the Viper to Tyler's left. "This is Major Gissia of the 112th ADVENT Detachment, based in Kyoto. She is representing the other officers that have responded from other areas of Japan, such as Osaka, Sendai, and Nagoya." Junia then indicated the Sectoid to Tyler's right. "And this is Major Trran of the 412th ADVENT Detachment, based in Seoul, Korea, he is representing the other officers from Korea and China who have responded to this fight." Junia stated before turning to the two officers. "Majors, this is Major Harrington of the 77th HVG. Major Harrington was the first officer to get here despite the jamming and was able to reopen comms with his forces, with much sacrifice."
The two Majors nodded in recognition before shaking Tyler's hand as he returned the nod before all three refocused on Junia. Junia seeing their attention return to her drew their attention to the map on the table with a wave of her hand. "With the addition of many our reinforcements, we've been able to push the enemy back toward the Togu Palace and the Asaka Gardens where they have holed up and fortified their position with heavy barricades, automatic emplacements, and their remaining armor. My plan is relatively simple; two forces will trap them from the north and south utilizing the 246 road and the Metropolitan Expressway No. 4 Shinjuku Route. For this endeavor, we will utilize our APC forces to counter the remaining enemy armor. Thankfully, the 412th has brought a few of their Heavy APC's with outfitted plasma cannons which should make short work of the enemy armor. I will command the Northern force with the APCs and use the Expressway to draw out their armor support while the smaller southern force cuts off their escape by following the 246 road before heading north on the Toei Oedo Line and finishing the encirclement. Once the southern force is in position, my northern force will push in and destroy the enemy until the entire area is sanitized. Any questions?"
"Who will lead the sssouthern forcccesss?" Major Gissia hissed with her species accent.
"I believe Major Harrington should receive the honor as his unit has contributed heavily to the battle so far. What say you Major?" Junia responded before looking to Tyler who examined the map and grimaced.
"My apologies ma'am, but I don't think I have enough troops for this undertaking. My second, Captain Abrams, has reported to me that my unit has already taken fifty percent casualties, with the majority of my squads being down to six or four men. I'm reorganizing them now, but I may not have enough to cover both the south and west approaches, especially if some of the enemy armor decides to intervene." Tyler reported and for the most part what he said was true. Abrams had approached him after they had regrouped and relayed to him the news of the unit's disastrous insertion into the city. The unit had landed in the open and right in front of a concealed enemy position. The following assault was reminiscent of a beach landing with heavy casualties thanks to enemy machinegun fire leading to over half the 77th being either dead or wounded.
What Tyler didn't relay was the additional casualties that were taken while the 77th's squads took various enemy positions leaving Tyler's unit around forty five percent of its original number before the battle, not to mention the loss of his Command Sergeant Major. THAT had been a serious blow to morale amongst the survivors, as Hopkins was, for all his general dickishness to the Administration, a near exemplary NCO and popular with many of the soldiers. However, Tyler also knew he had some additional forces that he could utilize that he didn't want the ADVENT Admiral to know about. These were two squads of Price's black operations teams that had been destroying enemy positions in secret throughout the city and were now ready to be redeployed or pull out of the city depending on what Tyler wanted to do. Judging from the task he had just been given, he was more inclined to redeploying them to covertly help the 77th in their assault.
Junia took a couple seconds to think about his response before nodding. "Very well, I'll assign the Outcast Pack to your command to bolster your numbers and provide you with AT support. Major Gissia's air wing will also prioritize your unit for close air support in case the enemy attacks you with large numbers" the Admiral instructed while Major Gissia nodded in understanding.
Tyler nodded. "Also, I would like the opportunity to offer the enemy a chance to surrender once both of our forces are in position. If we have the opportunity to end the battle without taking more casualties, we should take it" Tyler stated but was met with a few questioning looks before Junia reluctantly nodded, giving him permission to relay the surrender request to the enemy before stating the operation would begin in three hours' time. With the meeting done, the three Majors saluted the Admiral before leaving the building and heading toward their individual unit rally points. [EDITOR NOTE: Huh, so apparently some of Hopkins' habits are rubbing off on our young commander. If so, I'm glad.]
Tyler for his part soon found himself in a cluster of tents that belonged to his unit before shouting, "Dragoons, rally up!" Knowing his men were already awake and would hear him, Tyler stood at parade rest while his remaining men soon trotted up and surrounded him in a semicircle, many kneeling down to allow those behind them to see. Tyler gazed at the assembled men and internally cursed at how few were left, hopefully many of those that were wounded would survive.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he addressed the men around him. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, we have our orders. I know a lot of you are tired and have suffered a lot of heartbreak last night, but we need to wrap up this battle before we can grieve. The Admiral has given us the job of assaulting down the 246 road and cutting off the remaining enemy forces at the Togu Palace. We will follow the 264 road until it meets up with the Toei Oedo Line and follow it north until it crosses the Metro Expressway No. 4. This will cut off the enemy and allow Junia and her heavy APCs to attack the enemy from the Expressway and finish this fight. Because of our losses, Junia has loaned us the Outcast Pack and given us priority for air support. For those of you who don't know, the Outcast Pack is a pack of Hounds that helped me and Alpha's 3 and 4 destroy the enemy artillery positions. Speaking of, Fall, Ark, Belladonna, Nikos, you're with me. The rest of you organize into your squads and pair up with another if you have less than four remaining. See Abrams and let him know who's with who. We're almost done here everyone, stay alive out there. Move out!" Tyler ordered as his men gave a "Yes Sir!" and began to organize themselves.
Tyler was joined by Sergeant Fall and Privates Belladonna, Nikos, and Ark as he left to track down Shal and her pack. As they walked, Tyler looked over at the four behind him. "You four doing ok? Any injuries or other concerns I should know about?"
Cinder shook her head. "No sir, we're all ready to go. Could have used a bit more sleep, but we're more eager to finish this so that we can rest in an actual bed rather than on the ground sir."
Tyler nodded. "After this, assuming we survive, I'll see to it that our whole unit is back at base before sundown," Tyler promised much to the group's elation. After a couple minutes, they found Shal and the Outcast Pack lounging around a group of boulders before they rose their heads and noticed his group approaching and stood up to greet them.
Shal was the first to approach. "Major, is there something you need?" the white Hound asked politely while flickering her gaze to the four troopers behind him, recognizing them from the night before.
"Have you received your orders yet Shal?" Tyler asked, wondering why they were still laying around when they should have been mobilizing to the attack point.
Shal quirked her head in thought before shaking her head. "No, I'm afraid that since the death of our commanding officer before the Admiral took over, we have no way of hearing our orders unless someone relays them to us directly. Because of the confusion and disarray our command network is currently in, I doubt anyone has realized that we haven't been given orders" Shal explained.
Tyler nodded in understanding before relaying the plan to her and the pack before going into their assigned task. "Your pack has been assigned to my command for our assault along the 246 road. The attack point will be at the Ninja Akasaka restaurant, meet us there in two hours ready to go" he ordered before Shal gave a bow in acknowledgement before turning and growling orders to her pack mates as Tyler left to finish some last minute preparations and contact Price.
: Three hours later, outside the Ninja Akasaka restaurant:
Tyler checked his ammo one last time before peeking around the corner of the building he stood behind and down the length of the 246 road. The road itself was blocked off with numerous cars that the enemy had pulled in the way to stop the enemy APCs, along with multiple checkpoints every couple hundred yards along the route that were lightly manned. It was a decent strategy for stopping ADVENT from using armor along the road; however, all it did against infantry was give them a lot of cover to choose from. Tyler leaned back behind cover and glanced back at his men before his gaze flickered to the Hounds and a grin crossed his face.
Unlike the heavy APCs that couldn't surmount the enemies' barricades, the Hounds were able to do so with ease. Because of their size and muscular legs, they could both utilize the cars as cover and bound over them, allowing them to bring their heavy plasma cannons, the same model that the heavy APCs had, to bear at the enemy, essentially making them Tyler's armor support that could ignore the cluttered terrain. They would be essential in the coming fight.
Tyler keyed his helmet comms to relay his orders. "Alright here is the plan! On my signal, I want two squads to dash fifty yards forward utilizing the cars as cover before laying down suppressive fire on the first check point. When they do so, Shal and her pack will dash ahead and assault the enemy position before we follow them. We'll leave five men there before repeating the procedure with the other checkpoints and leaving five men at every other point. Understood?"
"Yes sir" Abrams stated. However, Shal soon spoke up.
"Sir, you want my pack to assault the checkpoint? As in close quarters? Standard ADVENT ROE is for us to hang back for fire support and allow other forces to close with the enemy." The hound pack leader informed not sure if she had heard her commander right.
Tyler glanced at the Hounds who all seemed a little surprised at their orders. "Yes, I do Shal or are those claws and teeth you have just for show?"
"No sir, consider those points taken" Shal growled in excitement along with her pack at the prospect of finally getting to fight in close with the enemy.
"One more thing Shal, if any surrender you are not to kill them. Understood?" Tyler ordered with a firm voice relaying how serious he was about that order.
Shal looked over at him before nodding. "Understood"
Tyler nodded before peeking out of cover again and then checking his watch before signaling his men. "Go!"
: Private Jaune Ark, 77th HVG, Tokyo, Japan:
Jaune Ark had always been the disappointment of his family. He had been born to a British family rich in military history and could trace his lineage back to the Norman knights. So it was a surprise to his family when he had shown little of the physical prowess his family was known for. His strength was pitiful, his reaction speed laughable, and his awareness almost non-existent. Hell, any one of his sisters could beat him in just about every physical challenge imaginable.
All seven of his sisters were smart, either being important figures in their field or making a name for themselves while still attending university. Jaune on the other hand had been mediocre in school and combined with his pitiful physical ability, his parents had decided that paying for his time at university was pointless. This, along with the constant remarks about his lackluster ability to do anything, had finally driven him to the point that Jaune had snuck away from home one evening after a rather hurtful comment from his mother and immediately signed up for the ADVENT peacekeeping forces at the local recruitment center. Many would wonder why he would do such a rash action and Jaune would tell them proudly that he was going to be a hero.
The recruitment officer hadn't cared about his poor physical scores, so long as he was healthy and had two functioning arms and legs he was good enough to sign up. The next day Jaune Ark found himself in basic training with nineteen other recruits being shouted down by a Muton Drill Instructor and seriously rethinking his choices in life. While in boot, he had met his two best friends-Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias. The three of them had all looked out for each other in basic and Jaune had imagined the two of them right next to him as they became heroes together, a dream that seemed more likely under the ADVENT banner than under his family.
Unlike his family who gave up on Jaune because he didn't have any inherent talent, the DIs at basic didn't care how weak or slow he was they MADE him faster and stronger by relentlessly training him into the ground until even someone like Jaune was definitely above average in both categories. The only things the drill instructors couldn't fix was Jaune's low situational awareness and reaction speed. But he could aim a gun, had the required strength and speed of a soldier, and could salute and march in synch so the trainers passed him along with the rest of his class.
Jaune, despite the improvements toward his physical prowess, was sure that he would find himself stationed in some backwater unit to live out his career in obscurity. Instead, he and his class had found themselves assigned to the 77th HVG and now under the command of Major Tyler 'Dragon' Harrington. Jaune had heard the stories, and seen the footage of Harrington saving the Viper nest, but that had ill prepared them of the quiet intensity of the man's stare as he told them that they did not meet his standards but would soon be 'straightened out'.
What followed was three months of grueling training where Jaune's reaction speed and situational awareness were heightened first by C level gene-therapy, and then with hours of simulated combat scenarios under the grueling Australian sun, courtesy of the combined infernal training regimen of Tyler's devising and Command Sergeant Major Hopkins' rather… enthusiastic approach to practical applications of battlefield conditions. After Harrington had declared them ready, it wasn't even days later after that they found themselves on a drop ship heading for Tokyo.
Jaune had been nervous on the flight in, not through fear but by the realization that this was it, this was the moment he would have his name put in the annals of heroes, this was the moment that he proved his worth and proved his family wrong. All of those dreams were shattered when anti-air rounds had punched through the dropship's fuselage and the craft crashed into the ground. That was before Jaune, who had forgotten to unfasten his seat restraint because of his nerves, survived the crash with a splitting headache. That was before he finally came to and saw the broken and mangled corpses of his two best friends and many of his fellow trainees since boot camp strewn about the dropship's mangled interior.
At that point Jaune's body had moved on auto pilot as Harrington opened the fuselage's hatch, as the survivors joined the Major and the rest in their attack on the Spetznaz squad, as they took out the jammer, and even as they destroyed the enemy artillery position. It was only after the unit had finally bedded down for some rest that event finally caught up to him and he quietly wept where he lay on the ground.
As he wept upon the ground that night for his crushed dreams and dead friends, he began to question why, why did his family not train him more, why wasn't he born with the same abilities as his siblings, why did his friends have to die, why did the world have it out for him? It was this line of thinking that slowly changed the blond soldiers anguish to anger. He was angry at his parents, he was angry at the enemy for killing his friends, and he was angry at the world for being so unfair to him at every corner. It was then Jaune made a decision. Damn the world for being unjust, damn being the son his parents always wanted, and damn being a hero if it meant disappoint after disappointment!
So, as Jaune found himself running down the 246 road into enemy fire alongside his only remaining friends of Pyrrha, Blake, and Cinder he felt no fear, no enjoyment, entertained no foolish ideals of heroics or justice. Instead, as he emptied a burst of fire into an unsuspecting enemy's chest and watched as the Hounds leapt into the foes ranks, rending them with claw and fang, he only felt anger fluid into a deadly focus that gave each of his actions a fluid purpose.
No stray thought entered his mind as he seamlessly reloaded his MAG rifle. No movement was wasted as he ran forward and leapt into the first checkpoint after the Hounds. Not for a single moment did his focus slip even as he kneeled down amongst the blood and guts of the recently shredded enemy, not as the blood coated his armor, and not the zip of high caliber bullets flying past his head. Nothing could break his focus as he propped his rifle over the hood of a car and fired a burst of fire into the head of an enemy at the second checkpoint before calmly adjusting his aim and doing the same to the man's frightened ally. In his youth, Jaune had watched movies like Star Wars and had always wondered why being angry would make the bad guys like the Sith more powerful, but now he knew. Anger dulled the pain in his muscles, anger drove him forward despite his fatigue, anger sharpened his focus, and anger made him forget the heartbreak of his loss.
He more felt than saw Cinder fire a plasma grenade into the enemy position before both of them along with the rest of the 77th dashed toward the second checkpoint. As Jaune and Cinder reached the second checkpoint, next to them was Harrington and Shal and together the four were greeted by the sight of the retreating backs of the remaining soldiers as they fled toward the third checkpoint. A hero would have let them go, the son his parents had wanted would have let them retreat.
But there were no heroes in war, just killers fighting for different reasons.
As one Jaune, Cinder, Harrington, and Shal rose their weapons and unleashed their fury into the fleeing backs of their enemy, watching as seven fleeing men gave short screams of pain before more shots silenced them and they fell to the ground dead. As the four were joined by the rest of the 77th and the Hounds, they pressed on toward the next checkpoint passing the bodies of the men they just gunned down.
Jaune knew that he was no longer the fledgling hero that had entered the city the night before.
He was a Dragoon.
: Private Blake Belladonna, 77th HVG, 246 Road, Tokyo Japan:
Blake Belladonna had been born into poverty to a single mother in Canon City, Colorado. Her mother had immigrated to the USA from Italy as a child, and had faced growing up with little money, though she had always told Blake that being Italian was where their beautiful black hair came from. She had ended up pregnant with Blake while still in high school to a father who had immediately skipped town, leaving her mother to balance her college years with raising her child. Such an upbringing left little in the way of spending money, and so as a teenager Blake had fallen in with a bad group of friends who were all delinquents that saw the recently established ADVENT Administration as an authoritarian regime that was trying to control their minds and take away their free will. The group's leader, Adam, had convinced them to run away from home and take up the fight against the Administration by joining a nearby resistance cell. Blake at this point had been at odds with her mother, who had managed to graduate college after eight years and become employed by the very Administration Blake hated, and so Blake had few reservations about running away with Adam and her friends at the age of 15.
The groups early years had been a far cry from what Blake had pictured when she left. For the most part, she and her friends infiltrated ADVENT supply depots and stole as much food, water, and ammo they could get. The resistance cell they had joined was camped in the mountains and needed the raids on depots to feed themselves and the refugees with them. Adam had always been angered about the lack of fighting and so when their success at infiltrating got them noticed by another resistance cell leader from Europe, he ended up trading their current leader for their services for food.
So at the age of 17, Blake found herself in Germany fighting against ADVENT, using her stealth skills to get in close and unleash on unsuspecting patrols with her SMG. The group mainly stuck with attacking small patrols and supply convoys, but Adam again grew angered by their new leader's aversion to attacking ADVENT facilities and bigger targets. Eventually, this boiled over and Adam soon left the group to start his own cell in Russia. When he had approached Blake and their friends to join him, Blake had agreed because of their friendship, but had reservations about Adam's militant mindset. Life in Adam's newly dubbed White Fang was tough as they based themselves in the wilds of Russia, leaving them exposed to harsh winters and dangerous wildlife. However, Adam would not be deterred and began to launch attacks on ADVENT centers by using car bombs or IEDs. It was only when Adam began to attack ADVENT citizens that Blake realized that she had to get out.
Leaving was tough, but after saving an important ADVENT sympathizer she had lied her way into making the man believe she was an American tourist. Grateful for the help Blake had given him, he had gotten her on an all-expense paid flight back to the USA were Blake realized she needed a way to make a living. She couldn't bring herself to face her mother, and so seeing no other option she decided to join the ADVENT Peacekeepers. Basic training had been much easier for her because of her previous experience but she pretended to struggle to keep up appearances and hide her criminal past.
It was after basic that Blake found herself assigned to the 77th HVG and soon found the experience of working under the ADVENT banner to be not what she expected. Unlike her time in the resistance cells, she had ready access to food and water and commodities such as books to indulge her love of reading. The other soldiers were much more caring than those under Adam's and unlike Adam, her commanding officers cared about their soldier's wellbeing. So it was easy for her to fight alongside her new allies as for the first time she felt like she was part of an actual group instead of an individual with a bunch of strangers.
When she had woken up in the downed dropship and saw the dead bodies of her allies, she had felt an anger she had not ever felt for the deaths of anyone in the Resistance. As the battle progressed, she was surprised over how protective she felt over her allies and how protective they were of her in return. No place was this better demonstrated than on Road 246.
As Blake fired her MAG rifle at what was by now the tenth enemy checkpoint, an enemy grenade dropped next to her no more than five feet away to her right. Blake only had a moment to prepare herself for the pain before she felt something grab her and push her against the car she was using for cover just as the grenade went off. She heard a grunt from behind her before the pressure eased off and allowed Blake to turn her head and see what had happened.
She was greeted with the sight of Major Harrington's helmet gazing into her own, "You alright Belladonna?" he asked.
It took a moment for Blake to realize her commanding officer had pushed her into the side of the car while covering her with his body and taking the grenade shrapnel. Because of his more armored and augmented form, he was able to tank the blast better than she could have hoped to and had likely saved her from a bad injury. Deciding that staying silent may make her commander think she had been injured she shook her head. "Y-yes sir!"
The Major nodded before indicating with a nod at the sight of her allies taking the enemy checkpoint. "Good, stay close to me. Let's catch up with the others!"
Blake nodded. "I've got your back sir!" she replied with more enthusiasm than she could remember ever having as a Resistance member.
Harrington smirked. "Same to you, let's go!" he stated before the two jogged after their allies.
It felt good to have someone looking out for her.
:Sergeant James Ortega, Bravo 2, 77th HVG, Road 246, Tokyo:
"Akula, Thor, focus fire on that MG!"
Sergeant James 'Churro' Ortega of Bravo Company's Phoenix Squad ducked his head down as a stream of bullets flew over his head. In front of them stood the Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin temple, as explained by their sole Japanese native. Said temple was currently crawling in pains in the ass, and as the acting commander of Phoenix, Churro needed them in a state between dead and really dead. As one, the squad's gunner, Corporal Eric 'Thor' Warner and Private Anton 'Akula' Yelchin popped out of cover and dropped lead on the machine gun stopping their advance.
Behind him, Private Sato was covering his rear while the 77th's embedded reporter, James 'Paperboy' Mitchell, filmed the battle with his GREMLIN, Bit. "Damn, how much ammo do these assholes have?!" Paperboy cried out in exasperation, ducking just as a stray bullet flew over his head.
"Paperboy, there's usually no such thing as too much ammo, but in this case, it's too fucking much!" Churro spat out as he pulled out his grenade launcher, sliding in a slightly less than lethal grenade inside of it. As the squad's designated grenadier, he could very easily have gone and leveled the damn building with explosives. But, considering what had happened yesterday-
No! He had to focus on the here and now, especially since the MG had paused firing to duck behind their sandbags. Popping out of cover, Churro pulled the trigger to his launcher and watched as the flashbang flew out and detonated in the MG nest. "Banshee, pick 'em off ipor favor!" he shouted in his radio. Several rifle cracks sounded out, and the trio of enemy soldiers dropped as Private Laura 'Banshee' van Doorn sniped them from the rooftop of a Buddhist temple across the street.
The Arizona Territory native shuddered in an involuntary chill as he and the rest of Phoenix advanced to the temple itself. Without the rock solid presence of Boss Dog, the mission suddenly seemed that much more dangerous, especially with that… thing, running around. "Fuck, it tore through those pendejos like nothing, and it fucked Boss up real bad" he thought to himself as the team hugged the closest wall. "Dragon Actual, this is Bravo 2-2 Lead, we're about to clear the temple, over," he said into the command channel, peeking over the top of the wall.
"Bravo 2-2 lead, you are clear to engage, over" Tyler responded from where he was relatively in the rear of the formation. With a nod and quick wave of his hand, Churro led the team into the temple to see… well, a couple of dead bodies.
"Hey Kitten, you snipe these guys?" Churro asked, rifle raised as they made their way to the entrance.
"Uh, negative on that, I don't have sight on that area" Banshee replied from her perch. Churro swore.
"Alright, assume unknown third party!" he hissed, his body tensing. Was it that thing again? No, their bodies were killed by bullets, not plasma. So what the hell had killed them? He got his answer as he turned a corner and spotted two groups of soldiers shooting each other up. One side was composed of the enemy resistance forces struggling to withdraw from the city. The other….
Whoever they were, they were clad in suspiciously advanced armor, buffed to a matte black, and not a sliver of skin or hair showed as they moved behind their cover. Churro motioned for Phoenix to take positions to assist, his instincts telling him NOT to mess with these newcomers. From the corner of his eye, he saw Paperboy wisely stay away, Bit floating next to him.
Popping out of cover, he fired off a burst over the shoulder of one of the black troops, nailing a rebel in the chest. If the other guy was surprised at the flurry of magnetically accelerated rounds flying by their head, they did a remarkable job at not showing it as they and Phoenix cleared out the remaining rebels. Once the bullets stopped flying, Churro turned to check his team; seeing them in one piece, he turned back… and the black troops were gone.
"Ah fuck!" he muttered before clicking his radio on. "Dragon Actual, this is Bravo 2-2 Lead with update, temple is clear, but we have unknown troops in the AO, I say again, unknowns are in the AO. Description is humanoid, black armored, using conventional weaponry with suppressors, please advise, over."
A pause.
"Bravo 2-2 Lead, do not engage" Tyler responded. "I say again, do not engage. Unknowns are friendly, and they won't bother us. Continue on mission 2-2 Lead, over."
"Copy that sir, 2-2 lead out" Churro said as he terminated the link. Suddenly, a thought struck him as they left the temple. Yesterday, ADVENT forces had taken an airport, allowing for support to fly in. But… Churro was certain that there weren't any ADVENT forces even remotely close to that area. Could those guys have been the cause?
Whatever the reason, Churro put it in the back of his mind as he and Phoenix linked back up with the rest of the 77th. After all, CSM Hopkins would need to know about this when he got patched up.
: 20 Minutes Later, Road 246:
The assault had gone better than Tyler could have hoped. The enemy had panicked at the quickness and withering fire of the 77th's advance. Combined with the speed and heavy firepower of the Hounds, it was something the enemy just couldn't cope with and many either escaped back toward their HQ, surrendered, or died. The enemy at the HQ had only been able to launch two counter attacks toward the 246 road in an attempt to outflank their advance, but the first had been headed off by Price and his special ops team at the Toyokawa Inari Tokyo Betsuin temple, though some members of Bravo-2 had seen them and radioed Tyler about seeing some unknown allied forces head off an enemy assault. Tyler had told them not to worry about it, but internally remembered to mention to Price that he was getting rusty. The second assault had been headed off by a well-timed airstrike that Abrams had called in, after that the enemy was too preoccupied with the advancing ADVENT in the north to attempt another assault and soon the 77th had completed their encirclement maneuver.
Now Tyler was slowly approaching the enemy position to offer the enemy a chance to surrender. The position he approached was a building that had been devastated by plasma rounds and was only barely holding together. What few troops were left were holed up inside behind sandbag bunkers and windows, he could see them stare out fearfully at the sight of the crimson clad trooper in front of their position and the sight of Junia's heavy APCs a couple hundred yards behind ready to pulverize their position as ADVENT aircraft hovered overhead.
"I wish to speak to your commanding officer!" Tyler shouted loud enough for the defenders to hear as he showed he was unarmed after leaving his MAG rifle with Cinder before approaching the enemy headquarters. The enemy troops seemed to mutter amongst themselves no doubt surprised to hear an ADVENT officer wanted to meet their leader. After a couple of minutes a man walked out the door and toward where Tyler stood.
The man wore a grey uniform that was sparsely decorated with medals that Tyler guessed was from the man's time in the old world military. The man looked to be in his late 60's with graying hair, but his gaze and posture held firm as he approached Tyler before stopping in front of him. "I am General Paskhin Mikhailovich, I lead these men. To whom am I addressing?" the general asked in a respectful but firm voice used to years of commanding men.
Tyler took off his helmet showing his human face in the hopes it would ease the officer and make him more agreeable "Major Tyler Harrington of the 77th HVG, ADVENT Peacekeepers. I am here to request your surrender on the terms that you and your men will be treated fairly and transported to a detainment facility before the remaining officers face trial," Tyler stated respectfully.
The general regarded him for a second before glancing back at his men and the large amounts of ADVENT troops ready to attack. "How do I know my men will be treated fairly? Your ADVENT coalition is not known for its good treatment of POW's."
"I will personally guarantee your men's safety General Mikhailovich. They will not be mistreated under my watch you have my word," Tyler assured.
The General regarded him for a second before slowly nodding knowing that he had little choice in the matter if he wanted any of his men to survive to see the next day, so he turned around and ordered his men to surrender. Slowly the men began to trickle out of the building before finally around eighty men stood in front of the building and laid down their weapons. Tyler waved forward the ADVENT units behind him and soon the prisoners were being escorted back to detainment areas while their weapons were confiscated.
Tyler regarded the general one last time before deciding to ask a question that had been bothering him since the start of this battle. "All of this death, all of this destruction, was it worth it General?"
The general glanced over his shoulder at Tyler before giving a weary smile. "Every moment a single human lives free from the thumb of the Elders is a victory for me Major. Our battle here showed the world that we will continue to fight for every second of freedom. Vigilo Confido." And with those parting words the man was led away, leaving Tyler to wonder what this battle would mean for the rest of the world.
For now however the battle for Tokyo was finally over.
And Chapter!
Well folks it's good to be back and updating XCOM: Humanity Rising. I've had a bunch of ideas for the fic floating in my head and it's good to be getting some of them down on paper. Anyway sorry but no Edith today as she is still on vacation but expect her to be back next time.
Dr1ft3r0I: However, I can definitely add a few things to these classes!
Vantage: Everybody your sub for the day.
Dr1ft3r01: Today I'll be giving some background information on the Experimental Wafare Wing of the 77th HVG.
The Experimental Warfare Wing (X-WAR) is primarily responsible for researching and developing much of the Human Volunteer Group's experimental technologies for soldiers to use. While it is broadly under the purview of the Chief Engineer, most projects are done by various researchers inside the wing itself with authorization from Major Harrington. In particular, most of the recent equipment fielded by the Dragoons, such as the M21G-HB, Mobility Thruster Pack, Mod 0, and Ballistic Gel Layer, were developed by Dr. Gabriel Hopkins; his continued experience as a frontline soldier is often a great boon in his development of the above tech, and in coordination with Dr. Val'leis, also developed a micro-Elerium core system.
Said system has not yet been field tested under combat conditions, or with many systems in mind, but plans are underway to incorporate it into a lightweight suit of powered armor with heightened mobility and minor strength and durability augmentation.
Command Sergeant Major: A relatively unique position, the CSM is the highest ranking NCO in the 77th, above Sergeant Major but under Captain, and is roughly third in battlefield command if the commanding officers are killed or incapacitated. Responsible for the overall training and well-being of all enlisted personnel on base, the CSM is the mediator between them and the officers, and is sometimes called in to advise the commander on a particular course of action within the CSM's given skillset. Much of the CSM's actual work is relegated to paperwork, which, if one knows what they're doing, can be done with ease. The current Command Sergeant Major of the 77th HVG is Gabriel Hopkins, who was a former logistics officer and now serves as not only a soldier, but one of the head researchers in the Experimental Warfare Wing.
Vantage: Anyway till next time remember to stay frosty and don't forget to review!
