Chapter 9: To Arms! To Arms!
Rain's eye slowly slid open. She blinked hard trying shield her eyes from the lights around her, she began scanned her surroundings. She could feel a dry heat around her. Rain felt so tired as she drifted back into conciseness then suddenly the world came into perfect clarity.
"Lady Inquisitor?" Rain blinked and turned her head over the Captain Sheppard. "Lady Inquisitor, are you alright?"
"What happened, Captain?" Slowly she righted herself and sat upright inside the Chimera.
"You fainted, Lady Inquisitor. Right when you fell we were ambushed by the traitors. We were compromised and had to be extracted by Major McKnight." Rain nodded slowly and sat quietly until they reached the forward base.
Rain stepped out of the Chimera and shielded her eyes from the light. Before she could even take a step from the Chimera, several Amatsu medics rush to her and demanded to attend to her injures. Forcing her way through them, she reached the command center where Takeda and his fellow officers were discussing their next course of action.
"Major, give me a sitrep." She glared at them as they stared out her in shock. "Now." Immediately the myriad of officers began to shout out at once. "I was speaking to Major Takeda. Major?"
"Yes, ma'am. We've called in an orbital bombardment of the city as soon as our forces evacuated the city. But the problem is that before the navy could begin a wide scale bombardment, traitor forces moved into the system and forced the Naval Task Force to break orbit. So from what my scouts report, the enemy is massing an army to wipe us out. We have set a strong defensive perimeter with overlapping fields of fire and well-positioned mortar pits to provide supporting fire." Rain nodded.
"The size of the enemy force?"
"At least ten thousand, more then enough to drown our defenses in blood and wipe us out to the last man. We are currently loading equipment and material into our air transports and armored vehicles. Our position here is no longer retainable and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure the survival of our fighting forces and yourself."
"Very thoughtful, major. Have my retinue prepare my equipment for transport and…" Before Rain could finish, alarms began to blare inside the command dugout. An auspex operator shouted.
"Major! Multiple contacts dropping in from orbit, standard Astartes drop formation." Takeda's face paled instantly.
"This is Major Takeda to all units! Traitor marines are inbound. All anti-air defenses are to go on high alert. All personnel, report to your positions." Takeda turned to Rain. "You better get your weapons and armor on." Rain nodded.
"Good luck, Shugo. I'll be waiting with my retinue at the landing pad."
"I'll see you there, Rain. The Emperor protects."
"The Emperor protects." echoed Rain as she slipped out of the dug out to retrieve her weapons and armor. Takeda watched the beautiful woman exit and retrieved his own weapons from where he had placed them on the weapons rack inside the dugout. Sliding his weapons into their familiar places, he took his newest weapon off the rack: a compact, semi-automatic, belt-fed shotgun, and chambered the first shell. Flanked by his aides, Takeda stepped outside and into the chaos of war.
Corporal Kenji Hamura was never one to be frightened, but what he just heard over the vox had turned his blood cold. Looking to his left and right at his squad mates, he wondered who would be left alive after this fight was through. Hamura and his squad had been assigned to help protect one of the sabre defence platforms that had been set up for anti-aircraft duty.
"Hamura, take charge over here. I'm taking Fire Team One out." Ordered his squad leader.
"Understood." Replied Hamura, after the sergeant left, Hamura turned to one of his squad mates. "What the hell is wrong the sergeant, he's going to get everybody killed separating us like that."
"No idea, maybe he thinks he can take out some of those traitor marines." Before Hamura could respond, one of the spotters shouted out.
"Contact!" Immediately, the two autocannon-equipped platforms took aim and opened fire in a barrage of shells. After several bursts of gunfire, one of the drop pods began to spin wildly out of control. The Amatsuans cheered and quickly brought their weapons to bear on another target. This time, with a thundering rattle, the heavy stubber platform opened up in a rapid barrage of bullets the whizzed through the air alongside the heavier shells of the autocannons. From beyond Hamura's line of sight, several Hydras opened up, knocking several more pods out of the fight.
"Brace yourselves!" Called out Hamura. Despite the wall of firepower being directing at the pods, most of them were slipping through the defense. All Hamura had at to defend his position was himself, three riflemen, and the squad's heavy bolter. While it was not as much as he would have liked, it would have to do. He watched as one of the pods landed just several dozen meters from his position. Flipping out the bipod on his lasgun he placed it on the sandbags facing the traitor marines and shouted. "Light'em up!" A barrage of light flew in the direction of the traitor marines as they stormed out of their pod. The rifle fire was quickly joined by pistol fire from the anti-aircraft guns' spotters as they fought to defend their positions. Purple and black armored monstrosities clambered out of the pod, ignoring scores of lasfire and began to fire disciplined bursts of bolter fire at the Guardsmen. Swinging their heavy weapons emplacements around, the anti-aircraft crews opened up a devastating barrage onto the traitors. With a roar, they began to advance, ignoring scores of wounds.
"For Amatsu and the Emperor!" cried out a group of Guardsmen as they launched a vicious attack on the traitors left flank. Hamura looked and saw amongst a clump of vegetation his squad leader and his fire team fire on the traitor marine. With a thud, the squad's grenade launcher went off and delivering a powerful explosion to the face of one of the marines knocking him out of the fight. Another marine brought his heavy bolter to bear and with a roar, sliced down two of the Guardsmen. The relentless fire from the Imperials felled another two Marines.
The battle continued back and forth as the Imperials desperately tried to hold back the traitors. Just when the traitor marines looked like they were beginning to gain the upper hand, a trio of Chimeras roared into position, multi-lasers blazing. Out of the vehicles, charged three full squads of Kasrkin, firing disciplined bursts of hot-shot lasgun fire. The powerful shots made quick work of the surviving marines who, despite the array of firepower against them, managed to slay four of the Kasrkin.
"Corporal!" shouted one of the survivors from Fire Team 1.
"Where's the sergeant?"
"Gone, sir. You're in command now."
"Damn." Hamura nodded and quickly positioned his men for another attack. The wounded Kasrkin squad took up positions along side them while their comrades sped off to thwart another enemy attack.
Meanwhile, outside the command dugout, Takeda was shouting to his men when the first drop pods hit. Before Takeda and his men could react, Rain and her PMC bodyguard detail opened up with hellgun and plasmagun fire. Despite the initial barrage, the enemy pushed forward, firing as they moved. Guardsmen went down screaming left and right as almost thirty traitor Marines made their assault on the command dugout.
"Fall back into the dug out! Fall back, by fire and movement!" shouted Takeda. Immediately the Guardsmen began to fall back laying, bursts of suppressive fire onto the traitor marines. Despite this, the traitor marines continued their advance, cutting down men left and right. "Rain, get down!"
Takeda quickly shoved Rain to the ground. Before he could bring up his plasma pistol, Takeda fell screaming in agony as a bolt round grazed his shoulder, tearing out a chunk of flesh with it. Drawing his sword, Takeda fended off one of the charging marines. Suddenly, a burst of pain and agony overtook Takeda as his left arm disappeared. Falling to his knee, Takeda looked up at the Chaos Space Marine standing over him. Before the marine could deliver the final blow, his head exploded, splattering Takeda with his blood. Takeda collapsed on his side and saw Rain rushing towards him with a smoking bolt pistol in her hand. Her hands crackled with psykic energy and she unleashed her powers on the marines. Four of them fell instantly dead before her wrath. Rain rushed to Takeda side.
"Shugo, don't try to move, Sergeant Saito is on his way." Takeda winced through the pain and tried to slow his breathing. "You saved my life Shugo. Pushing me into cover like that, thank you." Rain smiled and stroked Takeda jaw line. "You'll be alright, Shugo. Once we get out of this hellhole, I'll give you something to show my thanks." Takeda blinked several times and slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
Despite successfully repulsing Traitor Marines at many of the key anti-aircraft positions and the command dugout, numerous Marines had survived their engagements with the defenders and were making a determined advance towards the Eastern end of the base. Almost as soon as the marines landed, the army of Noting Wind had begun to punish the outer defenses on the Eastern side. Swarms of expendable conscripts were sent forward into the guns of the defenders. Caught between the hordes of heretics and the might of the marines, many of the defenders were surrounded with little chance for survival.
"This is Captain Barnes to Colonel O'Neill. Sir, we've been surrounded; the best we can do right now is to hold them off long enough for you to evacuate base." Shouted the bloodied and exasperated captain into his vox set.
"Captain this is no time for last stand heroics. I want you to consolidate your forces and force a break out through the marines. You are to save as much of your command as possible."
"Colonel. I can't complete those orders. I have already consolidated my company as well as what was left of Echo Company and we've set up a redoubt in the Forward Command Post. We'll hold them for as long as possible, good luck Colonel." Barnes terminated his vox link and stepped out of the dugout and shouted to his men. "Hold the line! Soldiers of Cadia, make the traitors pay for every inch of ground they take! For the honor of Cadia!" Barnes looked over the walls of his redoubt at the traitor marines. Spearheading their assault were a group of massive men in sets of ancient terminator armor. Bursts of bolt fire washed over one side of the Cadian defenses as the marines relentlessly beat down the Cadians. On the other wall, swarms of mindless fanatics rushed towards the defenses of the Cadians. Despite dying in droves, they continued to advance.
"For the Prince of Pleasure!" roar the marines as they charged forward, shrugging off all but the most powerful of the Imperial weapons fire. On the other side of the wall, at last the elites of armies of Noting Wind charged forward sandwiching the defenders between the rock of the heretics and the hammer of the Marines.
"Mint a becstelenség!" The shrill words of the Noting Wind battle cry made many of the Cadians wince. Captain Barnes watched in horror as the combined charge press towards his men despite their best efforts.
"234th! Hold them here!" The marines charged and hit the Cadians with the strength of a typhoon. Frag grenades decimated the defending Cadians and the marines quickly gunned down the survivors. Barnes snapped several shots with his bolt pistol, downing one marine before drawing his power saber. A flamer suddenly went off, engulfing dozens of marines and Cadians alike in a firestorm of hell. At point blank range, a fanatical Cadian metlagunner blasted apart one of the terminators. The blade of a Chaos Marine quickly rewarded the Cadian metlagunner's bravery by ripping the unfortunate Guardsman's intestines out and spilling them over the ground. The gunner screamed in agony as he slowly bled out. A screaming Guardsman charged one of the marines, his bayonet leveled for a perfect thrust to the kidney. Before the blade even made contact, the marine reached out and crushed the skull of the soldier, letting the nearly headless body drop to the floor.
"Feel the glory of Slaanesh!" bellowed one of the marines as he charged towards Barnes. Barnes quickly parried the attack. Swinging with all his might, Barnes lopped off the arm of the Marine. The Marine bellowed in anger and swung his fist towards Barnes. Barnes dodged and sliced the marine's head off. Barnes looked up at the swirling battle around him. Despite successfully beating back the Noting Wind troops several times, the Marines had smashed aside their defenses and were laying waste to the Imperial position.
"Stand your ground!" shouted Barnes as he emptied another magazine from his bolt pistol into the horde of Noting Wind troops. A hail of weapons fire from a Kasrkin squad dropped another five marines, but it was little too stem the tide that had turned against them. A desperate Cadian fired a krak grenade round form his grenade launcher at point blank range and blew a hole through the Marine. Barnes watch desperately as the enemy carved through his men as if they were paper. As he reached into his web gear for another magazine, suddenly it dawned on him, he drawing his last magazine. He slowly slid it into his pistol and released the bolt. Leveling it he fired slowly and deliberately, this was the last stand of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 234th Cadian Special Operations Regiment.
Colonel O'Neill swore loudly and switched channels on his vox. Captain Barnes and his entire command had just been wiped out. The Imperial Guard units had to evacuate the base while there still was an escape route.
"This is Colonel O'Neill to all Imperial units. We are evacuating the base. I repeat evacuate the base. All Cadian units are to report to the motor pool for immediate mounting on armored transports. All Amatsu units are to report to the airfield for immediate mounting on air transports. All equipment is to be evacuated or destroyed. Leave nothing for the enemy." O'Neill ended his transmission and grabbed his weapons and rushed outside. O'Neill quickly reached his command Chimera and sent out a signal to the Amatsu Brigade. "This is Colonel O'Neill to Major Takeda. Do you read me? Over."
"Colonel, this is Captain Ishida. Major Takeda has been wounded and is out of action. The Inquisitor is with him right now and they are preparing to be the first transport out. Most of the battalion is already loading up and we are preparing to lift off as we speak. How are things on your end?"
"Roger that Captain. My men are finishing with loading up and we'll be on our way out soon. You go ahead and get your boys outta here. O'Neill out."
"Yes, sir. May the Emperor be with you. Ishida out."
"And may He watch over you. O'Neill out." Ishida looked to the remaining Amatsu Guardsmen.
"Get onto your transport and lets get the hell out of here!" Ishida quickly rushed aboard his Valkyrie and watched the ramp close and the craft lift off. The Special Landing Battalion had the easy way out, taking all of the Valkyries and evacuating the base by air, but the 234th Cadian would be evacuating by armored convoy. They would face a long and dangerous trek over the mountains to reach the safety of the Loyalists lines.
Meanwhile across the entire world of Faralon, the call was issued to all. To arms! To arms! The drums of war are beating and the nobles are calling all able-bodied men to take up arms to fight the enemy. Thousands of recruits swarmed to their lords' service and took up arms for both sides. Elsewhere, deep in space a message had been sent out, a call for the loyal worlds of the Emperor to raise additional forces to combat the traitor assault on Faralon. Millions answered the call as a Naval battle group mobilized to reinforce the beleaguered Amatsu Naval Task Force and dozens of regiments were organized and deployed to fight in the system.
On Faralon, the desperate Loyalist forces had been pushed back to the city Valen. In orbit, the Amatsu Naval Task Force skirmished with the traitor naval forces in an effort to regain space supremacy and assure orbital support for the loyalists. The situation looked grim, but not as grim as in Valen, there the Soldatans were prepared to make a stand. Alongside them, there were the Sylmarian Partisan Rangers and thousands of loyalist troops. The Sylmarians had fought for the freedom of their world in conditions similar and were excellent guerilla warfare fighters, while the local loyalists were to be deployed en masse. Opposing them were several thousand traitor guardsmen and thousands of local traitors that had been recently equipped with semi-automatic rifles. Both sides were ready to fight to the death for the city as it sat in a dominating position with major roads and waterways leading to and from the city along with easy access to vital natural resources.
Outside the city were deployed the remaining Soldatan artillery along with several batteries of the Amatsu 3rd Artillery Regiment. Day and night the batteries of both the loyalist artillery and the traitors rained death down on each other. Finally the enemy made their advance. With a roar, ten thousand men advanced towards the Loyalist lines.
Before them, the loyalists waited patiently for the traitors to enter range of their guns. Suddenly, the first rank of the advancing traitors fell. Hundreds of men died in the initial volley. Quickly, the traitors continued to press their charge, as hundreds of their own men fell the traitors continued to advance. Arranged against them were the 67th Royal Rifles and the 32nd Brunswick Rifles with the 2nd Soldatan held in reserve. Commanding the defenses was Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe who had deployed his force in a series of well-planned trenches. Both of the front line regiments were newly formed and issued with the first of the Faralon native produced rifles, heavy stubbers, revolvers, and ammunition. The heavy stubbers spat out death by the hundreds, cutting down the enemy left and right.
Under this firestorm, the traitors finally broke without even getting a shot off. They broke and fled, leavening their wounded and dead strewn across the kill zone. Immediately afterwards another wave was sent, this time it was even larger then the first. They advanced farther than the first wave all the way to a dip in the earth that created a natural shelter; nearly five hundred meters away form their goal. From there the Traitors began to pour fire onto the loyalists. Unfortunately for them, that position had been pre-sighted for mortar and artillery fire. Dozens of powerful shells fell onto the traitors, ripping men apart and wounding many more. Quickly, the traitors' courage faltered and they broke ranks and fled.
On the other side of the kill zone, Lord Lucius Draco watched as the handful of survivors from the second wave dragged themselves back to his main force. Already, he had lost close to nine thousand men in the first wave and with all likelihood, lost another ten thousand. Lucius turned to the commander of the traitor guard forces, the self-styled Generalissimo Pietro Loredun of the Loredun's Freemen Volunteers. "Generalissimo, my men are being slaughtered by the royalists. Can't you do something to break their lines? Use one of your metal monsters or something?" Loredun laughed in his squeaky laugh of his. "Lord Draco, if I were to send my armored vehicles so soon they would expect it. Instead, I make it appear that we lack sufficient vehicles to launch an armored assault. Send in another wave, then you will see the might of my men." Lucius could only bow in favor of the more experienced commander and signaled another wave of infantry to advance. Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe surveyed the next wave of enemy troops through his binoculars. This was the third time the enemy had sent a wave of cannon fodder into the defenses. The traitors advanced under a hail of artillery and heavy stubber fire as they made another determined push towards the Imperial defenses. They pushed forward and managed to reach the safety of the ditch. Sharpe smiled and signaled to his men; during the lull in the battle his men had drenched the ditch with fuel. In seconds, the entire ditch was a blazing inferno as men were engulfed in flames. It was that moment that Generalissimo Pietro Loredun made his move. With his "majestic" cape blowing in the wind, Loredun signaled his mechanized forces to attack. Sharpe looked the advancing vehicles and began to shout. "All missile teams load krak missiles! All grenade launchers load krak grenades! Hold them here! Bring up the anti-tank guns and give these bastards hell!" Sharpe stood up and ran along the line his men held. "Take your shots nice and slow men!" Missiles flew in defiance of the traitors' advance knocking out APCs left and right. Quickly the heavy thumping of the Soldatan carriage mount anti-tank guns joined the missiles, unleashing a devastating barrage of anti-armor fire on the traitor armor thrust. Despite vehicles being knocked out left and right, the traitors continued their determined attack. Turret mounted weapons spat out laser beams, slicing down the defenders. Infantry units made determined attacks and despite heavy losses, continued to reorganize after each assault and launch themselves into another offensive. Soon, the traitor forces realized that their vehicles could not be used to drive over the defenses. General Omura had foreseen the possibility of the enemy deploying armored forces against the city and the defenders had dug a series deep anti-tank ditches that had stalled the attack. "Lord Draco, send in another wave of infantry to support my men." Loredun turned to another officer. "I want the sappers to get their vehicles and use their dozer blades to fill those ditches. I will not sit here and watch my entire advance get bogged down another minute!" "Colonel! The bastards are sending another wave!" Sharpe swore loudly. Already, he had deployed the 2nd Soldatan to hold the secondary positions and provide anti-armor and sniper support. The front line trenches would not be able to stand the next push of enemy forces. "Have the Brunswick and the Royalists fall back to their secondary positions. I want the artillery to use a rolling bombardment to cover their movements. I want their heavy weapons repositioned first. Tell Sir Seiryn that if we are to hold the outer defenses we will need more men." His aide saluted and ran off to dispatch runners. Sharpe turned to the assembled officers. The Imperial artillery barrage intensified as the shells smashed enemy infantrymen into pieces. As quickly as they could, the Brunswick and the Royal Riflemen took up their new positions. Soon after the artillery fire pattered out, the enemy resumed their attack with a fury. "Colonel! The Amatsu Artillery reports that they cannot continue sustained barrages like that again for at least another fifteen minutes. They need a chance to cool off their barrels before resuming any artillery support." Sharpe nodded and dismissed the runner. He watched as the enemy charged once more. Men fell left and right as they were cut down by machine guns and rifle fire. The traitors clambered over the front line defenses and took them for their own uses and began to deliver disciplined and deadly of return fire. Moving up quickly were a formation of APCs mounted with dozer blades on the front. "Anti-armor units we got sappers incoming take them out!" shouted Sharpe. The word was passed quickly, but not fast enough as the sappers began to fill in the anti-tank ditches. By the time the first of the sapper vehicles had been knocked out, it was too late. The ditches had been filled to the point that the traitor mechanized units could cross over. Quickly, the APCs rumbled over the ditches, supported by dismounted sappers who dashed forward, demolition charges in hand, as they worked to remove obstacles that had placed to stop the traitor infantry. The sappers fought bravely to clear away the obstacles even as the defenders cut them down. Despites the defender's best efforts, the traitors had blown a hole in the obstacles or ground over them with their armored vehicles. Loredun's traitor guard was a disciplined and well-equipped lot. Armed with lascarbines and Guard issued uniforms and armor, they advanced expertly, suppressing the defenders as they went knocking out defenses wherever they could. Embolden by the success of the traitor guard, the rebels charged forward, bayonets fixed, and stormed into the trenches of the defenders. The fighting was hand-to-hand as a swirling melee erupted and as the defenders fought to hold the line. Sharpe groaned as the enemy swarmed his men. "Runner! I want you to let Colonel Storm know that our lines have been breached and we are preparing to abandon the outer defenses!" The runner saluted sharply and ran off. Sharpe picked up his rifle and moved to lead his men into battle. Positioning himself in a position overlooking the center of his line Sharpe took aim and began to deliver deadly rifle fire at the enemy. From his vantage point Sharpe could see the line faltering. Calling together his personnel bodyguard company, Sharpe's Chosen Men, he began to call out orders. "Chosen Men! Follow me!" With a roar Sharpe and his company charged into the fray. The charge boosted the morale of the faltering defenders as the renewed their vigorous defense. In minutes, the morale of the enemy snapped and they broke ranks and fell back in disarray. In their wake, they left hundreds of their dead and wounded strewn about among the defenders as they scrambled back to anywhere that they could seek shelter. "Colonel! We won't be able to stand another charge like that sir! If they hit us like that again, the natives are going to snap like twigs." Shouted one of Sharpe's senior officers. "The Brunswick maybe but the Royals are dedicated soldiers. But you're right, they hit us like that again and we're done for. Give the order for all units to withdraw into the city. It's time this battle moved into urban warfare." A chorus of responses answered Sharpe's words as his officers immediately began to withdraw the front line forces. Into the city they went as fresh units were moved up to meet the enemy street by street. The loyalists would meet the enemy in a grinding battle of attraction to buy time for reinforcements. Colonel Storm had pulled Sharpe and the regiments under his command back into the rear areas. There, they rested and rearmed and prepared to go back into the city. The battle at this point moved into urban warfare, a street-by-street blood bath. Sharpe watched as the city burned from the fires of war. He watched as the dead were carried out of the city by the hundreds and as more men were fed into the grinder by the thousands. Geffenia, that same time Lady Kyr, Sir Seiryn, General Hammond, the Inquisitors, Captain Ishida, General Omura, and an assortment of other Imperial Guard officers and local generals and nobles were gathered in a council of war. Debates were heated as Imperial Guard officers argued with their local counterparts over strategy and long-term campaign objectives. "Our goal should be to stall the enemy until further Guard forces can arrive to reinforce our forces and then launch a lighting counteroffensive and break the enemy through a punishing all out offensive with all the assets we can muster." Suggested D'Aoust. Seiryn quickly spoke up to support D'Aoust. "I agree with Colonel D'Aoust's suggestion. It will give my forces time to train and time for us to manufacturer more weapons and ammunition. With the support of Guard forces there is no way we can lose as long as we can hold the line." "Both of you are missing a critical element, can we hold out until reinforcements arrive?" Began General Hammond. "The naval task force in orbit is outnumbered and outgunned. The enemy on the ground has been reinforced and their weaponry has been upgraded. We no longer face an enemy that we hold a technological advantage over. They have at their disposal an unknown number of traitor marines and enjoy a serious advantage in air, armor, and artillery support. On top of that, our most elite infantry formations have suffered losses and we still have forces being tied up on our own territory hunting down enemy agents and sympathizers. We have no choice, we must do more then stall the enemy, we need to take the war to their home turf and disrupt their industry." D'Aoust threw a sideways glance at Sieryn. "General, with all due respect how are we going to mount an offensive operations against the enemy with our current strength?" "We launch a guerrilla campaign against the traitors. Colonel, we have the necessary forces to launch a protracted guerilla campaign. Ladies and gentlemen, I propose this course of action. We use Lady Kyr's loyalist forces to tie up the enemy here and prevent them from advancing further and creating a sinkhole that will eat up the enemy's recourses. They will be forced to fight a brutal battle of attrition while our guerilla warfare forces attack their supply routes and isolated units. This will further tie up their resources, as they will be forced to allocated troops to stopping our raids and further weaken them overall. Even if they decide not to commit to a battle of attraction then we will be able to use that time to train more men and increase our production capabilities. It is a risky plan, but it is the best course of action even if we fail to stop them." General Hammond inhaled audibly and continued. "Expect heavy casualties for all units. Any objections or questions?" "General, when are we to expect the reinforcements to arrive?" asked Colonel Minamoto. "Best estimates puts the arrival of the Naval battle group at around eight weeks. The first wave of Imperial Guard ground troops is at least nine weeks away and their transports will include a formation of Naval ships as escorts. Realistically speaking we are looking at almost six months of this. We have heard rumors that a Space Marine strike force may be en-route to assist us but this has not been confirmed yet. Though, I suggest telling the men otherwise to raise morale. Any other questions?" General Omura spoke up suddenly. "General Hammond, with all due respect you are putting a lot of faith on these reckless tactics who from my experience, just get them men killed. All we are going to do is throw lives away needlessly! One of my senior officers is severally injured and you are talking about sending his unit back out there when we have time to reorganize?" Omura was furious and his anger was showing. "General Omura, you surprise me especially considering your unit's history. But for the record, I am not throwing lives away. This will be a meticulously planned and orchestrated campaign. I want the enemy so tied up trying to defeat us that they leave crucial gaps in their defenses, allowing us the vital time to strike back and live long enough for our position here to be reinforced." Hammond looked at the assembled leaders. "Ladies and gentlemen we must make our stand, not here, but on the enemy's ground. Make them run circles around themselves trying to stop us." No one else raised a voice in protest or concern. Hammond smiled and nodded to each. "Good, lets go and win this war."