A/N: I have been waiting for sooo long to write this. It was the first chapter I thought up when I started dreaming up this crossover.
Chapter 10: Operation Blacksmith
"Whenever I think about this attack, my stomach turns over."
Kaiser Wilhelm III, on Operation Blacksmith.
October 19th
Hamburg, Karlsland
Karlsland Panzer Lehr Division and Gallian 2nd Armored Division
"Hostiles in the building! Second Floor left window!"
A pair of Panzerfausts blew apart said position, silencing the last of the Heavy Lasers, even as nearby ground based multilasers continued to pin down the squads of Karlsland infantry, vaporizing one of the men that had fired a rocket.
Alise Berger put away her binoculars and radioed her brother. "Wolfgang, we've taken out the anti-tank forces here, can we get some real armored support now?"
"Don't worry little sister, We're moving up right now."
Alise snorted. "How many times have I told you not to call me that?" She demanded.
Wolfgang Berger chuckled. "Far more than I can count Alise, now are you gonna sit down and let your brother get all the credit when he gets there, or keep fighting?"
Alise smirked and double-checked her King Tiger Strikers. "You aren't getting ahead of me that easily brother, now get over here!"
The Bergers were leading a decent sized group through the ruins of Hamburg. While most of the outlying area had been secured, there were a few scattered Outposts inside the city itself. The Allies hadn't wanted to stop their Blitzkrieg until the Neuroi Hives had been destroyed, but Hamburg was too big a city to be left unsecured, so the Panzer Lehr Division under Major-General Maximilian Voss and the Gallian 2nd Armored Division under General Philippe Leclerc had been left behind to secure the city.
And that is why I'm here, covered in dust and crouching inside the ruins of what I think used to be a hotel, praying that my brother's tanks blow up those multilasers before every last one of my Panzergrenadiers here gets zapped, instead of some other poor sod. Alise thought dryly.
There were cons to being part of the most elite and best equipped Division in the Karlsland military.
Finally there was a loud boom as one of the Multilaser positions vanished as Wolfgang's King Tiger tank's 88 millimeter gun blew it to pieces. Behind it, the four other Tigers of Wolfgang's group crushed the other Neuroi emplacements, clearing the block of the last of the aliens' heavy weapons.
Alicia grinned and waved to her brother with one hand, while readying her shoulder-mounted 5 cm cannon with the other. "Took you long enough brother!" She yelled, still grinning, before turning to her men. "Panzergrenadiers, advance!"
MP44 armed Karlslanders burst out of covered and charged the remaining Neuroi bots, now left without heavy weapons support. MG42s kept the aliens pinned down, with other, Gewher 43 armed riflemen shot down any that poked their heads up for any length of time, allowing the Grenadiers to get close and hole each alien.
Alicia's 5 cm cannon boomed and wrecked one of the larger Bots, while a damaged heavy stumbled out of a dust filled ruin, only to get targeted by five 88 mm guns at once and was obliterated in seconds.
Alicia looked around and saw no Neuroi remaining. "Left side hotel is clear!"
"Square is clear!"
"Right side clear!"
"Town Hall is clear!"
Alicia nodded. "Alright everyone, this area's Neuroi-free now. Someone get on the radio with the Major-General and tell him he can continue the advance. We move out soon."
October 20th
Vengeance of Japan
Near Posnania
So far, Operation Blacksmith was running smoothly. In the South, the Allies were pushing into Ostmark, in the east, they were nearing Warsaw.
In the West, the Allied Spears were moving deep into Karlsland, each targeting a specific Hive, and the UED was supporting the one heading for Posnania. If they were destroyed, the bulk of the Neuroi would die with them. Other groups were targetting Hives in places like Stuttgart, Cologne, Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt.
Allied Command had considered the risks of sending men so deep into enemy territory if they could cut off the Neuroi at the head. These groups were being supplied mainly by trucks, with a few hidden Forward Operating Bases and airdrops when needed.
Posnania was the deepest of the Neuroi Hives, with hostiles on every side, so they were mainly being supplied by the huge stockpiles inside the Vengeance of Japan.
The Allied forces consisted of Rommel's old Afrika Corps, Several Liberion Divisions, a few crack Britannian Regiments, several dozen witches, and a good portion of the Luftwaffe, and would be meeting up with the 101st Airborne soon.
The commanders were already finishing up their plans for the coming battle.
"Alright, the 101st Airborne is already inside Posnania. They've destroyed all the Outposts, so the Neuroi shouldn't have any reinforcements aside from whatever's inside the Hive's Black Fog."
"Miasma" One of the Britannian Commanders nit-picked.
Jorges shook his head. "Miasma, Black Fog, whatever. The point is, we don't know what they have hidden there, but aside from that, they shouldn't have any surprises. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful. They can hide a lot of new toys in there, and they'll be hurling everything they have into this fight."
The Holographic map showed Posnania and the surrounding terrain. A large black area showed the extent of the Neuroi Miasma. Arrows showed the Allied advances.
"The Afrika Corps will be the spearhead. We'll have artillery positions set up nearby, and will deploy infantry to reinforce the 101st, with extensive air cover. Once the city itself is secure, the 3rd Fleet and the Strike Witches will move in and destroy the Hive."
He looked at everyone. "If we're lucky, we'll have taken back Europe by nightfall. If we're not, we'll be surrounded by enemies."
Posnania
One Hour Later
"General Quarters! General Quarters! All Hands to Battle-Stations!"
Fighters from Karlsland, Liberion, and Britannia, along with witches and jets launched themselves into the air from all across the Carrier. the twelve Warlocks formed up with the fleets remaining Armored Skirmishers. Below them them Karlsland Panzers, Liberion Shermans, and Britannian Cromwells began advancing on the city, which was already a scene of urban warfare, as what was left of the 101st battled in the buildings and streets.
The Neuroi Hive hovering over the city suddenly disgorged hundreds of Flying Neuroi, which rushed towards the approaching humans.
"Well, looks like the Neuroi just sent out the welcome wagon, huh girls?" Howin grinned.
"Well, at least they're polite, huh Yeager?" Shirley grinned back, both aces silently chuckling at the remark.
"Cut the chatter everyone, we have a war to fight." Minna snapped. "We're taking back my home." She whispered.
Overseer quickly cut in. "Alright everyone, you know your roles. A-10s and F-triple 1s remain on standby for bombing on hostile ground forces, all other craft, stop those flyers before they wipe out our ground forces. Warlocks, you get the honors of the first shot."
"Warlocks readying Teleforce guns, everyone get out of the way." the Warlocks quickly moved into the front of the formation, before charging up their guns and firing as one.
Twelve beams of particles tore through the air, each finding a Large-Type and annihilating it in an instant. The beams continued to sweep the sky, destroying several dozen more Neuroi. Then a volley of missiles from the F-23s impacted, destroying even more.
The Neuroi responded with a massive volley of lasers, to which the ships of the UED responded in kind. Lasers impacted and neutralizing each other, leaving the space open for the two groups to get within dog-fighting range.
Howin locked onto a large type and blasted it with pulse shots until it went down, then doing a quick barrel roll, allowing a group of Neuroi to zoom past him, and get hit by his missiles. Around him, Allied pilots and witches were thrashing the Neuroi, which had been weakened both by the Warlocks and missiles.
Said Warlocks had gone into Mecha form, and were blowing apart targets with volleys from their cannons. Pilots weaved in and out of combat, returning to the Vengeance of Japan for repairs and ammunition, then going back into the fight the moment they were ready in a massive furball above Karlsland.
Minna was in the middle of one of the largest aerial battles she'd been part of since the Fall of Karlsland. Even as lasers and bullets tore through the sky, she couldn't say she felt worried.
In fact, she couldn't say she felt anything. She didn't feel anything when a Heavy tore apart a squadron of fighters, or when it began bombarding her shields.
The only thing on her mind was destroying the aliens that had attacked, and were now occupying her home, and they were going to pay. She didn't yell, she didn't scream, in fact, her face remained calm.
Totally calm as she tore her way through Neuroi after Neuroi.
The Heavy, damaged throughout the battle, lasted only a few seconds. A pair of Smalls didn't even last that long, nor did the Medium she targeted next. She was vaguely aware of herself giving orders to the rest of her wing to launch a combined attack on another, less damaged Heavy, then on another fresh group of Neuroi, but it all seemed so distant. She was detached from the rest of the world, mainly focusing only on the enemy in front of her.
An enemy that was now legging it back to Posnania, minus 4/5ths of the force they entered with.
"All aerial forces, pursue and destroy." Overseer ordered.
"They're not getting away." Minna muttered emotionlessly.
"Hey Commander, slow down!" Someone yelled. She couldn't tell who, everything beside the Neuroi was a haze.
They killed mother.
A crippled Heavy was destroyed.
They killed father.
Several smaller units went down, both to her, and those planes and witches that had caught up with her.
They killed Kurt.
Only a few Neuroi remained, frantically firing their lasers at her, she felt one of her legs jolt back, but ignored it.
Now they'll pay!
The last few Neuroi went down, and the airspace was cleared.
Minna finally woke up from her haze and looked around. She was way further into the city than the rest of her Wing. She was panting from the strain of using so much magic. Her lungs were on fire, and her vision was blurry.
She realized she was losing altitude, and looked down.
...Ah.
One of her Strikers had taken a hit. A glancing one, otherwise she would be minus a leg, but still bad enough that she wouldn't be flying in these Strikers.
She searched the ground and found a spot where Liberion Paratroopers were trading shots with a group of Neuroi infantry, and began making a faster descent.
"Commander!" Trude screamed in alarm as Minna fell out of sight.
"I'm fine!" Her voice came in over the radio. "Just a bit of damage on one of my Strikers. Mio's in charge now."
"Copy Wing Commander." Overseer replied. "Major Sakamoto, assume command of the 501st. Commander, we'll get a SARC team to pick you up. What's your location?"
"I'm with a squad of paratroopers from the 101st! Near Binnenalster!" They could all hear gunfire in the background.
"Near what?"
"... Right, sorry, it's a lake, just look for the gunfire and the flare." A red flare launched into the sky.
"SARC team is on its way now, hold your position. 501st, get back in the fight, got more drones heading towards the Afrika Corps."
"But-," Mio shook her head. Minna would be fine. "We're on our way."
More Neuroi poured out of the Miasma, these ones in the shape of tanks, aside from the fact that they were hovering above the ground.
Sergeant Charlotte Lueder of the Karlsland Army wasn't really focused on what they looked like though. They were in the way of her and taking back the Fatherland, so they would die. The Afrika Corps had already torn through the original Neuroi groups of heavies, their rapidly disintegrating forms behind her, victims of artillery and tank gun fire.
The new Neuroi were just under a kilometer away, easy reach for her 8.8 cm gun. She grinned and pulled the trigger, sending the shell speeding towards the lead hovertank. By the time the distance closed the thing was only a few hundred meters away.
Only to gawk in disbelief as the shell vanished into vapor just before impact, as did dozens of other shells sent towards the Neuroi.
"What the-"
She never got a chance to say anything else as three Hovertanks turned their guns towards her and fired, pummeling through her shields and vaporizing every bit of liquid in her body, along with most of her chest, as her body burst open like a balloon.
"What the hell just happened out there!" Jorges stared at the minimap, where dozens of tiny holographic tanks along the front line now had the symbol 'Destroyed' over them. The tanks had advanced with such ease that they'd outpaced their artillery coverage, and were now paying for it.
"The Neuroi have deployed Hover-tanks sir! They're using point-defense lasers to shoot our shells before they hit!"
Jorges cursed. "Someone contact those tankers! Tell them to concentrate fire in volleys at single targets! And get the A-10s on those hover-tanks!"
Minna fired another volley from her Wraith into the advancing Neuroi bots, downing several, as a half dozen Liberions added their own weapons fire.
"Left side!"
Hearing the paratrooper's warning, she quickly turned, bringing the Neuroi's advance to a quick halt, before the last magazine of her gun clicked empty.
She discarded the now useless gun and drew her Magnum and fired, the recoil almost bringing the gun smashing into her face before the round tore into a Bot, knocking it off its feet.
She pressed the detonator, and the resulting explosion took out a dozen more Bots. Then she ducked back behind the burnt remains of an automobile as lasers flashed through the air, catching one unfortunate paratrooper right in the head, annihilating the front half of his head.
Another wave of bots moved in to replace those lost, and Minna knew that there were still at least a couple hundred right behind this new group. Three of the Liberions had already run out of ammo for their carbines and had drawn their pistols.
Finally they heard the sounds of engines, as a Skyranger came down, its back-door opening to reveal a man manning a mounted minigun, along with two soldiers armed with Razors.
Hundreds of rounds and energy bolts spat out, annihilating the advancing Neuroi.
"Someone order a ride?" One of the Search And Rescue Commandos (SARC) asked cheerfully.
"About time you got here! We were about to throw rocks at them!" The paratrooper's leader yelled to be heard over the minigun as he climbed into the Skyranger, along with the rest of his men and Minna.
The VTOL quickly lifted off and began its course back to the Carrier.
"How's the battle going?" Minna asked, tense.
The pilot shook her head. "We control the skies for the most part, but our ground forces are getting pummeled. If we can get the A-10s in though, it'll all turn around quickly enough."
The A-10s quickly dove down into the Neuroi armored forces, their missiles firing and GAU-8s blazing, tearing through the Hovertanks with practiced ease. Overhead, more Neuroi flyers battled with their human counterparts, trying to get a clear shot at the A-10s, even as the 3rd Fleet moved closer to add their own devastating firepower.
So far, even without two of their members, the 501st was performing wonderfully. Mio thought, blasting apart a pair of drones. The last of the Neuroi air forces were being wiped out, so the Fleet should be able to take down the Hive now..
"Everyone get down!"
Mio blinked, that was Eila. "What-"
"Everyone dive NOW!" She screamed, her voice panicked, even as she tackled Sanya down.
Mio didn't know what was going on, but knew Eila wouldn't be acting like this without good reason. "Everyone dive!"
The entire 501st dove down, trying to get as close to the ground as possible. Several other planes and witches who had also heard the warning did the same.
Then it happened.
Thousands, then tens of thousands of ruby-red beams of light emerged from the ground hidden in the Miasma, lancing out towards the human air forces. The results were devastating. In an instant, the laser impacted, blasting apart nearly everything still airborne. UED, Allied, witch, with the number of lasers it made no difference. Pilots and witches screamed as their bodies were disintegrated in an instant.
Those who had been lucky enough to dive, or were low enough to begin with, were spared, for a time, though several took damage.
Howin cursed as his left wing was sheered off by a blast. "This is Herald, I'm going down. Repeat, Wolverine 1 is going down."
Shirley's eyes widened. "Howin, hold on, I'm coming!"
"Negative! I'll be fine, I'm ejecting now. You keep yourself alive out there Shirley, and pick me up once the fighting's over!"
Shirley hesitated, she couldn't just abandon one of her own family! "But-"
"Your friends need you more than I do.. Grandma."
Shirley shook her head. "You'd better stay alive!" She quickly turned back into the low altitude fight, where the remaining Neuroi were trying to wipe out the few surviving aerial forces.
"Sir!" One of the Bridge crew yelled frantically.
"What is it now!?" Howin demanded, looking around. The Fleet had been hit by a second volley from the new Neuroi weapons, and it seemed like every alarm on the ship was going off at once, as several decks reported new breaches and casualties in every ship, not to mention to near-annihilation of most of the Vengeance of Japan's air wing.
"Sir, look." The woman pointed to the display, and Howin paled. "Those are-"
"Cylinders." Minna heard the Skyranger pilot breathe.
Minna paled, remembering the videos she had been shown of the UED's own war with the Neuroi. Massive, three to four kilometer long ships armed with weapons that made those used by the Neuroi Large Types look like children's toys.
She was taken out of her thoughts by an explosion, followed by the Skyranger rapidly spinning out of control.
"Shit, we've been hit! This is Echo 419, we're going down, repeat, Echo 419 is going down!"
Minna heard a sickening crunch before her head was smashed against the bulkhead and darkness engulfed her vision.
For a moment, the entire battlefield was silent, as everyone, human and Neuroi, seemed to stare in both awe and horror at the massive Neuroi cruisers.
Then the Cylinders opened fire. Massive lasers tore through the human ground forces like a hot knife through butter. The entire Afrika Corps was melted to slag in seconds, helpless against such overwhelming firepower.
The 3rd Fleet rapidly moved forward, trying to interpose themselves between their allies and the Neuroi spacecraft.
Before they could, another murderous volley went out, this time with a few blasts targeting what was left of the Allied air forces.
More planes and witches died.
Four members of the 8492nd were incinerated.
A laser almost hit Shirley before she felt herself being rammed to safety. She turned around and gasped, even as the laser killed her savior.
Francesca Lucchini of the 501st JFW didn't even have time to scream as every atom in her body was turned to vapor.
"LUCCHINI!" Shirley screamed, horrified. Lucchini couldn't be dead. She just couldn't! She couldn't have just let Lucchini die like that, she had to be alive!
"What happened-" Mio demanded. She had seen very well what had happened though, and felt a numb shock go through her at the realization that one of their own had just died.
"Lucchini got hit, where is she?" Shirley demanded, searching frantically for her (She's not dead!) friend.
"Yeager, get your head in the game!" Overseer demanded. He had seen what had happened, but couldn't waste time convincing a stunned soldier in the middle of this clusterfuck. "You can save her once this mess is over!"
Jorges cursed. This battle was lost, that much was obvious. At full strength his five ships could take down twelve cylinders with ease.
Badly damaged, low on ammo, most of their air wing gone, and still taking heavy fire from the new Neuroi AA? Doubtful.
"We can't win this. We need to buy time to get everyone we can out. Dispatch all Skyrangers and get as many people out as you can! Maloney!"
"Sir!" Maloney responded from his own control room in another part of the ship.
"Get your Warlocks to the front, take out as many of those Cylinders as you can! We have to buy time!"
Maloney nodded, his face hard. "We'll do everything we can sir! They won't lay another finger on our men!"
Jorges nodded. "We'll draw the fire of those Cylinders for as long as we can."
The remaining eight Warlocks charged towards the Cylinders, as the massive Neuroi turned to face the advancing 3rd Fleet, which was now between them and the remaining humans. A volley of Concussion rounds tore into one Cylinder, blasting apart armor as the kinetic forces tore the blasted hull inwards, crushing the thing's core.
The Warlocks concentrated their own fire, and eight particle beams ripped through another Cylinder, stripping away its heavy armor and revealing its core. Two of the Warlocks switched into Mech form and blasted the vulnerable core with their 20 milimeters, destroying the second Cylinder.
The Neuroi furiously returned fire on both groups. Three Warlocks went down, and the shields of the 3rd Fleet had long since been depleted, and lasers impacted across the hulls of the ships, creating fires and killing more men.
Meanwhile dozens of Skyrangers landed across the stricken battlefield, loading as many people as they could fit for evacuation.
SARC team leader Sandman landed near the last known position of the Afrika Corp's leadership. he looked at a shell shocked Karlslander. "Where's your Commander?"
"S-Sir?" The man jolted back, shaking his head rapidly.
"Erwin Rommel. Where is he?" Sandman asked again.
The corporal pointed wordlessly to a field, which had been totally glassed. Small burnt shapes could be seen around the edges.
"Shit." Sandman shook his head. "Get everyone you can into the Skyrangers, we're pulling out."
"Yes sir!" The man snapped to attention, years of training finally kicking in. "Everyone!" He began yelling to other scattered survivors. "Grab the wounded, we need to fall back!"
As what was left of the Afrika Corps began to load into the Skyrangers, Sandman looked around and saw a witch sobbing over another's dead body, the first witch's Strikers abandoned nearby. He got closer. "Ma'am, we have to go."
"No!" Hanna-Justina Marseille shook her head. "Not without Raisa!" Sandman blinked. The other witch, who he assumed to be Raisa, was missing the entire left half of her body, her right Striker still on her corpse.
"Ma'am, she's gone, you can't do anything for her."
"I can't just leave-" Hanna sobbed, any pretense of composure gone in the heat of the massacre.
"Would she have wanted you to die to?" the SARC demanded. "We have to go now, or we're all going to die." He sighed. "I'm sorry for your loss, but we can't afford to be caught out here in the open. Do your Strikers still work?"
Hanna shivered, sniffed, then nodded. "I, I think so."
"Good, you can get her out then, and cover the Skyrangers, now come on, we have lives to save!"
The planes who had been lucky enough to survive the slaughter had already landed, and most the witches had done likewise. But the 501st had refused to withdraw, continuing to search for survivors and anything else that could be salvaged. Even now, the two Karlsland witches were proving especially uncooperative.
"We can't just leave here!" Trude demanded.
"And what do you suppose we do?" Overseer demanded. "We can't win this fight, all we'll be able to do here is die!"
"We're leaving behind our Commander!" Erica added. "And our homeland! We're so close-"
"You won't be able to do your homeland any good by dying in it! Now, I am in command of the UED air wings of the 3rd Fleet, and as your superior officer, I order you to fall back to the Carrier, do I make my self clear!?"
"... yes sir." Trude whispered.
The two began returning, along with the remaining 501st, Shirley having been practically grabbed off the field.
So close, they had been so close...
"All remaining survivors that we could find have been evacuated to the Fleet. Well done." Jorges sighed. "We're pulling back now, but-"
"Sir, Unity 3 will remain behind to cover the retreat."
" James, that's a fucking suicide mission."
"Unless the Hive goes down, those Cylinders will follow us all the way back to Gallia. Unity 3 is the most damaged of all our ships, and the one we can afford to lose the most. I've already transported all the men I can to the Vengeance."
"... It's been an honor James."
"Likewise sir."
The four other ships of the 3rd Fleet turned around and began the retreat, while the lone, badly damaged Blazer turn to face the Hive.
Until now, it had been propelled solely on its anti-gravity pulsers. Now it activated its engines, accelerating towards the Hive at new high speeds, its exhaust actually incinerating one of the seven remaining Cylinders as it passed.
Immediately murderous fire poured onto the advancing ship as it sped towards the Hive, with every Neuroi within range shooting at the human vessel.
The Blazer's hull was torn open, and sections were cut off to topple back down to Earth, but the Escort sped on into the Miasma, until the Hive was within sight. Then, the ship rammed the Hive, and detonated its energy core at the same time.
A massive fireball engulfed the Hive, the Neuroi ground units, and every tall building in Posnania, as Captain James Reins fired his last shot.
Across Europe, the Neuroi struck back.
In the Balkans, Cylinders annihilated the Romagnan and Venezian fleets, trapping the entire population of the region to be butchered at their leisure.
The Orussians found themselves swarmed by new Hovertanks and massive land battleships with wiped out their brave soldiers with impunity.
The Baltic fleet found itself under constant attack by Neuroi air forces, barely managing to hold off the attacks, as their marines were slaughtered in droves.
And in Western Europe, Neuroi aerial units cut off the Allied lines of retreat, destroying any bridge they came across, annihilating supply depots, and slaughtering any Karlsland resistance forces who had come out of hiding, believing that their nation was about to be liberated.
It wasn't a battle, it was simply slaughter, as the Neuroi killed and killed and killed.
Neuroi classes
Hwacha class: A new type of Neuroi, armed with hundreds of laser cannons, and designed to annihilate air units. While poorly armored and slow, when deployed properly and protected, it will annihilate any air units it comes across. It's most infamous use was during Operations Blacksmith, where it was responsible for over 4/5th of the 430 witch deaths during the battles.
Hovertank: A tank with a laser cannon and a point defense gun that can hover. Unlike Neuroi walkers, it can face an Osorio head on with a decent chance of winning. It vanished after the first year of the UED's war with the Neuroi, presumably due to the fact that it requires more resources than the walkers and conventional tanks. Its appearance in this new world means that the Neuroi have decided to stop holding back against the Allies.
"With great regret, I must report that Operation Blacksmith is an absolute failure. Our brave men and witches have fought with every bit of skill they could muster, but despite this, I must report that our force has been almost completely annihilated. Everyone who took part in the operation trusted my leadership, and I accept full responsibility for this disaster."
Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces.
A/N: Bet none of you were expecting the invasion to go like that.
Please review and tell me your reaction.