Retreat from Fatherland
Novermber 01, 2557 (UNSC Calendar)
UNSC Infinity
It's been half an hour since Michelle Wittmann was discharged from the medical bay. She's now currently inside a locker room to change her clothes from a hospital gown to clothes called Battle Dress Uniform or BDU for short.
When she changes her clothes, Wittmann notices that the locker was made for women. The proof is that the locker doesn't have what she usually describes as man's scent (how she knows that is something she doesn't want to reveal). There's also a woman sign outside. That means the number of women employed on this place must be big enough that they require a locker room.
When she takes a better look on BDU, she notices that there's a pants as part of the uniform. Either they don't know that witches usually don't wear one or they want her to wear one are the possibilities. At first, she decides not to wear it. But then, she has a feeling that it will leave a black mark on her if she did that. Perhaps because they want her to be on full complete uniform for some reason.
After wearing the BDU, including the pants, Wittmann exits the locker to find that Palmer is waiting outside while leans back on the wall and folding her arms.
"You're done, kid?" Asked Palmer simply.
"Yes, ma'am." Replied Wittmann with a sigh. She kinds of hate it when someone called her a kid. It makes her sounds inexperienced.
"Well then, follow me. Unless you prefer another IV." Said Palmer as she starts to walk.
"Where are we going, Commander?" Asked Wittmann as she follows Palmer.
"Mess hall."
As both of them walks to the mess hall, Wittmann realizes an upside of wearing the pants; while it's not cold, she can feel that the temperature of this place will make her legs cold if she doesn't wear one. She also notices that there's a lack of window in this place.
"Say, Commander. Why I don't see any window?" Asked Wittmann.
"Because we're walking through a windowless corridor." Replied Palmer with a matter-of-fact tone.
"That's now what I…"
"Here we are."
Wittmann stops talking and looks to the front. There's a room with a sign above it which say "Mess Hall". Two other men are about to go inside when they notice both Palmer and Wittmann. They perform a salute towards Palmer before returning to normal.
"Ah, it's good to see both of you." Said Palmer as he approaches both of them.
"Do you need something from us, Commander?" Asked one of them.
"Yes, get this girl some food and make sure she doesn't go to…those places."
Wittmann is confused when she heard that. What does Palmer mean by "those places" and why she can't go to there? Well, there's a chance that they're just a usual officer room that common soldier can't enter without permission.
"Of course, Commander."
"Good to hear."
Palmer walks away from the three of them as the two men approach Wittmann. One of them has Middle Eastern look with the color of the skin and the small beard that he has. The other is a normal Caucasian man with blue eyes and blonde hair. Both of them are wearing BDU and have army-style hair.
"What's your name?" Asked the first one simply.
"Wittmann. Michelle Wittmann. Captain." Answered Wittmann.
The first one looks at her with an amused look, as if he doesn't believe what she said. The second one on the other hand seems to try to remember about something. The first man then offers his hand to Wittmann.
"Hassan Abbas, ready to help."
"And I am Gabriel Locke."
Wittmann takes Abbas' hand and shakes it. When she heard both of the guy name, she realizes that their introduction lack something; rank.
"May I know what your ranks are?" Asked Wittmann.
"Spartan." Replied both Abbas and Locke.
Wittmann is confused with the answer. However, before she can ask more both of them are about to go inside. Not wanting to be left behind, she follows them into the mess hall.
Inside the hall, Wittmann can see that her suspicion is correct; the number of women in this place makes a locker room for them necessary. At least a fourth of them are female. Their ages variate from at least 18 years old to early 40's. She never sees this many women and men together in a military environment.
"Hey, don't ogle around. Let's get some food." Said Abbas as he approaches the cook.
"I am not ogling!" Retorted Wittmann as she and Locke follow him.
At the table, there are already three trays. Each of them pick one and head to the empty chairs. On their way there, Wittmann takes a look at the contain of the tray.
The tray is separated into six different sections; three on both the top and bottom parts. The middle one that's closer to her is the biggest one and the left and right section on the further side are larger than the closer one. On the biggest one, there's a Salisbury steak covered with gravy. On the lower left is mashed potato with butter and on the right upper are vegetables which consist of corn, broccoli, and carrot. What stood the most though is a small plastic jar on the middle upper section.
The three of them arrived on a table. There were already three people seating there; one is an African decent man while the other two are women. One has an appearance of Fusoan while the other is a Caucasian with brown hair and green eyes.
"Took you guys long enough." Said the African as the three of them take a seat.
"Well, Commander want us to accompany the survivor as well." Replied Abbas.
"Make sense." Said the Fusoan woman.
"Anyway, let me introduce you to my brother and sisters; not blood related of course." Said Abbas with a little laugh to Wittmann. "The brown-skinned due over there is Douglas Adams."
"Brown?" Replied Adams with confused and dumfounded look. If someone called him with the color of his skin, it will be black, not brown.
"The brunette is Christine Smith, our markswoman. And the quite one is the cold sniper of the team, Anne Koyuki."
"And together, we are Fireteam Vanguard." Added Locke.
"Fireteam Vanguard?" Said Wittmann curious.
"Yeah, we're going to tell you nothing about it since it's way above your pay grade." Said Adams as he takes a bite of his steak.
"You too?! Why is everyone believe that my rank is something like a mere private? Look can be deceiving you know!" Said Wittmann annoyed.
"Sorry, Wittmann. If you want us to believe that you're a captain, then prove it." Said Abbas.
"Captain, right." Said Smith with sarcasm.
"Fine! When we done with the meal, I'll show you what I can do!" Wittmann is about to eat some of the potato when she remembers something. "By the way, why none of you used rank to introduce yourself?"
"Simple, kid. We're Spartans. Spartans don't have ranks because Spartan is our rank." Said Adams.
"And no, we're not going to explain to you who are Spartans. Not now at least." Said Locke.
Wittmann decides to comply with them and starts to eat her meal. Having eat similar dishes, she knows that the Salisbury steak and other foods served here are below restaurant standard, but they're a lot better than military rations, especially the dreaded Liberion K-ration.
When she looks at the Spartans, Wittmann sees that Koyuki has finished her meal except the one inside the jar. She opens it and the moment Wittmann sees what's inside, it took her entire training to not screaming and throws away her food.
Inside the jar is none other than four fat yellow worms. One of their end is colored by a darker shade of yellow, indicating their heads judging on how they move. That's right, move! Whatever this place's kitchen served their personnel living worms.
It seems that the worms realized that their lives are about to end and try to escape from the jar. Alas, the jar is simply too high for them to climb. Koyuki uses her plastic fork and stabs one of the worm. There's a yellow liquid coming from the stab wounds and the worm is desperately trying to escape. In the end, Koyuki puts the animal inside her mouth hand begin to chew.
As Koyuki chews her worm, she notices that Wittmann is staring at her with an incredulous and disgusted look. She wonders why before remembering what she currently ate.
"What?" Asked Koyuki simply.
"Sorry. It's just that…normal people don't eat worm. A living one even!" Stated Wittmann.
"Well, we make an exception with the Darak worms. It's quite good actually." Replied Adams as he starts to eat his portion.
"Worry not. It has been approved that Darak worms are fit for human consumption." Explained Abbas.
While she still kind of disgusted with it, Wittmann decides to open her jar. Just like the others, inside it is four Darak worms trying to escape. She gulps before grabbing her plastic fork.
"Well, here goes nothing."
Wittmann stabs a worm and look at it for a while. It desperately trying to escape a blackhole that is her stomach. Seeing that others have no problem eating it, Wittmann puts the worm inside her mouth and begins to chew. She can't help but feel horrified by it.
It tastes good. She actually thinks that a worm taste good!
September 01, 1945 (Local Calendar)
Gallian-Karlsland Border
What was supposed to be a hard operation turn into a complete disaster. Not only that the bridges are destroyed, but the 1st Allied Airborne Army were unable to link up with the XXX Corps. With that in mind, the Allied leadership ordered the Airborne Army to retreat through Kehl, where the last bridge for some reason still standing.
The way there is not as friendly as before the destruction of the bridges. Every day, there's going to be a now dubbed Neuroi sniper that will harass them by firing at one or two soldiers before retreating. One of the witches decided that enough is enough and fly towards the sniper to took it out.
Only to be attacked by hundreds of lasers and losing her live.
So, the only option they have is get their collective ***es to Kehl ASAP. It's not easy though as sometimes they must take a rest and making them fishes in a barrel. As much as the witches wanted to protect them, they're thousands of paratroopers and only eleven witches.
In the end, when they reach Kehl, they've lost 200 paratroopers and another witch.
The 4th Allied Airborne Regiment arrived at Kehl. They start to sweep around as they haven't encountered the 5th Allied Airborne Regiment which was stationed at the city. As their troops search for the 5th, both Alexander and Walter have a conversation.
"This is f**ked up." Stated Walter.
"Wiser words are never said." Replied Alexander.
"I mean, seriously, Neuroi sniper? Since when Neuroi perform surgical strike and not brute rampage?"
"Now."
"That's not what I mean. Though hearing that makes me realize something; the Neuroi are on the losing side this time. Could they possibly…"
"Sir, we found the 5th!"
Hearing a shout from a paratrooper, both Walter and Alexander speed up towards him. When they reach him, they see he has a terrified look on his face. When the paratrooper points at a direction, both of them see what he saw earlier and become pale.
"Damn it." Cursed Walter.
Lying at the street of Kehl are bodies of the 5th Allied Airborne Regiment, both paratroopers and witches. They can see that they're at least hundreds of corpses, maybe thousands. Meaning that either the 5th is completely wiped out or pull back towards Gallia using the bridge.
"Damn it. We're too late." Stated Alexander.
"It's not like we can do anything for them. The only we can do now is survive, make sure their sacrifices are not for nothing." Replied Walter.
"Walter, their bodies are not vaporized."
"I know. That means they're likely killed by the same type of Neuroi that attacked us." Walter then realizes the implication of his sentence. "But it doesn't make sense. No matter how many snipers you have, you can't fight an entire regiment without risking yourself."
"Unless…"
As a paratrooper walks around, a laser suddenly hit him in the chest. As he falls, other lasers hit the other paratroopers. Seeing that, the rest of the 1st Allied Airborne Regiment take cover.
"Anyone see where the lasers came from?" Asked Walter.
"It came from eleven o'clock direction, sir!" Replied a Karlslander paratrooper.
Walter peeks through his cover to look at the direction. He sees nothing at first, but then something is peeking from a building. He can't have a good look but apparently, it's slightly higher than average human and wears something black on its whole body.
Oh, and that something has red lines and it's pointing a rifle at him.
Walter immediately hides before the laser from the rifle hits him. It only scratches the edge of the building thanks to that. He leans from the cover and shoots his BAR at the direction of the hostile.
"Hostile, eleven o'clock. Possibly Neuroi infantry." Stated Walter.
"Now that's new. Never fight that kind before." Replied Alexander as she prepares her machine gun.
Barrage of lasers hit the walls and damage them. When it's over, the paratroopers and the witches return fire. It was at that moment that they can have a better look at the Neuroi.
They're bipedal obviously. Their height though is taller than average humans. They're also bulkier. Basically, a bigger version of human. They're wearing a futuristic black armor with red lines along them. The pattern is like the Neuroi's except for the glowing blue eyes.
The infantries are carrying either rifle-like weapons or SMG-like weapons. Some of them are moving through the street with their weapons aimed at the direction of the Allied forces while the rest stay behind to provide covering fire.
"Would you look at that. The Neuroi are using tactic." Commented Walter.
"I don't think praising them is a good idea." Replied Alexander.
The Neuroi infantries begin to fire towards the witches and the paratroopers. Some witches fly and return fire to the Neuroi from above. They see that their bullets hit something invisible surrounding the Neuroi.
"The hell is that?" Asked a witch.
"Looks like an energy shield." Replied another witch.
"Shield? Since when Neuroi have shield for their entire soldiers?!" Exclaimed yet another witch.
The Neuroi start for fire at the witches above them. The latter raise their shields and dodge. On the ground though, things become really bad fast. The standard weapons that the paratroopers have are unable to penetrate the shields that the Neuroi used. As the result, they're cut down left and right as the Neuroi keep their steady advance.
"Captain, there's nothing we can do about the Neuroi. We need to retreat!" Shouted a Liberion sergeant.
"No! We need to hold the town until the rest of the 1st Army gets here! They'll be massacred if retreat!" Replied Walter.
"We will be the one who got…"
Before the sergeant can finish his reply, a laser hits his head. Walter curses a little as he keeps firing at the Neuroi with no effect.
"Alexander, what did your witches doing all this time? Last time I check, they're the expert."
"Have you ever encounter a Neuroi with a shield?" Retorted Alexander.
"Not so much, no."
The paratroopers and the witches keep firing to prevent the Neuroi from controlling the whole town. But soon it became clear that it's a hopeless fight. Not even one Neuroi is destroyed and there're already dozens of dead bodies. Even the witches begin to take casualties as the Neuroi employ a simple but effective tactic; one of them will attack and make a witch raises her shield while the other move around and attack her vulnerable back. The only ways for them to avoid the Neuroi is to fly fast or high, which makes attacking quite difficult.
"Damn it, this job should be handled to the land witches instead." Said Alexander with a sigh.
Suddenly, explosion occurred at the location of the advancing Neuroi. When it settled, three of them lie on the ground while the rest take cover inside the buildings. Walter and Alexander look at the direction of where the attack came from and see a large group of paratroopers and some witches above them. From the size, it appears that one of the regiment have return.
"Your guys part of the 1st Regiment?" Asked a Karlslander lieutenant with a loud voice.
"Yeah. And you are…?" Asked Walter back.
"Lt. Heinrich Krebs of the 4th Allied Airborne Regiment. I am going to be blunt, we have to retreat!"
"We need to hold this town until the other…"
"There's no other! A handful of my men are survivors of the other regiments, with the 3rd completely annihilated."
"They too?!"
"What do you…damn it, the 5th! Like I said, we need to fall back!"
No other word need to be said as now, the entire survivors of Operation Market Garden are on full retreat. While most of them retreat, some of them stay for a while to hold back the Neuroi before retreating as well. The Neuroi, seeing this, decide to push towards the Allied forces more aggressively. When they were moving from cover to cover, now they're marching at steady speed and relying only on their shields to defend themselves.
Suddenly, more and more infantries Neuroi appear. It looks like that the Neuroi have a reserve ready. Seeing how many of them, and the fact that they only managed to take out some of them, with the amount can be count using both hands' fingers, the retreat becomes a rout.
"What are you doing?! Keep order! If you retreat like that, you will…"
Before the witch can finish her warn, she's shoot down by a Neuroi's sniper. Seeing that only makes the remaining Allied forces become panic and start leaving their equipment so that they can run faster, making it a true rout.
Inside the mind of every soldiers is nothing but going back to Allied territory. They keep running as other soldiers die left and right. Keep running even if they're out of breath. The Neuroi that they fight are on a whole different level. They know that unless the Allied leadership do something, then they will be pushed off Europe mainland once again.
The Neuroi keep chasing the retreating human forces until most of them are on the bridge. Once that happen, the Neuroi stop their advance as one of them come forward. Compared to standard Neuroi infantry, this Neuroi has shoulder pads, knee caps, and thicker armor. It looks at the fleeing human forces before contacting its superior.
"[COMMS] This is Field Commander Star-of-Collapsed-Core. The human forces are retreating… Yes, Warrior-Servant. We're ready for the next phase."
And this chapter is done.
If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.
Review please.