"…" – Regular Speech
="…"= - Inside Head
{"…"} – Dragonese
["…"] – Translation Collar
*"…"* - Telepathic Speech
#"…"# - Radio/Telephone/PA System Speech
"…" Other Language(Russian, German, French, and ETC)
~"…"~ - Whisper
If you see a mixture of two or more of the above, that means they're using them all at once
Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Africa Corps – Operation Desert Shield: Part OneNear Tripoli, Libyan Sector, American North Africa
Africa Expeditionary Corps(AEC); 7th Independent Mechanized Corps
October 25th, 2246/2011 – 0934 Hours
Erwin and Margaret were with West Roman General Avilius Ollius and Israeli General Erieni Kacher as they inspected the men of one of the Isotxian battalions that had been chosen to be the first to receive desert uniforms and equipment which had arrived earlier in the week from Israel, which had helped design and build the equipment to suit the needs of the Isotxians.
"They're perfect, but I only wish we had more of them." Erwin said to Kacher
"More of them are on the way, but I'm afraid we can't afford to wait any long." She replied
"I agree with the Hebrew, the Marcusians have pushed Vibianus' men to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, the time to put our plans into action has come." Ollius said
Erwin nodded
"And I agree." He said, "I have already made the arrangement, we are moving forward with Operation Desert Shield."
"Did you just really call me a Hebrew while I'm standing right here?" Kacher asked Ollius
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend." He replied
"Well you came pretty damn close, you're just lucky I have thicker skin than most otherwise you'd be on the ground wiping your own blood off your face." Kacher said
"That is enough from both of you." Erwin replied, "Go rally your forces and get them to their designated assembly areas so they can be loaded onto the transports."
Kacher and Ollius both saluted Erwin before leaving
"Those two get along well." Margaret said to Erwin, who grunted
"As long as they do their parts." He replied
"Kacher is supposed to be one of Israel's best, so I don't think you're going to be too disappointed with her. The Roman on the other hand I'm no sure." Margaret said
"Tullus told me that Ollius is one of his best generals." Erwin replied, "But it's not his forces I'm worried about, it's the forces I'm about to inherit from Vibianus."
"I'm sure they're good soldiers, they'll just need somebody to give them a good push in the right direction…presumably forward rather than backwards." Margaret said
"We'll see…we'll see." Erwin said
Tunes, West Roman North Africa; Viking Verse
Vibianus' Palace
2203 Hours
Casca and his men flew over the city of Tunes towards Vibianus' Palace under the cover of darkness
[#"Everybody just follow the plan, hopefully we can do this without spilling any blood."#] Casca said
[#"If this man is as hated down here as everybody makes him out to be I doubt we'll see any resistance to us removing him."#] Another Post-Human replied
[#"We can only hope."#] Casca said as he and his men landed on the landing pad located at the back of the palace where there several guards on station, who were shocked to see Casca, his men, and the West Roman special forces that came with him
"General Casca?! We had no idea you were coming!" One the Guards said
["Good because the lack of an announcement is intentional."] Casca replied
"You're here to arrest Governor Atilius ?!" The Guard asked and Casca nodded
"Thank the gods! That man's reign and command has been insufferable!" A Second Guard replied, "He's usually in his throne room being entertained by his slave girls at this hour."
["He has slaves?!"] Casca asked, ["All slaves were supposed to be released months ago by decree of the emperor!"]
"He's chosen to ignore Tullus' emancipation decree among other things." The First Guard replied and Casca shook his head in disappoint
["Then why did he even bother swearing allegiance to Tullus."] Casca asked
"He keeps their existence a secret." The First Guard replied, "You better go to the throne room before he hears you're here, the man has become increasingly paranoid due to the increasing attempts of mutiny and he will no doubly suspect something if he years you've came announced."
Casca nodded
[#"The rest of you secure the perimeter of the palace and block off all escape routes, me and the commands will take care of Vibianus."#] He said
[#"Yes Casca."#] One of His Men replied as the other post-humans took while Casca and the special forces proceeded into the palace and eventually finding their way into the throne were the vastly overweight Vibianus was being tended to by several scantily clad slave girls that were chained to his throne
["VIBIANUS ATILIUS"!] Casca roared at Vibianus, scaring both him and his slaves
"General Casca?!" Vibianus shouted, "Why didn't anybody tell me you were here?!"
["Because we're here to put you under arrest for incompetence and violation of the emaciation decree!] Casca shouted as Vibianus' guards were disarmed by the special forces without a fight while four of them freed the slaves from their chains escorted them from the throne room as Casca pushed Vibianus off his throne
"HOW DARE YOU?!" Vibianus shouted as he struggled to stand up, "I have been a loyal servant of Tullus since the beginning!"
["Loyal servant! LOYAL SERVANT?!"] Casca scoffed, [#"You ignore Tullus' decrees and you call yourself his loyal servant?!"#]
"Those weren't my slaves, they were my servants?!" Vibianus shouted
"Oh, then why were they chained to your throne and wearing those ridiculous outfits?!" One of the Special Forces asked
"I can explain!" Vibianus replied
["You've explained yourself enough."#] Casca said, ["Take him away and throw him in the dungeon!"]
Four of the Special Forces approached Vibianus, who then dagger out and rushed toward Casca only to be gunned down by the special forces, splattering Vibianus' blood onto Casca's armor
Casca sighed annoyingly as one of the Special Forces checked Vibianus' pulse
"He's dead." The Operative said
{"Stupid fat bastard."} Casca replied, ["Get the body out of here."]
The Operative nodded before he and the other four special forces grabbed Vibianus' body and dragged it out of the throne, leaving a trail of blood
{"I really hope this is worth it it."} Casca said, ["Can somebody get me a wet towel?"]
Offshore of Hadrumetum
IAS John Calhoun - Vehicle Bay; Africa Expeditionary Corps, 7th Independent Mechanized Corps, 132nd Armored Division
October 26th, 2246/2011; 0343 Hours
In the hours following Vibianus' death, Allied aircraft and warships initiated a massive bombing campaign against the East Roman forces between the Atlas Mountains and Tripoli; targeting their supply lines and communications causing confusion in their forces on the frontlines as the AEC's airship fleet transitioned in just offshore of the West Roman city of Hadrumetum which was besieged by East Roman forces and their Nubian, Egyptian, and Sassanian auxiliaries whose advance had been stalled by the air and missile strikes as the airships moved to land south of the city
#"Landfall in twelve minutes!"# The Captain of the Calhoun shouted over the PA System as Lynette and her crew readied their Ripper tank for the battle
"What should I load the gun with?" Jory shouted to Lynette
"SABOT!" She shouted as she placed a fresh box magazine into her machine gun while Jory loaded a SABOT round into the main gun as Ealar started up the engine which roared to life
#"Landfall in ten minutes!"# The Captain shouted as Lynette and her crew buttoned up their hatches and prepared their weapons just in case they had to bail out of their tank
#"Landfall in five minutes!"# The Captain shouted again
#"All tanks report in!"# Lynette shouted
#"Tank two ready!"# Hans shouted
#"Tank three ready"# Douard shouted as the other tank commanders reported they were ready
#"All tanks prepare to rollout!"# Lynette shouted
#"Landfall in two minutes!"# The Captain shouted as one of the nearby light air cruisers began to fire smoke shells around the landing area to create a protective smokescreen for the transports as they landed
The Calhoun touched down on the North Africa desert and dropped it's loading ramp allowing Lynette and her company to rollout onto the desert where they immediately engaged by Egyptian and Sassanian T-55s and BMPs
#"Gunner identify enemy tank at 100.4 degrees at 93 meters! Fire when ready!"# Lynette shouted to Gustav as he lined the main gun up at one of the Egyptian T-55s
#"On the way!"# Gustav shouted as he fired the gun at the T-55 and disabled it with an overpenetration which knocked out the BMP behind it
#"Target and one plus destroyed!"# Lynette shouted as she identified the next target for Gustav as Jory loaded a second SABOT into the gun
#"Gun loaded!"# Jory shouted
#"Identify T-55 at 121.2 degrees, 98 meters!"# Lynette shouted as Gustav turned the gun and turret to face the second T-55 while Jory fired the coaxial at several Egyptian and Sassanian soldiers who were trying to set-up a ATGM launcher
#"On the way!"# Gustav shouted as he fired the gun and knocked out the second T-55 as Lynette's company was joined by a platoon of Israeli Merkavas and two West Roman Abrams tanks and a Schwarzkopf tank as well as another Isotxian tank company while the return fire from the Egyptian and Sassanian tanks had little to no effect on the Allied armor which picked them off effortlessly from long-range, forcing them to withdraw from the engagement and securing the AEC's landing area as more transports began to land
#"We've got them on the run!"# Another Isotxian Tank Commander shouted
#"Don't get too cocky that was just a warm-up!"# A Second Tank Commander replied
#"All deployed units are to advance in pursuit of the enemy, do not let them make it out of here alive!"# A Isotxian Officer shouted over all channels
1st Post-Human Dragon Division
0423 Hours
Manfred knocked out an East Roman BMP with a plasma blast as he, Harrison, Julie, and the other Isotxian post-humans attacked an East Roman armor column heading into Hadrumetum on the highway while a second group of transports landed nearby
[#"Don't let any of them make it to the city!"#] Manfred shouted as a Russian strike bomber annihilated four East Roman tank platoons with SADARM munitions
[#"Can I get some help here?!"#] Abeodan shouted as he was being shot at by a Shilka
[#"On it!"#] Julie replied before she plasma blasted the Shilka and knocked it out
[#"Thank you!"#] Abeodan shouted as Manfred and Harrison both simultaneously plasma blasted an East Roman T-72 to destroy it as West Roman and Israeli tanks position themselves on the hill overlooking the highway and began putting effective fire into the flanks of the East Roman vehicles on it
[#"Somebody tell Erwin that we've cut off the highway!"#] Manfred shouted
132nd Armored Division
0643 Hours
Leaving a trail of destroyed East Roman, Egyptian, and Sassanian vehicles in their wake, 132nd Armored Division and the accompanying Isotxian, Israeli, and West Roman forces pushed East in pursuit of the retreating enemy while the sun began to rise
#"Scratch one Testudo!"# Lynette shouted as she watched an Praetorian Guard Testudo tank burn after being hit several times by theirs and Hans' Ripper tanks while a second Testudo was knocked by a missile fired from an Israeli gunship
#"We must have caught them with their pants down because this is way too easy!"# Hans shouted
#"Well their pants can stay down because we're just absolutely wrecking them right now!"# Lynette replied as Jory loaded another SABOT round into the main gun which Gustav fired into a Sassanian T-72 which exploded into flames before the turret popped off from an internal explosion as they began to approach a small village held by a garrison of Nubian auxiliaries who were firing blindly at the advancing Allied armor with RPGs and artillery
#"Start squirting those buildings with the emma gees!"# A Isotxian Tank Commander
#"Emma what?!"# A Israeli Tank Commander
#"The machine guns unless your tanks don't have any for some bizarre reason!"# The Isotxian Tank Commander replied
#"Oh!" The Israeli Tank Commander said as some of the Isotxian and Israeli tanks began to fire their machine guns into the village's building to suppress the garrison as several Israeli and Isotxian APCs stopped and deployed infantry teams who advanced into the village to clear out the garrison which was done in less than ten minutes before the teams returned to their APCs which continued to follow the tanks
#"Just for communication purposes, everybody avoid using any slang words!"# Lynette said over the radio
#"Agreed!"# The Israeli Tank Commander said as they advanced past the village toward the next village
1st Post-Human Dragon Division
0832 Hours
Manfred, Harrison, and Julie were leading the other Isotxian post-humans in support of a West Roman mechanized unit as they and the rest of the AEC advanced toward the occupied city of Ruspina against sporadic resistance from the retreating East Roman forces who were still being hit by Allied air and missile strikes and being hit on the flanks by the Isotxian Marines that were making landfall nearby and whom of which the post-humans and West Romans were trying to link up with on their way to Ruspina
[#"We got some of those Testudo tanks up ahead!"#] Fergus shouted
[#"We see them!"#] Manfred shouted, [#"Remember to aim for the engine decks, just we like we've practicing!"#]
[#"Except these are going to be shooting at us while we do it!"#] Helga shouted
[#"Then some of us will distract them while the rest knock them out!"#] Julie replied as the Isotxian post-humans split into two groups with one distracting the Testudo tanks and drawing their fighters while the rest flanked around and hit the Testudos from behind, quickly dispatching all the Testudos '
[#"Enemy tanks destroyed!"#] Abeodan shouted
[#"Those weren't so tough!"#] Fergus shouted
[#"Just keep the advance up, Erwin wants us to link up with the Marines before we move onto to Ruspina!"#] Manfred replied as they flew over the wrecks of various other East Roman vehicles destroyed by aircraft while the West Romans continued to follow them until they linked up with the vanguard of the Marine landing forces, which was pushing out from their beachheads
#"We've got them on the run down here! What about you guys?"# A Isotxian Marine shouted to Manfred
[#"Same here, they're all withdrawing to Ruspina!"#] He replied
#"Then why are we talking?! Let's go get them!"# The Marine said
Tunes
Vibianus' Palace
0943 Hours
Casca watched as Erwin's dropship dropped him, Margaret, Kacher, and Ollius off on the landing pad while Isotxian and West Roman troops were working hard on converting Vibianus' palace into a headquarters for the AEC
"Casca…" Erwin said to him, "I'm guessing Vibianus went quietly?"
["Unfortunately he didn't."] He replied, ["But good news is that you won't have to worry about him at all now."]
"Good." Erwin said
["If you don't mind…I would like to know how things are going."] Casca said
"We have shattered the Marcusians' will to fight and they're retreating in all sectors, but they will no doubly regroup and launch a counter-attack unless we can keep them on the run." Ollius said
"Agreed, we should take full advantage of our initiative as long as we hold it and pushing farther south would also put us in a far more favorable position to link up with Admiral Holland's forces once we initiate the second phase." Kacher said
Erwin nodded
["Well as long as we're here, we might as well provide you with our services."] Casca said
Erwin grunted
"As much as I hate you, I can't deny we can use all the firepower we can get, so do what you please." He said
Casca nodded and took off
"So far so good." Kacher said
"Indeed, but the day is still young and we have a lot of group to capture." Erwin said as an Isotxian Ensign approached them
"General Schnitter, your brother has notified us that the garrison is Ruspina has surrendered to our forces and that they are continuing their advance along the coast." The Ensign said to them
"Excellent." Erwin replied, "General Ollius, you know this continent better than anybody else here, so where do you suggest we stop end our advance?"
"The cities of Taparura and Capsa, they're both transportation hubs and Taparura is both a military base and the largest port between Tunes and Tripoli and so taking it will be a major blow to the Marcusian forces as well as giving us another large port to bring in more reinforcements and material." Ollius replied
Erwin nodded
"But the port will be worthless if we don't capture its facilities intact and the Marcusians will no doubly destroy them before they let them to fall to us." Ollius said
"We should call my brother and Task Force Therian and have them take control of the port before we get there." Margaret replied
"That's not a bad idea." Kacher said
"I'll make the call." Erwin replied
