Disclaimer: Hey, you're probably illiterate if you don't already know Blizzard owns everything, so why bother?
I've been probably working on this storyline for over a year now, and I'm still making corrections. There had been a very little progress in actual storyline due to that. Needless to say, I do not think you should expect a quick uploads of chapters. I would do what I can to speed up things since they are now up and published on internet, but as I said, don't expect too much. The initial setting is on Earth, since I need to change the political climate of the planet first. This entire chapter sets on Earth, but we'll be moving back to Koprulu and its own interesting plot on the next chapter, Enjoy!
The outskirts of the City of San Francisco, Sector Golf Charlie-17
-GWAANG!
Sergeant Michael O'Bennon was turning the automated turret of the Lancer Main Battle Tank even before the aftershock of the magnetic gun dissipated. The lightly armored MPUV (Multi-Purpose Utility Vehicle) he targeted was reduced to nothing more than few chunks of smoldering metal. The #6 camera captured the image and displayed it automatically in a side screen on the GCS (Gunner's Central Sight) holographic display. It was the logged as 34th kill on the computer. The low-leveled unmanned turret swept left and right, searching for a new target to kill. The small humming of the motor, however, was quickly overtaken when the 40mm HALOS autogrenade launcher suddenly swiveled to the right and began firing at an incoming anti-tank missile.
-Hamms, turn right!
The heavy tank turned sharply to the commander's order, and the driver also punched gas to accelerate the metallic bulk forward. The missile veered slightly to the left as it tracked in on the moving target, but that gave a slightly larger target aspect for the HALOS intercept system. The sensors tracked in on the missile via radar and heat sensors and calculated the firing solution. The gun locked on and the intercept system began rapidly firing 40mm airburst grenades. One of the shells exploded nearby the seeker, the fragments and ball-bearings slicing into the cylindrical missile body. The fragment damaged the guidance control computer and the missile soon lost its flight control capability. It twisted wildly in the air for several moments before veering off and slamming into the ground.
Michael targeted the general vicinity where the missile was launched from and peppered it with coaxial machinegun fire. The HALOS gun also responded and joined in on the suppression fire. Buildings and wreckages of vehicles were riddled with bullets, but Mike saw no signs that anyone had died from his or the computer's weapon.
-Foxtrot, Charlie 3, requesting immediate support! Target, India-Foxtrot-Victor at Hotel Bravo 3 building entrance!
With sounds of fierce gun fighting in the background, the infantry platoon designated Charlie 3 requested for the firepower of the tank. His voice told the tankers how dire the situation was for his platoon.
-Foxtrot Leader Copy. Mike! 3 O'clock, target IFV, Dumble shot.
"Roger commander."
Following the vehicle commander's order, Michael pressed a button to load the M-67 'Dumble' APUEM (Armor Piercing Utility Explosive Munitions) shot specifically designed to kill light-armored or 'soft' targets. As the commander turned the turret toward the building, he switched the fire-control mode from automatic to manual. In a precision shot, manual was far more reliable than the computer generated automatic.
The large building, designated Hotel Bravo 3 was actually an apartment complex. It looked over the two main roadways that led all the way into the heart of San Francisco, and the enemy had chosen it as the central defense point of the Echo line. The Charlie Company and a platoon of tanks were deployed to take it. Charlie 3 was the platoon tasked with frontal assault, but they were pinned down by heavy enemy fire.
The enemy had set up heavy machineguns and rocket firing positions on the various levels of the building, but at the center of the firepower stood a Wolverine Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Its autocannon and EM gun were wrecking havoc with the infantry, but Charlie 3 lacked the kind of weapons to engage the carefully concealed vehicle.
Looking through the powerful gunner's sight system, he spotted the target just behind a semi-collapsed wall. The vehicle had poked just its small turret through the hole made in the wall by some sort of explosive. The rest of it was concealed behind the thick concrete walls. It was no wonder that the infantry could not hit the vehicle effectively. They did not have anything that would punch through the concrete and still retain a significant power to penetrate the IFV's armor.
After considering the target briefly, he placed the crosshair of the targeting system just below the low-level turret. When he pressed the button in his right handle, the computer locked on to the designated spot, recording the target aspect just in case any changes occurred to it and had to adjust the aim automatically. This allowed him to relax his grip on the targeting handle.
On his screen, the targeting computer displayed the atmospheric conditions gathered by the sensors outside. Wind direction/speed, movement of the tank itself, water vapor, chemical compositions of the air, as well as ground vibration were all considered, and the computer automatically lowered the azimuth of the gun ever so slightly.
-Fire!
Michael pressed the trigger immediately upon command. The powerful 140mm electromagnetic cannon accelerated the shot at once, spitting it out with kinetic energy of over 40MJ. The targeted IFV detected the presence of a tank through the laser warning system, but the shell was much faster than the vehicle. The Dumble shell penetrated the thick wall of the building first, then made contact with the IFV. The light armor of the vehicle immediately gave in, and upon penetration, the tank shell fell apart and revealed the powerful explosive block inside. The explosive made contact with the interior hull of the vehicle, and the fuse set it off, causing the entire vehicle to erupt into a huge fireball.
-Foxtrot Leader, confirm target kill.
To understand the cause of this violent conflict on Earth, a certain finding several month ago must be addressed beforehand.
During a routine deep space mission along the border, a long-range reconnaissance ship UFS Ulysses and a research vessel UFS Argonaut came across an abandoned science research vessel UFS Hakanami. Hakanami was part of the 385th Squadron of 17th Pallas Fleet. The 17th Pallas Fleet was the picket force of the UED Expeditionary Force.
Upon analysis of the onboard computer of the vessel, they realized that the UED Expeditionary Fleet has been defeated and pushed out of the Korpulu sector by the Zergs. Not only that, only 10 % of the combat power of the fleet remained after the last battle, 30% for the ground troops, but they had lost most of their heavy fighting equipments and were low on supplies. The Ulysses transmitted a report containing the ship's records, as well as their own analysis that UED had been decimated by the Zerg and the expedition had failed.
However, the political situation of Earth was not prepared to handle such situation. A powerful political group known as the SECT, which possess control over the Earth Central Committee, was busy trying to put down the revolts that were occurring on various places on Earth. These rebellion groups opposed the totalitarian rule of SECT and fought them on various levels. That included militias on space colonies, space pirates and terrorism against political targets. Of course, there was also the matter of rivalry between SECT chairperson themselves. There were 18 seats on the SECT parliament, and they were equally divided into two groups which sought for more power over the other.
Hung up with tightening their control over the government and competing with one another, they decided to ignore and hide the report from the public. The greedy old man were only interested in power, nothing more. The fact that thousands of men had perished in the deep space because of their decision never even registered in their minds.
But the SECT wasn't the only group who was knowledgeable of the Expeditionary Force's demise. The high ranking officials of the armed force branches also came to know the fate of DuGulle's fleet. Enraged by the inaction of the SECT, they voiced their protest, demanding immediate action. Many whom did, however, were arrested immediately by the State Security, the ruthless paramilitary group under the SECT. When many of these military leaders were jailed or even shot, the Joint Military Head Quarters finally drew the line. 72 hours after its leaders were arrested, the armed force branches of Army, Marine, Air Force, and Navy began a coordinated military actions targeted to extract the SECT from power.
Their first mission was to remove State Security personals from interfering. Utilizing special force operatives, the military assassinated much of the spy personals loyal to the SECT and launched all-out assault against those who supported the regime. The components of the land forces assaulted and captured many supporters of the SECT. They also began the pursuit of the SECT chairperson themselves, all the while combating the military faction who had sided with the SECT and the State Security. The Navy, on the other hand, had blockaded Earth of all interplanetary travels, with the Air Force supporting them both in space and in the atmosphere. All blockade runners were pursued and either captured and imprisoned, or shot down. Certain detachments of the Navy and Marine were deployed to outer-space in order to secure major colonies from interfering.
The land battle went in the favor of the Army and Marines. Army's 22nd Brigade clashed with and decimated the State Security 3rd Division near the city of Hukouka on the second day, and Marine 1st Division surrounded and forced the 2 divisions of the enemy to surrender in the Kola peninsula soon thereafter. They broke much of the resistance of State Security military under a week, and cornered the SECT members in the City of San Francisco. The city of San Francisco was now under siege.
Outskirts of the City of San Francisco, Sector November Mike-4
"Starfire, this is India-7! We require an immediate artillery support!"
-India-7, artillery support is not available. A flight of fighter-bomber has been rerouted to your sector. They will be arriving under 10 minutes.
"God damn it! We'll all be DEAD in 10minutes Starfire! Do you read me? We do not HAVE 10 FUCKING MINUTES!"
-The enemy has launched all-out counteroffensive along all fronts. All heavy guns are occupied with other missions. Keep your fucking head down and stay alive.
"Shit!"
The lieutenant killed the connection with the battalion command and peeked over the smoldering rubbles to see across the street. The enemy resistance was composed of 2 heavily armed squad of infantry, 1 armored reconnaissance vehicle, and 2 two-leg combat walker robot in support. He had a single IFV and 2 heavily armed high-mobility directional fire-support vehicle along with his platoon, but the enemy forces were fighting under cover, and his direct suppressive fire hadn't hurt them wit. After a squad from his command ran into an ambush while attempting to round the foe from the left, they had been fighting across this damned street for the last 2 hours.
He raised his own MU-081C assault rifle, and gripped the trigger for the MU-083A 40mm grenade gun. The old Gauss rifles had been heavy and clumsy tools of war. The high muzzle-velocity from the long barrel was nice, but the faulty firing mechanism shook up the ballistic trajectory of the bullet too much, thus making them inaccurate. When shooting, the soldiers had to rely more on the firing rate of the gun, rather than accuracy. The only reason they were produced for such long period of time were their efficiency in stopping large number of targets and the low price, and such reason didn't do much to give a soldier a lot of confidence in his marksmanship.
Not liking such bureaucratic view on a weapon of war, the MU-081-series rifle had been developed under Army's heavy supervision. The MU-081 reduced 30% in size, over 50% in mass, but state-of-art design had increased accuracy and penetration power by 40%, 20% respectively as compared to the Gauss rifle. Also, with ability to attach various accessory items such as the MU-083 grenade launcher without needing much modification, the MU-081 was far more flexible in their uses. They have rapidly replaced the Gauss rifles as the military's primary assault rifle soon after their introduction.
When he pulled the trigger, the grenade barrel was suddenly charged with a strong magnetic force, and propelled the 40mm explosive far across the wide street. Even before he had the chance to observe the result of his attack, the lieutenant ducked and began moving toward another cover. Just as he crawled into his new protection, a piece of rotary aircraft in fact, the spot that was previously his hiding exploded. It could only have been one of the large-bore direct fire weapon the enemy seemed to possess. He saw the infantry fighting vehicle firing off cannon shots in retort, but they didn't seem to get much luck either.
Bring the rifle back up, he fired a dozen rounds in the general area where the enemies were hiding. When the darkness on the other side lit up with sparks of rifle fire, he ducked back into the ground.
Outskirts of the City of San Francisco, Field Command Center
-Task Force 1-38 Bravo has broken through enemy infantry brigade defensive line. 7 tanks inoperable. They are moving along the Delta line toward Alpha Charlie 7.
-133rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade has repulsed the 98th Regiment's counterattack. They are pursuing the enemy formation.
-285th Independent Infantry Regiment has engaged with unidentified enemy formation. Size, strength unknown.
-Marine 4th has broken through! OMG (Operation Maneuver Group: Soviet battle concept) is moving to exploit the breakthrough!
-Redirecting Badger Hunter 3 flight to the breakthrough. Enemy mechanized brigade is moving along the Yankee 8 axis in disarray.
This was the combat information center of the combined Army/Marine forces currently engaged in the Battle of San Francisco. All of reports from the field were being directed here, where the team of computers and expert operators were organizing the assault against the SECT forces. Most of the information reported victory against their enemies, and the mood was light in the complex despite all the confusion that came with war.
In midst of all the chaos, however, stood two middle-aged man. They were the only two who didn't appear to be swept up by the disarray of the situation. One was a Caucasian male with graying hair and light-brown uniform. His shoulder pad held 4 golden stars. The other one, however, was an Asian man. He wore a stiff uniform of dark blue, white and red. His shoulder pad also held 4 stars. The Caucasian male spoke quietly to his companion.
"Anytime now I should think."
His companion shifted his face and looked at him questioningly.
"Not getting nervous now are you Ryan?"
"Not the best of times to be relaxed either Lee."
The two generals in the combat center were the Supreme Commander of Army and Marine. The Caucasian man was General Ryan Sheffield of the Army, and the Oriental man was General Han Soo Lee of Marine. They were the core members of this coup to overthrow and arrest the members of the SECT. They were also close friends ever since they met each other as opponents during the annual Marine-Army field exercises NICEOP as commanding officers of each other's cavalry force.
-Flash Traffic! 12th Division reports engagement with numerous tanks! The divisional commander is dead, and his deputy has taken over. He reports massive artillery fire and air defense firepower is supporting the large formation of armored forces!
Major General Sheffield turned sharply. It was the moment he had been waiting for. The time to drew his final card and finish his needless war once and for all.
"The 2nd Guard Armored Division."
Lee commented curtly and walked up to the digital screen that mapped the battlefield. The SS 2nd Guard Armored Division, composed of over 300 Lancer Mk2 Main Battle Tanks, a brigade of artillery and 2 air defense battalions. They were the core of State Security military forces. In order to achieve victory, this last card of the SECT must be crushed first.
"Proceed as planned."
At Sheffield's command, the Marine and Army counterattack was initiated.
-21st Mechanized Infantry Division, 2nd Marine Brigade is maneuvering.
Along Highway-16, 12th Division
Battered and beaten, but the Army 12th Division was not broken yet. Designated as a Light Motorized Infantry division (LMI), the 12th Division had 2 brigade of light infantry, 1 brigade of mechanized infantry and supporting tanks. The lead tank brigade of 2nd Guard Armor had smashed the mechanized brigade within 10 minutes of decisive engagement, but the remaining two brigades fought a defensive battle, fighting hard, but retreating when possible. Casualty rates were extremely high, with even the divisional commander killed by an artillery barrage.
But the onslaught did not continue for long. The 21st Mech suddenly appeared on the field and charged toward the pursuing forces. With its right flank threatened, the 2nd Guard was forced to break off its pursuit in order to counter this new threat.
Two tank battalions plus the cavalry battalion deployed to counter the Army division. Both side's artilleries held fire in fear of each other's counter-battery force. It was the purest form of armored combat one could hope for, where nothing else mattered other than the opponent's tanks. The initial engagement began at the range of 3km, when the monster 140mm EM guns of the Lancer MBTs could effectively attack another tank.
The 72nd Armored Brigade maneuvered in front of the 2nd Guard's advance. The elite 22nd Royal Lancer Regiment formed up the center as 2 tank battalions deployed left and right. An old, yet still one of most effective maneuver of the armored forces, called the Pincer Clause, was unfolding.
Of course, as the SS's most elite armored division, they were fully aware of the effectiveness of the Pincer Clause. To counter the maneuver from engulfing them, they moved the cavalry battalion to the left and moved the two tank battalions to attack the right wing of the Army formation. The cavalry battalion was left behind to tie down the others, while the bulk of the force bore down on the numerically inferior right wing.
The 72nd brigade did attempt to compensate by applying pressure to the enemy with the 22nd Regiment. However, the enemy remained unresponsive and had to pull back for the fear of shattering the formation. The lone tank battalion of 21st continued to fight a losing battle to hold the line.
"General, the flank cavalry force reports an enemy counterattack. They appear to the remnants of the enemy 12th Division."
"Idiots."
The commanding officer of the 2nd Guard Armor commented with a sneer before putting out his cigar.
"Have the reserve tank battalion engage and smash those fools. They should have ran when they had the chance to."
The Army's attempt to shake his flank would end in a bloody failure. He still had 3 more tank battalions along with an infantry brigade to pound his foe into submission once he located the mainstay of this counterattack. His division held more tanks and more firepower than the Army counterpart - the SECT and the SS had seen to that - and could overwhelm any of them in a decisive engagement. After he defeated the Army blockade, he would hit the Army 7th Corp and rescue the remnants of the SS 18th and 23rd Divisions. He could then drive along the coast, cutting off the Army and Marine supply lines and choking up their flank. This war may be won after all......
"ALERT MESSAGE!"
His thought of victory was broken as an operative from the communications center jumped in with a sheet of paper in his hands. His morbid look told the general that it was a serious news.
"General, the contact southwest is supported by large column of tanks and vehicles! The cavalry force was being overwhelmed when it was cut off the air."
"Our flank!"
The Deputy Commander shouted in alarm. The tank battalion had not been organized yet, and much of the supporting units were in the general vicinity of the incursion. Without them, the fighting units would no longer be able to function as weapons of war.
"Redirect the two other tank battalions immediately! Stop that incursion at all cost!"
The 2 battered brigades of 12th Division was making the attack with the help of 2 Marine tank battalions. The tanks simply blasted the rearguard and rolled over fragmented resistances as the infantry followed and widened the gap. The infantry battalion of the Marines, all the while, was busy settling in north of the attacking forces to defend against a counterattack. Their position looked over the main roadways that connected elements of the 2nd Guard Armor, and they had artilleries to make the enemy pay very heavy tolls if they wanted to pass through the roads under their watch.
The tank battalion of the 2nd Armor was caught unprepared, and paid dearly for their mistake. Only after several gun fire exchanges, the tank battalion of SS was shattered and subdued. As the surviving tanks activated jammers and smoke grenades in an attempt to escape, a brigade of 12th Division flanked and secured the retreat path of the remaining tanks. Confronted with overwhelming number of tanks advancing and infantry forces who were itching for some revenge, the senior Alpha Company commander knew that only massacre could result. He stopped his track and lowered his main gun in a sign of surrender. He ordered for all tanks to do the same and dismount their vehicle.
As a platoon of infantry dashed forward to round up the surrendering tank crews, the Marine brigade and 12th Division continued their drive deeper into the 2nd Armor defenses. From the intelligence report, they were aware that two additional tank battalions were advancing, but after the success of their first engagement, the men couldn't be discouraged from entering into the fray. The officers, however, knew better than to let an easy victory boost their ego and strictly forbad the vehicles from entering too deep into the combat. It wasn't their mission after all. Their job was to rattle, and prepare the table. Execution was someone else's show.
80th Brigade (21st Mech) Command Center
The brigadier general looked up from the true-color display map and rubbed his tired eyes. Hours of planning and simulated exercises were fruiting now before his very own eyes, and he would be the one responsible for tipping it all over to climax. He was to deliver the final strike.
"Status of the task forces?"
His deputy had a notepad with the reports.
"Alpha, Bravo, Charlie TF are all active and in position general. We're ready to kick some ass."
The general smiled at that.
Looking down, he stared at the digital map once again. All three forces under his command were lighted blue, the enemy force red, and the primary target had a double red rings around it. Without taking his eyes off the display, he spoke to his deputy.
"Execute Maneuver Omega, drive the stake through the heart of the beast."
On command, the three task forces surged forward with vigor. Each had been composed primarily of 2 companies of mechanized infantry and 1 company of tanks. Supported by the brigade's artillery battalion, they advanced with speed, eliminating a company of infantry within minutes of heavy engagement. The three Task Force's direction of advance made them converge on one spot: the 2nd Guard's command center.
On the larger scale the 2nd Guard Armored Division was facing an attack from three different directions. To the east they faced off with an armored brigade and a regiment of troops, to the southwest stood combined forces of the Marine brigade and the Army 12th Division, engaged with two tank battalions. And now, to the north, the SS division faced a brigade of mechanized infantry penetrating on three axis. With majority of the units already entangled in an unwavering battle, they could only put up inadequate defenses in the third direction.
Rapid elimination was the key. Only a decisive attack against the heart of a fighting division would cripple a mobile unit such as the 2nd Guard Armor. The speed of which the 3 Task Forces moved was amazing even after accounting for the low-level of resistance. Finally, the artillery brigade, which had withheld from firing, zeroed in on the dangerous penetration and unleashed their firepower. Attacked by a combination of high-explosive shells and anti-armor bomblets, the central Bravo Task Force was hit especially hard. Half of the command dissolved within minutes of concentrated fire. However, even before the artilleries had a chance to switch over to a different target, two artillery brigades tasked with counter-battery mission unloaded on them, taking out three battalions of the heavy guns instantly along with their crews.
"Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!"
The tank commander nearly spat out the profanities as the remaining tanks engaged with the divisional guard battalion. Nine tanks remained out of original 14, protected by the thick armor and automated defense systems. At least they had faired better than the infantry, with just 12 functioning vehicles remaining from 28. The Bravo Task Force had suffered heavily, but because of their position, they had made the first contact with the last obstacle that stood in the way of their objective.
"Designating!"
The commander centered the targeting crosshair on the opposing tank. Two screens of CDDS was tasked with showing visual data while one was spared to display the tactical data from all of the friendly vehicles. The gunner elevated the crosshair slightly and locked on.
-Target!
"Shoot!"
-GWAAANG!
The 140mm gun fired off another projectile as the tank swerved left. The auto grenade launcher fired off several jammers and smokes to obscure the battlefield. The enemy tanks also hid behind a wall of smoke as each sides maneuvered closer. This was going to be a knife fight.
Activating the all-bearing watch system, he designated the left CDDS to split screen and display visual data from the 6 different cameras mounted on the tank. The system would identify and track programmed targets and display a warning if a hostile appears anywhere within the search parameters of the computers. With the sensor systems nearly useless because of the thick smoke and jammers, such device was useful in close-quarter combat.
-Shit!
The tank turned violently to the right, kicking up a cloud of soil into the air. An enemy tank was firing at something merely 50m away. The blue-green electromagnetic shock field was visible for a fraction of a second through the smokes.
"Designate!"
The turret overhead turned slightly to match the bearing of the CPS crosshair. The gunner simply locked on without making any adjustments. The system remained completely passive, meaning no radar or laser sensors to aid in fire-control, so his tank was unobserved.
-Target!"
"Shoot!"
The massive main gun roared once more. The projectile made contact with the side of the armored vehicle and instantly penetrated into the hull. The tank shuddered from the shock, but began turning its own turret toward his vehicle. Apparently his own shot had penetrated on a non-vital spot. The Lancer tanks were extremely heavily armored, but the internal compartments were also designed to minimize damage even after penetration. It was a mother of a work to kill one.
-WAANG!
The tank shook roughly as something heavy impacted overhead. Realizing he wasn't dead yet, the commander stole a glance at the vehicle status screen. The shot had apparently grazed the top of the turret, reflected by the angled armor. Number 4 camera was gone along with the 40mm HALOS autogrenade launcher, but otherwise the tank was undamaged.
"We're not dead yet! Gunner, make goddamn sure that this one counts!"
-Aye commander!
His voice sounded somewhat rattled, he thought with annoyance. The crosshair began moving once again. It settled just below the low-level turret few seconds later and locked on. Without waiting for a confirmation, he screamed.
"Shoot!"
The shot lanced out once again, and penetrated the armor. Fraction of a second later, his CDDS screen captured the images of the fiery explosion.
"Kill!"
-Archer 1, Archer 5 is hit! He's just fucking gone!
Even before the exhilaration of a kill began to settle, a shrilled cry of another tanker pierced his ears. When he finally looked at the right CDDS screen, he was horrified to see that only 3 other tanks under his command were still moving. A tank company had turned into a platoon under scarcely 5 minutes. He could not believe it.
"Archers, pull back! Pull out of the smoke!"
Even as he ordered the remaining tanks to retreat, Archer 10's blip turned from green to yellow and stopped moving. He now had only 3 tanks left including his own.
With the reverse gear in full, the tanks pulled out of the field of smoke. After a brief radio communications with the mechanized infantry forces, he realized only 8 had escaped the fray after colliding with another tank company head-on. The Bravo force was now reduced to 11 vehicles, a size and strength of a cavalry company. The situation was hopeless.
Nine tanks pulled out of the smoke after them. After sighting the retreating vehicles they floored and charged like an unstoppable beast from the medieval tales. Those nine tanks are almost immediately followed by another company of tanks and a company of mechanized infantry vehicles which also emerging from the wall of smokes. Outgunned and outmanned, the Bravo Task force faced massacre. The lead tanks began firing.
Or at least appeared to.
The magnetic fields appeared on the enemy tanks, not at the tip of their gun barrels but on their hulls or turrets. All nine vehicles were engulfed in the transparent blue flame and exploded in a fury.
A piercing voice rang their baffled ears.
-Charge~!
A new company of tanks suddenly appeared from behind a small mound and charged down the slope with force. That tank company was flanked by two companies of mechanized infantry vehicles who stopped to deploy the infantry. A similar size of vehicles also emerged from the opposite direction and formed another wall of defenses. The enemy forces were shaken by the loss of an entire tank company in matter of seconds, but were even more so petrified when they realized they were completely enveloped. The mechanized infantry, supported by the IFVs had formed a solid barrier of defenses on two areas. They were equipped with anti-tank rockets and missiles that could damage, or even take out Lancer tanks. Two companies of tanks waited by the two openings in the defenses, ready to counterattack any advances they might make. In short, if the Guard Battalion attempted to escape on any directions, first they would be slowed by the enemy defense, and be attack from all directions.
But the pride of the commanding officer wouldn't allow him to surrender. The SS Armor was one of the most elite forces the Earth Army had. The 2nd Guard Armor was among the best, and the Guard Battalion was specially selected to protect the field command center at all costs.
Seemingly without pause, without any kind of thinking at all, all of the remaining vehicles began their charge. Infantry missiles and rockets reached out, soon followed by EM shells from the tanks. The shells impacted their targets, and the cloud of missiles bore down on their targets. A gray mist of destruction masked the scene from naked eyes.
Center of San Francisco, Underground, Sector Bravo Alpha-15
"INTRUDERS!"
The rifle came up and spat out 3 5.7mm high-velocity projectiles. The guard who had shouted warning took all three rounds to his head which promptly vaporized under the force of the bullets. The body crumbled and fell over the railing, landing with a sickening crunch on the floor of the base level.
Lt. Yoomaru Mazaki, commander of the Echo Company of the Urban Operations Battalion (35th Special Operations Brigade), lowered her MSG-97 submachine gun and motioned for the rest of her team to continue. She coldly stepped over the body with a missing head and continued to keep a sharp eye for any sign of danger.
"That was the SS Honor Guard Lt." A soldier dressed in an urban gray uniform informed her, stilling checking the body. "Their unit patch has a golden rim to it instead of usual silver. I think this might be it."
"Let's hope you're right. We've only got 2 more hours until the deadline."
Lt. Yoomaru checked the rounds in the MSG-97 rifle. The top-loading magazine held some 100 ammunitions, and she'd only expanded 7 during her trek through the city crawling with SS soldiers. The entire Urban Operations Battalion had been deployed to this sector. Their objective: the State Security field command center.
-X-Ray Hotel, Point Charlie 7 secured. 5 Tangos down, no casualty.
The Bravo Company, led by Lt. Xanders Hawking squawked through the radio channel to report his progress through the building.
"X-Ray Hotel, Yankee Mike, did they get a warning out before you took them out?
In accordance to the brigade's tradition, each team was coded according to the initials of the team leader's names in field missions. Mazaki's initial was Y.M., so using radio call-signs, her team was coded Yankee Mike team. If two team leaders had same initials in the same battalion, they were numbered by seniority.
-Negative, we took out their communications first before storming the rest. They are still unaware of our presence.
-This is Zulu India, I concur. We have not yet encountered any signs of an organized defense. They are still sticking to their defense positions without attempting to compensate for the penetration. They are not aware.
Mazaki's brain calculated the situation for a bit. It was the closest thing she'd seen since the team was deployed into the city nearly 12 hours ago. The deadline before the entire battalion had to be extracted was just few hours away, and she knew they wouldn't find another target if they passed this opportunity by.
"All right, all right. All teams listen in. We're hitting Fox-2 now with full force. We've got only enough time to hit one target until the extraction, so let's hope this is it. Lima Papa, form up on my team. We're the assault force. Zulu India, take penetration and support fire. X-Ray Hotel, cut off any and all enemy reinforcements at the main corridor. Let's move it!"
There were no additional encounters with the enemy, and all teams positioned themselves into proper places quickly. The 11-men team from Lima Papa was waiting for Lt. Mazaki - much to her annoyance - near the main entrance to the suspected command site Fox-2. Lieutenant Leon Popov was just 2 months junior of Mazaki, and knew the special operations business pretty well. His expertise was frontal-assault, and she had grudgingly admitted - to herself only - that he was the best assault leader in the battalion, if not the brigade. She knew she had to swallow her pride for the sake of this mission.
"Popov..... take the front. I'll bring up the rear."
If he was surprised by her decision, he hid it very well. Wordlessly, he led his team forward. Team Zulu India was finishing the set up with explosives, and X-Ray Hotel reported that they were in position.
"All teams standby."
Popov spoke into the tactical radio network. His assault team was divided into 2 main segments composed of 4 members each, while Mazaki's team was broken into 4 teams of 2 in supportive formation. The explosive expert of Zulu India placed his hand on the control switch. All they needed was one word. Other members also tensed up, mentally and physically preparing themselves for the combat. Popov himself looked unmoved, but Mazaki could swore that she saw his left hand twitch.
"All teams, EXECUTE NOW!"
With the word, 4 explosive placed on separate sections of the blast door was set off, and the soldiers sprang into action.
The door was horribly twisted from the force of the explosions, Popov and the first segment of his team entered through the opening with lightening speed, closely followed by the heavy weapon crew of Zulu India, and the second wave of assault force. Sounds of rifle fire shot out, soon followed by dozens of others. The first shots were that of MSG-97 from the sounds of it, but overwhelming number of MU-81C shots quickly overtook it.
Mazaki entered into the fray with her thermal sight on. A stray bullet from the opposition struck her shoulder, but the finely composed nano-tech armor absorbed the impact, and deflected the shot away. The PGS-2, Special Energy Absorbent Protection Suit or SEAPS, gave near invincibility against any sorts of small-arms fire even at point-blank range, and withstood against anti-tank rockets. Only the firepower and armor of the Mobile Infantry, or other mechanized vehicles had the chance of actually engaging and killing the person wearing the SEAPS. In close-quarter combat such as this, they were unmatched by any. Mazaki rolled clear of the path of the shot, aimed and fired, striking the gunner who had fired upon her.
The smokes were obscuring the room completely now, and she had to watch closely at who she was shooting at. Another figure stood in her path, firing a rifle wildly at something. The computer immediately sent IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) signals at it, and came up blank. It wasn't friendly.
A controlled burst of suppressed fire, and the figure went down, hard. The MGS-97 had the nickname of Whispering Death. The troops called it that way because the silencing of the gun only provided a mere whisper of sound when they fired. The lightness of the rifle from the use of composite materials, the balance of the weapon itself using several months of computer programming, and down to the high-quality synthetic polymer handle which provided the user with a firm, yet soft grip. No money had been spared to make this weapon less than perfect.
A heat signature entered her vision. The IFF scan again came up blank and she quickly took aim. Strange, she thought, the man isn't armed. But even as the peculiarity of the situation began to resister, her own fingers were depressing on the trigger. Goodnight Gracie. A burst of 5.7mms left the heated barrel.
Outskirts of the City of San Francisco, Field Command Center
-Target eliminated.
"Just about over."
"Yes."
The two Supreme Commanders of the ground forces spoke briefly as the reports from the special operations team came in. Indeed, the combat was bogging down. The State Security and few of the Army troops who had sided with the SECT were now collapsing faster than a sandcastle in path of a tsunami. 16th Corp of SECT had been eliminated in the first day they laid siege to San Francisco. 4th, 10th, 18th, and 23rd Division of SS had also been destroyed, and the last 2nd Guard Division was flanked and destroyed merely few hours ago.
Already, the Marine 5th Brigade, along with remnants of their 3rd Division, had entered the outskirts of the city, having broken through the heavy defenses of the outlaying forces. Reinforcements were flooding into the breakthrough the Marines had achieve with their blood. The special force teams were also wrecking havoc inside the city, striking valuable targets and distracting enemy forces from being committed to the battlefront.
With the Urban Operations Battalion's success at striking the last high-valued members of the SECT and the State Security, the defending troops were confused, and uncoordinated. Victory was only moments away.
"The loss is far higher than expected." Sheffield spoke, his eyes grazing over the paper with combat losses the Army had suffered during this short, but bloody conflict. "The 4th and 6th Corps is beyond repair. They've lost over 70% of the combat units, as well as the Corps commander himself! Not to mention the Capital Corps and the 16th Corps. I only have 40 untouched Divisions under my command, and about half of them are fresh. Their training and equipments are under par. My best units were committed here." And mainly died here.
"The Marines are not in any better condition. Out of 16 available divisions, half were committed here. 4 divisions have lost combat effectiveness, and the other 4 are still committed to the front. Reconstruction will take some months, if not years."
General Lee shook his head as well and took a deep breath. The combat losses for the Marine Corps were far higher as compared to the Army, not because they were any less capable, but because Marines had the tendency to lead the attack wave with the forward assault training they've received.
With a shake of his head, Sheffield spoke quietly to his friend. "The expedition will have to wait Lee."
"When we go, we go with everything we can possibly carry. Only overwhelming superiority can guarantee a certain victory."
General Lee agreed with his friend as he remembered DuGull's task force. For his expeditionary force, DuGull was given Navy's 18th Task Force, 20th Task Force, 4th, 9th Air Force Command, 2 heavy Army Corps and 5 heavy Marine Divisions. A small detachment as compared to Earth's entire military might. The Parliament, as well as the top military leaders, had all thought this would be enough. But that task force had been beaten and annihilated by the monsters of Koprulu.
Shoving that thought aside, Lee thought about the size of the task force he and Sheffield was planning. Army/Marine ground component of 18 Corps, nearly 100 divisions and brigades, 40 Air Force Commands, and fleet of 25 Navy Task Forces. It was several times the size of the last expeditionary force from sheer numbers, not to mention the huge increase in capability of the equipments from the first new equipment cycle in over 70 years. He smiled slightly at the images of mindless monsters of the Zergs being crushed under the combat boots of the Earth soldiers. Very soon, the Koprulu sector would soon face the full wrath of the Earth. Very soon indeed.....
Type4 Lancer MBT:
Introduction/History
The Lancer is the most advanced tank design the Earth has developed in over a centaury. Its precedent, the Type2 Arclite Multi-Purpose Gun, had been a huge disappointment for the military leaders and field troops alike. Its twin 88mm guns had been underpowered and inaccurate due to the faulty designing of the breech and the barrel. It was even joked among the troops that using the DKSV-5 heavy machinegun mounted on the turret was far more effective than the two DM4C2 88mm guns. The DM2A1 120mm ballistic gun had been powerful, but with basically no penetration capability and slow rate of fire, was considered ineffective in rapid modern combat arena. Not only that, because of the strains to the chassis by adding the 120mm gun, the Arclite had top-speed of only 36km/h, barely enough to merely keep up with the march speed of the Mobile Infantry. To top it off, the armor of the vehicle was thin enough to be penetrated by infantry rifles on certain spots.
The Type4 Lancer tanks were meant to change that. After observing the Zerg threat, the Army and Marine saw the need to revert back to the art of maneuver combat, instead of relying on firepower and computers as they had been for the last two centauries. From the studies, they realized that Zerg forces almost always outmaneuvered their foe, and overwhelmed both the colonial defenses and even the mystic Protoss forces well before the firepower of the defensive could organize and concentrate on the offensive. To counter that battle strategy, the Army and Marine needed to outmaneuver the Zergs and use mobility to their maximum advantage, not the Zergs. At the core of this newly reborn mobile strategy stood the Lancer MBT.
Weapon
Born with the concepts of balance of firepower and speed as its top-priority, the Lancer MBT was in fact slightly smaller and lighter than the older Type2 Arclite. The Arclite system weighs 65.7 ton, while the Lancer has 56.5 combat weight. It also carried only a single DM5EX 140mm High-Energy gun as its main weapon. However, the single DM5EX was far more effective than the three guns Type2 carried. The gun's magnetically lined barrel was designed to launch EM shells, as well as other conventional ammunitions. The shells could accelerate as fast as Mach 21 during their brief flight, and coupled with the high-energy capacitor, could penetrate 2300mm worth of reinforced duranium armor, while having rapid rate of fire of nearly 20 rounds per minute with the aid of computerized fire control and automated reloading system.
Other weapons include a 20mm coaxial machinegun located next to the main gun, a DKSV-5 Mk2 heavy machinegun located at the commander's hatch, and the 40mm auto-grenade launcher meant to deploy smoke grenade, anti-personal grenades, and anti-missile intercept grenades. There are also number of rocket weapons that are deployable by the main-gun. Anti-air and anti-armor missiles could be fired through the 140mm-gun barrel.
Senor/Data
All of the weapon/sensor/fire-control systems are controlled by a central computer called AIC(v)2, which is in turn is regulated by the tank commander. The optic gunner's sight, the commander's mobile camera, and holographic display unit make up the core of the combat sensor systems. Others include air-intercept radar system, laser-radar rangefinder, atmospheric sensor unit, and laser/radar warning devices.
The combined data are collected and processed in the AIC computer and displayed in the Central Data Display System(CDDS). The CDDS then connects with the WARBLE Mk4 Data-Distribution Network System to collectively display the data acquired by various other units. This lead to one of the best combat awareness capability ever developed, and can easily be used to control large formation of combat units flawlessly even in the heat of combat.
One interesting piece of equipment to note is the ULW (Unmanned Light Walker) robot stored in the rear turret of the tank. These small robots are fast, small reconnaissance drones deployed by the commander to reach places where the massive tank cannot. They only weight 56kg, and when in storage mode, and compact their size to a rectangular figure of 50x30x18(Length, Width, Height respectively) centimeters. They move with 4 independent legs and are equipped with optic camera, data transmitter, and a twin 20mm grenade launcher. Their main mission is to search and locate the enemy before the actual engagement. The raw data from the ULW is processed in the AIC(v)2 and displayed in the mother vehicle.
Other Characteristics
The Lancer tank is manned by three-men; a driver, commander, and the gunner. An automatic reloading system loads the 140mm ammunitions. The commander sits at the center of the tank facing the CDDS, the driver sits right next to him with holographic goggles to aid piloting the massive beast, and the gunner is situated right behind the other two man in an elevated position below the main gun. The turret is surprisingly small and low, with the turret sloping downward heavily to the front. It has an additional armor effect to the already heavily armored turret. The frontal turret of the Lancer MBT is 2500mm worth of reinforced duranium plate, and 1800mm+ in all other aspects. The glacis is also severely armored, with 2200mm worth of protection standing between the tank crew and the outside environment. The maximum speed of the tank is 70km/h, with economic speed of 40km/h on the field. It carried 62 shells internally ready for use. Over 6000 units had been fielded and had replaced Arclites in front-line armor forces.
Lancer Mk II
The Lancer Mk II upgrades include Kolchuga Phase II modular armor compatibility, upgrades of AIC(v)2 computer to AIC(v)3 standard and addition of back up processing unit. Installation of an independent targeting computer for HALOS missile-intercept system is also included. The additional armor and systems add 4.2tons to the combat weight of the tank. Three hundred Mk IIs had been produced initially, and Mk II upgrades are underway on other base Lancer Mk I MBTs.
**** The Type4 Lancer MBT is inspired by several modern MBTs of the current world, including French Leclerc, Israeli Mekerva Mk4, Korean XK-2, German Leopard2A6 and Russian T-90. Many of the technologies mentioned above will be outfitted into the new-generation of tanks before this half of the centaury ends.