Koprulu Sector, Zukos System, Alliance defense line Charlie
"3rd Squad! Fall back to the base of that hill right there and secure a base of fire! 3rd Squad will provide cover fire!"
Lt. Peterson ordered his 1st Squad leader to secure a small hill - no not even that, an elevation - about 100 meters to the rear. The attack was getting fiercer by the minute, and he knew he wouldn't hold for much longer. He intended to have one squad little higher so they can provide better covering fire for his platoon.
-KWAAA!
A Hydralisk fought through the hail of bullets and approached the defensive line. Instantly, it became target of 12 Gauss rifles. The creature must have gotten the evolved hide for better protection because it held out for a quite some time under fire until the concentration of bullets brought it down.
"200 Left and fire for effect!"
Right next to the lieutenant crouched an observation officer from the artillery force supporting the defense. Moments later, the sounds of ripping fabric made some of the men look up into the sky. All they saw were black objects falling in a blur, but as those dark blur came in contact with the grounds, each became huge balls of bright, orange flames that shook the grounds and decimated everything within their reach. Dozens of the creatures perished under the decimating explosions.
"Target! Right 700, forward 200, Type-U bio-target!"
Peterson went stiff at the word Type-U creature. That was the shortened code for the Zerg creature Ultralisk. It was possibly the most frightening Zerg creature a soldier can hope to face. Because of the way it tramples across the battlefield, crushing its enemies wherever it went, it had earned the nickname the Devil's Cavalry. Thankfully, the response from the artillery force had been immediate.
-Up! Check the quality of the delivered goods.
This time, the soldiers could see the shells much more accurately. It had come a slightly slower as compared to the last one, and moments later, they all knew why.
The artillery shells were slightly larger, and as they approached their targets, the shell casing fell apart and released dozens of bomblets each. All of them were anti-armor bomblets with a small heat/radar dual senor for a seeker. They all homed-in on the distinctive heat signatures of the large beasts and controlled their descent with grilled flaps. Many of the creatures were hit and was turned into bloody carcasses. But the explosions swept the left side of the Zerg horde, not at the center where most were concentrated. The observer picked his radio back up.
"Target adjustment! 20 right, 50 back and fire for effect!"
The next barrages were simple high-explosive rounds. The Time-On-Target strike of 8 large field guns decimated even the most fierce breed of the alien creatures. Each gun fired two shells in rapid succession, and 16 large explosives arrived to finish off the remaining Ultralisks. To the left of the platoon, a Goliath was attempting to fall back while engaging dozens of smaller Zerglings. As Peterson watched, the robot's large twin 30mm burst fire ripped through many of the weaker breed, but by sheer numerical advantage they soon began overwhelming the single mechanized robot. Despite the fire, the Zerglings only focused on the pressure control pipes located at the lower torso. After years of experiences, the Zergs seem to have found weaknesses of all Terran mechanical units. The engineers struggled to counterbalance their learning speed, but few things - like the pressure control which gave motion to the Goliath's two legs - could not be effectively adopted against the Zerg tactics. Soon, the attacks tore the little armored plate the engineers had placed to protect the vulnerability and revealed the cylindrical device under.
What saved the sole Goliath were appearances of two Vultures. The pair of speeders popped out of the trench line using their newly installed vertical thrusters. Heavy machineguns and 40mm grenade launchers opened up, striking the detachment of Zerglings from the left flank. After the initial attack they swerved left, rounding the group and killing some of the reinforcements in the process, before curving sharply back again and jumping in among the Zerglings. Pushing their engines to the max, they cut their way across diagonally, deploying their mines while on the move. The Spyder mines became active and attacked the Zergs, giving a pause in their relentless assault.
-Beep! Beep! Beep!
The short, ear-piercing signal in the radio net brightened up the lieutenant's facial features considerably. The signal meant for him and his men to get out of the defense line in a hurry. Number of APC (Armored Personal Carrier) would be waiting for them in a relatively secure 'garage' as they would called the protected shelter for the vehicles.
"Alpha Platoon, we're through! Get to the extraction zone in a hurry, 3rd Squad would provide cover, then bring up the rear. Let's go Alpha!"
Behind them, a horde of Zerg warriors dashed across the flat terrain and toward the Terran defensive lines. Few mines and automated gun systems killed a few, but they were instantly overwhelmed as hundreds of the enemy swept across. The horde kicked up tons of dirt and sand into the air as they ran across, trampling everything in their path.
Tracking them, however, were a force of 6 batteries of heavy gun, 48 in all. When within planned destruction zone set up by the engineers, they released their fury toward the mass of creatures. Half were anti-personal bomblets that exploded on contact with anything solid. The other half were mines that sat passive on the ground until something disturbed it. The unfortunate few of the Terran Marines were caught in the artillery fire, but most made their getaway as the barrages from the heavy guns held the Zerg advances for the time being. But it wouldn't hold them off for forever. No stationary defense could. These man deployed to the defensive line saw that for themselves. Much of the vehicles heading in were only half full.
Zukos System, Alliance Command Center
"The Zergs have forced Charleston point to collapse completely. Charlie line is penetrated on 4 separate points, and we're recalling our man. Delta line is of 70% combat efficiency sir."
"Fuck."
Commander James Raynor sighed bitterly, then clenched his jaw. Charlie line had been one of the most strongest defensive points he had picked. Although not as many firepower supported the line, the terrain was strongly in favor of the defensive, and he had buried a thick minefield to slow Zerg advance, then squash them into pulp with artillery. It had worked, only not good enough. Waves after waves of Zergs hurled themselves against the defenses, eventually getting through the minefields despite the valiant efforts by the artillerymen to maintain the defenses. They then struck hard and remorselessly at the infantry-held positions themselves.
They might've held for a longer period of time if Charleston had held. However, an impossible number of Defilers had snuck through the sensory sweep and attacked Charleston just as the bulk of Zerg forces began their attack on it. Charleston fell in matter of hours, most of the soldiers who manned the station dying with it, along with their commanding officer.
"How long could the Delta line hold.......?"
Raynor muttered quietly as he mentally thought of the Delta line. The Delta line had not been finished just yet, and some of the infantry positions needed to be strengthened. He gave Delta-line perhaps 3 hours, at best at its current state. After Delta, nothing stood in the way between the Zergs and the command center, which was currently packed with civilians from nearby colonies.
"Regroup the forces returning from the Charlie and put them as reserve unit in front of the CC. Deploy the cavalry units to Delta as mobile support troops and have artillery deploy mines. We need 5 hours people. Just 5 hours. That's all I ask."
The last line of defense Raynor had picked also relied on natural barrier to act in favor of the defensive. The Hill 1093 stood to the left, while Hill 829 made up the right part of the defense. A smaller Hill 198 stood in between. The two large hills were part of the massive Ukral mountain ranges, so the Zerg could not force their way through in any significant numbers, not without losing several hours in the process anyway.
No, if they were to strike at the Terran defenses, they would have to move the bulk of their force through the narrow V-shaped valley between the three hills garrisoned by the humans. Naturally, their formation would have to be concentrated in order to overwhelm the infantry positions located just beyond the tip of Hill 198. Waiting to pounce on these enemy formations were 2 artillery brigades of 120 heavy guns. It was an ideal defense position, and would normally be almost impenetrable to an attack. The problem was, however, the attacking forces in this case could not be considered normal.
The formation was detected easily enough. 17 UAV drones were aloft in the air, and 15 made contact almost simultaneously. The ground mapping radars of the UAVs, which had remained passive until now, activated and began transmitting the gathered data realtime toward the Mobile Central Artillery Control Command (MCACC).
Over 20 operators were present in the MCACC, each responsible for certain number of guns and artillery observation teams. As soon as the data came flooding in, the operators began commencing fire of the artilleries toward the Zergs. The ground shook as the massive Arclite cannons roared and the Terrans began their final effort to defend themselves against the maniacal assault of the Zergs.
Zukos System, Alliance defense line Delta, support artillery
-Romeo/Victor-23 fire for effect!
"Roger, Alpha battery, Romeo/Victor-23, fire for effect."
The artillery gunners quickly punched in the proper commands for the shells. To save time, they were ordered to keep to conventional high-explosive shells unless told otherwise. The 8 guns of the Alpha battery were all loaded with the 120mm shells, and the breeches were sealed. The battery then, aided by computers, set the range, direction and gun azimuth.
"FIRE!"
With the single command from the battery commander, the heavy guns began their rapid fire. Each guns fired 3 round each, making it 24 in all. They awaited tensely for a confirmation of their shot.
"Same coordinate TOT!"
The fire-traffic coordinator screeched from his console and the surprised artilleryman quickly loaded the guns again. All guns roared and fired off 120mm shell to the same point they had fired only moments ago. 24 shells should have been more than enough to completely level an area 100x100m. If such firepower of TOT was needed on the very same front..... they shuddered to think how many Zergs were approaching them.
"Post Alpha-7, come again! We're not reading you."
The FTC pressed the headset into his ears. At first there was confusion, then disbelief. The gunners wondered, and feared the next command from the FTC's lips. Moments later, their fears were confirmed.
"Alpha battery..... Alpha-7, Code Zulu Zulu Zulu."
The codeword Zulu Zulu Zulu was reserved for a case when a friendly position was being overrun, and had to be shelled directly to stop or slow the enemy attacks. The code was rarely used, and only in cases where the friendlies were in position to shield themselves from the shelling. However, when fighting the Zergs, the Terran troops preferred to be shelled by their own than to be at the mercy of the mindless killers. Post Alpha-7 was a small makeshift post with very limited defense capabilities. It was manned by 5 soldiers.
"Roger. Execute preplanned destruction procedure for Post Alpha-7."
The battery commander repeated in a disinterested tone of voice, and the gunners began setting up the guns. Fours guns were tasked, and each loaded high-explosive shells. The set up was for TOT, and the computer again measured the range and atmospheric conditions.
"Fire."
Each of the four guns spoke three times. The battery command frowned slightly, and took a deep drag of his cigarette, but stubbed them out when the FTC began calling out coordinates again, this time with Post Alpha-4 Bravo.
Zukos System, Alliance defense line Delta
"Mother of God!"
Master Sergeant Histos depressed the trigger, filling the small bunker with smokes. The rocket lanced out, and impacted the targeted creature. A Hunter, despite all its armor and speed, was turned into a carcass from his single volley. Working quickly, he ejected the spent propellant from the launcher and reloaded the rocket warhead. When the propellant, located just behind the actual rocket, locked into position, he pulled a small lever behind the targeting sight, linking the missile to the launcher.
He quickly counted the number of unused missiles next to him. He originally carried 2 spare missiles plus what was loaded into the launcher, and the second rocketeer had 3 extra. He had already long used up his own numbers, but the second rocketeer, who was supposed to provide him with the spares, was dead, killed when a horde of Guardians broke through the air defenses and struck their position. A resupply gave him five new missiles, but having used up 3 already, he now only had 1 loaded and 1 spare.
He looked back up at the line. The topographic location of the bunkers weren't so good because they were located just behind the summit of the hill. While it was meant to provide the artilleries more room to work with, it cut down on the firing range of the infantries, while giving the Zergs wider field of view. From the sounds of constant explosion and the shaking grounds, it was clear that the artilleries were pouring hell into their path of advance. Yet, enough number still emerged from behind the hill to give the infantries hard time in stopping their attacks.
There! An Ultralisk!
Leveling the rocket, he pushed down on the button controlling the laser rangefinder. A CO2 laser reached out to the creature, and bounced back to tell him what the range was. The computer locked on, and he depressed the trigger. The propellant casing instantly released burst of carbon gas, pushing the missile body out of the missile. The rocket then ignited, pushing the projectile instantly over the speed of sound.
The machinegun emplacement to the right opened up again, probably having received a new shooter after the gunner and the co-gunner were killed by the Zergling attack few minutes ago in conjunction with the Guardian attack. The heavy 7.6mm slugs cut across the firing field like a lawn mower. The Zergs had a tendency to concentrate their attack against the source of powerful firepower like moth to fire. But unlike the lousy insects, they often succeeded in smothering the fire out. Knowing this, Sergeant Histos set up to move into a different bunker. There was nobody else in the bunker he was currently in - its former occupants were in various stages of mutilation when he rolled into it - and he was feeling rather insecure about having nobody to back him up with a rifle.
He slung the launcher and strapped it to his back along with the spare missiles tube. Picking up the rifle, he checked to make sure that the magazines were fully loaded before crawling out of the shelter.
Outside was a total chaos. While much of the soldiers fought inside the bunker emplacements, the reserve company was constantly running around, adding their firepower to where the enemy's attack was most fierce. This most basic of defense tactic had worked so far, but with mounting casualties and running low on ammunitions, it was unsure whether the line could hold on for much longer. A tank gun roared on the far left, where sergeant Histos could barely make out the silhouette of the Arclite gun.
He crouched low and began running along the trenches. Many of the bunkers were systematically connected so that the soldiers could easily abandon their positions and ditch to a different spot. After moving along the trench for dozen meters or so, he dared a peek above. Another wave of attack composed primarily of Hydralisks was just initiating. The defenses responded with overwhelming firepower again, using everything they had on their arsenal to put as much dent as they can into the attacking echelon. While ammunitions were running low, everyone, even the logistic support who complained about the high ammo expenditure rate, knew enough to not hold back anything when dealing with the Zergs.
"Son of a....."
He watched in amazement as a massive bulk of Torresque came over the top. While looking extremely similar to the Ultralisks, these things had an unbelievable attack and defense strengths. He had seen it only several times on the field, and every time, he was horrified of its destructive powers. He stopped, and removed his rocket launcher from its holding.
-Take it out! Somebody take that son of a bitch out now!
A voice cried over the general frequency. Two machinegun emplacements responded immediately, assaulting the creature with a hail of gunfire. The Arclite gun fired over the top too, but its round fell slightly short. The Torresque was mere 100 meters away from entering its own attack range, and it would merely be a slaughter if it came to that.
Shouldering his weapon, he allowed the targeting computer to set, and selected laser beam-riding mode as guidance method. It would force him to keep the launcher pointed at the creature until the missile struck, but it would also assure high probability of a hit. Taking a deep breath, he imagined being a sniper, out on the field, with the rifle pressed against his cheek. He needed that kind of accuracy now......
-Phisssuu~
He depressed the trigger, causing a small puff of thin smoke to spill out of the tube. The concentrated gases propelled the missile forward. Because of the gas-launch method, there was very little shock from the launch, and he kept the red cross right on his target.
"Go, go you bastard...."
He whispered to himself, and watched the trail of smoke bore in. The creature was moving slightly to the left now and he just had to move...... Right the hell on.... Bingo! The rocket struck squarely on the upper jaw of the fiend, instantly releasing a stream of hot plasma energy to pierce the relatively weak armor of the head of the Torresque and penetrating through. The HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) warhead effectively penetrated to the creature's brain, and rendered it to a useless organic matter.
"Got the fucker!"
He cheered at his victory, and watched the giant crumble to the ground. It was an impressive sight, the creature must have weighted at least 20 metric tons and was a size of a tank. He was grinning like an idiot, and was completely oblivious to the fact that he was exposed here, out in the open ground while a major offensive was still unfolding. It took the sergeant a little time to realize that his line was the central axis of the attack surge. As he watched, the line of Zerglings split left and right, laying down pressure on both sides as a little over 200 Hydralisk shock force attacked the center. The center axis was weakened from the previous assault and lacked the firepower to repel such large scale attack. The Zergling attack, however prevented much of the covering fire from both sides of the line.
Sergeant Histos dropped the launcher - he didn't have time to secure them to his back like he was supposed to - and leveled the Gauss rifle. The first echelon was only 50 meters away from him, and he went rock'n-roll.
-Grenade, right!
Again, a voice ordered from the general frequency. A regular soldier carried set that was only able to receive, not transmit. That authority exclusively belonged to the senior NCOs and officers. When set to general frequency with VHF antenna, the burst communication reached anyone within the radius of 70m even under heavy interferences. The engineers for the Alliance force devised the system to reduce the level of confusion in the field after watching regular organization hierarchy of soldiers, NCOs, and officers melt down in front of the Zerg horde. Sgt. Histos instinctively looked to the right, and saw a pack of Hydralisks almost upon the first of the bunkers. At least half a dozen grenades drew an arc in the air, some hand-thrown, some tube-launched. The small packs of explosives and shards obliterated the creatures.
More explosions followed in the field, this time much bigger ones. The company mortar teams seemed to have their weapons set up. A single mortar shell opened up and dropped dozens of smaller bomblets, wrecking havoc with the concentrated formation. But there were simply too many for even a concentrated mortar fire to stop.
-You, in the open! Watch out!
He snapped out his watcher state and looked in the immediate vicinity again. Another pack was making their attack..... on him?
"Aww fuck!"
The rifled opened fire on the Hydralisk closest - only 20m away. The Hydralisks were apparently only interested in breaking trough, since they did not stop to attack any of the bunker positions. Perhaps that was lucky for him, because at 20 meters, a Hydralisk rarely missed. SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) quickly engaged the pack in front of him, but the rounds were not powerful enough. Heavy machineguns were busy fighting off an attack against their own emplacements. Several fell under the rifle and SAW fire, but using their body as shields, the rest continued on. Histos aimed up at the one closest creature and depressed the trigger.
-Click, click click.
He looked down at the strange noise. He still had rounds in the magazine, but the chamber didn't feed them properly. The gun was jammed. Without the interference of the rifle, the monsters entered close-combat zone, one which a human can never hope to win against a Zerg. Looking back up, he violently threw the heavy rifle against the Hydralisk. The beast was unaffected, and drew closer.
"Motherfucking piece of shit!"
He drew his K-Bar. There was no fucking way he was going down without a weapon in his hands. There was absolutely no chance that he was ever going to be able to use it against simply monstrosity as this however. The beast opened its jaws wide to form a distorted Zerg equivalent of a smile. The sharp, fanged mouth dripped with thick saliva. At that moment, he felt death ever so closer in his heart and body, and the time, seemingly on its own accord, slowed.
His death moved toward him, its dripping jaw ready to sink its many fangs into his flesh and rip it into pieces. Its eyes, its pair of soulless black eyes, gleamed.
Only to disappeared a moment later.
The beast's head faded, replaced with a moist mist of crimson and empty space. The headless carcass simply hung there for a second or two, but without its brain - no matter how basic its functions - the body was able to withstand the pull of gravity no longer. The sergeant watched with outlandish curiosity as the rest of the creatures simply exploded into blood and flesh. His stupor broke as a hand came down on his shoulder, and shook him jerkily.
"ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR FUCKING MIND SERGEANT?"
He shook his head to clear his brain and looked at the other man. -PETERSON the nametag read. The rank showed him to be a second lieutenant. Still unable to speak, he only looked at the officer blankly as he turned away and began pushing the Grenediers forward.
"Move it! Clear the motherfuckers, here comes the cavalry!"
An APC rolled past the mechanized infantry, spewing out heavy machinegun fire as it went. More followed the leading vehicle, they too saturating the enemy line with heavy slugs. Bullet-riddled corpses of Zergs fell everywhere. Those lucky enough to receive a fatal shot died quickly, those that did not, however, were sucked under the tracked wheels of the armored vehicles.
"First squad left! Second squad center. Third squad, follow me!"
Lt. Peterson and his men charged up the hill following the armored carriers. Many vehicles had stopped at the summit, deploying more infantry and shooting up the reserve and secondary units that had followed the Hydralisks on the attack. The infantry took up positions around the carriers and amassed their firepower on the unprepared Zerg units. Mortar fire too, shifted to the forward of the Hill-198, apparently receiving firing coordinates from the FDC of the counterstrike force.
-Hey what? Energy field on the left line!
-This is Major Simmons, hold your fire! Protoss recall is underway.
The first voice was that of the field commander on the scene. The second one identified himself as the executive officer of the defense regiment. Everyone in the line watched in awe as the energy fluctuation stabilized and began to form a definite shape. It was a Dragoon. Fielding its 4 mechanical legs the Protoss battle machine fired it energy cannons at the remaining Zergs. More Protoss robots and warriors appeared, and engaged the Zerg.
-'Bout some time they showed up! Okay everyone, we've got orders to evacuate the line. Grab what or who you can and proceed to the secondary positions. The Protoss will cover our backs.
It was Major Simmons again, ordering everyone out. The defenders were perplexed because not even the Protoss reinforcement assured a certain victory, and leaving the line in middle of a battle didn't make sense. The quizzical expressions, however, changed to that of delight when they saw what they were heading for.
Dropships and Protoss shuttles, numbering hundreds, were descending from the outer atmosphere. Finally, extraction out of this godforsaken planet was underway. Everyone thought it was one of the most beautiful sight a human could ever hope to observe.
Mobile Infantry:
Introduction
The Mobile Infantry is the most powerful infantry unit the Earth can field. These soldiers are dressed in boosted mobile exoskeleton suits. These suits, forged by utilizing the most advanced micro and nano technology the Earth had at its disposal, increases an infantry's mobility, firepower, and endurance significantly on the battlefield.
The Mobile Infantry had been conceived a long time ago, even before the Koprulu colonization. However, the needed technology had only become available in the recent years. The conceptual idea of the Mobile Infantry is to deploy individual combat units that are small, yet mobile and has enough firepower to hold its own against any field opponents. It would mean that a relatively small number of infantry could do a same job of tanks or other big units in many areas with significantly less preparation and support.
The suit of the Mobile Infantry resembles the pressurized combat suit of the base infantry. However, the internal structures that make each suit are completely different. The P-5 pressure suits are meant to give the soldiers some protection against attacks while segregating them from the harsh environments of the outside world. It reduces various harmful radiations and keeps chemical or biological substances from harming the bodies. The mechanical support devices aid the soldier's movement slightly, but not significantly so.
The Mobile Infantry Suit, MSS-3X model, is completely new technology. The pressure and protection unit gives much fuller protection as compared to the P-5. It also offers increased armor capability and shock-absorbent effect to protect the pilot. It has computerized command, with computer aided shooting system, automatic alert system, and miniature data sharing network WARBLE Mk2. The movements of soldier are also fully aided by computers and with this help from the mechanical units, can move as fast as 58km/h at maximum.
Weapon
The primary weapon of the Mobile Infantry is MU-7020 assault rifle. The rifle utilizes 20mm ammunition that is able to punch through light armor or walls with ease. With rate-of-fire at 2400rpm, it is meant to saturate the enemy with massive firepower. This rifle is attached with a computer unit that connects with the central computer and aids the shooter to aim precisely at his or her target. With the rifle and the weight of the ammunitions, the MU-7020 weighs 438.7kg. But with the sensitive motor unit attached to the arm, the Mobile Infantryman can wield the weapon without feeling any strains.
An average Mobile Infantry is also equipped with two mini-missile launchers. Attached in the left forearm section, the launcher is loaded either with anti-tank missiles or anti-air missiles depending on the situation. The computer does the targeting, so the shooter only has to hold aim for 2 seconds for the computer to lock-on. After the launch, the missile will self-guide itself toward the target. A spare missile clip can be attached to the back of the suit, and can be loaded into the launcher manually on the field.
Depending on the situation, the Mobile Infantry can also carry variety of different arms including rocket launcher, 6x barreled MU-66 Gatling gun, and auto grenade launcher. These weapons can also receive limited computer aided fire by switching of the weapon control mode by the pilot.
Sensor/Data
The Mobile Infantry has their visual enhanced by receiving integrated optic systems. But the suit offers many other detection means as well. The suit's optic unit (MESMA) has thermal and IR mode, as well as low-light optic mode. A small camera attached near the MESMA system records all of what the pilot is watching through any mode.
The suit is also equipped with laser and radar warning devices and atmospheric condition unit. It allows the pilot to know if anyone is tracking them from standoff range and allows them to respond appropriately by activating smoke or radar jammer.
The data is collected by the central computer and distributed by WARBLE Mk2 data distribution network. The WARBLE Mk2 is smaller system optimized for Company or Battalion data sharing capability. It is significantly smaller than the WARBLE Mk4 carried by bigger vehicles or aircrafts.
****US Army's Land Warrior program is the model for the mobile infantry.