Author Note: It's Chapter 4! Hawke prepares for his invasion, and Cougar takes on Sami AND Grit in a battle for a Red Mesa lab!
Shade: Is this where I interfere and annoy you?
...Idiot.
Disclaimer: Advance Wars, Advance Wars 2, and their content are copyright Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Red Mesa and its CO's are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time etc...
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Advance Wars: Red Mesa – Chapter 4: Gathering Darkness.
By CO Shade.
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Location: Hawke's Office, Black Hole HQ, Black Hole.
Time: 0900 Hours BH Time.
Hawke sipped from a smuggled mug of coffee as he stood on the balcony on the top floor of his HQ. He gazed over the massed ranks of infantry, tanks, artillery, and other assorted units preparing for the invasion, stroking his chin as he did so. He and Lash had put their heads together and devised a new strategy for the war: Black Hole would take a region of a country, stabilise it, absorb it's economy and move on, strengthened, until the entire country was overwhelmed. They would then put it into practice on a larger scale, taking over another country and repeating the process. His first target would be Orange Star. Removing the biggest threat seemed logical, but he'd have to make sure there were no errors. Especially letting Flak handle that part of the war on his own...Hawke shuddered and nearly spilt his coffee. Letting Flak handle Orange Star was Sturm's eventual undoing in the last war, but Hawke vowed never to let Flak handle scissors without supervision, let alone an army.
There was a knock at Hawke's office door, immediately followed by the sound of it opening. Hawke span around to see the gangly Adder closing the door, his back turned to him. Hawke hid his mug of coffee behind his back: Adder had gone to great lengths to make sure he didn't break the no-caffeine rule. Adder was carrying a red folder, which, to Hawke's relief, he dropped halfway across the room as he walked to Hawke on the balcony. As he bent over to pick them up, Hawke, desperate for a way out and thinking quickly, hurled his coffee mug off the balcony. Adder joined him on the balcony just as a crash of breaking china emanated from the ground below. "What was that?" Asked Adder, leaning over the balcony's railings to look. Hawke resisted the urge to throw him off as well. Just. "No idea," Replied Hawke, leaning against the railings lazily. "What is the latest report on the preparation for Operation Singularity?"
Operation Singularity was the name for the newest Black Hole invasion, the latest report on which was in the folder in Adder's pale hands. The Adder in question opened the folder and handed a sheet of paper to his superior. "On schedule," He said, the weak sunlight hitting the balcony through the clouds making him look even whiter than usual. "We will be ready in two weeks." Hawke nodded absently, and gave the sheet back to Adder. "Good," He mused. "Lash has the missile platform on schedule, I suppose?" Adder gave a smile, making him look freakier than ever. "Lash would be throwing fits if it wasn't. I have to say I am stunned by it's sheer simplicity." Hawke nodded absently. "Why waste fuel on propelling a missile all the way to a target, fighting gravity and air resistance, when it can be launched from high orbit?" Adder was just about to open his mouth to agree when he remembered what else he had come here for. He rifled through his folder, taking out a several sheets of paper and a few photos. "There is something else, sir," He said. Hawke took the paper and photos from him. "Thanks to Lash, we now know that there is a new country that has recently come into conflict with Orange Star. She intercepted some Orange Star transmissions." Hawke leafed through the sheets in his hands. "Hrrm...Red Mesa...cloaking technology? Intriguing...they won? This is an excellent turn of events. Orange Star and Blue Moon will be busy fighting a two-front war...this works to our advantage." He gave the sheets and photos back to Adder, who slid them back into his folder. "Just stay on schedule. If we play our cards right, we will not fail." Adder nodded and smiled nastily as he left the room.
Out in the corridor, Adder's face turned sour. "'Stay on schedule'...'Play our cards right'...who is he to boss us around? Just because he got to Sturm before we did..." He muttered. "Hawke has it coming to him..."
Location: Command & Communications Room, Orange Star HQ, Orange Star.
Time: 1330 Hours OS Time, four days later.
Nell, Max, Sami and Andy were seated round a table in the C&C room, discussing where they should strike Red Mesa next, and what strategies to use. "I say we strike right into the heart of their country," Max said. "Nail 'em in their most valuable area." Nell shook her head. "We don't know where the heart of Red Mesa lies..." Andy, who for once was not wearing an expression of deep confusion, piped up. "Well, it's called Red Mesa, so logically they should be near the desert mesas!" Nell was stunned, partly, because that was so obvious, and partly because Andy was the first to realise it. "How come I never thought of that?" She said. Sami frowned. "That Shade guy saw us coming last time. And where near the mesas are they?"
"No idea," Nell replied. "And look what Shade did to us last time," Max grumbled. "We could walk right into a trap before we even got close." The other CO's nodded. "Shade is incredibly smart, it seems," Said Nell. "Then again, I should know, I used to play against him on that RTS game we have..." The other CO's jaws dropped in unison. "What?" Said Sami. "I didn't know who he was though," Nell replied. "That's why I was so shocked when he appeared on the screen." The others relaxed, and Max said "But so far, we've only encountered Shade. I wonder how good the other Red Mesa CO's are?" Nell got up from the table. "We'll see soon enough," She said, crossing the room to a line of computers on the other side. "We're getting a transmission from Grit, Level 2 one...he's found something!"
The others rushed to join her and crowded around the screen. Grit's face looked back at them. "Howdy y'all, how ya doin'?" He asked. Nell sighed. "Bad," She said. "Max got beaten badly in a battle with a Red Mesa CO called Shade." Grit nodded. "Heard about that," He said. "All of mine and Sonja's reports add up to the same thing: that he's a tough cookie, both to figure out and to fight." Max nodded grumpily. "I got somethin' that'll cheer y'all up," Grit continued. "I've gone an' found what looks like a Red Mesa secret lab." Looking at their worried faces, Grit chuckled. "It's not Shade," He said, popping a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it. "His units are always invisible, and the forces in that area aren't." Sami spoke up. "It's another CO?" Grit nodded. "That's all we can figure out," He said. "Sonja's trying to find out more, but the Reds are a secretive bunch." Right on cue, another voice spoke. "Of course we are! We've always been secretive!"
There was silence from both Grit and the Orange Star CO's as another transmission window opened on their screens. A rough-looking CO appeared, running a hand through his wild browny-grey hair in a futile attempt to tame it. Grit, as well as all the others, was wide-eyed. "Who-" He began. "Am I?" The newcomer cut across him. "The name's Cougar, one of Red Mesas most powerful CO's, third in command to Shade." Nell, unlike her fellow CO's, was unfazed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not impressed by your boasting. I'm guessing those forces and that lab are under your control?" Cougar nodded. "You're a smart one. You want me to get to the point dontcha? Okay...I'm issuing a challenge. If either Blue Moon or Orange Star can capture that lab in ten days, you keep it, and I will pull back all the forces in this area." Grit chewed on his cigarette. "I'm game for it," He drawled. Sami smiled somewhat coldly. "I'm the best at capturing, so I'll go." Cougar chuckled roughly. "Just remember, there are no bases in that area, so when your infantry and mechs go boom, don't run crying to you momma." Grit took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it into a nearby bin. "Don't ya mean if our infantry and mechs go boom?" Cougar shook his head. "They will go boom, trust me." He disappeared from the screen and Nell got up from the chair to let Sami talk to Grit. "Set up separate HQ's, and take some cities each," She said. "Guess we'll just have to work with what we have near that area."
Battle 1: Cougar's Challenge.
CO's: Cougar (RM) vs. Sami (OS) and Grit (BM).
Special Conditions: Victory for OS and BM if they capture the lab within 10 days.
Location: Grassland just inside Red Mesa border.
Time: 0700 Hours OS Time, the next day.
On Day 1, the combined forces of Orange Star and Blue Moon, under the command of Sami and Grit respectively, advanced quickly into the area and set up HQ's, capturing a few cities each along the way. Sami advanced her forces (consisting of two infantry and mech units, three tank units, one Md. tank unit and one artillery unit) along a winding road that swung north and looped back down to the lab. Grit's forces (four artillery, two rockets and two tanks) started to advance toward strategic points around the lab. Sami was poised to swing down south and attack on the next day, leaving Grit to provide cover. Cougar had meanwhile moved all his direct-combat forces (four tanks, three Md. tanks, two mech and two infantry units) to surround that lab, while his indirect units (three artillery, two rockets and one new, weird looking unit) covered Grit's units. Shade sent a transmission from Red Mesa to Cougar. "Don't foul this up Cougar," He warned. "Look after that new EMP Bombardier," He said, pointing to the new unit, which looked like an artillery unit. But where the end of the barrel should be, there was a dish like a satellite dish. "And look after the lab. It contains some of the last few reactors for the Red Zephyr, and the stasis capacitor for the Event Horizon." Cougar drummed his fingers impatiently. "Yeah, yeah," He growled. "It'll be a breeze." Shade didn't look convinced, but he terminated the link.
Sunrise on day two of the battle, and the front two tank divisions of Sami's forces launched forward and engaged one of Cougar's Md. tank, dealing it heavy damage, despite it being in a Red Mesa-owned city. The rest of her forces were brought down from the north ready to engage on the third day. Grit was still out of range of Cougar's units, but edged his units forward to provide cover for Sami. Cougar defended well, bringing the new EMP Bombardier forward to disable Grit's units the next day.
Over the next three days Cougar suffered a lot of losses, losing three tank divisions, two Md. tank divisions, both infantry divisions and one mech division. His indirect divisions were not hit strongly, and were stationed in cities, so did not suffer any overall damage. His EMP Bombardier disabled all of Grit's unit's within a certain radius, saving Cougar's hide more than once. Grit lost three of his artillery units and both tank units, while Sami lost her infantry (to her great disappointment), Md. tank and artillery, left with only her two mech units. But on the sixth day, against all odds (and with Grit's help and a Snipe Attack) she managed to start capturing the lab. The next day though, before Sami could do anything, Cougar decided he had had enough. He sent a transmission to both Sami and Grit, and gave his trademark rough chuckle. "It's time I finished this! Surgical Strike!"
And Sami's mech exploded.
When the dust cleared, there was nothing left of the mech division but a crater. Cougar's forces quickly mopped up, ripping apart Sami's remaining mech. With no units left, and having just faced Cougar's Super CO Power, Sami surrendered. She sent a transmission to both Grit and Cougar, her face showing the exhaustion the other two had as well. "Grit, I think we can safely say it's time to retreat. Cougar's won here, and he deserves his win. And a rest." Cougar raised his eyebrows, surprised, and said "Thanks for the compliment. I think everybody concerned needs a rest. I'll see ya around...huh?" Shade appeared on everyone's screens, with flashing red lights in the background. "Cougar. Where's Swift?" Cougar looked annoyed. "No celebration for my victory?" Shade's eyes narrowed and he spoke very coldly, making him seem infinitely more dangerous than Sami or Grit had ever seen him. "There's no time or need for a celebration now, the ShadowSat has just picked up very interesting activity. I need Swift to deploy the Archangels in Sector BH. Now." Cougar went very pale very suddenly, and Shade nodded grimly. "Well? Where is she?" Cougar's fingers flew across his keyboard, typing furiously. "Looks like she's gearing up to defend Red Point." Sami interrupted the conversation before she and Grit were totally ignored. "What are you talking about?" Shade sighed sadly. "I think you'll see soon enough. Cougar, you know what to do." The Cougar in question nodded an affirmative, still looking fearful. "See ya," He managed to say, and cut his transmission.
Now that he was alone, Shade looked at Sami and Grit. "Red Mesa's patience is waning," he said darkly. "You may have the superior numbers overall, but we have superior technology. We're on the verge of devices and weapons so advanced, that they will make you realise you're in over your heads." With that, Shade disappeared. "I think we can say he is lying," Grit said. "Sonja and myself haven't seen anythin' ridiculously advanced trying to blast us off the planet. See ya soon." Grit disappeared, leaving Sami to report to the other Orange Star CO's on what had happened. "What's so scary that it made the Cougar guy get afraid? Every answer we get throws up more questions..."
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End of Chapter 4
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Author Note: Fourth Chapter done and dusted, and Red Mesa seems to be unstoppable!
Shade: We've only won two battles, ya know.
Yes, but they are the only battles you've fought!
Shade: Then go write another one.
Jerk. In Chapter 5, Black Hole's invasion begins, and Diesel faces off against Andy in a massive OS offensive against one of Red Mesa's key mesas! Oh, and we see the debut of the RM Heavy tank...
Shade: Developed by Red Mesa's Deck 16, AKA Damage Incorporated!
Super-Special Question: What is Hawke's war tactic known as in real life? Answers in your reviews, but no prize for the winner other than a smug sense of self-satisfaction and praise from me.