AN-Okay another guest chapter, this one by my beta, Lightning Count, hope you all enjoy, shows another perspective on the Liberation of Tegrea.
He took the cigar and stubbed it out on the steel deck, the ash shifting as a slight breeze caught it. He watched absently as the ash disappeared beneath the benches and the boots of the seated soldiers.
"Where are we again?" he asked gruffly.
"Tegrea Major." A young Lieutenant offered. "One of our allied planets."
"Their humans?"
"Yes sir."
"Alright." He turned and raised his voice. "Alright you wasters, listen up. This is liberation, we're here to rescue good, nice happy people, not to waste everything we see."
There were a few grins from the troops, although officially GDI they were each Americans, specifically Marines.
"That means watch your fire, short bursts, mark your targets and most important of all do not embarrass the Corps!"
the troops gave an affirmative grunt. They were seated on long benches within the transport craft as it skipped down to its target.
"This is a major coordinated strike, there will be lots of friendlies." The major continued. "So again, do not embarrass the Corps!"
Another grunt.
"Alright, speech over, lock and load."
The Marines picked up their assault rifles, checked magazines and tightened the straps on their helmets, it was time to go to war.
Taupan, second city of Tangrea.
The planet was a battlefield, Earth forces were dropping out of the sky into battle while Jaffa dropped out of the sky in flames. The first wave of ground forces were touching down even as the orbital battle raged, and now the second wave was quickly on its way.
Lieutenant General Christian was in charge of making sure the second front was opened nice and wide in the enemy flank, he had drop pods, landing craft and airstrikes all intersecting nicely, and from the control centre of the HMS Hood he was directing the landings real time.
"Our troops will hit the ground in thirty seconds." His aide said. "Looks like they've been spotted."
The orbital scans showed Jaffa troops running to defensive lines ot side the city ready to meet the GDI landings.
"Now that's not nice." Christian sighed. "Captain DeLancey, a moment of your time?" he asked the ships commander.
The Jaffa on the planet didn't see it coming. One second they were setting up a defensive trench, the next they were reduced to atoms by a pinpoint hit from a ship mounted Ion cannon.
The first drop pods came down hard, retros scoring the ground as the armoured containers slammed down. Their sides popped and out came armoured vehicles, battlesuits which immediately began spraying the Jaffa defenders still stunned from the orbital bombardment with heavy machine gun fire. Larger units followed them, more armour and vehicles to support the advance. Slowly the resistance strengthened as more Jaffa ran to the front lines and the battle began in earnest.
"Major Platt, ten seconds!" the pilot shouted.
"Alright wasters, here we go!" he shouted, then lit another cigar, by now it was tradition among his unit. "Lets smoke the aliens before I smoke this Cuban." He grinned.
The lander hit the ground and its doors burst open letting in the hazy sun.
"Go!" he yelled, slapping each trooper on the back as he left. "Move it, they don't pay us by the hour, just by the head count!"
the area outside was already alive with staff blasts and tracer fire, with the occasional burst of blue laser energy. The infantry ran out and hit the deck before returning fire, kepping a low profile they begin picking off the alien soldiers. On the opposite side the Jaffa were mainly stood, motionless and firing from the hip, it was a stark contrast between a true fighting force and an army of occupation, and it was obvious who was going to win.
"Second platoon, go left!" Platt shouted, then fired a burst from his rifle at a Jaffa who seemed to be giving orders. He chuckled in satisfaction as the alien fell. "Sixteen." He tapped the rifle butt, with fifteen notches carved in it from previous battles.
A platoon of Wolverines seemed to be receiving most of the attention, and three had been reduced to molten scrap, but the survivors were laying down fearsome fire from their cannons and driving the Jaffa back towards the city.
"Advance by squads!" Yelled Major Platt. "Cover fire!"
The camouflaged troops began to advance, leapfrogging forward and covering their team mates until the reached the enemy defences, little more than earthworks after the orbital strike. They found only bodies.
"Get over here!" the Marine commander yelled at his radio man. "Command? Major Platt here, LZ is secure, ready for drop."
"Roger that," a voice crackled on the set. "Heads up."
Over the next dozen minutes a series of heavy lift transports brought in Tanks, troops and mechanised troops, including a pair of very impressive TITAN units. With the volume of traffic it didn't take long to build up a brigade sized force, enough to move into the city.
"Understood." Platt said into the radio. "Alright Wasters, take point, we're going in!"
The infantry began to rush forward, moving silently and swiftly through the ruined buildings and apartments of the cities edge and towards the tall buildings rising out of the city centre. The Marines were the scout force, following them were the tanks and Wolverines of the main force with the TITANs held in reserve.
The force had made it deep into the city before they contacted Jaffa, a few staff blasts hitting two of the leading soldiers.
"Enemy front!" Platt yelled, "take cover and waste them!" he chewed on his cigar and added the kick of his rifle to the growing tirade. GDI forces skittered between doorways and allies maintaining a fire on the higher windows were the Jaffa were firing down from. A couple of rail rounds rang out from the support units, tearing through a dozen floors and blowing out glass in one of the occupied tower blocks. The city centre was office blocks and commerce centres with no civilians, and although it would be expensive for the Tegreans to rebuild GDI command wasn't going to risk lives for money. The Jaffa needed prising out, and the GDI had the necessary tools.
The ground beneath Platt rumbled steadily under the approach of something big. He turned and noticed a pair of older style Mammoth tanks rumbling down the road, tracked bodies grinding tarmac beneath them as multigunned turrets swung toward the buildings and elevated.
"Fire in the hole!" Platt warned and turned his face away from the sight.
Seconds later high explosive shells demolished three floors of the nearest office block, instantly silencing the enemy fire.
"That's our cue, move it!" Platt roared and his troops stormed into the building. The tanks moved on, a squad of Wolverines watching their backs and occasionally blasting a building that had Jaffa in, all slowly heading for the open plaza in the very centre of the city.
Platt ducked a staff swing, slamming the butt of his rifle into the offending jaffa's knee before punching him hard in the face and sending him down. His troops were engaging in close combat in an office building, the whiz of staff blasts and crack of assault rifles echoed in the smoky interior as more Jaffa piled in.
One of his sergeants fired off a full auto burst into the nearest Jaffa, hurling him back and through a window. Zat blasts send down his radio operator and the business end of a staff sent another of his men crumpling to the floor. Platt gave his warcry, then booted a Jaffa hard in the crotch before giving him a Kevlar armoured head butt. He beat down two more Jaffa in his rage before a line of bayonets ran up in support and carried the Jaffa back, finally clearing the floor. He rested breathless, waiting for his blood to cool before regaining control.
"Sergeant, secure this floor." He said, "This building overlooks the plaza, lets get some weapons onto upper floors and start sniping the enemy HQ."
The man snapped a salute then darted off to find more troops as the offensive continued.
The first trio of Wolverines entered the plaza, keeping close to the edges and ready for trouble. The buildings around them slowly filled with troops as Platts forces and other GDI units moved into supporting fire arcs, railguns and heavy machine guns were set up on higher floors to sweep the plaza and the buildings across it still filled with Jaffa. The silence held, neither side engaging as more Wolverines moved into the plaza, followed by a pair of Mammoth tanks trundling out and aiming their sizeable guns at the far side. They halted a quarter the way across and elevated their guns.
"Jaffa soldiers." A human voice said in a megaphone. "You will surrender immediately, or be destroyed."
The response was a hail of staff fire, most of it bouncing off the armoured tanks and mechs.
"Let 'em have it!" Platt shouted, and his troops in the office opened fire, shattering windows and lacing the Jaffa held buildings opposite with bullets. The two heavy tanks also fired, blasting chunks of steel and concrete out of buildings.
Then, to everyones surprise, a massive blast of energy exploded from the lobby of the largest building on the plaza and immolated one of the tanks.
"Holy…!" Platt had to duck away from the wave of heat. "What the hell?"
The second tank fired up its engine and rapidly reversed, putting two shells into the enemy building. But it was too slow and another blast ended its service history.
By now most of the troops and mechs were blasting the lobby of the large building, still not sure what was doing the damage. A third round smashed a Wolverine and demolished the building it was stood behind.
"Fire mission!" Platt screamed into the radio. "Fire mission! We have heavy incoming fire, armour support down, request support!"
"Roger that," General Christian replied. "Hold tight, helps on the way."
High in orbit the General had limited options, an orbital strike was risky with troops so close and the MLRS were still unloading, there was only one reliable option.
"Deploy Orca's, take that building down."
Two more Wolverines were melted away in seconds as the emplaced gun fired again, the building it was in was a shattered ruin but the cannon seemed unharmed.
While Platt tried to focus on the enemy weapon he was suddenly aware of a shape passing his window, a fast moving shadow which resolved into a roaring armoured monster. One of the reserve Titans hit the ground with an earthquake of a shudder, its legs bending as its jets cut out. As soon as it landed it sent a volley of firepower into the guns location ripping up dust and debris, the second Titan hit it from another direction.
But astonishingly the gun survived, firing on the nearest Titan. Its shields took the hit but the force pushed the vehicle into a ruined office block, it smashed into the façade and brought the building down around its armoured shoulders.
Then the sun itself was eclipsed, a huge fireball burst out of the Goa'uld occupied building lifting the twisted structure up and away in a molten blaze. More and more explosions occurred as Platt finally saw their origin, Naquadah enhanced bunker busters fired from a squadron of hovering Orca VTOL gunships. The pounded the building relentlessly, with aid from the two Titans, until only rubble remained. As the smoke cleared Platt noted the twisted silver of a large energy cannon, something more at home on a Goa'uld warship.
"Alright guys." Plat coughed, his cigar was down to a tiny stub. "That's a fair days work," he threw away the stub and found another large cigar. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em."