Hi guys. How you've been? Anyway, welcome back to The Will of Revenge. Last time, we started a new part of the story and returned to Taurus III and Andromeda galaxy as a whole. The war still continues there and who knows how it will turn out. So let us see that now.

But before we begin, reviews.

To Guest: Another day at the office, am I right?

To Supreme Supra: Either way, thank you as always.

Okay, with that done, let us begin.

Chapter 2

June 21, 2166

08:07

Setsun, Nordian C.Z, Taurus III

It took slightly more than a week for the Nordian lines to be fully broken through by SoS' forces. But after numerous battles and hundreds, if not thousands, of lost soldiers, Zorzal's forces finally routed the defenders, what basically opened their way towards Utgard. Already vanguard units were at the suburbs of the city and slowly made their way through the streets, trying to force Nordians out of their positions.

And all of this made general Terion Firius extremely pleased.

He was already tired with constant chasing after potential rebellious elements. Constant arrests and executions could become really dull after performing tens or hundreds of them. This is why when the news came from HQ in Dominion, that he was supposed to be put in charge of taking Utgard, he immediately went there and took command of the units responsible for taking the city, while the former commander replaced him in pacification operations.

And he was going to see to it, that the city would fall, sooner or later.

General was currently standing in the middle of his command center, which he set in a gym of local school. All around him sat analysts, observing everything on their screens and collecting reports. On the wall before him, numerous screens were set up, so he could get a better view of the situation, as well as a movable holo-table in the middle. He was aware that Andromeda Branch liked their 'humanitarianism', so they wouldn't even try hitting this place. As if anyone even cared about things like that currently.

"Sir."

Firius turned out from the screens showing the drone view of the city and looked at his new adjutant, which made a Saderan salute and stood before him.

"At ease."Firius grumbled."What is it?"

Adjutant lowered his hand and stood at ease.
"We are getting reports from our forces."he said."Enemy resistance is slowly breaking under our pressure, sir. If everything goes as planned, we should take the city before the end of the day."
"Good."Firius said, smiling wickedly.

Would you look at that. He took command and immediately everything started going well. City would soon be theirs and Emperor would surely reward him somehow. How, he didn't know. But he knew one thing.

He would do anything to achieve his goal. No matter the cost.

"Tell our forces to increase the pressure. If possible, they have to take the city in the next eight hours."general ordered.

Adjutant hesitated for a second.
"But sir…Is that even…"
Before he could end, Firius turned to him and approached him. General was tall and broad-shouldered, making him tower over the adjutant as if he was a mere dwarf or a halfling, although he was of average height.

"Do you have something to say?"Firius asked, his voice cold as the highest glaciers on Flare Prime.

"O-Of course not, sir…"adjutant replied.
"Then relay the order."

"Right on it."

Saying that, the adjutant quickly left, while general returned to watching the live transmission from the drone.

June 21

09:07

Utgard

Streets of the city looked dead. Just a day prior, hordes of civilian refugees escaping the SoS' invasion filled the exit arteries of Utgard. Currently, only thing that was left after them were abandoned cars, suitcases and the rest of their belongings. Stray dogs wandered the city, searching for their owners. Barking was coming from all possible directions.

Yet, not all citizens left their homes. Some hid in the basements, others prepared for the defense. Sparse military units, supported by the police and volunteers, swept the city, setting up barricades from buses and trucks. Due to the destruction of Colonial Administration building and Colonization Zone General HQ by enemy air raids, the local police station became the defense's command center. Among service uniforms, one could see civilian volunteers with bands in colors of Nordian flag on their arms. There wasn't many of them, but with every minute they grew in numbers, mainly because of joining young workers and students. High above the rooftops, Sons of Sadera's dropships were circling, searching for UTDF's barricades and defensive positions from high above.

There, right beyond the city's tollbooth, prepared assault units were waiting. The sight of tanks and troop carriers would easily scare anyone, who was not prepared for it.

Colonel Olius, right hand of general Firius, tasked with leading the assault on the city, sat inside of his tank, chewing on a gum he found in one of robbed shops in one of the towns. He was one of the first soldiers of the 3rd Mechanized Legion, when the unit was formed, but his service went way back. He started his military career back when Saderan Empire was a thing.

His devotion was so big, that when the War of Flare Prime was coming to an end, it wasn't hard for him to follow Emperor Zorzal. The rest was just history. Now, he was here to bring pride to the Emperor and the Saderan Empire.

Right then, he heard a sound in his headphone. He accepted it.

"This is general Firius."the familiar voice said.
"I hear you loud and clear, general."Olius said."What is it?"
"You are to continue your assault operations immediately."

"But sir! We're still waiting for support troops!"
"You heard what I said. Do it."

Olius was silent for a few seconds, but finally nodded.
"Understood, sir. We're starting."he said.
"Good. Remember the orders of our higher ups."general said in serious tone."For every killed soldier of ours, we take ten hostages. We are to crush every resistance in it's wake."

"Of course. Everything was prepared according to the orders."

"That's it then. Good luck, colonel."

"Sir, yes sir."

Olius looked around the inside of his vehicle. Equipped with additional communication devices, for the defenders armed only with light weaponry, was a real steel monster.

"Forward!"

Short order awakened the previously sluggish column to work. First few meters were defeated without trouble. A barricade made of buses and containers was the thing that stopped them. Wide, multi-lane street was the main way to the city's center.

"Turret around and ram it."the order transferred by the communications system reached the driver. He activated the mechanism and long barrel performed a one eighty. Next, driver floored it and rammed the motionless bus.

Grinding of torn metal and broken glass reached even the insides of the tank. White threads made sparks fly on metal plates and the front of Leo-21 lifted up.

Olius could only hope that the defenders didn't have anti-tank weapons. One fired at the underside of the tank would send them to Flare…or rather the Underworld, as the colonel corrected himself with irony.

Nothing like that happened and the tank finally broke through the pile of junk, making the passage accessible. Turning the turret back to it's previous position, Olius looked through the periscope and felt pain in his eyes. A bottle with gasoline thrown from the nearby building poured all over the armor.

"Damn it!"he exclaimed."I can't see anything!"

Only after a short moment he could look again with teary eyes.

All tanks of the 1st Platoon were burning. Blue-orange flames danced on them, not dealing any damage.

"Frag."
"Frag loaded."
"Fire!"

Shell from the gun rammed into the nearest building, killing everyone inside. Remaining vehicles also opened fire, spreading death and destruction. Soon, majority of homes on both sides of the street were on fire. Black smoke rose into the sky. Thunder of tank guns was joined by the clatter of machine guns, killing real and possible defenders.

"Now forward. Next stop: Jarl Trodsson's Square."

Olius' leading Leo-21 moved forward. Through the periscope, colonel saw a red fire truck trying to get to the burning street at any cost. Believing in it's neutrality, it was driving towards them, honking and flashing blue and red lights.

"Cumulative."Olius' decisions were now directed by vengeful satisfaction.

"Loaded."the gunner shouted back, leaning to his instruments.

"Fire!"

Recoil shook the tank when gun spoke. Fire truck, hit by a shell designed to destroy tanks, was simply smashed. Shockwave made the people going to help turn into shreds. Speeding Leo-21, like previously, smashed into the destroyed car and crushed it under it's threads. Now, nobody should have willingness to help their fellows.

June 21

11:39

Utgard City Center

Commander of the city's defense and of all Nordian units on the planet, general Margs Utgar, reached to his pants' pocket and pulled out a tissue. Sweeping the sweat off his face, he looked around, searching for the police commander.

"I fear, mister Fergus, that we're not gonna last much longer.

"Maybe we should already surrender the city?"
"And give everything to these motherfuckers without a fight? After my…"He didn't finish. Words 'dead body' seemed wrong in current circumstances.

"From what I know, they broke our positions at Artenoris' St. Well, what positions even were these?"policeman raged."We would need heavy guns, not people with sawed offs."
Echo of nearby detonation shook the walls, deafening them for a second. Dust fell from the ceiling, covering everything with white shroud.

"I won't surrender the city, at least not yet."
"I know, I just…"policeman finished and dusted off his uniform.
"I think we should lift our defenders' spirits."

General picked up the AR4 laying on the table. Two full magazines and third attached to the weapon gave him ninety six bullets.

"One shot, one kill."he tried to cheer himself up, preparing to leave. Police commander looked at him with pity and followed him after few seconds.

At the exit, they ran into a medic, carrying an injured civilian on his back.

"General, main barricade fell!"The whole tragic situation was described in just four words.

"Gather anyone willing to fight and join me."general said, patting the policeman on the arm and going forward.

He didn't even ran five meters, when volunteers started joining him. From basements and crannies, they followed him squeezing various weapon in their hands, not caring about the danger. Utgar himself had to say, that all of this looked pretty poetic. Humans, Nashini, Chakdrik, Faliens and others. Although not all of them were from Andromeda, they all were willing to fight and surely die for it. But there will be no songs or sagas about them, that was for sure.

Sons were moving up the main street, destroying every reinforced points of resistance with their gunfire. Battle, from the beginning impossible to win, stated to remind massacre. Fortunately, Utgar still had one more trump card. Before he ordered the majority of the Nordian forces to leave the city, they left some weaponry behind.

There wasn't a lot of it. Some mortars and machine guns, along with a lot of ammo. The most treasured equipment in general's arsenal were the anti-tank launchers. Old Russian-made RPGs and newer Svenson missiles, which were their last save. Reserve team of especially trained soldiers occupied their quarters in a basement near Jarl Trodsson's Square.

Ensign in charge of the team stood in the gate and watched approached Leo-21s. Seeing approaching general, he hurried his men inside the building with a shout. Utgar, not without satisfaction, noticed that his squad grew to forty people, together with the ones he brought.
"You know your job?"Young, slim ensign nodded."We can't let them get to the city center."
"They already are in city center."ensign noticed consciously.
"Right, so it would be good, if we kicked their ass."general replied, blinking.

In the perspective of the street, he could see numerous fires caused by SoS' combat vehicles. Gunfire faded in one moment to erupt again in other, but never went silent completely. When they were taking positions in the buildings, Utgar only now realized how far did the enemy got. From his position, he could see three tanks in wedge formation, which moved forward. Armor black from soot showed the intensity of fighting. Behind them, no further than a hundred meters, there already were both tracked and wheeled troop carriers.

"Around two hundred meters."general stated, looking at the tanks again.

First of them, with bent antennas, was probably the command vehicle. One fifty-from this distance, you could actually see the power of Leo-21. There was no time to think further. World around him sped up and Utgar had a feeling, that he was in a TV reality show.

Two first missiles hit the upper armor of the command tank. Vehicle shot forward and soon, fire erupted from all it's sides. Surprised general watched as the tower flew into the air, thrown with the power of the ammo explosion. Second Leo-21 started smoking from the hit engine department. Three people crew tried to leave it, but was cut down by the gunfire. Bodies were now laying on the asphalt, with blood pouring out.

Commander of the last tank, seeing the slaughter than happened before his eyes, tried to turn around. Backing off, he fired blindly at everything. He was almost out of there, when one of ensign's subordinates leaned out the window so much that another had to hold him by the belt and three second later, missile hit the thread of Leo-21. Torn thread unveiled on the ground and the machine itself came to a stop.

Infantry started jumping out of the APCs driving in the second line., firing at Nordian positions. Utgar, until now just watching everything unfold, looked down the sights of his AR4. He was about to shoot, when he noticed the switch on his weapon was set on constant fire. He switched to single fire and started searching for targets. He had a great view from his vantage point.

One of the Mastiffs drove up to the burning tank to hide in it's shadow. Curled up shapes of SoS' infantry were hiding behind it. General aimed and pulled the trigger. Recoil of the weapon kicked his arm, lifting the barrel slightly upwards. Empty casing fell out of the gun. Enemy, at which he aimed, fell backwards with his arms spread wide.

"I just killed someone."he thought with anxiety, but quickly calmed himself down. He was a Nordian. His people were a nation of warriors. This was in his blood. Now he didn't think about his enemies like about Humans, but like about targets. Two. Three. Four. More and more Sons' troops fell on the Utgardian paving.

From left and right general's team fired at the enemies visible down. Nameless mass, pushed to attack by ruthless officers. Their bodies fell on the ground in tens, never to stand up again. In some distance, new tanks and combat vehicles showed up. Taking positions far from defenders' positions, they started razing everything with the ground with their cannons.

There was no sense in letting yourself be killed. Utgar was about to give order to retreat, when the building shook. High-explosive shells hit the building, demolishing it. Jumping backwards, general felt the floor giving up under him and he himself falling. He didn't even manage to get properly scared, when darkness mercifully embraced him.

June 21

14:52

Setsuna

"I don't care how many men will die, but how much longer will it take."general Firius said to to the radio."If you need new units, just tell, but you have to clear the area before 16:00."
"Yes, my lord. We'll do what we can."The voice on the other side was slightly shaky.

Firius threw the receiver back to the comms officer and exited the POT truck, serving as the mobile communication point.

"What about colonel Olius?"
"Probably dead. We still didn't recover the body."one of the adjutants said.

"He was a good soldier."came through Firius' mind."Maybe make a request to give him a posthumous medal and a hero title? Always some consolation for the family."

Appearance of another officer stopped the thoughts about colonel's fate.

"We have a connection to HQ. General Maio wants to talk to you."
Firius gritted his teeth and turned back.

"On your order, general Maio…"he said servicely, but wasn't able to finish. Furious shout of chief of staff came through the receiver.

"Twenty legions, three hundred thousand men and you're this slow!"
"Enemy is resisting very…"
"The fuck are you talking about?! There were only one hundred thousand soldiers on this planet! I think you're getting soft as the years pass."Maio went silent and added after a while."If you want, I can replace you with someone else."
"There is no need."Firius said through his teeth."I'll manage."
"If you won't take the planet quickly, you will go out of business anyway. Don't think you're irreplaceable."
"When you look at it, I don't even serve under your orders."Firius tried to petty with Herm.

"If you lead frontline units, you do."
"Internal troops are under different department."Firius defended his rights as hard as he could.

"Internal Affairs Senator was already dismissed. It would appear, that you have a new superior."

Sudden news shook the confidence of Firius. It would seem, that even the most loyal ones are not constantly attached to their positions. Through the open door of the vehicle, general could see smoke over the city, while the smell of burning was felt even here. Fierce fighting still continued and nobody even cared to extinguish the flames anymore. Although that, complete elimination of the defense was a matter of few more hours.

"Just few more days and the resistance will be completely eliminated."he added in diplomatic tone.
"Good. Don't waste time, because I wouldn't want to get rid of a competent commander."

Crack and constant signal in the receiver meant a farewell. Chief of staff ended the conversation. Firius bit his lips and cursed.

Utgar, as the first bigger city taken by the SoS was meant to be a capital of the occupation administration and until the taking of Leender, a business card of new rulers. Now, with the desperate resistance, they had to count with the fact, that all the propositions and deals that had to be proposed to the defenders after the fall of Leender, would be no more. Both sides decided for a ruthless fight until the enemy was destroyed.

General massaged his badly shaved beard and looked in the sky, where close air support KaL-33s prepared for another attack. The rumble of their engines rolled over the smokes and fires surrounding the city from all sides. General may have been the trusted man of the regime, doing everything he was told without a second thought, but he had his weaknesses too. One of them was a love for art. Painting, sculpturing and especially architecture, unrealized dream of his youth, made him prepare the attack very carefully.

Everything he wanted was in his reach. And long house-based city hall, which he wanted to make his headquarters, was untouchable in his plans. Now, looking through binoculars in that direction, he didn't see any fires. At least one thing going according to plan. The time has come to change the command point. Previous grim thoughts were pushed back, replaced with dreams which surfaced.

June 21

18:32

Skandian C.Z.

The sight was pretty grim. Once proud 103th Mechanized Brigade, one of the most important units of the Skandian garrison of the planet. Now, what moved down the road leading towards Erak City, didn't resemble the proud and serious unit it once was. Now, after several weeks of battling, they lost over fifty percent of it's previous manpower, as well as thirty five percent of their vehicle power.

Soldiers themselves didn't look better. Dirty, with missing parts of equipment, lost during a panicky escape from the advancing enemies. Many already looked, as if they didn't sleep for years, having bags under their eyes and even actually almost falling asleep. Everyone was already tired of all this.

Erika Laghar was very aware of that, especially after the last battle. They knew that something was coming. Enemy attacks' intensity lowered, while scout drones were being shot down left and right. Enemy tried to hide something. And this morning, they finally found out, what tat was.

Before sun started coming up from behind the horizon, the air was pierced by the sound of artillery fire. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, she didn't know anymore, of artillery munitions fell on their positions. They could only listen and watch, as their positions were being shredded by the death rain that fell on them. This wasn't actually any nightmare. It was something much worse than that.

Literal sea of enemy troops then appeared once the shelling stopped. Tens of thousands of soldiers charged at Skandian positions, not paying attention to the fire falling on them. The simply marched into the fire, like animals. Erika still remembered that sight. It reappeared in her nightmares countless times.

Now, the only thing they had left was to withdraw as far from the enemy as possible and set up a defense line which will stop the enemy from reaching Erak City. Although everyone, even HQ in the city, were well aware, that none of that was going to happen. Or if it happens, it won't last very long.

"This is all messed up…"Uger whined.

"You can say that again."gunner said, cleaning his instruments.
"All this war is messed up."Erika said."If it continues like this…"
"You don't have to say it, boss."loader said, rubbing his hands."We're all gonna be so dead before all of this is over."
"Hey, Uger."driver said."Stop spreading defeatism. You…"
"No, he's actually getting it right this time."lieutenant sighed."I fear that the worst may actually come to pass this time."
"Wow…"gunner said."When boss says something like that, you know situation is actually shit."
"But it can't be that bad."driver added.

Everyone looked at each other, hearing his words.

"What do you mean by this?"Uger asked.
"We already meddled with their plans a lot."driver said."Remember, what the prisoners said?"
"No? Who cares?"gunner asked.
"If they were honest, especially the officers, they planned a month long campaign aimed at quickly crushing us."he explained."And now look at them. It's almost a month since all of this started and where they are now? They still didn't take the more important cities."

Erika had to agree with this. She actually did hear some of the POWs' testimonies and they did say, that everything was going to be over within a month. Taurus itself was supposed to be done within two weeks. Meanwhile, a month almost passed and either they were the only planet still resisting, or the war wasn't going as the occupiers planned. In short, they simpely smashed their kidneys with a pole before they even realized.

But still, this didn't change their situation.

"How much ammo do we have?"Erika asked Uger.

Loader opened the ammo storage behind him and looked inside. There, he could see niches marked with different colors, each for a different type of shell. HEAT, HESH, AP, APCR. But the number was pretty grim, just like the state of the unit.
"Just twenty more."he said.
"And in the hull?"gunner asked.
Loader opened a hatch leading to the ammo storage in the hull and grimaced.
"Not better."he stated."Thirty. Of all types."
"Great."Erika sighed."And I guess we can't count on resupplies?"

"Prolly not."gunner said."Sons won't let them."

There was one thing that Sons of Sadera was really excelling at. They knew how to paralyze some enemy operations. Constant air raids were the greatest menace for Skandian supply convoys. Not only that, enemy special forces somehow constantly managed to get behind enemy lines, raiding these convoys, killing and destroying everything. Without supply, Skandian units were slowly running out of not only ammo, but also food and medicines. And without that, there was nothing stopping loyalty issues. After all, from the fifty percent of the manpower losses sustained by the brigade, three percent of that came from soldiers going AWOL. Which was a lot in brigade's terms.

Erika decided to take a breather. She opened the command hatch over her head and looked through it. The gust of chill air hit her face, making her shudder. She quickly took off her helmet and ran her fingers through her hair. She could feel how greasy they were even through her gloves. She didn't take a bath for a long time, since enemy artillery destroyed their mobile baths. Cocksuckers.

She looked to the side. She could see the sun, slowly coming lower and lower. It's bright, red glow colored the clouds on the same color.

Like a grim sign of what was about to come.

June 22

01:45

United Staff, Leender

Harlen sat on a chair, looking at the map on the table in front of him. The giant, red stain looked like a cancer, spreading across the healthy body. It was still growing, even now, when he looked at it. Enemy units constantly pushed forward, forcing the forces of UTDF further back in all directions. But they did manage to slow them down. From the reports coming from the frontlines, POWs were saying, that by now, everything was supposed to be over. And yet, the campaign on Taurus III was still ongoing.

His eyes then looked a bit to the North-East of the map. His eyes were fixed on a dot, which not so long ago was still blue. Now, it burned with bright, eye-piercing red glow. As if to tell him 'What you gonna do about it?'

The news about the fall of Utgard reached the staff just three hours ago. They did receive some unconfirmed reports earlier, but decided to decided to not declare the city lost until further notice. And after some time, they were contacted by some Nordian units, which managed to retreat from the city. They confirmed their worst suspicions. Utgard was now in the hands of the enemy and as of now, they had no ways of retaking it.

But another thing that shocked him, was the confirmed death of Utgar. Supposedly, Nordian general died while defending the city with riffle in his hands. Harlen could really respect that. But on the other hand, he was rid of one of his main advisers.

"This is all a bunch of shit."he whispered.
"What was that?"

General turned around to see Tim standing behind him, with a tablet in his hand.

"Nothing."Harlen replied."Just mumbling to myself."
"I can guess."major replied.
"What do you have?"

"Some new reports."

Tablet changed hands and Harlen looked at the screen. There, he could see a long list of reports coming from the frontlines. He opened a random one and started reading it.

"Colonel Ornatson reports."he read."Operations aimed at slowing enemy march North are continuing. Enemy's main force in form of 1st Armored Legion took serious losses and was forced to halt their advance to gather forces and replenish losses. More reports soon."He laid the tablet down."At least some good news."

Tim looked at the table and winced, seeing Utgard.
"There goes the first bigger city of the planet."he said.
"True that."Harlen sighed."Only good thing about it was that we managed to slow them down so much, that they reached it only after almost a month. So we can say 'Up yours' to them. But still, this didn't make anything easier."

"But enemy still holds the air superiority."Tim couldn't help but notice."Although our pilots are doing everything they can."
"And thank them for that."

"So, now that Utgard is out, what is our new plan?"

Harlen glanced at the map, thinking.
"Our plan stays the same."he stated."We are going to protect this planet until our dying breath. No matter what happens, we have to make it as hard for them as possible."
"I can go with that."Tim smiled.

"Sir!"someone called.

The two of them turned around and saw the communications officer waving at them. Harlen stood up from his chair and came up to him with Tim.

"What is it?"general asked.
"Sir, lieutenant colonel Treaty from Araluenian Army wants to talk with you."comms officer replied.
"Patch him through."Harlen ordered.

Communications officer nodded and turned to his console. He pressed some buttons and soon, the face of Araluenian Ranger appeared on a small screen.

"General Ordell."Will said, saluting.
"No need to be so formal, Will."Harlen said."We're all friends here."

"You know each other?"Tim asked, q bit surprised.
Harlen nodded.
"Sure we do. During the Anti-HO Remnant Campaigns, Royal Rangers from Araluen often worked alongside Soutlandian units. We met during one of battles."
"More precisely, on Helios."

"Wait, Helios? One of the most important battles of the Campaigns?"major continued to ask.

"Yes."Will joined."We were the ones harassing HO back lines, what allowed Harlen and his troops to deal with Holies. They never knew what hit them."

"Alright then."Tim shrugged.

"So, what do you need, Will?"general asked.
"Some news about my Rangers."Ranger replied."They are still operating behind enemy lines, trying to disrupt the Sons supply lines and slow down their advance by blowing up bridges, tunnels and such."
"And how are they doing with that?"Tim asked.
Will went silent for a second.

"Turns out, SoS is pretty good at anti-special forces operations. There are still our groups out there, killing them, but we already lost contact with several of them."
"Damn it."Harlen said."But the ones that are left are still good?"
"In majority. They did have some skirmishes with the enemy, but not enough to completely eliminate them."
"Good. Continue with your operations. Everything that slows them down is good."
"We're gonna do it."Will said firmly."I have to go now. I still have matters to attend to, so this is just a short report."
"By the way, why did you call us personally, not by general Trik?"Tim asked.
"I did report it to him, but he is too busy to call. I had to do it myself."
"Alright then, see you."
"Until the next time."
With that, Will disconnected. Harlen looked at Tim.

"Without Rangers, we would probably already be goners."he stated.
"Can't argue with that."Tim agreed."So, what now?"
"Simple. We continue our mission."
"To defend the planet and kick as many Saderan asses as possible."

General couldn't help but smile.
"You know what and when to say."

With that, they returned to the tactical table, to observing the map, which was now their entire world.

June 22

07:14

Near Regard, Skandian C.Z.

Cool, which came alongside rain clouds, took it's toll on Maddie's platoon, just like almost four weeks of field operations. Wet jackets didn't protect from moist air, and wet ground didn't allow to rest and gather strength. Now it didn't matter. Sneaking lasted for the whole night and now, they were at their goal.

On the other side of a small hill, behind which a platoon of Araluenian Royal Rangers hid, was a temporary fuel, ammo and provisions depot, left there the previous day by SoS' soldiers.

Rows of fuel rucks and boxes of tank shells set up in giant prism-shaped stacks were enough for two weeks of operations for a mechanized division. The depot's area, guarded by a company of guards, was hid under a holographic camouflage placed on the trees. Careful camo was needed. Loss of at least a fraction of supplies could be seen by their counter intelligence as a sabotage, and the ones responsible for negligence would be executed.

Machine gun nests placed in earth-wood bunkers surrounded the depot with a ring from all sides. It was aimed at making it impossible to attack from the surrounding forest, but in reality, it only made the well-being of the guards better.

When one of the patrols sent out by Vincent came back with the information about works ongoing in the forest, there was no doubt they will take a closer look at them. Very close even. Only minutes separated them from a diversion behind enemy lines and Maddie was ready for it. Although that, her heart was pounding and she wasn't less scared than a typical Ranger's apprentice in their platoon.
"You're on vacation?"The smack on her helmet tore her out of her thoughts."You take Simon and Fenis. You have to be there in fifteen minutes. Got it?"Vincent pointed a green tangle of bushes and trees on the other side of the depot."Just when we begin, don't shoot your allies, got it?"
"Sure thing."major replied.

Although she was of higher rank than Vincent, she was not in command here. The reason for that was that she joined at the last minute, because one of Vincent's troops broke his leg while preparing, so they needed someone to fill for him. Maddie decided to join after some talk with Will, but decided to leave commanding to the lieutenant.

Simon and Fenis, two apprentices, and Maddie backed off on all fours. After disappearing from Vincent's sight, they stopped to take a breath.

Simon, burdened with an MG1-56 LMG, had something to carry. The weapon itself weight ten kilograms, and additional ammo pouch was no better. Not to mention, that as all Rangers, he also carried Remington R-88, which after the reforms replaced the longbow. Meanwhile, Fenis, which had the honor of, except standard short, medium and long-range weapon combo used by Rangers, carrying the anti-tank launcher, what he did with a grace of sportsman. Only Maddie with her Type-03 assault riffle, PI-33 pistol and R-88 had nothing to be sour about.

They got rid of their backpacks and additional equipment in contact point, to which they had to return after the end of the mission.

"Let's go. If we won't get there in time, Vincent will tear our legs from our asses."
"Better to be captured than to stay with that son of a bitch."Fenis didn't have the best opinion about the lieutenant.

Next few minutes were spent on getting to positions designated by Vincent. From one hand, they were hurried by the time, while on the other hand, there was a risk of running into SoS' patrol and then…they will never learn how all of this ended, torn apart by first enemy bullets.

Maddie wanted to have it already behind her, so she hurried the two apprentices in her mind. They beat last two meters by crawling in wet mud and grass. Wet clothes cooled hot bodies in a way, that they started to be shaken by the chills.

Maddie crawled to the edge of the clearing and took a look around. It seemed, that they found themselves exactly in the place pointed by the commander, two minutes before time. Fenis aimed his rocket launcher at the machine gun position fifty meters to their left. Fortunately, they only had to block, not, like the rest of their platoon colleagues, destroy the depot. Looking from this point of view, their task seemed to be the safer one.

Clock's hands showed the hour stated by Vincent. It was hard to orientate what happened first: machine gun fire or the grenade explosions.

Machine gun crew standing outside immediately jumped into their bunker. The impression of being safe was short. Whistle of fired missile, trail of smoke and explosion, all lasted for only few seconds. Only memory was left of the machine gun crew and their emplacement, diffusing alongside the smoke.

Some SoS' troops in Maddie's range of sight spread out in various directions. Pressing her cheek to the back of her riffle, she aimed and pulled the trigger. Much to her surprise, enemy continued running, hiding behind the trees. She took a breath and focused on another target. This time, she hit her mark.

Simon, firing his LMG, was doing well, too. Each of his bullets hit, eliminating the enemies. Fenis, loading another missile into the rocket launcher, also didn't seem phased.

Maddie looked at the depot. Driver leaving his truck was perfectly visible. Three bullet series hit him in the back, throwing him under the wheels of the vehicle. Officer, which tried to control the chaos, quickly landed in her sights and joined the driver. At one point, she felt splinters hitting her face. Uncontrolled fire by one of Sons' soldiers barely missed her.

She emptied her magazine and grabbed another. Sweat flowed down her forehead onto her face, tickling and getting in the way. Maddie swept if off with her right hand and then rubbed it against her jacket.

As of now, there was no living enemy in their view, but it didn't mean the end. Battle was clearly escalating. The bang of machine guns and grenade explosions was clearly coming from a place, where the rest of rangers was advancing.

"What do we do now?"Simon looked at Maddie.

"We had to wait."Adrenaline in the veins worked like a drug."But now, I don't know."
"I'll come closer."Fenis said.
"No, let's go together."Maddie decided.

Sneaking towards the ammo depot, Maddie wondered, if they're doing a good thing. Few more moments and she will be disassembling everything into prime factors.

"Stop!"
Fenis' suppressed scream made them freeze. They saw it too. Pressured by the Araluenians, SoS' troops were hiding behind the stacks of boxes and barrels. Maddie aimed and pulled the trigger. Next to her, Simon fired the first series, methodically laying fire on the surprised the guards. Fenis moved the AT launcher to his back and joined the others, firing from his riffle.

Smell of gunpowder filled the air, painfully hurting eyes and nose. So much phlegm gathered in Maddie's throat, that she had to stop shooting and spit it out.
"Hold your fire!"Vincent's scream rose over the battlefield.
"Oh boy, it's over."Simon knelt on both knees and puked.

"Over."his words finally reached Maddie.

All around them, they could see identical bodies in Laconian-styled uniforms, which was a pretty creepy sight. Some of them groaned silently, but most seemed dead. Silhouettes of Royal Rangers appeared several meters from the major. Stooped shapes, with their weapons pointed forward, hurried by Vincent.

"First team covers."His voice reached Maddie."Second mines! Move it!"

Rangers spread in various directions.
"Altman, to me."

Maddie looked at the two apprentices with her and ran up to the lieutenant reloading his riffle. Behind him, platoon's medic was treating a wounded. Dead-white face and spasmodic, jerky breath were signs of approaching agony. Growing black stain on the torso was beaming through the bandage.

In a platoon, in which everyone knew each other, companion's death was truly painful. Coming closer, Maddie looked at the face. It was James, team's joker and womanizer. Deathly seizures shook his body and a bloody foam came from his mouth.

Medic looked at the lieutenant and shook his head. Yes, Simon was right, it was over for some of them. Maddie was feeling alternately cold and hot. After battle euphoria vanished without a trace.

"Everyone good at your section?"Vincent asked.

"Yes, sir, everyone good."
"Good. Take our wounded and get them to the contact point. Go."

Vincent left Maddie and went away. Echo of his words bounced around Maddie's head, before going silent.

XXX

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