Outer San Magnolia Defense Cordon Fort 'Ambrose'
Western Front, Sixth Ward.
UNSC Marines and Army personnel, now reinforced by two divisions of San Magnolian Armor, watched the distant horizon for movement. The Legion's probing attacks across the Front Lines in the past few weeks were keeping everyone on edge, with yellow alert being the current state of 'normal' within the wider defensive network around the Republic. One Marine, sat atop the roof of the schoolhouse with his sniper rifle, hummed a tune to ease his own mind, while the click of rounds being loaded into a magazine, one by one, echoed across the rooftop.
To his right, an Alba soldier, a young woman, perhaps in her early twenties, sat, clutching an MA37 Assault Rifle in one hand and binoculars in the other. She donned a standard-issue Marine BDU with blue stripes on her shoulder pads, symbolizing her allegiance and place of birth. Division markings lay on the freshly-built armor, denoting the Seventh Armored Division 'Eagle'. A bald eagle's head stood in the middle of a triangle that was divvied up into three sections, each a different color.
The girl licked her lips as darkness began to set in on the suspiciously quiet area of the front. Ahead of them lay multiple gun emplacements and positions, situated in the buildings of the campus that was a crossroads between the wild, Legion-owned territories and the Gran Mur itself. Fifty caliber MGs, missile launchers, even artillery, hidden among the broken streets of what must've once been a bustling city.
To the Alba girl fighting in the Army now, it was strange. Strange to be in a place that was filled with the ghosts of the past. Old posters, worn-down and hanging loosely off the walls of the city's dead buildings, broken windows with the glass and debris littering the road itself, the husks of destroyed cars and military transports. All of this, yet no corpses in sight.
She sighed, then looked to the Sniper on her left, watching as the man seemed to meticulously scan the horizon and the city for any movement that wasn't their own. Meanwhile, above, turbine engines roared as two Sparrowhawk light gunships flew in low enough for the girl to see the belly-mounted armament. Down the street to the left of the school, there was a convoy of Gremlin EM cannon carriers rolling in alongside a pair of Grizzly MBTs.
Behind them, finally, were a squad of Vánagandrs bearing Republic insignias and the ubiquitous magnetic main cannons of the force. A larger concentration of military assets in this area made the girl uneasy. It was almost as if it was asking for trouble to arrive over the horizon. Still, it was better to be ready for anything and not meet that anything than to be caught with your pants down and killed.
So the girl thought at least as she lowered her binoculars. This could've been the weirdest post for a newly-trained soldier, to be honest. She could, however, see the necessity of posting 'green' units like hers in the middle of the chaos with the chance that the fuse would be lit by either you or the enemy coming in first. Kept them on edge, helped them sharpen their skills and prepared them for when shit would really hit the fan.
She watched an IFV rolling up. Once it stopped, its back hatch opened and a squad of her own people filed out of it, rifles slung behind their backs and over their shoulders. Marines greeted the men and women, leading them toward the nearby Barracks in one of the school dorms. The UNSC had made sure to properly reinforce every single building they were set up in, including the old football field of the school.
The girl stood to her feet, slinging her binocs into their bag and bringing her rifle onto her back, holding it by the strap as she marched toward the other end of the building. Down there, she saw the motor-pool, built in the parking lot of the base, as well as a series of automated anti-air and anti-ground turrets with attachments ranging from missiles to railguns, all built around the stadium and football field, where their bigger artillery resided. 152mm Howitzers had been set up with that place as a fire-base and the stripped insides of the small-time stadium itself filled with the necessary supplies to maintain them and keep them 'fed'.
Surely, nothing could go wrong with having ammunition stored so close to the cannons, the girl thought. Then again, it was so evenly divided and so spread out across the field that, even if it did happen, a detonation would set off two or three more shells around it at most. Still dangerous, but it would not really level the entire city block. So she hoped, anyway.
Sighing, she took a step back and saw her replacement coming in, already carrying the spotting scope she had forgotten in the armory. She was a UNSC girl, a 'colorata' as the old naming convention the Republic had for those of a different race than Alba. The UNSC soldier waved at her and smiled, receiving a wave back. Going through the stairwell entrance, the girl descended into the school itself, where Army units were setting up extra armament, just in case.
Two wires ran through the place, each presumably connected to one of the UNSC Power Generators within the underground portion of this little Forward Operating Base. The small fusion reactors the UNSC had built were powerful enough to keep tech and hot water running throughout the place for the next few decades, if not centuries. It was good to have power, a warm shower and warm food, even all the way out here, in the boonies. Ruins of what once used to be one of their own cities.
It was funny. She could almost recall living in and going to school in a town like this before the war.
Sighing, she went down to the school mess hall, to get some food where the company cooks were stationed. With a tray full of food, the young woman sat herself down alone at one of the tables, then started eating. She eyed some of the other soldiers from her shift as they started to enter the place, as well as some of the newer members of the garrison.
Humming, she continued eating calmly. She shifted in her seat, feeling the air suddenly grow heavy. One of the women of the new group of Army Troops was glaring at her. She narrowed her lips, then waved at the woman with an awkward demeanor. The woman simply scoffed, then turned to eat her own food. The girl herself sighed, rolled her eyes, then finished her food before standing to her feet.
She walked down the halls and down the stairs, skipping happily as she began to hum some strange tune, a church song that she had heard before. Descending down to the lower floors, past lines of soldiers, both theirs and the UNSC's, the girl found herself indirectly hearing conversations between the men and women of the two Armies, now joined together at the hip.
She stopped as she reached the bottom floor, then turned a right through a maintenance door and continued her descent, turning on her helmet's flashlight. Descending even deeper down into the bowels and following the wires that led down to the generators, the girl only stopped to retrieve a small, square item with an antenna before continuing. And, upon entering the main room where the Generators resided, she was met by a Republic Engineer.
"The hell...? Corporal, you aren't supposed to be down here. I was just about to report in a bunch of C12 that's been strapped to this thing," The man stated, turning to face her, before noticing the small item in her left hand. He paused, "... Why do you have that...?" And he looked to her, feeling a pit form in his stomach. His right hand was out of sight, but his left had been lifted up to say, "Don't do something brash, kid..."
A mischievous smile played across her lips. She spoke, her voice cold, "Remain calm..." before drawing her Magnum. One round splattered the man's brains across the supporting pillars around the massive fusion generators. She looked over at her handiwork, at the bombs placed on the coolant lines and metal support struts across the damn things. Each had a remote detonator system attached and connected to the small box in her hand.
She turned on her Para-RAID device, listening in for the signal and setting the device to only receive, not send. She spoke, "The Regent Endures... San Magnolia Lives. There is much to be done..." To herself. She checked the ammunition in the high-caliber handgun, then turned to face the door as she sat herself down on some boxes next to the corpse of the man she had just murdered.
She listened to the clock tick away in her head, looking at the detonator in her hand. One click of that button and this side of the Defenses would collapse. All explosives set within the camp would detonate and the ammunition for the Artillery would be gone. The Legion would come soon, to purge the traitorous and unclean from the very face of the Republic.
What irony, that the machines the blasted Empire had built to subjugate and kill the Republic would be used in its rebirth and true victory over the blasted waste that was this world. They would help repair what mankind had long ago broken:the true heritage of San Magnolia's heirs, the leaders of this accursed place. They would rebuild once the Legion was dead.
She heard the thunder and felt the rumble of an impact in the distance. Her smile grew as she felt the very ground shake beneath her makeshift chair. The Para-RAID network suddenly screamed alive with reports from the Northern Front's Forts. Severe damage to the Gran Mur and its defensive positions, the wail of alarms, the screams of the dying. It was almost beautiful to listen to.
She heard someone kick the door in, looking to see the silver-haired fellow Alba that had glared at her. She aimed her rifle at the girl and said, "Drop the Detonator! NOW!" as she noticed the corpse and the bombs. She thumbed the weapon's safety to off, then stepped toward the girl, growling, "I will not say it again, you treasonous cur! DROP THE FUCKING DETONATOR!"
"... San Magnolia Lives," She smiled creepily, tilting her head to the right and lifting the detonator.
Spent casings clinked onto the floor... And then the explosions killed the two before the saboteur's blood could even stain the floor...
Outside, the thunderclap of detonation filled the courtyard. In a flash, the entire central building of the former school went up in a massive deflagration. It blew upward, then collapsed as if it imploded, debris and dust scattering across the field and the city's streets. One Marine, lucky enough to be farthest from the blast and now coughing from the smoke and ash, stepped through with a squad of Corpsmen.
"Jesus fucking Christ, what the FUCK was that?!" Another Marine bellowed.
"Fuck, my ears..." A San Magnolian female soldier said, "I can't hear... Fuck, I can't hear!"
"The fuck just happened?! Anyone see the shell!?"
"It wasn't a goddamn shell!" Groaned a man as he was being pulled out from the debris, "Someone fucking sabotaged the fusion generators! Fuck me, we got lucky that thing didn't burn up into a second sun..."
The Marine saw the man that just called that out, the Major in command of this encampment, luckily alive, but missing his lower leg, which was now a mess of stringing flesh, a broken bone and a stump from the knee up. The boy that had spotted him gagged, wiping the dust from his face, then asked, "What's the status of our equipment...? That shit must've taken out a lot of our men."
"Lucky for us, a lot of us were out of the building when it blew," Murmured a SanMag soldier. She was missing an eye and her gut had a chunk of rebar impaled into it, so much so that it was surprising that she was still walking and not hunched-over. She coughed blood, then activated her Para-RAID and said, "This is Western Cordon Fort 'Ambrose'... We got hit with a sabotage attack... Requesting Search and-..." she collapsed.
The Marine went to check her pulse. She was dead... And her Para-RAID had been destroyed way before that...
"Fuck..." The young man choked out, then coughed.
As the dust began to settle, something glimmered in the distance, past the rubble of the collapsed headquarters. The surviving Marines and Army personnel all turned to see it, with the Major stating, "Fuck... Get me Command on the horn. This is it..." as he turned on his own Para-RAID Device and connected it to the wider network, to hear the Distress Signals blaring...
Palace Blancneige
Thirty minutes prior
Lena felt the the weight of the world now rested on her shoulders all of a sudden. Around her, the staff of the Palace Blancneige were preparing after the UNSC AI, Charon, had given a rough estimate of when the Large Scale Offensive would begin across the multitude of Front Lines. She looked over the holographic table in the Command Room of the HQ, a repurposed 'Officers' Club'.
Holographics and screens lined the walls and pillars, UNSC and Allied Staff operating the consoles, tapping away and reading through continuous, minute-updated reports from across the Republic and the Front Lines. The Outer Defense Cordon had just recently been set up, made of reinforced sections of cities that acted as chokepoints through which the Legion would inevitably have to advance.
Anything else was defended by lines of UNSC Air Assets and San Magnolia's own fledgling rebuilt Air Force, with EWS aircraft and Drones flying day and night. Charon had said that the Legion attack would be very, very soon. A likelihood of days to bloody hours before the assault began. The entire San Magnolian Defense Line was on High Alert, as were most of the other allied lines, from what she could see of the Fronts set up across the four Allied nations on this section of the Continent.
The fact that they were immediately ready to mobilize told the girl that they were, in fact, allied with a good chunk of the world's military powers. She hummed, feeling her belt for her pistol holster. Once she found the rubber grip, she patted the weapon, then looked around. She was worried, admittedly. Lena was never one to be spooked by the idea of espionage, but she was afraid.
Afraid that the Order had gotten themselves stuck somewhere close by.
She sighed, then thumbed her datapad as Annette, Samantha and Matthew walked in. She nodded to the three of them, then looked at footage from one of the Wombat UCAVs on the Northern Front over a holographic display. Distant, the flicker of light signaled something was coming. They just didn't know what to expect out of what would be the Legion's supposedly biggest operation so far.
Lena overheard a tense Radio exchange between a San Magnolian Armored Division's commander and the air assets supporting them up North, alongside Sledgehammer Squadron itself. Blackbird seemed to be determined and ready to engage, should the enemy come in. Admittedly, that was no surprise, taking into account some of the advancements that the Reginleifs had provided in combating the Legion.
"Blackbird to Defense Force HQ. We are linked with one of the UNSC Wombats. Confirming LOS... Those look like Eintagsfliege swarms. UNSC Air has already mobilized to scout it out and, if required, drop their EM payload. May just be another scouting party for now," The Processor reported absentmindedly, the sound of a touch keyboard being worked by the man's fingers a distant background noise.
"Copy, Blackbird," Replied General Karlstahl himself, "We're redirecting assets to assist in engaging if need be. Be advised:All other theatres are preparing in case this is it..."
"Copy. Defense Force HQ, this is Sledgehammer Actual, over and out for now."
Least Blackbird respected communication protocols, Lena thought as she felt the back of her neck. Her Para-RAID was working just fine, but Annette and Matt had spent some time developing better communications measures for her to be able to achieve full communication with the entire Processor Corps of the Army, should it be needed. The Reginleifs would be their Ace in the Hole here.
Annette spoke to her friends in a murmur, "This is gonna be interesting..."
"Agreed," Sam and Matt both voiced, tugging at their uniforms' collars as they felt the noose tighten. Lena was about to reply, say something to calm them down, but stopped as she heard boots stomping on the marble of the hall floors. The clicks of rifle bolts being slammed home told them something not so friendly was coming, with Lena suddenly feeling stupid for even thinking of the Holy Order. She had just jinxed them.
She heard the men stack up outside the door, then readied her pistol, drawing it out of the holster and thumbing the safety to off, as did the rest of the staff inside. Karlstahl, however, seemed unfazed. He turned to face the door, then said, "Calico. The rats are in the trap..." and smirked. Suppressed gunfire echoed outside, with Karlstahl stating, "I had a nagging feeling these Holy Order morons were going to try something."
Lena and the others stood there, dumbfound, as DAGGER Team entered the room, the barrels of their guns still smoking as blood pooled at their feet. The young girl spoke to her uncle, "If they're making a move... That means..." and she turned to see one of the UCAV feeds suddenly disappear, "Oh, no. Can we get those feeds back before-" And Lena was cut off, her heart sinking as she suddenly saw more UCAV feeds wink off...
"General, Colonel! We've just lost connection with several of our frontline Forts!" Called out Ella, the girl being in charge of reporting about the situation on the ground, "Scouts and surrounding elements reporting explosions from within the compounds, presumably the fusion reactors! Buildings have collapsed and we have casualty reports still coming in as we speak!"
Although others were stunned, Karlstahl said bluntly, "Probably sabotage, seeing as the Legion's spotted units are far and away..." thensighed deeply. He looked to Lena and stated, "We should've had ONI looking into them far earlier."
"I know," Lena nodded, mentally berating herself for letting those bastards get this far. Then again, they had only recently announced their return through slapping posters across any flat surface they could find, as if summoning for the very End of the World. She grit her teeth, looking onto the holotable as the Displays updated, showing mobile Legion forces.
Thousands of them...
Lena felt her Para-RAID connection hit again. A Marine reported, "Command, command, this is Western Front, Sixth Ward, Fort Ambrose! Enemy contacts confirmed! Mass-assaulting Legion Force incoming across from us! Our current combat-capable forces are at 67%, so we may be able to hold, but if the situation is the same at the other forts... This may very well be it."
"Copy, Fort Ambrose... Gather your men, prepare to retreat," Karlstahl ordered, "You will be safer near the Gran Mur. Announce it to the other squadrons in the area."
"Roger, sir! Let the Admiral know, if you will... Fort Ambrose, out!" The link died.
Alarms then blared, with all of them looking to see images from a newly-launched UCAV. A shooting star seemed to have split the sky, before the very ground rumbled, images of the Gran Mur that were playing, replaced with the hellscape of an area on fire. Distant, the glimmer of Eintagsfliege Swarms filled the image as they began appearing over the Gran Mur.
The wail of alarms was deafening... But it signaled the dreaded beginning of this deadly Play.
Karlstahl looked toward Lena, then said, "The Railgun... The Northern section of the Gran Mur is gone. Looks like this is it," before ordering all com officers present, "All units, go to Red Alert. Repeat, go to Red Alert. The Legion's Large Scale Offensive has begun. Mobilize all available assets for combat and prepare to engage. Defenses of the Gran Mur are to have a corridor created as to allow our units to retreat into the Eighty-Five Sectors, should they get pushed all the way back. Internal Security, prepare to counter Order of Purity troops." as he arranged his uniform. Lena took pause as she looked at her uncle, then at her friends. Karlstahl stopped only to look at Lena again, stating, "Call them all in. Good time as any to test that modification."
Lena paused, then smiled and saluted, "Sir! Annette, Matt, Sam, with me! We're moving!"
With each giving a quick nod, the group exited the room. Lena removed something from her breast pocket, right out from beside the drawing that Spearhead had given her. She needed to survive this, she needed to survive the Large Scale Offensive so she could see them again. She was sure they were still alive, all of them, and she wasn't going to disappoint them by dying here.
"Lena," Annette started, "It's untested... And potentially very hazardous to your mind."
"I know the risks, Annette," Smiled the very familiar Vladilena, "Thanks for the worry, but this is not the time to be conservative. This is gonna be our very survival we're fighting for... More so than before," and she did, in fact, appreciate their concerns. Sam, clearly severely distraught, was uncharacteristically quiet and focused, her azure eyes glimmering with the fires of a warrior leader, while Matt seemed ready to throw down with just about anything the Legion was throwing, hands already on his handgun as gunfire filtered in around them, presumably UNSC and SanMag Loyalists cleaning out attempted Counter-Coup forces from the Holy Order.
"I know," Annette noted, "I just want you to be around for when we meet Spearhead again, aye?"
"Aye, aye," Lena nodded. She took out a tablet that linked to her Handler Room, then thumbed it to turn it on. Taking out the small half-moon attachment that linked to her para-RAID Choker's CPU, the girl slotted it in, before speaking loudly, "Para-RAID, Activate! Target:All Reginleif units of the Republic of San Magnolia," and felt the weight of the link as it established, hundreds and thousands of confused people demanding responses, feeling fear... Feeling anger.
So, she began, "Attention, all Combat Wards, all Combat Sectors, All Headquarters, this is Colonel Milizé, calling from the Republic Defense Headquarters! We have entered a state of Red Alert!" and, as if to accentuate her point, the blood-curdling screams of the Air Raid Sirens filled the air of the Eighty-Six Sectors, a repeating drone that would frighten even the hardest of men and women. Lena, however, remained steadfast, "We will engage the Legion in a few minutes! This is it! What we have been preparing for for the past year and a half!"
"I will not mince words, I am aware of the animosity still lingering between our people..." Lena sighed deeply. Even now, there was still work to be done, especially with those Holy Order bastards... She steeled her gaze, then called out, "However, the Gran Mur has fallen, as have several Forts in the Defense Cordon. I'll be damned if I am going to die because we, as the human race, cannot get along even now, as the enemy's at the bloody Gates! So hear this! I say again, to all Processors and Allied Army Corps within the Sector Defense Zones of the New Republic of San Magnolia, this is it! Our home and the homes of our allies are now under siege and our only way out of this is to work together! All Processors of the Reginleif Squadrons currently within the Combat Zones, prepare for battle! For the people who have saved you... And for those who seek forgiveness still!"
"To your posts! We go to WAR!" Lena then barked proudly, channeling her moniker of Bloody Regina
... Shiden was first to respond, even past all the cheers and battle cries of the Processors, "Haha! This, We'll Defend, your Highness! YOU HEARD THE LADY, BOYS AND GIRLS! MOUNT UP!"
And Lena smiled, then looked out to see the swarms of UNSC Aircraft taking off to begin the defense, the sky filling with the image of a thousand, thousand fireflies and pinpricks of light as tracers erupted at the Eintagsfliege cloud that now began to assemble over the city. Beams from EM cannons traced bright arcs and missiles filled with Napalm lit the sky to burn out the swarms of Jammers.
This was it!
Presidential Palace of San Magnolia, around the same time.
A battalion of Marines and a crack Shock Trooper squad had been stationed within the confines of the massive palace. President Monet watched as the main hall was barricaded, the flash of tracers filling the room with light. Power had gone out after a Legion artillery shell knocked out the nearby power station, as per reports. Major Volkov himself sat in the room, coordinating the defense units.
They'd gotten word of multiple attempts on the lives of superior officers and governmental staff just as all hell broke loose, with the Prime Minister having been shot to death just as he was meeting up with a security team. The enemy was wearing San Magnolia uniforms for the first phase of the operation, making taking pot shots at potential allies a real danger.
Then again, that also meant PIDing everyone that was wearing a SanMag uniform. Volkov had gotten a few of the loyalist members of the Government's Honor Guard in with them so there would be no confusion, including making sure that they were who they said they were, pictures and everything. Those men and women now held position by the main doors, in preparation of the enemy's assault.
The man activated his Para-RAID and spoke, "This is BLACKWATCH Actual to the Admiral. Mama Bird is secure, as are the chicks," as he hefted his MA5 onto his shoulder, "We're preparing to move Mama Bird to the new Nest, underground and as far away as possible from the surface fighting... Also making sure we've got no bad eggs in the basket, quite honestly."
"Copy you loud and clear, BLACKWATCH. Be ready... Shit's about to hit the fan," The Admiral replied, the sound of orders being spoken faintly audible over the com line, "We detected a massive energy Sig that was dispersed by Legion Eintagsfliege Swarms again. Best we can tell? It's that Railgun that our kids' reports spoke of. Be careful, we don't know its exact range."
"I'm more concerned with the immediate threat of an arriving Insurgent unit, ma'am, with all due respect."
The woman snorted and was about to reply, but the chatter of assault weapons fire filtered into the ball room, which had been turned into a small fortress, with overturned tables, stacked boxes and even a bunch of sandbags placed against some of the closest windows to protect from shattering. Volkov scoffed, then said, "Contacts incoming. See you when we get home, ma'am... BLACKWATCH, out."
"Godspeed, Kolya..." The Admiral murmured before the Para-RAID link cut.
Volkov gripped his weapon with both hands, looking toward the President as she stepped up, pistol in hand. She told him, "I'd rather be able to protect myself, before you say anything. A last line of defense..."
"Keep a bullet for yourself, then, ma'am..." Murmured Volkov as he racked the bolt of his own assault rifle. The gunfire got closer, as did the desperate cries of some of the less well-trained units of Alba that had been stuck here, preparing to ship out to their training areas. It was a pain in the ass to think that a bunch of youngsters were getting hammered out there while they were barely prepping defenses here.
Volkov ordered, "Agnieszka, get the President to her office. Keep her safe."
"Sir," She nodded, smiling, then motioned to the President to follow her as she slid her helmet onto her head. The President gave her protectors a salute, before following the young Polish ODST to the rearmost room of the Presidential Palace. Volkov turned toward the main door ahead again, aiming his rifle. His helmet's visor polarized, hiding his face, while the rest of his nine-man unit, now one short due to Agnieszka's orders, prepared to engage.
Horvat shouldered his MG, stating in a murmur, "In for a penny, in for a pound, eh?"
"Looks like it," The officer replied as he prepared. The gunfire and screams of the dying got close enough to the door that they could hear the different calibers being fired. Following a moment of tension where the gunshots grew to a crescendo, the sounds stopped altogether, with the Marines, SanMag Army and ODSTs growing tenser and tenser, watching the door, well aware it was about to explode. Outside, the roar of their artillery and whirr of EM cannons was the soundtrack to the battle that now raged all across the known world. The enemy crashed against the defensive lines of all countries now, with only San Magnolia facing this kind of major hell.
The man smirked behind his helmet. He liked their odds.
The room shuddered under the kinetic shockwave of a breaching charge, with two of the Marines closest to the door being caught in the surprising shaped-charge blast and charred alive. The roar of gunfire filled the room long before the first member of the Holy Order's soldiers stepped through, armor-piercing round tearing through black kevlar plating, corpses dropping onto the marble, staining it with their blood.
The difference between the elite UNSC Marines' focused, concentrated burst-fire and the spray-and-pray of the younger, less-trained SanMag soldiers was night-and-day. However, it seemed that the Honor Guard bore some semblance of combat knowledge, each of them helping the youngsters be more at ease with the weapons. BR55s, MA5s and Magnums had replaced FALs and P226s and the upgrades showed.
One of the Honor Guard, however, took a round in the neck as she was moving from cover to cover, followed by two of the recruits. Both recruits took rounds, but only collapsed due to injury, rather than death. One of the Army medics present rushed forward, dragging both the wounded soldiers into cover and starting to tend to them as bullets struck the walls and the defenses.
Volkov pushed quickly up next to Horvat, as the man opened up into the quickly-dissipating cloud of smoke and dust caused by the detonation of the breaching charge. Fifty Caliber casings and spent metal belt links clanked against the floor and the belts rang through the Machine Gun of the man. Suppressing fire was effective, as always, seemingly stunning the enemy unit enough for some of their own to cease firing.
Bullets snapped by the ODSTs' ears just as Agnieszka returned, her rifle roaring as she pushed forth. Her plate took a 7,62 round from one of the enemy's FN FALs, but she pushed on nonetheless, undeterred, before taking cover next to Horvat and the Major. She said, "She's secure! I left a Marine to keep an eye on her, despite her insistence she's gonna be fine. What do we have!?"
"Counting at least twenty enemy units past that doorway, with dozens more en-route!" Horvat replied, then ducked as a round scraped the top of his head. He swore to himself, then said, "Where the fuck are these assholes dragging the manpower out from!?"
"Bunch of the people who went missing, I'm assuming!" Horvat growled. An enemy soldier tried poking out of cover to throw a grenade. His brains wound up painting the wall behind him, alongside the blood of Loyalist soldiers. A Marine of theirs took bullets from two separate rifles in response, dropping dead as one round hit him between the eyes. Another Marine that rushed to help him took a round in the shoulder and spun around, dropping onto his back and crying out for help.
A San Magnolia soldier carrying a DMR scoped in one of these 'Holy Order' soldiers and squeezed, two rounds puncturing the man's lungs and dropping him to the floor. The soldier then ducked as return fire came, before crawling toward one of the Marines to provide support for her. Another grenade flew into the room before that, with the soldier seeing it roll toward them. He pushed the female Marine aside before jumping onto the frag.
The blast killed the man, but shocked and angered the woman that he had saved enough for her to pull out her shotgun and load up slugs. As she started slam-firing the thing, she punched through marble tiles and walls, drilling deep into the concrete or striking soldiers of the Order. Each man that took an 8ga. slug either lost their limb or an entire section of their body, dropping dead from shock and kinetic energy dispersal.
A whistle filtered into the room, drowning out the gunfire somehow, before the voice of a male officer outside barked aloud, "CEASE YOUR FIRE!" through a megaphone. Though some shots still flew, the entire room and the enemy soldiers were too stunned to continue. The officer of the Order found it a decent opportunity to continue, taunting, "To the soldiers of the traitorous 'New Republic', I am commander Ven, of the Ordenstaat! The true Heirs of this country and world! We slew dozens of you before we came into the very room you hold now! However, we, Alba, are nothing if not kind! Surrender yourselves and the President and you may yet be spared the worst of our assault! Your deaths would be easy, compared to what we would do to you if we captured any of you alive after the fight was won! So, surrender! Now!"
Agnieszka, Horvat and Volkov looked to one-another, slightly stunned by the audacity of the man outside to even think of demanding that kind of shit. Even the San Magnolian loyalist troops seemed shocked. And... Ordenstaat? Huh. Awfully German or Giadian a pick, Volkov thought. He looked to Agnieszka and Horvat and asked them in a whisper, "Should I?"
"Go ahead," Agnieszka shrugged.
"Nothing to lose, boss," Horvat smirked behind his helmet.
Heh. Volkov knew why he loved his teammates like they were family.
As the officer outside seemed to be impatiently tapping his foot, waiting for an answer from their enemy, the screech of another megaphone, or some sort of transmitting device, filtered out, scratching the elderly Alba on the ears. He grit his teeth, then looked forward, his grin telling his troops he was self-assured of their victory here. A simple offer for a bunch of simpletons.
"Soldiers of the Ordenstaat...!" Volkov called out from inside. The Ordenstaat officer's grin grew... Until Volkov finished his reply.
"Go fuck yourselves!"
Stunned, the man barely had time to register the pop of grenade pins being pulled and thrown. Two of the pineapple-shaped explosives flew outside, right in front of them.
And the officer stood, stunned... Then no more.
Milizé Household
Margareta regarded the sight of tracers filling the skies and the burning fires of her home city with a calm that stunned even her maid. The young woman had stayed behind to help Margareta evacuate, but the Milizé Matriarch had opted to remain, watching the fighting in the distance and the flashes of detonations under a sky darkened, yet shimmering with the sight of the Eintagsfliege swarms. The young woman had no family left, instead having been saved by Margareta's husband from being sent out to the Camps alongside them, just because her parents had agreed to keep a family of Colorata and were found out.
The maid had, however, been of use with one thing. She had helped Margareta change clothes to something less posh than her usual frilly dresses. She had brought a few matching outfits for herself and her daughter, hoping that she would get to properly mend their relationship after so long being separated by jobs and a seeming distance given by their differing politics, not to mention the heartache of the dead Patriarch. Václav had left her alone, to deal with everything from bills to some of the housework, but the man had left more than paperwork for Margareta. She'd left a heartbroken woman...
"Madam Milizé..." The uneasy Maid started, afraid, sweat staining her clothing, "P-Perhaps you should go to the underground bunker, at least..."
"No," Margareta replied, her voice surprisingly sharp and determined. She arranged gloves onto her hand, gloves which she had thoroughly disinfected and made sure to clean, pulling them tightly onto her hands, before she motioned with one gloved hand to the window, "My daughter is out there with her friends, fighting to protect our homeland. Her comrades and soldiers are dying in the streets for us..."
"I know, ma'am, but that's exactly why-" The girl started again, but a sideways slash of the hand through the air silenced her. Margareta couldn't blame the maiden for being afraid. After all, she hadn't lived nearly as long as her. Only a twenty-nine year-old, soon to hit her thirtieth birthday. Hopefully, anyhow, Margareta thought to herself as she looked outside again, the light of flames dancing in her silver irises.
She licked her lips, then smiled to the maid and said, "You may go, Maria. Hide in the bunker and stay there until you no longer hear shooting."
"W-What about you, madam!?" Protested the girl again, looking her straight in the eyes.
"I will be fine..." She sighed, arranging the collar of her lilac shirt. It felt like it was strangling her, for some reason. In fact, everything about what she set out to do within the coming few minutes filled her with unease, as if the combat right in the eighty-five sectors' heart did not. She walked up to the nightstand next to her bed, lifting up the same picture that Karlstahl had in his office. She asked the maid, "Maria, do you remember how I met Václav?"
"O-Of course... You were a nurse serving in the military to make money for college. You helped treat him when he was injured in a training accident and he fell in love with you," Maria smiled awkwardly, "The Sir always told me that story with much pride behind his words, as if he'd found his soulmate in you... And he did, in fact ,seem to have found that soulmate."
Margareta smiled, running a gloved finger down the glass where his face was, her heart sinking. She nodded, then replied, "Correct," to the girl. She looked to her and tilted her head toward a painting of a rural view in the Fall, ordering, "Take the painting off and open what's behind it. Code is zero-seven-one-two..." and watching the maid comply. The painting hid a safe behind it, into which the girl introduced the combination until the locks clicked.
She opened the door, with Margareta stepping up behind her and retrieving a most awe-inspiring of sights:A rifle, a bulletproof vest with a red cross patch on its chest and a medical bag, also bearing the Red Cross. She put on the bulletproof vest, retrieved whatever ammo was left in the form of six box-shaped twenty-round magazines for the weapon, then slid her medical bag onto her back.
She smiled at the maid. "Go, Maria. The bunker. I will be back."
"Madam," The girl hesitated.
"Go," She ordered again, then sidestepped the girl and marched out. She turned toward the stunned maid one last time, smiled, then marched out of the door, before breaking out into a sprint, thankful she'd elected to switch to running shoes and pants instead of normal boots or her usual high heels. She ran out and into the boulevard, where she saw UNSC vehicles rushing out.
She flagged one of the vehicles down, causing it to stop by running right in front of it. A Troop 'Hog, filled with Marines and SanMag Army Troops. She walked up to the driver and said, "I need a ride to the Front Line."
"Ma'am, I'm not sure what kind of training you have-" The man started
"Enough to save lives and protect myself, soldier," She replied firmly, "Now, the Front Line. Get me there ASAP so I can provide aid to those who need it," before clambering aboard between the Marines, rifle held weakly in one hand as she sat down. Noticeably, this rifle was of an older model. It still had a carry handle and the stock and forward grip were made of wood instead of polymer.
"Holy shit," One of the Marines started, then looked out toward the house she had come from, "You're the Colonel's mother..."
"Indeed," Margareta smiled proudly, feeling the wind rushing through her hair. She caught it in a bun for it not to fly in her face, before shifting in her seat and holding onto the roll cage that protected the seats in the back of the Warthog, leaning her rifle against the cage itself, too. She lifted the weapon and shouldered it as the vehicle barelled down the streets that were being evacuated, straight down the main boulevard.
Above them, the wail of energy filtered in, followed by a rain of silver, shimmering bugs. One landed on Margareta's hand, only for her to see it was an Eintagsfliege. She grit her teeth, then tossed it out of the vehicle before looking up. Sparks of blue flashed amongst the thick clouds of bug-sized machines, more and more of the crystalline snow glimmering as the Legion's jammer bugs fell onto the ground and were crunched under tank treads and the massive road wheels of the Warthogs.
Margareta started seeing soldiers, Alba, UNSC and Colorata alike, appearing. Feldreßes skittered forward, over roofs and down the streets, massive tanks supporting lighter combat vehicles. Barrett Scavenger Drones rearmed the tanks and troops, providing fuel and ammunition, while infantry moved alongside the tanks at a fast march. Margareta had now noticed she was moving with a convoy of UNSC tanks, all of which were on treads, to the Front Line, not just Warthogs.
The wounded, those that had managed to only take wounds, in fact, started appearing, carried back by Corpsmen and Army Medics. The sounds of combat intensified ahead, followed by the wails of aircraft engines as UNSC Gunships swept in low and fast, cannons and lasers flashing. Ahead, past burning buildings and rubble, Margareta got her first good few of the Legion's advancing war machines.
She felt her throat dry up, swallowing only to feel it scratch and hurt. Beside her, a UNSC tank's gun roared, stunning her for a moment. She followed the trajectory of the shell just in time to see one of the larger Legion tanks burst ablaze and collapse onto one of the roads, its comrades clambering over it. Aside from tank guns, the infantry weaponry also fired, tracers lighting up the burning streets.
The vehicle stopped and the driver called out, "This is your stop, ladies and gentlemen!" watching as Margareta got out. She stopped the woman and warned her, "You jumped into the thickest of the shit, ma'am! Watch yourself out there! I'd hate to be the one to have to tell Colonel Milizé her mom got fucking killed doing something nuts like this!" to which the woman flashed a conscious, smug grin. She saluted, then turned to the Front Line, feeling her heart start to race.
She ducked as Legion Ameise opened up with their machine guns, then ran forward in a half-crouched sprint toward the forward-most barricade, where the newest Feldreßes held the line, their weapons firing like lances of light from tales of the Old Gods and Goddesses. She slammed against the defensive barricade, next to a Marine, then demanded, "Where's your Commanding Officer!?"
"You're looking for Lieutenant Tibbets! He's there!" The man motioned toward the larger section of the barricade, where UNSC Warthogs with gauss cannons held positions, firing incandescent slugs at advancing Legion troops. The woman patted the man on the shoulder, nodding in thanks, before rushing forth under the hail of Legion fire, hearing bullets and shells whizz above her head. She heard the thunderclap of a tank exploding, but took no time to look and see who took the hit.
She knew what she was doing was madness. She had trained to be a nurse in Mobile Army Hospitals, not on the damned Front Line as a Combat Medic. Still, she had the necessary training to act as a Combat Medic when required. Not the experience, though, as she felt the thunder of the guns their four and eight-legged supertank machines fired at the enemy in her very core.
It was exhilarating and fucking terrifying, Margareta thought, a smile creeping up on her face. Just like he had described it. She fell onto her stomach as one of their Feldreßes above exploded, blossoming into shards of steel hotter than the flames burning around them. Ahead, a building collapsed as Legion artillery fell upon it and the area, shards of concrete and pavement falling around and onto her.
A shard of steel armor bounced off the floor and scratched her cheek, causing her to wince as she saw her blood dripping onto the floor. Regardless of the wound, she crawled forward, finally reaching the aforementioned Tibbets and looking up at him. He was an armored fellow, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, if Margareta recalled the men that had trained Lena.
She stood to her feet beside the man, then spoke, "Lieutenant! My name is Margareta Milizé! Formerly a corporal and self-reinstated into the Army of San Magnolia for the defense of Her Holy Lands alongside you and those that are willing! I have nurse training and the medical skills to aid any wounded you have! Just point me toward them and let me do my job!"
The man looked back, stunned for a moment, but saw the determination in her silver eyes and said, "I see the Colonel takes after both her father and mother, then!" with a smirk. He began explaining and pointing with a fully-open palm, "We have wounded everywhere, so don't worry about a lack of work! If you hear one of them call out for a Medic, you go and help them!" before he turned and ordered to a SanMag soldier and a Marine Corpsman, "Jaeger, Bier, keep the Corporal over here safe! She's volunteered to be a Combat Medic!"
"Roger!" The two soldiers nodded, then approached the woman even as the Legion artillery barrage intensified, MLRS projectiles landing around them erratically and bullets and APFSDS shells screaming through the air around them. Margareta offered a nod to the two soldiers, greeting them with a friendly smile, then looked to the Lieutenant and snapped a crisp salute at the man. The cry 'MEDIC!' travelled back to them, with Margareta turning toward it. Dustin and the other Marine turned toward Margareta, with the woman turning to them.
She nodded to the two men again, then they rushed forward to the man that had requested medical aid...
Federacy of Giad's Western Front
UNSC Army Personnel loaded a tripod-mounted fifty-cal, bullets tearing through the wind and through Ameise plating, while rounds sparked off the forward shield mount of the gun. The rapid-firing chain-gun sent hot casings and links flying to the left as Marine Infantry advanced through the trenches at least six feet below the gunnery position. To the right, a hulled-down UNSC Scorpion fired its main gun, the roar filling the ears of the men on the defensive line.
To greet it, artillery shells detonated off to its immediate right, shrapnel ringing and whizzing. A 120mm Shell flew past the tank and into a Vánagandr's armored cheek. The round dented the armor severely, but the crew, despite being shaken up, survived. Marcel grit his teeth and said, "God damn, that was close!" before eyeing the tank that had shot at them and said, "Acquired!"
"FIRE!" Eugene barked as he prepared to reposition them. The Vánagandr shook as the railgun let loose its round, tearing through the enemy tank and sending its turret flying. Beside them, Ameise collapsed, torn asunder by MG Fire. Eugene smiled as he saw the contacts appearing on their rear and watching as Reginleifs rushed forward, with Wehrwolf stopping in front of them.
"Advance," Shin ordered over the com, "We need to push the enemy force back, now."
They saw him. The Undertaker himself charged forward, his guns roaring and blades slashing through the Legion's frames with disregard. Above, MLRS missiles opened up, cluster rounds striking the middle of Legion lines and tearing through enemy forces like a hot knife through butter. Wehrwolf advanced, his machine cannon punching holes through the armor of Ameise.
Behind them, UNSC tanks rolled forward out of their hull-down positions, fifty cals and 90mm cannons roaring. The 120mm cannons of the Grizzlies followed up, while the sky was being cleaned by Gremlins with EM cannons. The stunned crews of the Vánagandrs watched the combating force enter CQC with the Legion's troops, temporarily stunning the enemy machines.
Shin himself was there, focused, advancing through the lines of the enemy, meeting enemies with blades and gun. His 88mm Railgun wailed and he felt the slight kick of the gun be compensated by the machine. The Lieutenant-Colonel's upgrades to the machines' engine power were proving very good, as the machine ran as fast as it would've without the upgrade package. Perhaps even faster, if Shin's readings were correct.
Admittedly, he was pushing his mech past the limiter-approved speed. His blades were quickly dulling, due to the fact high-frequency strikes like that proved just as damaging to the weapon itself as they did to the enemy they were hitting. There was no real material made to manufacture blades strong enough not to dull, so Shin had learned to use the weapon sparingly, only on the bigger targets.
Behind him, he saw Theo rolling forward, leading Lecca and Haruto, their MGs chattering as High-caliber rounds tore through the smaller monsters. Raiden's own Platoon continued its barrage of heavy fire, while Daiya's, Anju's and Kurena's platoons supported them with direct fire, with Kurena's long-range railgun nailing targets, her visor system linked to one of the UCAVs above.
APFSDS rounds rained down upon Legion Löwe like pickaxes, chipping through the paper-thin roof armor and destroying the vehicles from the inside out. Anju and Daiya's mechs fired swarms of cluster and reactive missiles onto the enemy's positions as well, clearing them a path through to the back of the line. Meanwhile, UNSC tanks rolled over the corpses of enemy units, squashing them under tracks like toy cars.
The Federacy's tanks rolled in next, followed by a swarm of UNSC aircraft. Sparrow lasers lanced forth, scarlet beams of hate that tore enemy units in half, their cannons roaring. A Vánagandr took a round to the sensor station at the front, its crew cooked alive inside by the detonation, while a Troop 'Hog was struck center-mass by a HEAT shell, blossoming into a flower of twisted steel and melting rubber. Another Troop Hog barreled forward, Marines firing Jackhammer missiles out of the back, as well as 14,7mm snipers.
A Grizzly fired a barrage with both its main cannons before it got hit, too, detonating in a blaze of golden fire. The Marines that had been mounted onto it had also been killed, their bodies a twisted mess of shrapnel, flesh and broken bone. Shin had felt those men die, of course, what with the Para-RAID actively signaling them everything. He slid by an Ameise, putting an 88mm HEAT round through it, before stopping as a 120mm shell flew in front of him and destroyed another Legion Löwe.
He looked to the right, seeing that the Vánagandr that had helped him was Eugene's. He spoke, "Thanks," to the crewmen, before turning in and joining Laughing Fox's advance through the enemy lines. Above, the sky began to clear of Eintagsfliege, what was left of the swarm retreating just as UNSC Longswords swept in and dropped their payloads. HE bombs carpeted the area ahead, shattering the 'resolve' of the Machine Enemy's rear flank, as well as dozens of its units...
... Before long, the Allied defense watched the enemy units retreat. Hundreds of Legion husks littered the area ahead of and near the trenches, with Shin rubbing his eyes. He still heard the continuous screams of the Legion around him, an eerie encore of the damned that still spoke their last thoughts repeatedly. He crossed his arms to his chest next, looking over as the sun rose above their battlefield.
"I see you are tired," Spoke Frederica's voice as she approached him. Shin turned to see her smiling at him. She said to him, "Perhaps you should rest, Shinei. The battle ahead is still long. You, yourself said to the Generals that that was only a First Wave. The Legion is determined to put an end to us with this Offensive... But yet they give us some respite."
"Their leadership's smart. They want some things they can collect... Heads," He explained.
Frederica sighed, "Sadly... How fare you with... Hearing them all?"
"I am fine," He replied, dusting his combat uniform off. Beside him, Undertaker looked slightly worse for wear, with dings and bends in the armor, as well as missing ERA plating, clearly from HEAT rounds. He looked back again, hearing the footsteps of his comrades and seeing Raiden and Theo approach, the latter with a grin on his face as he counted the kills he made.
"I see," She hummed, then smirked, "Anything you wish your cute little sister to provide? Perhaps a hug?"
Shin seemed unamused, but rolled his eyes and gave a nod. He knew better than to upset the little girl. They were technically family and she clearly wanted a hug. He let her get in close and wrap her arms around him, before patting her on the head as the two boys approached. Raiden commented, "Got you again, didn't she...?" with a smirk on his face. Shin nodded.
"Well," Theo shrugged, "Can't do anything about it now. What's the word?"
"They retreated, but their second wave seems to be preparing. I'd be ready, too. Get Fido to rearm and help repair any damage our vehicles may've suffered, then be ready to move out at a moment's notice," Shin replied calmly. He looked westward, toward where the Republic would be, wondering just how they were faring. In the distance, there, he could faintly hear the despair with which Legion forces seemed to fight.
"They are getting hit the hardest, according to some early reports I snuck a peek at," Raiden remarked, walking up to Shin, "Republic's holding for now, though."
"Yeah," Theo hummed, "Waiting on the Admiral to tell us more, though..."
Shin had to wonder just how the Republic was holding. They had no real 'direct' communication line, outside of using a proxy through the UNSC's own Para-RAID network, which was now linked with the central RAID networks of the rest of the Allied nations. It would've been an idea to check on them that way, but Shin figured it may as well have doomed them. One needed to focus now...
"It's pretty bad," Stated a familiar voice. Shin turned to see Grethe and Maria Rovinești approaching, the ODST Guards close behind. Maria offered, "Reports are coming in in regards to... Well... Possible sabotage," She smirked, watching for the reactions of the Processors. To the left, the stunned gasps of the other youth belonging to the squadron echoed, causing the woman to turn and face them. "Yeah," She nodded, "Apparently, there's a Fascist insurgent group..."
She saw the look in Shin's eyes, the anger...
Similarly, the two women and their escorts saw the same gazes on the rest of the squadron, with Anju's evil smile taking the place of her formerly calm face. Grethe spoke, "I'm afraid you cannot do anything for them right now. The Republic is holding, as are our allies. Your only hope of seeing them again is fighting the Legion here and pushing them back, because you need to survive, too."
Shin scoffed, with Frederica looking up at him, worried. She turned to Grethe and Maria and said, "Concerning reports. Are they accurate?"
"We lost several outer forts," Maria noted, "Not to mention a chunk of the units within them. Yes, the reports are accurate," She then sighed, "Now, it's up to RED Team to reinforce whoever needs it. Legion Triple-A is also reportedly moving in-country across the Fronts. We've lost two Sparrows close to here. Both pilots' BIO signatures consign them as KIA. We sent a team to recover them..."
"So, the situation's a matter of how many we need to kill before they pull out," Raiden sighed, "And before they kill us."
"I like our odds, to be honest," Kurena noted, smiling, "Spearhead alone is doing a lot of good work. Once the rest of the Reginleif Squadrons of the Federacy are brought in, the Western Front will be secured..."
"Or we'll be able to actually move on to clean the other fronts," Anju thought aloud, while Daiya was behind her, also thinking. Haruto and Lecca were grinning behind them.
"Or it'll draw some pressure off the Republic," Noted Theo, "Eitherway, we'll have done good."
The two older women could feel that the kids were concerned over Lena's well-being. And why wouldn't they be? She was like a family member to them, considering everything that had occurred. It must've been tiring for them to be far away from the place where they may have been needed most. Still, Maria and Grethe both knew it was better to let them know. They would fight harder.
"We'll be done with this front," Shin started, surprising them, "And then we'll go reinforce the Maj-..." He hesitated, then continued still, looking determined, "The Colonel. She'll need the backup, especially from elite units, if the Republic is getting hit this hard. We made a promise to her and to her friends that we'd meet face to face. Let's end this Offensive and give the Legion a bloody nose... For everything they've done."
"Hoo'rah!" The squadron replied.