"The Metal Machines"
Calibani Mountains, New Cyrene, July 13, 2193
Siege of New Cyrene, Day 37...
Lieutenant Maxson, the platoon he commanded, as well as a few other units, were on watch at the foot of the Calibani Mountain range. High command had received... disturbing news. A new kind weapon was being deployed by the lizards, something big. A bunch of snipers had brought back news of its existence, but no solid intel about it thus far.
"Keep an eye out lads, if something is out there that's spooking the boys at intelligence, we should be worried about it too."
Maxson used the optical zoom on his helmet to scan the area.
Damn this blizzard, he can see nothing beyond a dozen or so meters.
A horrible storm had fallen on the region. Even with advanced optics, visibility was down to a few dozen meters. Maxson wiped his visor to clear it of any frost that might be hampering his vision... and then he saw it.
A large, blocky, silhouette, moving towards his position steadily. A low rumble, the sound of soft soil being crushed under enormous weight, the cracking of stone and pebbles, barely audible across the howling winds, could be heard from its general direction.
"What in the God damn..."
An explosion rocked the ground as an explosive shell fell half a dozen meters short of their position. In an instant, Maxson and the rest of his men acted. Through their extensive training and the reflexes drilled into them, the men of Baker Company took up positions and prepared for whatever it was that was attacking them.
"Fire flare mortars now!" Maxson yelled into his helmet's built in radio.
Three mortars complied, firing flares which provided what little illumination it could to the Sons of Mars. The flares highlighted the shadowy silhouettes of Krogan shocktroopers, Asari vanguards, Salarian engineers, and the massive vehicle that was supporting their attack. This must be what the two snipers found during their mission behind enemy lines.
Maxson gulped, grit his teeth, and cursed under his breath. That thing was huge, an absolute unit. The Lieutenant worried as to the sheer amount of firepower that thing could bring down on the Marines he was leading. In response to this, he did what any sensible Martian would do and barked into his radio.
"Firestarter, this is Baker One-One! We are under enemy assault! Requesting artillery barrage on the following coordinates!"
"Good copy, Baker. Clear the designated area, fire support is on the way!" the battery commander replied.
Gunfire opened up from the enemy column even as the blizzard worsened. Maxson and his men opened fire in at the muzzle flashes dampened by the night time snow storm. Explosions rippled through the dark as shrapnel and bullets ricocheted off of hardened surfaces. Bright flashes, suppressed by the flurry of snow, lit up the battlefield for brief moments and faded away as quickly as it had arrived. The Lieutenant and his men had only the sound and flashes of gunfire to alert them of the enemy's location, and that was enough for the Sons of Mars to open fire with everything they had.
An explosive shell from the massive vehicle landed in one of the trenches, blasting apart a marine who was too exposed for his own good. The blast sent a flurry of shrapnel at him, punching through the standard issue plated vest and tearing through the ballistic weave uniform underneath. The shockwave knocked him down. The marine didn't move at all afterwards, even as a pool of blood formed where he laid. This scene repeated itself over and over before the Krogan shocktroopers entered the last stretch of their charge.
Machine guns and automatic rifles roared from their makeshift positions as the Marines fired blindly into the dark silhouettes of their enemy. Artillery shells whistled as they arced from the back lines and exploded on the ground in front of the marines. Both sides continued to fire on each other, regardless of a hit or miss. The first wave of Krogan shocktroopers were cut down... not by an accurate fusilade of lead but by overwhelming fire. It was the second wave that crashed into the defenders. A brutal melee broke out as the power armored Marines fought in very close quarters against the Shocktroopers whilst the regular grunts retreated to the second position. The light coating of frost on Maxson's upper armor was violently shaken off as his helmet took a direct hit from a Shocktrooper's omni-mace. The helmet took the brunt of the blow, but the Lieutenant was still disoriented. He took a step back as he tried to shake the dizziness away and would have tripped on himself, if not for the armor's automated balancing system. The servos on his legs automatically adjusted his footing, stopping Maxson from falling down and doubtlessly finished off by his foe. Regaining his bearings faster than the Krogan expected, the Marine leader fired his MG wildly on one hand, and drew the very long, half-meter long bayonet from the sheath on the back of his belt with another. The machine gun worked as a distraction, diverting the shocktrooper's attention from the lengthy blade. Maxson then rushed in and jammed it into the gap between Krogan's helmet and chest plate, into whatever passed for a Krogan's jugular. The stubborn lizard refused to die, even with the bayonet still sticking out its neck. The Tankman balled his left fist and punched the weapon's pommel as hard as he could, burying the blade even further down the alien. He then grabbed the hilt, twisted the weapon with as much force and malice he could muster up, then wrenched the bayonet out. A burst of bright crimson fluid followed as a fountain of blood broke out like a broken dam.
The power armored lieutenant wiped the blood off of his visor and began to withdraw along with the other Tank Men still holding the line. Maxson jumped into the trench just as his shields broke and a few stray bullets grazed his armor. The plating would only do so much against the overwhelming fire of so many.
"Status check!" Maxson called out.
"Lots of wounded and a handful of fatalities." A grunt answered. "The hell was that thing, chief?"
"Scrap metal in the making." The lieutenant sneered.
Gunfire interrupted whatever witty remarks Maxson wanted to follow up with, as he barked into the radio again.
"Firestarter, that fucking... thing is still out there." Maxson called out, holding himself just short of panicked shouting.
"Say agai... we canno... ...eak, please adv..." Was all Maxson got as a reply.
"Fucking dammit..." Maxson said under his breath, wincing as the static interference grew louder by the second.
The Lieutenant took a quick moment to consider the variables at play.
That massive, fuckoff tank was supporting the big push. Based on the brief flashes of overwhelming firepower he saw coming out of it, he surmised that it could lay waste to an entire company with contemptuous ease. Logic therefor, dictates that the super tank was the lynchpin of the attack. Getting rid of the super tank, therefor, would hobble the offensive. With fire support seemingly out of reach, Maxson had to take action.
"Everyone, switch fire mode to High Impact configuration! Each squad, pick a point and focus fire! We'll whittle down their shields and tear that thing apart by hand if we have to!"
-000-
The sound of electric crackling, followed almost immediately by a muffled boom, echoed outside of the vehicle's hull. This time, most of it came from the roof of the vehicle while a few came from around them. The Humans had called in an artillery strike on them, despite the reduced visibility. Captain Vark was impressed, the artillery shells had -at least he assumed they were artillery shells- been rather accurate. Had it not been for the shields and heavy armor, the Super-Tomkah would surely have been crippled. From his command throne, he oversaw the landship's bridge crew as they went through their motions the way they were trained.
"Small arms fire intensifying... nothing that'll drain the shields, but it looks like the Humans are getting desperate." The shield technician reported.
"Terrain is rough, but it's nothing we can't run over." The driver also spoke.
"Autoloaders are a bit sluggish tonight, we'll have to run diagnostics later, but it should hold until the end of the assault." The gunnery chief chimed in.
The Captain gave an approving grunt to them all.
"Decrease speed by 18 points, fire main cannon on that big bunker by the center, right there." Vark ordered, highlighting the target from his command throne's terminal.
Even as the sponson mounted guns continued firing, the large turret on the top of the super-heavy tank slowly rotated to the target. Once the barrel was lined up, the massive cannon opened up, punching clean through the thick concrete bunker's outer wall and detonating inside, turning the defenders inside into a red splatter on the walls.
"Good hit." The gunner reported. "gun is reloading. 26 seconds."
No sooner than the gunner reported, another artillery barrage hit the top of the Super-Tomkah. This time, more of the shells made a direct hit on the vehicle.
"Shields are down to quarter strength." The shield technician reported, grimacing at the numbers. "It wont last under another hit like that."
"Damn it." Varg cursed. "Someone has to be spotting for that battery. Have the secondary cannons focus on the surrounding infantry. The artillery can't hit us if it can't see us!"
The sponson mounted autocannons raked the ground where the Human infantry made their stand. Varg watched through the monitors as the explosive shells ripped apart the Sons of Mars dumb enough to try and fight the Super-Tomkah head on. Many of them were holding what seemed to be rocket launchers of some sort. The munition they caused secondary explosions after the autocannons utterly pulverized the soldiers wielding them. Varg let a light laugh out. As if those puny missiles could even so much as punch through Super-Tomkah's armor. Seeing that, the Krogan commander let a smug expression form on his face.
The Humans had their fun. Now... now the Krogan will have fun with them.
-000-
Tember City, New Cyrene, July 16, 2193
"And how many of these... Landships are there?" Kahoku asked.
"Only 32 confirmed sightings so far." General McAllen, head of the 501st Marine Division, answered.
"So far..." Kahoku repeated. "There could be more out there."
"I don't doubt that." McAllen said, snidely speaking of the Krogan Landships that have been effectively plowing through his defenses in these past few days. "These bastards have been popping up wherever the lizards can shit them out. They've already managed to punch through the cordon we've established on the Calibani Mountains, and are threatening to break out of Yinshi Valley entirely. Baker Company's practically gone, and the Civil Protection regiments aren't equipped to deal with heavy armor like these. We need to take those Landships out of the field before they cause irreparable damage."
"That leaves a few options, none of them easy to pull off."
McAllen snorted at that.
"Nothing in these past few years have been easy." The General huffed out. "But the Sons of Mars are always up for a challenge. What're you planning?"
"First thought that comes to mind is to speed up the timetable for Operation Jawbreaker." Kahoku proposed.
"It could work. Moving forward with the Operation will definitely throw a wrench in their plans. The xenos will suddenly find themselves in a more... desperate situation." McAllen considered. "Question is, is Drescher ready to pull it off?"
"She's been running her pilots through the simulations daily since she was briefed on the Op. I'm confident she'll pull through."
"There's a big difference between shooting virtual enemies in a simulation pod, and one that hits back with live munitions." The Marine general shook his head. "We've never tried anything like this. There's a million and one different things that can go tits-up when we do it for real."
"Drescher and her crew are veterans." Kahoku argued with a tone of finality. "They'll be able to make up for whatever hurdles come their way."
"Fine, I'll take your word for it." McAllen replied with mock surrender. "But that's one option we could take. What others do we have?"
"We have a few options, most of them involve bringing overwhelming firepower down on these Landships."
"I'm liking these plans already."
"Off the top of my head, we can try and isolate these Landships, before bringing to bear an immense volume of firepower on its head. I don't care if it has starship grade shielding, it can't possibly withstand several batteries' worth of Artillery."
"Hmm, it should work..." McAllen contemplated as he stroked his beard. "But that'll require diverting artillery batteries from other -possibly critical- regions."
"I could also send in some warships for close bombardment but..."
"That would take away ships from our orbital defenses." McAllen shook his head. "There has to be a way to deal with those Landships without having to divert critical resources from other battlefields... What about N7 Teams? I'm sure we have a few planetside."
"We have, but hardly enough to make a difference."
"No, we don't need them to turn the siege in our favor." McAllen rubbed his chin, formulating plans and strategies even as he spoke to the Admiral. "We can send in a few N7 teams to take out one, maybe two landships. Neutralizing the landships, in my mind, is a secondary objective for these teams. Their primary mission should be collecting intel and figuring out how these things work. Once that's pegged down, we can properly allocate resources to deal with them."
"A sound plan." Kahoku agreed. "I'll notify the N7 teams, and Commissioner Dolzaev too. We'll need the help of a few Civil Protection Militia regiments if we want to pull this off with minimal chance of failure."
McAllen nodded.
"Is there anything else I should know?"
"Right, I forgot to mention this: einforcements are currently delayed." Kahoku delivered the bad news. "212th Elysian Airborne will be here a week later than anticipated, and the 13th Belkan Panzerkorps a week after them."
"Damned Belkans," McAllen spat. "can't even get from point A to B properly."
"I trust you and your men won't let your personal biases affect the campaign?"
"I'm a professional, Kahoku. Hate those crown lovers as I might, I'll still work with them."
"Good." Kahoku sighed out. "You know how Important this is. We can't afford to mess this up. Kahoku out."
The Admiral ended the call, leaving McAllen with his staff to prepare for the coming weeks.
-000-
Archive Update:
Transcript of a Colonial News Center Interview with Admiral Walter Von Sudentor, after the Warsaw Station Putsch
"Do I regret ordering the putsch? Of course not! Too much was at stake, action had to be taken. Letting things run as it did would only lead to Humanity becoming weaker. You look like you don't believe me. That's fine. Even you've bought into the drivel you've been feeding the Commonwealth, seems, and I don't blame you. You've kept yourself in a bubble for so long, spent so long convincing others of the propaganda the war council wrote for you, you can hardly tell where reality ends and where the narrative starts. I'd laugh it weren't so pathetic! Truth is, Prime Minister Duval and his scheisse-brained circlejerk excuse of a 'war-council' have become exactly what they said they went to war against: despotic politicians drunk on power, who can't see beyond what they want to see, and can't see the end of the road they are driving humanity towards. Henri Duval wanted the Commonwealth to secede permanently from the Union, stopped seeing the Union as our other half, and started seeing it as an obstacle in between him and his twisted view of utopia. That kind of attitude is a one way ticket to the end of Humanity, and I can't let us keep going on that Gottverdammnt road."
Excerpt from Admiral Von Sudentor's memoir book: Unser Kampf: The Truth Behind the Brother's War
"The books, the television, the news, they'll all say the same thing: The Colonies rose up together to cast off the oppressive yoke of the Union, and to establish a society without corruption. That is true... at least partially. Indeed, Elysium, Mindoir, and many other colonies decided that they wanted -nein- deserved better than how the Union treated them, whatever it is that meant to them. But there were also many other colonies that refused to turn against the homeworld for equally diverse reasons. Belka, my homeland, resisted the Commonwealth during its first few years. We were loyal to the vaterland, we knew the shoulders of which giant we stood upon. The thought of turning against the homeland was sickening! So, when that arschloch Duval -newly appointed Prime Minister of the newly formed Commonwealth- first demanded we join, we sternly declined. He told us we would change our minds soon... and he was right. Mindoir joined some months after, and Duval returned, this time with an ultimatum: Join the Commonwealth, or food shipments from Mindoir ceases. That was less of a threat, and more of a guarantee. With a heavy heart, the Belkan heads of state... myself included, signed on. But make no mistake, this decision was not ours; it was made for us, by Henri Duval and those religious fanatics in Mindoir! When the choice is between to sign, or to starve... can you really say a there is a choice?"
A/N:
Hey guys sorry for the delay. My uni instructors have taken to assigning projects for exams instead of having the usual standard form because then they wouldn't have to think of a way to stop us from cheating. Projects ate up the tail end of November until the 18th a couple days back.
Anyways, here's the new update. Hope it holds up to snuff. Not sure what else to add, to be quite honest.
Also, for those of you that pointed out plot contrivances: I am aware of many of these. Some of these I acknowledge was a horrible choice in progression, some of these seem like issues due to plot points not yet revealed. The latter will easily be dealt with in due time. With the former, it remains to be seen whether or not I will go back and just rewrite those points entirely to fix it, or to somehow salvage it in the future.
With that being said, I'm glad you guys are here pointing out where I can improve. I'm glad that there are people out there that care enough to help me make my story better, and that makes 2020 just that little bit better.
I hope you've managed to get through 2020 just fine. Lord Himself knows what the next year will hold for us, so I think it's important to just take things one day at a time.
As always, thanks to everyone for reading the story. Write your thoughts down in a review or PM them to me if you feel like it.
Good luck to you all, have an early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from me.