The Ether Conflict
Chapter 37: The Battle of Whitehead part 2
Relic Street, Whitehead, Arizona
Delta Platoon redzevous point
Current Objective: Recapture the City Hall
Time till the attack: 25 minutes, Time: 4:35
"Ouch," Miho cringes slightly as Hana sutures the wound in her shoulder, stitching it up little by little. While her wound flares in pain every time Hana pierces her skin with the needle and ties the thread, Miho endures it, the memory of the sniper bullet grazing her shoulder and the pain she felt at that moment making the stitching seem like someone is simply pinching her.
"Please be patient, Miho, I'm almost done," Hana says at her friend as she puts the last stitches on the wound, then procures a clean gauze patch and puts it over the stitched wound. "It should be okay now, though it'd be best to let someone from the infirmary take a look at it just to be sure."
"Thanks," Miho smiles at Hana as the latter puts the needle and thread, along with the antiseptic bottle and the unused cotton swabs, back in the first aid kit.
"Let me take it," Saori, who stands up half-out of her hatch says, and so Hana gives it to her to put it back in its place.
"Everything is alright with the tank, Miss Nishizumi!" Yukari salutes Miho from the ground, having checked the hull's Schürtzen plates for any damage, as well the tracks. "Should I do a shell count?"
"Yes please," Miho nods, putting her uniform's torn jacket and zipping it, then putting over it her vest which Saori insisted she wears instead of her since she is the one most likely to be exposed to enemy fire. Looking around, she spots a rather high amount of troops gathered in the street and the avenue that it connects to, ranging from regular and mechanized infantry, to towed anti-tank guns, a few AFVs and two sharpshooter squads. Yet, only two platoons of tanks were here, hers and Beta platoon.
"It seems this rallying point was not only for us," Miho wonders aloud, remembering when she and Delta-4 had arrived and had found only Delta leader and a few squads of regular infantry waiting here.
"Miho, we might need to refuel soon," Mako says as she rises from her hatch, climbing up at the hull and looking at Miho who sits on the front edge of the turret, next to the gun. "We have less than half a tank, so if the battle drags on a lot, we'll run dry."
"How many cans do we have?" she asks and Hana answers this time.
"We should have 3 cans of fuel still," she says, looking at the side side of the Schürtzen plates facing her, where three jerry cans full of fuel settle tied on them. It was a crude and dangerous method of transportation, but it allowed them to operate somewhat autonomously back in Blackout.
"They should be enough to fill 3/4 of the tank. Please tell Saori to help you with refilling the tank. I'd like to help too, but I don't think I'll be able to lift anything heavy for some time," she says with an apologetic expression and Mako nods.
"Don't worry about it," she says and dives inside the tank.
"It's nice to have a reprieve," Miho sighs and stretches her arms and back, though she immediately stops when she feels the stitches pulling on her flesh, causing her wound to flare up in pain momentarily. "Ouch. Though this wound could become a problem."
"Hey, Miho, captain's calling a meeting of all tank commanders!"
Looking down in front of the tank, Miho finds Ryan, known as Delta-4, looking at her somewhat impatiently, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Coming!" Miho says, pushing herself off the turret's edge and down on the hull's top, just as Saori and Mako pop out of their respective hatches.
"Miporin, where are you going?" Saori asks seeing her commander scaling down the tank's front.
"Delta leader called a meeting, probably to inform us about the attack plan," Miho informs Saori as she makes it to the ground, then turns around to face Ryan. "Is everything alright? You seem to be in a hurry," she notes, and Ryan nods quickly.
"The attack is about to begin; I'd say we have around 15 to 20 minutes, and the captain's not in the greatest mood."
Hearing this, Miho turns around to her crew. "Mako, after you fill up the tank with Saori, get in your positions and start the engine. Hana, get in position too, and tell Yukari after she's done with the shell count to fill the ammo rack closer to her."
"Hai!" the girls respond and do as they are told, so Miho turns back at Ryan.
"This way," Ryan says to Miho and starts walking, with the Anglerfish's commander matching his pace and walking next to him. As they keep walking towards the meeting point, Miho sees more and more soldiers jogging around to get in position or boarding the AFVs, as well as several vehicles revving up their engines.
"Did the order came suddenly? Everything was really calm a couple of minutes ago," she asks Ryan, who glances at her for a second, before looking forward again.
"Yeah. They sent the order to mobilize immediately five minutes ago, saying the attack will commence in like 20 minutes or so, and the captain's been furious over this. If we had attacked an hour ago like the original plan was, we wouldn't be in this mess."
"Has the enemy fortified the city hall that much?" Miho asks worried, at which Ryan simply looks at her and shrugs.
"I have no idea, but..." Looking around him, he leans next to Miho and whispers in her left ear. "From what I overheard from a bunch of scouts that were sent to assess the enemy's strength in the city hall and the surrounding plaza, it's like they have built a fort. The area is full of barbed wire, sandbags and machine-guns, fortified tanks, mortars and so on. Their numbers are considerable too, far more than the initial reports had estimated."
"Is that why they delayed the attack?" Miho questions him and Ryan nods.
"Most likely, yes. They probably delayed the attack to amass more troops. I guess they don't want to take any chances with the enemy counterattacking the moment we capture the town hall."
Going at the left side of the street, Miho spots an M60A3 painted exactly like Ryan's was, though this one seems to be covered with reactive armor to somewhat fend off against ATGMs and HEAT shells. In front of it, three men stand in a circle, quietly talking to each other.
"Captain," Ryan stops in front of the men and salutes the one that is directly in front of the M60, Miho doing the same.
"Finally found the way, Ryan?" the man snorts sarcastically, slightly readjusting his helmet as it has fallen a bit forward.
"With all due respect sir, I-" Ryan starts talking, but his captain interrupts him.
"I don't care for your excuses, Sergeant, now both of you come here to inform you about the plan," he barks and both Ryan and Miho come closer.
"Ok, listen up, all of you," he says at the Delta commanders and points at a map taped at the tank's hull. "The plan's simple. We, along with a few infantry squads and Beta platoon will spearhead the attack through the avenue, meaning we'll get most of the heat from the enemy defences. In the meantime, several of the mechanized squads will flank from the side avenues, now that the hospital in the North has been secured and the units in the South are closing in on the theater. Our objective is to capture and secure the city hall and the plaza, then pursue any retreating units till the outskirts of the city." Pointing at the map and dragging his finger over the east avenue, he stops at the outskirts of the city where the avenue ends and the I-10 starts. "We'll meet at this point of the avenue in five minutes; the pre-emptive strike should be starting any moment now." Looking up in the sky, he immediately notices the trails of artillery shells arcing through the sky, followed by the sounds of explosions and the tiny vibrations of the ground. "All of you are dismissed."
Ripping the map from the tank's hull and folding it, Delta Leader climbs up the tank and enters through the cupola, his M60's engine roaring to life. As if a signal, the Delta commanders scatter in the surroundings, everyone going to their tanks as fast as possible.
"So you know, my offer still stands if you feel like it," Ryan winks at Miho and goes away, getting lost in the sea of soldiers and military personnel that inhabit the small street she is currently in. Giving it no thought and pushing it at the side of her mind for now, Miho quickly makes her way to her tank, whose engine is already running, eager to join its bretherin on the frontlines. Reaching her tank and climbing on the turret's top, she enters through the cupola and sits on her seat, putting on her headset.
"Mako, take us at the end of the street and turn right on the avenue, then proceed around 50 meters and stop," Miho says through the intercoms, grabbing the city's map that is next to her seat and looking at the point where all Delta elements will meet.
"Hai," Mako responds and shifts gear, getting the tank moving at a slow speed till they clear the street, since it is still full of people running around, as well as vehicles moving to their own meeting points.
"Listen up, everyone, I'll inform you about the plan now," Miho says and everyone minus Mako turn to look at her. "Our objective is to capture and secure the city hall and the surrounding plaza, then pursue any retreating units till the outskirts of the city. Delta platoon will spearhead the attack along with Beta platoon and a few infantry squads, so we'll be drawing most of the enemy's fire on us. While we attack from the front, the rest of the mechanized infantry and vehicles will flank from the sides and take the enemy by surprise. If the attack is successful, the enemy will probably collapse pretty quickly and retreat."
"This should be pretty easy, since the enemy consists of a scouting force," Yukari comments, then remembers something. "Ah, the shell count Miss Nishizumi is 20 AP shells, 10 APCR shells and 11 HE shells."
"Load an APCR shell and depending on the enemy units we'll switch types accordingly," Miho orders and Yukari nods, grabbing the appropriate shell and throwing it into the breech. Miho really didn't like what Ryan had said to her about the enemy's defences and she hoped all this was just exaggerations from the scouts, and if indeed true, the artillery would wipe most of them and make their life a tad bid easier. Reaching the end of their street and making a right turn, Miho immediately spots Delta platoon's tanks in the distance, all of them waiting in line in the right side of the avenue's four-lane road. Stopping behind Ryan's tank, Mako puts the engine on idle, it's roaring slowly fading into a soft, purring sound.
"Everyone, close and secure your hatches," Miho orders and everyone complies, then she pushes herself through her cupola's hatch. "Saori, change to Delta's frequency."
"Copy that," Saori complies, changing frequencies on the radio. "Frequency changed, Miporin."
"Delta Leader, this is Delta-5, we have arrived," she speaks through her headset's microphone and after waiting for a moment, the other end statics briefly, then Delta leader's voice comes through.
"Acknowledged, Delta-5. The artillery will stop at any second now. The moment it does, we will commence our attack. Target any enemy you see, but give priority to any threats with AT capabilities."
"Delta-5 acknowledges, Delta leader. Over and out," Miho says through the radio and the transmission gets terminated. Looking in the distance, the domes of fire, smoke, dust and debris lessen with each hit on the plaza, sign that the artillery barrage is coming to an end. "Everyone, let's make it out safe," she says through the intercoms as she cocks the cupola mounted machine-gun's firing handle back to load the first bullet of the belt into position, then points it at the sky for safety reasons.
"Hai!" everyone responds. As the barrage of shells finally ends, and the dust starts settling on the cratered ground, all WCC forces start moving towards the plaza's entry, the two tank platoons moving in a line.
"To all units, prepare for engagement."
As soon as Delta leader says these words through the radio, the whistling of something flying through the air at high speeds reaches Miho's ears, followed by grinding metal and a mass of deformed steel flying in the air from the direction of one of the nearby tanks. A hectic firefight erupts, with bullets and tracers getting flung all over the place, lighting the avenue up like a christmas tree. Peeking slightly over her cupola's hatch to take a better look, Miho sees the remnants of the dug up positions in the entry of the plaza, consisting of a few pieces of barbed wire, half-destroyed sandbag positions, a couple machine-gun nests and a single tank.
"Is that an M4 Sherman?" she wonders aloud to herself, seeing the WW2 era tank fruitlessly bouncing round after round upon the lead tanks. Looking further inside the plaza, at least on the part that isn't obstructed by the buildings flanking the avenue, as well as looking at the city hall, she spots even more defences constructed, like mortar teams hiding behind sandbags, hull-down M60s, AT guns and so on. Looking further at the other side of the plaza, she spots a glint in the distance and her blood freezes instantly, a paralyzing chill coursing through her spine and numbing her legs.
Thump
Falling back to her seat instantly, sweat starts forming on her face, her breathing becoming heavy and ragged.
"Miho, are you alright?" Hana asks in distress after hearing the loud thumping of Miho slumping in her seat, and everyone turns to look at their commander.
"Y-Yeah... I-I'm fine, no need to worry," she stutters slightly, her near-death experience from earlier playing in her head. Even her wound flares in pain momentarily, forcing her to put her hand on it.
Concentrate, Miho, this is no time to be afraid...
Gulping audibly and mustering all her strength, Miho stands up and looks through her cupola's vision ports, trying to see if this glint she had spotted will appear again.
"..."
Waiting for a few seconds but seeing no glint in any building, a heavy sigh of relief leaves her chest, then she notices that the other tanks are already moving, the remnants of the set up defences laying in ruins, while the Sherman is smoking heavily with two, big holes adorning its front upper glacis and half of its hatches open.
"Mako, move forward," she orders and the tank jerks in motion, following the rest of Delta closely and slowly. As they reach the plaza's entry, the incoming fire intensify tenfold, with mortar shells falling everywhere around them.
"All Delta units, line up towards the right side of the plaza and engage the enemy; Beta platoon will advance from the left side. The mechanized units have encountered heavy resistance and are unable to push through the flanks, so don't count on help from them," Delta leader orders through the radio and all Delta commanders line up their tanks next to each other, the infantry following them taking cover behind their tanks or the craters that mar the paved plaza.
"Hana, target the M60 at our 1 o'clock, the one nearest to the surrounding buildings. Yukari, get an APCR shell ready," Miho orders and the Panzer's turret starts rotating, zeroing in on the MBT.
Woosh
Clang, Crunch
An APDS shell passes next to the turret, ripping the Schürtzen plates on the turret's left side and flinging them in the air with no resistance, the long, metallic rod continuing unaffected and crashing through a nearby building's wall like a nail through a wall.
"Fire when ready," Miho says at Hana, who in return exhales slowly and makes some final adjustments. Like a line of musketeers, all Delta tanks shoot at the same time, managing to put out of commission an M60 tank, a machine-gun emplacement and the crew of one AT gun. Hana's shell strikes the M60 square in the turret ring right from the center of mass, and it creates enough shrapnel to fatally wound both the gunner and the commander.
"Target hit," she announces softly as she readjusts her aim, waiting for the next shell to be loaded.
"Up!" Yukari shouts as she throws another shell in the breech.
Boom
Firing another shell at the M60 and hitting the turret ring on its left side, she nails the loader and puts him out of commission.
"Target eliminated," she announces as she spots the only survivor from the crew, the driver, opening his hatch and getting out, then jumping to the ground and running into safety.
"Start hitting the anti-tank guns. Yukari, load HE. Saori, use the machine-gun and try to suppress any infantry that you see. If they get too close to us we will be in trouble," Miho orders and everyone complies.
Ratatatatatata
As Saori starts shooting at any infantry she can see in order to suppress them, and Hana is dealing with the AT guns, Miho scans the enemy forces, who despite their great losses show no signs of retreating or losing morale. "They are getting pushed back bit by bit, but I feel like something's off..." she mutters to herself, just before a mortar shell lands next to the Panzer IV and shakes it slightly.
"All units, advance till the enemy's second line of defense and support the infantry at capturing the city hall," Delta leader orders through the radio and all tanks jerk in motion, pushing slowly forward through the wall of lead and mortar shells that is being thrown against them.
"Spotted AT infantry at my 11 o'clock, engaging now," Delta-2 says and his coaxial roars into life, firing at a squad of five soldiers that has hidden within one of the shallow craters the ground has.
"Enemy reinforcements incoming from our flanks!"
"What are the mechanized units doing!? We need them here now!"
"Incoming barrage!"
Explosions fill the plaza in front of the city hall, as mortar shell after mortar shell falls from the sky, causing craters in the ground and throwing pieces of bricks and dust, as well dirt, everywhere. All frequencies flare up with reports of enemy reinforcements and requests of support as the enemy pours into the plaza through the north and south avenues, the battle intensifying even more than before.
"Hana, a squad of enemy soldiers is trying to make it to the nearby houses! Drop them!" Miho orders as she spots a team of five enemy soldiers exiting from a nearby crater the previous artillery barrage had caused, trying to run at the safety of a nearby apartment building.
"On it!" she says and aims the cannon at the running men, firing an HE shell at them. One man manages to dive inside the apartment building just in the nick of time, three of them get obliterated into bloody chunks, and the last one gets blasted backwards, getting showered with a storm of shrapnel.
"Miho, I'll need to change barrel after this belt!" Saori says through the intercom, trying to suppress with the hull-mounted MG-34 some enemy soldiers that are hiding inside a store at the other end of the plaza.
"Roger that!" Miho responds, looking at all the potential targets through her cupola's vision ports. "Hana, targets at the right side of the town hall, near the windows on the first and second floor."
"Aiming," Hana says as she guides the cannon and aims its sight at the outermost window of the town hall's right side. "Ready to fire."
"Fire."
A second later, the room explodes, with concrete chunks, rubble, and mutilated bodies flying everywhere, before the room on the second floor crumbles down from its own weight.
"To all units fighting near the town hall, this is Command. Enemy forces are greater than expected. Commence tactical withdrawal to secondary defense line and remain put."
"To all Delta elements, this is Delta Leader. Withdraw at the edge of the plaza and hold till all forces have successfully retreated to the secondary defense line."
"Delta-2 acknowledges."
"Delta-3 acknowledges."
"Delta-4 acknowledges."
"Delta-5 acknowledges," Miho says on the radio. "Mako, reverse till the edge of the plaza, but keep the speed low so Hana can aim!"
"Roger."
"So much for a small reconnaissance force," Yukari groans as she pushes another HE shell inside the cannon's breach.
"Changing barrels!" Saori announces as she fires the last bullets of her MG-34.
"Copy that! Hana, try to suppress the soldiers in front of us with the coaxial until Saori has changed the MG's barrel.
"Copy that," Hana responds, but then an explosion occurs at the tank's left. Looking through the cupola, Miho spots an M60A3 on fire, with pillars of flames spewing out of the cupola and the loader's hatch.
"We just lost Delta-3!"
"We need to get out of here or we will get overrun!"
"Miho, in front of us! Enemy soldier with an RPG, distance 50 meters!" Mako says with widened eyes as she spots the man kneeling in one knee and aiming the shoulder-mounted weapon straight at them.
Knowing she has no time to order Hana to deal with him, and since he is closer than 60 meters the APS won't register the RPG warhead, she stands up and opens her hatch, grabbing the cupola mounted MG-34. But as she aims it at the man and fires, the soldier does the same too, with the warhead landing directly on the NERA-covered frontal plate, between the driver's vision port and the hull's machine gun. A great fireball devours the front of the tank, as Miho immediately hears Mako screaming through the intercom.
Ratatatata
"Mako!" Miho shouts after dealing with the enemy soldier and dives inside the tank as it jerks into an abrupt stop. "Mako, are you alright!?"
"Sh-She was hit! Something flew inside from her vision port and hit her in her forearm!" Saori almost yells in her panic, looking at Mako's bleeding forearm with a narrow cut in it and a metal piece stuck at the end of it.
"Delta-5, why did you stop?" Delta Leader asks through the radio, but Miho doesn't even register his voice.
"Hana, keep firing at any targets you see! Mako, can you still drive?" Miho asks and Mako grabs the track levers.
"Agh!"
But as she pulls them, the wound in her arm jolts in pain, causing her to let of the track levers immediately.
"N-No," she answers, sweat forming on her face and a few beads rolling down on her chin.
"We need to treat her wound, she is losing blood!" Saori says as she grabs the first aid kit box to treat the wound.
"Miho, the enemies are too many. They'll overwhelm us if we don't move now," Hana reports, and Miho falls silent for a second, considering all her options.
"Delta-5, respond! What's your status?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, Miho immediately responds.
"Delta Leader, this is Delta-5. My driver has been injured and we need time to treat her injury. Until then we can't move." Getting halfway through her cupola and grabbing the MG34 in front of her, Miho starts raining death at any soldier that she can see, or anyone who is foolishly brave enough to run directly towards the tank.
"For the love of... Delta-4, support Delta-5 till they are able to move. The rest of you continue with your previous orders."
"Delta-4 copies, moving to support now," Ryan says and his tank stops moving backwards, instead moving towards Miho and stopping next to the Panzer IV.
"This isn't good, Miho. We'll get surrounded if you don't patch up your driver fast enough," Ryan's voice bleeds through the radio, with more enemy reinforcements appearing and ever getting close to them; even the left side has started to crumble, threatening to cut off both Miho and him from retreating.
"We're doing as fast as we can!" Miho answers back, lowering herself slightly in the cupola to avoid a few bullets that wheeze by close to her head. But as she does that, she spots another glint in the distance, and this time she is sure she isn't just imagining things. "Sniper!" she shouts and dives inside, a bullet flying millimeters over the cupola moments after.
"Saw him, engaging now," Ryan says and the M60's turret turns to point its cannon at a six-storey, red building at the other end of the plaza. After a few seconds of aiming and making some adjustments, an HE shell is fired at the top of the building, exploding on impact and showering the ground with dust and falling debris.
"To all units, this is Command. Retreat from the plaza immediately, an artillery barrage will be initiated to halt the enemy's advance and give us time to prepare our defences."
"Miho, we need to get out of the plaza now!"
"Delta-5, incoming barrage in 30 seconds! If you don't move now, you'll die!"
Because of the looming danger of death hanging over their heads, all the voices on the radio practically yelling that they need to move, and the constant pinging sounds of bullets showering the tank, Miho is really nearing her limits, especially since one of her friends has been wounded.
"Saori, how much more!?" she shouts at her friend unconsciously, the stress of the situation finally catching up with her.
"Almost done!" she shouts back, tightening a bandage around Mako's cut. "This should do for now!"
"Mako, start reversing, now!"
Mako tries to pull the track levers, but her wound just starts burning with pain, the bandage over the cut getting a red hue from the blood that seeps out.
"Mmgh!"
Grunting from the pain, she unconsciously lets the levers, grabbing her right arm by the wrist and squeezing tightly in an attempt to fight the burning sensation that devours her forearm.
"Mako, let me drive! You must not aggravate your injury any further!" Saori says the moment she sees the bandage turn red, but Mako shakes her head.
"I can drive, just give me a moment," Mako says and grabs the levers with fiery determination, steeling herself for what's coming next. Stray shells start plunging here and there in the plaza, an indication that the bulk of the barrage isn't far away.
"Delta-4, retreat immediately from the plaza," Delta Leader says on the radio, but Ryan almost immediately replies, as if he had already heard the question.
"Are you nuts!? They'll overrun Miho's tank if i retreat now!"
"Lieutenant Ryan, I order you to immediately withdraw back to the secondary line!" Delta Leader shouts harshly through the radio, his and Delta-2's tank already moving away from the plaza's edge further into the avenue. Ryan would have answered harshly too, if it wasn't for Miho's intervention.
"Ryan, get out of here now! We'll be right behind you!" Miho says through her headset's microphone and looks through her cupola, the artillery shells that fall through the sky multiplying by the second. Albeit like the tank itself is reluctant in leaving a comrade behind, it does turn around and starts moving away, a few shells landing near it and shaking it thoroughly. Even the enemy moves away and starts taking refuge inside the nearby buildings, though a few rockets do get launched at the Panzer IV, only to get intercepted by the APS and destroyed before they can reach their intended target. "Mako, we need to get out of here now!"
Clenching her hands tightly around the handles of the levers and pulling with all her might, Mako grimaces painfully as the tank jerks and moves in reverse at full speed, around 30km/h thanks to the new engine and transmission. And just in time as the main shelling phase arrives, completely blanketing the plaza with explosions and smoke.
"Just a bit more, cough, cough!" Miho shouts over the sounds of explosions, dirt, dust and chunks of broken bricks falling inside the crew compartment through the open cupola hatch. As shells land left and right, shaking the Panzer IV like there's no tomorrow, the tank exits the plaza and crashes to a nearby store, smashing through its front and completely thrashing the interior.
Crash
With the tank falling on one of the building's support pillars and coming to an abrupt stop, Miho bangs her head on the turret's back, knocking her headset off her head.
"Ouch," she groans, rubbing the back of her head with a painful expression. "Is everyone alright?" she asks her friends, seeing them too rubbing some part of their body.
"I'm fine, Miss Nishizumi," Yukari says first, rubbing her shoulder's side. Finding Miho's headset in front of her, she leans forward and grabs them, before giving it back at her commander. "Your headset, Miss Nishizumi."
"Im fine too, Miho," Hana says as she rubs the back of her head and back.
"We are fine down here too, Miporin!" Saori says last and Mako nods, although the pain her wound is causing is clearly shown in her slightly cringy expression.
Closing her cupola's hatch, Miho turns towards Mako. "Mako, take us back to the secondary defense line as fast as possible. There is a chance the moment the barrage ends, the enemy might try to attack us."
"Roger," she responds. "Uhm... we might have a problem," she says in a hesitant voice and everyone turns to look at her. "My vision port is busted. The glass is so cracked I can't see anything outside."
"Huh? Oh yeah, each vision port has glass blocks to protect you from shrapnel and bullets," Saori says aloud to herself, but then a question surfaces on her mind. "Then how did you get hit by shrapnel, Mako?"
Everyone looks at each other cluelessly, having no answer or logical explanation for this.
"These glass blocks are made in layers with reinforced sheets of plastic in between. You'd need a high-caliber sniper rifle to go through it," Yukari says to the others and a grim realization dawns on them.
"But if that were the case, then Mako..." Leaving it at that, Miho quickly shakes her head to refocus. "It doesn't matter, we'll look at it later. Mako, I'll guide you. Saori, contact Delta Leader and tell him we are fine and are coming back."
"Ok," Saori responds as Miho starts guiding Mako out of the building and into the avenue, the barrage still going but with less intensity than before. "Delta Leader, this is Delta-5, do you copy?"
Waiting for a few seconds, Saori hears nothing so she repeats herself.
"Delta Leader, this is Delta-5, do you copy?"
Waiting a bit more this time but still not getting a response, she turns around to look at Miho. "Miporin, there's no response from Delta Leader."
"Try to contact Command and see if something happened at the defense line."
While Saori tries to change frequency, Miho looks through her cupola forward, noting the presence of a few sandbag positions along with a few soldiers behind them furiously working to set up defences on the wide road of the avenue, setting up machine-gun and mortar emplacements, while a single tank is already set a few meters behind the sandbags and looking towards them. "Everyone, unlock your hatches;We've reached the secondary defense line. Mako, slow down a little and go stop at the edge of the road, behind the tank you see on your right."
"Copy that," Mako says and unlocks her hatch, opening it and lifting her head slightly outside the tank so she can see what's going on. The others do so, unlocking their hatches, and Miho raises herself through the cupola so that the soldiers won't mistake them for enemies.
"Miporin, I can't reach Command either. Do you think our radio might be damaged?" Saori reports through the intercomms as she opens her hatch to let some cool air enter the crew compartment, the heat of the summer finally getting unbearable with their black uniforms.
"No, it's just that our antenna is missing," Miho answers a few seconds later, which takes Saori by surprise.
"Huh!? What do you mean it's missing?"
"It isn't exactly missing, more like it's broken. Probably it got hit by something during the firefight in the plaza."
As the Panzer passes the sandbags and the tank, an M60A3 from the Beta platoon, and stops behind it, Miho dives inside for a moment.
"Hana, Saori, help Mako out of the tank and go find a medic to look at her wound. Yukari, look around the tank for any significant damage on it, then replenish the ammorack closest to you. I'll go and look for Delta Leader and the rest to notify them we don't have communications."
Exiting the tank and jumping down on the ground, she starts looking around for any members of Delta platoon or their tanks.
"Though... How I'm I supposed to find them?" she mutters to herself, everywhere she looks spotting a mass of soldiers going back and forth hurriedly.
"Hey, you! Are you part of Delta platoon?"
Hearing a voice from behind, she turns around to find a man calling at her from the M60's cupola they just had passed.
"Huh? Eh, yes I am," Miho responds back. "Do you know perhaps where the rest of the platoon is?"
"Yeah, one of its members, I think his name was Ryan? Not really sure, but he said to tell you they have gathered a few streets further inside the avenue," the man explains and Miho bows a little in gratitude.
"Thank you very much."
"Don't mention it," the man waves away the gratitude with his hand, then he spots Saori and Hana helping Mako down the tank. "Is that girl okay?" he asks and Miho turns to look at them.
"Oh, my driver got wounded during the battle. Somehow a piece of shrapnel flew inside the crew compartment and cut her in her forearm," she answers back.
"There should be a triage station set up a block or two further down the avenue. If I remember correctly, it should be at the left side near one of the intersections."
"Thank you very much!" Miho bows once again, then quickly goes towards her friends. "Girls, there should be a triage station one or two blocks down the avenue, near the left side of one of the intersections!"
"Are you sure?" Saori asks as they wait for Miho to catch up with them.
"Yes. One of the crew members from the tank we just passed told me about it. He also said that the rest of the Delta members are further down the avenue," Miho nods as the girls start going further down the avenue in search of the triage station and the Delta members.
"Mako, does your injury hurt?" Saori asks the black-haired girl, seeing discomfort painted on her face.
"No," Mako shakes her head. "It's only a little sting I feel."
"That's good. It means the injury might not be that deep, or that there is no damage to the muscle or bone," Miho says and Mako nods.
"So what happens now? Do we wait for the enemies to attack us, or are we going to attack them again?" Saori asks, and Miho adopts a thoughtful expression for a few moments.
"Hmm, I really don't know. Since the enemy outnumbers us and our attack failed, we'll probably be ordered to wait until the forces on the flanks complete their encirclement, then be ordered to wipe out any enemies inside the city."
"This is obviously not a force that could go unnoticed, so one has to wonder how the people in command thought that the enemy had only a small reconnaissance force..." Hana wonders aloud, and everyone falls silent. Indeed, to miss such a large military force, your scouts were either really bad, or something else was at play here.
"Maybe they were fed false information?" Mako suggests, and Miho immediately understands what she means.
"You think there are spies within the military?" she asks and Mako nods.
"It's one explanation. It could certainly explain how Command got reports for a small reconnaissance force when in reality is just a large part of the main force or even the whole enemy force. Or the scouts could have been inexperienced and made mistakes when noting the enemy force, or even missed part of it."
"Whichever the case, though, it matters little now. Let's hope the enemy gets cut off and is forced to retreat, or we'll have one hell of a fight on our hands."
"Ow, my stomach hurts," Saori complains and grabs her abdomen, cringing slightly at the discomfort she is feeling. "I guess the stress from before didn't go away," she sighs, their narrow escape from the artillery barrage replaying on her head.
"You mean from the morning?" Miho asks and Saori turns to look at her.
"From the morning?" Saori asks unsure what Miho means, and Hana and Mako turn to look at her as well.
"When I saw you in the morning your face was flustered, so I thought you were feeling unwell," Miho explains and Saori just stares at her confused for a few seconds, before understanding at which instance she is referring to.
Turning around to obstruct the view of her rapidly reddening cheeks, she waves her hand dismissively in front of her, though the girls can't see her face.
"Oh, that, you don't need to worry, everything is fine!" she laughs a little awkwardly, still looking away from the girls. "I meant the stress from the artillery barrage. It's not every day we narrowly escape through a rain of shells."
"Are you sure you are alright? If you want, you can go back to the tank and rest a little," Miho offers, but Saori shakes her head, finally turning around after her cheeks regain their normal color, albeit a pink hue remains on them.
"I'll be fine, Miporin. I'm sure it'll pass in a couple of minutes or so," she says, then points at the intersection a few meters away from them. "I think I see the triage station."
Getting a bit closer, the girls spot a couple of tents erected at the intersected road perpendicular to theirs, with a sign above each reading "Triage Station". People go in an out, some times carrying medical supplies, others carrying dead and wounded soldiers.
"Get Mako's wound treated. In the meantime, I'll search for Delta Leader and the rest. I'll meet you back at the tank, though don't take too long; we don't know if and when the enemy will attack," Miho says and the girls nod.
Leaving them and proceeding further down the avenue, Miho starts looking around for any signs of the Delta members or their tanks. But however much she looks and looks, the only thing she sees are WCC infantry and support personnel.
Maybe I didn't notice them and passed them? she thinks, having walked a fair amount of distance. Maybe I did. The guy from Beta platoon said they were a few streets further down the avenue after all.
But as Miho turns around, she overhears by chance a rather interesting conversation between two soldiers.
"No way I'm going out there dude! I'm telling you I saw her! She was in that red building at the other end of the plaza, sniping people like she was hunting ducks!"
Hearing about a sniper in a red building immediately catches her attention, remembering that the glint of a sniper scope she had seen was at a red building across the plaza too. Turning to discreetly look at the two men who sit at the side of the avenue on the pavement, she keeps her distance so she won't seem suspicious, but keeps listening intently.
"Come on, Josh, you are probably just overreacting. She could just be a simple female sniper; with how little military personnel all factions have after the 1st Factions War, it wouldn't be odd if they have drafted women in the army. Heck, even we have some fighting here in the city," the man sitting nearest to Miho says in an attempt to calm the man next to him, but it seems it has the opposite effect.
"I'm telling you John, I saw it clearly. It was her. It was Deathclaw! Even Danny saw her, just before she put a bullet in his skull. For fuck's sake, the bullet went through his scope! Do you even know what kind of skills you need to pull off something like that!?" he shouts in frustration and anger, grabbing the sides of his head and looking on the ground. "I-I'm telling you man, this woman...she is not human. Those soulless, cold eyes staring at you like a predator looking at its prey, her emotionless expression that's devoid of any feelings... No regret or remorse, nothing! It was so terrifying, Josh, it was like I was looking Death itself straight in the eyes. If it wasn't for a guy next to me bumping on me and pushing me down on the ground out of nowhere, I'd have a bullet in my head too..."
The scared man starts shaking quite badly, so the man next to him pats his back reassuringly to calm him.
"Don't worry so much about it. At the end of the day you survived and that's what matters. And if what you are saying is true, then you'll become popular with the ladies real quick! It's not everyday that someone escapes the clutches of Deathclaw!" the man laughs and the other man just looks at him in disapprovement. Having heard what she wanted, Miho turns around to go back in searching for any of the Delta members, only to find a familiar face a few steps away from her.
"Ah, Ryan!" she exclaims at the young tank commander, who in turn snaps his gaze at her the moment he hears her voice.
"Miho?" Ryan says in disbelief, then quickly runs to her and hugs her. "Thank God, you are alive! We thought you didn't make it out of the barrage in time!"
"Y-Yeah, it was a really close call," she smiles awkwardly, not expecting the man to actually go as far as to hug her.
"Then why didn't you contact us? Oh man, the captain is going to be so pissed off..." he sighs and Miho feels a chilly sensation creeping on her spine.
"W-Well, our radio antenna got cut somehow, so we can't contact anyone," Miho explains and Ryan nods.
"I see. Well, I have a few friends in the engineers squad that has been attached to us, I'll see if they can make up something to fix it temporarily."
"I doubt they'll be carrying spare antennas though..."
"Donr worry about it. They can be rather crafty when push comes to shove," Ryan grins at Miho, before remembering something. "Oh, I totally forgot. The captain said that the enemy is probably going to attack us within the hour in an attempt to push through us and attack our headquarters. Since our flanking units are threatening to cut off all the units in the city and encircle them, the enemy may try to attack HQ to throw us into confusion."
"Wouldnt it be easier to cut off our units on the flanks since they control the city hall?" Miho asks and Ryan shakes his head.
"No, since our mechanized units are keeping the flanks secure, at least for now... This whole situation really reminds me of Falaise pocket in WW2, though instead of trying to retreat, the enemy is trying to attack us. Let's hope the line holds and we all make it out alive."
"Hai. Ah, can I ask you a question?" Miho asks and Ryan nods.
"Sure."
"Do you know about an enemy sniper called Deathclaw?"
Ryan's gaze immediately hardens and his body stiffens.
"Deathclaw is an enemy female sniper that made a name for herself during the 1st Factions War. Before the earthquakes she was a member of Delta Force, an elite spec ops unit within the U.S. military. Because of this, her skills are unmatched when it comes to marksmanship, not to mention she is untouchable in close quarters combat. She has been with the IST since the U.S. got divided into independent states, and except for her appearance, we know nothing else about her."
Miho just stares at the man in disbelief, having a hard time accepting such a description of a human; it's almost as if he is describing someone trained to be a living weapon... Now that she thinks about it, it doesn't seem that far fetched.
"Where did you hear this name?" Ryan asks curiously, bringing Miho back to reality from her thoughts.
"I overheard a conversation between two soldiers about a sniper in a red building across the plaza, and her name came up."
"If that's the case, then it explains a lot of things. I need to inform Captain about you and see if my engineer buddies can do something about your communications, so I'll get going. Talk to you lhead," Ryan waves at her and goes away. Having nothing left to do, Miho starts walking back to the tank, noticing along the way that the avenue has somewhat emptied of military personnel, probably having been posted to guard the side streets as well. Reaching her tank, she spots the girls standing at its side next to it talking about something. Though as she gets closer, she sees Saori having a miffed expression, like she is complaining about something.
"Girls, is something the problem?" Miho asks as she reaches them, and Saori turns around like a whip to look at her.
"You won't believe the nerve the guys in the triage station had, Miporin!" she grumbles, though Hana interjects to add her own opinion on their conversation.
"In their defense, they were very busy treating their own wounded, and their supplies were not enough even for them."
"Even then, they were rude! One guy we asked to treat her wound just said he had no time to waste on mercenaries, and when we asked another medic for a suture kit, he said the supplies were for the army, not freelance contractors that just fight for money! It's not like we had a saying in all this..." she frowns and crosses her arms over her chest.
" Is your wound still untreated?" Miho asks Mako, who in response shakes her head and raises her arm for Miho to see.
"Thankfully there were enough supplies left in our first aid kit for Hana to stitch the cut, but it was its last use. If any of us get a wound that needs stitching, we'll be in trouble."
"Still, I'd prefer if someone with medical experience took a look on the wound, since I don't know if I have closed it properly. Same goes with your own wound, Miho," Hana expresses her concern.
"We'll do that when we get back at base. Yukari, did you find any major damage on the tank?"
"No, Miss Nishizumi. The only damage I could find are the destroyed Schürtzen plates on the left side of the turret, the NERA blocks which the RPG warhead impacted, and Mako's vision port being cracked," she says and Miho nods.
"Good. Return to your positions, word is the enemy will attack us in an attempt to break through and attack our base directly. We must not allow for this to happen, or the WCC forces will fall into disarray and the battle for Whitehead will be our loss."
"Hai!" the girls respond and quickly climb the tank, entering through their respective hatches. Miho on the other hand goes at the front of the tank and climbs the front upper glacis, taking a better look at the cracked glass block.
"Something on your mind, Miporin?" Saori asks from her position, her head poking out of her opened hatch.
"I'm just wondering what really flew inside the cabin and hit Mako. If it was really a bullet, it'd have at least left an entry mark, but all I can see are cracks, like something blunt hit it," she thinks aloud. Pressing her fingertips against the rugged surface of the cracks, a jolt of warmth flows within her hand, and Miho instinctively draws it back.
Was that... No, it couldn't be... she thinks on her mind, standing up to look at Mako who is quietly sitting on her seat. "Mako, can you see if anything is obstructing the view on the glass block?" she asks and Mako leans closer on the vision port, indeed spotting something with a weird shape encased within the glass.
"I can see something inside the glass block, but I can't understand what it is," she answers and Miho falls silent in thought, then turns to Saori.
"Saori, do you have the shrapnel that hit Mako?"
"I put it somewhere here, give me a second to find it." Diving inside the tank, Saori's head pops out after a few moments, handing Miho the bloody shard. Taking it, Miho immediately feels a strange warmth entering her hand, but this time it feels a lot stronger than with the cracks in the glass block.
"Hmm, just as I suspected," Miho nods to herself, then hands the shrapnel piece back to Saori.
"What is it?" By now both Hana and Yukari watch Miho from their own hatches, waiting for her answer, completely missing the WCC soldiers that keep coming on the front of the defense line and taking cover behind the sandbag positions or manning the machine-guns that have been set there.
"Whatever hit Mako's vision port, it was coated in Ether."
Each girl displays her shock and surprise in various degrees, yet none says anything for a few seconds, only the sound of people moving around and their equipment clanging filling the air.
"Oh man, does that mean that someone who can use Ether is after us!?" Yukari says with a panicky voice, a concerned expression forming on her face.
"Then that could mean the enemy has an Ether user," Hana says with a thoughtful expression. "Should we report this to Blackout?"
"It's also possible that the Institute has already found us somehow and wishes to eliminate us," Mako proposes with a few beads of sweat already forming on her forehead.
"What if the enemy has developed an experimental weapon that uses Ether? If I remember correctly, Anzu had said that a lot of countries were trying to weaponize it before the earthquakes, right? It wouldn't be that far-fetched to think they'd have at least a working prototype of some kind," Saori speculates.
While each opinion sounds logical, Miho feels none of them is right.
"I don't think that's the case here," she shakes her head, and the others turn to look at her. "First of all, if the Institute had really found out about us, they wouldn't beat around the bush with killing us; they'd probably send a sizable force just to make sure we'd really die. Second, while it's true that the countries probably have developed their own Ether programs and weapons, it is highly unlikely that they'd use it from the get go; most likely they'd keep it as their trump card or a last resort if things go awry somewhere. And third, if it was really an Ether user, I'd have sensed them the moment they'd use their power."
"Then what could it have been?" Saori asks, and Miho simply shakes her head.
"We don't have enough information to draw a definite conclusion yet, but if I had to choose something, your suggestion would be the most logical."
"Hey, what are you doing out here!? The enemy has already started their attack!"
Hearing someone yelling, the girls turn to find two soldiers with rather heavy backpacks running towards them, both holding a large rod of flexible metal.
"Girls, back to your positions!" Miho immediately orders and the girls do so. "The attack has already begun? And who are you?"
"Ryan sent us to repair a radio antenna! Told us to find a Blackout mercenary going by the name Miho Nishizumi," one of them says out of breath, letting the replacement antenna to fall on the ground. The other man does so too, finding its weight too much to lift it all alone. Gunfire and explosions echo on all the streets surrounding the avenue, signaling the attack has indeed started.
"I'm her! The antenna's base is on the left back side of the hull! Wait for us to get in position, then you can start the repairs!"
Vrrrt-Vroomvroomvroomvrooom
As the Panzer's engine turns on, and Miho enters the tank through her cupola, the two men grab the spare antenna and move back to let the Panzer turn.
"Hey, have you been assigned anywhere?" shouts the M60's commander to Miho, who turns to look at him.
"No!"
"Then take position at the other sandbag position, just behind the machine-gun emplacement!"
"Copy that! Mako, start turning the tank. When I say..."
As Miho guides the Panzer IV at the indicated position and the two engineers lift the spare antenna to follow it, smoke shells start falling around 100 meters away from the defense line, followed by actual artillery shells falling amongst them.
"Mako, stop the tank!" Miho orders as the first shells start plunging in the ground, throwing debris and people everywhere. The two engineers instantly forfeit the antenna and run to the nearest building for cover, like many other soldiers do, though a few remain in their positions, lying behind cover and praying they won't get blown to bits by a shell. A stray shell actually hits one of the nearby buildings, raining down on the street even more rubble and crushing a few unfortunate men. After the artillery salvo ends, the sounds of running engines reverberate through the white smokescreen that has been set up, the sounds of battle growing even louder all around them.
"Everyone get ready! The enemy is almost on us!"
"Yukari, what shell do we have loaded in the breech?" Miho asks in a quiet voice, looking through her cupola at the slowly dissipating smokescreen. More smoke shells plunge from the sky, this time creating a smokescreen at 50 meters away from them.
"If I remember correctly, it's an HE shell," she responds, in her hands holding an orange-tipped shell.
"Switch to APCR. And Hana, aim at the middle of the road, but hold fire until I say otherwise. The enemy will be surely advancing with armor to support their infantry, so we need to knock them out first," she orders and the girls comply, Yukari switching the orange-tipped shell she holds with a black-tipped one, while Hana rotates the turret slightly for the cannon to aim at the center of the avenue. Getting out of her cupola to look at the engine deck of her tank, she finds the two engineers already working on replacing the missing radio antenna.
"The enemies will be attacking us any moment now, will you be okay?" she asks in concern, and the men look at her.
"Ain't you cute being concerned for us and all?" one of the men chuckles at her, waving his hand in front of him and turning back to continue the repairs. "We'll be fine, so don't worry about us."
"This isn't the first time we are fixing something under heavy fire, so like Daniel said, we'll be fine. And if things get too heated, we'll take cover behind your tank and continue when it'll be safer."
"Just be careful," Miho nods at them and dives inside, though her cheeks somewhat flush when she hears the guys whisper while she closes her hatch.
"Dude, Ryan was right, she is both cute and hot!"
"Yeah, too bad Ryan beat us to-"
Closing her hatch, Miho takes a moment to clear her mind and focus on the current situation. As the sound of running engines and clanging tracks draws closer and closer, adrenaline starts seeping in Miho's circulation bit by bit, cold sweat forming all over her body. But, the moment the sound reaches at the smokescreen's border and the faint silhouette of a cannon barrel peeks out, all hell breaks loose.
"Open fire!"
Every single soldier on the defense line opens fire at the smokescreen, while the tanks and AT guns fire at the emerging Sheridan, completely shredding it.
"Hana, hostile infantry coming through the smokescreen, drop them! Saori, change the APS' radius to 20 meters, but keep the missile interception to three!" Miho orders. As Hana turns the turret and fires her coaxial machine-gun at a bunch of soldiers that have clustered together, Saori turns to a small touchscreen that hungs to her right, accessing the APS and changing its settings.
"Miporin, it'll take 2 minutes for the system to reset," Saori says through the intercoms as she confirms the new settings, before the screen blackens and lines of code start scrolling from its bottom to the top.
"Copy that! Hana, enemy M60 at your 11 o'clock, turning its turret to us!"
"Aiming."
Like she had done back at the plaza, Hana aims at the M60's turret ring and fires, successfully penetrating and killing the gunner, before the friendly M60 fires at it and knocks out the rest of the crew. Another M60 appears out of the smokescreen, but this one falls prey to the rockets of the AT infantry, coming to a halt only a few seconds after its appearance, fire and smoke coming from its insides.
"Miho, the smoke is dissipating," Hana notes as she sees the thick, white smoke grow thinner and thinner by the second, revealing more and more of the enemy's forces.
"Th-This... How are we supposed to hold out against so many enemies!?" Saori shouts in disbelief, seeing the sheer amount of enemy forces that occupy the avenue, consisting of at least three platoons of tanks, a dozen AFVs and their infantry, as well as SPGs.
"... This ain't going to end well for us," Miho sweat drops, her eyes widening when she sees the SPGs raising their cannons to fire. Four shots are fired from them, but they are enough to throw the whole defense line in chaos. Explosions fill the space around the Panzer IV, throwing dust and asphalt chunks everywhere, as well human limbs and people.
"Aaaah!" Saori yelps in shock as the soldier who was manning the machine-gun emplacement in front of them gets blown back on top of the tank along with a few sandbags, crashing on top of the MG's barrel and forcing it down with his weight.
"Saori, are you okay!?" Miho asks quickly, fearing whatever had happened with Mako had happened now too.
"I-I'm fine, I just got surprised, that's all," she stutters, trying to catch her breath from the sudden shock. Trying to use the machine-gun as a lever to lift the dead body and push it off of it, Saori puts all her might on the gun.
"Hhhhngg!"
But as much power as she mau put, the body doesn't budge an inch.
"Miho, I can't use the hull machine-gun, a dead body is pinning it down! I tried to move it, but it's too heavy for me!"
"Then leave it at that for now, we can't have you go outside to move it!" she responds, shifting her gaze at the enemy force that keeps moving forward despite their heavy losses. Another salvo hits them, this time landing on the buildings next to them and on the friendly M60.
Dammit, we just lost our M60! We definitely can't hold out with what forces we have at our disposal, she curses in her mind, the only effective thing that keeps the enemy from really rushing them being the AT guns that have been set up a fair distance away from them. We need reinforcements ASAP, but I can't contact anyone! What should I do now?
"To all Delta elements, this is Delta Leader, what's your status?"
"This is Delta-2, enemy numbers greater than expected but we are still holding."
"This is Delta-4. The enemy is slowly pushing us back, but I expect we'll reach a stalemate soon enough; they can't keep throwing themselves at us forever."
Hearing a radio transmission, Miho turns instinctively to look back through her cupola's vision ports, finding a gloved hand rising from behind the Schürtzen plates and forming a thumbs up, before lowering itself behind the safety of the metal plates.
"Saori, change frequency to Command and ask for the current situation!" she orders, and Saori nods, changing channels from the one for Delta platoon to the one for speaking to Command. "Command, this is Delta-5, I need a situation report, over."
As Saori talks with Command about the current situation, Miho looks at the ever increasing enemy numbers, debating whether to hold her ground or ask for reinforcements and retreat a city block to avoid getting overwhelmed.
"Miporin, Command says the flanking forces have successfully cut off enemy forces from accessing the I-10 and part of them is pursuing the fleeing enemy forces. It is expected they'll start pressuring us even more in an attempt to break the encirclement!" Saori reports, just as Yukari loads the last of the APCR shells in the gun breech.
"Miss Nishizumi, we're out of APCR!"
"Use the AP shells. Hana, see if you can damage the tanks, else target the AFVs. Saori, ask Command permission to withdraw a city block due to heavy enemy presence and request reinforcements on our position ASAP!"
Beep beep beep
As the missile warning goes off, the APS manages to intercept an ATGM and two unguided rockets, though a fourth one sneaks through between the interval the system needs to be able to acquire new targets and strikes the Schürtzen plates at the turret's right side, blowing them out of their place, the explosion shaking the tank. But despite the overwhelming enemy numbers, the soldiers stubbornly keep their ground, either firing from the nearby buildings or taking cover behind the remnants of the set up defences.
"Negative on withdrawing or reinforcements! They say to hold our ground at all costs, friendly air support arriving in ten minutes!" Saori says and Miho's blood freezes, time slowing down for a moment. Last time she heard those words, a lot of good people died, just because she chose to believe them instead of her instinct. Their deaths still weighed heavily on her shoulders and she isn't going to add more. She isn't going to make the same mistake again.
"Saori, do you have the frequency used by all friendly units?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Change to it. We are falling back to the intersection a city block behind," Miho orders and without saying anything, Saori changes to the emergency frequency used by all units in case of something unexpected.
"To all units defending the avenue, this is Delta-5. I'll be assuming temporary command till the enemy attack is over."
"Delta-5, what's the meaning of this? You don't have the jurisdiction to assume field command," comes the response from Command, but Miho simply ignores it.
"Initiate a tactical withdraw at the previous intersection and stop after it. Anti-tank gun team, I want you to go and set up at either sides of the intersection to set up a killzone for any vehicle that tries to pass it. Everyone, do not retreat quickly, or the enemy might try to rush us with their numbers."
"To all units, belay these orders. Delta-5 has no jurisdiction to assume field command. Your orders are to hold the defensive line until air support arrives."
"If you want to die like fools, then that's your choice. But I've seen enough comrades die in vain and I don't intend to add on this number any more lives," Miho says and cuts the transmission, turning to Mako and ordering her to start reversing slowly.
The girls knew what it meant to lose comrades and good friends in a fight, people that mere minutes or hours ago you were talking to and laughing with. And while after one and a half years in Blackout they had somewhat gotten used to it, it still affected them. Whether it was a good friend or a simple stranger, the death of a fellow soldier always affected you, not in the midst of the battle, but after it. Emotions are things that humans cannot ignore or contain for long, and once released can wreak havoc on one's mind. While Miho didn't believe anyone would follow her, she really hoped just for this once luck would smile on her and these trained soldiers would rather hear a mercenary that just appeared one day out of nowhere rather their superiors, but that's just wishful thinking. These people probably had families to go back to, friends, children, lovers, relatives waiting for them, praying for their safety. Why let them die over a false decision if she can save them? Why must they pay for the mistakes of others?
"This is the Lieutenant Morrison, leader of 3rd Infantry Platoon, currently defending the avenue from the advancing enemy forces. We acknowledge your orders, and we'll initiate a tactical withdrawal towards the previous intersection."
"This is Lieutenant Miller, leader of the 6th Infantry Platoon. We acknowledge your orders, Delta-5, and are retreating towards the intersection."
"To all units in the avenue, remain in your positions! If you don't follow these orders, you'll be-!"
"Oops, seems we lost the transmission with Command," Saori says, terminating the transmission manually.
As both the Panzer IV and the infantry retreat bit by bit in order to keep the enemy at bay and not allow them to overwhelm them, fate decides to give her own cruel twist in this fight, as a few mortar rounds emmiting a bright, white light arc above them.
"Huh, what are these?" Miho wonders aloud, looking at the white lights confused. "Are these flares?"
But as the mortar rounds reach directly above her and the retreating platoons, they explode, dousing everything beneath them in white phosphorus. Miho's eyes widen in shock as the whole part of the avenue where she and the infantry are catch fire, like a part of Hell has somehow found its way on Earth.
"Everyone seal your hatches! Mako, stop the tank immediately!" Miho says in a hurry, sealing her own hatch as fast as she can.
"What happened Miss Nishizumi?" Yukari asks as she seals her hatch, then grabs an AP shell to have ready to load on the gun breech.
"The enemy used white phosphorus!" she answers, looking through her cupola at the white cloud of death, as well the burning people that lay on the asphalt dead or are quickly approaching death's door. The tank starts shaking as the enemy Bradleys start showering it with autocannon rounds, digging through the NERA blocks and bouncing off of the frontal hull plate.
"W-What? Why would they use something so horrible?" she asks back in shock.
"I-Is it that bad?" Saori asks, admittedly not knowing what white phosphorus is.
Boom!
A pair of ATGMs get intercepted by the APS, but a warning starts flashing on the touchscreen next to Saori.
"Miporin, the APS has only four charges left!" she reports, just as another rocket gets intercepted by it. "Make it three!"
Looking at the avenue behind them and seeing the white phosphorus cloud has thinned enough so that the girls won't get hurt even if it somehow enters inside the crew compartment, a chill runs through her spine seeing all the burned bodies of the soldiers, some still alive and shouting for help. But in the distance, near the intersection, she can see a fair amount of soldiers who managed to make it out almost unscathed, or that where fast enough to take cover inside the buildings.
"White phosphorus is an incendiary weapon mainly, though it is used in smoke grenades as well. It can inflict third degree burns, and can ignite a variety of things the moment it comes into contact with it. And even if you survive such burns, because your body will absorb the phosphorus, it can lead to heart or liver failure," Yukari answers Saori's question, who pales more and more with each word she hears.
"Th-This sounds really horrible..."
"Mako, take us at the intersection as fast as possible! You are parallel to the pavement, so don't stop until I say so!"
Putting the gear to reverse, the Panzer IV starts reversing at high speeds, with the enemy armor picks up speed too, pushing forward like a torrent of steel.
"To 3rd and 6th infantry platoons, what's your status?" she asks through the radio, their tank shaking from the shells of the SPGs that land close to it, as well as from the few burned bodies that they have to pass over.
"This is Lieutenant Miller, heavy casualties from the phosphorus strike. We also have a situation, the triage station is set up at the left of the intersection, so we'll be occupying the buildings before it."
"This is Platoon Sergeant Miles, Lieutenant Morrison has been heavily wounded and is unconscious. Half of the 3rd Platoon is KIA, and most survivors are wounded. We are in no condition to fight, we need to retreat immediately!"
Miho widens her eyes in disbelief, how could she forget the triage center? Was this the reason Command was adamant about not retreating? This means we absolutely cannot let the enemy pass us.
"Sergeant Miles, have anyone who can fight garisson the buildings the 6th entered, then evacuate the wounded. AT gun team, set up at the borders of the intersection and fire at any enemy vehicles you see! We must not let them pass us or they might target the triage station!"
"This is AT team, setting up at the borders of the intersection, near its left side. We'll prioritize the closest vehicle on us."
"Acknowledged, sending any soldier that can fight at the buildings the 3rd has garrisoned!"
Clang
An APDS round ricochets at the turret's left side, violently shaking the tank, which leads to the body that was pinning down the hull machine-gun falling off and freeing it.
Crunch!
One of the autocannon rounds that have been hitting the tank for some time now manages to hit a part of the front plate where the NERA blocks have been gouged out completely, and while it doesn't have enough energy to pass through the armor, it does penetrate up to a certain point, leading to spalling inside and Saori getting showered by shrapnel.
"Aaaaaahhh!" she screams in pain as bits of metal cut through her clothes and flesh, giving her a multitude of cuts and light gashes on her arms, thighs, torso, and face.
"Saori!" everyone shouts the moment they hear her and Miho instinctively leans down to take a look at her, just as an M60 near them fires an APDS shell at them.
Crunch!
Thanks to both tanks being on the move, the shell strikes the Panzer IV's cupola and passes cleanly through it, though it produces a small amount of shrapnel that rain down on Miho. While most of them miss her or lose enough energy by bouncing around the turret walls so they aren't lethal, a few hit her directly and dig through her vest and clothes, cutting her back like a hot knife passing through butter.
"Gah!" she shouts painfully, feeling a burning sensation on her back, as well something warm and wet flowing down her waist.
"Miho!?" Hana says in distress as Yukari barely manages to lift her hands that hold an AP shell and stop Miho from falling on her.
"I-I'm fine, I'm fine! Yukari, check how Saori is!" she mutters through gritted teeth, Hana grabbing her and gently pushing her back to her seat.
"Miho, your back, there is blood running from it," Hana says as she spots a few lines of red liquid running from the vest's edges down on her seat.
"The shrapnel must have cut in my back," she cringes, taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to combat the pain she is feeling. Dragging herself up and looking through her destroyed cupola, she tells Mako to stop the tank, the Panzer IV skidding to a stop in the middle of the intersection.
"How's Saori?" she asks, slumping down on her seat with a painful expression.
"She's full of cuts and light gashes, and is losing blood," Yukari says as she looks at Saori's injuries from behind her.
"It hurts so much..." Saori moans, tears running through her clenched eyelids, keeping her body as still as possible in order to minimize the pain she is feeling.
Vzzzt
Clang
The tank shakes violently as something hits it at the side, making Saori scream in pain from her aggravated wounds, while Mako just looks at her in terror, not knowing what to do.
"What now?" Miho asks herself as she drags her body up to look through the hole her cupola has, spotting an M1A2 Abrams in the distance with a smoking barrel aimed towards them. "Oh no..."
There is no way we can deal with an MBT, especially from the front. And even if we had a way to deal with it, the enemy will just overwhelm us at some point... Oh dear gods, please help us in our times of need, Miho prays in her mind, hoping for a miracle that will save them.
"To all units, this is Command. Air support will be arriving any moment now, hold positions till the airstrikes are over."
And indeed as if the gods heard her prayers, Command's transmission bleeds through her headset and the sounds of jets fill the evening sky, moments before great fireballs consume the avenue in front of them, explosions that devastate anything that stands on the four-lane road.
"We are saved," Miho sighs blissfully, sinking on her seat with an expression of relief.
Another set of explosions cover the avenue, just to make sure any enemy forces that survived the first airstrike get destroyed.
"To all units, the airstrikes have been completed. Enemy units are retreating back to the city hall for a last stand. Pursue them at all costs and don't let them get organized and dig in!" comes the transmission from Command, but before she complies with the orders, she turns to Yukari.
"Yukari, come with me and help me get Saori out of the tank. Mako, keep the engine running, we need to go after any surviving enemies," Miho orders and lifts herself out of the tank, albeit with difficulty, while Yukari exits from her hatch. Making their way to the front, Miho opens Saori's hatch and kneels next to it. "Grab her right arm, I'll grab her left."
But as they do so, they unintentionally press some of her wounds, causing Saori to squirm in pain.
"We pull her up on three, okay?" Miho says and Yukari nods. "One, two, three!"
As they pull Saori out of the tank as fast as they can, the redhead does her best to bear with the pain, only a grunt escaping her gritted teeth.
"Hey, you need any help?" a soldier that passes next to the tank asks the girls, seeing Saori's bloodied and full of wounds body.
"She is heavily wounded and has lost a lot of blood! Can you please take her to the triage station?" Miho asks the man and without a single word, the soldier slings his weapon and outstretches his arms towards the girls. Slowly lowering her on his arms, the man immediately turns around and quickly takes Saori to the triage station. Looking at Saori for a few moments, Miho taps Yukari on her shoulder and nods towards the tank's turret. "Come on, the sooner we are done with the mission, the sooner we can come back for Saori."
"What about your back, Miss Nishizumi?" Yukari asks in concern as she reaches her hatch, and Miho smiles at her.
"You don't need to worry. The bleeding has stopped and the pain has subsided, so I'll have it treated when we come back here."
Entering through the cupola, Miho turns to Mako.
"Mako move forward at a moderate speed, I'll guide you around the wreckages."
And thus ,the girls moved on the avenue once more, though now it was fully devasted, full of burned bodies, shallow craters and burning wrecks of vehicles. But despite all of this destruction, none of them said a single word, remaining silent with worry over their friend. After finally reaching the edge of the city hall's plaza along with the 6th infantry platoon, since the 3rd remained back to safeguard the triage station, everyone expected the surviving enemy forces to put up stiff resistance, make a last stand. Yet, it seems the enemy had other plans.
"Mako, stop the tank."
Lifting herself from her seat and halfway through her cupola, Miho looks all around the plaza, seeing WCC forces everywhere aiming their weapons in the few surviving enemy units that are in and around the city hall. But instead of aiming their weapons at them and firing, the enemy units have laid their them down on the ground and have raised their hands in the air, while a white flag waves gently from the last floor of the damaged building.
"Haaah... So the enemy decided to surrender. At least there'll be no more bloodshed," Miho sighs tiredly, leaning at the side of the cupola and using it to support her body. I feel exhausted. Even the day-long missions back in Blackout weren't this intense... I just want to go to sleep.
"To all units, this is Command. The enemy forces within the city have surrendered and the ones outside of it are withdrawing as we speak. With this, the battle for the city of Whitehead has come to an end, with us being the victors."
Despite Command's good news, though, no one is celebrating or cheering, instead a hardened gaze being present on every soldier's face.
"But the enemy cannot go unpunished for what they have done. Therefore, you are all ordered to eliminate all enemy forces within the city-"
Without even waiting for Command to finish, Miho instinctively presses a button on her headset and starts talking.
"Even if their actions deserve punishment, executing unarmed people that have surrendered and are clearly stating they wish to fight no more is wrong and unethical!" Miho shouts on her microphone, her own ideals preventing her from letting what equals to a war crime just happen in front of her.
Miho just couldn't believe what she had heard. Shooting people who have surrendered? Was this how much the factions hated each other?
"These are fellow Americans, your fellow countrymen! Hasn't been enough bloodshed between you yet? Is there any reason to spill even more blood for a fight that has clearly been won?" Because her radio is still tuned in the emergency channel, everyone in the city can hear her clearly, and it is evident by the conflicting emotions that are surfacing on each soldier's face. But despite this, the men still raise their weapons and aim them at the surrendered people, who start pleading for their lives in an attempt to save them.
"An example must be made, Commander. Whether it is sacrificing yourself, going by the book, or doing horrible things, war is war. Everything is allowed. Now, we may have ignored you disobeying your orders to hold your ground and even assuming field command on your own because it benefited us in the end, but if you do not follow your orders this time, you'll be court-martialled in the grounds of treason and collaborating with the enemy, since you are under our jurisdiction for the duration of your contract, which means you'll be sentenced for life in jail or be given the death penalty. So I suggest you start acting like the simple mercenary you are and nothing more."
Miho is just at a loss of words. Not only because she has been cornered out of nowhere, she and her friends being threatened with court martial and the death penalty of all things, but also because the people around her seem to be doing nothing to at least express their discontent about the atrocity they are about to commit. Slumping on her seat inside the tank, she keeps staring down on her legs, an expression full of dread plastered on her face. The girls too look at her in great concern, having heard everything.
"Miho... What should we do?" Hana asks quietly as the first sounds of gunfire resound in the air, the pleads and cries of help from the enemy getting drowned by the reports of tank cannons.
Miho doesn't want to give the order, doesn't want to force the girls to do something so horrible, but she has to. Or else everyone will suffer a lot more. Maybe if she was alone, she'd have considered it. She was a person who upheld her ideals, even if it meant it could hurt her in the future. Yet with the rest of the girls around, she couldn't possibly make such a selfish decision; she treasured her friends a lot more than her own beliefs.
Looking at her opened hands with a disappointed expression and clenching them as much as she can, Miho takes a deep breath and utters a single word.
"...Fire."
And thus, the girls witnessed their first war crime, one of the many they'd find themselves in the presence of throughout this campaign of death and blood they walked on.
A/N: Sorry for this massive delay, there were a couple of reasons I was so late with this chapter. First is that I started another GuP story called Exodus: Fire and Iron. Second, my university exams start this week, so I had to study if I don't want to fail any subject. Third, bought Ace Combat 7 and God of War for my console, so my available time for writing was rather limited. Anyway, enough with the excuses. I hope you liked this chapter, and as always, suggestions, questions, corrections, reviews or PMs are greatly appreciated. Also, English isn't my native tongue, so expect some grammatical errors here and there. If you found the story interesting and had a great time, favorite and follow. Have a nice day/night and until the next chapter, stay safe!