The First Contact War
Chapter 9 War on Terror
22BBY Concordia, Pre Vizsla of clan Vizsla, one week after Mandalor Death Watch HQ.
"You mean to tell that the OAG has wiped out our forces on Mandalor, not only that, but gained public support and captured my nephew! Am I surrounded by incompetence! I thought you were proud Mandalorian warriors! But here we are losing to a bunch of inferior outsiders!" Vizla said in an increasing angry tone.
"We're trying t-" Started an officer.
"well clearly not hard enough! Now they are on our doorstep planning to attack us with the intent of destroying us and the true way of Mandalorian life! This will not stand! We will drive them from Mandalor or I will personally kill you all before they do!"
March 29th Earth Standard Calendar, General Craig on board the Righteous Fury above Concordia
"Marines will deploy via drop pod into the enemy bases. This will follow a half an hour orbital bombardment and aerial bombing. Marines will land in and around enemy positions in order to encircle and destroy Death Watch. We want none to escape. You have half an hour until drop, dismissed" Craig said the Cos over the comm. Walking back onto the bridge of the ship. Gazing out over Mandalors moon, he watched the Frigates maneuver into positions to hit the areas that they were given.
"All ships and wings, this is General Craig. Commence Operation Iron Dragon" With that order, Frigates and Star Destroyers commenced massive orbital bombardments. Blue plasma rained towards the targets on the surface while slugs from the MAC cannons speed towards the underground facilities. Squadrons of aircraft could be seen launching from the hangers.
2622 Earth Standard Calendar, OAG Dauntless James Elric
"Lift-off"
The Lightning flew off the carrier, quickly accelerating to 500 mph.
"Successful launch, I repeat, successful launch!" the pilot, Captain James Elric, called out through the radio. "Saber Five, what's your status, over?"
"Saber Three, we're launching in one mike, over"
"Copy Saber Five, I'll orbit until you're airborne"
Eric eased on the stick, rolling his aircraft to the left slightly before pulling to the left completely, turning around and making his first pass over the carrier. Looking out the left window of his aircraft, he could see his wingman making final flight checks before taking off.
"This is Saber Five; all systems are go. Ready for launch" Seconds later, Saber Five's Lightning soared off of the carrier. "This is Saber Five, we are airborne, over!"
"Copy that. Saber Three and Saber Five, proceed northwest to sector 3 and link up with Dark Star Foxtrot, they're being engaged by multiple bandits. Coordinates follow, break" The tower said, before reading out the coordinates and grid number.
"Understood. Saber Five out"
Eric pushed the stick back, and his fighter soared towards the clear blue sky of Concordia.
"Saber Three, leveling off at Angels Five, proceeding to heading 0-2-3, over"
Above Sector 3, Concordia
"Saber Three, this is Saber Five, I have radar contacts, twenty-two miles out, closing quickly, over"
"Saber Five, copy that, I see 'em. Sending IFF tone" Elric hit a few buttons and began to transmit an IFF tone to the unidentified planes. He then waited for a response. None.
"No IFF response, over"
"Damn. Prepare for combat!"
"All weapons ready!"
"Contacts confirmed. Two Vulture droids, 11 o'clock, nineteen miles out. These guys are Separatist; this shouldn't be too hard."
"Roger that. Locking on."
Elric selected the AIM-410 AMRAAM Active Radar-guided missile, perfect for longer-range engagements.
"Lock!" Elric shouted. He pushed the button on his joystick, releasing the AMRAAM. "Fox Three!"
He watched as the missile streaked into the distance.
"Bandits closing, sixteen miles!"
Elric continued to wait for the missile to hit the target. He figured that the missile would hit any second.
The two fighters continued to stay on radar.
"Damn! He must've popped chaff or something!"
"Send another one!"
Elric began to lock on to the enemy fighter again. "Lock!" Elric called. He pressed the button again, calling out "Fox Three!" as the missile sped towards the target. By now, he could barely make out two dark dots in the distance, the enemy fighters.
Soon enough, a bright orange light flashed as the missile hit the lead fighter, tearing the wing off and sending the rest of the now-flaming Vulture spiralling out of control as it plummeted to the ground. After a few seconds, a bright, brilliant explosion engulfed the fighter and blowing the fighter to pieces.
"Splash one bandit!" Elric called out.
"Bandit closing, five miles!" Saber Five shouted frantically. "Lock! Fox Two!" he shouted. Eric looked left and watched as Sabre Five's Sidewinder streaked towards the target. The Vulture quickly dropped multiple EMPs, confusing and distracting the Sidewinder, causing it to miss.
"Damn! Get ready to break!" Elric called out as he switched to the gun. He eased the Lightning towards the Vulture, spinning up the 20mm Vulcan cannon in the process. "Guns!" he called out, as he fired the 20mm cannon at the Vulture, clipping the wing and damaging the Vulture enough for it to start smoking. "Oh shit!" Elric shouted as the Vulture returned fire, before rolling to the left ninety degrees and soaring right between Elric and Saber Five.
"Breaking left!" Saber Five shouted, as Elric banked to the right. "Stay on him, stay on him!" Sabre Five yelled.
The Vulture began to drop more EMPs "Bandit is dumping flares, we'll get our window soon!" Elric said, as he armed another Sidewinder. The Vulture stopped dropping countermeasures. Once Elric's Lightning was clear of the EMP field, he fired off the Sidewinder. The missile sped towards the Vulture, striking it in the underbelly. The explosion completely destroyed the Vulture, pieces of the wings and fuselage falling out of the sky.
"Damn it, Saber Three! When can I get one?"
"Saber Five, I've got two Sidewinders left, about 450 rounds left on my gun. I think you'll get your chance soon enough"
"Roger that"
"Saber Five, resume heading 0-2-3"
"Affirmative. Resume heading 0-2-3"
Elric turned his plane around until he was back on course, Saber Five right behind him.
They flew interrupted for half an hour.
"Shit!" Saber Five said.
"What is it?" Elric asked.
"I got a radar lock! Dropping Chaff!" Saber replied as he dispensed a thick cloud of chaff.
Eric quickly checked his radar. There it was- four blips in the bottom-right corner of the radar screen.
"Confirmed! Four Vulture fighters, five o'clock, seventeen miles out and closing!"
"Quickly, swing around and face them!"
Elric quickly swung his Lightning to face the incoming enemy fighters. Suddenly, the Lock Warning began beeping. "Damn it, they've locked on to me!" The missile siren sounded, indicating that a missile had locked on to him and had been fired. "Dumping flares!" Elric called out, as he activated the first set of flares.
Eric returned fire with his own Sidewinder. "Lock!" he shouted. He fired the missile, calling out "Fox Two!" as he did so. He watched as the missile streaked towards the leftmost MiG. Come on, come on, Elric thought as he waited for the missile to impact. The missile suddenly diverted to the left. "Damn! He popped flares!" Elric spun up his 20mm and began to take potshots at the oncoming Vulture.
"Bandits are five miles out and closing! Get ready to break!" Saber Five called out.
Elric now lined up his jet with the lead Vulture, and prepared to take aim. He spun up the 20mm cannon, before yelling "Guns!" and firing at the Vulture. The cannon rounds tore the right wing off, sending the droid out of control. "Break now!" Elric shouted, before breaking hard to the right. Saber Five broke left.
Now on the Vulture's tails, Saber Five called out through the radio, "Lock! Fox Two!" as he fired a missile. Elric watched as the missile soared towards the right Vulture, only to be distracted by EMPs that the centre droid dumped. "Damn! Going to go for another missile lock" Elric waited for another second. "Lock! Fox Two!" he heard again. Another missile fell froom under the wings of Saber Five's jet before soaring forward into the engine of the Droid, blowing it to smithereens. "Splash one bandit!"
Eric then lined himself up with the rear droid, before firing a burst of cannon fire into the engines and setting them ablaze. The Vulture struggled to maintain stable flight, before the engine finally exploded, sending the wingtips and nose falling to the earth. "Splash another bandit!" Elric watched as Saber Three began to line himself up with the last droid, locked and fired, a missile soared above him and destroyed the Vulture. "Splash another bandit, Saber Three heading now 0,3,3"
"Heading 0,3,3"
2622 Earth Standard Calendar, Lieutenant Chisomo Adele, Concordia
In mere moments, operation Iron Dragon would commence, hundreds of lives would be lost on both sides, and God willing, the Marines would have a secure foothold in the forest moon. The 31st MEU of the 5th Marines, under the command of the General Smith, had deployed several hundred Ground Combat Element Marines, along with multiple Warbirds and Zero's for support, the OAGA provided some T-600 Titan Tanks, a Paladin Gunship and they had the frigate Grafton on standby. The mission of the aerial vehicles was to provide transportation, Close Air Support, and reconnaissance. The Ground Combat Element was not without toys of their own, mechanized with multiple MRAPs, T-600 Titan tanks, and several M4-Trojan Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Surprisingly enough, the Reconnaissance Assault Platoon had deployed several Designated Marksmen and Scout Snipers to provide long-range fire support, target identification, and security for high-priority units, i.e. squad leaders and Marines designated as High-Value Targets by the Death Watch. Additionally, the Navy had deployed a newly acquired ATCS, or All Terrain Command Speeder, nicknamed the, "Death Speeder," by the Marines as it was equipped with a TOW missile, 25mm auto-cannon, two side-mounted M134 Miniguns, and an Active Protection Module, designed to emit a high-intensity radio signal at the last minute to confuse incoming missiles and detonate them. However, rumours were that the Death Watch were deploying tanks. But for the time being, the Marines were more concerned about getting control of the main control tower and the airfield inside an old mine. It was used as a star port and had a metro system and a mall, and the job of capturing it was left to Fire Team Bravo. They were comprised of a Combat Engineer, a Marine armed with an LMG, a man from the Reconnaissance Assault Platoon, a Corpsman, and a Grenadier, each of them veterans. They were the best shot of taking the Death Watch controlled control tower, and if they failed, the Naval Commander warned, drastic action would have to be taken to take control of the centre of the Battlefield, involving much collateral damage. Failure was not an option.
The squad leader, also member of Fire Team Bravo and team Grenadier by the name of Adele, heard the whining sound of the MK7 Drop Pod powering up. The Drop Pod's boosters begin to hum and soon they were off, the roaring sound of the reentry through the Atmosphere, the man from Recon, Kovatch, had his eyes closed, his hands loosely but securely holding his sniper rifle. The man was awfully quiet, often only speaking when it was absolutely necessary, and was absolutely lethal in CQB, as evident by the small bloodstains on his trench knife that he'd been unable to fully clean off. He then looked to LMG Marine, Pac. The trigger-heavy younger man had acute ADHD, twiddling his thumbs, rapidly tapping his foot for no real reason other than his mental disposition. He was slightly more muscular than the others, mostly due to humping his LMG around all day, the heavy weapon inevitably bulking him up. He then looked to the Corpsman, Milton. Like the rest of the Marines, he was outfitted with woodland MARPAT and had nearly identical gear to Adele, but where Adele had 40mm shells and frag pouches, he had IFAKs and medical bags, fabric scissors replacing Adele's Bowie knife, and an AC-30 carbine replacing Adele's full-length AC-160 assault rifle. He then glanced to the final member, the Combat Engineer, Ackerman. He was of a medium build with pale skin, wielding a UMP-117, a blowtorch on his belt with M7 Slam mines on his pack. He didn't talk a whole lot, but wasn't antisocial like Kovatch.
"Thirty seconds out, Marines, landing over the Metro, red light, standby" The automated voice said over the intercom. Adele lifted his hinged balaclava over his face, concealing every inch of his skin, ready to hit the ground running. He glanced down at the screen showing the area below them, to see two Titan tanks with a squad of 12 Marines following, an MRAP unloading its troops near the entrance to the metro only to be met with a hail of gunfire, halting their entry as a wounded man was dragged back from the entryway.
"Hot landing, hitting the dirt in 10, standby" The Marines landed, the door opened and their boots hitting the ground just as the Commander came online to direct the battle. They descended the now quiet stairs into the metro as a Warbird rained fiery death from above on what looked like a mall in the distance. Bravo quickly descended a flight of stairs entering the metro.
"Contact!" Pac shouted as he scrambled to a nearby pillar just in time to avoid a burst from the other side of the metro. All Marines immediately began returning fire, the modern art mosaic piece in the centre of the metro crumbling under the hail of lead, a Death Watch grenade exploding near a pillar, the shrapnel slicing open Rodgers's shoulder. Adele emptied his magazine, several of the rounds injuring a Death Watch soldier, causing him to stumble before being finished off with a double-tap to the head from Adele's custom M90, the mounted ghost ring allowing him easy sight alignment with the soldier's head. Seeing no more immediate threats, his heart still pounding from the intense but brief gunfight, he checked on his team. Pac gunned down a Mando with rapid bursts from his LMG while Milton and Kovatch Killed a third.
"Give me a sitrep," he demanded over the comms.
"I'm good boss," Pac stated, his hands shaking from adrenaline.
"I'm up," Kovatch growled throatily.
"I'm up too," Milton replied in between gasps for air, a bolt having hit his vest, knocking the wind out of him.
"I'm fucked up, but I'm up," Rodgers said, binding a mild shrapnel laceration on his left arm with gauze from an IFAK Milton had tossed him.
"Alright, everyone's up, let's move up, metro's secure"
The Marines and Corpsman reloaded as necessary and moved up the stairs to exit the metro, a strange rumbling sound could be heard, putting Pearson ill at ease.
"TANK!" Kovatch shouted as he sprinted back, tripping down the stairs. Adele wasn't as lucky, the shockwave from the AAT MBT's main cannon threw him down the stairs, breaking a few ribs on impact.
"Where the hell'd that Titan go?" Adele coughed as he got up, limping away from the staircase.
"It got mobility killed," Rodgers said, "AAT's going to finish it off if we don't do something"
"Yeah, unless it finishes us off first!" Pac panicked.
"Shut up, both of you," Kovatch growled, "I've got an idea. It's about to pass over that pillar, problem is it's being repaired, hence the fencing around it. Lieutenant Adele, you'll launch a 40mm HE round at the pillar on my go, I'll plant a charge on the tank and blow it, everyone else get to cover unless you want to get turned into mulch, now" Adele nodded and loaded a round into his under barrel M320 grenade launcher, crouching behind a stack of wooden pallets as Kovatch crouched in a ready-to-sprint position, C17 charge already in hand, the other Marines were prone in a gift shop, using the overturned racks of products for cover.
"Now, Lieutenant!" Adele didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, launching the explosive into the pillar, blowing it up and causing the road above to cave in and sink, bringing the trapped tank to their level, the barrel stuck in the concrete wreckage. Kovatch took off like a shot, slamming a charge down on the front of the tank above the driver's position and another one on the back above the engine. Adele didn't hesitate to run as fast as he could away from the tank, trying to keep up with the lightning fast Kovatch, the resulting explosion as he clacked the detonator sending shrapnel and flames in all directions, miraculously leaving Adele and the Marines unharmed.
"Okay," Adele said, checking his magazine out of habit, "Now we'll go up top" The Marines filed out of the metro, weapons ready. Rodgers glanced over at the damaged Abrams tank, readying his blowtorch.
"Looks like a simple fix, shouldn't take me more than a couple minutes. I'll need to fix the track though " Adele waved him off, eager to have local armoured support.
Rodgers began welding closed a hole caused by a cannon shot, the impact having knocked out the driver. The crewmen of the tank helped him out, rolling him on his back on the street, checking for any additional injuries other than the obvious head wound. He waved them off, shakily getting on his feet and climbing back into the now repaired tank.
"Stop that motherfucker!" A bloody Marine pointed at a Death Watch soldier who having run out of ammo, was fly towards them with a satchel of thermal detonators. The marines opened fire on the approaching threat but the Mando weaved out of the way of the shots. A Marine got a lucky shot on the jetpack, sending the Mando out of control in a spin into a wall, exploding. The Marines continued on, but stopped and looked at the make shift airfield, the Death Speeder sitting derelict, its crew having been shot by a Death Watch emplacement on the other side of the mine.
"Anybody here know how to drive a speeder?" Pac asked, scanning the rooftops for enemy marksmen.
"I do," Milton said, hopping onto the deck of the boat, pulling the deceased driver out of the seat and sitting him up against the bulkhead, closing his eyes.
"All aboard, let's go. Pac and me will get on the Miniguns, Kovatch, stay on the shore, take out any high priority threats."
The Marines nodded and jumped aboard, Kovatch sprinting across the bridge and up the stairs of a hastily constructed wooden guard tower, throwing the body of its Death Watch occupant over the side, took a knee and set his rifle over the railing, steadying his breathing into a familiar pattern and began scanning for threats. His eyes narrowed, a low growl escaping his throat. Several Marines were pinned down behind a burning Trojan, one man performing CPR on one of the drivers while the others either returned fire or ducked behind the wreckage, praying they wouldn't be shot.
"Not today," he muttered in his gravelly voice, disengaging the safety and sighting in on the head of a Death Watch machine gunner.
"Nothing personal," he said as he squeezed the trigger, the bullet sailing through the air and splattering the man's brains on the concrete barrier behind him. "It's just business."
Thanks to Kovatch, the Marines on the ground had managed to take the ground floor of the control tower, posting sentries by the control tower's entrance as Fireteam Bravo wreaked havoc in the ATCS, launching rockets at armour, pelting soft targets with the Miniguns, and destroying cover with the 25mm auto-cannon.
"I'm in love with this thing!" Pac shouted, letting lose a barrage with his Minigun. "I'm on a boat!" Another barrage was let lose, the weapon firing so fast individual shots were impossible to distinguish, sawing a man on the shore completely in half. "Take a good hard look at the fuckin' Death Boat!"
"Head in the game, Pac!" Milton shouted over the gunfire. The speeder shuddered aa series of small holes opened up by a machein gun emplacement emplacement that was now a burning pile of scrap metal thanks to a well-placed TOW missile launched remotely by Milton. Suddenly, the boat took a massive hit, nearly overturning it, an alarm blaring as a red "Warning, engine fire" icon came up on the display, causing Milton to jump out of the driving seat just in time to see a Droid Gunship fly overhead, smoke trailing from the rocket tubes. He frantically looked around for an anti-air rocket, but to no avail.
"Everyone Bail!" The three Marines jumped off the burning speeder and immediately took off for the entrance of the control tower. One of the four sentries was already dead at the entrance, the gunships' duel-barrelled cannon having blown stone fragments off of the Mandalorian statues sending the stone shrapnel into the back of the sentry's head, the blunt-force trauma strong enough to kill him instantly. The three marines legged it up the polished marble like stairs, the Marines charging into the control tower for the elevators after the sentries. Unfortunately for one of the sentries, the Gunship hovered at the entrance, firing its auto-cannon directly into the back of one of the three surviving sentries, the large explosive shot punching a massive hole in his back, turning his vital organs into mush. Another sentry jammed his thumb into the call button, but died just before the elevator doors opened due to a missile from a Death Watch soldier exploding about a meter away from him and traumatically amputating his right leg, the concussion throwing him into a pillar, breaking his neck. The surviving sentry and Fireteam Bravo threw themselves into the open elevator, the door closing behind them as the Gunship reloaded its cannon, the Marines breathing a collective sigh of relief as they began their ascent to the top of the skyscraper. Kovatch scowled at the sight of the Gunship beginning to fly around the skyscraper, scanning each floor for the Marines. Unfortunately, he had no way of taking it down. He was accurate, but not THAT accurate. He swung his rifle to the right as Death Watch soldiers began storming the now desolate bottom floor of the skyscraper.
"Sergeant," he harshly whispered on his comms. "Multiple tangoes storming the ground floor, break, about nine of them inside with another dozen moving towards the metro, break, how copy?"
Static.
"Sergeant Adele, this is Kovatch, how copy?"
Again, static.
"Shit," he throatily growled. He slung his rifle over his back and jumped out of the guard tower, rolling to disperse the impact. He raised his shemagh over his mouth and lowered his boonie hat over his brow, the shadow concealing his eyes. He unholstered his suppressed M90, slowly advancing towards the entrance. He crouched behind the reception desk, planting a T-UGS motion-detecting device behind it, noting that five of the enemies had already taken an elevator up while the other four had stayed behind, patrolling the ground floor.
"Four on one," he muttered. "Bad odds," he grinned predatorily to himself, "For them" He scurried behind the desk and turned on the ground-floor televisions to a Mandalorian music station to better conceal any sound his pistol produced. The motion detector went off again as they all jumped and began searching, thoroughly startled. One of them happened to walk past the reception desk, the last mistake he would ever make. Kovatch reached over the desk, one hand over the man's mouth under his helmet and the other on the pull tab of the man's vest, yanking him behind the desk and firing twice into the man's neck at point-blank range. One down, three to go. He removed the man's now ventilated helmet and tossed it into the open, startling the other two soldiers nearby.
"Damn, two of them." He slowly approached, pistol at the ready, but the first soldier turned just in time to see Kovatch crouch-walking towards him. He shouted, but his weapon was kicked out of his hands. Kovatch pistol-whipped his un-helmeted head and spun around him, putting him into a hostage chokehold, the man's neck in the crook of his elbow and his pistol pressed against his temple. The second soldier slowly backed away, his face concealed by a gas mask, but if Kovatch had to guess, he was scared.
"Enough of this," Kovatch snarled, firing four times into the opposing man's torso, then firing once into the hostage's brainstem.
"Three rounds left." He reached for a new magazine on his vest, but the final man rounded the corner at the worst possible moment, weapon already raised in Kovatch's direction. He sprinted to a nearby couch for cover, sliding on his knees at the last second as rounds zipped over his unprotected head. Kovatch leaned up and fired his last three rounds in the soldier's direction, one of the bullets striking his weapon, knocking it out of his hands. The man slowly backed up drawing a combat knife as Kovatch vaulted over the couch, discarding his pistol. The man nd charged Kovatch, attempting an overhead stab, but Kovatch grabbed the man's wrists with one hand and the pommel of the knife with the other and forced the man's knife into his own gut. He staggered backwards to the marble like stairs leading into the plaza, his knife embedded in his own stomach. All traces of humanity gone, Kovatch grabbed the pin of the man's exposed grenade on his vest and Sparta-kicked him onto the ground, landing with a thud next to the grenade the following explosion killing him.
"Four down."
Adele was in the fight of his life. Just a minute ago, things had been fine, the tower had been taken and as far as they knew the fight was progressing well on the ground. However just a moment ago the hovering Warbird took a hit from an anti-air missile, bringing it to the skyscraper's flat top floor as Death Watch soldiers flooded the roof.
"Milton, go!" The Corpsman was off like a bolt of lightning, yanking the pilot out of his seat as the two soldiers decked out in OCP riding on the sides of the helicopter jumped off and rescued the co-pilot. He yanked the pilot's helmet off and checked for a pulse. Finding one, he then checked for breathing. Shallow, but there, he'd have to act fast. Milton yanked the fabric scissors off of his assault pack and immediately cut away the man's green flight-suit around his leg, shrapnel having entered the femoral artery. Milton unlimbered his Combat Application Tourniquet and immediately applied it above the wound. He'd lose the leg for sure, but if the tourniquet wasn't applied, he'd die in a matter of minutes from blood loss. This is where the Corpsman thrived. At home, he was geeky, awkward, and tended to like to be alone, however under stress with a clear goal, he was the best at his job, no contest, and Pearson knew and respected him for it. One of the soldiers covering Milton took a bullet in the neck, straight through the trachea and into the spine. He was dead, Milton knew it, and forced himself to ignore the gruesome sight. The second soldier, barely 19, a Specialist, shouted in rage and fired his Ac-160 on fully automatic, expending ammo he just didn't have. As soon as he ran out and went for a fresh magazine, a Death Watch marksman leaned up over the bar and triple tapped him in the chest, the blaster bolt rounds piercing his body armor and stopping his heart. Somehow, Milton ignored this as well and ignored the rounds snapping around him as he worked to save the Co-Pilot, the Pilot stabilized. The last surviving sentry from the bottom floor attempted to sprint across the open to Milton's location only to be shot in the knee by the Death Watch marksman, but his momentum was enough that he slid behind a couch, screaming in agony. Milton ignored this as well. Yes, he'd be crippled for life, but he wouldn't die, not like the Co-Pilot he now focused on. This one was in cardiopulmonary arrest, he had only minutes to act. Milton took out his defibrillator, rubbed the paddles together, applied them to his side and chest, and yelled, "CLEAR!" Before delivering the shock. The soldier's body violently jumped and he woke up coughing violently as Milton pulled him into the recovery position and checked the man's vitals. Stable, both soldiers would live. His work done, the slim man unslung his AC-30 and began returning fire to the Death Watch marksman, keeping his head down. Only one way to solve this. He searched the dead kid's IOTV vest and pulled out what would be his saving grace, an M70 Grenade.
"Sorry kid," he said, and he truly meant it. He'd seen the worst of the war. Not the killings, but the crippling and the people the dead left behind, it pained him to see death, but it was his job. He pulled the pin on the grenade, counted to two, yelled, "Frag out!" and threw the grenade at the bar. The man shouted and attempted to run from the explosive, but the cooked grenade went off perfectly for Milton, sending the Death Watch soldier cartwheeling off the side of the skyscraper. Adele was confident they were going to win, there should only be one or two guys left, the first having been gunned down by Pac, the second was sent flying off the side of the skyscraper by Milton's grenade, and the third had been killed by the sentry's looted RPG.
"One left, move up!" The Marines and Sailor cautiously approached, weapons raised. To Adele's surprise, the masked soldier walked out from cover, hands raised. The marines all immediately began shouting and screaming orders at once to confuse and startle him.
"On your fucking knees! NOW!" The man complied. Adele approached, zip cuffs in hand, and rounded the corner of the elevator block to be met by the barrel of a shotgun.
"You die, scum!" The heavily accented soldier yelled, and pulled the trigger, only to be met by a click, but before he could turn off the safety the elevator dinged open, and a familiar set of brass knuckles attached to a bloodstained knife lurched out of the elevator, punching the man in the face. As the soldier staggered backwards, blood gushing from his very broken nose, Kovatch aggressively advanced and stabbed him twice in the throat, ripping the knife out sideways on the second stab as he spun in a bloody pirouette to the ground. Kovatch nodded to his brothers. He approached and shook the Recon Marine's hand, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Glad you could join us Corporal, damn good timing"
The man nodded silently, sheathing his knife and drawing his pistol, loading a fresh magazine into the strangely empty weapon.
"Bottom floor's clear for now, they're advancing on the Metro, we've got snipers pinning them down from the roofs and the storefronts, but it won't last forever. We need to-" But he was cut off by the tower violently shaking.
"What the hell was that?!" Welsh shouted in panic.
"Sergeant, you're going to want to see this!" Pac waved them over to the side of the roof. Upon joining them, Adele saw three AAT tanks firing on the base of the building, intending to bring it down.
"This tower isn't going to last for long," Pac analysed. "I'll call for medevac for the pilots Milton saved and the sentry, any ideas how to take care of those tanks, Lieutenant?"
"Yeah, I've got one. Everyone has their parachutes and boosters, right?" The Marines nodded warily as Adele contacted the Commander back on the ship.
"Sir, this is lieutenant Adele, Fireteam Bravo, 2nd squad, Alpha Platoon, Ground Combat Element. We're on the control tower, but we've got three enemy tanks firing on the supports, we believe they're trying to take it down. Requesting fire support, how copy, over?"
"Good copy, Sergeant, laze your target and we'll send an orbital strike your way, out"
"Kovatch, do you have your PLD?"
The quiet man nodded and pulled out his Personal Laser Designator and fired the infrared beam at the centre tank, holding the lock. In the distance, a bright flash could be seen orbit leading out into the atmosphere, a metal slug at high speeds.
"MAC round away, ETA, fifteen seconds."
"Boss!" Pac shouted. "Medevac's here, we're loading the casualties, we need to get out of here!"
Before he could respond, Kovatch replied hoarsely, "Negative, the lock needs to be maintained, the Lieutenant and I will figure it out, you and the others get out, now." Surprised at the man's rare speech, Pac and the others complied, getting onto the Warbird transport just before it took off. adele watched with anticipation as the MAC round reached its apex directly over the target, then went sonic and barreled downwards at a 90-degree angle to the enemy tanks, the resulting fireball disintegrating the infantry and wrecking the tanks, but the damage was done, and the tower wouldn't last.
"Parachutes ready, Kovatch, we're getting out of here." Kovatch grunted in reply and secured the PLD to his pack.
"Hey!" An accented voice yelled behind them, "What about me?!"
In a display of what some might call cruelty, Kovatch and Adele viewed it as an act of mercy, firing a plasma round from his sniper rifle into his head. While Kovatch couldn't see the man's head behind his helmet, he was positive it wasn't pretty. Slinging the rifle on his back, Kovatch sprinted after Adele to the edge of the tower, jumping off just as it began to crumble. Adele held up three fingers, counting down, and upon hitting zero the Marines pulled the tabs on their parachutes, safely deploying them. Problem was they were heading to the mall, enemy territory.
"Kovatch," Pearson said over his headset, "I'm heading for the mall, you get to the store on the left and set up a hide, watch my ass, how copy?"
"You got it," he throatily growled. Adele glanced town at the fallen tower, and where once stood a monument to the greatness of human engineering now was just a pile of rubble, rebar, concrete, and steel extending about 120 meters into the airstripe
.
"Boss," Rodgers called in over the comms, "We're back in the metro, but we're getting overrun, I'm not sure we can hold out man!" A second voice was heard among the sounds of gunfire and bullets snapping too close for comfort, shouting, "Head in the game, We-argh!" "Oh shit! Pac just got hit!"
"Rodgers I need you to listen to me," Adele forcefully stated. "Close your eyes, inhale, and count to four. Exhale, count to four, open your eyes." Waiting for the sounds of his shaky breathing, he continued.
"Now get a Corpsman for Pac"
"Sure thing, Boss," he shakily replied. "Yo! Milton! Get your ass over here, Pac's hit!" "Can't move Rodgers, I'm pinned!"
"Okay, Jason listen to me," he said calmly, using Rodgers first name.
"Milton's pinned, do you know from where?"
"Uh… oh shit," he faintly breathed, "I think it's from behind that jeep, or whatever the hell it is."
"Good, do you have any smoke grenades, and how's your ammo count?"
"Uh, yeah, two smokes, and I've got about 100 rounds left in the box" He was regaining control.
"Good, throw the smokes between you and Milton, wait for the cloud to build up, then suppress that jeep, got it? Tell Milton to run on your mark, and as soon as he runs, engage, got it?"
"Yes Sergeant, I got it. Yo, Milton, get your ass over here as soon as I say run!" There was a dull metallic popping sound as the two smoke grenades went off, and a hissing following as the smoke was emitted.
"Run man, run!" Immediately after that, the sound of his AC-160 deafened Adele slightly, forcing him to lower the volume on his headset, wincing.
"Milton here, I made it, Pac got hit in the ribs, just barely missed his right lung, he needs medevac."
"Copy that Milton, what happened to that Warbird?"
"Pilot took a hit, he's stable but unconscious, and nobody else knows how to fly a VTOL. Can you get the Commander involved, maybe direct some support our way to ease up the pressure?"
Adele looked up to the sky, an idea forming as he touched down on the roof of the mall.
"I think I've got an idea, standby." He switched channels to the Commander.
"Sir, this is Bravo Lead, my men are pinned down at the metro and are in serious need of assistance, can you redirect that Paladin to their location, over?"
"Copy that Squad Lead, Paladin dispatched, will be within firing distance in 20 seconds, out" Adele glanced over where Kovatch landed in the shadows, creeping into the designated building, setting up his hide.
"Squad Lead, this is Actual, the gunners on the gunship request your men mark their position with IR flares, how copy?"
"Good copy Actual, standby." He switched channels again, the roar of Welsh's machine gun still ongoing. "Milton, I need you to mark your position with flares for the Paladin, how copy?" "Solid copy!" He paused as the roof elevator dinged open below him, as he had landed on a level slightly above the elevator where the AC units were. Two Death Watch soldiers exited, both armed with blasters. He paused for a second, thinking his plans out, drawing his Bowie knife in preparation.
"Hey boss! Great timing on that gunship, blew those fuckers sky high!" The two soldiers started at this and whirled in his direction giving him no choice but to jump down and stab the first soldier in the heart between the durasteel plates, the other one fired a burst, the bolts deflecting off of his armour, but the impact bruised a few ribs and winded him, causing him to fall backwards. The soldier approached and raised his weapon in preparation to fire, but didn't get the chance as his head exploded like a watermelon.
"That's twice now, sir"
"Yeah," he said shakily picking himself up, "How many beers does that equate to?"
"More than you can afford," Kovatch replied in his dry sense of humor.
Adele swiftly climbed down the service ladder on the side of the mall, not liking being this exposed and in the case of being spotted, he had no way to return fire, he'd have to hope Kovatch could dispatch any threats he came across. Thankfully, no such threats arose as he reached ground level. He looked for a quiet way in, finding one in a window that had been shattered by the earlier Warbird's gun run.
"Kovatch, I'm heading in now, there's something on the bridge between wings, I'm going to check it out" Ascending a stopped escalator on the right wing of the mall to the second floor, he checked around the mall for anything of use or of note. Bloodstains, dead civilians and Death Watch, briefcases with the contents strewn about, scorch and blast marks, craters and scorch marks. Overall, it was a warzone.
"See anything?" Kovatch whispered.
"I haven't checked the bridge or the left wing, standby" Adele walked to the bridge, weapon up. It shouldn't have been this deserted, it was enemy territory not ten minutes ago. Then, he found something on the bridge, something definitely of note.
"Kovatch, I've got a weapon here, automatic shotgun. Appears to be loaded with…" he ejected the ten round magazine and checked. Green shells? "Kovatch, any idea what green shells are in a combat load?"
"Frags, Sergeant you just stumbled upon an automatic shotgun with explosive shells. You might want to hang onto that" Adele nervously reinserted the magazine, wary of setting off the explosive 12 gauge shells.
"Sir be advised you've got a contingent of Death Watch heading your way from the Tower, they're in a armoured trucks. I'll see what I can do about the IFV, but I've only got one charge left, not enough to do more than disable it" Pearson scrambled to a wall, using it for cover. Adele tensed at the thought of surviving a major assault. This was not going to be easy, and most likely he'd be dead in a minute. He glanced around the corner and spotted Kovatch throwing his last C4 charge into the middle of the street. He trusted Milton enough to know when to detonate it as he activated the green laser sight on his weapon and steadied his breathing.
KABOOM.
The charge detonated right under the IFV, sending it spinning onto its side, the gun trucks pulling over in a circle around it. The infantry dismounted and a squad leader bravely jumped onto the IFV and pulled out its occupants. Kovatch hid in the shadows behind the checkout desk in the liquor store, racking the slide on his pistol in preparation for what he knew would be his last fight. Before he could engage, he heard a rapid series of explosions as Adele fired his automatic explosive shotgun, sending body parts flying and survivors scrambling for cover. Adele dropped the magazine and slung the weapon over his shoulder, picking up a thermal detonator off of a dead soldier and throwing it. The grenade exploded on impact, giving the two soldiers it killed no time to react before they were torn limb from limb. The three machine guns on the gun trucks opened up, suppressing the hell out of Adele. He shakily shoved the remaining magazine in the shotgun and racked the bolt, his vision blurring from the incoming ammunition. He slumped against the wall and slid down to a sitting position, breathing erratically.
"Kovatch, I think it ends here"
"It's been an honor, Sergeant," the quiet sniper replied. The two Marines sprinted out from cover, weapons raised, determined to go out fighting. Suddenly the attack forces were torn apart by laser fire from positions above them. Mandalorians with varying armour clolors began to descend upon the Death Watch. In a matter of moments, the Death Watch was completely slaughtered. The one who appeared to be in command in grey and red trimmed armour walked up to them.
"I am Mando Tar Mav, leader of the Mandalor Militia"
"Lieutenant Adele OAG Marines, I didn't know Mandalor had a Militia?"
"It doesn't but Pre Vizlsa is an idiot who will end up destroying Mandalorians if he becomes Mand'alor. We will not let this happen"
"You have my thanks; I'll notify command so you don't get hit by our forces"
"Thank you, come brothers, we have yet to finish the Death Watch"
"Command," he said wearily over the radio. "This is Adele, the mall is secure, also be advised that there are a group of Mandalorians going round who aren't Death Watch, they are wearing non blue-grey armour. Awaiting orders, over."
"Good copy, Sergeant, proceed to the following coordinates on your map, over" A set of coordinates pointed Pearson and his team to the rubble island that was once the tower in the middle of the mine.
"Sergeant, be advised, a hostile AAT has been spotted in the bay circling the rubble, over" Adele approached the supply crate, ignoring the blood that splattered upwards on the sides from the crushed soldier below. Inside, he found just what he needed. A Longbow Rocket Launcher.
"Solid copy, command. We're equipped to engage, out." He turned to his men, hefting the large rocket.
"Okay, we're going to that rubble island and we're securing it. There's an enemy tank in the plaza, we're taking it out. Resupply and grab whatever explosives you need. Milton and Rodgers, you're on point. Kovatch, you're on rear security. If you see that boat, lase it so I can engage without line of sight. Everyone good?" The men nodded as one and moved to the supply crate, grabbing fresh magazines and grenades. Milton grabbed a standalone M320 grenade launcher, loading it with an HE shell. Welsh tossed his C4 detonator over his shoulder and pulled out an XM-32 Airburst, useful for taking out entrenched enemies behind cover. Kovatch stuck to his C4 and PLD, but due to the tightness of the rubble, he switched to a semi-automatic Designated Marksman Rifle, Due to the substantial weight of the launcher,
"Okay, let's move"After a good bit of jogging, the Marines arrived at the base of the rubble island, giant shattered walls of concrete obscured line of sight, steel stuck out at random intervals, rebar was scattered here and there.
"Kovatch, fall back, keep an eye out for that boat, I don't want any surprises"
"Aye Sergeant" Kovatch jogged back to the start of the bridge, dropping down and crouching in the shadows.
"Milton, Rodgers, move up, heads on a swivel. I'm on your six"
The Marines silently complied, weapons raised.
"Sir, be advised, I've got eyes on the boat, lasing it now"
Adele held up a fist, "Halt!" The Marines stopped and knelt while Adele armed his Longbow and set it to top attack.
"He's popping EMP, wait one."
"Contact!" Milton stood and fired his AC-30, the burst ripping into one soldier. Rodgers sheer volume of fire tore the other soldier's legs to ribbons before he was finished with a burst from Milton.
"Sir, EMP's dissipated, I'm reacquiring the lock, standb." Three Death Watch advanced aggressively, armed with blaster rifles. Low rate of fire, but extremely accurate. Adele fired a suppressing burst from his AC-30, forcing them to duck behind a wall of rubble. A grenade was impossible as there was a low roof of concrete over them. Fortunately for Rodgers, his XM-32 was built exactly for this situation. He aimed it at the wall the hostile men hid behind, locked it, and fired his weapon. The projectiles sailed over the cover, but then exploded once they had passed it, staining the grey concrete roof bright red.
"Moving up!" Milton called after performing a tactical reload.
"Covering!" Rodgers replied, setting up his bipod.
"Kovatch," Pearson activated his comms, "What's the ETA on that target designation?"
"Almost…got it, target lased, fire at will" Adele raised the launcher to his shoulder and aimed down the optic, locking onto the laser designation. "Clear backblast!" He shouted, wary of the lethal concussion that would emit upon firing.
"Backblast clear, boss!" Rodgers shouted in response.
"Rocket, rocket, rocket!" With that, he launched the Javelin. It went about three meters before arcing upwards, launching a bit forward, then hurtling down to its target.
BOOM.
A massive explosion could be heard, smoke from the blast billowed into Pearson's line of sight.
"Kovatch, requesting BDA."
"Target destroyed, no survivors. Moving to provide long-range cover, how copy?"
"Solid copy, Kovatch. Proceed when ready, out"
Kovatch ran further into enemy territory, back through the mall and to a tower to the left of the rubble island on the other side of the plaza, a small lake had formed near the base of the structer. He switched to his pistol and used the brass knuckles on his knife to punch through the glass of a storefront leading to an elevator. He checked his back one last time before entering the elevator and ascending.
This vantage point, he mused, should give me plenty of elevation to cover the team.
A though crossed his mind. What if someone was waiting at the top?
Better give myself the best chance possible. He knelt at the side of the elevator to reduce his profile. Only a few more floors to go. He exhaled and closed his eyes.
Ding!
He snapped open his eyes just to see a man charge him with a knife. Kovatch grabbed his wrist, but the Mando soldier kept forcing the blade closer and closer to Kovatch's neck. Unfortunately for the Mando warrior, Kovatch didn't play nice. He raised his pistol in his left hand and fired into the attacker's forearm, splintering the bone. The man screamed in pain and dropped the knife. Kovatch snatched it out of the air, stood and flipped it with his fingers on the tip, reared back and threw it through the viser of the soldier, snapping his head back and killing him instantly. Kovatch holstered his pistol and walked up to the fallen man, yanking the deeply embedded knife out of his eye socket and snatching his dog tags. He checked around the roof to make sure he was safe, and upon confirming that he was the only one on the roof, he went prone and set up his bipod, zeroing his optic in to the correct distance. So far he could see that Pearson and his men appeared to be alone, but that was bound to change. Surely enough, a soldier arose from his cover and began engaging with his stolen M240B, the machine gun pinning Adele's team.
"Kovatch," he heard the distorted voice begin over the radio, "We're pinned, need assistance!" "On it," he stated, prizing his brevity as always. He inhaled, waited for his heart to slow down, and as soon as he felt it slow to about 60 beats per minute, he fired in between beats, exhaling. The shot flew true, but hit the soldier in his defensive body armour, knocking him down but not killing him. Fortunately for Kovatch, his weapon was semi-automatic. A quick adjustment of his scope to compensate for the distance and he fired another shot right into the side of the shooter's head.
"Shooter down, you're clear to move up"
"Copy that, we're moving" Seeing nobody else as they reached the end of the rubble island, he stood and folded his bipod, slinging his weapon across his back. Strangely enough, he heard an unnatural buzzing that grew louder and louder, building to a whirring noise.
"Son of a bitch." The gunship rose to the top of the building, missiles armed. He drew and fired his sidearm as fast as he could, sprinting for the elevator. However, he just wasn't fast enough. Woosh. A missile flew past him, the shockwave sending him flying to the edge of the tower. Just as he fell over the edge, he jammed his knife into the side of the building, dangling and holding on for dear life. The gunship flew over and hovered in front of him. Kovatch stared into his own doom, knuckles white, awaiting the rotating cannon to fire. Then, and idea struck him. It was suicide, insanity, but then again, sitting here waiting to die wasn't so much better. His life flashed before his eyes as he launched himself from the building and onto the helicopter. The wind gusted strongly in his face, knocking his boonie hat off of his brown haired head. An expression of steely determination overcame his face as he gave his battle cry, stabbing his blade into the hull of the droid, glaring the pilot in the eye.
"Do pobachenya, kurva" With that, Kovatch slapped a satchel of C4 onto the hull and jumped, aiming for the water of the lake. Right before he impacted, he hit the detonator, and the gunship, once master of the sky, erupted into a flaming explosion. The impact broke his legs and drove the breath from his lungs. His consciousness was fading. As he sank into the water, an otherworldly sense of calm flooded his mind. He had served his nation well; he had made a difference. His vision was darkening, and everything became dull except for the gleaming metal of his blade, still firmly clutched in his hand. Burial at sea…he pondered sleepily. And his world became black.
"Kovatch!"
Adele tore his helmet off and pulled the release tab on his vest, shedding all weight before diving into the bay. It was so dark, clouded with blood and rubble. Wait, there! A shining metal blade in a dark form's grasp was floating downwards.
Not today you sonuvabitch.
He dove and swam as fast as he could, grabbing the pull tab on the back of his vest and swimming madly to the surface. As soon as he broke the surface Milton was on top of him, dragging Kovatch to the shore and opening his vest.
"I need space, stand the hell back!"
Rodgers and a drenched Adele obliged, exchanging worried glances. Milton placed his hands on his chest and pumped at a quick pace, whispering his count. Water popped from Kovatch's sickly pale mouth like a waterspout, but he was still unresponsive.
"Come on Kovatch," the ordinarily passive Milton growled as he resumed pumping.
More water spurted forth from his mouth, and this time he violently coughed. Milton hastily pulled him into the recovery position as Kovatch's bloodshot eyes snapped open, soaked hair plastered to his forehead.
"Easy Kovatch, easy!" Adele and Rodgers wasted no time rushing to his side.
"Hey brother," Adele knelt, "We did it."
As if the commander heard him, confirmation rang over the radio.
"All units, this is the commander. Death Watch forces in the area have been defeated, we have taken sector 12, remaining forces have fallen back to the forest, Alpha company is to peruse. well done gentlemen. Commander Cole out"
2622 Earth Standard Calendar, crew of the T-600 Titan Crab Tank Fury, Concordia.
"Alright, let's get the boys off" Wardaddy spoke. He turned to Sergeant Miles sitting at the back of the tank. "Get them off, give me the last man." Miles nodded and started yelling for the privates to get to the ground.
"Button up." Don told the Fury-crew as they switched places with Grady as Gordo and Norman closed their hatch. Bible and Grady went in as well.
"All right, all tanks move out, hard right. Hard right" Wardaddy spoke over the intercom, as they turned right through the hedgerows and Miles ordered his men to form in on the tracks Fury had left behind.
"Alright, catch up with the Fury.' 'On my line guys, on my line.' 'We're already drifting"
"Angel, you keep an eyeball on that high ground. Right" Ryan said. "Watch that treeline right there, darling." Binkowski said over the intercom. 'She copies.' he replied, as Agnes did not carry an intercom herself. They reached the second hedgerow, after that they would be in full sight of the Death Watch. That was where the troops were on the ground.
"All right, left stick, left stick what the fuck" They were through.
"Eyes on the ground, eyes on the ground. Keep an eye out" Wardaddy warned.
"Over here!" One of the privates on the ground yelled and Agnes gestured for him to collide with the troops behind the Fury. The man was shocked to see a woman, but was quickly forced to look at the private running towards him, retrieving him from the field.
"Gordo, slow, slow, slow.' 'We got bodies.' 'Eyes on the ground, guys"
"Fall in, fall in!" Peterson yelled at the troops on the ground. Most of the troops were now relatively safe behind the tanks.
"Speed up just a little bit" As Agnes looked around at the field to see if every troop was safe now, she noticed another unit, being approached by a tank. She leaned forward and snatched the intercom out of Ryan's hands.
"Love one three, right stick! You got troops on the ground!' 'Fuck! Right stick, god damn it" She gave the intercom back to Ryan. "Get your head out of your ass!" Wardaddy yelled at them. "They weren't fucking paying attention…" Agnes muttered as she got back into her place. All of the troops had fallen in with Alpha Company behind the tanks.
"Agnes, you got any vision on the anti-tank yet?" Ryan asked after which Agnes narrowed her eyes and stared into the distance. "Agnes?!" Wardaddy felt that they were about to get fired at.
"Machine-gun, twelve o'clock! On the ground!" There was no need for Ryan to repeat it through the intercom. Everyone had heard. And at that exact moment, the Death Watch started firing.
"Bible, hit that machine gun. Traverse left, 800"
"Grady?!" "Clear!" "Fire!" "On the way!" A loud blast from the canon and the ground near the machinegun exploded. Dead bodies were flying through the air.
"Okay, cease fire. Target destroyed" Ryan said as Bible laughed because of his success. But then, another loud bang and a red cannon bolt passed the tanks.
"Fuck! Anti-tank! Bible traverse left! Traverse left!" But while Bible turned the smoothbore gun left, another anti-tank-shot was fired.
'Just a ricochet. We're okay.' Peterson said after everyone heard the loud bang the shot had caused by only scraping over Murder Inc's shield.
"Bullshit. That's a high-velocity gun. I can hear it whistling" "Anti-tank. Left front!" "Got it!" Ryan yelled. "Bible, down fifteen!" "Clear!" Grady shouted. "Fire!" "On the way!" After Bible had fired the shot, Agnes started squirting the tree line with the machine-gun, just like the others.
"Clear!" Grady shouted again. "On the way!" A massive explosion among the trees.
"Okay, cease fire. Target destroyed" But that didn't seem true once again. Another anti-tank shot only nearly missed Fury.
"There's another gun! Who's got eyes on it?!" Wardaddy spoke. "Angel?!" She stopped shooting the treeline and narrowed her eyes again.
'What?' She seemed confused. As if her eyes failed her, because she didn't find it at first. But then another anti-tank shot was released and she immediately pointed out directions. "Antitank, H.E.! Traverse right!" "Got it!" Wardaddy shouted after which he started repeating Agnes' words over the intercom.
"On! Fire!" "On the way!" Both Fury and Old Phyllis fired shots. It took them a few rounds to take them out though.
"All tanks, start squirting that treeline, let's go; light them up" Wardaddy commanded and a chaos of tank-fire started shooting the Death Watch that were still left at that treeline, and in the trenches in front of it. Norman did nothing.
"Hey! Start shooting!" Gordo told him. "But what do I shoot at?" Norman asked in panic.
"The Death Watch dumb fuck!" He looked through his periscope again and started firing random rounds, until he went out of bullets. Only through his periscope, he noticed how one mandalorian inside a trench got out a goddamn luancher.
"Rocket!" He heard Agnes yelling, but he was too busy taking out a new magazine.
"Hey! Get him!" Gordo shouted. "I'm loading the gun." "Hit him!"
"Got him" Bible's voice was calm as fuck, and Norman did not comprehend why, but luckily, Boyd took the Mando out within seconds.
"Do your job! Do what you're here for!" Gordo said. "I was loading the gun!"
"Machine gun, twelve o'clock. Gordo, run those bastards over" Gordo did not have the time say something back to Norman, but pressed the gas-pedal some more, which caused some Mandos to be run over.
"All tanks, hold here!" Wardaddy put down the intercom now and starting firing the 50 as well. This was the final push. Agnes turned back to Sergeant Miles.
"Get your boys in the fight!" "Fall out! Marching fire!" The marine ground-soldiers immediately shot down the retreating Mando's. Some of them fought back and shot some Alphs Company-people down, but it was very clear to see that the Mandos had already lost the fight.
"Hey, squirt those Mandos on the left" Gordo suddenly told Norman. He looked left.
"All I see are dead bodies" "How do you know they're dead? Are you a doctor? Hit them!"
"But they're dead. Why would I shoot them if they're already dead?"
"So they don't stand up and shoot us in the ass!" At this point, Gordo started to shake him up a bit.
"Damn it! Fuck!" He did not fucking sign up for this. "Get them!" "Fuck! I can't fucking be here any-fucking-more!" He started thrusting his fist against the tank-wall.
"Turn your goddamn intercom off if you're gonna bawl like that!" Williams said as he peeked inside for a short moment. "I got it, Top!" It was Agnes' voice, and Norman heard her crawling through the tank behind him as he almost started crying. He couldn't fucking be here. He wasn't supposed to fucking be here. He suddenly felt her hands on his shoulders.
"I fucking give up. I can't be here anymore"
"Ssh, you're okay. Relax" Her voice was actually very relaxing, but he did notice how she had to do her utmost best to achieve that effect, because adrenaline was rushing through her body like crazy.
"This ain't pretty, you know. This is what we do" Gordo said. After Norman calmed down a bit more, Agnes gave him a pat on the shoulders and went up again without saying a word.
March 29th Earth Standard Calendar, General Craig on board the Righteous Fury above Concordia
"Sir Duchess Kryze is calling you"
"I'll take it in the briefing room" Craig said as he walked through a side door into a small room with a Holo-projecter. Pressing a button, the Duchess appeared.
"Duchess I am pleased to report that phase one of operation Iron Dragon is a success and almost complete"
"That is good to hear. You said phase one. Are there more?"
"Yes, phase two is the policing of Concordia and training a militia to deal with the Death Watch. Phase three is us pulling out and the militia taking over"
"I did not agree to having a militia"
"Duchess your ambition to be pacifist is noble and perfectly fine, however, you cannot leave yourself unprotected. Also by having a militia the Death Watch won't be able to portray us as foreign occupiers"
"And where would we find the volunteers?"
"During the battle a Marine unit ran into a group of militia called the Mandalor Militia led by Tar Mav with many members from Clan Bralor and Clan Shysa. I spoke with Tar Mar and he agreed to make the Militia official as we would train them to fight as a group rather than individuals. The jungles of Mandalore, very close to the Werda Kurs(Dark Forest) would make an ideal ocation for a training facility" Craig said keeping the man's title of Mando to himself, the Duchess probably wouldn't take kindly to a Mando or leader as it meant in English.
"And who is this Tar Mav?"
"We don't know much about him, only that he follows the actual MAndalorian way and dislikes Pre Vizsla a lot, even said 'Pre Vizlsa is an idiot who'd end up destroying Mandalorians if he becomes Mand'alor'"
"I may not like it, nor agree with it. But you have a point, I will make arrangements"
"Thank you Duchess, General Craig out"
Codex Update
Mando tar Mav bio
"For longest I live, I will not rest until the Mandalorians are strong again! No longer shall we blow to another nation! No longer shall we be used as pawns by the Sith! Jedi! Or anyone!" Mand'alor the Freedom giving a speech to Mandalorian people after his status as Mandalore was made public.
There was hardly anything known about Mandalore the Freedom, he was one of the Cuy'val Dar trainers asked by Jango Fett to help train the Clone army. However, at some point at time, there were rumors began spread that the Mandalorian had challenged Jango Fett to a duel for title of Mand'alor and Jango accepted. It was unknown who won but many believe to be true as Clone troopers and Cuy'val Dar trainers saw both Mandalorians appeared to be injured from a serious fight.
After OAG made its appearance in galaxy, Mand'alor the Freedom made his title known to the galaxy as he began helping OAG soldiers in training and took part in fighting the Death Watch during Clone Wars. When asked why he chose title 'Freedom', he said it was that he wanted Clones and other slaves to have freedom, to live as free as wind. This suggested Mand'alor the Freedom may had been a slave at some point of his life.
Personality and Traits
Mandalore the Freedom stands at 6.7-foot-tall, he was lean but very build body structure. His hardly ever seen out of his armor, always seen in his grey and red trim Mandalorian armor made from beskar iron and duraplast covering under beskar plates, making it lighter than other suits of Mandalorian armor. Mandalore is quiet person, doesn't always talk but when he does, it's usually something important. His been shown a hatred towards Slavers and the Death Watch, both he considers trash, once even calling Pre Vizlsa "an idiot who end up destroying Mandalorians if he becomes Mand'alor.". He was honorable and always kept his word, he treated Clone Troopers like his sons, believing they deserve freedom just like any other being, passing on Mandalorian traditions to them, giving them a sense of purpose. A firm believer of Supercommando Codex, he'll kick anyone's ass if someone would to insult it and Jaster Mereel. Mandalore admired Mandalores of past such as Jango Fett, Mandalore the Uniter, Mandalore the Destroyer, Jaster Mereel, Mandalore the Preserver, and Mandalore the Dominant.