"War is sweet to those who have never experienced it."-Pindar
Bulford, England
August 11th, 2011
The normal boredom that surrounded Bulford Barracks was broken. The men of the 3rd Mechanized Division, 19th Light Brigade, 2nd Rifles waited in the football fields north of the base. One thousand three hundred men sat grouped in sections waiting for the helicopters to take them away. The base was fully mobilizing. Most men talked quietly among themselves about what they had just seen a mere six hours ago. The great balls of fire streaking downwards, the way they slowed down a few hundred feet off the ground, the destruction of the docked HMS Belfast, the landing of the things in the Thames River, and the advance of the mechanically looking things from the beach. They remembered how vast groups of people were wiped out by missiles launched by what looked like small walking tanks. Very few of them had seen something like that. Only the few that had been in Afghanistan had seen things like small crowds of people wiped out in a single explosion. All the young men who once talked about how they so badly wanted to go into battle were now quiet. All of them knew exactly where they were going; London. It was on the shores of the Thames River that the things first appeared. And it wasn't only London that was experiencing such an event. Reports were coming in from places like New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Sydney, Cairo, and Los Angeles.
"Well organized, equipped with advanced technology, and extremely tough to kill." was how the intel pukes at the briefing described them. Initial reports indicate they are mechanical in some nature with a metal exoskeleton. Their weapons use some kind of incendiary rounds that are extremely lethal. They have no air force so the Royal Air Force is slowing down their advance by bombing the piss out of them. This hasn't stopped them from occupying a large part of the city. And in the chaos of it all the more and more aliens are landing in the Thames River.
One such section was led by Corporal Willis Westmorland. Under his command were Lance Corporal David Pirie, Rifleman Andrew Webster, Rifleman Anton Marshal, Rifleman Kyle Smith, Rifleman Eric Osburne, Rifleman Alex Franks, and Rifleman Stanley Garrison. All of the men sat in the freshly cut grass but Corporal Willis. He stood searched the sky with a crossed arms and a deep frown on his face. He kept checking his watch every thirty seconds.
"Willie, I don't think checkin your watch is gonna make those helis come any faster." Rifleman Anton said setting his L110 Light Machine Gun on his lap. Corporal Willis shot Rifleman Anton a look that would melt an ice cube but Rifleman Anton just smiled. Rifleman Alex Franks sat on one knee with a sketchpad. He was putting his final touches on a drawing of Corporal Willis. He leaned over and showed Rifleman Andrew that drawing. He did his best to stifle a laugh. The drawing was too funny. It was Corporal Willis in his present pose but in a bunny suit. The drawing was so funny because Corporal Willis was the manliest man in the entire British Army.
"You saw the ways those bleedin walkin tanks wiped out of those civvies?" Rifleman Kyle asked Rifleman Eric who was his L12A1 40mm Grenade Launcher.
"Yeah, man. I've never seen anything like that. You think we gonna be able to knock those buggers out?"
"I think we can knock it on its arse." Rifleman Kyle said poking a finger at the MBT LAW Rocket Launchers that Rifleman Anton and Rifleman Alex carried on their backs.
"And when we knock it on its arse it's gonna get back up and wanna knock us on our arse." Rifleman Eric said.
"That's why they issue us ground pounders two of the things." Rifleman Kyle said with a grin.
Lance Corporal David Pirie sat a few yards away from the rest of the squadron reading his all-time favorite book; All's Quiet On The Western Front. He first read the book in primary school and had fallen in love with it. It was because of this book he joined the army. He wanted to experience what a war was like. He wanted to form an unbreakable bond with the fireteam under his command like the men in the book had. In all honestly he got excited when the Tinnies, as the men called them, opened fire. It meant he and his men were going to be deployed. Now here they were, in a football field waiting for the helicopters to whisk them off to all the glory of battle. Corporal Willis called him a horrible person for wanting to go into combat but he didn't care. He was ready.
The first EH101 appeared as a little dot over the horizon. Several other Merlins followed close behind. Groaning and griping in the typical army way, the men cleared the football fields to allow the helicopters to land. The crew chiefs beckoned the men to come aboard.
"Let's go!" Corporal Willis barked to his section as he led the jog to one of the Merlins. The crew chief helped each man get into the helicopter and helped them sit down. After Corporal Willis' section was seated two more were brought in filling the helicopter. With a total of twenty-four troops excluding the crew chief the air inside of the cabin got stale and hot fast. The smell of oil and gasoline overpowered the men's nose. There was a collective sigh of relief as the helicopter took off and the crew chief left both side doors open flooding the cabin with fresh air. The helicopters circled the base a few times allowing the other helicopters to take off. Eight WAH-64 Apaches met up with the helicopters and the small air fleet headed off. They flew directly over A303 were a long column of Challenger 2 Tanks and Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles was heading towards London and an even longer trail of civilian vehicles were heading away from it. They flew over Andover and Whitechurch which seemed to be perfectly calm. The men caught a glimpse of Basingstoke which was filled with military vehicles heading towards London. They continued east to Woking where they turned north. As they were passing over Staines they could see smoke rising from the city. A Tornado GR4 streaked by with its wings laden with bombs. The men felt suddenly tense as they approached Heathrow Airport. As they descended they saw ten AS-10 Self Propelled Artillery Pieces fire off a salvo. They hopped off the helicopters which didn't stick around longer than needed leaving the men. Heathrow had become a Forward Operating Base or FOB. All coordinating forces fighting in London was being directed from here. They were crowded into a massive tent where a tough looking colonel gave told them what they needed to know.
"Men of Her Royal Majesty's Army, we are facing a threat like we have never faced before. An unknown alien species has made landfall in our country. Most of London south of the Thames is theirs. Our main line of resistance is here." The bulldog faced colonel pointed to a map that had a red line that was a few blocks behind the north shore of the Thames River.
"Whatever these things are, they are smart. They're focusing most of their forces pushing north with just a minor screening force engaging our forces to the west. We're going to use this time to get as many civilians as we can out of the area before retreating across the Richmond Bridge and sending it to the bottom of the Thames. Drones have spotted a large build-up of hostile forces and we believe they are going to push west in an attempt to divide our forces. They are going to have to cross the Richmond Bridge and Twickenham Road Bridge to achieve this. We are not going to let them cross those bridges. But before we go through that we have a casualty med evac site in Richmond Green. This mission will have two parts. I need you to support the men already at Richmond Green and assist in the evacuation of civilians. This shouldn't take more than thirty minutes people. After, you will make your way to defensive positions around the two bridges. Now our engineers are going to wire both bridges to blow but they will rely on you to keep hostiles off of them. You will have armoured support. Once they are finished all of you haul arse back to friendly lines so we can blow the bridge and stop the Tinnie attack before it starts. The RAF will be providing you with close air support so this shouldn't be too hard. Now men, this enemy is unlike any we have faced before. They seem to know what we are going to do before we even do it. Their weapons are unlike any we have ever seen too. When they fight you better hope you are ready because these fucks won't just charge you. They have been observed taking cover and using covering fire. They fight just like us, people. They are tough but they can be killed. These bastards aren't invincible and they know we know that. If we stop them here we can stop reacting to their moves and have them reacting to us for once. Now go to the armory and load up. Make sure you take plenty of grenades. You'll need them. May God be with you all."
The colonel saluted us smartly and nodded. They all stood and returned the gesture before walking out. Corporal Willis saw Lance Corporal David and ran to catch up with him.
"Are you ready?" Corporal Willis asked shouting a little over the roar of jets taking off and helicopters landing.
"I'm ready to kick some alien arse!" Lance Corporal David barked. Corporal Willis just shook his head.
"Now don't go Rambo on me. I want you to stow that bloody heroics shit because that shit is gonna get you killed. I can't afford to lose you, mate. You're me second in command. If you bite the dirt then imma have to let one of those kids lead Delta Fireteam and that is gonna get even more men killed. You got that?"
"Gotchya. No heroics." Lance Corporal David repeated and nodded his head. Corporal Willis patted him on the shoulder and disappeared in the crowd. The line that stretched from the airport terminal was long. The terminal was now where they kept scores of ammunition and gear. The munitions were displayed like lunch would be at a cafeteria. Corporal Willis got seven magazines for his L85A2 and three for his Browning Hi-Power. He only took three L109A1 HE Fragmentation Grenades. Lance Corporal David took eight magazines for his L85A2 and one spare magazine for his Browning Hi-Power. He only grabbed one L109A1. Rifleman Andrew grabbed ten magazines for his L85A2 and took four 40mm grenades. Deciding it was two heavy he put two magazines back. He clipped two L109s to his tactical vest and continued moving. Rifleman Anton inspected four boxes of ammunition for his L110A1 and one L901A1. Rifleman Kyle took seven magazines for his L129A1. He looked at the tray of grenades and decided against it. He was one of the two sections designated marksmen. He couldn't afford to be weighed down by the extra weight. Rifleman Eric took only five magazines for his L85A2 and four grenades for his 40mm grenade launcher. Rifleman Alex grabbed as many boxes of ammunition as he could effectively carry. He took five grenades and made sure he had two extra rockets for his MBT LAW. Rifleman Stanley figured they wouldn't be doing much shooting. He took only four magazines for his L129A1. The men headed outside and secured all of their gear on various combat netting and pockets. The section now looked like a force to be reckoned with. In civilian clothes they all looked like a bunch of lanky kids not even out of their twenties. In Osprey body armor and laden with weapons they looked like deadly killing machines. A line of Warrior IFVs were already had their back ramps down. The three man crews of the Warriors were stretching their limbs close to the vehicles. When they say the growing number of troopers they hopped in their vehicles and started up the engines. The roar of over a dozen Perkins V-8 Condor engines only momentarily overtook the sound of artillery fire. The men headed for the Warriors and immediately found something wrong. Each Warrior could only seat seven troops. Corporal Willis found the solution. The section leader would squat down in the middle of the troop compartment while the rest of the men sat in the seats. It wouldn't be comfortable but it would save the IFVs from having to make a second trip. Corporal Willis' Section crowded into the dank compartment of the Warrior and sat with the exception of Corporal Willis. The men watched with growing fear as the back ramp rose slowly blocking out the light from outside. Rifleman Anton felt an icy ball form in his stomach.
"I got a bad feeling about this, mate." Rifleman Eric said to Rifleman Anton as he nudged him with his elbow.
"Me too, man. I don't like where this might end up." Rifleman Anton replied. Rifleman Anton rubbed the small golden cross that hung around his neck. The IFVs lurched forward and headed towards their destinations. The Warriors they were in had just been shipped back from Afghanistan and had been partially disassembled. They put them back together completely with the minor exception of the air condition units. The air inside the Warrior was stale and smelled heavily of oil. It made the men dizzy. About halfway there the radios that every man carried crackled to life.
"This is Captain Steve Barrios. Men of the 2nd Rifles I believe now is the proper time for a prayer. I know I am one of the few Catholics in the unit but I ask you now to disregard your religious preference at the moment and bow your head in prayer with me." All of the men in the IFVs bowed their heads. Even the drivers did stealing occasionally peaks at the road. A few men made the sign of the cross as the prayer began. The crackle of the radio made the captain's voice seem slightly distorted yet firm.
"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. They will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen." All of the men no matter what religion made the sign of the cross at the conclusion of the prayer. Many saw this like their last rights. There was no cheering, no more smack talk. There was only silence and the clank of weapons as men checked and re-checked them.