Chapter 6:
Operation "Bending Iron"
D-DAY + 40
It has been more than a month since the human forces entered the Digital World. After the crippling defeat of the imperials at the battle of Iarica, the Sunset Valley region was soon under control and protection of the IDDF. Camps and outposts dotted the entire region as more and more soldiers from all over the world came pouring through the Gate, reaching through its first year limit of manpower. The IDDF and the Royal Knights managed to communicate with themselves throught the RK's Long Range Audio Communicator, or LRAC for short. However, their devices were not as efficient as their human counterpart, ironically, so they chose to use the second option: Skype.
But now recently, most of the IDDF elements were beginning to deploy closer to the region's borders because in a few days, they'll will launch an coordinated assault further up of the region as a starting point for their massive offensive push.
The mission:
-Take and hold major locations of the Dramon Republic.
-Search and destroy any elements of Imperial forces.
-Clear and secure all routes between Sunset Valley, Dramon Republic, the Republic of Node and the UDC.
-Liberate the Dramon Republic.
Codenamed "OP:Bending Iron", the operation will be the turning wheel for the IDDF and the Digital World to seek an end to the Imperium's ruling and dominance in the world.
Camp Devil Dog, Main U.S. Forces camp.
These past few days had been quite intense for Lt. Raymond and most of the other marines stationed in Camp Devil Dog.
Both combat drills and physical training had been increased in frequency and intensity as they prepare for one of the biggest military operation in modern history. Pretty much every officers and NCOs were reading through all the battle plans over and over again just to be exactly sure they didn't miss any details. Meetings were made everyday to either rehearse the plan or add another element to their map as the IDDF's drones gather more and more information behind enemy lines.
Captain Richards was explaining once again to the officers and NCOs as they all stood at his attention, all of them were listening carefully through Richards' advises. At the back of the briefing room, behind all of the marines inside was Raymond leaning against the wooden wall with a bored expression plastered on his face.
"You look quite tired, Stephen."
Stephen looked to his left and saw Renamon and Guilmon walking towards him.
"I guess so..." He said before yawning quietly.
Guilmon offered a cup of coffee to the Lieutenant before leaning against the wall next to Renamon. "Thanks for the coffee, Guilmon." Stephen said with a grateful smile.
"You're welcome, sir." Replied the red dinosaur before sipping his own cup of joe.
"You don't drink coffee, sergeant Renamon?" Asked Raymond to the newly promoted digimon.
"I prefer energy drinks." She replied with a smirk.
"Yeah right, it's more like a bad drinking habit thanks to her tamer." Guilmon commented in a low voice.
"I don't have a drinking problem."
"Not with alcohol but with the energy drinks, you're an addict." Guilmon affirmed as Renamon blushed in embarrassement.
"Okay... maybe I do have a small bad habit..." She grumbled, admitting that the red dino was right. "But at least I don't eat bread almost every hour." Renamon fired back while Stephen laughed silently.
"Touché Rena, touché." Admitted Guilmon before he returned his attention to the briefing.
"And that's where we come in." Announced Richards as he points at a location on the map. "Dramon Market, with a population of 34 000 digimon, this agricultural and trading town is a very important asset for the Imperials in the Southern continent. If we take this town, then the Imperial's supply line to the continent will be cut off, weakening their forces and allowing the other kingdoms to fight back. With the Dramon Republic liberated, we'll be able to free the entire continent in one clean swoop." Then the map zooms closer to the town.
"French and Japanese paratroopers will be deployed to the far East side of the town to cut off their escape routes. Meanwhile, we will rappel down along the main road that leads towards the Jade palace where four teams of Delta force will land nearby and take and hold the palace. 4th Infantry Division and 2nd Marine armoured division will push through the town by the main entrance. Our role is to secure any nearby command posts and any other military infrastructures and once the armoured force reaches the heart of Dramon Market, Echo company will join up with some elements of 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger regiment to capture the Armoury field just East of the town." Richards finally took his eyes off the map and looks at the marines.
"I cannot stress you enough that this isn't going to be an easy fight. I guarantee you all we will loose marines along the way. We will be fighting against a force of up to 5 000 well-trained and combat experienced soldiers. You will all be making thousands of decisions that... there are no real answers to. Don't let your emotions get ahead of you. Stick with the plan and if things don't go according to plan, adapt yourself to the situation. We're marines, we're masters of controlled chaos. Show them who they're fucking with."
"OORAH!" They all replied, now motivated and pumped up as the day of the operation drew near.
D-DAY + 41, Operation "Bending Iron".
"Good kill, Raptor 1, good kill. Hostile forward outposts has been destroyed. The angels will drop in 2 mikes, over."
"Roger that, Overlord. This is Raptor Actual, we're RTB for re-fueling and re-arming. How copy?"
"Solid copy, Raptor Actual. To all elements, air support will be unavailable for 20 mikes."
As Overlord finished the announcement, Raymond saw the jets fly pass their helicopters as it was now their turn to go in the town. Military jargons could be heard in his helicopter and his radio while the pilots and Overlord were communicating with each other.
"Alright listen up marines! Get ready to engage the enemy in 60 seconds. Watch your surroundings and stick together. This is Captain Richards, over and out."
While some marines double check their weapon and gear, Stephen casually swings his legs over the passenger compartement of the UH-1Y Venom. Over two dozens of helicopters, ranging from Venoms to CH-53E Super Stallion and Littlebirds, dotted the beautiful clear blue sky over Dramon Market. Already caught off guard by the previous air bombings, the Imperials didn't even notice that an invasion force is dawning upon them.
Once the marines reached the town, the helicopters hovered in a scatter manner around the main road codenamed "Capital Road" and from there, U.S. Marines poured down in the town. In just a few seconds, all boots were on the ground and Capital Road was occupied by the marines. Digimon civilians ran away from them in fright while marines were already mobilizing to their objectives.
"CONTACT!" Yelled a marine before he got shot to the head.
"Take cover!" Shouted Raymond at his men as they all scattered around to hide behind a wall while others managed to reach the main entrance just in time. As of right now, Raymond's platoon was cut in two.
"Sir, what do we do?" Asked Dukeman through his radio as his squad was the one to make it to the entrance.
"Just proceed with the objective, if things go south just hold your position." Answered the Lieutenant.
Raymond looks around to find any other access points for the rest of the marines. That's where he noticed an undergound "parking lot" to the right of the building where the enemy could not engage them.
"Bradley! Brook! Go check that building right behind and see if you can get a sniping position to pin them down." Ordered Lt. Raymond as he pointed to the two mentionned marines the old european-like two storey building facing the command post.
They both nodded and Raymond ordered the platoon to suppress the imperials as they ran straight to the building.
Bradley kicked the wooden door down before Brook went in. The building seemed to be a house as they cleared the 1st floor.
"Right clear." Said Larry.
"Left clear, moving to 2nd floor." Announced quietly Elena.
Larry took the lead and walked slowly and silently on the stone steps of the stairs with Elena creeping right behind him with her sidearm whipped out. When they cautiously arrived at the 2nd floor, they saw a hallway with a set of two doors on each side.
"You take the left, I'll take the right." Whispered Elena to which Larry responded with a nod.
They silently walked to their designated door and they simultanously entered the room. They both announced that it was empty and proceeded to the last set of doors. They breached into the rooms at the same time and they were relieved that they were empty. In Larry's room, there was a small stone balcony with curtains closed. He called out Elena and pointed at her the balcony, signaling her that it might be a good sniper spot. They took a table and placed it near the spot, Bradley lied on top of the furniture, where the DMR was placed on the edge with its bipod as she took aim at the roof top facing them. Larry opened slightly the curtains to give her enough line of sight while still being concealed to the enemy. Bradley then turned on her radio.
"We're in position. Give us the signal, sir." She whispered.
"Take them out." Replied Raymond.
She slowed down her breathing as she aimed carefully at her first target, a Sealsdramon who seemed to be ordering around the Commandramon on the roof. She gently placed her index on the rifle's trigger, patiently waiting for the perfect moment. Then in the blink of an eye, she pulled the trigger and the Sealsdramon's head blew off as it dropped dead behind the imperials. The soldiers didn't noticed that their team leader was dead so she shot at another soldier then another and another, taking five of them before realizing they were losing their numbers rapidly.
"They're distracted, now's our chance." Shouted Raymond before the rest of the platoon went in the underground "parking lot".
However, they've just escape the easy part because once they went down the slope and arrived at the main area, they were met with a smiling Tankmon, eager to kill them all.
"Oh fuck! Take cover!" Yelled Lclp. Joseph Sanborn as he dived behind a concrete pillar.
The mechanical digimon laugh maniacally as its machine gun arms spewed out bullets in every direction, killing several marines.
"Cyberdramon! Take that fucker out now!" Ordered Raymond while the remaining marines suppress the Tankmon.
Cyberdramon nodded and then sprinted out of his cover. He quickly ran around the living tank until its back faced him. He then used his wings to fly upwards and launched himself straight at the tankmon.
"Desolation claw!" He shouted as he sliced through the android tank. The Tankmon cried out in pain before it bursted into data particles.
"Listen up! Sanborn, take your men and help Eugene evacuate the wounded and the dead. Call in a medevac and get us some reinforcements if you can. The rest of you, let's move out and help our fellow marines, oorah?"
"OORAH!"
Meanwhile in the command post's main entrance, Dukeman's squad was pinned down from four main hallways, one connected to the right, another to the left and two at back of the building. The marines use every bit of cover they could find: from the structural pillars to the reception desk and even the thin metal tables and chairs. Dukeman hurriedly turned his radio on while trying to conceal his figure from three different angle behind his pillar cover.
"Sir, where the hell are you?" He asked with a frustrated tone. "We're pinned and losing cover real fast, if you guys don't come here soon, we'll be dead men at this rate!"
"Just hang in there Dukeman, we'll be there soon enough." Replied Raymond quietly.
"Son of a-"
Duke noticed something at the corner of his eye. He turned to his left and saw behind a marine that a small part of the environment seems to be distorted, like some kind of gas or mist has appeared behind his fellow marine. He examined carefully at it until he spotted a blade that shined at the contact of sunlight. That's when he realized...
"SHIT! GET DOWN, CHAFFIN!" Ordered Dukeman as he opened fire in the general direction of the cloaked enemy.
Some of the bullets connected to it as blood spewed out of "nowhere". The cloak desactivated and revealed a Sealsdramon with its dagger in hand, punctured by the bullets, it dropped on the ground and dissolved to data.
"Watch your six! Double check the shadows, we've got cloaked enemies here." Warned out loud the sergeant.
"Sir! We're sitting ducks here! Give us an order to move somewhere." Cried out PFC. Jonathan Cobbly.
"I'm working on it Cobb!" Replied Dukeman.
He took quick glances at all four directions, looking for a way out of this mess. He then looked back at the left hallway and saw that it was abandonned, either the imperials were setting up an ambushor they repositioned themselves somewhere else. He didn't really care in either way they'll die if they didn't move from their position or if the left hallway was a trap.
"2 chances out of 3 of dying, I better get a permission to leave if we survive all this shit." Thought Dukeman, annoyed at his current situation.
"Fuck it." He swore under his breath. "Listen up! We'll be moving to the left hallway on my signal."
He pulled out a M18 smoke grenade, pulled the pin and tossed it in the middle of their cover. Once the smoke covered almost the entire main entrance area, he ordered his squad to move out and they all ran to the left wing hallway. Fortunately for them, the enemy just kept shooting at their abandonned cover.
"Is everyone okay?" Dukeman asked quietly to the remaining marines of his squad.
"Fine, sir, but what about the dead?" Asked Pvt. Peter Chaffin.
"We'll come back for Greyson and Montes." Answered the staff sergeant, mentioning the names of their fallen marines. "We'll come back for them, I promise." He added.
He reloaded his M16A4 rifle before giving out orders:
"Buck and Ripley, you watch our back. Chaffin, you take point."
The squad moved at a slow pace as they walked through the left hallway, their back hugging the wall. The hallway had a right turn which probably leads further down the command post. Chaffin, who had a better angle towards the turn, raised his fist up to signal the rest of the squad to a halt. He moved a few steps forwards then stops to lean to his left to get a better field of view. He jumped out of surprise but immediately pulled down his rifle.
"Oh thank god you're here..." He said gratefully and popping out of the corner was Lt. Raymond and the rest of the platoon.
Dukeman's squad relaxed and looked up at their officer with glimpses of hope in their eyes.
"How's everybody here?" Asked Raymond.
"Fucked up but not dead." Replied Dukeman with sarcasm.
"Same here. Alright jokes aside, we need to move on with our objective." Announced the lieutenant. "Reinforcement should be arriving soon, the main armoured force just pushed through the gate so we're probably a few minutes behind our schedule. Let's move out. Cyberdramon, take point."
The rest of the platoon proceeded further in the building, clearing room after room only to find them empty. They soon entered in a massive, two floor room filled with office cubicles and computers and a stairway on each side of the room that leads up to the second floor. Assuming to be some sort of communication or intelligence room with the second floor overlooking it, they continued to move on, walking cautiously towards the left stair and completely avoiding the central area. On the second floor, they found that the furnitures were thrown in every direction and papers littered the carpeted floor. They were about to head towards a set of double doors to exit this room when suddenly they heard the doors on the first floor bursting open and several imperial soldiers showed up. Both forces were caught off guard by the sudden presence of their enemy, they both froze up and stare at one another before shortly taking cover and shooting at eachother.
"Motherfuckers! Do they have to show up NOW?!" Shouted Dukeman before he plucked a frag grenade at the enemy, taking out a chunk of their forces.
"Jackson! Check if those double doors are clear." Ordered Stephen to PFC. Paul Jackson.
The private nodded and rushed towards the double doors. He was about to kick the doors open but was interrupted when the doors opened violently, pushing him and he fell down. He looked up only to see three Commandramon staring at him nervously. Jackson quickly brought up his M16 and hip fired, spraying bullets at them. After they turned to data, Jackson stood up and made a quick clear check.
"Double doors clear!" He shouted.
"Got it! We'll be maintaining this position for now, the double doors are our escape route. If we hold here, they're bound to send all of their manpower at us." Raymond instructed after taking out two soldiers. "RETREAT?"
"HELL!" They all replied out loud.
The marines showered their enemy with lead and explosives as more and more imperial soldiers pour in the room. Desks and computers were reduced to scraps and papers started to fly around the room, giving both forces a hard time to hit each other. By taking this distraction to their advantage, several Commandramon and Sealsdramon ran up the right stair to flank the marines. Noticing them at the corner of his eyes, Cyberdramon switched his position and placed his LMG at the other direction. Soon, the flaking force was gone, covered in bullet holes.
"RIGHT STAIR! SOMEONE WATCH THE RIGHT STAIR!" He yelled out.
Jackson and Buck moved up to the other stair and covered their left flank. Cyberdramon switched back to his previous position and resumed his fire at the enemy down below.
The close quarters firefight lasted for a few minutes which felt like hours for the marines, it ended with Chaffin being wounded to his right leg and the death of Cpl. Jason Buck. The marines waited for a full minute to make sure that there was no one left except them in the room. The second floor was littered with bullet casings and completely 'decorated' in bullet holes, burn marks and smoke. Then some of the marines started to chuckle before laughing uncontrollably, relieved that they survived such a bloodbath.
"We fucking did it, goddamn." Commented Chaffin as he sighs in relief.
"Echo 2-1, this is Echo-Actual, what's your status?" Asked Cpt. Richards through Raymond's radio.
"Objective secured. We've got several KIAs and multiple wounded, requesting a medevac to our position, how copy?"
"Solid copy Lieutenant, help is already on the way, sit tight for a while. Once the casualties have been evacuated, meet up with the rest of the company at the Jade Palace."
"Roger that, Echo-Actual." Replied Raymond before he turned off his radio. "Marines, you've got my permission to rest for a bit before aid arrives here then we'll move out to the Jade Palace to join up with the rest of the offensive force. Oorah?"
"OORAH!"