Chapter 35:
Dragonslayer (Part 2)
"Hurry up! Let's go!"
The last wounded got in the Venom transport helicopter. Furuta gave a thumbs up at the side gunner, relaying the signal to the pilots to move out. The pilot turned around and gave an "Okay" sign.
The sergeant ran back to his squad and the group of combat medics as the helicopter ascended to the sky. The soldiers kept their heads down until the tornado of strong winds and dust was completely gone. Furuta kept his eyes on the flying helicopter until it was out of his sight.
"Right, chopper's gone, let's move out and regroup with the unit," Master Sergeant Kuribayashi instructed firmly.
"You heard her, get moving," Furuta added since his men hesistated at first.
The squad moved out in a single line, their heads shifting sideways as they examined cautiously their surroundings. Loud 'thumps' resonated from the distance, some of the men nervously gazed at the sky, some were starting to breathe rapidly. Furuta felt a bit bad for them but they signed up for this. For now, they need to focus on regrouping with the rest of their unit.
Farther ahead they spotted three tan AAVs speeding though the street.
"Why are they going back?" A Private first class asked confusely.
"Medical evac, what else?" Kuribayashi responded harshly, "We're almost there,"
"INCOM-"
A large explosion erupted behind the squad, three Marines were flung to the ground, screams from the victims rang loudly with the sound of gunfire and tanks shelling enemy position.
"Medic! Medic!"
"We're getting hammered by those artilleries!" Reported Sullivan behind his cover.
"I'm calling CAS, pass me the PLD!" Raymond shouted back.
The XO tossed at him the square, olive green device. While Raymond was relaying the coordinates to close air support, Sullivan got to his stomach and crawled back to another cover while bullets were hissing angrily by him.
Safely behind the building and next to Raymond, he inspected his M4A1 carbine. It was still in good shape despite the beating it took along with the amount of bullet it spewed out. He recounts his magazines on his plate carrier; three left with two more for his sidearm.
"CAS is indound on those Cannondramon," Raymond said before glancing at the XO, "You all right?"
"Affirmative, skipper," Sullivan replied bluntly, "I've got three mags left," He added.
"Supply drops should come in five more minutes," Raymond replied before he turned around and tapped the lieutenant's helmet, "Come with me,"
On command, he followed the captain to the first floor of the commercial centre where two machine gun squads were being set up. Ammo boxes and spent casings littered the floor, the smell of gun powder still fresh and strong as they went up the stairs. The paratroopers gave them quick nods before resuming on their tasks.
"Here," Raymond handed back to him his PLD, "I need you to-" A harsh sensation caught up in his throat, forcing him to cough roughly, "-to laser target while I'll direct CAS,"
Peering into the tactical laser designator, Sullivan could see a large wave of Imperial troops massing up in front of the artillery unit, preparing an attack at the other side of the highway, just a few hundred meters away from their position.
He flipped on the laser, invisible to the naked eye. The screen displayed the target's distance: four hundred meters. From above, the sound of jets flying drew closer to their position, air support was coming in and it will strike hard and fast.
"CAS 4-0, we have target location lased for air strike, over," Raymond reported to the squadron of F-35B Lighting II.
"Copy that, laser spotted, sending packages in ten seconds," Announced neutrally the squadron leader.
From his point of view, sparks and smoke ignited on enemy ground, blood spilled on the street and cries of pain could be heard faintly in the distance; distinct 'whirs' echoed furiously from the heavens. Then a bright flash appeared for a split second before everything was envelopped in a large smoke cloud.
A resounding 'boom' was felt from across the street, the blast's shockwave sending out dust and ash around the centre. Marines and paratroopers roared and cheered in delight at the sight of three, speeding, stealth jets above their heads.
"Good kill, good kill, enemy artillery eliminated," Raymond reported, observing the end result of the successful air strike, a lone mushroom cloud now rose to the air, raining down ash and data.
Sullivan spared a peep at his dust covered wristwatch; it was almost noon, and as if commanded by the gods, the firefights quieted down, losing in intensity as the Imperials retreated, a line was clearly drawn on the city map. Friendly forces were now able to regroup, rearm and link up with each other.
That being said, that was only the first step in taking the city; now the next phase is to hold ground before launching the second offensive.
An eerie silence stood in the air. A couple of gunshots echoed across the city but nothing equal to a full fledge firefight.
Renamon slumped her rear on the rooftop, letting out an exhausted sigh from her dry mouth. She took a small tube from her plate carrier and dragged it to her mouth. She sucked into the tube, eagerly drinking the fresh water from her camelbak.
While drinking, she silently inspected the condition on the rooftop. Empty brass casings and grenade shells littered the dusty flat surface. Blood stains dotted the ground in various sizes and shapes, dried ammo boxes were thrown on some corners of the rooftop.
The Rangers volunteered and insisted that the Force Recon Marines to take a small break to recuperate. A handful of the elite soldiers were on watch while some rested, their backs against the small wall, panting heavily.
Their ACUPAT uniform were covered in dust and grime, giving their urban camouflage a lighter tan shade. They were all tired, thirsty, and for some, hungry. Her men were in the same shape: beaten, tired but also relieved to fight another day.
A car horn abruptly broke their silence. Looking over the roof, Renamon watched with relief as the convoy finally arrived. Like their soldiers, the vehicles were severely damaged and covered in dents and holes. Somehow the convoy was still at full strenght, all transport trucks, APCs and IFVs were there from the start, a feat that mildly impressed Renamon.
The Rangers and U.S soldiers unloaded the supply crates and equipments to start buidling their Forward Operating Base.
Roach blew out a smoke cloud from his mouth before putting the cigarette back between his lips and suck in a light dose of nicotine. The Recon Marines and the airborne sniper team were back on sniper overwatch duty.
Renamon ordered her Marines for an inventory count.
"Four and one smoke left for the GL and still have two more mags for the M4." Rookie reported.
"I've got a frag, two green smokes, two mags for the carbine, four mags for my sidearm and one mag for the DMR." Coal said with mild annoyance.
"Three for the DMR, two more for the M4, four for the M45 and two frags." Graves stated plainly.
"I'm on my last mag for the sniper rifle, my primary, three for my secondary and two flashbangs." Roach claimed after throwing away his smoke.
"Two more for the fifty cal, two for the sniper rifle, four for the carbine and two for the sidearm." Renamon finally reported in, "We're pretty low on ammo, I see," She concluded with an irritated tone.
"Want me to grab some for us, Staff Sergeant?" Graves suggested, already on his feet and ready to move.
"Go with Rookie, find him more H.E shells and grab some extras if you can." She instructed before the two Marine operators went down the stairs.
"Do we have any word from LT?" Roach asked curiously.
"Negative, still can't reach him yet." Renamon replied truthfully.
From behind, they heard men grunting and complaining as they went up the stairs. Taking a peek behind her, she saw a group of Rangers carrying pieces of a M2 Browning, ammunation boxes and sandbags.
She silently watched them set up the heavy equipment at a spot on the rooftop and started to build up an HMG emplacement.
"I hope they're alright," She heard Roach muttered.
"Of course they're fine, we're Force Recon," Renamon responded confidently.
Roach smirked, "You sure know how to bring morale up, glad to have you in the platoon."
Renamon smiled knowingly and patted Roach's combat helmet.
"Ready?" Burns asked quietly to Sergeant "Archer", the unit's youngest but fastest operator. The young man stoically nodded. "Cover fire," Burns ordered quietly just before the man sprinted out of cover.
The unit overwatched their perimeter. They were at the crash site, the helicopter just thirty meters away from their building.
Archer slid close to the crashed metal bird. The site was strangely quiet and they knew they were behind enemy lines. Cautiously and silently making his way to the cockpit, Archer lifted his carbine and turned on the flashlight, letting shine down in the cockpit, searching for survivors.
Unfortunately, everyone died in the crash, the pilots, their crew members and the two wounded Rangers, all lied lifelessly in the tilted and damaged helicopter.
Archer poked his head out and shook his right hand horizontally next to his throat. He muttered a small prayer to the dead before standing by to regroup with the unit. Ash gave him a firm nod, signal clear, he can move.
The operator quickly ran back to his unit. The operators stepped aside as Archer ran straight through the door before halting dead on his track.
"Overlord, this is Tombstone 4-Actual, we've inspected the bird, there are no survivors, I repeat, no survivors in the bird. How copy? Over." Burns reported coldly.
"10-4, 4-Actual, maintain overwatch on the bird, we're sending two squads of Force Recons to the AO for additional support, Paras will be there to extract the bodies in twenty mikes." Instructed autonomously the radio operator from command.
"Copy, Tombstone will hold position until body extraction, over and out."
"What's the game plan, boss?" Asked Staff Sergeant "Red", his hands still firm on the MK48 light machine gun.
"We hold position until PJs arrive to extract the bodies; we will also have a helping hand from Force Recon." Burns told his men bluntly.
"Awesome, more Marines on the way," Commented Staff Sergeant "Snafu" with a wide grin.
"And how long should we wait until CSAR arrives?" Asked curiously Sergeant Shepard, not taking his eyes off the Black hawk.
"Twenty mikes, normally." Ash answered before they all heard tank treads from across the crossroad along with foreign voices, "Looks like our neighbours are here to inspect the bird."
The Marine Raiders shouldered their weapons and took firing positions, their fingers ready to ignite hell on the enemy.
"Bring it on..." Archer whispered eagerly, his right eye peering into the ACOG of his SCAR-H battle rifle.
"Overlord, we have a group of hostiles with armour progressing towards the site, what's the ROE?" Ash demanded through his headset.
"Tombstone, you may engage hostiles at will, do not let them get near or destroy the bird."
"Copy, Tombstone will maintain radio silence until we need CAS, over and out."
The wooden doors blasted open, sending out pieces in the hall while British soldiers rushed in with guns up and ready to shoot. Rounds started to fly as the British riflemen spotted a handful of Imperials, eliminating the threat in less than a few minutes.
"Squad two, clear the corridors! Squad one, secure the hall!" The platoon leader ordered sternly.
The infantrymen of First Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, scouted out for the enemy, clearing door after door.
Walking in the building behind the Fusiliers were Magnamon and Duftmon, quietly observing their activity. The platoon leader turned around to face them; the Lieutenant was covered in grime, dust and blood due to heavy fightings prior their arrival in the enemy command post.
"We're starting to clear the command post, Royal Knights, their commander might be further in the building, I'll be sending Squad two as additional support." He informed them while indicating at the corridor.
"That won't be-"
"Thank you, Lieutenant, some helping hands could be beneficial to us," Magnamon diplomatically interrupted Duftmon.
"We'll be joining you shortly, good luck out there." The platoon leader said before walking outside the building to call in more men.
"That wasn't necessary, Magnamon." Duftmon said to the golden knight with annoyance in his voice.
"I know, but you tend to be impolite when we're offered a hand." Magnamon explained sheepishly.
"We're Royal Knights, we do not need their help," Duftmon shot back with a condescending tone as they began to walk down the corridor, "There'll be more bloodshed if they come with us."
"Maybe, but they can give us an edge against the enemy, they're smaller in size and pack a punch." Magnamon responded matter-of-factly, "But still, you don't have to be an asshole about it."
Duftmon looked at the knight of Miracle with wide eyes, it was the first time he acted in such a rude way, even towards him. Before he could reply, a sergeant stood at their attention.
"Sergeant Todd, Squad Two is reporting for duty," The squad leader stated with a quick salute, "It is an honour to fight with you, Royal Knights."
"We're glad to have you with us, Sergeant," Magnamon replied with a quick salute, "You may lead the way."
"Alright, Squad two, move out and keep your eyes open, check the corners and double check the shadows!"
The men nodded and silently moved forward with their weapons slightly tilted downwards to avoid any friendly fire incidents. Venturing further in the building, they came across a wide open room. The squad carefully looked around the room, eyeing each detail in the hallway.
The squad leader rose his left fist and pointed two fingers ahead, waving them forward. On silent command, the fusiliers spreaded out, searching for any potential enemy while the two Royal Knights quietly walked to the middle of the room.
"It seems to be clear..." Magnamon stated, though with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
Looking around, the room had three different corridors branching out on the sides and one that kept going forward in the building. From the movements and hand signals from the humans, Duftmon concluded that the room was cleared.
A light metallic thud caught his attention behind him. Turning around, he barely caught sight of a rolling hand grenade, just near Magnamon's feet.
"FRAG!" A soldier yelled the second after.
Duftmon quickly grabbed Magnamon's arm and shoved the both of them on the ground and as far as possible from the blast site. The explosive shook the room, eerie bells rung inside the tactician's ears.
Red and green tracers flew in every direction, fusiliers and legionaires fired at each other relentlessly. Caught in the crossfire, Duftmon moved himself in front of Magnamon and lifted his forearms up, deflecting incoming rounds and shielding his fellow knight.
"Are you all right?" He asked almost concernly.
"Yeah!" Magnamon replied vigorously, standing up behind the leopard knight.
"Then get to work!" Duftmon gruffly demanded as a round scraped the side of his helmet.
"Gotcha!" The golden knight vaulted over Duftmon's figure, taking in his turn the brunt of incoming rounds, "Magna Blast!" Anti-personnel missiles shot out from his shoulder pads.
Each projectile struck its target before detonating and exploding, taking two or three more legionaires around them.
Rushing out of the smoke cloud, more imperial troops poured in the room. A Knightmon furiously charged at Magnamon, their claymore poised to cleave the Royal Knight in two. The digimon fully clad in armour let out a battle-cry while swinging the sword downwards. Magnamon rolled to the right, just in time to have the massive blade striking down the stone layered ground. Cracks erupted around the blade's impact.
Duftmon summoned his rapier and thrusted it forward, penetrating Knightmon's chestplate with ease. He pulled it out and swiftly swung the thin but sharp blade diagonally upwards, cutting from the lower torso up to the shoulder blade. Knightmon hissed in pain and staggered back, the hole on his chestplate bled out profusely.
"Magna punch!"
Magnamon's powerful fist crushed the knight's armour and ribcages. Blood spat out of his helmet before he was sent flying backwards.
"Cease fire! Cease fire!" The sergeant commanded loudly.
Walking out of cover, the fusiliers set up a perimeter around the Royal Knights and the squad leader. "You guys all right?" He asked informally.
"Fine, sergeant," Magnamon answered with a thumbs up. Duftmon simply hummed in response.
"Casualty report!"
"Mann's gone, sergeant," A soldier grimly stated, "Bullet blew his brains out just next to me," He added while pointing at the corpse near the squad. Magnamon shivered at the gory sight.
"Pierson's fucked up but he can live," Another soldier added to the report.
"Fuck yeah I can live!" The wounded replied painfully, "O-ow..."
"Right, James, Collins, and Townsend, you stay with me, the rest of you bring the lads back to the platoon and regroup with them. Is that clear?"
"Yes sergeant!"
"Ready to go on your signal, Royal Knights," The squad leader stated dutifully, despite the condition of his men and himself, tired, hungry and beaten.
"I'll lead the way this time," Magnamon proposed, with Duftmon nodding in agreement.
While the two Royal Knights at the lead walked casually in the corridor, the British soldiers held their rifles slightly upwards, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
"Where the hell are we going?" A soldier whispered worriedly.
"Searching for the HVT, so shut up, private." Sergeant Todd dryly responded.
The group reached the end of the corridor, a metal door stood in front of them, the command room perhaps.
"Stay behind me," The knight of Miracles instructed.
The fire-team did as ordered, they stepped back and took a firing stance, weapons up to provide suppressive fire. Duftmon stood behind the fire-team while Magnamon calmly walked up to the door. He breathed in slowly before violently kicking the door in, shooting it inward like a lethal projectile.
"Go! Go!" Todd ordered the fire-team as they rushed in the room.
The room was fairly small with a couple of desks and tables here and there. On the furnitures were various stacks of paper and documents, radios, computers and maps displayed on the walls and on the holographic board.
From the state of the room, it seemed as the occupants left in a hurry.
"Room's clear!" The sergeant reported as the Royal Knights walked in.
"Damn, this site is a bust," Duftmon commented with irritation, "Romeo Kilo 1, this is Romeo Kilo 4, site Omega 5 is a bust, over." He reported to Alphamon.
"Copy - *static* -Mega 8 is empty, same for Omega 1, 4 and 9, over."
"Now what?" Magnamon demanded impatiently, hearing the start of another firefight in the distance, the enemy is launching their counter-offensive.
"We'll try to regroup with another task force," Duftmon suggested plainly.
"RK 4, this is RK 4-2! We've got eyes on HVT, heading West towards a crash site, three hundred meters away, we're on hot pursuit – shit! Hostile-" White static noise came after the urgent report.
"We need to move fast!" Magnamon said before sprinting out of the building with Duftmon just behind him.
Todd and his men simply stared at them with confusion and bewilderment.
Back at FOB "Goodwing", the Rangers and Renamon's team had been called to aid the Raiders at the crash site.
The platoon of Rangers gathered around Staff Sergeant Schmid with the Force Recon Marines waiting beside the Rangers.
"Listen up! Command wants us to aid friendlies with additional firepower so that we can buy some time for the CSAR team to evac the wounded and the body bags. We'll move with Force Recon with a convoy of five vehicles, including a Bradley and a Stryker to provide us with heavy firepower. We have a klick road to do in enemy territory. Helos should arrive in thirty mikes so we're on limited time gents. Hooah?"
"HOOAH!" The Rangers replied in unison.
"First squad, you'll take the lead M-ATV, Staff Sergeant Renamon, I suggest you take the second vehicle."
"Copy that," Renamon responded briefly before her team followed her to the second M-ATV.
"I call dibs on the fifty!" One of the Force Recon Marines chimed happily.
"Tombstone, this is Chalk 2, we're Oscar-Mike to the crash site, we're coming in with a Bradley, a Stryker and three MRAPs, ETA five minutes, how copy? Over."
"Solid copy, Chalk 2, glad to have the Rangers nearby, just don't be too late for the party."
"Roger that, Tombstone, Chalk 2 moving out. Over and Out."
The vehicles roared to life, the lead M-ATV off the courtyard and onto the ruined paved street, followed by the rest of the small convoy.
Meanwhile at the crash site, CSAR arrived in the heat of the firefight, the pilots barely dodged incoming rockets and missiles before they got away ina hurry. The team of Pararescuemen ran to the squad of MARSOC operators, unable to get to the downed bird in the crossfire.
Minutes later, the platoon of Force Recon arrived from the North, able to cut the enemy wave in half, but even then, it wasn't enough to halt the counter-offensive.
"INCOMING!" Red yelled before he and two Parajumpers dived for the ground.
A rocket shot through the window and across the room and corridor before exploding in the other room.
"You guys all right up there?" Burns asked loudly.
"YEAH!" One of the Air Force operators replied shortly after.
"They just keep coming!" Shouted Snafu with frustration.
"No shit, Snafu! We're in their home turf!" Archer pointed out angrily.
"Come on, men, look alive stay alive! Reinforcements will be here soon!" Burns encouraged his teammates while reloading his rifle.
Enemy infantrymen fought hard with an iron will, charging straight into a storm of bullets to advance a meter ahead. Digimon troops ran in a suicidal charge only to be mercilessly gunned down by the Air and Marine operators.
However, the team can hold their ground only as long as they have the ammo for the job; and they're quickly running out of it. Low on manpower and on supplies, these men will soon fight with their knives and bare hands.
"ENEMY TANK! LEFT STREET, 250 METERS!" Archer yelled urgently.
"Red, take it out with the LMG! Shepard, use the 203 on it! We'll provide suppressive fire!" Ash commanded loudly, "Open fire!"
On command, the mixed unit got up from cover and let loose a volley of bullets at the Tankmon, forcing the mechanised digimon to take cover and to fall back, their armour couldn't hold much longer against small arms fire.
At the same time, Red fired precise bursts at the Tankmon, aiming for their weak and exposed chest. Shepard rained H.E shells down on the targeted digimon, the explosives pounding their armour and burning some of their flesh.
"It's rolling away! Keep pressure on it!" Burns ordered through the loud cracks of their weapons.
"Frag out!" A Pararescueman lobbed a grenade out from the first floor.
The hand grenade detonated and blasted away a squad of legionaires away from the helicopter.
"Tombstone, this is Chalk 2, we're inbound to your West, twenty seconds!"
"Friendlies to the West! Watch your fire!"
Shortly after, a low roar of a 30mm gun sent shivers down Burns's back with a grin gracing his dirty and sweaty face. He heard Red laughing estatically at the sight of the Stryker M1126 ICV, armed to the teeth with a MK44 Bushmaster II chain gun and two M240 medium machine guns.
Coming up next were the MRAPs, spitting out fifty caliber rounds at the enemy along with the M2A3 Bradley's M242 25mm chain gun; a small package that can give quite the punch to the enemy force.
Caught with their pants down and with their right flank exposed, the legionaires were quickly crushed by the sudden shift of firepower, retreating with whatever troops that have left and leaving their whole battalion in disarray and confusion.
"All right PJs, do your work," Snafu told them with a sly grin.
"Yeah, thanks for covering our asses, I'll get you guys some drinks later, 'kay?" The CSAR team leader responded loudly before they got in the downed BlackHawk.
Burns chuckled and shook his head. Walking out of the building, he made his way towards the convoy, Rangers were dismounting the Bradley and Stryker and set up a defensive perimeter. One Ranger was calmly talking with a bipedal fox creature wearing a plate carrier and holding a M40A5 sniper rifle.
"You must be the Chalk leader," Burns assumed with a hint of uncertainty to the Ranger.
"Yes sir, Staff Sergeant Schmid," The senior NCO introduced himself while holding his right hand out.
"Gunnery Sergeant Burns," He replied with a friendly smile as he shook the man's hand. He then faced the digimon with a raised eyebrow, "And you must be-"
"Staff Sergeant Renamon, Force Recon, second-in-command of Lieutenant Colbert." Renamon answered formally.
"- A pleasure to finally meet you, Staff Sergeant." Burns said sincerely, having heard of the Digital Marines and some of their "unique" members.
"If you don't mind, Burns, but I'll set my squad at a sniper position, got any suggestions?" Renamon demanded politely and with a respectful tone.
"Uh sure, there's a condo over there," Burns responded while pointing at a tall and half destroyed building, "It should provide your guys an all clear view on the site and even beyond."
"Thank you. Schmid, I'll be on my way, good luck," She stated sincerely before vanishing from sight, startling both NCOs on the spot.
"You knew she could-" Burns began to speak only to be interrupted by a Ranger yelling urgently.
"HOSTILE SPOTTED! TWO HUNDRED METERS SOUTH STREET!"
The soldiers on the ground quickly got to cover and into formation, the Bradley's main weapon spun around and aimed at the direction. Burns and Schmid ran behind the APC, surveying the designated area. Through his scope, Burns can see two aerial digimon coming towards them at high speeds.
"Get ready to shoot!" Schmid instructed loudly.
"Who are we going to shoot, Staff Sergeant?" A Ranger asked unsurely.
"They could be friendly," Burns pointed out with dread.
"Just fire on my command!" The platoon leader ordered.
At the front was a heavily armoured, red digimon armed with two multi-barrel autocannons while at the back the digimon was a tall but thin purple dragon in battle armour and a large spike tipped tail.
"SHOOT AT THE RED ONE!" The dragon finally shouted frantically.
"Red target! LIGHT HIM UP!"
The dragon pulled upwards avoiding the barrage of bullets, letting the digimon at the front taking the brunt of the attacks.
Blitzgreymon snarled in frustration and pain as the human light armoured vehicles pounded his armour.
"Elec Guard!" He shouted before plasma particles rippled out of him to create a temporary barrier around him.
He swiftly flew to the side, avoiding the group of human soldiers and disorienting them. He suddenly felt a powerful force halting in his tracks and making him stagger backwards. A much heavier armed vehicle appeared, its main gun hammering his armour like a warhammer.
Surrounded and losing time, Blitzgreymon needed to act fast if he wants to get away from the Royal Knights and stay alive to fight another day.
"That's it!" The red digimon growled, "PLASMA STAKE!" Lifting his electric-powered autocannons, high voltage bolts shot out of the barrels, cracking the air and punching through the Stryker and striking down any nearby soldiers, electrocuting them.
The Stryker exploded from within, creating a shockwave powerful enough to push anyone on the ground.
"Mach Flicker!" Arresterdramon swoop down on Blitzgreymon and delivered a strong uppercut, sending the large cyborg digimon off their feet before following the attack with a flurry of strong punches to the lower torso.
Recuperating from the last devastating attack, Burns checked on Schmid; the Staff Sergeant was lightly injured but fine. Burns saw his team getting into position to fire with Shepard readying the M72E9 LAW.
"Do not fire yet!" Burns ordered loudly, "Suppress him until you have a clear window!"
"Got it, Gunney!" Shepard yelled back.
Red, Archer and Snafu got into position, so were the Rangers and Recon Marines on the buildings' rooftops. Renamon had the Barrett locked and loaded, the scope aimed for Blitzgreymon's head.
Arresterdramon dodged a swift strike from his opponent and swung his body around, his Tail Anchor slicing Blitzgreymon's lower abdomen and left thigh, drawing out blood on the ground.
His opponent snarled in pain and anger. He lunged his head forward, sending a painful headbutt against the dragon's snout. The dragon let out a cry of agony, the powerful hit almost broke his muzzle to pieces, and staggered back. Blitzgreymon performed a roundhouse kick, sending his aggressor farther back and inflicting more pain to his face.
The Mega-level dragon coughed out blood and smirked on the side.
A loud roar resonated from above before something punched Blitzgreymon's helmet. He felt a hot stinging and crushing pain in his muzzle, the back metallic taste of blood in his throat urged him to spit it out on the ground.
Looking around his eyes grew wide as the humans were already in place to fire at him. One of them were on one knee and lifted what looked like a small rocket launcher.
"Clear backblast!" Shepard yelled before he pulled the trigger.
The LAW let out a loud 'thump', shooting out an improved 66mm rocket straight for Blitzgreymon's chest. The anti-tank munition penetrated its target's armour and chest and exploded shortly after. Its victim cried in pain as shrapnel and intense heat tore through his body.
Blitzgreymon's eyes rolled backwards before the robotic digimon crashed on the ground, barely alive as a pool of blood expanded out of his chest. Data particles soon started to fly away from his body.
"Target's down," Shepard stated with a tired sigh.
"4-Leader, this is 4-3, HVT's eliminated. Over." Arresterdramon reported before he faced Staff Sergeant Schmid, whom had a frown on his face.
"What unit are you from?" He inquired inquisitively.
The tall bipedal dragon stood straightly and saluted the human, "Corporal Arresterdramon, Royal Knight Task Force 4, reporting for duty, sir!" He stated formally.
"At ease, corporal," Schmid replied with a salute, "Who's your commander?"
"He's right behind you, sir." The digimon answered with a nudge from his head.
Turning around, two armour clad digimon landed on the crash site, causing some of the Rangers to act nervously, not knowing the Royal Knights very well. With a confident hand signal, the Staff Sergeant ordered them to stand down.
"Nice work, Corporal," Stated neutrally Duftmon while eyeing the disappearing corpse of Blitzgreymon, "However, where's the rest of your squad?" He demanded coldly.
"On their way, sir," The corporal answered truthfully, "Sergeant told me to get after the HVT,"
"Um... sorry that we've arrived here without a heads-up, Staff Sergeant," Magnamon said sheepishly to Schmid.
"You should thank them, sir Magnamon," Spoke up Arresterdramon, ignoring Duftmon's sideway leer, "Without them, I probably wouldn't be here standing." He admitted with a respectful nod to the Rangers and Raiders.
Both Royal Knights gazed at the concerning human, whom merely shrugged in response, "We're just doing our jobs,"
"Corporal, I want you to find your squad and reassemble them here, I have a feeling that the Imperials will be coming soon." The digimon nodded and flew away, searching for their squadmates. "You humans better get prepared for the upcoming wave," Duftmon said coldly.
"We're Rangers, sir, we're always ready," Schmid shot back confidently as he heard his men getting ready for the fight.
Night came down on the city and there's no end in sight of the fightings. Throughout the whole day, the humans and digimon fought hard and bitterly to gain or hold control over conquered territory in the vast Imperial city.
Close air support kept on hammering enemy positions while medevacs had been called over all over the city every minute, all day long. Artillery barrages destroyed large parts of the city, leaving behind only death, destruction and debris.
Though now most of the civilian population had evacuated the city, there were still pockets of unfortunate ones roaming the chaotic streets of Tokū Solis in search for a shelter or a refuge from the war.
From the mall's rooftop, Guilmon observed the area through a pair of binoculars, watching with a mixture of awe and dread as the air force bombarded the enemy line, bright flashes of light frequently pop up over the city.
Thanks to a generous supply drop, the Marines and Paratroopers were able to fully fortify their FOB, sandbag walls had been set on the rooftops with HMG and Mortar stations built on top.
It has been an hour since the last enemy wave and like the previous others, they were pulverised by the humans' capability to lash out an incredible volume of firepower on short notice.
Though Guilmon was glad and honoured to fight alongside the Marines, the grueling conflict has taken a toll on his psyche recently. He started to have a darker and bleaker vision of the world, to the point of dreading to wake up another day, knowing that he is still in a warzone and not at home in Tokyo with his family and friends.
Marines called it "Battle fatigue" or more formally "PTSD". The horrors of war have finally caught up to him and he hoped that he will overcome it soon once the war was over. He hoped that Renamon would as well.
"You okay there, Lance Corporal?" A familiar asked softly.
"Yes, Lieutenant, just a bit tired," The digimon answered sincerely. He heard Sparks chuckling before he stood next to him.
"You sound like it," Sparks joked lightly, "Did you at least eat? I know you tend to get hungry every hour,"
Guilmon smirked and nodded, "Yes, lieutenant, just ate a day's worth of MRE in an hour," He answered truthfully. Sparks laughed and pat Guilmon's back.
"I'm glad to have you in my platoon, Guilmon, but try to get some rest though," He suggested kindly.
"Will do, sir,"
A loud explosion disturbed the silence. Men abruptly shaken from their sleep quickly got up and gathered their equipment while others ran into position.
Guilmon quickly got in the HMG position and racked the turret's handle. A couple of Marines took cover behind the sandbag wall near him with Sparks surveying across the street. From below, he could hear soldiers and Marines running to cover without knowing if there was any danger ahead.
"Everyone keep quiet, do not open fire until I say so," Sparks ordered in a hushed tone.
Three, bright red flares popped out of the sky illuminating the streets. Creeping up the street in the hundreds were legionaires now discovered and in the open. Now caught, legionaires simply roared their battle cry and charged at the FOB.
"OPEN FIRE!" The platoon leader yelled.
In a second, thousands of angry flying, green tracers shot through the air, mowing down rows of imperial troops in short notice.
The M2 Browning barked the loudest. Each burst ended with one or two legionaires having their guts blown off and scattered on the ground, limbs ripped off or their chest perforated with a shower of blood.
Guilmon continued to lay down suppressive fire, slowing down the enemy advance and prioritizing enemy leaders. The turret suddenly jammed, hot vapor came out of the end of the barrel.
"Gun jam!" He warned before he racked the weapon once, then twice.
He opened the cover assembly and spotted a spent round still stucked in the feed and barrel at an odd angle. He delicately took the round and wiggled it out. He rearranged the belt feed correctly, slapped the cover assembly back in place and racked the weapon, hearing a round perfectly chambered.
"Gun up! Firing!"
Once again, the turret roared to life with ferocity, spitting out 12.7mm rounds at the enemy. The imperials kept on coming into the bloody fray, bodies fell and rivers of blood were formed while crawling wounded imperials cry in agony and for help. Projectiles flew and soared in every direction, both sides were taking casualties.
It was a devastating massacre on the Imperial side.
Fighting for five minutes straight, coalition forces came under artillery fire, launching smoke shells to cover the legionaires' advance along with heavy armour support. Coming to aid the FOB was a squadron of AH-64E Apaches, currently refuelling and rearming for the mission. Mortar teams rained down high explosive rounds on the enemy, large and small arms fire gunned down mercilessly the incoming wave of hostiles, the tanks and armoured vehicles pounded them with volleys and barrages of machine gun fire and shells.
From their position, the Marines on the rooftop were receiving more incoming rounds, some of their cover were blown away by enemy rockets, now taking the bulk of the attacks.
The turret's barrel hissed as it slowly turned red. Guilmon cursed as he tries to replace the heated barrel while under enemy fire.
"INCOMING!"
"HIT THE DECK!"
A large streak of light soared towards them. The Marines backed away from the sandbags, Guilmon ran out of the HMG emplacement. The energy projectile violently crashed and exploded against the building's façade.
The building trembled, a heat wave struck Guilmon's back as the shockwave shoved him on the ground. The digimon groaned in pain as he felt his scales being cooked by the sudden and intense heat.
"Guilmon!" He heard the lieutenant shout as rapid footsteps approached him.
He slowly stood up, feeling hands lifting him up before he felt the ground shake and gave in. A large part of the rooftop collapsed, both Guilmon and Sparks yelped as they were being swallowed up by the large hole.
With a loud crash, Guilmon hit his back hard on the floor, more pain shot through his whole body. Dust reached into his mouth causing him to cough dryly and harshly, his eyes watering due to the amount of pain he was subjected to.
"O-oh f-fuck..."
The dino digimon looked to the side and saw Sparks lying on the ground near him, blood seeped out of his mouth, his hands shook uncontrollably as he held onto the steel rod planted in his chest. He quickly got to his feet and crawled to his platoon leader.
"Lieutenant!"
Sparks groaned and cussed once more, unable to think correctly. He swallowed up saliva mixed with his own blood, feeling his body getting colder suddenly.
"G-god d-damn it..."
"Hang in there, lieutenant, I'll get some help," Guilmon reassured with worry in his voice, "Corpsman! Medic! Medic!" He shouted desperately.
He felt Sparks's shaky hand tugging on his shoulder. He faced him with worried eyes.
"M-morphine!"
"Stay with me, lieutenant! I'm getting you out of here!"
Lance Corporal Guilmon rummaged through his first aid kit and pulled out a syringe of morphine. He took the lid off and injected the needle in his right thigh. Sparks visibly relaxed a bit but he was bleeding out, losing a large amount of blood.
He took hold of the lieutenant's plate carrier and began to drag him away while calling out for help. Around him laid bodies of fallen soldiers, riddled with holes, dismembered or burnt and their skin and flesh melting away.
The heavy stench of burnt corpses assaulted his highly sensitive notrils, making his eyes water, cough and gag, his mind was going awry, his stomach twisted in multiple and constant knots, the adrenaline rush was being fed with stress and fear; he was close to lose his own mind.
"MEDIC!" He pratically roared.
The firefight was getting closer, the Imperials were probably on them now despite having the advantage.
"MEDIC!"
"Stay with me, lieutenant! Come on!"
Finally, a corpsman and a couple of paratroopers rushed towards him, the former's uniform already covered in blood.
"Did you give him morphine?" He asked quickly. Guilmon nodded vigorously, "Alright, lift him up carefully!" He ordered two paratroopers.
The men did as ordered, carefully lifting Sparks off the ground and carried him away. The corpsman turned to Guilmon, observing his wounds.
"You're coming with me, Lance Corporal," He said firmly.
"I'm fine, doc," The corpsman defensively lifted his hands up, backing away.
"If you say so, I'll see you around though," he told the digimon before running off to another direction.
Guilmon leaned next to the wall and held his stomach, feeling it twisting while burning. He breathed shakingly, his body was probably collasping on its own. He felt something creeping up his throat before letting out his lunch and dinner on the ground.
Moments later, after retaking his breath, he spat out the last strings of saliva and pushed away the pain in the back of his mind. He groaned and jogged back to the rooftop with his platoon.
The Apaches ruthlessly gunned down the remaining hostiles, any survivors were quickly shot by the Marines and paratroopers.
"Alpha Actual, this is Raptor 8-1, run gun complete, hostiles are pulling off. We're RTB for refuelling and rearming. Good luck out there, over."
"Thanks for the support, 8-1, much appreciated, over and out." Raymond replied through the radio.
He bent down and sat against the sandbags. Troops on the ground stayed up though tired but relieved once the fight was over. Dukeman continued to survey the area cautiously, not trusting his own guts.
"Now what?" His friend asked.
Raymond perked up and shrugged, "Tomorrow we should push forward. We'll have Strike Force and UAF support along the way with Bravo Company... I'll also need a casualty report first thing in the morning..." He added after a sigh, "We've lost so many today."
"And the fight's still not over." Dukeman pointed out.
Raymond slowly nodded in agreement. The fight's not over, not now, not tomorrow.
Ministry complex, Tokū Solis.
"Command! We've got a HVT in the Ministry Complex! Requesting digimon support NOW!"
A large explosion envelopped his men in flames. The company kept firing despite lacking serious firepower against a small but dangerously powerful group of Imperials.
"They're tearing through our ranks! WE NEED HELP ASAP!" The captain yelled urgently.
The screams of his men filled his ears. Everything spiralled downwards for the JSDF officer. German and British forces were coming to their aid but were quickly cut off. And now a powerful digimon is beating them to the ground.
"Shit! Shit!" He heard someone yell frantically before they were consumed by a black projectile.
He shouldered his rifle and fired desperately at the figure of a fallen angel, their arms reached up to the night sky to summon seven black orbs. The bullets harmlessly bounced off their armour like airsoft pellets.
The captain backed away in fear, switching to his sidearm and aimed for the orbs. One of them detonated, hurting the fallen angel but did nothing other than to piss them off. They launched all six others at the JSDF soldiers. The officer dived to the side, almost consummed by the orb.
He searched around for anything that could damage their armour. A dead soldier held onto a Panzerfaust-3 near him. Looking back, the powerful digimon seemed to be distracted, he slowly crawled his way to the rocket launcher.
He grabbed it, closed the eyes of the fallen soldier in respect and shouldered the launcher. He pulled the rod out for maximum armour penetration, took aim and pulled the trigger, the 110mm HEAT rocket soared at its target.
The digimon heard the distinct 'thump' and turned their head just when the rocket struck them. The explosion was fierce and powerful, the blast almost burned the captain.
The Japanese officer shakily stood back and raised his rifle wearily at the smoke cloud. The air was oddly silent but tense. No shots were fired yet he knew that something was wrong, it couldn't have been this easy, nothing was in the Digital Front.
He reached for his radio and contacted command.
"This is Delta Actual, sector's clear, requesting evac and reinforce-"
His eyes widened with fear as the silhouette of the fallen angel appeared in the dissipating smoke cloud.
"Negative! Sector's not clear! We need help n-AAARGH!"
A large black sword penetrated his whole chest, the blade sticking out through his back. The man dropped the radio and rifle, gurggling in his own blood and his body shaking uncontrollably.
The digimon lifted the impaled man and glared at him with rage. They roughly pulled out the sword, drawing out blood that pooled on the ground and forcefully grabbed onto the human's throat.
Without a word, electricity shot out of their arm and surged through the man's body, electrocuting him. The digimon scoffed and threw the body away.
"Disgusting pests..." The digimon glowered before hovering back in the complex, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction that they caused single-handedly, bodies and blood scattered all over the devastated ground outside of the complex.
Author's Note: JOYEUX NOEL! Sorry for being a tad bit late but I've planned to post the next chapter soon and a special present in addition. I hope you guys like this chapter and look forward to the next one :D A la prochaine!