Chapter 15 - Fire and Death
EZA - THE SOUTH PACIFIC
With a quiet splash, Eza, Ursare aquamarine of the 3rd "Flotsam and Jetsam" Lance, slipped out of the water and onto the shore. He silently waited for the rest of his squad to emerge from the water alongside him.
The group had surfaced on a small sandy beach, beyond which was a forest. He could see the lights of a massive city in the distance, but aside from remarking on its existence, he did not pay it any mind. His main concern was the farmland ahead.
For the past few days, he and the rest of his Lance had been sailing towards what command described as a large Primitive population center. It was supposedly well-defended, and the entrance to its bay was protected by two large islands, which could feasibly house artillery - or worse. It was his job to - along with the rest of his Lance - act as a shock force, and disable the enemy's ability to protect the harbor.
Sneaking in had been surprisingly simple. The enemy had stationed no guards underwater, or made any attempt to watch the seafloor. He and his Lance had been dropped off-shore by a matter of a few mio, and swam under cover of darkness towards land. Every few minutes, Eza and his group would freeze and go quiet as a large ship would pass overhead. A few brave scouts were sent towards the surface to investigate whether they were military vessels, but they quickly returned to the bottom noting that they appeared to be civilian transports. Eza hoped that the Brotherhood's fleet was handling the escaping ships, but with as many fleeing the city as there were, he doubted it. Regardless, it was not his concern - there was nowhere to run. The Brotherhood would find them eventually.
In the middle of the night, Eza and his Lance allowed themselves to drift ashore with as little movement as possible. Despite the warm climate, the group was chilled to the bone, as the cold water clung to them. For a few moments, they waited, like trash washing ashore, for their full force to arrive. In less than ten minutes, two thousand Ursare, Ekedax, and Gawalai had arrived on the shore of the islands. A nearby Gawalai looked through a telescope towards the far shore. Eza shared a glance, knowing exactly what he was watching for.
A second later, a small pinprick of yellow light became visible. The other landing party had encountered an enemy patrol and dispatched it summarily. The Gawalai dug into one of their pockets and retrieved a lightstone of their own, activating it. Both landing parties had been given the signal.
Eza wasted no time, rushing across the fields as quickly as he could. The entire might of the landing party joined him, all moving inland as quietly as possible. As he ran, he kept his eyes on his Sister Lesser, ready for her to call for a halt. His readiness would pay off, as the resident Undermarshal flashed a hand signal to stop in place. The order rippled to the two Turcopeliers on the island, then the Brothers and Sisters Greater, and the Brothers and Sisters Lesser. The Aquamarines froze, like a wave breaking.
Eza could see enemy structures ahead - it appeared to be an area fortified by short but thick walls, with several cannons pointed towards the sky. Artillery. He shivered, though he was not sure whether it was from anticipation or chills.
A few soldiers could be seen keeping watch, aided by floodlights mounted on large poles. Luckily for Eza, the lights did not seem to reach this far out. Eza could see some of his fellow aquamarines pushing up, keeping very low to the ground, and concealing themselves within the tall plantlife as they moved. They seemed to be moving up to a flanking position.
Eza waited with bated breath.
And waited.
And waited.
There was a ripple as almost every single aquamarine pulled out a blade of some sort. A few Ekedax aimed previously-slung heavy weapons, such as Autokanoka launchers, Cordak blasters, or Impact Crystal Launchers. Like the vast majority of the Ursare present, Eza was content to simply unsheath his talons, though he took the opportunity to ensure the Microkanoka pistol on his hip was in good order.
The hand signal for a staggered charge went up. Eza, along with nearly a thousand other water-breathers, began to rush across the distance as fast as possible. Meanwhile, the flanking aquamarines burst from their cover much closer to the enemy forces. The soldiers standing guard had a visible moment of panic before leveling their weapons and firing.
Eza felt fear for a second as he heard the sounds of the enemy weapons. It was as if repeated bombs were going off - but it seemed to do very little to the charging troops, and so the fear passed, replaced only with the sheer adrenaline of rushing into close combat.
Next to him, an Ekedax hoisted a single-barreled Cordak blaster onto his shoulder and launched a rocket towards the enemy. It exploded brilliantly, sending several Primitives flying and destroying a segment of the small, squat wall.
Eza leaped over the remains of the wall and quickly identified his target. Several soldiers were rushing from the tents, clearly not expecting the attack. One pointed a weapon at Eza, but was far too slow, as the Ursare closed the distance in half a second and sent his protosteel talons raking across the enemy's body. The Primitive held up his weapon to block the attack, and, like a blade through water, the protosteel cut the offending makeshift shield into ribbons. The adversary attempted to dodge the second blow as the tip of Eza's left claw landed squarely in their arm. The enemy screamed for a moment before Eza's right claw slashed through his neck.
Eza did not have time to watch the being's head fall from its shoulders before he turned to his next target. There was work to be done.
UZOK - THE SOUTH PACIFIC
"Listen up, lads!" hollered Uzok to his assembled soldiers. The 65th Honor Guard had still not managed to regain its former glory, though it had managed to somewhat restore its morale. The successful operation aboard the Good Intent had left the subsequent days of boredom marginally more manageable.
"We're operating as forward shock infantry for this mission. Each of you has a target designator. Naval artillery is standing by and prepared to fire on command. You're moving up with the rest of the 65th - keep pace. If you're ever slowed down, or the enemy ever gets dug in, drop your designator. Moke, you're on comms. I want those artillery shots clean and fast," Uzok continued. Moke shot a quick salute.
"Communications authenticated, they read loud and clear."
"Target areas are the main harbor and the two bridges, designated Crossing One and Crossing Two - do not get slowed down on those bridges, I mean it. Support craft will move up the river with us and provide suppressive fire and reinforcements. Crossing One will lead from the harbor into the mainland, Crossing Two will be the first major route from one side of the river to the other. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" came a chorus of replies.
The group was standing inside the cramped and dark quarters of a landing craft, heading towards one of several harbor cities on the Primitive landmass known as "Australia". Command had identified it as "Brisbane", a decently-sized population center, and within reasonable proximity to a small military stronghold. With the knowledge that the city would be well-guarded, the plan was to execute a swift and immediate assault, attempting to seize major thoroughfares of foot and vehicle traffic, and cut off the city from outside assistance. Once that was done, they could tighten the noose.
A day prior, Uzok had watched with hidden excitement as the Brotherhood's fleet encountered the Primitives guarding the continent. Having once been an experienced sailor, it amused him to watch the display of tactics from both sides, even through the limited view of a porthole. A few dozen ships were prepared to meet the Brotherhood, but, despite numerical superiority by the Primitives, they had quickly come to recognize the superiority of Brotherhood ships. The smell of spilled oil, smoke, and blood still washed over the Warbirds, even a day later. They relished in it. It was a reminder of the strength they - and the rest of the Brotherhood's forces - all possessed within themselves.
The lights within the landing ship flickered from white to red as they approached the targeted disembarking zone. Uzok could feel the ship rocking underfoot. Without any windows, it was impossible to see how the rest of the flotilla of troop carriers was doing, though he had heard an ominous series of explosions earlier - ones distinctly different from the guns of the Brotherhood's vessels. The Aquamarines had done an excellent job assaulting emplaced gun positions along the coastline the previous night, and after destroying or sabotaging as many of the enemy's weapons as possible, they had slunk back into the water and returned with almost no casualties to be spoken of. Nonetheless, Uzok suspected that the Primitives had prepared longer-ranged artillery further inland to intercept any landing attempts. Silently, he uttered a prayer to Teridax that the enemy's aim was poor.
"Final gear check!" He hollered as the light went yellow. It was almost time. Each member of the Warbirds honor guard looked through their equipment. They were still carrying the Microkanoka carbines they had been issued with which to clear the Good Intent, though they had finally been granted swords for close combat - a fact that he greatly appreciated, considering the alternative was biting the enemy - a prospect that he was not necessarily opposed to, but one that was much more difficult and risky than using a blade. Additionally, a few members had traded or scrounged for better material where they could; Akres managed to acquire a massive slab of protoiron that he had fashioned into a shield.
The light went green, and the door began to open.
"Warbirds, move out! Let's go!" yelled Uzok, rushing through the door first into the knee-deep water. The group had landed along a grassy strip which ran along the side of the harbor. As Uzok waded through the seawater, he winced at the bright sunlight. He and his team were taking somewhat of a risk, having been one of only a small group of ships, dispatching honor guards onto a strip of forest and grass about two-hundred bio wide. Beyond, he could see the outline of warehouses and massive cargo cranes, and off to the south, the bridge.
Flashing a hand gesture to his team, they pushed onto the beach and began moving through the trees in formation. Akres, being the largest and best-protected, took position at the head of the group. Beyond, from within the harbor, Uzok could hear the sound of Microkanoka fire - and what sounded like cannon fire in return. He took an internal note that the Primitives appeared to wield sonic weaponry of some kind, or at the very least, extremely loud equipment.
Uzok gestured for his team to circle up, before pointing to the bridge.
"That's Crossing One. We've got a few hundred bio of woods to get through before we reach the harbor. If we're lucky, the enemy hasn't fallen back onto the bridge yet, and we'll come out behind them during their retreat. If not, we have to take the bridge the hard way."
"Sir! There's a small river - about thirty bio wide - between the edge of the forest, and the harbor," barked Korenn. Uzok had been pleased to learn that her body power was the ability to generate highly accurate topographical maps of her surroundings.
"Shallowest point?" he asked, already planning around it.
"It's fordable, but it'll slow us down," she replied.
"Then we'd better move," said Uzok, spurring the group forward.
The group arrived at the bank of the creek, which was overcast by trees. On the far bank was a road, which was full of strange metal objects. They were visually not dissimilar to the crawlers Uzok had seen throughout his lifetime, though they lacked legs.
"Moke. Anything?" asked Uzok. Moke glanced through a Kanohi-mounted monocular which he held up to his eye.
"Looks clean, mostly. I think the rest of the 65th is doing better than exp- hold on…five contacts. Primitives. Armed."
Moke pointed out the enemy position on the road as Uzok squinted and tried to make them out. He could see a handful of what seemed to be small blue-gray blobs rushing down the street. One raised their weapon - a small device slightly smaller than a Microkanoka launcher - and fired backwards down the street. Uzok glanced back towards whatever the Primitives were firing at - it appeared to be another honor guard squad which had landed before Uzok's.
"Akres, Korenn, get your elements together, part the water, and we cross the river. Hakis, Sokul, cover them. Moke, keep your eyes out." Uzok said as his team scrambled to activity. Korenn and Akres rushed to the waterside, and immediately, a path began to reveal itself as the water parted. Rushing across the muddy gap, Akres led with his shield forward as the two hopped across a stone barrier and onto the road. Following them, Uzok hoisted himself up and over, and joined them. Keeping his eyes on the Primitives, he could see they were still approaching him and his team, unaware.
Flashing a hand gesture, each member of the team took aim.
"Open fire," he said loudly enough to be heard, but only just. A series of Microkanoka shots emerged from each position as the Primitives flailed wildly, looking for the source. Uzok prepared to reload his weapon and push up through the cover in the street in order to get a better angle on them, but he was surprised when he glanced over the metal objects and saw the Primitives missing.
Glancing back towards the far side of the water, Uzok gestured for Moke, Hakis, and Sokul to cross the river. As they emerged from their hiding places in the treeline, Uzok rushed towards the enemy's last known location, followed by Akres and Korenn.
"Finally, a proper fight," Akres growled under his breath. The three rounded a corner of the legless crawler, and found the enemy squad collapsed on the ground, either dead or dying. Uzok furrowed his brow in surprise - these Primitives were weaker than he expected.
His surprise was short-lived, as one of the collapsed enemies suddenly raised their weapon and fired a shot towards Uzok. He flinched, attempting to retreat behind cover, before the projectile struck him. It seemed much like a Microkanoka, but as it grazed his hand, he was surprised to feel how little damage it did. The Primitive fired another shot which landed square in Uzok's outstretched palm. Unharmed, Uzok lunged forward, plunging the tip of his carbine's bayonet right into the torso of the Primitive, who slumped over, spilling blood.
Uzok looked back and forth between his hand and the deceased enemy squad. Moke, Sokul, and Hakis rushed up behind him.
"Sir, are you alright?" called Hakis. Uzok stayed silent. Glancing at his hand, he could tell where the shots had struck - there was a dull pain, like having been punched or kicked, but beyond that, the only physical indication that he had been struck at all was a small scratch in the green of his armor - barely noticeable to the untrained eye.
Korenn watched Uzok, bemused, before bursting out laughing.
"They suck! Their weapons suck!" she said, between laughs. Moke and Akres gave her a gesture reminding her to remain quiet as Uzok turned towards Crossing One, which he could see in the distance, far up the road.
"Move out, team. Watch for ambushes - there's a lot of hiding places between these…things," he said, gesturing towards the legless crawlers. The group nodded, rushing down the street. Uzok narrowed his eyes.
That's a little disappointing, he thought, blindsided by the poor quality of the enemy's weaponry. The thought passed as he joined his team.
The push to the bridge was surprisingly eventful. Despite the near-constant sounds of gunfire echoing through the titanic stone plazas that made up the harbor, Uzok and his team were able to make it to Crossing One with little issue.
The same could not be said for the capturing of Crossing One.
"Contact, Primitives, lots of them. Unarmed, heading towards Crossing One!" reported Moke, staring through his monocular. The callout was hardly necessary, as Uzok could see for himself the horde of Primitives attempting to retreat across the bridge. Most (though by no means all) had glaring yellow vests on. Crawlers of all sizes sat along the bridge, while some - with large rectangular containers attached to their rears - had been parked so as to create a makeshift barricade.
"What's the policy on civilian casualties?" asked Hakis, idly.
"Command has civilians as acceptable, but not recommended," replied Sokul cheerfully. Uzok thought to himself quietly.
"Our orders are to take Crossing One without getting slowed down. We mean to do it. 65th Warbird, advance! All groups, follow in thirty-second intervals!"
The group rushed from their cover, towards the bridge. An open charge was typically a bad idea without fire support, but Uzok hoped the combination of copious amounts of cover, as well as the enemy's reticence to shoot into their own crowds, would help keep them alive long enough to breach their line.
As quickly as they began to run up, Sokul signaled for them to halt, pointing back the way they had come from.
"49th Ihidauri Sharpshooters pike just moved into position. Give them a moment."
Uzok blinked at the white-armored Skakdi, who watched for some unknown signal. A moment later, several quiet shots were heard, and a series bright orange bolt seared through the air, landing squarely in the bulk of the Primitives surrounding the barricade. Screams rang up from the fleeing civilians, as they began to trample each other, desperate to avoid the Brotherhood's oncoming troops.
"How'd you know that?" asked Uzok. Sokul shrugged.
"I'm very smart," he said wryly. Uzok considered drilling him for further information, but changed his mind. The bridge was more important.
"Continue advance," he yelled, before returning to his earlier pace. The Primitives, now seeing several groups of Skakdi charge towards them, continued their frantic cries. Ignoring them, Uzok took in the state of the barricade.
It was several layers thick - firstly, concrete barriers had been moved into place, presumably to stop crawlers - which Uzok found to be a laughable concept, since most could just walk over the barriers with ease. Behind those, several gun emplacements, which began to fire sporadically towards Uzok and his men - an attempt hampered by the crowds of civilians between them and their target. Behind them, metal fences, topped with razor wire. Lastly, the large containers, which seemed to be intended to both create a visual blockade, protecting civilians from stray shots, while also granting the enemy forces high ground.
Uzok was pleased to see that the containers had utterly failed at that purpose as another series of Kanoka Lance shots soared across the area. The enemy infantry, clad in gray armor and carrying slightly larger weapons than the squad Uzok had encountered prior, quickly fell to the precise bolts of liquid metal.
Uzok and his men arrived at the line of stragglers, with many civilians throwing themselves down or screaming in terror as he and his men stormed past them. Every once in a while, he or one of his men would deliver a strong shove or kick to one, as if to remind them that they were in the way.
As the civilians began to clear, Uzok could see the gun emplacements turning towards him and his men.
"Akres, take point!" he said as the large Onu-Skakdi rushed to the front of the line, shield in hand. A hail of louder and heavier-sounding shots struck the shield, which forced Akres to dig in his feet against their force. The civilians screamed in terror, some collapsing to the ground in shock.
"Teridax, that's more like it," he growled, as the stream of machine gun fire began to wear him down. Uzok gave a quick whistle, and Akres noted it, retreating behind cover along with the rest of the squad. Each Skakdi attempted to return fire whenever possible.
"Moke, how many are there?" Uzok asked, as a bullet narrowly flew past his head. Moke's eyes glowed yellow for a second, as his X-ray vision passed through multiple objects and focused on the enemy barricade.
"Two on the mounted guns… four contacts with heavy unmounted weapons, and at least twelve of the regular troops. They're digging in pretty hard, sir."
Uzok counted along, though was briefly distracted as a frightened Primitive appeared next to his group, holding a strange metallic rectangle up to them. With a glare, he kicked the creature back, as Korenn bared her teeth at them.
"You able to push up, tiny?" Uzok asked, referring to Moke's body power - the ability to shrink down to the size of a finger. Moke shook his head in the negative.
"Too many people. I'd rather not get stepped on, sir."
"Alright," Uzok reconsidered. "Hakis, can you get their heads down?"
"I can try."
"You can try?" Uzok asked, noting the absence of a certain word.
"Yes, sir."
"Okay. Akres, same as before. Get out there."
With a smile, Akres rushed out of cover, shield before him, while the rest of the squad - save Hakis - followed behind. As they pushed up the street, Uzok could see a glow emerge from Hakis' position.
"Steady!" called Uzok, as a sudden bolt of energy cast from Hakis' chest, and streamed towards the enemy position. A second later, it exploded spectacularly. Uzok could see from behind Akres' shield that at least one of the emplaced guns had been destroyed outright, along with a portion of the barricade and the fence behind it. The other emplacement gun had fallen silent, and its user was nowhere to be seen.
"Push!" Uzok yelled, as the group rushed into the newly created gap, followed by Hakis. The second they were through the fence, they fanned out, dishing fire against each of the enemy soldiers. Uzok could not deny that they were well-trained, but their armor and weapons were laughably poor, and failed to pose a threat to him and his squad.
A second later, the second squad of Skakdi rushed into the gap and joined him and his team. The Brotherhood was finally crossing the bridge. Victory was in sight.
If there was one thing Uzok had not prepared for, it would be the absolutely titanic scale of the population center he had been assaulting. While command's initial briefing of "several mio wide" had raised a brow, he had never seen an area so dense and so large. The closest thing he could fathom was Metru Nui or Xia, but neither raised a lightstone to the sheer volume of the Primitive's city. Past the bridge had been a section of industrial areas, which were easily captured, but beyond it was multiple square mios of large huts, with grassy yards around them. They reminded Uzok of tightly-packed Koros. Every once in a while, a koro would be separated from another via a large roadway, but otherwise, it was merely huts as far as the eye could see. Luckily for him, most if not all of the civilians seemed to be either unwilling to emerge from their homes and put up a fight, or absent entirely, meaning that there was little guerilla resistance to be spoken of. He had been amazed, truthfully, at the sheer emptiness of the city. Compounded upon this was the fact that the Primitive soldiers had little vested tactical interest in holding these areas due to a lack of strategic import.
It had been several hours by now. The Primitives were performing a staggered retreat, and with every city block that Uzok and his team captured, there seemed to be less and less civilians and soldiers. As the bulk of the Brotherhood's military might swept through the city, reinforcements arrived by river and by the harbor, who set about capturing any remaining civilians in good health, and ferrying them back towards the port. The injured or the dying were not so lucky.
As Uzok and his team finished pushing through yet another of the Primitives' barricades, Uzok reflected with glee on the excellent work his team had done in following the schedule laid out by command. Following the river, they had captured both Crossing One and Crossing Two in good time. Ahead were glistening towers, which appeared to be the main city center. He suspected that the Primitives were preparing to put up a better defense there - it was both further inland, making it harder for the Brotherhood's shipboard artillery to strike, while also being of more tactical value.
Uzok and his crew, passing through the latest Primitive barricade, were growing tired. Uzok could see it in their faces. Flashing a hand gesture for them to halt, the group stopped in its tracks. We've been doing good so far, they can take a break, he thought.
"Camp here for a minute. Catch your breath," he said to his squad, who eagerly collapsed upon the ground. Several took the opportunity to drink from canteens, while some kept watch.
"Korenn. Sense anything ahead?" Uzok asked. Korenn shook her head in the negative.
"Moke? How are we doing for time?"
Moke glanced at a tablet containing a basic map of the area.
"At current speed, we'll hit the city center in about two to three hours."
The group felt very good about that.
"They really are a strange bunch," remarked Hakis, idly. Uzok shot him a look, but the chatter had already spread to the rest of the group.
"Yeah. All fleshy and weird. It's disgusting," replied Akres.
"Who, the enemy, or Hakis?" shot back Korenn, tauntingly. Uzok shot Hakis a glance as the Ta-Skakdi rose up angrily, willing to fight over the jeer.
"Lock it down," Uzok said, eliciting a moment of silence.
"It could be worse. At least being fleshy means they're not armored," commented Sokul after a second, with an ever-present cheer, which elicited a nod from Akres and Korenn.
Suddenly, Sokul's smile fell. His brow furrowed with confusion instead.
"What's the matter?" asked Uzok, noting Sokul's demeanor.
"I don't know… something…" Sokul said, idly, turning his eyes towards the sky. Uzok joined him. Far above, a single dot moving through the sky could be seen, growing larger. Uzok wondered if it was enemy air support, before Sokul suddenly grew frantic.
"Get down! Everybody!" he yelled, as the team scrambled into position.
"What, what's going on?" asked Uzok, confused, as he took a knee.
There was a sudden and blinding flash of light. Uzok felt heat; a sort hotter than anything he had ever felt in his entire life. A second later, as his vision began to return, he could see dust and smoke pour through the air. A rock flew past his face, and he could feel it strike his cheek.
There was no pain for a second. Instead, he simply saw all the teeth on the right side of his face fly out of his mouth. He briefly watched them spin through the air, slowly, before the pain set in, and he immediately realized that half of his skull had just been shattered. The second the realization hit him, so too did his right eye stop working - it was as if it had needed him to realize how injured he was before it could commit itself to failure. Collapsing to the ground in pain, he and his team were thrown back by a tremendous explosion that covered the entire sky in darkness and smoke. It was as if the world had suddenly become but fire and death.
Uzok let out a scream of pain through his smashed jaw, before everything went black.