Bravo Company's Position, 210 meters behind Alpha Company's position, April 4th 2021 (1350)
"Jesus Christ…" Simon mutters under his breath, as he watched the Amtrac burn just 200 meters in front of them, Marines from Alpha Company trying everything they could to rescue their burning comrades, one going as far as to climb the Amtrac and dragging two wounded Marines towards safety, a show of gallantry by the Marine. Unfortunately, before they could rescue more Marines, the Amtrac exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction, sealing the fate of Marines still stuck inside to be vaporized by the explosion.
Everyone stood in horror as the Amtrac continued to burn. Their ammunition compartment exploding every few seconds into lights similar to a firework in the night sky during 4th of July, sending streaks of molten metal in every direction.
Doc Clancy, seeing this, immediately runs up to Lt. Mistral, watching the scene unfold as he attempts to radio Captain Walt, wanting to know who called the airstrike in, only to be interrupted by Doc Clancy as he dropped down next to him, his face shocked, his blue eyes widened.
"Sir, permission to go-" Before he could finish his request, Lt. Mistral immediately cuts Clancy off, all while still looking at the friendly fire site through his binoculars.
"Go!" Lt. Mistral immediately grants him permission before he could finish asking, prompting Clancy to get up and run as fast as he could towards Alpha Company's position, whose corpsman and medical crews are overwhelmed by the sheer number of wounded, ignoring the weight of his rucksack.
Faster! You idiot!
Come on you fuck! They're dying!
Clancy grunted as he jumps over a destroyed wagon, almost tripping before stabilizing himself, behind him, several Marines and Sailors from Bravo and Charlie Company follows behind with stretchers and medical equipment, while Hitman 2-3, a team under Hitman-2, follows him as their team leader, Sergeant Michael Schmidt carry a stretcher with another Marine, Lance Corporal Isaac Hall, a black man. They followed behind Clancy as they approached Alpha's position, their corpsman desperately trying to treat the wounded.
"Stop the fucking bleeding!" Clancy shouted from afar, finally reaching Alpha's position as he slung his M4A1 back towards his rucksack as he began wearing his medical gloves, removing his tactical gloves.
He approaches a Marine whose legs are badly burned, blood oozing out as they try to stop the bleeding, wrapping his leg in a tourniquet as they apply bandages.
"Hey buddy, you alright?" Doc Clancy asks as he approaches the Marine, despite the Marine obviously not being "alright", Navy Corpsmen are trained to ask them anyway to calm the patient down.
"Yeah." The Marine immediately answered, his voice stuttering as he tries to hide the pain, prompting him to pull out a bandage and press it against his legs which bleed profusely, trying to stop the bleeding, while gesturing towards Sergeant Schmidt to rinse the burn with water, who immediately followed his instruction, taking out a bottle of water to clean the wounds.
"Alright, you're gonna be fine, alright buddy?" Clancy said as he tries to stop the bleeding, trying to comfort the injured Marine in pain. Trying not to scream, he continues to calm him down despite knowing the chances of him ever walking again are very slim.
Around them, Marines and Navy Corpsmen from RCT-5 began arriving en-masse to help them treat the injured Marines.
Alpha Company's Position, Italica's Southern Gate (1415)
The situation is not good. They've been occupied with shooting any Italican and Imperial archers trying to take a shot at his men and other Marines treating the wounded from the burning Amtrac, arrows flying left and right, followed by streaks of lights from his company's 50 cal's tracer rounds. He watched as one of the bullet from the M2 Machine Gun hit an adventurer siding with the Italicans in the head, blowing it off clean and spraying brain matter behind him.
Captain Wileman watched as his First Sergeant Goodson loads a single 40mm grenade into the chamber of his underbarrel M203 grenade launcher before carefully aiming it at the wall, squeezing the trigger. He watched as the round hit an improvised defensive position made of wooden furniture explode, turning a defender behind into swiss cheese as multiple wooden splinters entered his body, ruining his insides.
He squinted his eyes at the civilians standing on the wall. For the past few hours in the fighting, he'd occasionally see multiple unarmed civilians on the wall, watching the battle intently, before going down and appearing yet again during lulls in the gunfight.
Suspecting that the defenders are using them as scouts for their archers and Magical Fire spells, he decided to radio the battalion, grabbing the radio telephone before patting the shoulder of First Sergeant Goodson.
"Cover me, I'm going to radio Godfather, I don't want to get hit by a fuckin' arrow in middle of conversation." He said as he gulped down another pack of skittles, with his radio on his left hand, taking cover behind the door of his command Humvee.
"Roger that!" His First Sergeant immediately replied, before going back to shooting at the Italican defenders, letting off a burst of 3 rounds. It looked to be as if the defenders had been raining arrows non stop against them.
"Godfather, this is Ajax Actual, over." Captain Wileman talked on the radio, taking cover from a wave of arrows flying towards his position, narrowly missing him.
"This is Godfather, send it." A reply came from the other end of the radio, prompting him to quickly respond.
"Requesting permission to fire on unarmed civilians, suspected of being enemy scouts for their archers, over." He immediately responded without missing a beat, putting down his Skittles in favor of binoculars, watching the "civilians" on the wall, observing them, before going down and disappearing again.
Silence befell the radio for at least 2 minutes, as he waited for a response from the Battalion HQ, taking a moment to look at the wall again, as several "civilians" can be seen just besides the defenders, causing him to frown.
"Ajax Actual, this is Godfather, change in ROE has been approved by the Division, if you see any suspected enemy scouts, shoot them, Godfather out." A response came from the radio, prompting him to change the frequency, letting his company know about the change in ROE.
"All Ajax Victors, this is Ajax Actual, be advised, you're now allowed to engage any unarmed civilians suspected of being enemy scouts, over."
Immediately after the radio message, everyone in Alpha Company began firing their guns at the wall, letting loose a solid wall of bullet as everyone in the company began to fire their weapons at the wall, shredding the defenders and several civilians to pieces with 50 cal and 40mm rounds, while the Abrams of Centurion-1 fired their main guns, massive explosions on the wall indicating a hit, causing the wall to collapse completely. Italican, Imperial and Adventurer fates on the wall were sealed, as they're buried alive under piles of rubble.
Black smoke can be seen rising from the collapsed wall, followed by multiple blood-curdling screams of the defenders buried alive, at least they managed to stop the arrow fires and constant lobbing of Fire Magic projectiles by the defenders.
-Bravo Company's Position, fields outside Italica (1445)
"Hey! Looks like Alpha collapsed the wall! That was pretty fucking rad." Evan exclaimed as he watched the collapsed wall on Alpha Company's sector through his binoculars, whistling at the destruction caused by their hail of gunfire.
"I guess it pays to actually take the risk and blow the shit out of your enemy." A voice came from behind Evan, the deep black accent making it painfully obvious it was Dow, as he too was watching Alpha's firework show, amazed by how quick they collapsed the wall with their combined fire.
Simon meanwhile, continues to scan the walls that are still standing in front of them through his ACOG, watching for any enemy trying to take shot at the exposed Bravo Company that is currently positioned on a open field, courtesy of Captain Walt's "genius" idea of covering the wall 200 meters east of Alpha's position as they try to provide overwatch for Marines in Alpha and RCT-5 treating the wounded, despite the open field providing any enemy scouts on the wall a clear view of Bravo Company's position and a very easy target standing in the open for them to hit with their arrows.
Meanwhile, men of Hitman-2 take cover behind their Humvees and several scattered rocks, trying to find suitable cover in the vast, empty yet grassy field. Similar to the ones featured in fantasy-adventure games they'd play back in America such as Breath of The Wild. The field is quite beautiful with the tall grass and the occasional birds and wild Ma-nugas grazing on the field, despite it being unsuitable for overwatch by Marines of Bravo Company.
Hundred of meters away to their left and right are M1A1 tanks and other vehicles from RCT-5 and RCT-7 moving towards Italica, the sound of their gas turbine engine making them easily recognizable by other Marines.
Simon's team and Dow's team are taking cover behind a rock, large enough to provide cover for their team, occasionally peeking up to look through their rifle scopes and binoculars as they continue to scan the walls. Behind them are Sutherby's team, Hitman 2-2, hiding behind their Humvee with Lt Mistral, also observing the walls in front of them, Hitman 2-3 meanwhile, are at Alpha Company's position, helping Doc Clancy
"Hey Sai, do you remember those war movie cliches? The one where some random-ass dude would whip out the picture of his girlfriend and talk about her for no reason while the rest of his platoon are busy minding their own fucking business, trying not to get blown up to bits by friendly fire,. only for the enemy to appear out of fucking nowhere and shoot the guy 'till he looked like stereotypical swiss cheese in cartoons or some shit." Evan spoke up, breaking the silence that had befellen their position earlier, talking while his dark brown eyes continued to watch the walls in front of them through the thermal scope on his M4A1 intently, not letting the wall out of his sight. It seems like he is back at his Rip-Its rambling yet again, earning an exasperated sigh from his team leader.
"Yes Evan, I do know that cliche very well, but I don't see any relevance it has with our current status." Turning his head towards Evan, Simon immediately answered his question in a tired tone, with a serious facial expression.
"Nice, now that we are stuck here, doing jack-shit in middle of this field straight out of fucking Zelda games because our company commander wants to do some shit and show to Godfather that he's useful. Let's talk about our girlfriends back home or something, maybe a Roman will appear out of nowhere and try to attack us, at least we'll get to see some action!" Evan cheerfully continues as he explains his intention, making a smirk as he turns his head at his team leader, prompting Simon to roll his eyes before going back to observing the wall, while Dow and Allie try to suppress their snicker at Evan's weird idea.
"Maannnnnnnnnnn, when I came back home, I'm gonna eat the living fucking shit out of my girlfriend's pussy, that's gonna be fucking awesome don't ya think Sai?" Evan said as he flashes a smirk at his team leader, who decided to turn his head, once again, to look at his friend, rambling, a side effect from all the Rip-Its he has drunk.
"Girlfriend? You mean your hairy-cunt buck-toothed acne-filled dim-witted fucking retards that repeated 4th grade 9 times that you called cousins?" Simon shot back at Evan, mocking his southern background, smiling in satisfaction that he managed to gauge a chuckle from his dear friend Evan, grinning at the remark while others tried to hold in their snicker at the friendly banter.
"Eh, maybe you're not wron-" Before Evan could finish his sentence, it was interrupted by a rain of arrows, landing on their position and narrowly hitting them, prompting everyone to duck down and hide behind the rock, as arrows kept hitting their position together with Fire Magic projectiles, landing short of their target and bursting into flames, startling the Marines hiding behind the rock and their Humvees, Dow immediately dragged the Traveler, gesturing at him to hide him, which he immediately obeyed.
"Where the fuck did that come from? I don't see any enemy contacts!" Scanning the walls for the Imperials that lobbed those arrows through his ACOG, Simon squinted his eyes in an effort to locate the archer, carefully scanning the horizon; despite doing that, he didn't see anything besides rising black smoke.
Another volley of arrows, this time combined with fire magic, hits their position, instead of ducking down like they did earlier, they decided to gamble with fate and stands up as they carefully observe the guard towers on the city's wall, looking for any enemy contacts that might be unlucky enough to be spotted by these Recon Marines.
"Do we really need to see the enemy?" Allie asks as he takes a peek at the wall, squinting his eyes to see any enemy figures.
"Allie, shut up." Dow counters, trying to stay focused.
Immediately after doing that, Evan yelled at the top of his lungs, prompting other Marines to increase their focus at scanning the guard towers.
"I got contacts, I got contacts!" Evan screamed as he finally spots the perpetrator while a small grin appeared on his face, knowing the poor guy won't even know how he'll die.
Simon reacted by adjusting his ACOG, turning it left and right in an effort to find the contact, this time making sure he didn't miss a single section of the wall. Despite doing that, he can't seem to find the sneaky enemy, prompting him to ask Evan where are they hiding.
"Uhh, where?" Simon asked in a puzzled tone, still gripping his M4A1, turning it left and right as he tried to find the hidden enemy.
"130 meters, my 10 o'clock, second guard tower to the right just next to the collapsed wall!" As if he knew the question was going to be asked, Evan immediately answers his question, not missing a single heartbeat. Hearing this, everyone began to adjust their sight towards the enemy position, revealed courtesy of Hitman 2-1's driver and RTO, Evan Carson.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it now." Simon calmly says as he finally found the enemy, a group of maybe 3 or 4 adventurers hiding inside one of the gun towers, their head occasionally peeking up and down, Simon immediately fixed his M4A1, aiming it at the said tower, licking his lips in anticipation, he was soon followed by Dow and others as they too began to see the hidden enemy.
"Got it." Dow flatly remarked, as he finally catches sight of the hiding adventurers, one of them seemingly an elf based on his ears, as Dow stares at the guard tower.
"All Hitman 2 Victors, this is Hitman-2, you're cleared to engage, over~" Finally, the order to fire has been approved by Lt. Mistral, whose face has a sinister smirk as he gives the order before letting go of his push to talk button, clutching his M4A1.
"You heard the Lieutenant, we're cleared to engage!" Simon exclaimed, as he turned off the safety for his M4A1, turning it into "semi-auto" as he let out a small grin, knowing what's about to happen to the adventurers hiding on the guard tower.
"Aye aye Sergeant!" A reply came from his right, coming from none other than Evan, as he carefully took aim at the adventurers using his M4A1, supported by his left elbow, squeezing a 2 round burst at the said adventurers.
Soon enough, everyone begins to let off 2 and 3 rounds burst at the guard tower, Simon continuously letting out 2 round bursts at the building, carefully aiming at the elven archer through his ACOG before firing another short burst of 2 rounds, sending hot lead through his head, killing him.
Dow meanwhile, fires his gun in a short but rapid burst, firing every 1 second before stopping and repeating the process, behind them, Kirito opens up with the Mark-19 at the building together with Cortez with his 50 cal, letting loose 10 and 30 rounds before stopping respectively, blowing the tower pieces and sending body parts and organs in every direction.
For 1 minutes straight, Hitman-2 savagely continue to fire at the guard tower non-stop, letting loose a hail of gunfire while tracer rounds fly around creating multiple beautiful streaks of lights, before hitting the tower and the surrounding walls, sending bits of shrapnels and small stones flying in every direction at high speed, the shrapnel hitting any unlucky adventurers that might try to rescue their friends that are currently being obliterated to pieces by the other-worlders' ranged weapons.
They continue firing at the guard towers, the constant pressure by the Mark-19 and 120mm gun from the nearby Centurion-1's Abrams causing it to collapse, slamming on the wall next to it before collapsing the wall altogether, burying the adventurers alive, even with that, the Marines continue firing, yelling "Die motherfucker, die!" at the top of their lungs, a technique to see how long they have fired with the sentence taking approximately 5 seconds to be said. The solid wall of lead by Hitman-2 finally stopped when Simon yelled,
"Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" The mere mention of the word causes everyone in the platoon to stop firing at the already obliterated and collapsed wall as everyone begins to giggle a little bit at what they've just done.
"Holy shit, it worked, it fucking worked!" Kirito remarked excitedly, not expecting his Mark-19, lacking LSA oil lubes to function, to actually work. He immediately pats his Mark-19 happily, sounding almost ecstatic finding out the peanut butter worked as a substitute lube. Cortez, Nathan and Allie at the back meanwhile, happily smile at the amount of rounds they've fired to the point the tower and the wall collapsed.
Meanwhile Simon just stands there behind the rock, gazing at the collapsed wall, amazed by the amount of bullets they let loose, his hands still gripping on the M203 launcher under the barrel of his M4A1. Only to be interrupted by the cheerful and loud voice of his friend Evan.
"Damn motherfucker! I just blew up a bunch of isekai anime characters, I guess I'm a man now, just like you Sai! Except, I don't look like a twink faggot and talk like he's 'bout to enter Ivy League." Evan happily exclaimed as he mocks the isekai genre, before turning his head toward his friend and team leader, Sergeant Simon Williams, mocking his delicate boyish face and his high education as a payback for the incest insult earlier, giggling cheerfully as he leans his back at the rock, turning towards his friend with a shit-eating grin.
Instead of insulting him back with friendly insults like usual, Simon simply ignores his friend's antics, ordering everyone to stay put in their current position instead.
"Watch your sector!" He blankly orders, before getting up to head back to his Humvee, apparently the gunfight earlier has made him hungry, heading back to get his MRE.
Battalion HQ (1510)
"5 rounds, HE, 3 rounds, HE airburst, target number, Romeo Charlie two-five-eight-niner, over."
"Roger that, 5 rounds, HE, 3 rounds, HE airburst, target number, Romeo Charlie two-five-eight-niner, out"
"Splash in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6….."
Godfather watches through his binoculars, as 8 artillery rounds land on the area near collapsed wall on the southeastern wall, courtesy of Captain Walt calling it in, he simply whistles at how accurate the shells are. On the radio are Captain Walt and FDC, calling in artillery on a building suspected of holding almost 40 Italican defenders.
Soon enough, the artillery shells began to land. 3 of the rounds explode mid-air, sending shrapnel and the loose body parts of the defenders everywhere, literally repainting the road with blood and organs, while the other 5 explode when they land, collapsing an entire building just right behind the collapsed wall. Their dying screams can be heard miles away, but he simply ignores it.
"That's a fire mission called in by Hitman! They hit it right in the place, they hit it right in the shit." Godfather remarked to his staff as he put down his binoculars, walking back towards his command Humvee, picking up the radio telephone to congratulate Bravo Company's CO on the accurate fire mission.
"Outstanding fire mission Hitman, simply outstanding, over."
"Copy that, Hitman out." Captain Walt immediately replied in a monotone voice, responding to his praise calmly, before ending the conversation.
Around the Battalion HQ, gunfire occasionally erupts between the Imperials and the Marines, arrows would fly first, missing their target or bouncing harmlessly on vehicles, to which the Marines would respond by laying down a massive wall of fire as they indiscriminately destroyed the Italican defensive positions with combined fires, obliterating them in mere seconds.
A Viper attack helicopter flies just above the tent of 1st Recon Battalion HQ, firing 2 Hellfire missiles into a guard tower on the city's wall, vaporizing it's occupant as Marines from RCT-5 and 1st Recon continue firing non-stop into the city, shooting anyone that might have survived the initial artillery and air bombardment with surgical precision.
To their left are CASEVAC helicopters evacuating wounded Marines from the friendly fire incident a few hours ago, corpsmen crowding the area as they treat the injured, loading them up into the helicopters as they fly back towards medical treatment center in the 1st Marine Division's shock trauma unit.
"Sir, isn't that General Kelly with Colonel Brady and Colonel Houston from RCT-5 and RCT-7? They're up the MSR!" A voice spoke up from behind Godfather, he turns his head towards the voice, coming from his second in command Major Tedd Ross, his fingers pointing at the highway less than 100 meters away from the tent as 3 men debated intensely in the open highway while bullets and arrows fly right by their face, not caring if they were hit by one.
Seeing this, Godfather immediately walked towards the trio, who themselves had begun walking towards the frontline, as they continued their debate about the plan to bypass the city.
The trio stopped short behind a LAV firing its main gun into the city, making a loud "thunk" sound every time they fired their 25mm autocannon.
"I have a single fucking question, and you better answer it right fucking now, why am I standing here looking at a hostile city that doesn't have my Marines pushing through it?" The loud, sharp voice of Major General Joseph Kelly, the commander of 1st Marine Division can be heard as he turned his head towards Colonel Kevin Houston, CO of RCT-7, looking at him, glaring at him as he wants to know why Italica still isn't secured.
"Sir, the main problem has been their magic - we don't have any knowledge of their magic prowess and we might get chopped up pretty good inside the city, maybe we should fix bayonets and charge the defenders, we are 50 mikes from initiating the armored assault to engage the enemy in the city from the MSR. The problem has been resupplying our main assault and vehicles because of muddy conditions, and the resistance in the city, coupled with magical adventurers might prove-" Instead of letting Houston finish, General Kelly cuts him off, calling him by his "Falcon" nickname as he begins pointing to their right and left.
"Falcon, frankly I don't give a flying fuck about the resistance in the city and their magical spells or some bullshit Lords of The Rings shit, you have 7000 Marines on standby with tanks, AAVs, LAVs and shit, ready to go from the past 24 hours and you're standing here doing jack-fucking-shit and tried suggesting me to bayonet charge the fucking city? Not only that, are you saying those fucking archers on the wall are stopping fucking tanks?"
Godfather finally arrives at the scene, walking behind Colonel Raymond Brady, the CO of RCT-5, asking him why Colonel Houston is being chewed out by the Division CG.
"What the fuck is happening here?" He meekly asked Colonel Brady in a voice barely louder than a whisper, prompting him to turn his head towards Godfather.
"Falcon been delaying his mission to push through the city for 24 hours now, saying he's scared of LOTR magic spells or some shit." Colonel Brady immediately replied to his question in a voice barely audible, referring to Houston's nickname of "Falcon", as his eyes darted back towards General Kelly, gesturing to Godfather to not interrupt the chewing out session, bullets and arrows continue to whiz by as the Marines battle the Italicans just 10 meters away from where they're currently standing.
"This is just plain fuckin' bullshit, alright." General Kelly continues, before turning his head towards Godfather and Colonel Brady.
"Godfather, Brady, you're up, I'm pulling back RCT-7 to strongpoint the city, RCT-5 and 1st Recon will replace them as the main force that's going to push through the city." He immediately tells them what to do, in a voice lower than earlier, as he points towards RCT-5 and 1st Recon's tanks, Amtracs and other vehicles behind them.
"Falcon and his RCT-7 got too paranoid to even enter the city, you two are gonna be the ones that'll push through the city and secure the bridge over the Row River." General Kelly continues, gesturing towards Colonel Houston leaving the area, heading back to his unit, both of them nodding before heading back to their respective units as they prepare to do their given mission.
Godfather walks back to his command tent, with Sergeant Major Ackermann and Major Ross waiting to greet him.
"How did the meeting go?" His second in command immediately asked him as he greets him.
"Quite well." Godfather blankly answers, heading towards the trunk of his Humvee to grab the map of the city and putting it on the hood, all while gesturing to his staff to gather around him.
"Due to several delays by RCT-7 even after they have their mission to assault the city, CG decided to pull them back and then ordered us, 1st Recon and RCT-5 to push through the city instead, elements from RCT-7 will strongpoint several intersection near the walls, blowing the fuck out of any enemy that might try to sneak to on our flank." Pointing his fingers on the map, Godfather explains, as he drags his finger along the route they're going to take, blue dots indicating friendly units from RCT-5 and RCT-7 while red dots represent Italican, Adventurers and Imperials in the city.
"To be frank gentlemen, for the past 24 hours, we've let fear cloud our plans, if it's up to me, we would be through the city, all while securing the bridge over Row." Godfather continues, before stopping to let his words sink in, now that everyone has their eyes on him, he continues.
"When we push through the city, expect casualties and expect enemy resistance, if you see any enemy that dares to stand in front of us, you will fucking kick his ass, no excuses, if they're hiding inside a civilian building, you will fucking blow up that building up. I also brought good news, CG told me on the radio that once we cross the river and approach Dumas, we will detach from RCT-5 and move ahead of them, acting as a covering force for the main force, out-maneuver and destroy anyone that tries to stop us, we will be at the tip of the spear, gentlemen." He ends his explanation, before turning his head at his subordinates, nodding at him, indicating they've understood what he said.
"Good, that's it for today gentlemen." Godfather said, satisfied that his subordinates understood what they're going to do, before picking up the radio to contact Captain Walt, the CO of Bravo Company.
"Hitman, this is Godfather Actual."
"Send traffic, over." Replying to him is the voice of Captain Walt, distant gunfire can be heard in the background.
"Change of mission, we will be pushing through Italica, Bravo will be on point leading the battalion and RCT-5's push into the city to capture the bridge over Row and establish a safe passage for others to use, over." Godfather relays his plan, waiting for him to reply on the radio, watching the Marines of RCT-5 began their preparation to assault the city
Silence filled the radio for a few seconds, before a reply came, albeit in a reluctant tone.
"Roger that, Hitman out."
Fields outside Italica's Southern Gate (1535)
Team leaders under Hitman-2 crowd the command Humvee, after Lt. Mistral informs them to rally near his vehicle due to a sudden change in mission. Joining them are Doc Clancy, who has just returned from treating injured Marines from RCT-5, they continue to watch the artillery bombardment of the city as they wait for their platoon commander to arrive.
He sits next to Evan as they both continue to eat their MREs, occasionally using binoculars to see the impact of the artillery, Simon meanwhile, is conversing with Dow, both of them standing next to the Humvee.
"Hey buddy, are you alright?" Evan asks as he looks at Clancy concernedly, the usually friendly red-haired Corpsman of the platoon now suddenly and worryingly quiet after the friendly fire incident.
"Nah, nah, I'm good, just thinking about those Marines earlier…" Clancy immediately replied to his question, smiling at his friend in reassurance that he's fine before turning his head back to look at the artillery show blowing up Italican defenders.
"Ah, good, I was about to talk about how we blew up that fucking wall and killed a bunch of OP isekai characters with the 40 mike-mike and 5.56. Fucking retards tried shooting at us with ooga-booga arrows or some shit." Now knowing that his friend is fine, he immediately became cheerful again, talking as he pointed his hands at the collapsed wall more than 130 meters in front of them, causing Clancy to smile a little bit.
"You should have seen me call Simon a twink earlier, it was funny." Evan continues as he takes a bite from the MRE granola bars, only to be interrupted in his normal Rip-Its induced conversation by their platoon commander.
"Team leaders! Listen up!" The calm, monotone voice of Lt. Mistral interjected, disrupting the artillery sight-seeing as everyone began to turn towards him, their platoon commander walking up to the hood of his Humvee, softly throwing the map of the city on it, as he coughs to gain attention for one last time before speaking.
"I just came back from a meeting with the Captain, change of mission is confirmed, we are pushing through Italica with RCT-5 to secure the bridge over Row River with, Hitman-2 and Centurion-1 will be on point once again leading 1st Recon and RCT-5." He explained before stopping, letting the word sink in for his team leaders as they all look at him with a face that spoke "are you fucking kidding me?", with their attention, he continues.
"We will be pushing through the city using the destroyed Southern Gate with 1st Recon and RCT-5 behind us, passing by several elements from RCT-7 strong-pointing multiple intersections in the city, before taking a right turn at what remains of Count Formal's mansion. Then we'll continue until we reach the bridge over the river, securing it and finally stopping." Lt Mistral said, as he dragged his finger on the map across their route, with the blue dots representing friendly elements strong-pointing intersections inside Italica, preventing the enemy from attacking them from behind.
"I have a question sir." Simon spoke up, holding his hands up as he took a drink from his canteen, before pointing his fingers at the map.
"Go ahead, Sergeant." Lt. Mistral responded as he nodded, giving him the permission to talk.
"Are we going to push into the city in the broad daylight or in the dark? We are about 3 or 4 hours away from the sunset." Finally getting the permission to speak, he immediately asked his platoon commander on the time, assaulting in broad daylight being risky, considering they ride in Humvees, some without roofs, prompting Lt. Mistral to sigh.
"Sai, based on what Godfather passed down to Captain Walt and considering that he told me the exact words Godfather told him, we will be pushing immediately after this meeting, in broad daylight and the ROE has been changed, shoot anyone that might be hostile." He responded grimly, causing all of his team leaders to frown at the plan. They'd be pushing through a hostile city in Humvees and dangerously so, considering only 3 out of 5 Humvees in Hitman-2 has roofs, the former belonging to Sergeant Simon Williams' team and the latter belonging to Sergeant Christopher Sutherby's team, the other being the command Humvee.
"Sir, isn't that fucking dangerous? We are riding around in open-top Humvees in a hostile city, getting shot at. The idea itself is pretty retarded." Simon dejectedly remarked, as he pointed towards their Humvee, some had roofs and others didn't while the men try everything they could to keep their turrets running from lack of appropriate lube.
"Not only that, at night at least we have the advantage, even with the lack of batteries, we can still see in the dark." Dow adds with a frown on his face, still failing to believe that it's a good idea. Even with non-functional equipment, they still think it's a better idea to fight at night.
"I'm sorry gents, but it's Godfather's order, anyways that's all I have to say, now get back to your vehicles, we're Oscar Mike." Lt. Mistral responds to their complaints with a grim smile, indicating that he too thinks it's a bad idea but is forced to obey orders, before returning to his Humvee as he grabs his M4A1 on the hood, slamming the door shut as he waits for the order to move.
Dow just shakes his head at the plan in disbelief, before turning to Simon.
"Bro, I can understand pushing through at night, but in broad daylight? I hope these glory-hound niggas know what the fuck are they doing and hopefully not get us killed." Dow said with a frown on his face, as he fixed his LWH helmet, grabbing his M4A1 before turning back and heading back to his Humvee, gesturing towards his subordinates to get into their vehicles, followed by Sutherby and Schmidt.
Simon walked back towards his team's Humvee at an urgent pace, his face dejected, opening the door and sitting in the passenger seat before slamming the door shut, turning his head towards his driver as Evan, Doc Clancy and the Traveler greet him.
"So how did it go?" Clancy asked as he slammed a magazine into his M4A1, taking a bite from a granola bar as he looked at his team leader.
"It went quite well; we're gonna push through this goddamn shithole now." Simon blankly replied, checking his radio headset, making sure it works while pointing his M4A1 outside, he turned his head towards Evan, saying only,
"Start the vehicle, we're Oscar Mike." Hearing this, Evan immediately started the vehicle, not saying a single word as he began stepping on the gas, making the Humvee jerk forward as they began moving through the destroyed Southern Gate of Italica, in front of them are 4 tanks and 1 M88 of Centurion-1, leading the charge of 1st Recon and RCT-5 as they push through Italica.
"All Hitman-2 Victors, be advised, we are departing friendly lines, over." Lt. Mistral spoke on the radio as he warned his men of any potential enemy attacks.
"I thought moving at night is a good idea?" The Traveler asked in a puzzled tone, his voice coming from behind Simon's seat, his face confused.
"Mhmm, not retarded enough for the fucking glory-hounds!" Answering his question is Evan as he mocks the officers who thought it's a good idea to push through a hostile city in daylight hours. He then opened and chugged an entire can of Rip-Its, drinking and splashing it all over his LBV Vest, making a mess of himself.
"Careful with your energy drinks, you look like a cum dragon now." Simon blankly said as he continue to observe the buildings and the destroyed walls along the main Italican road, some collapsed due to air and artillery bombardment, while the luckier one still stands, with some sections damaged by shrapnels and explosions.
"Jesus fucking christ dude, bloods running out of the rubbles of the walls we destroyed." Evan said as he looked at a stream of blood running along the road from the collapsed wall, their Humvee driving across the stream, splashing red liquid to the door of their vehicle. He, along with Clancy, began silently singing "Pumped Up Kicks" for no other reason than boredom, keeping an eye on the alleys near them.
Robert's got a quick hand
He'll look around the room, but won't tell you his plan
He's got a rolled cigarette
Hanging out his mouth, he's a cowboy kid
Yeah, he found a six shooter gun
In his dad's closet, and with a box of fun things
I don't even know what
But he's coming for you, yeah, he's coming for you
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, outrun my gun
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run faster than my bullet
Simon stayed silent, not participating in his friend's antics as he continues scanning the buildings along the road for any enemy that might be hiding, that is until he sees several friendly Marines in several intersections in front of them from RCT-7, blocking it from any defenders that might try to attack them from behind.
"I got friendly to my 3 o'clock." Simon exclaimed, as he lowered his weapon, not wanting to accidentally fire on them.
"Copy that, I got them to my 9." Clancy said as he pointed towards his left, a Humvee with a strange tube on it, firing the tube as it let loose an explosive projectile, hitting a hostile position, obliterating it.
"That's a TOW missile, strapped onto a Humvee from RCT-5, fucking blew up a Roman." Evan casually remarked as he continued to drive, occasionally swerving left and right, avoiding obstacles from destroyed buildings as a result of bombardment by their side.
They drove past a burning building, the occupants seemed to be unarmed, civilian casualties caused by their side. Everyone stays silent, horrified by what they've done, they can only shake their heads at the building as burned bodies can be seen inside it, charred as it was engulfed in flames.
"Holy fuck….." Allie mutters under his breath as he looks away from the building, trying not to vomit as he keeps an eye on the road, his hands on the steering wheel. Dow meanwhile, can only shake his head at the scene, also trying not to puke.
The Abrams in front of them turns their turret left and right, as they move at unusually fast speed, not wanting to slow down the convoy, the commanders, in a show of bravery, decide to peek out and operate the M2 Machine Guns near their hatches, pointing it at the abandoned buildings along the road.
Soon enough, they began to enter the bad part of the city. No friendly units had gone beyond this point. Doc Clancy began to grip his M4A1 harder, pointing it out as he cautiously scanned the empty streets. Meanwhile, Simon grabs something from his FLC vest, his hands slowly moving down as it enters a pocket, revealing it to be a 40mm grenade as his hands leaves a pocket on his FLC, kissing it before simply saying,
"Gentlemen, we are about to enter the hornet's nest." Simon simply remarked, prompting everyone in the vehicle to turn their heads at him. He then continues.
"Now we are going to fucking kill all of the goddamn hornets." He concluded his statement as he loads the 40mm grenade into his M203 underbarrel grenade launcher, his green eyes coldly staring at the road in front of them.
Somewhere in Italica (1550)
To say that the situation is bad is a massive understatement. Everyone is still shocked by the destruction of the Southern Gate, debating on what to do.
On the floor was Hamilton, who had collapsed after leading troops for the entire day, her body laying on the door, tired. Next to her is Grey, resting after having narrowly escaped the other-worlder's ranged weapons. Unfortunately, the explosion dislocated his right arm, knocking him out from the fight.
Pina stared outside, watching as a strange dragonfly moved at seemingly impossible speed, flying high in the sky unchallenged by anyone and spitting fire onto the ground, killing everyone standing in it's way in a very horrific, but quick and merciful way. Magicians try shooting down one of them, only for them to miss. The magician immediately runs away in fear, knowing what's about to happen to him, screaming in horror as he desperately tries to run. The dragonfly, seeing the magician's attempt at attacking it, obliterates their position as it lets loose a streak of light, creating a massive explosion, killing everyone in the area including the said magician and sending rocks, bricks and woods into the sky.
Explosive rocks out of nowhere would fall from high in the sky, 3 enough to level an entire city block, killing everyone in the vicinity. Pina is horrified as she watches a large group of adventurers moving on horse heading to the destroyed Southern Gate, trying to reinforce the desperate defenders is vaporized in a massive explosion, sending body parts flying in every direction, as Pina stares at the scene, mouth agape. Another one lands just right above a building full of civilians, evacuating from the frontlines, she watches as the explosion destroys the building, burying innocent civilians alive.
"What has my father done for the Empire to be treated like this? What has father done to anger this unknown nation, capable of such destructive power?" Pina mutters under her breath, asking no one in particular, her mind deep in thought as tears rolled down her cheek, not believing that how her mighty empire has fallen. Countess Myui and her maid Delilah have gone missing, which causes morale to plummet even more.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise in the room they're resting in, causing her to snap her neck towards the noise, only to find out it's a messenger, his face similar to a panicked man as sweat rolled down his forehead as he read the message.
"Our scouts have spotted enemy wagons entering the southern gate at rapid speed! They're entering the city en-masse!" The man exclaimed, his face pale at the realization, the other worlders are entering the city.
"Those damned other-worlders!" Pina yelled in anger, kicking a wooden chair, breaking it, causing the messenger to leave, she then turned her head towards the Italican defenders resting in the building.
"You heard what the man said! Go out and defend the city!" She screamed at them, prompting them to get up and head to the door, as they began moving towards the main Italican road in hurry, hoping to ambush and destroy the other-worlders that dared attack the Empire in close quarter battle.
Main Italican Road, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and Regimental Combat Team-5's convoy (1605)
Silence filled the atmosphere as the convoy rolled through the main road at around 40 kph, the silence occasionally broken by artillery and air bombardment happening around them. A Viper flies just above the convoy, firing 2 Hellfire missiles into a building, causing it to collapse. The Marines stayed silent, instead of pumping their fist into the air and screaming excitedly like they used to do.
The road has been flooded with reddish-brown liquid as shit and piss on the road began to mix up with blood oozing out of the building rubbles. The constant artillery and air bombardment called in by the Marines has destroyed the city's sewage system, various human excrements filling the main Italican road, creating a weird mix of brown and red as they mixed up with the bloods oozing out the dead bodies of Italican defenders strewn around the street. The Marines paid the liquid no mind, as they continue to observe the eerily quiet and empty road, ignoring the horrid smell of human shit, piss and death.
Everyone is scanning left and right, watching the empty building along the road for any sign of hostile figures. Simon stared at a single, suspicious building in front of the convoy, peering through his ACOG scope, seeing nothing, he lowered his weapon as he continue scanning the sidewalk, eyeing it in an attempt to spot any potential enemy that might sneak up on them.
Just then, he saw something at the corner of his eye, a movement in an alley, he peeked through his ACOG yet again, his eyes widening in realization at what he just saw, a group of Imperial archers, waiting to ambush them.
"Contact front!" Simon immediately yelled, alerting his fellow Marines of an ambush in front of them as he fired a quick, 2 round burst into the chest of said archer with surgical precision, before firing his 40mm grenade through the M203 launcher at the alley, blowing it up, sending organs in every direction as a result. Evan reacted by intentionally stepping on the gas of their Humvee, jerking it forward as arrows fly around them, missing the Humvee due to increased speed courtesy of Evan.
In front of them, arrows bounced harmlessly off M1A1 tanks of Centurion-1 as they began to open up with their M2 machine gun at the alleys, their main guns firing at the other building to their left, leveling it with a single 120mm shell.
Then, all hell broke loose as everyone in the convoy begin to open fire at the building in front, beside and behind them, blanketing it with bullets from all kinds of caliber as Marines from 1st Recon and RCT-5 set up a solid wall of lead on the buildings and alley near them, killing any ambushers that might try to attack them, arrows continue to fly from the seemingly empty windows of the building along the main Italican road, the Marines returned fire with everything they have, literally repainting the building with bloods and organs as their wall of fire shred the defenders' inside, killing them. Tracer rounds fly wildly, creating a beautiful streak of lights before hitting their targets, occasionally killing hidden ambushers, breaking the eerie silence that filled the atmosphere before.
And thus, the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion fought there.
Note :
On-point - At the front of a convoy.
Grid - Those square things on maps for coordinates.
Airburst - Artillery rounds that explodes mid-air
HE - High Explosive, duh.
FDC - Fire Direction Center, guy who directs artillery, middleman between troops and artillery.
Strong-pointing - Guarding the flank of a unit, defending the unit moving behind them from any attacks.
Covering force - Units traveling ahead of main forces, clearing the way for the main forces to pass through.
Special thanks to Yuu~Desu/aegisacer for fixing some of my dialogues and CapitalistPaintrPyro/lunaticthatreads for proofreading and fixing grammatical mistakes.