Hello, welcome back to The Will of Revenge, how have you been? Anyway, last time we've seen each other, Ester, Elsa, Norrine and Delilah, with the help of Norrine's friend, Shiada, managed to to reach the secret pirate 'capital' station of The Eye, where they were mixed into pirate political games. But they prevailed either way and pirates allied themselves with the allies and swore to help in their fight against Laconians. Now, with that done, we will return back to Andromeda for the rest of this part.
However, before we do that, let's take care of reviews.
To Supreme Supra: Stuff like that tends to happen in the future.
Okay, that done, now let's go.
Chapter 6
August 2, 2166
12:31
Leender, Fertis Lane Hotel
The air raid sirens that were activated just five minutes ago already started dying down. From the window, Nina could clearly see a number of smoke piles rising into the sky from the places where SoS' bobs landed. When sirens stopped, sound of emergency services immediately took their place.
"Another day in paradise."Nina sighed.
"How does it look?"Ellia asked.
Nina stepped away from the window and sat down on the bed in front of her older sister.
"Seems like they managed to shoot down a number of them, but some still managed to drop their payload."
"How many people do you think got hurt?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
Ever since the whole ordeal begun, Imri and Harlen forbid them to leave the hotel. Ellia, of course, obliged, while Nina protested, saying, that the war was still far from the city. She finally had to listen. After all, she knew that Harlen already had too many problems following his election as the supreme commander of all forces on Taurus III. Imri, of course, was allowed to leave the hotel, as she often went to visit Harlen and see how he's doing.
But then, during one attack, Imri got hurt and since them, she was laying in the hospital. Due to Nina's pleads, Harlen allowed the two to leave the hotel to visit their sister-in-law, but only under armed escort. After all, reports were saying that three of the attackers that tried to take over the Unified Staff were still at large, causing chaos. At least something.
Ellia hung her head.
"You're still worried about Imri?"Nina asked.
"Yes."Ellia replied.
"Yeah, me too."younger princess admitted."But the doctors said she's recovering. I'm sure that soon, she will come in here and everything will be good again."
Although Nina didn't always get along with Imri, she still did care about her, in her own way. She knew, that Imri was making Arlan happy and she was well aware how devastated would her brother be if he lost his wife.
Ellia smiled.
"You always try to find the positives in everything, huh?"older princess asked."That's why I'm happy to have a sister like you."
The two giggled. The time they spent together here, on Taurus, certainly helped their sisterly bond to flourish anew after these past few years, during which Nina was more interested in what her friends were writing to her. But with all contact with the rest of Andromeda Branch cut off, there was no way for Nina to continue that. So, the two started bonding once more, like the times when they both were children.
"You know what?"Ellia said."I really sometimes miss these simpler times, before the Gates opened and our galaxies connected."
"I…don't know how to respond to that."Nina said, laughing nervously."I like what we have now, with all the tech coming from Milky Way…"
"We all noticed."
"…but at the same time, there is some nostalgic feel to the times from before Zander's Rebellion."
Ellia nodded in agreement. But then, when she looked at her sister's face, she saw a bit of…uneasiness on it.
"Nina? Is something wrong?"she asked.
"Well…"Nina scratched her neck."There is something I wanted to tell you, but I kinda didn't know how…"
Worry immediately took over Ellia's face.
"Nina, what did you do?"
"Well, when I went down to the buffet, I…saw a recruiter from Civil Defense…"younger princess replied.
Civil Defense was a special service called to life by Harlen. It was basically a volunteer force, which anyone who wanted could join and after going through a week or two of accelerated training, they would be tasked with assisting UTDF's forces with various tasks. But due to the lack of weapons and uniforms, Civil Defense members were either armed with simple handguns, their own weapons or were put to work in the back lines, transporting supplies or helping in medical services. Harlen ordered, that every city in Soutlandian C.Z. that had the population of at least one hundred thousand people, had to set up at least a battalion of Civil Defense. As it turned out, they had more volunteers than expected and as of now, there were forty thousand people serving in the Civil Defense.
"Please don't tell me…"Ellia said, her eyes wide.
Nina took a deep breath and said:
"I volunteered. I start training tomorrow."
When in one second Ellia was sitting on her bed, in the next, she was standing in front of Nina, with her hands on her arms.
"Nina, why did you do it?"she asked, distressed.
"I was tired of doing nothing!"Nina exclaimed."Sons are bombing our people and sooner or later, they will come here! I can't just watch and…allow what happened to Imri to happen to someone else…"
"Nina, I know where you're coming from, but that's…"Ellia stopped, before what she wanted to say left her mouth.
"Madness? Maybe. But I made up my mind."Nina stated."It's already done. You can't done anything about it."
"I know. But Harlen…"
"I don't care what Harlen says. I will do what's right."
Ellia sighed and stepped away from her sister.
"You know that alone, you won't make much difference?"she asked.
"I know."Nina replied."But if I get my chance at showing Sons who are they dealing with, then I will do whatever I can to hit them as hard as possible."
"If you say so. Alright, just…be careful, alright?"
Nina stood up, and although she was a bit smaller than her sister, she put her hand on her arm.
"You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself."
"Like that one time when you wanted to help in setting up the table and got sauce all over yourself?"Ellia replied with giggle.
Nina groaned.
"You really have to remind me of that all the time? I was eight then!"she exclaimed.
But then, when she looked at her giggling sister, she couldn't stop herself from also giggling and after that, they both simply erupted with laughter.
All the while wiretapping installed in the room by Harlen's order transmitted everything straight to the general's earpiece, in Unified Staff.
"Oh, Nina…"Harlen sighed, taking the earpiece off.
"What is it?"Tim asked.
"I just learned that Nina volunteered for Civil Defense."
"You still have that wiretapping in their room? I thought I advised you to stop using it."
"I know, but…I do it for their own safety. There are many unknown factors. If Sons learned that they are here, they might have tried using it against us."
"In what way?"
"They could try to kidnap them and hold them hostage as a way to force us to surrender or they would kill them."
Tim risen an eyebrow.
"I think I know what you're talking about. I also wouldn't like my family used as a bargaining tool against me. By the way, if I can know…"
"Yes?"
"If it came to pass, how would you react?"
"I love my country. But my family, doesn't matter if blood related or not, is a higher priority. I would do anything to save them."
Awkward silence fell between the two of them for a few seconds.
"So, you gonna do anything about her joining the Civil Defense?"
General shook his head.
"No. No matter if I tried, she would not listen. She would do it anyway."
"I had no idea princess Nina had such a devotion for her country and people. When I saw her back then in spaceport, I would never think of her that way."
Harlen remembered that day. Although it was only two months ago, it felt like an eternity.
"After Zander's rule, she swore to never allow her people fall under any kind of tyrannical rule. And although she became more addicted to the miracles of modern tech, she never rejected this."
"Somehow, I can believe it. Jessica was also very devoted to helping others and her country in all ways possible."
General nodded. He never met colonel Richards personally, but everyone from UNSA he met talked very highly of her. It was a shame she was not among the living anymore.
"Alright, let's better get back to work."Harlen decided."Is there anything very important we have to focus on?"
Tim looked at the holo-table. Harlen's eyes followed his adjutant's sight.
"Oh."
They both looked at the same settlement.
Infit.
August 2
12:36
Center, Infit, Nordian C.Z.
Sky over Infit was dark from the number of smoke piles rising over the city. Week of fighting clearly showed, how the battle was going to end. Sons' forces continued their assaults, time after time crashing against wall of defenders. But the constant artillery bombardment on the forward positions was too much to handle. Constant hail of missiles and artillery shells, both kinetic and energy-based, was falling on Nordian and Falmartian heads, forcing them to leave their positions and retreat further back into the city. This trend continued, until SoS controlled all of the suburbs, while UTDF troops held the more urbanized areas. Although Sons cared less for their manpower losses, they decided to limit their artillery fire during advances into the city proper to not block their offensive paths. Of course, the bombardment didn't stop, but Sons only used it when situation demanded it. Even with that, SoS managed to advance deep into the city, already taking control over 1/3 of it.
Verius's tank was driving through the ruined streets of the city, making it's way towards the staff of the defenders, which was set up in the emptied city hall. He was looking around at the numerous destroyed buildings. Empty windows made the haunted atmosphere even more clear. The whole area looked like it was empty for years, although people lived in here just a few months ago.
"This whole thing is gonna end bad for us…"his halfling gunner said.
"Stop spreading defeatism."Verius said, sliding back into the turret.
"I know, boss, but how long are we going to defend the city? It's already lost. We should fall back from here."
Honestly, Verius couldn't disagree with this statement. It was already confirmed, that city was surrounded from three sides, while enemy artillery held fire control over the last artery feeding supplies into city. The supplies were still coming, but it was not certain for how long will it continue.
"I know you're right."Verius said."But we have to hold on for a little bit longer."
"If you say so, sir."
"We're here."the elf driver said.
The rounded another corner and found themselves in the main square of the city. While before the war it was probably a really pretty place where families could spend time together, but now, it was filled with military hardware and tents. Soldiers were running in all directions and vehicles were driving in and out of the square.
Tank stopped before the entrance to the city hall and captain jumped out of the vehicle. He ran up the stairs and stopped before a guard.
"Captain Verius Fegran, 10th Armored Brigade."he introduced himself.
"Welcome sir, we were waiting for you."the guard said, opening the door.
Captain nodded and stepped into the building. There, after asking several questions, he was directed to the main room where the staff resided. In that room, he saw even more movement. Analysts were walking everywhere, while commanders of UTDF forces stood around a movable holo-table.
Verius came up to them. As he noticed, these were only Nordian officers. But that wasn't surprising.
"Captain Verius Fergran, reporting in."Verius said, saluting.
Nordian colonel turned to him. Verius wondered, why Ornatson, although holding the rank of colonel, didn't decided to stay far from the lines. But when he asked him about it, he only replied, that he was made for battlefield, no paper work.
"Good to see you, captain."colonel said."I heard your unit has been hard at work."
"Yeah, they pressure us hard. Although they aren't raining shells on our heads constantly."
Colonel nodded.
"I also heard about what happened to your commander. A real shame."
"Yeah…"
Colonel Rad's deputy, which until now was in charge of 10th Armored Brigade while colonel was in Leender, unfortunately met his end around two days ago. During a scouting mission into SoS controlled part of the city, his tank drove over a mine. Explosion was so strong, that it reached the ammo stored in the turret and made it detonate. Nobody could survive something like that. Since then, Falmartian troops were fighting under Nordian orders.
"We already contacted colonel Nashi'Rad and told him about it."colonel continued."He told us that he will think about what to do. It took him two days, but he finally replied."
"And? What did he say?"
Colonel turned to the table and picked up a small box that was laying on it.
"Verius Fergran."he said."Colonel Nashi'Rad made an official decision. As of today, you will be promoted to lieutenant colonel and will be made the new deputy commander of 10th Armored Brigade."
He opened the box, where he saw epaulettes of Falmaritan lieutenant colonel. Verius looked at them for a few seconds, before the information finally hit him.
"What?! But I…I can't…"he tried to protest.
"Yes?"Nordian just risen his eyebrow.
"I…don't think I will manage…"Verius explained.
"If colonel Rad decided to promote specifically you, then he must know what he's doing."
Nordian colonel grabbed on Verius' captain epaulettes and removed them. Next, he took the lieutenant colonel ones from the box and attached them to his uniform. He put the box down and saluted to newly promoted soldier.
"Lieutenant colonel Verius Fergran, we expect big things from you."colonel said."That's what colonel Rad said in a letter the courier brought with the box."
Verius tried to think of something to say, but gave up. Instead, he just saluted back.
"Thank you, sir."
"Now go. We have a city to defend."
Lieutenant colonel nodded and turned around. He left the room soon after, still trying to comprehend what just happened. He never wanted to be burdened with such a responsibility, but it seemed that life had different ideas for him. Well, as he was told many times, life works in mysterious ways and only gods know what can happen to a simple mortal like him. That was how life was.
He left the building and returned to his tank. He climbed up and settled himself back in his commander's seat.
"Let's go back."he ordered.
Driver revved up the engine and turned the tank around. Next, machine started driving in the direction it came from.
"What was it about, sir?"gunner asked.
"Well, Rad decided to replace his deputy."Verius replied."He decided to promote me."
Human loader whistled.
"Wow, that's what I call an honor, boss."he said.
"I don't think so…"
"Oh, come on, it's gonna be alright. With a boss like you, we're gonna blow these Sons of guns into oblivion!"
"I like your optimism…"Verius sighed.
He really had to do his best. There were people counting on him and as much as he was scared of his new position, he had to do everything that he could, if they wanted to come out of this alive.
"Hey, sir."the driver said.
"What is it?"Verius replied.
"There are a few things I wanted to talk with you earlier, but…we had more pressing matters."
"What things?"
"I've been talking with my mate from Nordian side. He is certain that something is brewing behind the scenes."
All crew members in the turret looked at each other.
"What do you mean?"gunner asked.
"Apparently, Nordian commanders gave order to remove remaining civilians from the city."
"That's normal, I think."loader said."After all, they would want to keep their people safe."
Driver shook his head.
"I didn't say 'evacuate'. I clearly said 'remove'. My mate told me, that he took part in such action. They were literally pulling civilians from the building with force. They even broke one guy's nose, because he didn't want to go. And when he asked what about the civilians from occupied side, he was told, that they aren't their problem."
Verius was genuinely surprised by this. Why would Nordians use such methods to remove people from the city?
"There's more."driver continued."Apparently, all Nordian officers currently in fighting received orders to cease all fighting when the night falls. Why, he didn't know. He only heard this from one of his teammates."
"Cease fighting?"gunner asked."What the fuck?"
"You're not gonna tell me that Nordians are secretly trying to make some kind of deal with the SoS?"Verius asked.
"I dunno. That's all I heard. Well, maybe except the fact, that 192nd and 37th were ordered to retake the highway to the South."
192nd Infantry Regiment and 37th Mechanized Brigade, the remaining two Falmartian units on this side of the planet, were operating mostly independently from 10th Armored Brigade after Operation: Axer. But with the situation in Nordian C.Z. worsening by the minute, they were moved from their part of the frontline to stop the SoS from completely surrounding the city. They worked together with three Kubliatan battalions, which also were called as support.
"Retake it? But didn't sons take that highway like three days ago?"Verius asked.
"Yes. This is is why it seems suspicious to me. After all, Agamotans to the North were ordered to do the same."
"You know, that mate of yours might be up to something."gunner admitted.
"Whatever these Nordians are planning, we have our own stuff to worry about."lieutenant colonel stated."We…"
Before Verius could finish, his radio came to life.
"Lieutenant colonel Fergran!"It was the colonel that he talked to not so long ago.
"What is it?"Verius replied.
"We just received a call from colonel Ornatson. He requests support, enemy is putting a lot of pressure on him."
"Understood, inform him, that we will be there soon."
"Copy, relaying the information."
With that, colonel disconnected.
"Alright, let's go and help Ornatson."Verius told his crew."We will take the rest of the platoon and make our way to his position."
"Aye, aye, sir."driver said.
The tank sped up, while Verius contacted the other commanders from his platoon, at the same time wondering, what was going on on Ornatson's side.
August 2
12:46
Intersection of East and North St., Infit
"Fire!"Ornatson roared.
"What do you think we're doing?!"Ril shouted back.
Colonel looked at his adjutant and then back at the street in front of him. It was already filled with burned enemy vehicles and corpses. But that didn't stop them from continuing assaults. Even now, he from the top of the barricade he was standing on, he could see large number, maybe a whole company, of enemy troops jumping from cover to cover, trying to get close to blow up the barricade with explosives. But the squad of defenders, alongside the Omar-3 IFV built-in into the barricade, was keeping them under fire, making sure that their advance was as slow as possible. But of course, enemy was not staying quiet and whenever they could, they returned fire, surprisingly accurately, with some defenders already out of the fight. Even now, colonel saw one of his troops thrown back by the force of impact of enemy's weapon. Immediately, some medics ran up to him and dragged him away.
Ril ducked behind the cover and looked at his commander.
"How about support?"he asked."Will anyone come?"
"New commander of 10th Armored confirmed to come and help us!"Ornatson shouted back.
"They got a new boss? When?"
"It must've happened not too long ago!"
One of enemy soldiers looked from behind a destroyed car, holding a missile launcher. But before he could aim properly, his head exploded, throwing pieces of bone and drops of blood everywhere. However, he still managed to pull the trigger and he fired a missile which flew straight into nearby building, blowing up a large hole in the wall.
Omar then opened on the wreck. 50mm shells easily pierced through the vehicle's body, turning soldiers hiding behind it into red mist. Limbs were flying everywhere and when all defenders once more opened fire, enemy troops were forced to stop their assault completely. Right then, a Mastiff APC appeared from behind the nearby street and turned towards the barricade.
Colonel was about to give the order, but before he could, TOW missile left the launcher mounted on Omar's turret and slammed right into the APC. Mastiff stopped in it's tracks and exploded, throwing burning parts everywhere. Enemy troops, seeing this, started unorganized retreat. These allowed the defenders to easily pick them off one by one, making more bodies join the cemetery that the street turned into.
Ornatson lifted his fist in the air, telling his troops to hold fire.
"Don't shoot."he said."Don't waste your ammo."
Soldiers quickly listened.
Ril sighed a huge sigh of relief and looked at his commander.
"We showed them, didn't we?"he asked with a smile.
"Don't get your hopes up."Gron replied."They will be back."
"Of course they will. They always come back, like hungry cats."
Colonel nodded and turned towards the makeshift ladder that led to the top of the barricade. All around, soldiers were sitting, smoking or talking, using this period of silence. They all looked at the colonel as he passed them. All of them looked like they were to hell and back. And looking at what was happening all around, this statement was not far from the truth.
Gron and Ril walked to the nearby cafe, which was turned into temporary command center for their part of the defense line. Except of their barricade, Ornatson used this command center to watch over other barricades nearby and in other places across the city. All tables were occupied by military hardware and analysts, who were hard at work, gathering information critical to the commanders.
"Hey, Cerut."colonel called out.
One of the analysts, sitting alone at the table, turned to him.
"Sup', boss?"he asked.
"Hard at work?"Ril asked.
Cerut nodded.
"Yeah, we're not bored here."he replied."You soldier boys may be doing the hard work, but electronic warfare is as hard. If not harder."
Gron Ornatson understood that. Since electronic warfare became such an important part of Nordian and other nations' armies, large funds were directed to train good IT specialists. And these efforts clearly paid off, considering that since the very beginning of the war, SoS' hackers were unable to breach any kind of UTDF's firewalls.
"How's it looking?"colonel asked.
"We're listening to their radio chatter."Cerut replied."And from what we can deduce, Margas is not happy with what's going on. He pressures his ass kissers to move faster with the attack and finally push us out of the city."
"Good luck with that."Ril giggled.
"Yeah, but there is only that much we can take."Analyst shrugged."Sooner or later, they will prevail."
Colonel and sergeant sighed. Sad truth.
"Oh, and we got some news from 10th Armored."Cerut continued.
"What is it?"Gron asked.
"Their new commander will send three tanks to us as support."
"Only three?"Ril arched an eyebrow."Geez, they could spare a company…"
"Don't whine, Ril."Gron said."You know that they are spread as thin as we are. From 124 tanks they had, they only have 81 now."
"Alright, I get it."
"And you know when will they be here?"
"In around thirty minutes."
"Ask if they could make that twenty. We need those tanks here quickly."
"Aye, aye, sir."
Cerut saluted and quickly returned to his job. Meanwhile, colonel and his adjutant turned and went to the exit. Once outside, Ril whispered:
"So, it's today?"
Gron immediately knew what he was on about.
"Yeah. CC decided. We're leaving Infit today. At the same time, an emissary will be sent to Leender to explain everything."
"Man, this is gonna be the fastest retreat in history."Sergeant shook his head."We'll only have a few hours. Let's just hope that this whole ordeal will actually mean something."
"We all hope so."
"I still think we should explain everything to the others."
"Orders are orders. We can't risk everything spilling over to the other side."
"Yeah, yeah."
With that, the two of them returned to the barricade, where they returned to looking out for more approaching danger.
August 2
12:54
1st Armored Legion staff, Vabjorn, 50km away from Infit
General Klausus Ho Margas sat on the chair in his command tent. Around him, sat colonel Geded and other commanders of units that supported his legion in it's march towards Leender. All of them were nervous and rightfully so.
"Why is this city still in their possession?"Margas asked calmly.
Commanders looked at each other and it was Geded who spoke.
"Sir."colonel said."Our forces are meeting heavy enemy resistance. Their will to fight is…"
"…bigger than expected!"Margas finished."I know that! It's the same excuse all of you use whenever you fail me! I need something new, or the basked will be full of heads!"
Everyone shuddered.
"Sir, let's not get to the extreme…"air force major said.
"You ain't seen nothing yet."Margas stated.
Next, he gestured to his adjutant, who was standing near the screen. Adjutant nodded and turned on the screen. On it, everyone could see map of Infit and surrounding areas, with all known enemy and SoS positions placed on it. There were also current directions of offensives marked with arrows. In the South and the North, they could see red arrows showing that enemy was advancing. Meanwhile, blue arrows were pushing forward inside of the city itself. Adjutant grabbed the pointer pointed at the screen.
"This is how the situation currently looks like."he started."We will start from the city itself. As of now, we are pushing forward, or rather, units from 68th Infantry Brigade and 149th Mechanized Regiment, are. Enemy brigades defending the city are putting up a high resistance, although we are certain, that we will manage to break their lines within the next few days. This will result in high manpower losses, but it's something we can allow ourselves to happen, while enemy doesn't. Each defender we kill is a step closer to achieving our goal."
Next, he pointed at highways North and South of the city.
"The situation looks slightly different outside of the city. Enemy forces recently performed several offensive actions along A9 and L8 highways. Our forces, not expecting such actions, were completely unprepared and were forced to retreat, allowing the enemy to retake control of these two important arteries to the city and stop our efforts to capture P89 and surround the city. We expect that these highways are supposed to relieve the P89 highway leading to Leender, which our artillery has under fire control. We don't expect it to help them a lot, considering the fact, that our artillery also has these two highways under control."
Commanders looked at it and listened carefully.
"Something doesn't add up."one of them said.
Everyone looked at him.
"And who exactly are you?"Margas asked. He didn't know names of all commanders and he didn't have time to learn them. There were more important things to do.
Officer stood up and bowed.
"Colonel Paulus Eno Atridus."he introduced himself."Commander of 52nd Armored Lancers."
"Could you elaborate on your words, colonel Atridus?"general asked.
"Of course, sir. What I'm saying is that something doesn't seem right to me considering all this. Enemy should be well aware that our artillery can easily target their supply convoys moving down A9 and L8. After all, we already have fire control over P89. They must know that."
"Maybe they're just stupid?"Geded asked, smiling.
But seeing thunders sent by Margas' eyes, his smile vanished. Geded already failed the general so many times, that he almost completely fell out of his graces. Almost, because if he fell out completely, he wouldn't even sit here now.
"Continue."Margas told Atridus.
"Thank you. As I was saying, something doesn't add up. We don't know why enemy wants these highways back exactly. This could only mean one thing."
"What?"someone asked.
There was a moment of silence, as Atridus eyed every commander sitting at the table. He took a breath.
"They're planning something."
Everyone shuddered, because he said in such a way, as if enemy was preparing another offensive. Memories of enemy offensive from a few weeks back. It was a costly endeavor for both sides. Sons lost the entire 2nd Armored Legion and many other units, while enemy lost many air assets and many of their ground assets, too. But even though Emperor Zorzal, after learning about this, only laughed and called it 'last twitching of dying animal', this didn't make anyone feel better. After all, wounded or dying animal is much more dangerous, especially when it's in a corner.
"We need to foil their plans, then!"some lieutenant colonel stated.
"I know."Atridus said."And I already have an idea."
"Go on."Margas said.
"I will get my brigade and we will counter attack. We will retake first A9 and then, L8. We will stop their plans before they can even begin."colonel replied.
Klausus narrowed his eyes. He knew, when some young officer was aiming high. And he could clearly tell, that Atridus was an ambitious commander.
"Maybe a bit too ambitious?"he thought."Just look out. Flying too close to the sun can get you burned."
But instead of that, he said:
"Understood. You have a green light."
"Thank you, sir!"
Atridus made a Saderan salute and turned to walk out of the tent. Others simply watched him go.
"Alright people."general Klausus Ho Margas said, bringing everyone's attention back to him."We have to kick the gear. I want this city to be in our hands in the next three days. With it, we will have a way opened to Leender. Got it?"
"Yes, sir!"commanders exclaimed, standing up.
General nodded, smiling. And then, his smile vanished.
"Then move your asses, you lousy substitutes of soldiers! Get to work or your heads will be decorating my wall!"
Commanders nodded and quickly started running out of the tent, before general stopped one of them.
"Major Upianus."he said.
Said major stopped and looked at him.
"Yes, sir?"he asked.
"Tell your team to move in. Maybe they will make a difference."
Upianus smiled.
"Understood, sir."
With that, he left, while Margas smiled, thinking of how surprised UTDF was going to be. He held major Upianus' unit in reserve as a secret, because he was all they had. Erecans really didn't like giving these machines out. They said that they are really hard to replace. So he had to finally see how they operated.
August 2
13:08
Intersection of East and North St., Infit
Ornatson, Ril and several other soldiers sat on top of the barricade, waiting for next enemy attack. But instead of that, what happened, was sudden earth shake. All soldiers looked at each other, surprised.
"What was that?"someone asked.
"I don't know…"Ornatson replied.
Another shake, this time stronger.
"It's definitely getting closer."Ril said, cocking his riffle.
"Everyone, get ready!"colonel ordered.
Earth shook even harder this time and they all heard a powerful, metallic actuating sound. Some soldiers gulped, not knowing what the Sons were bringing out to battle now. Some of them started praying to whatever gods they believed in and even Ornatson kissed the cross he had on his neck, a gift from his wife.
As the tension reached it's limits, the building far down the street suddenly exploded in a shower of rubble and dust. Some defenders were so surprised by this, that they almost dropped their weapons.
"Steady!"Ornatson ordered, looking down the sights of his AR4.
Soldiers quickly regained their composure, waiting. Dust slowly started to settle. An eerie silence suddenly fell over the whole street. Dust flew to the ground slowly, as if to keep the defenders in bigger and bigger uneasiness.
And finally, it settled completely, revealing what it was hiding, making the soldiers wide eyed.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"one of them exclaimed at the top of his lungs.
Standing there, at the end of the street, was a tall, two-legged machine. It had long, tube-like lower half and round, flat top half. On both sides of this upper half, it had some kinds of weapons. On the right, it had something resembling outocannons and missiles, while on the left, it had two long rails. It also had Sons of Sadera's logo painted on it's side.
Nordian soldiers looked at it for a few seconds, before the machine started walking towards it, shaking the ground with every stomp.
"Fire!"Ornatson ordered.
Soldiers didn't need to be told twice. They all opened at the machine at the same time, sending a wave of lead flying towards it. Bullets quickly made the way between the barricade and the mech, which seemed unphased by the projectiles hitting it. It still slowly lumbered towards the defenders, menacingly, as if it was mocking them. As it got closer, Ornatson saw a thin red line on it's frontal plate, which probably was some kind of camera.
"Snipers!"he exclaimed."Aim at the red line!"
Two snipers that were on the barricade immediately went to work, aiming their weapons. At the same time, the Omar started aiming it's TOW missiles, but it wasn't able to fire. Two rails on the left side of the machine started glowing and arcs of power were flying everywhere. Before anyone could react, a glowing projectile flew from between the rails.
It made it's way towards the barricade and slammed into the Omar's frontal plate, easily piercing through it, leaving orange sparks behind it and a burning whole in front and back of the vehicle, as it flew out. Smoke came out from the joint point of turret and hull, with soldiers looking at it in shock.
"They have a fucking railgun?!"someone shouted.
Snipers then did what they were told and pulled the triggers. Bullets left the barrels and traveled to their goal. They hit the red line, shattering it.
"Good one!"Ornatson exclaimed.
But they were not allowed to celebrate it for long, as it was the mech's turn to open fire.
First, it's autocannons came to life. It's bullets started hitting the upper part of the barricade, immediately mowing down several defenders. Others quickly ducked down behind the cover, while the barricade continued to be peppered by the fire.
"We have to get off of here!"Ril shouted.
"No, we have to hold it! If this thing will get to the back lines…!"Ornatson argued.
"Gron, this thing is about to smash through us! We have to fall back!"
"But…!"
Gron wasn't able to finish. Mech fired it's unguided missiles. They reached the barricade, blowing it into pieces and throwing defenders high in the air. Colonel and sergeant were not saved from similar fate, but they were lucky enough to not fly high, but to be pushed off the destroyed barricade and smash into the ground, bruising themselves hard.
The landing also caused Ornatson to get slightly dizzy. His vision was blurry and he barely heard anything. But even though that, he recognized Ril, who knelt over him, shaking him and shouting something to him. Colonel barely understood his adjutant and just laid there, not moving, while sergeant shouted at him.
Suddenly, Ril stopped shaking him, right as Gron's vision became sharp again. He now could clearly see his adjutant, standing there, firing his weapon towards the approaching mech, while all around him, soldiers were either in pain or were getting up and running or firing together with Ril. He could also see the burning barricade and wreck of the IFV. The whole scene looked really apocalyptic, with burning pieces of furniture and rubble falling all around, while a dozen or so of Nordian soldiers tried to stop the approaching beast at any cost, although they knew there was no chance of victory. And soon enough, they started falling one by one.
Autoccannon took it's aim and opened fire. It's high caliber bullets easily tore bodies to pieces, turning people into bloody remains. Soldiers that Orantson could see fell one after the other, reduced to nothing. Even Ril, who stood there with scream on his lips, was hit with a short series, which turned the adjutant into shreds, which fell on the ground. All the while giant machine slowly came into view.
Ornatson could only lay there and watch, as machine walked through what remained of the barricade and continued to fire. Nordian soldiers were in full retreat, with nothing able to successfully destroy the approaching death machine.
"So this is how it ends, huh?"Gron thought, laying there.
But as he watched the giant machine, something unexpected happened. First, one projectile slammed into it. Then, two others followed. Machine clearly shook. It seemed, that these projectiles actually did something to it. And this assumption was confirmed, when another wave of projectiles came, slamming into frontal plate of the mech and it's left arm. And one projectile was enough to tear it off, causing the railgun to crash onto the ground. Shells continued to fly until machine was thrown off balance and simply fell over on it's back. There were three more shells, which this time pierced the lower armor and caused it to explode.
Soon, Gron saw three shapes coming into view. After few seconds, these shapes turned into three M5A3 tanks with Falmartian markings. Hatches on the vehicles started opening and people started coming out of them. One of them ran up to Ornatson and knelt beside him.
"Gron? Gron, can you hear me?"a familiar voice said."It's me, Verius."
"Verius…"Ornatson said.
Verius grabbed him by the arm and helped him to stand up. Colonel quickly shook himself from the shock and looked at what remained of the barricade and it's defenders. Medics and survivors were running around, trying to find any more wounded or survivors. Next, he looked at the Falmartian.
"You're here faster…"he said weakly.
"Yeah, we had to get here in half an hour, but we managed to find a faster way."colonel replied, but then his face darkened."Sorry, that we didn't manage to get here faster."
"I don't blame you…"Gron said and coughed.
Next, he looked at the place where Ril's headless remains were laying. Verius followed his eyes.
"Is that…?"
"Ril? Yeah…"
"Poor guy. He survived HO Remnant and got taken out by some lucky fuckers."
"You never know the time."
Right then, a medic ran up to them.
"Colonel, are you alright?"he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll manage."Gron said."Go help the others."
"Yes, sir."
Medic left.
"I still gotta thank your new commander."Gron said."For sending you here."
Verius smiled.
"You can thank him now. He's standing right in front of you."he said.
Nordian eyed him from top to bottom.
"You got promoted?"
"Yeah, although I don't think it's the right time to boast. So, what are you gonna do now?"
Orantson took another look around and decided.
"We're retreating. This position is undefendable now."he stated.
"Understood, we will cover your retreat. Gather your wounded and let's go."
Verius then went towards his tanks.
"Let's hurry people!"he exclaimed to the rest of his tank crews.
"Sir, yes, sir!"soldiers replied.
Ornatson looked at it for a few seconds, before looking at Ril. He knew what orders he had, but now? He decided, that he couldn't just go on for much longer. He owed it to Ril.
He made up his mind.
"Verius!"he called.
Lieutenant colonel stopped before he started climbing onto his tank and looked at him.
"Yeah?"
Gron ran up to the Falmartian and leaned to his ear.
"Have all of your men ready to march before 22:00."he whispered."We're leaving the city. We have a plan."
"So it's true."surprised Verius said.
"You heard something?"
"Only rumors…"
"Alright then. But be ready. We will only have few hours before the plan is enacted. So you have to hurry."
"Got it. Thanks for the info."
"No problem, buddy."
With that, Verius climbed on his tank's armor and jumped into the turret. Meanwhile, Gron looked around, at his soldiers, which were waiting for his next orders.
"Gather your stuff! We're leaving this place!"
"Sir, yes, sir!"they replied.
Few minutes later, Nordian vehicles, escorted by three Falmartian tanks, left behind the resting place of the giant machine and many of their comrades.
August 2
16:45
Unified Staff, Leender, Soutlandian C.Z.
Harlen's eyes were still fixed on Infit.
"Harlen?"Tim asked.
"Yeah?"general replied.
"You've been looking at this city for almost four hours now."
Harlen finally looked away from the city and looked at his adjutant. He threw up his arms.
"Sorry, I'm still wondering what should we do with this city. Sons are constantly pushing in. And judging from last few reports, they have some kinds of…mechs. Which are pretty hard to destroy."
"Yeah, I read those reports too."Tim winced."Tough luck, I guess."
"That's the only luck we're actually getting."
"Let's not thing about it now. Let's better focus on what to do once Infit actually falls. Because the fact it will fall is almost a given now."
General shook his head. He recently had too much on his head. Pressure on all parts of the frontline was starting to get too big to withstand. According to some unconfirmed reports, it might have already started to break down. Rumors said, that SoS' columns were already spotted just ten kilometers from Taurus City, the capital of Falmartian C.Z. Australian forces were apparently also on their last legs, but that wasn't surprising. While other nations on the planet had more than several thousand troops on the planet, the size of Australian garrison was just eight hundred people. The very fact that Australians, supported by troops and supplies from Falmartian C.Z., were able to hold for so long, was a true miracle. But now, according to Australian reports, around six brigades landed on the continent partially controlled by Australian government. And were already shelling New Perth. Nordian C.Z. was still fighting, of course, but it was slowly coming to an end. Utgard has fallen, Nordian higher ups were practically all dead and most of their units were either eliminated or taken prisoner. Erak City and Skandian C.Z. was also close to falling, as Sons finally closed the encirclement around the city and were already pushing in. Colonel Gergon gave orders to defend the city to the very end, so it was certain, that Skandians won't go our silently.
Actually, the only C.Z. where fighting wasn't taking place as of now, was Araluenian C.Z. Although Araluenian soldiers crossed the narrow sea separating the islands and continent they controlled and were actively fighting, their territory was left relatively untouched, except of course some air raids. But Harlen was certain it was only a matter of time before Sons' forces make landfall in that area, too. The fact that they didn't do it until now was actually surprising. Maybe they actually didn't have infinite forces? But that actually didn't matter now.
Harlen one more looked at Infit and this time, he noticed something. It was so small, that he didn't actually notice it, although he was looking at the city for so long.
"Tim, do you see any changes?"he asked.
Adjutant looked at the map, too and squinted his eyes. After a few seconds, he gasped, surprised.
"Did…our troops actually retake the southern and northern highways?"Tim asked, looking at his commander.
"It would appear so."Harlen confirmed.
"But why? And who gave that order?"
Harlen frowned. It was true, he didn't order that. And there was no information about any kind of operation to be performed in that region.
"Allow me to answer that."
Harlen and Tim immediately turned, hearing this new voice. Entering the command room was a short, chubby man, dressed in familiar Nordian uniform. He was accompanied by two Nordian commandos, who stood by the door. The man was bald and his face was decorated with an arrogant smirk. His whole persona was literally radiating with an aura of someone, who cannot easily be trusted.
"Who are you?"Tim asked.
"Allow me to introduce myself."He bowed."I'm colonel Hergut Turbion of Nordian Armed Forces. I represent the Nordian Central Command."
"Central Command?"Harlen risen an eyebrow."There is no organ of that name in our data. From what we know, remaining Nordian forces are under the command of remaining members of general Utgar's staff."
Turbion nodded.
"Indeed, and these people are us."
"Oh yeah? Then why were you so secretive not to tell us about you?"Tim asked."If you are the leaders of Nordians now, we should know it."
"We had to hide this fact because of the enemy. We…couldn't allow them to know, that our forces still possess some form of organized structure. We had to pretend to be almost completely broken, so they would get overconfident."
General was taking what colonel said with a grain of salt. Something about this story wasn't very…believable.
"Suuuuure…"Harlen said."If you want to be so secretive and hidden, then why are you revealing yourselves to us now?"
Turbion looked at the map on the holo-table and smacked his lips a few times. He caressed the edge of the table.
"Infit…"he said."You're probably wondering, who ordered to retake these two highways, right?"
"Yes, you know something about it?"adjutant asked.
Colonel nodded.
"Yes. We did."he said so plainly that if not the subject, one would say he was talking about the weather.
Harlen inhaled some air.
"What?!"he exclaimed."Who gave you permission?!"
"We did."Suddenly, colonel's tone changed completely, turning as sharp as the blade best taken care of."It was essential to our plan regarding the future of battle that's going on there."
"You can't even do that! If we want to win in some way, we have to keep to the command structure! You can't just order whatever you want without consulting it with the Unified Staff! You know how risky that was?! What if that offensive failed?!"general argued.
"But it didn't. Our troops managed to retake both highways and are currently holding off enemy counterattacks. Phase one of our plan is complete and phase two is in the works. Phase three will commence tomorrow."
Harlen looked at Turbion with fire in his eyes. This whole 'Central Command' really didn't feel like people you could trust. Even though they claimed to be on the same side as the rest of UTDF, general had to keep the distance from them. He was certain, that whatever this plan was he was not gonna like it.
"Will you tell us that plan of yours?"Harlen asked."Or not?"
"Of course."Turbion said, all calm again."Phase one of our plan regarding Infit, was evacuating all civilians that remained in the city from the area. Of course, due to the fact that part of the city is occupied, we were unable to reach the ones on the other side."
"Understandable."Tim said, nodding. Although if it depended on him, he would do anything to get civilians out of the occupied territories.
"Go on."Harlen said, crossing his arms. So far, this plan seemed sensible.
"Phase two of the plan was to allow our forces to easily and quickly leave the city's vicinity by retaking the A9 and L8 highways. For our plan to work, there must be no allied troops in the area. Enemy has to believe, that we gave the city up."
Harlen shot a glance to Tim, who responded with the same. Something was not right.
"And finally, phase three, which is due tomorrow"Turbion said, decorating his face with wide smile"is to detonate a nuclear warhead when enemy troops enter the city."
The whole room froze after hearing this sentence. Harlen could even swear, that he heard some sort of crack, when the sense of Turbion just said reached him.
"Excuse me, but I think I misheard."general said."I heard you saying something about using a nuclear warhead."
"Yes."colonel said, his smile growing."We have a nuke."
Harlen was right. He DIDN'T like this plan.
"Tim."he said coldly."Arrest this man. And all of Central Command."
"Yes, sir."Tim said.
Right then, two Nordian commandos that accompanied Turbion lifted their weapons up. In response, several security officers that were present in the room pulled out their guns. Tim did the same, aiming straight at Turbion. But Nordian colonel didn't seem surprised by this turn of events. Moreover, he looked exactly as if he saw it coming from miles away.
Tensions started rising and everyone was waiting for who will triumph in this standoff.
"Now, now, no need to be violent."Nordian said."We're all allies here."
"Bullshit!"Harlen snapped."Your plan is to use a weapon of mass destruction against YOUR OWN city! No one normal would do anything like that!"
"Listen here!"Turbion finally exclaimed."This war showed us one thing! If we truly want to beat the enemy, we can't let ourselves be limited by petty morals! If our enemy is ruthless, we have to be ruthless too! No limits, all possible means! Our enemies must know, that whatever they want, they will have to pay for it in blood!"
"That doesn't mean we have to lower ourselves to their level!"general argued."They are criminals! War criminals! You want us to be wars criminals too?"
"If it means that thousands of these bastards go to Hellun, then yes! We're all in for it!"Turbion replied confidently.
Harlen Ordell looked at him, but colonel didn't flinch. General looked also at all the people with guns aiming at each other and knew, that something had to be done to break the deadlock. Or blood will be spilled.
"Alright, let's calm down."Turbion said, taking a deep breath."We're all allies here. This war might be lost, but it doesn't mean, that we can't still show our teeth to them. After all, they wouldn't expect us to have nuclear weapons."
"Speaking of which."Tim said, still aiming his gun at Turbion."Where the fuck did you even get a nuke?"
"Yeah."Harlen said."From what I know, Nordia doesn't have any weapons of mass destruction."
Actually, none of nations belonging to Andromeda Branch possessed any kind of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. All of them signed the convention that prohibited them from using or storing them.
"It's true. But Sons do."Turbion stated.
This sent shivers down Harlen's spine. The fact SoS had access to WMDs was terrifying in it's own right. They were lucky they didn't decided to use them. At least until now.
"During one of our special forces raids"colonel continued"we managed to secure the warhead from Sons' ballistic missile launcher. We took it off of the missile and transported it to a safe location. And when the situation in Infit started to deteriorate, we came up with a way to use this warhead."
"In short, you want to turn Infit into no man's land."Tim stated.
"Yes."
"What purpose will it serve?"Harlen asked.
"It will create an impassable zone in the frontline and will allow us to focus on different parts of the defensive line for the time being. It will also serve as shock value to the enemy and will cause them to temporarily halt their offensive, what will allow us to regroup and perform needed preparations for further fighting."
General was thinking hard. On one hand, what Turbion said made some sense. Whatever they could use against enemy, they should use it. It would allow them to slow enemy progress down and increase their chances of holding off until the arrival of any kind of support. If support was even coming.
But on the other, no matter who wins this war, he and everyone who agreed to this plan, will forever be remembered as those, who forfeit their morals. He didn't know what was the best option. But deep inside, he knew well.
"Clock is ticking, general."Turbion said.
Harlen tightened his fists.
"Lower yours weapons."he ordered to Tim and security officers.
They complied and Nordian commandos did the same.
"Alright. We'll go with your plan."Harlen stated.
Tim looked at him, widening his eyes.
"What? But sir…"he tried to say, but Harlen silenced him.
"As much as it pains me to say it, he's partially right. We need anything that can help us slow Sons down. And I will forever hate myself for agreeing to this."
Turbion nodded.
"I knew we would find a common language."he said."As of now, warhead should be arriving in Infit. We would be ready to perform the plan in the morning tomorrow."
And with that, as if ignoring everything that have transpired in the room, colonel turned around and, accompanied by his bodyguards, left the command room. Nobody tried to stop them. When they left, Harlen turned around and put his hands on the edge of the holo-table. He sighed deeply and his arms started shaking.
"Are you alright?"worried Tim asked.
"No."Harlen replied."Not in the slightest."
"You didn't have to agree to that."
"I know, but either I would or…I didn't want it to get bloody. Too many blood was already spilled and us killing each other wouldn't help anyone."
"I guess you're right."
Then, they both looked at Infit.
"We're really gonna do it."Tim said, crossing his arms."Honestly, if I remember correctly, in Milky Way, nuclear weapons were last used in combat during the 2nd Tertan War, over fifty years ago. UNSA dropped some on Terta Prime. But fearing that doing so would become a hallmark of UNSA, the usage of nuclear weapons was blocked behind certain procedures and situations."
"Which are?"
"Weapons of mass destruction can only be used as last resort or when the possibility of defeat is 95%."
Harlen smiled.
"I guess that we fit these requirements."he stated.
Tim thought about it for a second before also smiling.
"I guess we do."he replied."It will be up to future generations to see us as either heroes or pariahs."
"And I don't know which is worse."
August 2
22:01
L9 highway, South of Infit
Before the war, the L9 highway was often a witness to hundreds of vehicles driving it in all directions. But when traveling was, of course, made harder because of war, whole traffic basically stopped dead. Then, it started again, when evacuation started following the start of the battle of the city and when phase one of CC's plan came into fruition when remaining civilians were removed from UTDF-controled part of the city.
Now, highway was full of vehicles again, but this time, these were only military ones. Long column, formed by vehicles from both Falmartian 10th Armored Brigade and Nordian 74th Mechanized Brigade, was slowly making their way towards safety. Same thing was happening to the North. The whole evacuation was taking place under the cover of night. Additionally, moons of the planet were covered by the rain clouds of currently ongoing storm and there was no natural light. To make it even more sneaky, all lights on vehicles were ordered to be turned off and the movement was directed by soldiers serving as traffic control.
Verius was sitting in the open hatch of his tank, although the rain falling on him with powerful streams, which he protected himself from by wearing a raincoat. In front of him and behind him, he could see tanks and other vehicles of his brigade. At least, he presumed he could call it his now in the meaning, that he was practically in charge of it. In the distance, he could also see the flashlights held by traffic control troops which they used to direct the traffic. The whole situation reminded Verius of a movie he once saw, but he couldn't remember the title.
"Verius, come in."Hernik said in the radio.
Verius reached inside his vehicle and grabbed the device.
"I hear you."lieutenant colonel said."What is it?"
"Could we, like, hurry this whole thing up?"commander of Fourth Platoon asked."My guys are really getting impatient."
"We told you already, Hernik."Gerhi joined."We wait. Whatever is happening there, there must be something important that they stopped the whole column."
"Exactly."Niva said."We can't just go out of the line."
"I know, but what if some sudden air raid will appear?"Hernik argued."I don't know about you, but I wouldn't like to end up scorched to death in a giant, moving, steel coffin."
"You should've thought about it before joining the military."Gerhi stated.
"I never expected to end up in a situation like this! You can't blame me for fearing for my life!"
"We all fear for our lives."Niva said."But if we let chaos and fear get into our heads, we will end up dead even faster."
"Wise words."Verius agreed, nodding."So no, Hernik, we can't move up faster. We will move when they will allow us to."
"Great, then allow me to just sit back and watch the views."Hernik said and disconnected.
"Who wants to bet he will bail out once it's all over?"Gerhi asked when Hernik couldn't listen.
"I do. But well, I can't blame him."Niva said."We've all been through so much."
"And we all cope with it our own ways."lieutenant colonel said."We will make it. I know it."
"We do, too, Verius."Gerhi said."But only future will tell, what awaits us. Gerhi, out."
"Exactly."Niva agreed."Sedvis, out."
When the two disconnected, Verius put down his radio. He looked at the dark sky and tried to look for any glimpse of stars, but it was no use. Clouds were too dark to see anything through them.
"Whatever plan you have, let it work."he thought, directing his thoughts to the Nordians.
He really trusted Ornatson. They made several successful stands against the advancing SoS, but recently, Nordian colonel became more…secretive and somehow distanced from their joint effort. But at least it seemed, that he started to return to what their cooperation looked like before. Shame that it had taken Ril to die for it to happen. He still had his doubts about whatever Nordians were planning, but if it had to help them, then he would accept it with pleasure.
Suddenly, he could hear some kind of commotion happening in front of him. Not long after, he saw a flashlight moving and stopping near each vehicle. After few minutes, it reached Verius' tank and soldier holding the flashlight climbed onto the armor.
"What is it?"Verius asked.
"We're moving again."soldier replied.
"Good. But what was the reason we stopped in the first place?"
"A tree fell down and blocked the road. But we removed it already."
"That makes sense."
"Alright, I must inform the others, too."
"Why don't you use radio?"
Soldier looked at Verius for a few seconds, before facepalming.
"Why didn't I think of that?"he asked himself."Thanks for the advice."
Soldier then left.
Verius, in the meantime, grabbed his radio and connected to the other officers of his brigade.
"All units, we're about to move. Tell your men. Over."he said.
"Understood, sir."officers replied.
A thunder suddenly tore the sky. Verius looked East, towards the thunder. In the far, far distance, he could see an eerie glow. 37th Mechanized Brigade and 192nd Infantry Regiment, alongside the three Kubliatan battalions, were still hard at work, stopping the Sons' counterattack, aimed at retaking the highways, but for now, they stood their ground. Nobody knew for how long will it stay like that, but with a slight margin of error, it was speculated, that it will be enough until the whole force of UTDF left the vicinity of Infit. These units were supposed to fall back soon after, but everyone knew, that before that, very high losses will pile up. Verius really wouldn't want to be in their place.
Around ten minutes later, whole column was on the move again. In complete darkness, the whole force moves, with night interrupted only by the ringing of rain, occasional thunder and roar of engines of moving vehicles.
At the same time, to the North, second column was on the move, too. Colonel Ornatson sat in his GAZ, thinking.
"Is everything alright, colonel?"his new adjutant asked.
Gron looked at the soldier, who was also driving the vehicle. Although being pretty young, soldier by the name of sergeant Sign Petyrsson, had a really lush, brown beard, tied in several braids in old, Nordian fashion. He was chosen at the last minute, to replace the late Ril.
"Yes, yes, I'm just thinking."colonel replied.
"About tomorrow?"
Although Sign was Gron's adjutant for only few hours, colonel already told him what the plan is. It almost ended with an argument about morality, but ultimately, sergeant agreed with his commanding officer.
"Exactly."
"I hope the plan will at least succeed in some of it's assumptions…"
"Me too, kid. Me too."
Next, the vehicle continued to move alongside the rest of the column, getting as far from Infit as possible, while the city visible far in the distance continued to burn, although the heavy storm raging around it.
August 3
08:45
City center, Infit
When on the early morning of the next day Sons of Sadera renewed their offensive operations, they were left confused. They were well aware that just yesterday, there was enemy waiting behind basically every corner. But now, the part of the city controlled by the enemy looked like a ghost town. It looked as if they simply evaporated through the night. Additionally, there was no civilians on the enemy side, too. Even though several SoS officers expressed their concern about it, general Margas didn't want to hear any of that. In his eyes, the enemy must have escaped, unable to withstand the pressure put on them by their forces. He saw the disappearance of enemy troops from the city as his victory.
Knowing that, he ordered the troops to advance further into the city, but carefully, fearing that enemy left some kinds of traps. But, even more confusingly, there were no mines, drones or anything else like that left behind. Thanks to that, Sons' forces were able to easily move into the city, easily taking control over the rest of the settlement. As of now, there were exactly three brigades in the city and one mechanized legion, together with several units from 1st Armored Legion itself.
One of these units was 77th Infantry Regiment of 48th Mechanized Cohort of 1st Armored Legion. Currently, soldiers of this unit, were celebrating their victory near the river that was flowing through the city. Some of them were sitting at the beach, others were singing drinking or eating, while others were simply standing around, talking.
Commander of the regiment, major Decius Openor, stood on the bridge going over the river. He was the only one that didn't celebrate. He was in this business for too long to not feel some kind of trick under all this. After all, although fire control was held over all three highways, allied analysts were certain that enemy could fight for at least one to two more weeks. So why did they retreat? And why so suddenly? And where were the civilians? It was sure that not all of them escaped and some must have been left in the city, like in case of the side controlled by the SoS. Something was in the air. And the most scary part was nobody knew what it was.
"Hey, sir?"someone asked.
Decius looked to his side and saw his deputy, captain Achillus. He was holding a cup of wine. Drinking alcohol was strictly prohibited in SoS, but some officers allowed their soldiers to celebrate important victories. And this was certainly one of those, as this city was the last big city in Nordian C.Z. to fall under their control. Now, they had a way open towards the headquarters of enemy command: capital of Soutlandian C.Z., Leender.
"What is it, captain?"Decius asked.
"I was wondering, why are you so grim?"Achillus asked."We won. They ran away like cowards. The city is ours and soon, we will be marching down the streets of enemy's main city. War will be over soon!"
Decius stopped himself from saying any comment about that. He stopped believing in quick and swift end to this conflict. Before it, leadership promised that within a few weeks, the whole planet will fall and war itself will end in thirty days. And now? War entered it's third month and enemy still held their ground against SoS's advance. This was not going to end well. For who, it was yet to be found out.
"I'm not grim, I'm just taking all this with a grain of salt."major replied."Something still might happen, that's not according to our plan."
"I think you're overthinking it."Achillus stated.
"Don't you see it? They retreated so suddenly. They even took civilians. And they knew we wouldn't be able to push them out for few more weeks. And before you say anything, that's what I heard from my friends that have access to the staff."
Achillus just waved it off.
"Hey, whatever their reason might have been, we should celebrate."he said, chugging down the wine."Cooome and have fuuuuun…"
"Wine has clouded your mind. Didn't I tell you not to drink anymore?"
"Naaaaaahhhh…"
Next, captain laughed, while major could only sigh in dismay.
"Attention all units, attention all units!"Sudden shout in major's radio almost made him jump."You are to immediately evacuate! Move your asses as fast as you possibly can and get out of the city! This is an order from the highest echelons of command!"
Decius activated his helmet's in-built communicator.
"This is major Decius Openor."he said."What is going on?"
"Our scanners have detected rising levels of radiation within the city! Possible nuclear threat confirmed!"
"Wha…?"Decius tried to ask, but didn't finish.
There was a flash and after that, a sudden wave of heat. Shockwave spread all around the city, while heatwave released by the nuclear explosion melted all nearby buildings. Soldiers and equipment that were the nearest to the epicenter of the explosion evaporated within a fraction of a second, as well as the whole nearest area. Several dropships flying above were heat with an EMP released by the nuke and were now raining from the sky, falling on the buildings and some allied forces. Not long after, a giant mushroom cloud formed over the city, while fallout continued to spread.
Major Decimus was hit with the shockwave of the explosion, which three him several meters backwards, making him crash into a nearby building. Impact broke many of his bones, while all around, his soldiers were being thrown around like rag dolls, their bodies splattering like an insect against a windscreen or ending seriously injured. Vehicles were also flying like kites, as if they were made of paper.
Finally, the shockwave disappeared and major's tormented body fell on the ground. Although in pain, he looked up, towards the cloud towering over the ruins of the city. It stood there, menacingly, as if some kind of grim reaper, telling everyone 'Your time has come'. But that was the last thing major ever saw, before his eyes closed and darkness was everything that surrounded him. Several hours later, he would die from both sustained injuries and radiation poisoning in a hospital in Utgard, just like many other soldiers present in the city.
Nuclear explosion in Infit sent a shockwave through all of SoS' forces on he planet. General Margas ordered all forces on this axis to hold their advance. Soon, special HAZMAT suit teams were sent in to check what damage did the explosion cause. And reports were bringing nothing but grim news.
Nearly a quarter of the city was razed with the ground, by either the shockwave or the heatwave released by the explosion. Within the first few hours from the explosion, nearly twenty thousand SoS soldiers died from the explosion itself, or from collateral damage it caused. On the following days, nearly thirty thousand more troops died from injuries or radiation poisoning. With fifty thousand troops in total, this was the biggest loss of manpower sustained by Sons in a single attack. News of what happened quickly reached SoS leadership, shocking everyone, even Zorzal.
Nuclear fallout from the explosion was carried by winds to the North, soon settling over the borderline region between Nordian and Soutlandian C.Z., irradiating the area and making the region uninhabitable, just like area nearest to Infit. It would take several years to clear the radiation and fixing the damage done to the local ecosystem.
But probably the ones most shocked by the events that occurred, were UTDF's units defending the two highways and brigade of colonel Atridus, which continued to retreat after failing to retake both arteries.
XXX
And this is where we're gonna end for now. As always, remember to leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!
Also, just FYI, I'm taking a break for a week. So don't expect a new chapter for a while. Sorry for the inconvenience.