Welcome back to the story, how are you doing? So, previously, we saw the fall of one of the last bastions of UTDF, Erak City. With it and others already under SoS' control, Leender stands as the last bastion of UTDF and freedom on the planet, but for how long? Additionally, colonel Rius, head of RFIS, received some news which he wants to share with the rest of Falmartian command in Sadera. What will come out of it? We'll have to wait and find out.
Chapter 3
August 6, 2166
22:12
Conference Room, Jade Palace
Pina was sitting like on tenterhooks. Not so long ago, she was torn out from her sleep. But that sleep was not the best anyway. Ever since all of this begun, she had a lot of nightmares. This is why she didn't sleep very well and had constantly tired expression. Dreams of enemy troops landing on the planet, destroying everything in their path, killing anyone they stumbled upon. And she could just stand and watch.
She shuddered at the very thought. She decided to focus on more important matters. She looked around, at Grey, Bozes, Hamilton, Tuka and everyone else that have already gathered. The only person missing was the one responsible for calling this meeting.
"Where the hell is Rius?"general Loganus asked."First, he calls the meeting and now, he doesn't show up? We have more important things to do!"
"Better calm down, Loganus."colonel Sarla said.
Commander of the Army looked at the Warrior Bunny.
"Sorry, but our very existence and future are at stake."he stated."My men are doing very important work and I have to make sure they will return to their families."
"My men and women are doing the same."Sarla shot back."They may be working even harder, searching and eliminating enemy agents and saboteurs where they can."
The two glared at each other with daggers in their eyes. Everyone in the room was certain, that if someone doesn't step in, the commander of the Army and commander of the Special Forces will jump at each other and there will be no stopping them then.
Fortunately, Minister of Culture Sherry Tyueli was present.
"Calm down you two."she said."You're both right. You're both doing very important job. Without any of you, enemy would have much easier job. And would probably already won. So stop bickering and focus on what is important."
Two commanders looked at each other and sighed.
"I guess you're right, minister Tyueli."Loganus said.
"Yeah."Sarla stated.
Prime Minister Garcel leaned towards Pina.
"She changed a lot."he said.
"True."Pina agreed.
She still remembered Sherry as a little, kinda shy girl. But by the last fifteen years, she grew to be one of the most prominent political figures on the kingdom's stage. Life really was surprising sometimes.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door leading into the room opened. Everyone looked in that direction and were greeted with a sight of the Dark Elven head of the intelligence service, accompanied by one of the analysts. He approached his usual place at the table and sat down.
"Excuse me for being late."Rius said."The streets were surprisingly corked today. We barely squeezed through."
"That's understandable, colonel."Grey said.
"Now"general Salani said"what is this great reason you call a meeting at this time of the day?"
"I'll explain, don't worry. The news I have might be very important for the future phases of the war."
This immediately sparked everyone's attention.
"What do you mean by this?"Tyuule asked.
Rius nodded at the analyst, who nodded back and stepped up.
"As you all are probably aware, due to our inability to fully use our operational capabilities, the only thing we were allowed to do, was sit and listen to enemy radio chatter, trying to find some information that might be useful for us. Fortunately, enemy didn't destroy all of our listening posts and satellites, what allowed us to listen to what they were saying 24/7. Unfortunately, they were sensible enough to not speak about any important matters on the open channels."the analyst explained.
"We already knew that."Loganus said."Did something change?"
"Kinda."analyst replied, already pressing something on his tablet."Literally few hours ago, we managed to intercept a transmission between two enemy ships. It would appear, that enemy became a bit sloppy because of the prolonging conflict."
He pressed something more and finally, after he pressed one last thing, a voice spoke from the recording. Fortunately, because it was in Saderan, there was no need for anyone to translate.
"Man, this sucks."a voice said."It's been three months already. I wanna go back home."
"We all want, Ferinus."another voice replied."But we can't, not until everything here is said and done."
"Oh, come on, stop spilling that propaganda bullshit on me."Ferinus whined."I know, reclaiming lost legacy is important. But come on! We were supposed to be done in a month! And it's a third one already! Are you sure higher ups know what they are doing?"
"Be quiet! You want Oprichnina to hear you?"
"Politicals? Meh, I don't care. All I'm saying is that this is getting ridiculous. We've lost too many troops and assets here, we're barely breathing. I know it looks like if we're winning, but at this rate, we won't have enough assets to take over Flare Prime. We will burn out before we even reach the climax."
"I get it, but the thing on Taurus is very important."
"Really, they're still fighting on Taurus? I thought only Emloy is stalling us so hard."
"Yeah, Taurus is a hard nut to crack. Command never expected such a fierce resistance. But don't worry, they're almost done there. Apparently, five out of six Colonization Zones' capitals already fell into our hands. Only Leender is still defending."
"But it's the biggest city on the planet. Taking it won't be easy."
"Don't worry. As I said, everything is coming to a close there. Enemy troops are tired and lack supplies. The city, and the planet, will be ours before this month's end. Trust me."
"Whatever you say, buddy. Sorry, I have to get back to work now. Legate Cassius is looking."
"I still think you got the better job."
"Hah, right. Trust me, I would rather help Erecans in farming, like the ground boys, than spent one more day on Dark Vengeance and under the supervision of our beloved head of the navy. Anyway, see ya."
"Farewell."
"This is where the conversation ends."analyst said.
Everyone sat still, processing every bit of information they just heard. Rius just sat there, looking at them, waiting for what will they say.
"This…"Bozes finally said.
"…is a lot."Pina finished for her.
"Indeed it is, Your Highness."Rius agreed."What will you say about it?"
Pina started rubbing her chin, thinking.
"Well, where to begin?"she wondered out loud.
"Maybe we should start with what they said about Taurus?"Loganus asked.
"You think they spoke about the system as a whole or about Taurus III specifically?"Minister of Internal Affairs asked.
"Didn't you hear what they said about Leender?"Tyuule said."It's the capital of Soutlandian C.Z. So they certainly were speaking about the planet."
Pina supported her chin on her hands. That information was really something they did not expect.
"How sure are we of the authenticity of this?"she asked.
"We checked it."the analyst said."This is as authentic as possible."
"You know what that means?"the queen asked.
Politicians and military officials looked at each other. It was Grey who spoke first:
"This means, that Taurus III is still fighting."
At the beginning of the war, all analysis assumed in advance, that two colonized systems were lost in first days of the invasions. There was no information coming from them, so it was basically a given. Or so they thought. Even governments on Flare Prime knew, by hearing from the prisoners, that the whole invasion was supposed to take at least a single months. It was thought, that the enemy inability to achieve this goal came from the fact, that troops on Emloy were still putting up a fierce resistance. But now, it seemed, that there was another reason why the war still continued the way it did. Their troops were still out there, fighting. And they straight up assumed, that they were dead.
This could not last.
"What chances do we have in mounting a rescue mission?"Pina asked.
All eyes turned on her. Some were surprised, some looked at her as if she was crazy. But others, especially of her most trusted people, were intrigued.
"You can't be serious, Your Highness."Minister of Health said, as the only brave enough to do so."A rescue mission? Our ships can't even leave the orbit!"
"Well, we have enough Freighters to fill up several thousand people."Minister of Transport said.
"Trade Corp can additionally give their ships as support."Tuka said."We have several dozen Freighters, which are sitting idly in docks. Not to mention our warships. We have only ten of them, but they can be helpful."
Minister of Health looked at them with disbelief in his eyes.
"There were fifty thousand troops on Taurus III."Minister of Defense."Of the Nordian-Skandian Joint Corp."
"Then there were fifty thousand soldiers that were supposed to go there for Offworld Storm."Grey said."That gives one hundred thousand. But given the time of fighting and limited resources, we can certainly assume this number will be lower. We also have to expect, that they refilled their ranks with local populace."
"Not to mention the civilians."Minister of Social Welfare said."There will be some, who will want to also get on the Freighters to get off of the planet."
"We could load up several thousand."Minister of Transport replied."Not much, but the ones that want it the most."
"But we have to be quick. We don't know, what forces is enemy holding around Taurus. It can be either few ships or entire fleet."Minister of Defense said.
"Do you even hear yourselves?"Minister of Health whined."You're already planning a rescue mission to Taurus, even though we still have one giant problem known as the Dreadnaught! It will come here and massacre this little rescue effort of yours before the ships even leave the orbit! As always!"
All eyes turned on him this time, but his fierce look didn't disappear.
"I mean, he's right."Minister of Foreign Affairs said."That Dreadnaught is still out there and doesn't seem to be changing his behavior soon."
"Honestly, I can't argue with this."Sherry said."I might not know a lot about the military aspects, but I am aware of the danger this ship poses. We need a plan to deal with it."
"Well…"Tyuule said."It so happens, that I have something to say regarding that…"
Interest was immediately turned towards the head of the Navy.
"What do you mean?"Pina asked.
"Let's just say that…we were hard at work. The fact that we couldn't leave the orbit gave us some time to plan and think."the Warrior Bunny said."Should I say it?"
"But of course!"Pina said."What did you come up with?"
"Let's say, that this is a long-term plan."Tyuule started."First, we have to lure the Dreadnaught to the asteroid belt between inner and outer planets."
"And how are we going to do that?"general Salani asked."If the ships tried to jump, the Dreadnaught would detect that."
"Who said anything about jumping?"admiral asked.
Others gasped.
"Are you suggesting…?"Loganus asked.
"If we can't jump, the ships will go to the asteroid belt on their standard drive. As I said, this is a long-term plan."
"And how long would it take the fleet to reach the belt?"
Tyuule thought for a bit.
"Well, we have to factor into it that we would have to go on the slowest speed, so enemy long-range optical systems wouldn't notice the glow of the engines. So, if I'm correct…two weeks. And four more days to set everything up."
"Eighteen days…"Minister of Health said."This is crazy."
"Not as crazy as you might think."Grey said."This plan might actually work. If we'll be careful enough, we might actually do it."
"And it would be good to get some other forces from other nations to help us."Sarla said."The more, the merer, right?"
"I'll call Ministers of Defense of other countries."Minister of Defense said.
"And I will call other leaders."Pina said.
"And what preparations are you gonna do?"Sherry asked.
"We're planning to land tanks and artillery on asteroids. When the time is right, we will turn on the hyperspace drives and when the Dreadnaught comes, tanks and artillery will disable it's engines, but only so our troops could board it and take it over for our own use. And so we could easily and quickly repair them."
"Not only you want to rid the enemy of this ship, but you also want to CAPTURE it?"Minister of Health asked in disbelief."What kind of plan is this?"
"Our only one."Tyuule replied.
Silence hung in the room after those words, as everyone thought about it. Soon, Pina spoke:
"I approve of this plan."
"So do I."Grey followed.
"Me too."Minister of Defense said.
"And me."Sherry said.
Not long after, all remaining military officials and politicians agreed for the plan. Only one that was left, was the Minister of Health.
"This is madness. You're all crazy."he stated."You will doom us all!"
"Stop whining and agree."Minister of Internal Affairs said.
Minister of Health looked at everyone, before shaking his head.
"I didn't want to do it…"he said.
"Wha…?"Pina started.
Before she was able to finish, Minister of Health stood up and pulled out a pistol from behind his belt and aimed it at wide-eyed Pina.
"This ends here."he stated and started pulling the trigger.
There was a shot. But instead of Pina, it was the Minister of Health who was shot. Everyone looked at Rius, who held his own gun, while Minister of Health fell on the ground with a thud. The door burst open and two Rose Knights ran inside.
"We've been observing him for weeks for suspicious activity."Rius said."And we were not surprised to discover, that he was meeting rather…shady individuals. We tracked them, captured them and turned out, that they were more enemy agents, who tried to undermine the government."
Platinum Rose Bozes Co Palesti signaled to the two guards to lower their weapons, which they aimed at colonel Rius.
"Dispose of it."she said, pointing at the Minister of Health's body.
"Yes, ma'am."the Knights said and shouldered their weapons.
They approached the Minister of Health, grabbed him and carried him out, while the rest of the room still tried to comprehend what happened.
"We're gonna need a cover story for this."Pina said."
"We can tell he was assassinated in his home and give him official state funeral."Hamilton said.
"Organize that."
"Yes, Pina."
Hamilton then also left the room, pulling out her phone.
"Thank you for your quick reaction."Pina said to Rius.
Dark Elf nodded his head.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen."Pina said, standing up, a new shine appearing on her face."We must plan a possibly table-turning move."
Soon after, everyone left the conference room and went to prepare everything. Pina immediately contacted several world leaders and explained everything to them. While some were skeptical, they ultimately agreed. If there were indeed still allied troops on Taurus III, they deserved to be brought home. Even if this meant, that they would be thrown into fighting once again.
Tyuule meanwhile started assembling the task force that would be tasked with performing the mission. Fortunately, they still had enough ships to gather a sizable force. Even captain of the Battleship Emloy tried to get in on the fun, but Tyuule quickly put him in his place, reminding him of the state the last Mount Blanc-class warship was. Although some grumbles, he ultimately agreed with her. The task force was then supplemented with ten ships from other nations, what ultimately resulted in twenty ships, loaded with soldiers and heavy ordinance. Soon after, they started their long journey towards the asteroid belt.
Meanwhile, the story about murder of the Minister of Health was released to the public. Three days later, the funeral was ready and performed, while the vice-minister was secretly filled in on everything by operatives of RFIS and quickly took over the position, while two week mourning was declared for him.
August 9
07:24
Near the town of New Kom, Emloy
General Zandenius, commander of SoS' 11th Armored Legion and overall commander of SoS' forces on Emloy, stepped out of his Mastiff Armored Personnel Carrier, which he used as his personal, mobile barrack, and stood on the surface of the planet, covering his eyes from the sun. Even though the planet was further from the star than Flare Prime, the sun was still really notorious. But one could get used to it, especially after such a long time of being here. But fortunately, soon, everything here will be done and they would be allowed to go off this rock and maybe join the assault on Flare Prime. Or maybe he would be appointed the governor of the planet? Who knew. Life worked in mysterious ways.
Seeing the general, numerous soldier saluted. He could see a clear tiredness in his eyes, but it was understandable. They were up for the past forty hours, constantly pushing forward. But they were closer and closer. In three days, they were supposed to reach the capital of the planet. Then, they would have to break through enemy defenses in the said city, but that was not such a problem as it seemed. But now, they had something else to do.
"Welcome, gentlemen."he said, entering his staff tent.
Immediately, everyone there gave him a Saderan salute. He showed them, that they can be on ease.
"Hello, sir."his adjutant said.
"Hello."Zanderius replied."I see you're hard at work."
"From the early hours."adjutant replied."But if something important was happening, we would call you, sir."
"Good. Now, let's get straight to the business. Report about the enemy unit?"
In response, adjutant took a tablet laying on the holo-table and handed it to the general. Zanderius took it from him and took a look on the screen. On it, he could see an aerial photo taken. And on the ground, he could clearly see a line of several vehicles. Nearly two companies worth of vehicles.
"Is that them?"Zanderius asked.
"Yes, analysis confirmed it."adjutant replied."The walking tanks of the Japanese 5th Marines Brigade."
General looked once more at the photo. These walking tanks were real nightmare for their forces. Although not numerical enough to be able to single handedly turn the tide, they still were serious danger. But that was, when they worked from hiding. Now, due to the decreasing numbers of armored vehicles, the command of planet's defense decided to put them on the frontlines. What, unfortunately, resulted in already four casualties for the unit. Unfortunately for them, that is. In Zanderius' eyes, they completely deserved it.
But then, command came up with an idea. It turned out, that Erecans actually showed interest in acquiring some of these machines. It was true, that there were walking tanks in Erecan military, but they were usually slow, very expensive to maintain and Erecans were looking for somethings different. So, when the word about a group very agile and fast walking tanks was seriously hurting the Sons forces, the plan was designed to capture one such machine and study it for mass production.
And it was Zanderius, who was tasked with it. He didn't mind it though. He would be actually happy to oblige.
"Our forward units already reported the presence of their scout drones. If our data is correct, they should be here within two hours."adjutant said.
"I'm surprised they decided to go to the offensive."Zanderius admitted."I thought they're gonna stay in the defensive for the rest of the war. But good for us, instead of coming to them, they are coming right to us. Do they have any air support."
"Only drones, sir. No enemy fighters were spotted."
"Is everything set?"
"Yes, sir. We're ready to welcome them warmly."
"Good. Just make sure to not damage the test subject too much. Erecans might not take kindly to that."
"I know, sir."
"Alright, I leave it all to you. Report everything to me once it's all done."
"Understood."
Saying that, Zanderius finished his short visit tot he staff tent.
August 9
09:09
On the way to New Kom
Seyi sat in the open turret of the Jester King, observing the nearby area. She knew this was a bad idea and she should stay inside, due to the fact that enemy snipers could be in the area, but someone had to keep a lookout on the area. Their drones, unfortunately, were reduced in numbers in the recent time. SoS became very proficient in destroying them and she didn't like it one bit.
Almost as much as she didn't like the fact, that the column consisted of twenty and not twenty four vehicles anymore.
"Anything?"Seyi asked, looking down into the turret.
"Nope."Yuzu replied."Drones still aren't detecting anything."
"This tension is killing me…"Eiko whined.
"Welcome to war."the gunner stated bluntly.
"I preferred when we were doing the sneaky approach."Michael stated."Then I could at least use the machine to it's full potential."
"You know the situation. Falmartians are running out of armored vehicles and tanks. They need someone to hold the line."Seyi said."And we're the best there is."
"Yeah, yeah."the driver replied and sighed.
They were all tired. Three months of constant fighting and operational readiness. Three months of tension and stress, which would normally already make a person go crazy. But they were holding on, still fighting. For what they were fighting? Many of them already forgot. But one thing was certain: if not fighting for victory, then at least to bludgeon the enemy as much as possible. These thoughts were accompanying Seyi since all of this mess begun.
"It's been three months and yet, I feel as if it were years."she thought to herself."Even Michael and Eiko stopped cracking their lewd jokes. Man, I miss them already…Never thought I'd actually do, but here we are."
She then touched a pocket, where her walled was.
"I wonder how is Yuko and the rest?"
The closing of Intergalactic Gate was something that really meddled with everything. Rid of help from Milky Way, forces of Andromeda Branch were forced to accept the bulk of enemy attacks alone and face them with what they had. Even Seyi knew, that in comparison with powers such as UNSA, Nashini or even Tertans, Andromeda Branch's combined forces were still smaller than UNSA. Still, the fact that they were still fighting on, meant that they were not without a chance at all.
"Captain, this is Mocking Jay."a voice in the radio said.
"What is it?"Seyi replied.
"Our drone spotted movement on the flats before us. We can confirm enemy presence."
Seyi's hand tightened on the radio. The time has come.
"Copy that."she said and quickly opened the unit's channel."All units, enemy presence confirmed. Ready for battle."
"Yes, ma'am!"all voices replied.
Seyi quickly slid into the turret.
"Contact."she said, clothing the hatch.
"Here we effing go."Michael said.
He pushed the joysticks and machine picked up the pace, now basically running towards the battlefield.
The unit received a simple task: enemy forces were about to surround New Kom. Heavy fighting was already taking place in the city and enemy was close to a breakthrough. If they took over this small, barely fifty thousand people city, settled by Iranian refugees from Milky Way, they would have an open way straight to the planet's capital. Command decided, that it would be possible for a small, but mobile, armored unit to sneak past the enemy and cut off the road that carried supplies for them. So, the choice was obvious. Major Ishikage didn't think long before sending them into battle.
The unit was already exiting the ravine they were traversing and was slowly developing their formation. Soon, they were moving forward, step by step, in a long single line formation. Drones already returned, while enemy still didn't take any action.
"Captain, detecting enemy AT emplacements."
Seyi looked into her periscope and scanned the area. It was true, she noticed two enemy TOW emplacements.
"Eliminate."she ordered shortly.
"Affirmative."
Two Type-63s aimed their guns and opened fire. Their shells quickly made the distance and scored hits on the emplacements, immediately destroying them and killing their crew. The first shots were fired.
And soon, all hell let loose.
August 9
09:15
With SoS
"Tanks, front! AT emplacements destroyed!"Young lieutenant was doing everything to shout through the explosions.
The foreground, where allied AT emplacements with XP-11 launchers were hiding, were turned to glass. Tanks continued firing at the Sons forces, which set up their positions in their way. Shells were falling on them like rain.
"Fire missiles at get out!"captain Junon ordered.
Well, this didn't look good. The AT emplacements were crucial to their plan to disable enemy vehicles to be taken. They were noticed too fast and destroyed too fast too. The front of enemy machines was approaching them like some weird, terrifying freaks of nature.
"Understood, firing and falling back!"
"This is Apostle to all units! Prepare for enemy contact! Scout units will soon fall back behind our lines, so don't shoot them!"Junon ordered other vehicles. Other commanders relayed the orders to their men.
Units sent to the front quickly started falling back. The only ones missing were the AT crews. Except that, there was nobody between the enemy and Sons.
Walking tanks were quickly closing the distance. XP-11 launchers, placed behind their lines, opened fire, with the missiles first flying up and then falling towards the tanks. However, the passive defense of the vehicles quickly went to work and fired counter measures, which destroyed the missiles. Soon, their machine guns also came to life, peppering the SoS' lines, taking out several soldiers. Junon bit his lip.
"Kalen, sit on your ass! Don't leave your positions!"captain shouted into the radio.
"Holy fuck, they will murder us here!"Kalen replied. In the background, he could hear radioman's sobs."Shut up and lay where you are!"
"This is Reaper!"general Zanderius' voice said in the radio."You will soon receive a tank company as support! Our dropships took off and will joint he fight in three minutes! Remember to report once you disable the target!"
"Yes, sir!"
Mastiffs came to life, opening fire with their turrets, sending series after series of bullets towards the Japanese. Enemy returned fire, raining steel on the Sons positions. It was still crazy, that they had so much ammo after three months of fighting. More and more allied troops were being sent to meet Emloy and Giselle.
"Dropships!"someone shouted.
"Finally!"someone else said.
"No, there!"
Junon looked in that direction and saw a formation of four enemy Skyhawk dropships approaching on the horizon. Fuck! How didn't they detect them?!
Four Skyhawks that came from behind the hills opened fire with their missiles, raining them on the entrenched Sons. Unprotected, bodies of soldiers were being torn apart into pieces. However, soon, the machines had to scatter and drop flares, when Sons actually returned fire with their anti-air. All but one missile hit their marks. Laser-guided RETZ missile turned into a fire ball barely two meters from target's hull. The strength of the explosion torn off one of the engines, which the proceeded to smash into the ground between advancing Type-63s, leaving behind a blue trail. Skyhawk stopped posing any kind of threat, vanishing in piles of bright smoke.
Junon had no time to appreciate the further destruction. First bullets started ricocheting off of his Mastiff, throwing sparks everywhere.
"Apostle, enemy is in range, preparing to intercept."he reported.
"Understood."Zanderius replied."Report to me when…"Suddenly, the connection was cut. Junon didn't notice it at first, too focused on what was going on in front of him, but finally, it started bothering him.
"Apostle? Can you hear me?"he asked.
"Command vehicle destroyed, Zanderius' dead."different voice said.
"What? How? Who are you?"
"I'm general's adjutant. There was another dropship, a Stealth one. It sneaked up on us. But it's down already. Don't let this go unpunished, captain."
Right then, captain Junon returned to life. Stress disappeared, fear stopped gripping his throat and explosions became the sweetest music.
"All units, hold your positions. Keep hitting the enemy as much as you can, we still can win this. Allied dropships will be here soon."Junon looked at his screen. There was one, platoon to his far left, which was not rid of it's combat capabilities. Good."Sergeant Gomerus, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, captain!"
"Can you direct the dropships' fire on the target?"
"We could, but it's gonna be difficult! I've lost half my men!"
"Leave to men there and fall back to the second line. We need to get these walkers."
"But sir…!"
"Trust me, Gomerus. This one last time."
"Copy that. Gomerus, out."
Junon nodded. Now the show would start. Even for SoS' AT, walking tanks were hard to beat. Counter measures easily eliminated effectiveness of XP-11 missiles mounted on Mastiffs. Not to mention hard armor, which could also easily protect from normal bullets. It was still shocking to see, what just two companies of walking tanks could do. They started the fight with a full battalion, now they were hit really hard.
"World Serpent reports combat readiness."Commander of the PI-904 squadron reported right when needed. It forced a smile on Junon's face, as he marked the new allied signatures on the screen."We heard you need a solid support."
"True, World Serpent. Fire on this quadrant."Captain marked the area through which the walking tanks were advancing. They just opened fire again, completely obliterating two Mastiffs that were changing positions. Pushed by the force of explosion, they rolled on the ground like pieces of wood."Unguided salvos. Hit 'em with everything you've got."
"Acknowledged."
Missile pods hanging from under the wings came to life. Several unguided 86mm rockets rained down on the Japanese machines like a hail of fiery death. Junon nodded, pleased. He could see several missiles hitting their mark, tearing off pieces of armor. One of the tanks got hit in it's back leg and was now limping forwards, forcing the rest to reduce speed and allow it to catch up with the rest.
"Enemy AA is targeting us, we have to spread out."World Serpent leader reported.
"Understood, World Serpent, return to base. You did what you could."Junon then changed channel."Do you see that one tank? The one that's slightly limping?"
"Yes, we can see it."soldiers reported.
"Hit it with everything you have. Disable it, but remember not to damage it beyond repair."captain ordered.
"Understood, payload on the way."the commander of a battery of two-barreled mortars replied, as they fired.
Charges, pushed by inertia, made an arc in the air and fell between the vehicles. Emitters were activated and, as planned, EMP made the walking tanks slow down, until finally they stopped in place. All twelve vehicles simply stood there. Sound of tank guns and machine gun fire silenced as if touched by a magic wand. Junon jumped out of his vehicle like a torpedo.
One of Mastiffs was finishing burning twenty meters from him. Shell fired by Type-63 turned it inside out, flying out the back door of the troop compartment. Other vehicles were in pristine condition and still fired at the enemy, but not to kill, only to keep them in check. But Junon was not focused on this chaos.
"Where are the tanks?!"Junon shouted into the ether, right when several meters behind his vehicles, he could see first low profiles of Leonidas-21s.
"We're here, captain. We can see targets in front of us."
"Great. Hit them, but not to kill. Just keep them where they are. If any moves forward, then you're allowed to kill."
"Understood, no destroying, only when they attack back."
Soon, the air was shaken by a series of explosions. Shells fell around the vehicles. It was wasting ammo, yes, but at least, if enemy tried to attack again, they were told, that they wouldn't hesitate to fire and they won't take prisoners. Analysis said, that these tanks, while vulnerable to the electromagnetic pulse, are able to recover really fast. After all, it wasn't the first time they were met with this kind of weapon from SoS.
But it was the first time they were outnumbered and alone in the open field. Unfortunately, some tank crews turned out to be either braver or stupider than the others, jumping out of the tanks as fast they could with weapons, evading the fire from the infantry and SoS' vehicles, and when the time was right, they started destroying the emitters. They had to act fast. The weaker the EM field, the faster will the tanks recover.
"Major, we have to take the tank. Enemy is half a league away. We have to get it."Junon said to Zanderius' adjutant in the radio.
"Understood, you're allowed to send someone forward."adjutant replied.
"Got it."captain said and changed the channel."Someone go and get that tank."
"This is unit four, we can."
"Understood, move in and secure the vehicle. Just look out for possible losses. It's now or never."
"Acknowledged, moving to attack."
Soon, a group of soldiers jumped out of the trenches and started running through the field towards the unmoving vehicles, as the fire from their positions lightened up a bit to not hit them. As Junon watched them run through the red desert, he was reminded of the times from before the gate, when great armies of thousands clashed in fields like this. Even now, with all the tanks, riffles and spaceships, a Human was still the best weapon.
On the other side of the field, enemy tank crews continued destroying the emitters, unbothered by the chaos around them, until there was only one left. Right then, first systems in the walking tanks stirred back to life, while some crewmen noticed the approaching Sons' troops and fired at them. They of course fired back, even managing to kill one or two of them. Other tank crews quickly jumped into the tanks, while they slowly started coming back to life.
Finally, their turrets and weapons also returned from their slumber. Junon observed, terrified what will happen now. However, much to the surprise of everyone, the enemy, instead of continuing the charge…started retreating. Walking tanks started backing up, still firing at the Sons' positions, at least hoping to get some kills. Leo-21s quickly returned fire. Their shells, standard Laconian design, but with a bit of Erecan ingenuity, started hitting them. Some still bounced off of the armor, but some actually penetrated. Captain could clearly see as two tanks were torn apart by shells and fell down.
"This is Junon, do you see the one walker that is limping?"he asked the tanks commander.
"Yes, we do."tanks commander replied.
"This is the one. Get it, like it's a wounded animal."
He didn't know why, but this comparison was simply perfect in this situation. Two groups of predators, facing each other in the wild, with one ultimately coming out on top, but not letting to let go. Forcing the other group to retreat, but still wanting to get the wounded, the weakened one, additionally killing more of them. And Junon liked it.
Mastiffs and Erecan Satudh-L4 infantry fighting vehicles then left the line and started following the walking tanks. This was already too much fro the Japanese. Walking tanks stopped firing and now, they simply focused on retreating from the field, hoping to at least save themselves. A shells fired by one tank hit the limping Type-63's leg, breaking it off. Frontal left side of the machine fell on the ground. Still, it tried to fight, but the infantry was already at it. One of the soldiers grabbed a rag he conjured out of nowhere and stuck it into the barrel. Instead of flying out, the shell exploded inside, tearing the barrel apart. At the same time, soldiers set up a perimeter around the vehicle, with first allied machines already joining them.
"Enemy tank secured. I repeat, we secured the enemy tank."commander of the uni reported.
"Great job!"Junon said and quickly connected with the HQ."This is Junon, we report, that enemy tank is in our hands."
"Great job, captain!"adjutant exclaimed."Now, remove it from the field and send it to the back lines. Erecan engineers will have a field day with it. Also, we got reports from our forces in New Kom. Our troops have broken through the enemy line and are now slowly pushing them out of the city. This is a glorious day for the Sons of Sadera and Erecan Dominion!"
"Yeah…"captain said, watching as enemy vehicles now retreated in a hurry."What about enemy crew?"
"You know what to do. No prisoners."
"Understood."
Unbeknownst to him, few minutes later, a scene took place in one of these tanks.
"All systems online!"Michael reported.
"All units, report this instant!"Ishikage's voice rung in Seyi's comms. It wasn't as fatherly as always."Enemy broke through in New Kom! All forces in and around the town are to disengage!"
"We can't!"Seyi exclaimed."One of ours is damaged! We…"
"That's an order, Hagamoki! You won't return beyond the lines, you will be left alone!"
Seyi looked at the tactical screen once more, to see how it looked before giving the order. Situation was simply pathetic. Just a few minutes ago, her tank, just like the rest of the two companies, was disabled by an EMP. Although they did manage to deal with EMPs earlier in the war, this time was different. Fortunately, someone was smart enough to notice that these emitters were the problem and someone else was brave enough to get outside and destroy them. Unfortunately, this didn't change much. Without air support and with enemy tanks now onto them, they were severely outmatched and it was a matter of time before they were eliminated.
With aching heart, she pressed the transmitting button.
"We're falling back. Disengage the enemy and regroup at point Zulu Four Four. I repeat, retreat and regroup at Zulu Four Four. Immediately."
All vehicles complied. They started retreating simultaneously, once their all systems returned to proper operational activity. However, soon, Seyi had to witness as two more of her vehicles ended their lives because of enemy shells.
"Sir, this is Mascot Dawner!"one of the tank commanders said."Trinket Lover just got it's leg and barrel destroyed!"
"You heard the order."
"But they are burning!"
"I can see the situation, Mascot Dawner. Still, we have our orders. Continue with the retreat."
"Fucking Sons of bitches…"another crewman said.
What else was Seyi supposed to say? She was well aware, that she just left her men on enemy's mercy. As much as she hoped that sooner or later, they would start a secondary attack, she knew, that nothing of sorts would take place. In a few minutes, the whole field changed into one giant graveyard.
"We will avenge them. I promise you…"Seyi activated the radio and lowered her voice."And I promise this to myself…"
Her tanks continued to retreat until they returned to the ravine they moved through at the beginning. Before Seyi's tank disappeared in it, captain could clearly see agile figures climbing on top of the wrecked machine.
XXX
And this is where we're gonna cut it for today. As always, leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated! See ya!