Chapter 9: Cry "Havoc!" and Let Slip the Dogs of War
Disclaimer for Each Chapter
I do not own the Code Geass and GATE: Jieitai Kare no Chi nite, Kaku Tatakeri franchises. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been doing this now, would I?! Both franchises belong to their respective creators; I am writing this because of my hobby and passion only, not for profit.
Fort Invartez, Alneuz Hill
"Are the preparations complete?" Field Marshal Calass Lorresten asked one of his Field Generals. Currently, the commanders of the Eight Field Army were having a strategic meeting inside the fort's war room.
It has been two weeks since the last demonic attack. No more commanders and messengers being killed or taken by the faceless demons. No more mysterious explosions and thunderous cracks decimating the Saderan ranks and supply lines. For the moment, Field Marshal Calass Lorresten and his cohorts could at least breathe a sigh of relief and organize the Eight Field Army into a coherent force. Despite suffering some casualties from those cowardly attacks, the troops' morale was improved thanks to the reinforcements and the additional supplies they brought.
"Yes, my Lord!" Field General Lyrak Hengard answered. His legion was responsible for transporting and handling their siege weapons and artilleries, as well as the logistics involved. "Around the area where the enemy would emerge from the Gate, we've dug two trenches, positioned our cannons and ballistae one league (1.8 km), and had the calvary and infantry ready to charge the otherworld enemies after the cannons and war beasts decimate their lines."
"Move the cannons another league further back!" Calass ordered the Field General. "If what the survivors from the Seventh Field Army said were true, our enemies must have weapons with greater range than ours. We cannot afford to lose too many of our cannons. Make sure to keep the black powder carriages a little further from each other."
"It shall be done, my Lord!" Field General Lyrak Hengard said.
He was about to exit the room to carry out the Field Marshal's orders when Calass asked. "Where did you place our Rapid Artillery units?"
"As per your orders, we've positioned them three leagues from the Gate to ensure maximum accuracy," Lyrak answered. "We've also spread them out to avoid being destroyed by enemy artillery too quickly."
"This is just a precaution, but have the mages create mirage cover to hide them from the faceless demons," Calass said. "Those cannons are the key to defeating the enemy and driving them back to the Gate."
As much as Calass hated using such strategies, he couldn't lose any more of their rapid artilleries to those demons. They already destroyed eleven rapid artilleries and he would be severely punished if that number increased any further.
Tiberiaz was so arrogant that he only used the standard artillery on the other side. Now look what happened to him. Calass would be damned if he made the same mistake as that foolish field marshal.
Although the Field General questioned the reason for such an unconventional tactic, Lyrak exited the war room to carry out his orders.
"Belacos, what is the status of our war beasts?" Calass turned and asked another Field General whose legion was in charge of handling the army's war beasts.
"Our beast tamers are doing their best to control them," Field General Belacos Jalsen replied. "The demons' attacks killed a number of them and agitated many more but we've managed to rein them in for now. We have been able to keep them well-fed and well-behaved thanks to the diverse wildlife of the Alneuz Provincia and the supplies brought by the relief forces. But if the waiting drags on like this, I fear that we have no choice but to kill or release some of them to prevent them from going berserk."
"Just feed them to the wyverns if that happens," Calass said coldly. "Do you think that will keep our wyverns pacified enough, Lumaz?"
Field General Lumaz Alvieras who commanded the Wyvern Knight Corp of the Eight Field Army thought about it for a second before answering. "It could work, my Lord. We tried that method during our campaigns in the South so it should work here."
Losing a few thousand war beasts to keep the wyverns pacified was a small price to pay for Calass and his field army as they recognized the importance of air power. He then turned his attention to Mage Commander Gregan Levarst and asked. "Gregan, give me a status report on our war golems and battle mages!"
"Our mages are confident in the golems' combat abilities," Gregan stated. "According to the Seventh Field Army survivors' statements, it is possible that the otherworld enemies also possess war golems but are more advanced than ours in some aspects. Therefore, we will have our battle mages cast Guardian Shield over the golems to protect them from enemy cannons and golems' attacks. We also have our battle mages assist the archers and cavalry if the enemy charges us in open combat. We should be able to incapacitate them with our powerful offensive magic."
"What about the Tarrasques? How long do we have until the pacification spells lose their effects?" Calass asked.
"Not long, my Lord!" Gregan said. His voice suggested that he wasn't very confident with the situation. "Our hypnosis magic keeps them under control but we have to continue casting it on the beasts due to the demons' attacks. Otherwise, they would go on a rampage and destroy us long before the otherworld enemy crosses over. With our current abilities, we can only keep them pacified for another two weeks at best."
"What should we do once that happens?" Field General Belacos Jalsen asked the Mage Commander.
Gregan thought about it for a few seconds before answering. "Then we have no choice but to unleash them on the enemy sooner than expected. Letting them run amok will destroy our ranks and needlessly waste lives. I suggest using a few war beasts to lure them to the Gate."
Calass and the Field Generals nodded in agreement with Gregan. They went over their plans and strategies to repel the otherworld invaders with the generals once more to see if they had missed anything. At the moment, the Eight Field Army included over 120,000 troops; 150 flame wyverns and 250 hunter wyverns; around 2,000 battle mages; and a multitude of war golems and artilleries.
Calass had pulled some strings within the Imperial Army Command and requested three young Tarrasques as a contingency plan. Despite being only juvenile, they could still wreak havoc and untold destruction on entire armies if left unchecked. Assuming that the enemy had decimated the entirety of the Seventh Field Army, its auxiliary forces, and perhaps, even the adult Tarrasque, he believed that it wasn't too much to ask from the Senate and the Emperor himself. However, he still hoped that he wouldn't have to use them as they were too valuable to lose here.
After going through everything, Calass dismissed the generals and they went back to their posts. He stepped out of the war room and looked at Alneuz Hill with his spyglass. Looking at the troop formations and weapon emplacements, he felt immense pride in his strategies and preparations. He was confident that the newly organized Eight Field Army would fare much better than the Seventh Field Army against the otherworld invaders thanks to their extensive preparations.
As they continued to wait for the otherworld army to appear from the dark abyss of the Gate, he thought about what kind of riches he would receive once he successfully repelled the invaders and led an expeditionary to the other side. He would have to wait for the emperor's permission first since only he could authorize large-scale expeditions. Either way, he had a feeling that the upcoming battle would change the outcome of this war between the two worlds.
As usual, the Saderans were completely unaware that they were being watched by a fleet of five stealth Type-45 Spirit RUAVs positioned all around their army. Although the Britannian Intelligence Agency had more advanced stealth drones like the Phantom or Specter, the Spirit drones still possessed very sophisticated active camouflage technology, designed to conceal the drones from visual detection by rapidly adapting to their surroundings.
Since the Spirit and its predecessors were designed primarily for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering roles, their armament was very limited compared to their Hunter Killer counterparts, consisting of only one 12mm Triple-barreled Rotary Cannon and twelve Type-22 Stryker Missiles. As a result, their biggest advantage was their cloaking abilities.
The drones' feed was shared with Cerberus Task Forces units who remained on standby until the Britannian forces crossed over. The Special Forces teams have received two orders:
+ Capture the Saderan commanders with the highest ranks once the Saderan army was decimated by the Britannian vanguard forces.
+ Prevent the news of the Eight Field Army's defeat from reaching the surrounding cities and the Saderan Imperial Capital through whatever means necessary.
The drones continued to gather Intel on the Saderans and circled their camps a few more times. After gathering everything they needed, the onboard AIs steered drones back toward the dark maw of the Gate to deliver their intel to Britannian High Command.
Gate Area, Planet Earth
Terran Calendar: October 12, 2135
"Only 120,000 troops? That's it?" Cornelia asked Michele after reading the drones' reports. Currently, she was sitting inside her customized Gloucester and she was actually surprised that the Saderans had prepared so few soldiers to welcome them in spite of the devastating losses they had suffered from the Battle of Los Angeles.
Cornelia's Gloucester was heavily modified to serve as a secondary command unit for her personal use only. Normally, she should have been inside a Fortress-class Mobile Command Center along with General Michele but she found it more comfortable and in her elements inside her own Knightmare Frame. In case something unexpected happened, she could respond to the situation and give orders to the forces more quickly.
"At least they are smarter this time, Your Highness!" Michele commented. "The Saderans dug trenches and set up cannons, war beasts, mages, and a new type of weapons around the Gate. Based on our Intel, we believe that this is their equivalence of Knightmare Frames, called 'War Golem'. The difference is that these War Golems are remote-controlled by the mages from afar. Using the drones' thermal imaging, they prepared a large number of war beasts in front as shock troopers, and the infantry and cavalry far behind. They also have advanced artilleries far in the back but we haven't located their exact coordinates due to the mages' illusion spells."
As she read the reports again, Cornelia admitted that she had to give the enemy some credit for being smarter this time. Only slightly though. If they had truly learned from their crushing defeat in the Battle of Los Angeles, they should have prepared at least three times that number just to give the Terran forces' first wave more challenge. The biggest threat from the Saderans was their mages given the fact that their capabilities were still largely unknown to the Terrans. Since it was assumed that their magic was much weaker when it was on Earth, High Command had to plan their strategies around the fact the enemy mages were more powerful on the other side.
"It doesn't matter," Cornelia said and slid away the reports on her screen. "We've prepared for every possible scenario. Their number isn't going change anything."
"Shall I give the order, Your Highness?" Michele asked with a neutral tone.
"Yes, General!" Cornelia said. "Time to show these savages what happens when they poke the giant's back!"
Although Michele was the overall commander of the UEDF this time, he still considered Cornelia as his superior given her position as the Rear Admiral of the Imperial Space Navy. When it comes to interplanetary warfare, Imperial Space Naval officers often had more power than their infantry counterparts. However, that only depended on the circumstances of the battle and Cornelia disliked abusing her social status and rank. History already has enough examples of incompetent officers abusing their power, leading to severe consequences.
Michele acknowledged her order and cut off his visual display to give the order to deploy. "This is it, everyone! The moment you have been waiting for is finally here." His voice sounded over the battle network. "Today is the day we march through the Gate and make these animals pay for their savagery and abhorrent crimes against Humanity. March forward and destroy the Saderans, exact justice and vengeance for the fallen. ALL FORCES, MOVE OUT!"
"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" the Britannian soldiers' battle cries reverberated throughout the network in unison. Soon enough, the first columns of M79 Vanguard Tanks and Sutherland Mark IV model Knightmare Frames started moving toward the massive domed structure. The ground seemed to shake under the tanks' tracks and the Knightmare Frames' wheels.
The marshallers and their robot assistants directed the columns of armored vehicles and mechas into the Gate with their glow sticks. There were five columns in total, each of which was directed by two marshallers. The three tank columns were sandwiched by one Knightmare Frame column on either side, ensuring maximum protection for the forces behind them.
The giant steel doors separating the Gate and the rest of Planet Earth rumbled and opened, slowly revealing the dark maw of the mysterious Gate structure. To the more religious individuals, it might have felt like they were entering the Gates of Hell. To the Britannian soldiers, however, they were the Gates of Vengeance and Justice.
After it was fully open, the marshallers signaled for the columns to enter. Once they crossed the threshold separating Earth and the sea of darkness within, the headlights on the tanks and Knightmare Frames were turned on and pierced through the pitch-black tunnel. One by one, they began crossing over to the other side, to an alien planet filled with alien creatures, people, and enemies.
The first units to cross the Gate consisted of the companies of the First and Second Mechanized Infantry Battalions of Colonel Lelouch Henriksen's Brigade, followed by Armored Companies of the Brigade's Armored Battalion. They were tasked with decimating the bulk of the Saderan army using shock and awe tactics to clear the way for the rest of the Terran forces. Their close air support would be the contingent of Super Hornet gunships and Sparrowhawk Drones.
Operation Harbinger 1 – Colonel Henriksen
Originally, Lelouch couldn't help but wonder why High Command assigned his brigade to lead the invasion of Falmarius. Apparently, Nonette recommended him because he was one of the commanding officers with first-hand experience in leading a counter-offensive against the Saderans. While she, Cornelia, or any other high-ranking officers in the military didn't state it outright, he suspected that wasn't the only reason.
His Brigade Combat Team was newly formed so it consisted of primarily reenlisted veterans and young soldiers with little to no actual combat experience. By putting them on the frontline together like this, the newly enlisted soldiers would gain first-hand combat experience relatively quickly whereas any of their flaws could theoretically be covered by the veterans who reenlisted due to the Los Angeles Incident.
Not to mention, the majority of his Brigade's assets have already been in service long before the Interplanetary War. If the Gate suddenly closed and trapped them on the other side, the Britannian Army wouldn't lose too many valuable assets or high-value personnel. Treating soldiers as expendable assets might sound callous but in the grand scheme of things, it was sometimes the most practical option the military had.
Of course, it was all speculation on his part but he had his orders. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Lelouch could see why the upper echelon in the military and perhaps, even the nobility, would see things this way. When the forward screens showed the marshallers directing his group of vehicles into the Gate's maw, he stowed away those thoughts and focused on the mission at hand.
Since he used to train with different classes of Mobile Command Centers, Lelouch had little trouble adjusting to the Castle-class MCC he was assigned to. Castle-class MCCs have been in service with the Britannian Armed Forces for many decades. Although there were more advanced classes like the more flexible Tower-class and the more heavily armed Fortress-class, the Castle-class proved to be a reliable and durable engine of warfare thanks to its advanced communications equipment, defensive weapons, and sensor array. Upon examining its specifications, he could see why the ISC made this class the standard MCCs for most combat units.
The screens around him were filled with live feeds transmitted from the forward units crossing the Gate. The headlights on the armored vehicles and Knightmare Frames were the only thing illuminating the all-encompassing darkness inside the inter-dimensional tunnel of the Gate. The more he thought about it, the more unsettling he felt.
According to the scientists, the dark tunnel they were traversing was made of unknown matter and materials. In fact, they weren't even sure if it was actual matter at all because they couldn't appraise it with their instruments. Their toughest drilling equipment malfunctioned or broke every time they tried to take samples from the tunnel. The energy that permeated the tunnel functioned similarly to radiation but it was harmless to living organisms and didn't match anything that could be explained by science. Doctor Pearlman and his colleagues theorized that this energy was Mana due to its oversaturation on the alien planet. However, they were still working on the proper equipment to detect and measure Mana so they couldn't confirm anything yet. The Imperial Government has even authorized the recruitment of scientists from across Sol to aid in this process and complete their work faster.
To put it simply, even the brightest minds on the Terran side couldn't determine what this inter-dimensional tunnel was and how it was formed, let alone how it connected two planets with incomprehensibly vast distances between them. Some crazy conspiracies on SolNet even suggested that Falmarius was actually a Parallel or Alternate Earth in another universe. As interesting as they might be, Lelouch hated that they (online conspiracy theorists) always resorted to the Alternate Earth or Parallel Universe theory to explain the mysteries of the universe.
And now, they were crossing this mysterious tunnel to invade and punish an alien empire that had enraged the Terrans with their crimes against humanity. It was a rather strange thing to ponder now that he thought about it.
Since the number of vehicles that could cross at the same time was limited, it took the vanguard forces a while to cross the Gate. Aside from the sporadic chatter between the Knightmare Frame pilots and tank crews, the trip through the Gate's darkness was uneventful.
As he contemplated what kind of challenges the Saderans would throw their way, the pilots and drivers reported that they could see light at the end of the tunnel. Looking at the timer onscreen, he noticed that the trip took around ten minutes at a slow pace.
The light grew brighter and brighter until it overtook the soldiers' field of vision. Even when watching it indirectly, Lelouch and the personnel inside the MCC had to shield their eyes from its brightness.
Once the light faded, the Britannians found themselves on the other side of the Gate. It didn't matter how many times Lelouch had seen it on his datapad, seeing it like this certainly had a different feeling to it.
The vanguard units came out on top of a massive hill, surrounded by waist-height grass. The overall vegetation looked strangely similar to that of Earth but with more vibrant colors. The sky was blue and filled with clouds. The sun was high and shone brightly above the cloud cover. Furthermore, they could see mountains of different shapes and sizes dotting the horizon. Based on their instruments, the Britannians estimated that the horizon on this planet was at least twice that of Earth. It would have made picturesque scenery for a wonderful tourist spot had they not been at war with the local superpower of this planet.
Though flabbergasted by the alien scenery, the soldiers and pilots maintained their composure and focused on their mission at hand. They were not here as explorers but as warriors from Earth. And their mission was to clear the way for the primary invasion forces.
"Vanguard units, status report!" Lelouch spoke on an open channel, shaking everyone out of their stupor.
"This is Utah Actual," A voice came through the speakers after a few seconds of radio noise. It belonged to Captain Davis Yang – the First Company's Commander of the First Mechanized Infantry Battalion. "We have exited the Gate! All units report status green and ready for battle!"
"This is Blue Panda Actual! We have exited the Gate along with Utah Actual. Our units report status green and ready for battle!" Captain Ignacio Whitman said. He was the Commander of the First Company of the Brigade's Armored Battalion. His company's tanks would serve as the heavy hitters for the mechanized infantry. The tanks used for this operation were a mix of M79 Vanguard and M74 Challenger Main Battle Tanks.
Although only one-third of the battalion was out of the Gate, the other commanders also reported no issues with their units. Before they could finish reporting, Captain Yang reported with urgency in his tone. "Black Knight Command, we have contacts at 2,500 meters directly ahead of us, right below the hill. There's a shit-ton of hostiles out here. How copy?"
"Roger, standby for confirmation!" Lelouch said and turned to his adjutant. "Major Landstrom, connect us to their sensors."
"Yes Sir," Major Alice Landstrom said and typed some commands on her station which handled information gathering from their subordinate units. Then, the sensor displays of the forward units were connected to the MCC. The screens lit up with enemy signatures and their positions. The sea of heat signatures covered almost the entire area beneath Alneuz Hill.
At the moment, his unit was barely halfway through the Gate's tunnel while 80% of the First Battalion has safely and successfully exited the Gate. Lelouch's mind temporarily filtered out the radio chatter between the units and focused on the sensor displays to devise the best offensive strategies for this mission.
It was just as the Intel suggested, there was a large trench roughly one kilometer from Gate, then another trench around eighty meters further back. The trenches wouldn't be a problem for their Knightmare Frames but the same couldn't be said for their tanks and armored vehicles. All trenches were filled with long wooden spikes and would serve well to hinder the Terran vanguard forces' movement. A little over two kilometers away from the Gate, the Saderans had positioned standard artilleries and ballistae around the hill, all pointing toward the Gate's entrance. He decided to have the Engineer Companies of his Brigade move forward to clear the obstacles as soon as they destroyed the Saderan forward units and killed their battle momentum.
The sea of heat signatures with various shapes and sizes suggested the war beasts, wyverns, beast handlers, and enemy infantry behind them. The large humanoid shapes corresponded to the BSIA's intel on the Saderan equivalences of Knightmare Frames: War Golems. The golems were larger and taller than the giant ogres while being covered in ornate armor with runes all over their bodies. Their weapons were mainly melee weapons. Though intrigued by their unique designs, Lelouch doubted that they could stand up to the Terrans' Knightmare Frames. Magic or not, they still adhered to the laws of physics and their movements suggested that they wouldn't even be a match against Knightmare Frames of older generations.
As for the cavalry and infantry, they were positioned behind the war golems and were divided into rectangular formations with the shield-wielding infantry and cavalry units in front. It was surreal to see medieval soldiers using naval artilleries resembling the ones in the Age of Sails era in conjunction with ancient siege weapons. The crudely built structures further back suggested the Saderan encampments and makeshift fortifications. Though impressive in scale, they didn't look sturdy enough to withstand extended sieges or well-coordinated attacks.
Despite their advantages, Lelouch knew that his forces had two biggest challenges in this battle:
1) The Tarrasques
2) Saderan Rapid Artilleries
There were three massive heat signatures located in the forest far east of the Saderan encampments. He didn't need the drones to tell him that those specimens were the same species as the infamous kaiju slain in Los Angeles, albeit much smaller than the one killed by Cornelia's Task Force.
Another challenge was that the Saderans had hidden at least three dozen rapid artilleries somewhere in the forest. Due to the Special Forces' attacks, they have decided to hide their artilleries under some kind of illusion spell. Meaning, they could only detect those artilleries once the Saderans fired them. According to their Intel, those artilleries might be ancient but they packed a bigger punch than their standard counterparts, potentially making them deadly to the Britannian infantry and light armored vehicles.
While his forces had enough firepower to bring these threats down, they needed time to deploy heavy artilleries to finish the job as quickly as possible. Not to mention, they needed to know exactly where those artilleries were to strike. Fortunately, he had some aces up his sleeves for that.
Seeing that the battlefield conditions didn't deviate much from his original battle plan, Lelouch had Major Landstrom put him on an open channel to begin relaying his orders. "Black Knight Command to all units! Alpha Group, assume Delta Formation! Target the war beasts, cannons, and siege weapons with heavy ordnance, engage the enemy infantry and cavalry at your discretion! Bravo Group, cover Alpha's flanks and plug any gaps in their formations! DO NOT let a single alien get past your lines! Charlie and Delta Groups, continue moving forward and set up firing positions at your discretion! Bravo Group, deploy your drones! I want eyes and ears on a four-klick radius around the Gate. Is that clear?"
"Loud and clear, Sir!" The Commanders replied through the radio.
"Eagle Eye, have the drones look for enemy rapid artilleries!" He addressed one of the units. "As soon as you find them, send the coordinates to our vanguard units!"
"Yes Sir!" the unit commander said.
According to his battle plan, Alpha Group would decimate the Saderan heavy weapons and war beasts while Bravo Group would cover their flanks; Charlie Group would serve anti-aircraft roles and destroy any Saderan threats coming from the air. Meanwhile, Delta Group would deploy heavy artilleries to saturate the battlefield with heavy ordnance and destroy the Tarrasques if possible. Each group would be supported by an Engineering Company to push past the obstacles and handle their logistics. With this plan, a Mechanized Infantry Company would be paired with an Armored Company to form a combat group, thereby ensuring maximum protection and combat efficiency.
Given the chokepoint created by the Gate, he believed that Alpha and Bravo Groups would break the enemy's morale long enough for them to deploy all of their forces on the other side of the Gate. Should the enemy be too stubborn, fanatical, or stupid enough to challenge them despite the immense losses they suffered, the forward units of Gino's Brigade Combat Team would have their backs and boost their shock-and-awe tactics even more.
With everything in place, the only thing he could do now was to trust that his men, especially his volatile crimson-haired friend, would follow his orders and lay waste to the Saderan forces in the area.
Operation Harbinger 2 – Tobias Lundgren
Standing next to his platoon's Tiger IFV, Tobias looked at the alien landscape around them with a sense of both childlike wonder and dread of the unknowns. Like every other Britannian here, he was excited that he was actually on an alien planet hosting sentient life. At the same time, he was concerned about the threats and dangers that this planet could throw at the Terrans. Some of the soldiers in his company even made jokes about Kaijus or cosmic horrors potentially showing up in the future.
Once the Colonel gave his orders, each company commander started giving out orders to their units and the soldiers began moving accordingly. He was assigned to the Fourth Platoon, Second Company of the Second Mechanized Infantry Battalion of the Black Knight Brigade, making him part of Bravo Group.
With the orders given, the Tanks and Knightmare Frames of Alpha Group started moving into position. From the center of their formations, dozens upon dozens of Wasp drones were launched from the Bison Drone Carriers of Bravo Group. These drones would serve as the eyes and ears of the vanguard forces. If necessary, they could serve as expendable suicide drones since each drone's explosive payload was equivalent to six frag grenades combined.
"INCOMING!" Someone shouted over the radio. Tobias looked in the Saderan army's direction and saw hundreds of incoming projectiles.
Most of the projectiles slammed into the ground around the Britannian lines due to the distance and lack of precision targeting systems on the enemy's part. The ones that got lucky struck the reinforced armor plating of Knightmare Frames and main battle tanks, dealing little to no damage whatsoever to the Terran war machines. At best, they only gave the tanks paint scratches and staggered the Knightmare Frames a little.
With the defensive walls made of Tanks and Knightmare Frames, some of the soldiers simply hid behind or inside their armored vehicles. Once the projectiles landed, they created small and sporadic explosions here and there, allowing Tobias to see them more clearly. Although they were only cannonballs and ballistae bolts, they could still cause some damage to light infantry without armored vehicles.
"Bravo Group, get in your positions! They released their war beasts and golems. These wolf and reptilian bastards are fast and coming in hot," One of the commanders said through the radio.
"All units, choose your targets and prepare to fire on my mark!" He recognized that it was from Captain Davis Yang of the First Company, the First Mechanized Infantry Battalion.
The standard combat doctrine of the Britannian Armed Forces dictated that Knightmare Frames were essential to either decimate hostile forces with overwhelming firepower or cover the flanks of friendly armored vehicles and infantry. The reason for this doctrine was that the Knightmare Frames possessed more sophisticated sensors, flexibility, and maneuverability compared to their armored vehicle counterparts. Their heavy weapons were also sufficient to lay waste to everything short of enemy Knightmare Frames and Landships. In most cases, air support was only requested when the Knightmare Frames were unable to arrive in time or they were heavily damaged in battle.
The words that would haunt the Saderans forever were uttered by Captain Yang. "All units, fire at will!"
The battlefield was filled with dozens of thunderous claps and explosions as high-explosive and armor-piercing projectiles slammed into the oncoming war beasts and siege weapons with the force of a meteor. While the Saderan attacks did nothing to them, the Britannian attacks annihilated everything in their path. War beasts like Trolls, Aligraks, Basilgors, and Grodgwen had their heads and torsos disintegrate into clouds of bones and organs whereas the siege weapons were turned into clouds of splinter and fragments, killing and fatally wounding their handlers. Even the Saderan naval artilleries were shattered as the massive bullets tore through them with ease, leaving behind nothing more than broken husks of metal and wood. Some of the high-explosive rounds struck the ammunition carriages behind them and caused secondary explosions, killing scores of Saderans in seconds.
Even though the Tanks' and Knightmares' primary armaments were basically coilguns, the thunderous claps generated by their cannons were still deafening. Had it not been for their helmets, Tobias was sure that they would have suffered a severe case of tinnitus given the amount of firepower they were pouring into the enemy lines. Each explosion spelled the gruesome deaths of several enemy combatants, be it man or beast.
Looking through his binoculars, Tobias cringed slightly when he saw hundreds of enemy soldiers being turned into pink mists after being struck by the magnetically accelerated bullets. The only signs of their previous existence were the mists of blood, torn fabric, armor pieces, weapons, and detached limbs. Given the projectiles' speeds, Tobias doubted that their brains could even register the pain as the rounds went through their bodies.
Then again, those were the lucky ones. The unlucky ones were cut down by a hail of machinegun fire like a scythe cutting through weed or had their organs pulverized by the shockwaves and shrapnel. If the bullets didn't kill them immediately, they would suffer wounds so horrific and agonizing that they would beg for the sweet release of death.
After mowing down a large number of war beasts and enemy siege weapons, the Knightmare Frames reloaded their weapons and fired their Type-27 Stryker missiles. Their backs were covered by smoke as dozens upon dozens of missiles exited their launchers. Once the first line of tanks had to reload, the second line filled in the gaps, making sure the firing rates never cease for more than a few seconds. The wave of missiles slammed into the Saderan forces like a tsunami, effectively pulverizing thousands of ancient warriors and their mounts within seconds.
While the dismounted soldiers admired the awesome display of firepower, their commanders scanned the battlefield with their drones and binoculars, including Tobias. Suddenly, his platoon's drone operator – Private First Class Ilona Freden – informed Tobias from her workstation inside the IFV. "Lieutenant, our drones picked up a large group of war beasts and cavalry flanking us from the right side!"
"Finally, we get to see some fucking action!" Corporal Laszlo Thornton of his platoon said excitedly. His excitement was shared by several others in Tobias's platoon.
"Alright, gentlemen! Get in your position and ready your weapons!" Tobias said to his platoon as they got into position. All around him, he noticed that the other platoons were doing the same.
Through the scope of his M-40D Battle Rifle, Tobias could see hundreds of large wolf-like creatures charging toward them, followed by a thousand cavalrymen armed with spears and halberds. Their armor was also more ornate and thicker than that of the infantry.
"They must have slipped past when we reloaded." He thought. As if to confirm his suspicion, the units on the left side reported the same flanking attempts from the Saderans.
Despite their primitive weaponry and gear, Tobias admitted that he had to give the enemy some credit for being able to adapt to the battle conditions that quickly. Once it was clear that they were no match against the Britannian war machines, they decided to change their tactics and choose to flank the Britannian infantry from the sides, through the areas that the Knightmare Frames and Tanks couldn't cover.
Once the platoons finished setting up firing positions, Tobias counted to three and gave his order. "Light them up!" He was followed by other Lieutenants.
The soldiers of both his and the other platoons squeezed the triggers of their guns and a torrent of metal was unleashed upon the war beasts and the accompanying cavalrymen. Autocannons and rotary cannons of different calibers of the Tiger IFVs and Panther AMVs also joined in on the massacre, with each bullet cutting through several enemy individuals at once. The Tigers' 35mm autocannons even cut many of the Saderans in half with ease. Several of them fired the Javelin multipurpose missiles into the enemy clusters, killing dozens of them with each strike.
"BANDITS INCOMING!" Someone shouted over the radio.
Tobias looked up and could see that hundreds of wyverns were coming at them at high speed. He could see that dozens of them were preparing to unleash their fire breaths at the Britannians.
"Hydra units, bring the rain and tear those bastards apart!" The Commander of Charlie Group said. It was Captain Monroe Bachmann whose unit was tasked with anti-aircraft roles for the Brigade Combat Team. Thanks to their height advantage, the Knightmare Frames stepped over the first trench to clear the way for the new armored vehicles pouring from the Gate. Behind them, several armored bulldozers were clearing the trench's obstacles for friendly vehicles.
Next up, the Panther AMVs and Vanguard Tanks cleared the way for two dozen Marksman SPAD (Self-Propelled Air Defense) Vehicles. Due to the relentless nature of modern warfare, these anti-aircraft platforms were mostly reserved for stationary air defenses of military installations. In a way, they were considered obsolete since almost every armored vehicle and Knightmare Frame could be outfitted with decent anti-aircraft weapons nowadays. Needless to say, it was really strange for him to see these vehicles back in action.
The turret that housed the Twin 35mm Anti-aircraft Cannons swiveled while the cannons adjusted their aim. Then, the cannons started spitting hails of death metal at the incoming wyverns. Against 35mm anti-air cannons with a firing rate of 2,000 bullets/minute, the Saderan wyverns were shredded into pieces as hundreds of them were mercilessly cut down. When the cannons ceased firing to avoid overheating their barrels, the Archer anti-aircraft missiles left their launchers at Mach 4 and struck the wyverns, erasing the winged reptiles and their unfortunate riders from existence. The Saderan air cavalry force was as useful as their infantry and artillery counterparts.
Under the thunderous roars of cannon and machinegun fire, Tobias could barely hear the loud rumble of something heavy stomping on the ground. At this point, his platoon and the other units have finished clearing out the Saderan flanking forces. The only thing that didn't fall from the Britannians' relentless onslaught was the war golems. With the lack of speed and mobility, the golems made up for it with their sheer size, weight, and weapons.
Every time the Britannians fired at them, their bullets were stopped by a golden light covering the golems' bodies. According to the Intel, this indicated that they were being protected by the Saderans' magical shields. Considering how well they have performed thus far, Tobias was genuinely impressed at how well these magical shields stood against the Britannians' firepower.
Once they acquired the new targets, the Tanks and Knightmare Frames focused fire at the war golems, launching tungsten bullets at hypersonic speeds. The bullets struck the golems' magical shields, sending massive golden ripples across the golems' bodies. The tanks' high-explosive rounds exploded upon hitting the magic shields as well.
The Saderans watching it happen celebrated for a moment as they thought that they finally had the chance to level the playing field. Unfortunately, reality couldn't be further from the truth.
The magical shields might have stopped the Terrans' projectiles but the kinetic impact caused by them moving at such velocities was more than enough to deal damage to the Saderan equivalence of war machines. Dozens of the golems were knocked off balance, crashing down onto the grassy plains beneath them. Some even crushed the unfortunate Saderan soldiers who had used them as shields and couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Almost all of them had parts of their bodies cracked under the monstrous kinetic force generated by the Knightmares' and Tanks' rounds.
"Havoc Team, give them the special packages!" Colonel Henriksen gave his order after the first line of golems was halted.
Several Panther AMVs equipped with special turrets belonging to Charlie Group moved forward. These turrets were EMP Grenade Launchers or EMP Launchers for short. Thanks to the valuable intelligence gained from interrogating the mages in Los Angeles, the Terrans learned that their EMP grenades had a devastating effect on the Saderan mages. The EMP waves emitted by these grenades temporarily disrupted the flow of Mana and stunned the mages. The time it took them to recover from the grenades' effect depended on their levels of magic.
Back in Sol, these grenades were only used to take out drone swarms and enemy equipment since the insurrectionists and hostile forces often favored drone swarm tactics. Though it wasn't a common tactic due to the logistics involved, it could still cause significant damage to friendly forces and civilian infrastructure. As a result, most mechanized infantry and armored battalions would have only several of these vehicles.
Now, against an unorthodox enemy type like the Saderan mages, the EMP Grenade has seen much wider use than before.
The Wasp drones found the mages far behind the war golems and marked their locations for the Havoc Team. After the coordinates were received, the gunners inside the armored vehicles operated the turrets, adjusted their aim, and then fired. Since the turrets used electromagnetic launch rails instead of conventional launchers, the EMP grenades were launched at an astonishing speed and straight toward the mages' formation. Some of the mages couldn't react fast enough and were rendered unconscious when the grenades landed right on top of their heads. The ones that did were able to raise shields to protect themselves. As they wondered what the dark blue cylindrical objects were, the grenades exploded and blinded them all for a few moments.
The EMP waves from the grenades violently disrupted the flow of mana and even caused some of the mages to lose consciousness. After the mana cut off and the mages temporarily incapacitated, the war golems stopped moving and the magical shields around them disappeared.
Once the grenades stunned the mages, the Knightmare Frames and Tanks resumed firing at the golems. This time, the shots punched through the golems' armor effortlessly and destroyed dozens of them, thereby crushing the Saderans' morale even further.
After ten more minutes of battle, Tobias noticed that they gave the all-clear signal for the gunships to cross over the radio. Due to the Gate's size, the Super Hornets and HK-64 Sparrowhawk drones could safely fly through without touching the tunnel's walls or ceiling. The aerial vehicles positioned themselves around the Britannians' positions, then made short work of the remaining wyverns and war beasts.
Once the Britannians achieved air superiority in the area, they turned their weapons on the enemy ground forces. Together with their ground allies, the gunships and drones pulverized the Saderan cavalry and infantry units with their chin-mounted rotary cannons and missiles. The war golems were somewhat resistant to heavy machinegun fire but they were quickly taken care of by the tanks' high-explosive rounds and the gunships' missiles. Seeing that the mages were vulnerable, the gunships targeted them as well. Their magical shields did little to protect them against the high-intensity firepower poured upon them.
By this point, it was clear to everyone that the Saderans had already lost their battle momentum and they were losing soldiers and war assets faster than their minds could process. Despite their overwhelming advantages, Tobias and the dismounted units remained vigilant, checked or reloaded their weapons, and got themselves ready for further assaults from the Saderans.
Even the most fanatical Saderans understood that they were on the verge of losing the battle for the sacred hill. Many of them panicked and started retreating from the one-sided massacre, abandoning their weapons and armor as they went. The commanders who managed to keep it together continued to bark orders but their voices were shaky and lacking in confidence.
Unfortunately, these men made the same mistake as their fallen comrades in Los Angeles by wearing conspicuous armor and capes, allowing Britannian snipers and drones to take them out very quickly. Seeing their commanders' heads get blown off one after another further demoralized the Saderan troops with each passing minute. Worse yet, every time they tried to bring a functioning cannon to bear with the mages' assistance, the cannon was swiftly destroyed without firing a single shot.
The sound of rumbling came again but this time, it came from friendly lines behind them. Tobias turned and was taken aback to see two particular Knightmare Frames whose designs, sizes, and armaments were vastly different from those of the standard ones. One had a red overall color while the other had a white overall color.
The red one had a broader shoulder compared to the other Knightmare Frames and an oversized right arm with long metal claws at the end of its digits but it didn't possess a Knightmare Rifle, the standard armament of most Knightmare Frames. It resembled the Guren – one of the new models employed by the Royal Marines – but it was different in armament and design. As for the other one, it was taller, had a leaner build, and possessed more weapons than the red one. Instead of a Knightmare Rifle, however, the white one used some kind of exotic-looking rifle that he has never seen.
All in all, these two units stood out like a sore thumb but had an interesting design and unique armaments. Like many of his comrades, Tobias was eager to see what kind of abilities they had and how well they would perform in combat.
Operation Harbinger 3 – Kallen Stadtfeld
Thanks to her excellent records in training, Kallen was given the rank of Corporal when she was assigned to the First Mechanized Infantry Battalion, Second Brigade Combat Team of the Falmarius Expeditionary Army.
Kallen gripped the controls of the Guren as she and the Lancelot's pilot waited for the order to begin their assault. Her Knightmare was Type II of the Guren model whereas the Type I was successfully integrated into the Britannian Royal Marine branch as a rapid deployment unit.
After passing the trial runs, the Guren Type II and the Lancelot were cleared for combat. At first, she questioned Lelouch why they would send two of the latest Knightmare Frame prototypes into battle so soon. Apparently, the military wanted to collect actual combat data for future prototypes. They also prepared two more prototype units for each of them so they didn't have to worry about losing them on the other side of the Gate. That being said, the military would prefer not to lose them so Lelouch reminded her and Lancelot's pilot to be extra careful with the prototypes many times before their deployment.
Her gaze was fixated on the forward screen which displayed the carnage being dealt to the Saderans. Despite feeling slightly sick from the sheer brutality of the battle, she felt absolutely no mercy for these savages for everything they had done. If anything, she was a little frustrated that she didn't get to do that to them yet. Minutes that seemed like hours to her continued to pass as she waited and waited all the while, the battle continued to rage on around her.
"Eagle Eye to all units, Bulldog!" Suddenly, someone said over the comms. "Bearings: 215, 15, and 27 degrees North. Bulldog! Bulldog!"
"All units, scatter and head for cover immediately!" One of the commanders shouted through the radio.
As the messages repeated, Kallen understood what it meant. "Bulldog" means that an artillery barrage is coming in their direction. In this case, it meant that the Saderans finally fired their rapid artilleries, thus revealing their locations for the Britannians. Through the Knightmare's sensors, she could hear the sound of whistling growing louder and louder. Before she even spotted the incoming shells, the Britannian armored vehicles responded in full force.
The Marksman SPADs quickly turned their turrets and started firing at the incoming artillery shells. The anti-aircraft vehicles' cannons and missiles managed to intercept two-thirds of the projectiles. The remaining projectiles were intercepted by the rotary cannons mounted on the Gloucester Mark IV model Knightmare Frames. Given how slow the Saderan artillery shells were moving, the Knightmares' targeting systems had little problem in intercepting them.
After several intense seconds, all of the incoming shells were successfully intercepted. The mid-air explosions showered the Britannian forces on the ground with debris and blue dust. When the last shell exploded above their formations, Kallen was surprised by Lelouch's voice coming through the radio.
"Grendel Zero-One, Grendel Zero-Two! Enemy artillery coordinates have been sent to your Knightmares! Take out those artilleries and golems! You are cleared to engage enemy infantry and cavalry units at your discretion. Make these savages pay for what they did in Los Angeles!"
Checking her digital screen, she found said coordinates and the visual feed of enemy artillery and war golems. The Guren's onboard AI set a direct course to their positions and there was a large number of hostiles in her path. A wicked grin formed on her lips as she finally got to see action.
"Roger that, Black Knight Command! Grendel Zero-One moving out!" Sergeant Samuel Dalton – the pilot of Lancelot – acknowledged the order. "Let's go, Corporal Stadtfeld!"
"Roger that, Sergeant!" She said and maneuvered the Guren into position. "Grendel Zero-Two moving out!"
With the order given, the two special Knightmare Frames moved past friendly forces and their vehicles. The ground beneath their metal legs was littered with fragments of the previous shells and empty cartridges. Meanwhile, the forward units continued to engage the Saderan forces with relentless firepower.
Once they were clear of friendly lines, the Guren's and Lancelot's back thrusters ignited and the duo surged forward at an incredible speed. As they approached the Saderan forces, Kallen activated the Guren's melee weapons and two Maser Vibration Swords (MVS) extended from the Guren's arms.
After passing the two-kilometer mark, they split off in two different directions to engage their designated targets. Their air support was four Super Hornet gunships and ten Sparrowhawk drones.
The crimson Knightmare Frame sped toward its first group of targets, consisting of two giant Ogres and a pack of Grodgwens. Their handlers and tamers already fled the battlefield as soon as the Britannians decimated the initial waves, leaving the beasts aimless and disoriented.
Upon seeing the crimson mecha charging toward them, the Falmarian beasts roared in defiance and charged back. Just as the first giant ogre reared its arm to strike the Guren with its massive axe, the Terran war machine swung its right arm, decapitating the creature's head and cutting off its swinging arm in one swift motion. The ogre's tough hide offered little resistance to the Knightmare's powerful swing.
The second ogre made the same attempt but received the same fate as its brethren. When the two giant humanoids' bodies hit the ground, the Grodgwen pack charged at the Guren from all directions. Due to the massive difference in size, the wolf-like beasts were sliced apart with perfect movement, their wounds were charred from the superheated blades. The ones that managed to slip past tried to bite the mecha's legs and arms, only to have their teeth shattered and jaws dislocated, before being sliced up like sashimi.
A third giant ogre jumped out of the thick bush and attempted to flank the Terran mecha from behind. Unfortunately, Guren's sensors already knew that it was there. Kallen grabbed the creature's head with Guren's massive clawed hand which was the Radiant Wave Surger, the mecha's signature armament.
The Radiant Wave Surger is an extremely powerful microwave radiation emitter designed to destroy enemy Knightmare Frames. As the ogre struggled to free itself from the Guren's steel-like grip, the radiation emitter boiled the humanoid creature from the inside out. A few seconds later, the creature's head and body expanded and exploded into a cloud of organs, bones, and blood, leaving behind only its lower torso and legs.
Though disgusted by how gruesome the new weapon was on living creatures, Kallen shrugged it off and moved on to her next targets. She continued killing whatever war beasts and Saderan infantry standing in her way until she reached her first primary target.
The first rapid artillery she saw fired in her direction. Due to poor aim and lack of a proper fire control system, the shell missed her by a large margin. Zooming on the target, she could see that there were around six mages along with the artillery crew. She locked on the target and fired the 30mm Railgun mounted on the Guren's left shoulder, swiftly destroying the artillery and their operators. She also fired a few bursts with the Guren's 20mm autocannons to make sure the mages stay dead. Two more artillery shells struck the ground around her, kicking up a cloud of dirt and rocks.
Using the Knightmare's thermal sensors, she saw through the cloud and identified the offending artilleries, then swiftly destroyed them with her missiles. Several explosions rang out in the distance, suggesting that her air support also took out the other artilleries in the area. While she could take out all of them with her missiles from here, she decided to save them up for a potential engagement with the Tarrasques.
As she approached the fourth artillery, she slowed her advance when her sensors indicated that the ground was somehow frozen solid. It didn't take a genius tactician to figure out that this was the work of the mages. They must have frozen the ground with ice magic in the hopes of tripping the Guren.
Unfortunately for the mages, each Knightmare Frame had a rudimentary AI onboard to assist the pilot and assess potential threats faster than the human mind could process. After taking the mages' abilities into account, the AIs reacted accordingly and reduced the mages' success in fighting Britannian Knightmare Frames. Once she slowed her advance, the mages launched several attacks her way in the forms of fire and ice javelins. One of them even launched some lightning bolts toward her.
Most of the magical projectiles missed their marks due to range and poor aim. The ones that hit barely did anything as the Guren's tungsten armor was impervious to the magical attacks, shrugging off dozens of javelins. Since Knightmare Frames were built and designed as a Faraday Cage to protect both themselves and the pilots within against lightning and electrical attacks, the mages' lightning bolts were as useful as the other elemental attacks.
The mages defending the artillery were absolutely stupefied that all of their attacks were useless against the Terran war machine. Before they could recover, however, they were pulverized by two Stryker missiles impacting their position. Again, she made sure to kill the mages with her autocannons as well. Her shots caused secondary and tertiary explosions that took out the fifth artillery and its crew as well.
Kallen went on to destroy the remaining artilleries, their crews, and the mages defending them. At the same time, the other artilleries were taken care of by the drones, gunships, and the Lancelot as well. Some of the Vanguard tanks also joined in with their missile armaments as soon as they received the enemy artillery' coordinates. Seeing that one of the primary threats to the Britannians was dealt with, she scanned the area for more targets.
Her sensors marked a large group of infantry and cavalrymen hiding behind two war golems. Though retreating, the Saderans still maintained a somewhat coherent formation with the golems in front. She smiled in satisfaction and began her killing spree. The Guren's Landspinner Propulsion System propelled the crimson mecha forward as she readied her weapons. Checking her ammo count, she noticed that her missile armament was close to depletion so she decided to save the missiles for the Tarrasques and switch over to her autocannons and melee weapons for the golems.
She fired a few shots at the golems with her Railgun, draining their shields. The Saderans fired arrows and magical projectiles at her in a vain attempt to defend themselves. She quickly switched over to her rotary gun and cut the fragile human and non-human soldiers apart in a hail of machine gun fire.
Upon reaching the golems' position, she swung the MVS and smashed the first golem as hard as she could make the Guren do. As the light around the golem disappeared completely, she stabbed the blade deep into the golem's chest. According to the BSIA's intelligence, the war golems' biggest weakness was the mana gem storage in their chest. The golem's flimsy armor cracked and melted by the Guren's MVS. She twisted the blade inside its chest, destroying the mana storage and causing the golem to collapse.
The second golem struck Guren in the back with its giant hammer. The blow staggered the Guran but wasn't enough to damage the mecha. Kallen grunted in annoyance, retrieved the blade from the now-disabled golem, and retaliated with the Guren's main armament. The radiation emitter cooked the golem from the inside, destroying its mana storage in seconds.
With their shields gone, the Saderans panicked and tried to get as far away from her as possible. Neither remorse nor mercy was shown to the Saderans today for this was Kallen's revenge, for her brother and father.
She continued to blast and slash enemy infantry and cavalrymen until there were none left. In some cases, she didn't even bother using her cannons but instead simply stomped them to death with mecha's metal foot, turning them into chunky salsa on the ground.
After killing several thousand enemy soldiers, a radio transmission caught her by surprise. "This is Kodiak Two-One to all units! Be advised, the enemy is preparing for some kind of large-scale magical attack. The EMP grenades couldn't reach their position and we are bingo on missiles. Request heavy artillery to deal with these bastards."
"This is Grendel Zero-One!" Sergeant Dalton said through the radio. "I read you. Heading in to deal with them now."
The transmission caused the adrenaline in her to subside, allowing her to think more clearly. The battlefield around her was now filled with the corpses of humans and beasts, as well as the useless husks of enemy golems and artillery. Her sensors indicated that the majority of hostiles had either been killed or fled the battle by this point.
Shifting her gaze upward, she could see the Super Hornet Gunships and Sparrowhawk Drones firing at whatever targets they could find on the ground. Dozens of missiles were launched from the Britannian lines, arched downward, and impacted the surviving enemy forces with the force of a meteor.
Amidst the chaos and destruction, however, she could spot something unusual. A dome of golden light dominated a small hill far away from the battlefield. It was around four kilometers from the battle zone and grew brighter with each second. Using the trees around them for reference, she surmised that the dome must be massive.
Suddenly, a massive circle with runes appeared on the dome's side. After a few more seconds, a powerful lightning bolt surged forward and struck the general area where the Britannian forces were. The attack was so fast and powerful that it caught the Terrans completely off guard.
After recovering from the shock, Kallen was startled by numerous voices shouting over the radio, causing her to lower the volume and filter the radio noises to catch what they were saying.
"What the fuck was that attack?"
"Where the hell did that come from?"
"That strike took out a Challenger, a Panther, and one Sutherland. Someone take out whatever is firing that thing."
"Black Knight Command, this is Kodiak Two-Four! We're moving in to engage enemy mages but don't have enough firepower. Request heavy close fire mission on these coordinates to smoke these bastards."
"Roger that, Kodiak Two-Four! Heavy artillery is coming through and setting up firing positions. Hold on for five minutes!"
Kallen was about to say that she would move in to provide support when someone announced another startling news over the radio. "All units, be advised! Godzilla, Godzilla! All three contacts are heading toward the Gate!"
As if to confirm his report, there were two ear-splitting roars coming from another direction. Shifting her sensors in that direction, Kallen could see three massive alien creatures matching the profile of the Tarrasque, albeit much smaller and less spiky than the adult one in Los Angeles.
The kaiju trio were chasing some of the wolf-like animals from earlier but they were clearly heading toward the Britannian forces. The monsters tore through the trees and destroyed every obstacle in their way with ease. They even trampled on some of the Saderans and war beasts along the way. Judging from the distance, she feared that they would reach the Gate before their forces could set up their artilleries.
"This is Grendel Zero-Two!" she said into her radio. "The Tarrasques are loose and heading toward the Gate. ETA: Four minutes. I can engage them but lack the firepower. Requesting close air support and artillery strikes."
After a few seconds of radio noises, Lelouch said to her directly. "Copy that, Grendel Zero-Two! Follow the Kaiju Protocol! Engage the monsters and lead them to the kill zone we sent you."
The screen pinged with a new set of coordinates and the computer displayed a yellow route to that position. The designated area was located in one of the Saderan camps. Aside from the coordinates, she was surprised to see a private message appearing on her HUD.
"Follow the plan and don't be reckless! Come back alive!" was the message. She was taken aback by the message and it was clear who sent it. Given the timing, she surmised that he must have typed the message beforehand just for this situation.
"Is he worried about me?" She thought to herself.
Although she was somewhat happy that he was worried about her, she wasn't sure how to feel about her relationship with him, especially when they didn't interact with each other that much back at school. She smiled and stowed her thoughts away to focus on her mission.
She fired the Guren's thrusters and maneuvered the Knightmare toward the three giant monsters. As soon as she was close enough, she locked onto the monsters and fired one Railgun shot at the first monster, then fired two missiles at the other two.
The projectile punched through the creature's spiky carapace and penetrated its skin, causing blood to pour from the wound like a fountain. The missiles struck the second and third monsters in the neck and face but did little to wound them. The monsters' screech was more akin to one of annoyance and rage, rather than that of pain and agony. All three of them turned their heads to look at the insulant attacker who dared defy the great beasts of Falmarius.
Kallen was relieved that she managed to draw their attention but she knew that she lacked the firepower to incapacitate them given their size and strength. As much as she wanted to continuously blast them with her railgun and missiles, she knew that they could overwhelm and destroy her as soon as she ran out of ammo. The Radiant Wave Surger could cause their organs to explode from the inside but she doubted that they would let her get close enough to use the weapon. Therefore, she chose to stick to the plan and use her & the Guren as bait to lure them to the kill zone.
"That's right! Over here, you ugly motherfuckers!" Kallen taunted the monsters, using the Knightmare's speakerphone.
The Tarrasques took the bait and stumbled on each other to chase after her. With all three giant monsters on her tail, Kallen began leading the monsters away from the battlefield.
"Grendel Zero-Two to Big Mamba!" She said into the radio. "I have the Tarrasques hot on my tail, leading them to the kill zone now."
"Copy that, Grendel Zero-Two! Once we get a lock-on, get the hell out of there!" The commander of Delta Group said. "We will bombard the whole area until there's nothing left but charred corpses."
"Big Mamba Actual" was the callsign of Major Bakeman Strauss, the commander of the Brigade's Artillery Battalion. The plan was relatively simple: Kallen or Samuel would lure the monsters away from friendly forces and into the Saderan lines, let the monsters wreck the Saderan fortifications and forces, and then kill them with heavy artillery strikes. This plan could effectively kill two birds with one stone, depending on how many Saderans were left in their camps.
Therefore, the success of this plan hinged on whether or not Kallen could keep the monsters focused on her and the Saderans long enough for the Britannians to deploy their heavy artilleries. With the introduction of powerful magical attacks like earlier, she could only hope that Sergeant Dalton and his air cavalry units could keep the Mages responsible for that attack long enough to finish her mission.
She continued to lead the kaiju trio through the forest and toward the Saderan camps. She intentionally chose the path with the most obstacles to slow them down or annoy them as much as possible. Despite their sizes, the Tarrasques were relentless and demolished everything in their path to reach her.
Glancing at the screens connected to her rear cameras, she noticed that one of them was missing. As she wondered how something that large could just vanish like that, the sensors onboard the Guren warned her of imminent danger. She maneuvered the Guren to dodge to her left before something barreled straight into her previous position, missing her by a few meters. The massive creature crashed through several large trees before it stopped at the base of a tall redwood tree. Its weight and size were enough to demolish half of the large tree's body.
It wasn't until she hid behind a large boulder that she could see clearly what it was. It was the Tarrasque that she shot with her railgun. Somehow, the giant creature had curled itself into a spiky ball like an armadillo and utilized the sloping terrain to roll toward her. She believed that the only reason it could do that was because it was smaller than its two siblings. She was so taken aback by this creature's attack pattern that she almost forgot that she was still being chased by two of its brethren.
As the Tarrasque uncurled itself, she could see all four of its eyes were glaring in her direction. She wasn't an expert on animal behavior but she knew that the creature's eyes radiated hatred and rage toward her. The creature quickly joined its brethren in chasing her.
"Good! Focus on me, you ugly bastards!" She thought as she continued leading them to the kill zone.
Eventually, she emerged at the edge of the forest and right next to the perimeters of a large Saderan camp. By now, all of the sentries were gone and it appeared that the majority of the Saderans had vacated the area. The remaining Saderan officers who were barking orders at their subordinates inside the camp saw her and their eyes went wide in surprise and horror. Before they could issue any orders to attack her, however, they noticed the Tarrasque trio hot on her tail. Naturally, they ran away as fast as they could.
Kallen moved the Guren straight into the Saderan camp, demolishing its flimsy wooden barricades and walls. To the horror of the Saderans, the three Tarrasques followed her closely behind. She didn't know why but two of them turned and attacked the Saderans around them instead of her. Neither did she care. They wreaked havoc inside the camp, destroyed fortifications and weapon storages, and devoured scores of Saderan soldiers and auxiliary forces with the exception of the one who attacked her like an armadillo.
Every time it was close to grabbing her, she moved the Guren in another direction but it was exhausting for her to conduct such complex maneuvers so many times and the monsters were close to running out of food. After what felt like hours, her radio crackled to life. "Big Mamba to Grendel Zero-Two! Paladin is ready to fire. Get the hell out of there!"
"About damn time!" She thought.
"I'm in a bit of a pickle here! Standby, Big Mamba!" She notified him. She knew that she had to get out of the area but she couldn't risk letting one of the monsters escape the bombardment. She must do everything she could to keep them here.
Looking around the wrecked camp, she saw the solution when her optical sensors landed on several disabled war golems next to two abandoned storehouses. It looked like the Saderans retreated so quickly that they even abandoned their prized assets. She moved behind a group of golems and used them as shields. The Tarrasque crashed through the wooden structures between them and swiped at the golems with its forelimbs. The few seconds it wasted on destroying the Saderan structures and golems were the window she needed.
Kallen quickly moved to the monster's blind spot and grabbed one of its hind limbs with the Guren's clawed hand. Upon activating the weapon, the RWS (Radiant Wave Surger) boiled the creature's leg from the inside, causing it to swell up in extremely painful ways. The Tarrasque roared in agony this time and tried to grab her with its other limbs but the golems and destroyed wooden structures surrounding them hindered its movement considerably.
Eventually, the creature's leg exploded into thousands of pieces, causing it to lose balance and fall. With the Tarrasque temporarily immobile, Kallen hightailed out of the camp and barely evaded the fallen creature's deadly tail swing.
"I'm out! Big Mamba, hit them with everything you've got!" She practically shouted into the radio as she pushed the Guren to near its limits to evade the other two Tarrasques' grasp and escape the area.
"Copy, Grendel Zero-Two!" Major Bakeman Strauss said. "Bombs away!"
The adrenaline in her body was so high that she could barely hear the whistling sound overhead.
Seconds later, the entire Saderan camp was completely engulfed in monstrous explosions with the three giant monsters taking the full brunt of the bombardment. Dozens upon dozens of 160mm high-explosive shells smashed into the monsters like a tsunami. It was so great that even the trees near the camp's perimeters were swallowed by the explosions.
Kallen had to duck behind a small cliff just to evade the destructive shockwaves generated by the bombardment. After around thirty explosions, the artillery shells stopped hitting the monsters and the area they were in. However, the monsters barely had time to react as dozens of surface-to-surface missiles started slamming into them with the force of multiple meteors.
The bombardment lasted only a few minutes but it felt like an eternity to Kallen. Even with the cliff absorbing the shockwaves, Kallen still felt like being rattled to her very core. Eventually, the bombardment ceased and the entire area was covered in a thick cloud of smoke and debris.
"Big Mamba, hold fire! Standby for kill confirm!" Someone said over the radio.
When she was sure that no more bombs would fall, Kallen moved away from her cover and scanned the area for potential hostiles. The smoke and cloud of debris interfered with her sensors a little but it was clear that nothing but her was left alive in the area. The adrenaline in her subsided and caused her to feel a little numb but she pushed on and tried to keep her guard up in case there were hostiles nearby.
"Eagle Eye to all units, all three Kaijus are down! Good kill, Big Mamba!" One of the drone operators said on an open channel.
Over the radio, most of the commanders cheered on Major Strauss's artillery units for scoring such spectacular kills. The operators even sent the drones' camera feed to everyone. Opening the transmission, Kallen could see that the only thing left of the monsters were their mutilated remains. The bombardment was so immense and thorough that the Tarrasques' bodies were beyond recognition.
If the detached heads, limbs, dead eyes, bones, and torn organs weren't indicators of their demise, she didn't know what would. She let out a long sigh of relief, one that she didn't know how long she had been holding.
Her console received a new private message. Opening it, she saw its content. "Good job out there!"
She smiled in excitement and satisfaction as she considered returning to friendly lines. Before she could do that, however, multiple explosions from afar jolted her back to reality.
By now, the Britannians already wiped out most of the Saderans and their prized assets around the hill but the battle was not over yet.
World-building Fact:
Rapid Artillery is the Saderan equivalent of the Armstrong Gun but the Saderan artillery is slightly smaller and can reload faster thanks to the mages' assistance. The Saderan Army and Navy make use of three types of artilleries:
Standard Artillery: These cannons resemble the guns used on warships from the 16th Century to the 18th Century from Earth's history. Due to their ease of production and the assistance of Magic, this type is the most prominent and widely used by the Saderan Imperial Army and Navy. They are often used in conjunction with ancient ballistae during prolonged campaigns. They have the shortest range of around 800 meters to 1.5 kilometers. With the right applications of magic, this range can be extended a little further.
Rapid Artillery: These cannons resemble the guns used on warships in the 19th Century from Earth's history. They can fire more quickly but are generally more difficult to deploy due to the logistics involved. Their range is around 2.5 to 4.5 kilometers. With the right applications of magic, this range can be extended a little further.
Super Artillery: These cannons are the rarest cannon type in the Saderan arsenal because they are powered primarily by magic and operated by mages of Master level. Instead of conventional shells, these cannons enhance and fire powerful elemental magic projectiles powerful enough to decimate infantry formations, powerful beasts, and fortifications. Despite their power, however, the Super Artillery has a far shorter ranger than modern Terran artilleries, at around 7.5 to 10 kilometers.
Historically, Naval Artillery was invented around 200 years ago on Planet Falmarius and the Saderans have been using it to devastating effect. However, they didn't know about guns and muskets because early Saderans rejected the creation of muskets and the combat doctrines that centered around firearms simply because they deemed firearms as cowardly weapons. Additionally, the Saderans' armor is magically enchanted to withstand close-range attacks and musket shots so they didn't see the need to produce a large number of handheld firearms anyway. Consequently, they failed to develop effective strategies to counter firearms and the large-scale strategies involving them.
World-building Notes:
RUAV: RUAV stands for Reconnaissance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. The Britannian Armed Forces employ a wide variety of unmanned aerial vehicles with the two most common being RUAV; HK (Hunter Killer); SUAV (Surveillance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle); and PUAV (Personal Unmanned Aerial Vehicle).
Bison Drone Carrier: Bison Drone Carriers are basically large 6×6 utility trucks modified to carry small drones. There are different variants depending on the types of drones they carry. Each truck can carry around 20 to 32 drones, depending on the variant. Each of these trucks is often armed with one or two heavy machine guns/grenade launchers for self-defense during combat missions.
Landship: In this universe, the term "Landship" is a little different from what we are familiar with in our timeline. Here, Landships are massive air-cushioned hovercraft designed to either ferry tanks, armored vehicles, and Knightmare Frames from surface vessels to the land or bombard enemy fortifications. During World War II, Landships were retrofitted with heavy weapons, thick armor plating, and powerful engines to traverse vast distances and engage enemy mechanized infantry and armor on the battlefields, making them essentially Land Battleships. Due to their primary role as transport vessels, most national militaries employ them as versatile logistical support vehicles both on land and at sea.
Basilgor: Basilgor is an animal native to Planet Falmarius. They are a large reptilian animal over four meters in length. They are basically crocodiles but have long gills, six limbs, a more slender body, thinner scales, and more flexible muscles to move on land. They primarily hunt small animals and insects near bodies of water but they can hunt strayed humans as well. Due to their high reproductive rate, most Saderan Beast Tamer Guilds breed them in large numbers and sell them to the Saderan Imperial Army for warfare.
Grodgwen: Grodgwens is an animal native to Planet Falmarius. They are basically a hybrid between a dire wolf and saber-tooth tiger from Earth but they are not as large as the tiger. They are quite vicious and travel in large packs but can be tamed by skilled and experienced Beast Tamers. Many mercenary groups, Orcs, and Saderan commanders use them as pets and mounds, depending on the animal's size and strength.