Past the LZ, almost a day later, gunfire rang throughout the fields and forests. A UNSC Scorpion's 120mm cannon fired at a distant target on the nearby hills as platoons of Marines rolled forward in Oryxes and Saddlebacks. The Marine directing the fire watched the HE shell arc in and detonate, destroying an enemy spotter's position just as counter-battery from Rhinos and Kodiaks thundered in the distance, toward the Federation's own.
Some of the Marines marched beside the vehicles on the two-way dirt highway. Third Platoon was thankfully not among them. Sat atop one of the Oryxes and scanning the treeline in the distance, Jake murmured to himself the lyrics to an old song, while Lieutenant Parisa listened to some Flip Music on a smartphone she'd managed to requisition from back home. The commander of the Oryx, a young woman, looked forward at the rest of the convoy.
Two Wombat drones overhead fired their payloads:Twin Radar-guided missiles danced around each-other before splitting left and right and striking Federation TAC Fighters sent in to intercept them. One missile caught the aircraft right in the cockpit, sending it falling in a ball of fire, while the other struck behind the enemy's Jet, taking out its engines and allowing the crew to bail via parachutes.
That was part of what Third's next objective was:An enemy airfield in the distance was 2/5th Marines' next drop point. Word of mouth was that the place was heavily defended by everything from armor to crack shock troop units. The ODSTs were having trouble cracking the place, surprisingly enough, with the SPARTAN contingents deployed already dealing with the worst of it.
"Heard they deployed the 'Deep Space Vanguard' to the airport, whatever the fuck that is," Niura stated, scratching her chin.
Parisa replied, "Special Forces, Sarge. Heard from SIGINT these bastards work fairly hard for their place. Actually fought against well-trained Rebels of their own before dropping by to say hello," as she watched an ambulance Oryx roll past them, several wounded on its armored hull being tended to by Corpsmen. Jane shifted uneasily, wondering who of their team was gonna be next.
Niko sighed, meanwhile, watching another Oryx roll past, followed by a Saddleback that had been peppered by rounds, some of its windows marked by the blood of the occupants. The enemy really was pulling all stops today. As the vehicles crested another hill, they could see the tracers of enemy anti-air guns in the distance, explosions dotting the sky amidst a small furball of UNSC Air Assets.
The group of vehicles arrived amidst the UNSC's FOB. Mortar crews in pits fired at the enemy, while artillery pieces, both heavy and light, also added upon the explosive payloads probably landing on what was to be a ruined landing strip. The Marines dismounted and watched as casualties were being brought in for triage. Some were in bodybags, while others were being tended to. Most were either dead or walking wounded.
Parisa approached one of the injured Marines as her Platoon went to retrieve ammo and supplies, before stopping in front of him and asking him, "Private, what the hell's going on up there?" as the distant thunder of gunfire seemed to intensify. The Marine, who had a bandage covering half his face, looked at her, seemingly surprised, before shaking his head and pointing at his throat. Another bandage covered a bullet wound that had just narrowly missed the man's carotid. And probably hit his vocal chords.
She sighed and said, "Sorry... Get home soon, trooper," then patted him on the shoulder.
Turning to walk away, the woman heard someone whistle to attract her attention. She looked left, to see a platoon of UNSC Marines arming Feds. Defectors? She blinked, confused, then approached the man. With a scar-hewn face and a smirk that was about as pearly white as could be, the man gave a salute and said, "Staff Sergeant Stacker, El-Tee. Good to see you again after NM..."
"Sarge," She nodded, "Why're you arming Feds?"
"Orders from High Command are we start training a liberation force," He shrugged, "Defectors and the likes. Rumors must've spread about us, courtesy of ONI."
"No offense, fellas, but I trust you all about as far as I can..." She paused as she saw a kid, her voice going low, "Throw you... I hope he's a support element."
"He is," Sighed Stacker, then he rubbed his eyes, "If you wanna know what you're going up against over there, El-Tee, we've got the deep shit in the Airport area. We're talking a group of crack fireteams that actually act about as aptly as our Marines, we've got multiple heavy mortars laying hell into the forest most of our footsloggers are advancing through and two tanks, looked like Abrams M1A2s, covering the road."
"Fuck. We're staring right down the barrels of 120mm cannons, then?" Parisa inquired, well aware of the armament of the 2000s best main battle tank.
He nodded, "Best bet we have for your platoon is joining the advance through the forest. The enemy actually decided to deploy drones for artillery spotting..." only to pause as the distant rumble of counter-battery fire echoed all the way to them. He sighed and said, "Best get moving now. Before the path's closed again by the bastards firing Willy Pete..."
Parisa nodded, then marched to the supply tent. After grabbing ammunition for all of her weapons, she called out, "Third Platoon! On me!" only to watch the entire squad rally up. In the distance, amidst the trees, explosions flashed like thunder. She ordered, "We'll do the standard. Leapfrog from cover to cover, jump into the ditches if we fucking need to. I want us across that forest in twenty mikes or less! Don't get pinned down! Marines, move!"
The squad chorused several affirmative replies before hefting their weapons. The Third Platoon joined a dozen others as they entered the forest up ahead. Above, air assets engaged with missiles and guns, while the canopy was being blown away by airburst shells. The Marines pushed through like bats out of hell, moving into the areas that were actually impacted by the shells. Deep craters were dug into the soil by the shells, both their own and the enemy's, as platoons of Marines surged forward.
Air cover seemed to be helping in keeping the enemy's artillery inaccuracy. Still, even Jake got spooked as an HE shell detonated several dozen meters above them. Shrapnel sprayed down, tearing chunks of the trees and pinging off the helmets and armor of the Marines. Marta huffed as she ran at maximum speed beside Heikkala, noting, "This is fucking nuts!"
"Seems about bog standard for us at this point!" Parisa replied, "Armor's rolling up right! Air's handling keeping the enemy's drones blind! We're leapfrogging to keep them thinking the main assault's coming from footsloggers!"
"The 120s on our Scorpions are bound to wake the fuckers up!" Laughed Junttila as they dashed forward. Sparse gunfire began to echo from up ahead, tracers whizzing past their ears as more artillery seemed to open fire, thumping echoing distantly behind them. That must've been their higher-caliber guns, deployed with the second and third waves. The Finnish rocketeer yelped, however, taken out of her thoughts by the concussive blast of a mortar shell landing right next to her. She felt the shrapnel thankfully hit armor, but also got thrown into a hole.
Jake staggered and stopped, turning back and calling out, "Anni!"
Despite the ringing in her ears, the girl managed to poke her hand over the edge of the shallow crater and give a thumbs up. Weston laughed and shook his head, before feeling bullets ping off of his armor. He jumped into cover of his own accord, pausing only as he saw a Corpsman tending to the wounded. She looked up at him, her azure eyes filled with surprise. She told him, "Hell of a place you chose to land, Corporal!"
"Good to see you, private!" He chuckled, then ducked as a round zipped just over their heads.
Parisa radioed, "The artillery went quiet! Enemy's countercharging! All units, hold current POS and fire at will!" just as Jake heard her battle rifle go off. Jane jumped into the same ditch as Jake and started helping the female corpsman tend to the wounded marine. Another Marine also joined in, hefting his rifle and firing bursts as the silhouettes in the mist began to clear out.
Jane spoke, "Good to see you, Erika," as she put a splint onto the wounded Marine's femur. Said Marine then stood up, probably hopped up on Painkillers, and opened fire with his MA40. Jane laughed and spoke to the Marine, "Fighting spirit's there, McCraw!" to which he gave a thumbs up. She paused, blinked, then said, "Wait, that means the platoon we just mixed in with is Lopez's!"
"Sarge and Benti are up front!" Erika spoke to them. She fell backward as a bullet hit her helmet, but called out, "I'm okay! I'm okay, scheisse!" and laughed. Jane helped her to her feet and handed her back her M7 SMG before both women joined the Marines in firing their weapons. Dead ahead, what looked to be hundreds of silhouettes burst out of the mist, revealing their dark-green uniforms and glistening bayonets attached to their Morita rifles.
Two airburst grenades detonated overhead, the shockwave stunning the UNSC's combined firepower for a minute as more heavily-armored Mobile Infantry pushed forward. Men armed with Morita Mark II and Mark III Rifles pushed amidst the crowd of charging bayonets. Militia and the Deep Space Vanguard, the latter of which wore standard MI Uniforms with the better armor and guns, surged forward.
The leading officer of the Militia Corps drew a curved sword and Parisa cried out, "We were fucking joking about the IJA, you Mobile Infantry morons!" through the laughter. She aimed her rifle and snapped off a burst that caught the Militia officer in the chest. He crumpled like a sack of potatoes, while his soldiers continued charging. Meanwhile, Niko and the machinegun section of the Platoon immediately opened up, spent casings piling at the bottom of the ditch they used for cover.
Corpses fell, but the MI's Deep Space Vanguard Fireteam didn't stop. They were using the Militia as human shields, to nobody's surprise. One of them, armed with a shotgun, made it through the crowds and slammed into a UNSC Marine that was reloading her rifle. He planted the barrel of his shotgun into her face, which was the most exposed area, and squeezed the trigger.
It took half a second for it to register for the Marines, but they did register it. Blood painted the floor of a trench. A second Marine, still dumbfound, was run through by a Militiaman's bayonet at the front, but he managed to fire back, wasting the bastard and taking him with. Parisa scowled as she shot at the Deep Space Vanguard soldier, only for a Militiaman to take the rounds.
He fired back at her, forcing her back into cover. She swore to herself and said, "These bastards are using their won as human fucking shields!"
"Shift fire, left! Left, Blyat!" Niko barked at his fellow Machinegunners, one of which was a crazy dog by the name of Mahmoud. Sergeant Zao Heng Lopez, the Marine Platoon's Mom, jumped into the line and pulled several fragmentation grenades off her person, long-arming them into the crowd as she drew her knife. She parried a bayonet with her gauntlet and stabbed the first Militia soldier in the throat, throwing his corpse aside and stabbing another through the side of the head.
She then called out, "Parisa, we're gonna need some heavy fucking fire on the Mobile Infantrymen! They're urging these little shits on!"
"Rog'! Heikkala, Marta, snipe those bastards, now!" Parisa ordered, giving a chop of the hand forward to point out the enemy's elite leadership. They stuck out like sore thumbs amidst the green of the bayonet-charging lunatics that were falling by the dozen like wheat to a scythe. Still, some made it through. Those were being taken care of by Niura, Cranker and their shotguns.
Jake gasped as a bayonet which was pointed straight at him flashed in the light, only to make contact with his armor plate and slide off to the side. The Marine drew his pistol off his belt and snapped off two shots into the attacker's chest, before hefting his MA-series rifle and firing the UBGL. A Three-Strikes shell was loaded. And the moment he fired it, the fireworks display turned a little gruesome, gore and viscera scattering around the place.
His eyes shot wide open again as a DSV Soldier appeared in front of him and planted several rounds into his chest armor. The AP shots dented the plate at first, then one pierced. Jake felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest and felt the warmth of blood trickling underneath his armor. He grit his teeth, tasting the coppery taste of his own partial exsanguination, before aiming his rifle and firing.
Bullets punctured the DSV's armor, staggering him and causing him to fall to the floor. Beside him, Jane and Erika ran in, the former body-slamming the Vanguard into the floor, putting the barrel of her rifle under his chin and firing a burst, brains splattering across the floor. She threw her weapon into her back and ran to join Erika, with the latter calling out, "Collapsed lung! Biofoam going in!" as she stabbed the needle in.
Jake felt the cool viscous liquid expand in his chest, harden and ease the pain, before feeling himself hefted by the arms and dragged off by the two medics. Jane called over radio, "WATCHER ACTUAL, this is 2/5th, Platoon 3, requesting medevac for injured, immediate," as she wrapped the CAS Tag over his shoulder with an IR strobe. Setting him down behind the line as gunfire continued to echo in the distance.
Erika patted Jake on the shoulder and smiled, "You're going to be fine, Jake..." to which the guy nodded. He watched the ongoing firefight, noting that the Platoon managed to push the enemy out, with one dead Vanguard, plus a dozen enemy units. He grit his teeth and sighed, then patted Jane on her hand and chopped his hand once toward their team. She smiled and nodded. Giving him a pat on the shoulder, she stepped off after telling Erika something. The girl chuckled and said, "Well, that was informative, I guess..." before looking Jake in the eye, "You okay?"
"Hurts, but it'll fucking pass..." He replied, a little exasperated.
Jane, meanwhile, linked up with Parisa and told her, "Jake's gonna be fine! Should be back in combat in a couple days!" as they pushed forward, bullets ringing from their rifles. The group exited the forest alongside Lopez's Marines, all while the thunder of tracks rolling across concrete echoed. The Corpsman gasped and called out, "TANKS!" before pushing Parisa to the floor. A 120mm fin-stabilized dart screamed over their heads and struck the dirt.
Machine gun bursts started hitting as the tank rolled up toward them. Jane told Parisa, "Fuck's sake, we need AT! Junttila!" only to watch the girl run up to them, hefting the launcher. She examined the tank as it rolled forward with support from more Militia and a few Deep Space Vanguards, two of which engaged in CQC with a squad of Marines. One of them grabbed a Marine by the throat and slammed her helmet's forehead protection into the man's nose, before pushing him to the floor and executing him.
Her seeming sibling jumped and powered the jetpack on his back, raining automatic fire from his Morita down on them and following up with two thermobaric grenades that killed several more Marines. A shot rang out, Heikkala's rifle barrel smoldering. The round struck and tore the flyer's left arm off, sending him careening to the ground, alive but heavily injured.
The second Abrams rolled onto the scene, its forest camouflage contrasting against the concrete and the black hangars in the rear. The group took cover in the ditches and craters on the runway, waiting for the tank to advance as Junttila scoped it in. She sighed and said, "They installed APSes on the damn things! They're gonna get in close and kill us!"
"Don't worry," Lopez smirked as she heard the rumble of different tracks on the runway concrete, "We're not dead yet, kid!"
The thundercrack of another 120mm cannon echoed, but it was more distant. Erika ran forward with a squad of Marines and supporting Oryx, diving into the ditch next to Junttila and stating, "Allied tanks, rolling up the rear!" only for the affirmation to be proven true as the first enemy tank took a shell to the side, flame pouring from the damage. A second hit de-tracked the tank and a third and fourth destroyed it completely before the crew had a chance to disembark.
The second tank was cored by the first shot. Whatever followed was mostly insult to injury. Parisa sighed as they began the cleanup duty, noting the destroyed husks of enemy TAC-Fighters, some of which had been on the runway as the artillery was exchanging shots. She radioed, "Watcher, area secure... All allied units have entered the Airbase, enemy resistance is no-factor..."
"Roger. All units, halt at demarcation line until Artillery can advance and the supply lines catch up. We'll proceed into the first city tomorrow."