Chapter 63
Of Angled Visage
Like many of her compatriots, Mikasa had enlisted in the Britannian military for want of prospects. Her mixed heritage had closed doors on both sides of the cultural divide, though her own personal experience saw more aversion from the Japanese side than the Britannian one, despite her Asiatic visage. After all, it was an Eden Vital orphanage that took her in after she lost her parents to the Japanese mobs in the aftermath of the Britannian invasion. And ultimately the Order had even offered her a place amongst them if she was interested in taking vows. Mikasa ultimately declined, not feeling any particular urge to work the sort of social services she was most familiar with as Eden Vital's purview. Had she any inkling that joining the Order Militant was an option the girl might have gone down a different path, but right now she was a corporal in the 597th regiment and second in command in her specific squad. As far as achievements went, that was nothing to scoff at. Maybe in time she would climb the ranks higher. A senior noncommissioned rank might be on the ambitious side, but surely she could at least get her foot on the ladder before being mustered out and pensioned. That'd make it easier to find a decent job as a civilian, no small consideration there. And maybe she would even take up that nice sister's offer, assuming it was still open.
That was all for the future however. In the present, Mikasa still had the job of finding and killing every heretic responsible for the Princess Euphemia's murder. Which was why it was so frustrating to be sitting here and waiting with the rest of her squad when several others had already been forward deployed and gotten stuck in. Neither was her unit one of those riding through the city making their way to the frontlines in various vehicles. The irony here was that her platoon was being held in reserve not because of any doubt on their capabilities, but because Colonel Gottwald trusted them so much that he wanted them available to douse any major emergencies that erupted. Several other reserve elements had already been drawn down, but apparently none as yet warranted Mikasa's platoon, until now.
"Alright ladies!" the commanding lieutenant called out after completing her conversation over the radio. "It looks like our buddies in the Tokyo resistance have gotten into a bit of trouble out west."
A statement that would have been utterly unconceivable mere months ago.
"They've dug in and are holding, but the heretics," another word that flowed entirely naturally now, "seem intent on bulldozing through. The blocking forces east are stuck in place holding their own positions, so it's up to us to ride to the rescue. So who here wants to play cavalry?"
"Hooah!" came the enthusiastic response.
The lieutenant flashed a fierce smirk. "Then let's saddle up! To your birds by the numbers!"
There were four Black Hawks spinning up on the tarmac, the four that had just finished getting turned around after their last drop-off in the city. The transport squadrons were getting run through the ringer this day, ferrying units into the city at a very rapid tempo. Hopefully they and their pilots were not so worn down that there would be any accidents this trip. Mikasa climbed into the second helicopter and strapped herself in.
"Everyone aboard?" the pilot called over the radio.
"We're all in," Rico, the commanding sergeant, called back.
After a quick confirmation with the other helicopters and ground control that everyone else was ready, the helicopter lifted off. To the side Mikasa saw a pair of Little Birds join them, along with another pair of larger Apaches. The colonel was clearly very serious about reinforcing the strongpoint if he was throwing in this much hardware for the insertion.
"The resistance defenders are sitting on the Yono Junction," the lieutenant's voice sounded over the radio as they flew. "That's where several of the Tokyo Expressways intersect northwest of the Arakawa River, and those Expressways offer the most direct route into the heart of the city. The insurgents can push through the smaller roads, but would have to disperse. Let's be clear here, this attack has already failed in a strategic sense. The resistance fighters managed to stall the heretics long enough that we've been able to mobilize a good chunk of the Tokyo garrison to hold the Concessions, and if we were prepared to drop the bridges, everything south of the Arakawa River. Doing that however means writing off everyone stuck up north, including the resistance fighters that stuck their necks out for us. Well, the higher ups don't seem inclined to do that, and it'd certainly leave a bad taste in my mouth if we left them hanging like that. So think of this as a rescue mission. We get in, fend off the heretics long enough for our own reinforcements to arrive, and then we wipe those arseholes off the face of the city."
A simple enough plan, with nothing Mikasa found particularly objectionable. They still needed to make it work however.
"The resistance fighters are supposed to have positioned four tanks at Yono," the lieutenant continued. "No, don't ask me where exactly they managed to find tanks, though at least these ones are supposed to be leftovers from the old Japanese Army instead of yet more Glasgows that our own side somehow lost."
A few wry chuckles could be heard over the thumping of the rotor blades. It was an open secret that prior to the Cardinal Lamperouge taking over and cleaning house, a great deal of corruption had permeated the occupational forces' supply chain, as demonstrated by how many times the soldiers of this very regiment had found themselves on the sharp end of the same arsenal they themselves wielded. That entire knightmares were purloined was a whole other level than the odd dozen or so rifles going missing, but by this point no one could necessarily claim much surprise at the appearance of hostile frames. The tanks were unusual though, even if they were of actual Japanese origin.
"We already have one knightmare of our own on the ground, the Lancelot."
That saw a few more heads perk up. More rumors than facts pertained to the Lancelot amongst the rank and file, but one thing that everyone did know was the name of its pilot. Suzaku Kururugi's selection as the Lancelot's test pilot had in the early days been seen as a sop at best, and exploitive at worst consider the rumors of the Lancelot's temperamentality. After Lake Kawaguchi however and his being awarded the Royal Elizabethan Medal, opinions started shifting that just maybe Suzaku's achievements were not mere accident. With the second time it was at least coincidence. And now? There was certainly enemy action involved, with Suzaku doing his best to be a spanner in those works.
"Unfortunately the infantry that was with him had to stay to hold the Nishiara Junction, and the remaining resistance soldiers at Yono look to be in pretty bad shape. And you all know what happens to tanks without an infantry screen in an urban environment."
Or really any environment, as the training exercise they had run a few months back showed. Still, the presence of the armor plus the resistance infantry explained how the western flank had held this long without Britannian reinforcements. Hopefully with said reinforcements, they would properly break the back of the heretic attack.
"A strike package is supposed to soften the area up before we arrive, and the attack birds with us should also help keep the enemy off us while we insert. Once we're on the ground, it'll be another half hour before any further armor can reach us, the Knightmare Corps apparently only having gotten the one flying before the Air Force started bitching about jurisdiction infringement."
Chuckles sounded at that. While none of the soldiers here were privy to the development of the Lancelot, being army grunts, none of them were prepared to put it past the Chair Force to whine about anything that took to the air and wasn't a helicopter or otherwise some utility transport.
"Additional platoons will be ferried out as command can get the available birds turned around. Otherwise, it'll be up to us and whatever resistance fighters are already there to hold the line. Don't let me down."
Another round of cheers sounded, though the mood quickly turned solemn as the sight of rising smoke became more prevalent. While the southern districts looked almost eerily serene, the burning fires north were a somber reminder that people were dying, and not all of them were those the Empire wanted dead. As they neared their target location, the two Apaches rose higher in the air. The why became evident moments later as missiles erupted from their pods and flew high in the air before streaking down, passing over the buildings to get at their targets.
"Wonder who's spotting for them," Mikasa mumbled.
"Might be the drones," Rico said, apparently having heard. "Or maybe the Lancelot, if it's equipped with the right systems."
With their main payload expended, the Apaches dropped down with the Little Birds, using their guns to pound the enemy positions. Then it was the Black Hawks' turn, descending rapidly to a somewhat clear area at the junction. Only one was able to actually touch down. The others, Mikasa's included, hovered in the air as their passengers ziplined down instead. Once boots were on the ground, the soldiers wasted little time fanning out. Those resistance fighters still standing greeted them with enthused relief. One flashed a wide grin at Mikasa and said something in Japanese.
Mikasa shot the resistance fighter an apologetic look before responding in English. "Sorry, I don't remember much Japanese."
The resistance fighter's eyes widened before giving a tight smile.
"That is unfortunate," he also switched to English, extending a hand, "but even so, we're glad to see all of you."
Mikasa looked down at the proffered hand and after a moment took it. It was still a somewhat novel experience, being thanked by others for bearing arms. And if she was honest, it did not feel bad at all.
When the first wave of Britannian infantry finally arrived at their position, Miho allowed herself a sigh of relief that she had not even breathed out when Suzaku first appeared. Firepower might serve as an equalizer, but quantity was a quality all its own, and one they badly needed to make up their own depleted numbers. Still, even with their bolstered numbers, victory was no guarantee.
"Lieutenant Anka Rheinberger. You would be Lieutenant, or is it, Captain Nishizumi?"
Miho cracked a wry smile. "My sister was the one that made it to captain. I was only breveted to lieutenant when the war broke out."
The Britannian lieutenant flashed a smile back. "Well, we'll just count that as years of seniority instead, hmm? So, what's the current situation?"
"The enemy is shifting the full weight of their forces towards the west," Suzaku said over the radio. "They're still trickling in, but it won't be too long before they're able to concentrate for a proper push, probably sooner than our own grounds reinforcements can get to us. I'm not sure if we can hold this position if they send all that our way, not without resorting to flattening half the city."
"Most of the civilians have evacuated," Miho said, "so that's actually an option at this point. Places can be rebuilt, after all. It's the people that matter."
"True enough," Anka responded. "Still, the earlier we start hitting the enemy, the better. If we give them time to properly coalesce, they might still be able to overrun us."
"That we can probably do," Miho said. "Yukari-san, are you set up with a Britannian radio?"
"Just got handed one by one of the soldiers," the other woman responded from another tank.
"Alright, switch with me," Miho said, climbing out of her tank. "I need to be mobile in case we need to move."
"Do you want me to come with?" Hana asked.
Miho shook her head. "Stay here as Yukari-san's gunner."
"Understood. Take care, Miho-san."
After this and another exchange with Yukari, Miho dropped down into one of the less badly damaged Type 10s.
"Retaining callsign of Anglerfish," Miho said. "Do you read me, Lancelot, Lieutenant Rheinberger?"
"Loud and clear," Anka responded.
"Same," Suzaku did likewise. "Though are you sure you don't want to remain here to support the junction, Miho-senpai?"
A personal inquiry, that second bit, what with the use of her name.
"Yukari-san can hold the line," Miho said, "especially if we can thin the incoming enemies, Lancelot."
And thus did Miho set them back to the task at hand.
"Understood, Anglerfish," Suzaku likewise made the switch. "Aerial recon has the enemy starting to converge along the northeastern boundary delimited by the Shiba River. And they're also pulling back what armor they had engaged away from both the Nishiara and Yono Junctions."
Miho looked down at her map. The Yono Junction was actually a fair bit more north than either of the defense points further to the east, with Miho counting on the very same river to act as a natural barrier, much as the Arakawa was doing to the south. The spillover from Nishiara had still managed a sortie along their southeastern flank, but that had been rather piecemeal, not to mention Suzaku's timely arrival putting paid to it. Still, with the vast majority of people having fled along the enemy's axis of approach, Miho's visibility into heretic movement was vastly more constrained than at the start of the battle. It was good to get confirmation that the enemy wasn't going for a repeat of their previous attack, yet at least. The question was where were they headed now?
"Are there any estimates as to where the enemy are converging towards?" Miho asked.
"Not exactly," Suzaku responded. "I'm being shown two possible general axes of approach, one along the S2 route and the other further south along the Koshigaya Bypass or Boulevard."
"The attack we took from the east was likely a probing effort to see if the S2 route was viable," Miho said. "With it defeated, I would place my bets on the Koshigaya route."
"If they actually want to get down there, they'll need to hurry," Anka said. "The Air Force expended a lot of ordnance providing CAS at Nishiara and Misato, but once they can rearm their heavier munitions, they're likely to just bomb the two bridges connecting the bypass and boulevard.
Miho pursed her lips for a moment. "Lieutenant, Suzaku, what is the Britannian military's objective?"
"Umm, sorry, what?" Suzaku answered with mild befuddlement.
Anka on the other hand merely tilted her head, inviting Miho to elaborate.
"Does the Empire want to decisively destroy these heretics, or would their dispersal be considered a successful outcome of this battle?" Miho clarified, her voice taking a harder tint in the process.
This time it was not Suzaku that provided the answer.
"The Empire would see anything short of the destruction of the Blood of the Samurai as a strategic failure," Cécile stated, having kept an ear on the channel ever since it began being used by Suzaku and Miho to coordinate.
"Then I would suggest the Empire let the heretics cross the bridges," Miho said, "and only bring them down after they have fully committed."
There was a cold, hard ruthlessness to the woman's words, a reminder that for all her genial temperament, she was still a product of the Nishizumi school, and family.
"That would trap the bulk of their assets south of the Shiba River, without an easy line of retreat," Miho continued. "Substantial forces are already positioned east at Nishiara, and if the Yono and Bijogi Junctions can be similarly reinforced, it would mean a three-way encirclement."
That was mostly true. Parts of the Shiba River were narrow and shallow enough to be forded, though the Samurai would undoubtedly lose a substantial amount of equipment if they were forced to retreat that way. The other gotcha was whether the western flank could be reinforced quickly enough to complete Miho's proposed encirclement. While the local resistance elements still had some capacity left, it would ultimately have to be the Empire that would provide the decisive edge to tip the balance.
There was a brief bout of silence on the radio as Cécile was likely consulting her own superiors and counterparts. When the woman returned however, she sounded as determined as Miho.
"The second wave of reinforcements are already enroute and should be touching down within ten minutes. They were originally earmarked for Bijogi, but Colonel Gottwald believes that if this encirclement is to succeed, the plan would be better served strengthening the forces at Yono."
"I have an alternate suggestion," Miho however said. "The Midori Ward is actually farmland, with wide open spaces. It also has the two largest bridges that'd allow the heretics to cross quickly. If we can check them at the Koshigaya Bypass and Boulevard, that would leave the enemy exposed to bombardment by much heavier ordnance than could be safely employed in a purely urban setting."
"Would not the enemy be aware of this?" Cécile asked.
"Which is why we leave them with no choice," Miho said. "If we have the forces concentrated at Yono and Nishiara strike out, the enemy's only options would either be to retreat, or press forward across the river."
Or defeat the attacking forces, but that was going to be easier said than done. Of course, putting together this attack on their end was not going to be a walk in the park.
"I will pass on your recommendation to the colonel," Cécile said. "In either case the Yono Junction force would still require reinforcing if it were to partake in this pincer attack. For now assume another platoon will be setting down in ten, Camelot out."
"HQ, did you get all that?" Miho asked.
"Umm, I think so," Saori said. "But Anglerfish, can we actually make that sort of push?"
"In a manner," Miho said. "We just take advantage of the same route the heretics were originally planning on using on us, the S2 route. That'll take us right into the farmlands, which will bottle in the enemy on our end. We don't need to go any further than that, just keep the enemy from trying to head west again."
"Understood," Saori said, still worried but trusting in her friend's judgment. "Do you want to move the forces at Bijogi back up north?"
Miho reflexively shook her head, even if Saori could not see the motion. "No. Aside from the armor, we'll have the Britannians take point. Our troops have fought hard enough, we should focus on evacuating our wounded."
A beat passed before Saori responded. "And those that want to fight nonetheless?"
That was the thing, there remained an urge even in the back of Miho's own mind to go out there and strangle every heretic she could get her hands on. But the urge was lessening with every passing moment, and rawness of Mako's injuries were enough to cut through the temptation.
"Tell them if they want the heretics dead, they need to stand aside so we can bring out the big guns," Miho thus responded.
Another moment of silence filled the channel.
"Understood, Anglerfish," Saori finally responded. "I'll get the word out. HQ, out."
In the background, Miho could hear the sound of helicopter rotors humming away. The next set of promised reinforcements were here. And then, a loud explosion sounded.
"Mayday, mayday, this is Tailgater 62, we've been hit!"
Mikasa felt her heart freeze as she heard the panicked call over the radio. Tailgater was the squadron of Black Hawks that had ferried her own platoon in and were now making another run to bring in a second. Looking up, she saw one of the helicopters starting to spin out of control and careen down until it disappeared below the buildings. The sound of the impact was muffled due to the distance, but it was most definitely not a soft landing.
"We have a Black Hawk down, I repeat, we have a bird down!" more voices called over the radio.
"Does anyone have eyes on the crash site!?"
"Bird went down due east," Suzaku said, "15 klicks out from the junction."
"Fuck, what the hell were they doing that far east!? That's behind the enemy positions!"
Mikasa winced at that. Whatever the outcome of the crash itself, if the heretics reached them first, there would be no survivors.
"Damn it, Anglerfish, do you have any assets nearby that could reach the crash site?"
"Our own forces have pulled out of that area," Miho said, "but my tanks can reach that location in ten minutes. We'll need infantry support though."
"We can pile onto your tanks and ride there."
"We do have a few working vehicles still," Miho said. "That might be safer, and allow more of your troops to accompany us."
"Works for me. Command, this is 1st platoon, requesting permission to go secure the crash site. The local resistance elements are willing to provide us support for this."
"Negative, platoon," came the refusal however. "Hold your position, ground elements are twenty minutes out, do not move until they arrive."
"Twenty minutes!? Command, it'll take us at least ten minutes to get there ourselves, if we wait half an hour, there's not going to be anyone to save!"
"And if you charge in there without more support, you'll get wiped out yourselves. The insurgents have been shifting more and more of their own heavy hitters westward, even if you took all four of the resistance tanks, you'd be outgunned and outnumbered. Stay put and support the resistance elements guarding Yono, and that is an order. Is that clear, over."
The time the platoon CO spent not responding was presumably her cursing up a storm.
"Roger that command," she finally said.
A sinking sensation churned in Mikasa's stomach. She could understand why their superiors were issuing the orders they were. She could even appreciate to a degree their desire to not get herself and her unit killed. Still, it felt wrong to be leaving her compatriots hanging like that. And apparently Mikasa was not the only one that felt that way.
"Lieutenant, your orders were to support my own forces," Miho said over the platoon radio.
"Yes?"
"And if I were to take two of my tanks eastward, to fulfill your orders, would you not need to accompany me?"
The pause this time likely had nothing to do with impolite language.
"When this is over, Captain Nishizumi, you should see if you can get a commission in the Army," Anka said. "I wouldn't mind having a CO that's as sneaky as you. Bravo, with me! Alpha, remain here with the other two tanks to support the Yono position!"
Mikasa quickly joined up with the rest of her squad as a pair of miraculously still intact trucks were pulled out from hiding behind some equally miraculously intact buildings. Even without any armoring or mounted weapons, it arguably still beat riding atop the tanks or having to walk all the way to their destinations.
"I'll take point," Suzaku said.
"Mr. Kururugi?" Anka said questioningly.
"I'm under a different chain of command than you," Suzaku said frankly, "and I've received no specific orders to remain here. Besides, the Lancelot's shield should be able to shrug off the initial salvo of any ambush attempt."
That was enough to elicit a few jealous words from the other soldiers. Not that any of them would be looking a gift horse like that in the mouth.
"Alright Mr. Kururugi, point is yours if you want it," the lieutenant said. "Order of march is Lancelot, then a tank, then infantry, then another tank. Any objections, Captain Nishizumi?"
"None," Miho said. "I will follow behind Lancelot. Leopon, take up the rearguard."
"Ryoukai," came the response in Japanese.
The trucks were serviceable, but almost as badly exposed as riding atop the tanks would have been. Mikasa kept her eyes on the surroundings, weapon always at the ready. It might be difficult to hit something from a moving vehicle, but ammo limits notwithstanding, it was better than nothing. That stance was quickly put to the test as gunfire erupted in their surroundings. The Black Hawk had crashed behind the enemy positions after all, and the enemy were hardly going to cooperate in their efforts to rescue any survivors. Of course, the risk of firing small arms at a convoy that included tanks was the tanks simply shrugged off any hits and responded with something substantially larger. The rear tank's cannon roared and Mikasa watched as bodies tumbled out from behind some makeshift cover. Those still moving did not do so for long as more gunfire, including her own, strafed them.
Even with their heavier firepower though, the enemy's own was far from ineffective. A woman next to Mikasa suddenly lurched back and the soldier reflexively reached out to grab hold of her. Blood was soon seeping out from her side.
"Hold on!" Mikasa shouted.
She pushed aside the armor as best she could within the tight confines of the vehicle, ripping open the clothes in the process. There the bullet wound was visibly surrounded by copious amounts of blood. A bad hit, but not necessarily a fatal one if they could get it stabilized and treated quickly enough. Pulling out a bandage, Mikasa put pressure on the wound to stem the bleeding and hurriedly wrapped some gauze around to keep it tight.
"Really wish we had a proper MG on this thing," Rico could be heard grousing.
The sergeant was letting loose with her SAW, but in this environment it felt a poor substitute for something more substantial like an M2, or even an M60. Still they pressed forward, and were soon given impetus to hurry further.
"Lieutenant," Suzaku's voice sounded over the radio, "aerial recon over the crash site is showing movement. There does appear to be survivors, and they are already coming under fire."
"Understood, Mr. Kururugi. 2nd platoon, this is Lieutenant Rheinberger, do you read, over?"
Only a hash of static answered.
"Fuck. Sergeant Brzenska, keep an ear out for me, I'm going to try 2nd platoon's local channel."
"Wilco, ma'am."
The lieutenant's voice disappeared from their own radio channel, though Mikasa caught fleeting glimpses of the woman speaking in the other truck. She paid that little mind however, instead focusing on her own immediate circumstances. The wounded soldier was stabilized enough that the other woman had even managed to prop herself back up to keep shooting back. For that Mikasa was grateful, having another rifle watching her back was no small thing in this massive clusterfuck.
"Fuck," the lieutenant's voice cut through after a few minutes. "Alright, listen up, ladies, 2nd platoon's squad just bought it."
Grimaces all around there. Even with their rushed deployment, they had been too late.
"But."
Or perhaps not.
"One of the chopper pilots is still alive, and the insurgents don't seem to have noticed. He's feeding me reports about his immediate vicinity as best he can, says that a lot of enemy troops are gathering, too many for us to try and extract."
If there really was only one survivor, it arguably did not make sense for the squad to continue risking their lives to try to pull him out, especially if the odds were as bad as the pilot claimed. But it was arguably not just the pilot that was left. Dead though they may be, that did not mean those soldiers of 2nd platoon had stopped being their comrades in arms. Due was owed, even now.
"Command has also noticed our little excursion," the lieutenant continued, "and has chosen for the moment not to reprimand us. Instead, they've got a new job for us. It seems our side has been doing such a good job reaming the enemy that they're repositioning to try and make a breakthrough along the Koshigaya Bypass. Since that would allow them to slip through our lines between Yono and Nishiara and make a run south, command has determined that they shouldn't be allowed to succeed. Now, the reason that the enemy has been milling around the crash site is because a good chunk of the western column is still trying to make its way to the Midori Ward to link up with their center column. Which means if we can get to the site and hunker down, we can make sure the two columns never get the chance to merge properly."
Not only the first, but the second part of that statement also came with a very big if. At minimum they would be badly outnumbered, as even after getting ground down at Yono, the insurgents still had way more manpower than the single squad of infantry riding in the convoy.
"The good news is we're not going in this alone, and no, I don't just mean the Lancelot or the tanks," the lieutenant assured them. "The rest of 2nd platoon actually put down early after one of their birds went down and are hoofing it on foot north along the Second Sangyo Road. We should all be able to rendezvous together near the starting point of the S2 expressway."
That would up their numbers to almost a hundred soldiers, which looked a lot better than the single squad they presently were.
"In addition, I have reports that elements of the 12th regiment have finally reached the Arakawa River."
The 12th, the knightmare regiment stationed in Tokyo, and the center of the Purist conspiracy to gas the ghettos. In another time the soldiers of the 597th might have been liable to shoot any 12th members they came across. Now though, seeing as their own commanding officer was the 12th's previous CO, and combined with the training exercise they had conducted a few short months ago, the Japanese soldiers of the 597th might actually see some utility in the presence of those knightmares.
"Half an hour," the lieutenant stated. "That's how long command says we have to hold out before the heavy armor rolls in. And then we make every single one of those heretics pay for what they did to the Princess Euphemia."
A roar of agreement sounded at that, the urge for vengeance stirring once more. And then the convoy broke out from the urban areas into the splotch of farmland nestled within the otherwise dense metropolis. Off in the distance, Mikasa could actually see one or two enemy knightmares, presumably the survivors of the forward elements that previously tried probing the Yono Junction. And if she could see them, the enemy could certainly see her. Of course, said enemy had slightly bigger worries than a single rifleman like her. Naturally, all their attention was fixed on the Lancelot, peeking as it did over the houses. It took them a bit longer to notice the tanks as the lead vehicle ground to a halt, turret already traversing. A superbly placed shot nailed one enemy knightmare that was still turning about, blowing through its chest. The second opened fire, but got off only a single burst before the Lancelot's own gun thundered. The shrill sound it made took a moment to register before Mikasa could place it. It sounded just like the guns mounted on Eden Vital's Paladin tanks. A railgun, then, not just a mere conventional cannon. Little wonder it wrought even greater destruction than the Japanese tank's hit.
"Forward!" the lieutenant shouted into the radio.
The convoy reconfigured itself, with the three armored vehicles assuming the vanguard. The opposition took a moment or so to reorient itself, which was a moment too long as the Britannian-aligned forces managed to punch all the way through to the main wreckage site. There, the disembarking troops found ample cover as they prepared to dig in, literally in some places what with the soil beneath them. A good foxhole tended to be even better than a random chunk of concrete when it came to stopping incoming fire.
"Rico, grab our pilot, he's holed up two hundred meters, bearing 230."
"Roger that ma'am. Ackermann, with me. Rest of you, covering fire!"
"Yes Sergeant," Mikasa said, regretfully leaving the small ditch one of her privates had been in the process of enlarging.
The two soldiers hurried across the battlefield, ducking and weaving to try and keep out of the enemy's line of sight. A few cracks sounded near them, but near misses were fortunately the worst they suffered on their way. The rest of the squad laid down plenty of fire of their own, while a few explosions also lit off from cannon fire. That all combined to let the two women reach their destinations whole, though getting back was going to be its own thing.
"Holy shit, you actually came," a very disheveled and bloody looking man exclaimed.
"We don't leave anyone behind," Rico stated succinctly. "Can you move on your own?"
"Not really," the pilot winced through his pain. "Was barely able to crawl here. Sorry."
"We'll make do," Rico said. "Mikasa, grab hold of him and be ready to leg it once I give the say so."
"Yes Sergeant," Mikasa said.
The gingerly way the pilot placed an arm around Mikasa was clearly down to his injuries. If anything, the man looked immensely grateful otherwise to have a shoulder to lean on. Once she was certain she had a tight grip on the pilot, Mikasa gave a nod to Rico. The woman responded likewise and began scanning for an opportunity for them to run for it. It was not long in coming.
"Go!"
Half-helping and half-dragging the pilot along, Mikasa hurried back toward the rest of her squad. To her surprise a white shape suddenly interposed itself between her and the enemy lines, a green sheen flashing as the Lancelot absorbed the rounds that were otherwise whizzing towards the three runners. While the small arms fire was easily shrugged off by the knightmare, whatever it fired back was much more energetic. Mikasa did not bother looking back, the boom that sounded was more than enough. That and the pilot cursing after he did look back.
"Less talking, more running!" Mikasa chided.
"Right, sorry!"
And the man even sounded sincere about that. With some relief, the three got back to their own lines and the pilot crumpled into a heap from exhaustion. Mikasa was barely even breathing heavily, an idle thought about pilot fitness standards running through the back of the girl's head. With the man at least amongst friendlies, again, Mikasa was about to turn her attention back to her fireteam.
"Corporal. Sergeant."
She glanced over at the pilot as a medic started seeing to him.
"Thanks for coming for me."
The two women graced him with smiles that most men would have found angelic, despite the grim and dirt splotched over their faces.
"I'd say anytime, sir, but let's not make it a habit."
Halfway in the Chair Force though he may be, the pilot was still officially an officer and therefore outranked Rico and Mikasa. Still, he had shown enough sensibilities to let them do their jobs when they were in their element instead of his, so some credit was due. Besides, if he did get back into the air, they might well be reliant on him for a smooth ride in the future.
By now more soldiers were filtering in, the elements of 2nd platoon that managed to land safely and move north, on what appeared to be commandeered vehicles at that. Apparently someone in that platoon knew a thing or two about hotwiring cars.
"More of the enemy armor is headed our way again," the lieutenant's voice said over the radio. "2nd platoon, what've you got for AT?"
"Just our usual complement of Javelins. You?"
"Same. The tanks are actually running low on AT rounds, and Lancelot is burning through its power reserves. We might be in a bit of trouble here."
"Nothing new there, Rheinberger. So, we dig in?"
"We dig in."
Which 1st platoon had already been doing. While Mikasa and Rico had been running off to fetch the pilot, everyone not actively shooting had been digging deeper holes. Mikasa rolled into another one, regrouping with her fireteam and grabbing one of the Javelin launchers they had stacked in there.
"Aerial recon counts at least twenty enemy knightmares converging on us," Suzaku reported. "If they hit us all at once, we'll get overwhelmed."
"Think it might be time to call in that cruise missile strike, Mr. Kururugi?"
"Did the moment I got the count," Suzaku said. "They're going to be at least ten minutes out however, and we're going to make contact in at most five."
"Shit. Vector of approach?"
"Bearing 15 and 50."
"Alright, 1st platoon will take 15. Captain Nishizumi, we'll provide second salvo after your tanks while they reload, does that work?"
"Yes," Miho responded. "We'll be counting on you."
"Bravo, lock on targets when the enemy approaches, but let the tanks and Mr. Kururugi take the first shot. We don't have enough missiles to be wasting even a single one."
That was going to be a tricky, but not impossible feat to pull off. Despite being the only military that fielded knightmares en mass, the Britannian military did have doctrine on how to fight them as a matter of contingency. By and large, the doctrine was close to identical to that for dealing with conventional tanks. The differences were down to the fact that knightmares actually had more weak points that could be exploited. The customary thinner top armor was a weakness common to all armored combat vehicles, while the legs were of course specific to knightmares. Indeed, taking out even a single leg tended to cripple a knightmare much worse than tracking a tank. A tank at least could still traverse its turret and keep fighting, as the badly damaged resistance tanks had done even after being immobilized. A knightmare that lost a leg could become completely unable to balance its upper body, therefore rendering its entire arsenal useless.
This meant that direct attacks with a Javelin tended to be almost as viable in neutralizing a knightmare as a top-down attack, and sometimes worked better. The slightly smaller profile of a knightmare from above compared to a tank made them a bit harder to hit, especially when combined with their greater mobility. And an immobilized knightmare was as good as dead in the face of a still combat capable tank, assuming it had any ammo left itself. Resting her launcher upon her chosen cover, Mikasa waited patiently for the enemy armor to appear.
"Incoming platoon of enemy knightmares, bearing 20," Rico said.
A bit further east than Suzaku's original prediction, but still well within Mikasa's vantage field.
"Nagumo, take the first shot after the tank," Mikasa ordered.
"Roger that," the other woman said.
The approaching knightmares could be heard well before they came into view, and from how long that took they were clearly taking a more cautious approach after the reaming they'd been on the receiving end thus far. This made it notably harder for the launchers to get any sort of lock at all, and with how the tanks and Lancelot were also holding fire, the armored vehicles were having similar trouble. On this point knightmares did have a notable advantage over regular tanks, their ability to peek out, as it were, with their weapons while minimizing the exposure of the rest of their frames. And from what Mikasa recalled from her training, there was even a datalink between the rifle knightmares carried and the frame itself, allowing the pilot to more or less see down the rifle's sights even without poking his mech's head out. Handy, that.
Despite all that however the enemy knightmares were making a very simple mistake. While the bulk of their frames might have been physically obscured by whatever buildings they were hiding behind, those buildings were themselves not designed to withstand military grade munitions.
"Targets distributed," Miho, the Japanese woman that was somehow turning into the overall commander of this disjoint force, announced. "Firing in three, two, one, mark!"
Three shots sounded as the two tanks and the Lancelot let loose, and through the collapsing buildings Mikasa saw two knightmares explode while a third toppled over. Several others also became visually exposed as the debris and smoke cleared away, marking them as further prey.
"Backblast clear!"
Nagumo barely waited for acknowledgment before lighting off her missile. Mikasa was also working to acquire one of her own, paying just enough attention to her squad mate's shot to make sure they did not overlap targets.
"Reloading!"
Three enemy knightmares burst through the destruction, pelting the infantry positions. They were firing armor piercing rounds however, which the dirt ground was doing wonders absorbing. Mikasa did not even duck as she prepared to fire.
"Backblast clear!"
The woman gave slightly longer warning before pulling the trigger. Her own missile shot out on a relatively flat directory instead of going up for a top-down attack. The crack that sounded as it punctured the enemy mech's leg was sweet indeed and Mikasa rolled back into the hole for a reload. Of which there were none.
"Fuck," Mikasa murmured.
"Sorry, Corporal," Nagumo said. "Got the last shot."
"Don't waste it," Mikasa said bluntly, rising up with her trusty rifle to see what if anything she could do.
As it turned out, there was quite a bit of action to partake in. The heretics had apparently learned a lesson or two about sending in armor unsupported, so the moment the shooting started their own fighters had started pouring out. It was a bit much to call them soldiers, despite their undeniable zeal they were not moving coherently in support of one another. Random pairs or trios clustered together, taking potshots and trying to move up whenever they spotted an opportunity. The good news for the 597th was while Mikasa had gone to save the pilot, others had managed to get to the crashed helicopter itself and strip off the machinegun mounted on its side. Right now the M60 was making a most lovely cacophony, raking any enemy that dared poke their heads up for too long. And despite how little time they had had to prepare, the Britannian infantry had not wasted any of it, meaning they truly were dug in.
"Strikes inbound!" Suzaku called out. "Lasing targets!"
Under other circumstances, it would have been Mikasa and her fireteam's job to help designate targets for the incoming cruise missiles. The Lancelot however seemed to be equipped with an overabundance of such designators and was handling it almost singlehandedly. There might have been a drone or two in the air helping as well, though Mikasa was a bit too busy to try spotting them. Still, it was a glorious sight watching massive pillars of fire erupt with every hit. Some of the missiles landed beyond Mikasa's sight and the girl hoped that meant they were knocking out knightmares that had yet to join the battle. Others she was able to enjoy the fireballs with her own eyes.
"We've got more incoming!"
And yet despite the carnage, the enemy was still pressing, even gaining ground to inch closer to their positions. A missile streaked out from the enemy's side, slamming into one of the tanks. Its side armor seemed to take most of it, but the broken tracks indicated it was now immobile. There was no fixing that under this sort of fire, either.
"Tanks are down to HE only," the lieutenant informed the platoon. "Lancelot still has a few more rounds in its railgun, but it can't keep up its shield any longer if it's to still be able to fire. Do not let the enemy get off another missile!"
Mikasa allowed the others to keep up the volume of fire, instead scanning the enemy positions to see if she could spot the launcher. She as soon rewarded for her efforts.
"Enemy missile launcher, bearing 80, five hundred meters out."
"Seen, taking the shot."
Five hundred meters was not impossible with her M4, but it was most definitely on the outer edge of the rifle's effective range. On the other hand, the squad did have a designated marksman with them, whose shot neatly punched through the target's chest. One down, a couple hundred more to go. And then something much, much louder cut through the current cacophony.
"Incoming, danger close!"
That was all the prompting Mikasa and pretty much every soldier in the two platoons to roll into whatever hole they could find and hunker down. The enemy seemed to take this as a sign to advance, only momentarily distracted by the loud thunder reverberating through the air. A mistake, that, as suddenly the entire world seemed to disappear in fire and thunder behind them. Insurgent fighters still upright found themselves flattened onto the ground, some literally so, while even the surviving enemy mechs cracked from the force of the shockwave. Suzaku had hunkered down the best he could and diverting all remaining power to his shields kept his own knightmare from being torn apart, but soon only the emergency lights were blinking inside his cockpit. The tanks, lower profile that they were, emerged mostly unscathed, but those inside certainly felt anything but.
Mikasa's ears were still ringing when she finally opened her eyes, a white blur only slowly fading from her vision as she blinked. Rising ever so gingerly, about all the girl could manage with her body actually shaking, Mikasa took her first look at the surrounding visage. What she saw caused the air in her lungs to be squeezed out as she gave an unbelieving wheeze. There in front of her, it was as if some giant hand had reached down and swept aside everything that previously stood on the land. Where there had been hundreds of enemies milling forward amongst the single-story farmhouses that dotted this ward, the only bodies that Mikasa could even make out were those lucky enough to be at the very edge of the blast radius and were merely thrown aside instead of getting outright squashed. What was more, this sight was all Mikasa could see for at least a kilometer if not two out. Idly, Mikasa recalled those words uttered by the Japanese tank commander. It was the people that mattered, not the place. And bereft of its people, then leveling half the city was acceptable as a tradeoff for defeating the heretics. Maybe someone higher up had also heard, as this looked like that was exactly what happened.
"…hear me?"
The scratchy voice of their lieutenant was just barely audible over the radio, and Mikasa was not sure whether it was the equipment's fault or her own ears. Still, she answered.
"This is Ackermann. Bravo is," Mikasa glanced over at the other soldiers now poking their heads up, "all here. Ow. Mostly."
"Glad to hear your voice, Corporal," the lieutenant said, sounding clearer now. "Anyone need patching up, see to it. Otherwise, hang tight."
"Yes ma'am."
Hang tight, that sounded like a wonderfully simple thing that she could do right now. And if the lieutenant felt it safe enough to give that order, that probably meant whatever got dropped on the heretics had a touch of finality to it. Rolling onto her back, Mikasa spent a moment simply staring up at the clear blue sky. Somehow, she found the sight beautiful beyond words.
End of Chapter 63
I wasn't originally envisioning another chapter of urban fighting, but that's how the story developed. For anyone curious, the Empire basically dropped a MOAB on the cluster of insurgents advancing on Miho and co's position. Just far away enough that their own side was outside the blast radius, but it was certainly a close enough thing that those soldiers felt it, so to speak.
I've been enjoying the holidays, taking a mental break from the various pressures from work. Next year promises to be as busy, but then that's why I'm in the tax bracket I am. Maybe another decade of this and I can retire early and spend all my time writing (and playing video games) instead.
Next chapter we should get back to Lelouch. I want to say we should be able to wrap up his portion within a single chapter, but with how I keep undershooting estimates, I make no promises.