"Attention, all units, new orders from Super Earth Command, PRIORITY ONE HAIL:Withdraw to evacuation points across Malevelon Creek. This is not a drill. Automaton forces concentrated in the equatorial quadrants have achieved a breakthrough and are attempting to encircle all available Helldiver and UNSC Reinforcements. This message will now repeat."
The Evacuation Window was closing fast. Any troops still on the ground had begun their fighting withdrawal while, above, the UNSC and Super Earth Navies fought the Automaton Flotilla that had just jumped in-system to as much of a standstill as possible. On the ground, meanwhile, Automaton Tanks rolled over the jungle, crushing the canopy and trees under track while Devastator squads advanced with Troopers and rocket units behind them.
The Battle Tanks of the UNSC held the line, their 120mm cannons ripping through the forward lines of the advancing tide, but the mist still shined a burning scarlet even as the troops set up to defend against the encroaching foe. SEAF infantry retreated to pre-prepared positions around the colony's planetary capital, a small settlement with a Space Port.
The place was not a proper city per se. Prefab buildings made of containers, various smaller houses and the likes were now the sole cover of civilians that were watching the battle from afar and up close alike. They could see the shadows of men and women from both sides of the pond standing against the crimson tide of the Machines, even as bullets and bolts zipped by them.
Muzzle flashes glowed in the darkness in reply to red tracers and the thunder of enemy cannons, SEAF riflemen, Helldivers and Marines becoming the tide breakers that would halt the enemy line. Among them, however, Helldivers found a unit of similar pedigree to them. Clad in black uniforms with sealed helmets and armor thick enough to withstand the barrages of the Automata's weaponry, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers showed their prowess.
Beside Alessia, an ODST rifleman kicked a bot hard enough to topple it over and emptied half a magazine into it before aiming up at a Heavy Devastator. He marked the target through his VISR system and ducked as a second ODST fired a Jackhammer at it, twin rockets punching through the thick shield of the Automaton unit before it could bring its cannon to bear, ripping the shield-bearing arm out of its socket.
A sniper rifle round rang out from amidst the trees and another ODST appeared on Alessia's HUD, while Radomir, Tomas and Helena watched them duke it out. The ODSTs themselves rallied up and joined the team in the trenches, bringing Alessia over, thankfully unharmed. One of the ODSTs, a woman, said, "There sure is a shitton of them coming from the treeline!"
The ODSTs' CO replied, "Only easy day was yesterday! Keep up the fire, Marlene!"
"Aye, aye!" The girl replied, then stood up. Her bells were rung when a pair of rounds from Automaton Troopers struck her helmet. They ricocheted off, leaving nasty marks on the top of the helmet, but otherwise leaving the girl alive. If a bit dizzy. Alessia rushed to her side and checked her over, removing her helmet to see the disoriented and dizzy face. She asked, "It bad…?" as her gag reflex kicked in.
"Just a couple dents in your helmet," Alessia replied, "Vomit on them if you gotta!" then she jumped to her feet, shouldered her Liberator and fired bursts, nailing one of the two bots that had shot the ODST in their heads, thus taking them off. To think there were human brains in those tin cans made her stomach churn. Those were their people they were killing. Their people in there.
A Scorpion tank's 120mm rang loud over her head, causing her to snap out of her moment of fugue. She rallied her team around her, Radomir immediately hefting his own Stalwart LMG onto the lip of whatever they had that passed for a trench while Helena tended to the ODST, her automatic shotgun slung onto her side.
Tomas, meanwhile, set the backpack carrying his three remaining rounds for a recoilless rifle against the wall of their trench, facing him, pulled one of the AT rounds out of it and slammed it into the back of his launcher, before standing up as three other squads of Helldivers, troopers redeployed from other sectors to assist in the evac, jumped into the trench.
The rocketeer looked down the tube's singular scope, zeroing in on the shadow of an advancing enemy battle tank. Said tank was one with a quad autocannon turret mount, meaning an anti-air vehicle. Its cannons ripped through slews of retreating Helldivers and platoons of SEAF Infantrymen in their standard blue uniforms.
"How fucked is this!?" Radomir voiced, taking a knee to reload his LMG, "We're strewn out as far as the Muerte Mountains and the Silver Sea and we've got pockets of SEAF troops and Civvies still behind the Red Tide!"
"I know!" Alessia replied, dropping a spent magazine and slapping in a fresh one as the ODSTs beside them meticulously wiped entire platoons of enemies with accurate fire. A pair of Marines dismounted from an Oryx transport, hauling a stretcher into the trench and picking up the concussed ODST, while Helena turned to join the briefing.
"How was she?!" The ODST Lieutenant knelt beside them, cradling his rifle.
Helena replied, "Nearly had a Hematoma! The rounds caused a couple of vessels to inflame in her skull and one was about to burst!" then she brandished her automatic shotgun, "She'll make it, however! Treatment was thankfully prompt!" then she gasped, stood up and blasted a Trooper in half with a full burst from her weapon.
The ODST Lieutenant, whom she had just saved, gave a nod in thanks, then focused on gathering his squad as they fought back. The Automata, however, were a metaphorical Legion. Thousands of pairs of red eyes peered through a fog that suddenly started to grow thick again, covering trees and the advancing tanks, their only obvious cues being sensor stalks, burning scarlet sight-based sensors and the rumble of tracks.
The UNSC's tanks and armored fighting vehicles, however, had no issues with that. Thermal and infrared optical sights with incredible detection capabilities, not to mention drone and ground radar-assisted targeting allowed the Oryxes' 30mm cannons and the 120mm smoothbore cannons of the Scorpions to find targets in the fog.
A distant enemy tank exploded, but the thump-thump-thump of mechanical feet echoed against the muddy ground, tracers skimming through the fog. Scout Walkers appeared, running forward as an advance force and taking fire from their heavier comrades. Dropships ahead deployed new units, among which Hulks.
The Walkers jumped over the trenches, firing their twin face-mounted guns but forgetting that their pilots were exposed. Alessia's squad and several ODSTs and Marines cut down the pilots as they rushed forward, though gunfire soon rained upon their trenches again, sprays of mud and dirt washing over the 'Divers.
Alessia spoke, "Keep up the fire!" before aiming and snapping off a shot. She gasped as she saw it ricochet off the front plate of a Hulk, the thundering behemoth punching through the fog, revealing its 'fat' metallic body, the flamethrowers on its arms belching long tongues of flame that caught a platoon of retreating Marines.
The MBT behind them fired its main gun and the round tore through the Hulk's body, ripping it open from the inside out and blowing outward the remnants of its core and whatever was interred within. Behind it, two Devastators and half a platoon of Troopers with a Commissar in the lead were sprayed with shrapnel shards.
The fighting drew closer and closer to the front trench-line. The order came, "All units, orderly retreat to the second defensive line! Artillery, enemy is at pre-sighted locations! ETA to Fire Mission:Thirty Seconds!" Which caused the Helldivers and UNSC troops to exchanged looks of surprise. With a rallying cry, Alessia led the troops back to the second defense line, by some of the earliest houses.
Overhead, Pelicans and Civilian evacuation vessels took off under the cover of allied airpower, though the enemy's own automated drone fighters were proving to be nightmarishly close to the allies. However, their own Eagles, Sabres and Broadswords defended, with Eagle-1 leading a formation of fighter-bombers into hell as tracers arced high.
She tracked an enemy fighter, aligning her gunsight with it and ensuring the craft was right in the trailing pair of green lines. With a flick, she squeezed the trigger, bullets ripping from the maw-mounted 30mm rotary autocannon. Armor-Piercing explosive rounds ripped through the top layers of the strangely mechanical enemy fighter and fire gushed out of its fuel lines.
It careened down into the crowd of enemies below, exploding with all of its own mounted ordnance into a ball of fire that encompassed two enemy platoons. Eagle-1 then radioed, "This is Eagle-1, switching to carpet bomb tactics! Sergeant, I'm gonna drop'em hot nearby you all! Eagles-2 and -3, on me!"
Affirmative replies echoed from the other pilots as their escorting fighters broke off to engage a swarm of enemy Drones. The squadron of fighter-bombers then dived down upon the target area up ahead, with Eagle-1 firing a volley from her guns that raked the front-line of the Automaton units. Following up, she activated her display, switching to the bombing computer and flicking to the thousand-pound bombs on her undercarriage
She hit the switch and felt her aircraft suddenly become a whole lot lighter, bombs dropping around the lines of automatons as bullets zipped past her bird. She pulled off from the attack run and toward space, casting a glance at her rear-view mirrors. Three lines of explosives put a decent dent in the advancing Automaton Army.
Eagle-1 then radioed, "This is Eagle-1 to Super Destroyer, I'm RTB to rearm for further CAS missions!" before she gasped. As they broke through the mist and clouds, the group caught sight of the orbital battle overhead. The UNSC Appalachia and her escort were engaged in deep battle, alongside the hundreds of Super Destroyers orbiting the planet, against the jagged-looking, unfriendly starcraft of the Automaton Fleet. Tracers and missiles flew in low orbit as the fleets engaged, with the Super Destroyers providing ground support and fighting the space battle.
Scarlet rounds lanced past her cockpit, causing her to veer off target from the Founding Father, calling out, "Shit! Eagle-1, taking fire!" then she looked back as she saw two enemy birds, then called out over radio, "Tallying two enemy birds on my six! Requesting covering fire!" then gasped as she saw one turret on a UNSC Stalwart-class Frigate swivel about on its mount.
A burst of rapid-fire 50mm twin chaingun rounds ripped through the enemy fire as the Frigate's MAC charged. A flash of white light later, an Automaton warship exploded in a small secondary sun. The vessel veered left, calling out, "Eagle One, this is UNSC Sunshine, your path to your Super Destroyer's clear."
"Thanks!" She almost gave a thumbs up, watching the Stalwart bank gently left, her thrusters powering to allow her to dodge a shot from a spinal gun belonging to an enemy battleship. The shot lanced past and struck a Super Destroyer dead center, ripping the vessel in half. Debris rained down on the planet now.
The open hangar of the Founding Father of Democracy greeted her. Folding her wings, she activated reverse thrust, allowing herself to touch down safely on board the ship. She jumped out of the cockpit quickly, ran over to grab an energy bar and some water and watched as the deck crews quickly carted over missiles.
She stared, wide-eyed, then looked at the Democracy Officer. The man arranged his eyepatch and told her, "Sergeant Veratti's orders are that you engage in Orbital Superiority missions henceforth, Eagle. We'll be covering the evacuation corridor for all important staff on-site, then evacuating the Sergeant and her unit."
"They-" Eagle was about to protest.
"They have the air cover necessary from UNSC aircraft and Drones," The man nodded, "I respect your commitment to your CO, but trust me. Democracy requires your aid up here-" only to stumble a bit and be caught by the pilot as something struck the vessel. He called out to the crew, "Damage report?!"
"Glancing blow from enemy planet-side orbital battery, sir!" A sensor officer reported, while the Quartermaster moved over to a console to check the damage. The man scoffed, looked at her, then nodded, his expression slightly softening. Eagle-1 sighed deeply, then nodded back as she moved over to the bird, watching them load air-intercept missiles onto wing and belly-mounted pylons, alongside a radar pod.
"... Since when do we have AIMs…?" She mumbled to herself as she approached, sliding her helmet back on and climbing aboard the fighter. When it was all well and loaded, she closed the canopy, checked systems to make sure everything from the pod to the missiles had set up right, checked her flares and saw she still had plenty, then braced.
The magnetic catapult launched her back out into the middle of the fighting. She saw three Liberty-class cruisers warp in to join the fighting, their laser lances immediately shearing the first enemy ship they saw in half. Following that, ship-mounted VLS systems coughed smoke and a dozen missiles launched from each cruiser as they closed distance.
Though they were half the size of the Appalachia, the Liberties still packed a mean punch, their dagger-shaped hulls allowing them to shrug off some of the enemy's hits. She veered into battle as point-defense batteries suddenly lit the void in tracer fire, marking six new contacts on her Radar's closest setting.
She marked the first, activating missile lock, then called out in a mumble, "Fox-2…" before thumbing the launch. She felt the decoupling, then watched the fuel-oxygen mixture in the motor glowing, leaving a contrail behind in the thin upper atmosphere. The missile banked, locked onto its target:a leading enemy drone fighter.
The flash of the explosion was bright and seemed to knock the closest two enemy birds off-course. She called out, "This is Eagle-1, requesting actual targets on my monitor! We need to secure evacuation corridors ASAP for our birds to get the civilians out, so give me some targets!"
"Eagle-1, this is Appalachia Actual. Transmitting coordinates for your Corridor now. Give our Pelicans in that area cover so they can get those people the hell out," The Captain of the massive UNSC Cruiser spoke. The ship's spinal gun charged, then another blinding flash was followed by the destruction of an enemy cruiser-sized droneship, the MAC round ripping through the enemy vessel's aft and out the other side.
Return fire came from planetside batteries and enemy ships. The craft's shields flashed as bursts of scarlet fire slammed into them, though she continued unabated, pushing into the enemy battle-line with her escort and the other cruisers. Her point-defense guns and missile tubes fired in continuous volleys.
On the bridge of the Heavy Cruiser, the Captain stared at the tactical holomap display of enemy force disposition, noting the hundreds of smaller enemy vessels, thousands of fighter drones and so on. He ordered, "Have all point-defense guns switch to armor-piercing loads and mark the nearest potential danger. Missile tubes one through twelve, target enemy battleships at Point Zero-Zero-Three and get our escorts back to screening duty."
"Sir!" The Bridge crews called out as the man stared on. He felt the shudder of another planetary weapon impact and read reports on a separate holographic screen about how the evacuation was going. Decent, but not fast enough. Scratching his chin, he watched another enemy vessel, a lighter frigate or corvette-sized craft, wink off the pad. Then another. Then another.
The enemy had disposable income, considering how many lighter vessels they had. He felt his ship shudder again and the pressure suddenly dipped in his ears. He swallowed nothing to re-equalize it, cocked his jaw and stared at another large enemy combatant disappear off the mark, the roster of destroyed enemy ships growing.
One of the enemy battleship's siblings replied in kind, a volley of the enemy's missiles ripping apart a trio of Super Destroyers and a SEAF transport vessel that was about to jump out. He swore to himself, then ordered, "Bring us about on heading two-two-niner five-five-seven. Charge MAC and take that battleship out. Load SHIVA tubes one through three and prepare to fire at the formation of enemy vessels at point zero-eight-one."
On the outside, the Cruiser shifted as its directional thrusters powered, the two massive engines on its back dimming a little. Tracers still flowed from the ship's guns, puffs of flak exploding kilometers away from her hull while mixed AP and HE rounds tore through the smaller enemy Corvettes. Her escorting Frigates and the Liberty Cruisers engaged with missiles, with the former dipping down to a lower level of the fight and engaging from below.
The two Frigates fired their MACs in quick succession toward an enemy Cruiser and the rounds overpenetrated, which allowed the Cruiser to turn its undamaged guns and return fire, multiple burst weapons filling the air between the ships, combining with missiles to pound the shields of the two Frigates, then the hull of one of them, causing cratering wounds in the Titanium armor.
Her sister turned and moved in front of the volleys, taking the hits on her shield as she aimed her MAC. It barked again, the shot peeling the bow of the turning enemy cruiser open like a banana. A volley of missiles from the two ships then tore through its hull, sixteen separate impacts cratering the plate and disabling the ship, leaving it dead in the water.
Aboard her bird, Eagle-1 watched the Heavy Cruiser fire her MAC. Yet again, an enemy ship basically collapsed in on itself due to the impact, while she and her squadron were providing cover for evacuation ships that were flying. She turned her gaze back toward her targeting computer, marked a target and fired a missile. She watched it go wide, however, the drone performing a terrifyingly G-intensive maneuver and forcing her into gun range.
She switched to guns and let loose, the bird shuddering underneath her as she laid waste to the enemy aircraft in a burst of concentrated fire. Two other enemy craft zipped past her, forcing her to turn about 180 degrees. Despite the G-strain causing her vision to darken at the corners, she managed, firing a burst that tore the wings off a second fighter.
The third and last was intercepted before it could launch its Anti-Ship Missile. It exploded in a ball of fire as a UNSC Broadsword swept in low and fast, firing the twin magnetic autocannons embedded in its sides. The pilot banked hard left and upward, fired a missile at an enemy bird, then joined up with the Eagles.
She mumbled something to herself when she saw the UNSC Fighters banking hard, her radio exploding with a flurry of commands and reports between squads. Switching to local freqs, she watched the Civvie transports below flying upward, engines powered to the maximum and glowing in the darkness of Malevelon.
Civvie small-craft, larger cargo haulers and the likes moved together through the corridor they were defending. She flipped through radio frequencies until she heard Alessia's voice, "... Seven and eight! We're moving to the evacuation site! Eagle-1, if you can peel off from providing our buddies evacuation support and give us some ground-pounding assistance, we'd appreciate it!"
"If you copied, pilot," The Democracy officer called. Eagle smirked behind her helmet, let the others know she was heading to rearm for ground attack through a couple of wing wiggles, then powered her engines to the max. She looked over at their ships, watching a few more Super Destroyers and, terrifyingly enough, even a Liberty cruiser, be turned to slag.
The UNSC Cruiser's shields flared and then failed under the sustained barrage of three enemy Battleships, but the armor on her was so thick that the enemy's rounds were merely peeling away the uppermost layers of Titanium. Three missiles launched from top-side tubes in quick succession, arcing down and falling upon the enemy battleships.
Three simultaneous new suns appeared on the horizon, causing Eagle's visor to polarize as she flew toward the Founding Father. When she touched down, she saw an anti-ship shot from below skim right past the armor plating. The return fire was from the ship's orbital laser and missile batteries. Below, in the clouds, explosions flared in orange and scarlet, glowing even after the blasts.
She dismounted from the bird quickly, grabbed a drink of water, turned about and watched the loading of missile pods and bombs onto the old bird, not to mention extra ammunition for the nose-mounted cannon. She quickly ran over, jumped back in, put her helmet back on, then thumbed the launch sequence. The moment she was given the green light at basically her own space pit stop, she took off.
Diving toward the planet with possibly the last formation of other Eagles, the girl punched through the cloud layers. She called out, "Eagle-1, coming in to assist! Hold it tight just a little longer, Sarge!" then switched channels and said, "All Eagles! All Eagles! We're not getting off this rock 'till all our squads are out! Let's show'em the meaning of Democracy through Superior Firepower!"
A Stalwart Frigate from the escorting pair, the damaged one, also flew in. With minor fires burning across her body, the ship still found time to dive down with them, its captain calling out, "This is Sunshine. We're taking a break from orbital for a bit and will be providing groundside support with three SDs behind us."
Indeed, three other fresh Super Destroyers had flown in behind her, too, punching through the cloud layer beside the Eagles. Down below, they saw them:Hordes of enemies poured into the city, gunfire raking the lines from the defending units, mixed with missiles, rockets and tank fire being exchanged between both sides.
Eagle saw her Sergeant and the others on one of the boulevards. She banked left, then turned that full 180 again, this time in atmo, meaning her vision blurred a bit. She dived down on the enemy line just as she saw a beacon light up, then quipped, "Delivering Liberty!" as she dumped several dumb-fire bombs down on the enemy's lines and raked what she didn't hit with autocannon fire.
The first explosions thundered as she pulled up from her dive. Anti-air gun fire filled the air again, two Eagles finding themselves coming down hard. The remaining units didn't pull out, however, rocket pods, guns, bombs and guided missiles filling the enemy rear-line, blunting the assault by destroying Hulks and tanks advancing on the roads.
She saw Pelican-1 swing in for a landing, his own bird heavily damaged by enemy fire, alongside a slew of UNSC Pelicans here to retrieve their allies. She dived back down, firing her own missile pods into the tight roads, watching the blasts scatter shrapnel and flechettes into the enemy lines, destroying several more bots and causing a Hulk to stagger.
She banked toward the evac site, the main plaza of the Container Town, watching as their men and women pulled back. The Sergeant called out, "Thanks for the support, Eagle! See you home!" as she suddenly felt her teeth almost come loose. The whirr-pop of a MAC firing behind her announced that the Sunshine had just let the enemy have it.
Eagle pulled in beside Pelican to provide escort, while the ground-pounding vessels of the joint fleets laid hell down upon the enemy. Aboard Pelican-1, Alessia watched Helena tending to Tomas, who'd taken a nasty hit to his helmet. He was alive, though barely. She breathed raggedly herself, feeling scratches, bumps and even bullet holes in her armor.
Ahead of her, Radomir sat, cradling his rifle and painted red by an ODST that had died beside him, gunned down by six separate Bots. Helena breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat and her own blood off her scratched-up face. She'd taken a slice from an enemy Commissar mid-attempt to save the ODST.
The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were the last ones off the planet. Alessia could hear them communicating with Pelican-1 in the cockpit about the evacuation having been completed… And by god did the bastards fight like their earned nickname of Helljumpers. They'd put so many Bots down they made even Chief Farkas's elite unit seem like kids in the playpen.
As Pelican touched down, Alessia showed Helena to take Tom to sickbay, then used the Elevator. Her Democracy Officer spoke, "All units are withdrawn from the planet's surface and our allies requested that we begin moving toward secondary defensive lines as soon as possible, Helldiver. You seem tired…"
"Was one hell of a fight to get every last Civvie out…" The woman spoke, her voice low, "And I don't think any of the encircled SEAF troops made it off…"
"Their sacrifice for Super Earth will not be forgotten, Sergeant," The man replied, though she knew it was mechanical, like a slogan he'd learned. She loved Super Earth, but when they had to 'withdraw' from planets they'd fought for every inch of, it made it all seem weirdly pointless. She pushed those traitorous thoughts back down, settled in front of the console and started picking out their next target. Mort, in the Xzar sector.
She watched the Super Destroyers begin their own withdrawal to Mort, several ships warping out while the UNSC fought on the defense, missile tubes firing 'till they were empty, point-defense batteries filling the void above that wretched planet with rounds. The Sunshine took several hits as she climbed back out into low orbit…
And a stray shot from a Battleship ignited her shields, punching through and hitting the Frigate amidships. The vessel's Mayday signal resounded through the hull of the Super Destroyer, but there was little to be done. The socialists then pounded it with fire as the Cruiser and her sister-ship moved to respond…
One shot nailed the bridge just as Alessia was about to order them about to support. The vessel's orbit began to decay rapidly, her engines flickering. The first naval vessel loss of the UNSC crumbled, then began to break apart in the upper atmosphere of the planet just as sixteen new heavy-tonnage enemy contacts appeared on the horizon, warnings blaring.
The Appalachia, damaged by the fighting herself, sent out the retreat order. Alessia's shoulders sagged. She sighed, looking at the burning gashes on that hellscape planet they'd been fighting for nearly a month on, then swore to herself she'd be back here to liberate it. She ordered, "All crew, get us to Mort! FTL out, now!"
The ship's Warp drive spooled, then Malevelon Creek became nothing more than a speck…