Preparations were underway within the FOB. Several combat drones had been brought onto the planet from the inventory of their carrier. The Wombat drones were usually utilized by the 'Wet Navies' of the UNSC as scouting and cheap air defense solutions and had seen combat everywhere, from Harvest to Earth. They were inexpensive, useful as scouting equipment and dangerous if armed with AGMs, which was what the UNSC's technicians and Drone Operators were currently fitting onto the things.
They were going to be used to scout out the Imperial encampment that was visible several klicks from them, where the light of campfires danced in the night and where UNSC Marine Snipers were currently keeping their rifles trained on. Ikari was on top of the wall, her hands gripping the rifle tightly as she scanned the camp's first visible tents with thermals. She saw the dozens of soldiers inside the tents and had half a mind to squeeze off a few shots, scare them shitless.
Halsey had ordered them not to, however. It was midnight, after all. A tense, glum midnight with a sky covered by clouds, obscured from the sight of the Marines and their comrades. On the walls, several Machine Guns were being mounted, with stacks of ammunition boxes. Outside, meanwhile, lines of sandbags and trenches were being dug, with barbed wire being put in place all around, as well as anti-personnel 'Asteroidea' Mines, the explosive spider-like jumping mines from the UNSC's arsenal.
Warthogs were also being rolled outside, with several troop 'Hogs moving toward the edge of the forest to set up defenses there, protect the villages of the Bunny Warriors from any possible encroachment. The Major had requested(read:Really ordered) doctor Halsey back to the fleet alongside the science staff for the time being, while he would take overall command of the upcoming engagement.
They'd also gotten a hundred-fifty new Marines and even a pair of tanks for the sake of the defense. The M808B Scorpions, resembling their namesake animal in shape, rolled on out of the base as well. One would stay here with its HE ammo primed and ready for use, while the other would provide the defense of the Villages as well. They hadn't seen the Bunny Warriors in a while, though, so...
Ikari felt a hand clasp over her shoulder and turned. She smirked, then said, "Good to see you, El-Tee..." as she turned back to scoping in the enemy, "Surprised we're digging in as much as we are, to be honest... Just a bunch of folks with swords and bows and arrows..." before she hummed and scoped in one of the enemy's scouts. He was surveying the field from the top of a hill to their right. She smirked, then asked, "I've got him zeroed..."
"Let him be... Doc Halsey is gonna be back, despite the Major's request. She thinks she can try and talk Zorzal down," Richard hummed, hefting his Assault Rifle onto his back and gazing over the battlefield ahead. Must've been around two hundred mines, all neatly hidden beneath a thin mound of dirt. The lieutenant then added, "If she can't, which we all know she won't be able to... Well, it's why the drones are here."
"ID the number of foes to make sure we got enough ammo for them," Ikari murmured, then sighed and shouldered the sniper rifle properly again and gazed down the scope, focusing on the breathing exercises that would let her take the shots without missing. Richard respected Ikari. She was a crack shot among crack shots with her rifle. One of the best unaugmented soldiers the UNSC had at their disposal.
HighCom must've figured she and the rest of his platoon needed the break when they sent them with Doctor Halsey's little expedition. To be fair, this entire thing was supposed to be a milk run. An uninhabited jewel world where they could settle, do some research and just hang around. The fact that people actually did live on this planet complicated that a little, but...
Well, the Empire wielded swords against the power of assault rifles and 7,62x51 ammunition, not to mention the fifty-cals and the SRS-99's 14,7mm rounds. It was going to be a massacre, the Lieutenant felt. One that'd leave hundreds of the enemy's own forces dead. He sat himself down on a stool next to the sniper, then watched as the Wombat drones were launched over to the right, flying off and turning.
He activated his HUD link to the drones and looked over what they were seeing. Thermal cameras scanned the enemy encampment. Hundreds of tents, with at the very least a thousand soldiers on count. Not to mention some sort of makeshift stables for their horses and... He squinted, then murmured, "What the fuck...?" before tapping the girl on the shoulder and showing her to link with the drone feed.
... "What?" The girl looked to him.
"I have no fucking clue... Command ,you guys and girls seeing those things in the stables?" He inquired over com.
The figures in the stables were large. Larger than humans, at the very least. They resembled winged lizards with a minimal heat signature, probably due to their cold blood. From what the Lieutenant could see through the thermals, they were mounts for the Imperial forces, clearly. Five such creatures sat in one of the larger stable-like tent structures, with the other stable housing over a hundred horses.
"Dragons," Murmured Ikari, "Fucking dragons, boss."
"We see them, Lieutenant," The Major offered.
"Well... This should be interesting..." The Lieutenant murmured. He watched on with Ikari and the other Marines. As day broke and the burning white light of the solar system's sun washed over the land, the clouds above began to clear. Ahead of the UNSC and their twin defensive positions sat the gathered army of the enemy. Around two thousand men, beasts and even those dragons.
Doctor Halsey sat beside the Lieutenant and his sniper now. She sighed, rubbing her eyes, then said with disappointment in her voice, "So, it would seem we go to war again..."
"Can't do anything about it..." The Lieutenant murmured, racking the bolt of his assault rifle as he listened. Zorzal, sat atop his horse and in front of his troops, gave a seemingly heartfelt speech to his men, probably calling the UNSC barbarians and the Bunny Warriors some other shitty expletive the man definitely didn't think up on his own. Halsey looked to the Lieutenant.
"We don't even have enough tranquilizer rounds to put them all to sleep..." She noted.
"So, they die," He shrugged, "Zorzal was pretty intent on nearly putting you in the ground, doc. We're just returning the favor..." and he looked toward Zorzal. He sighed as he heard the cries of the enemy's soldiers, then murmured, "That's still a lot of ammo expended... Marines, y'all best be ready. Four-hundred fifty of us versus two thousand of'em. Almost seems unfair."
"For them, Lieutenant," Quipped Ivanov from beside him, racking the bolt of his SAW with a manic grin on his face. With a sigh, Doctor Halsey retreated into the center of the FOB for her own safety, while the Major and the last of the Marines filed out into the defenses. The Lieutenant shouldered his rifle, putting it against the wall for stability and support, before looking through the holographic sight that appeared on his HUD.
He thumbed the safety off just as Zorzal finished his speech. The bastard Prince hefted his sword and pointed it toward, crying out the order to charge, presumably. The enemy's horse unit moved down the left flank, but their Dragons were still on the ground. In a flash, an explosion rocked the rear of the enemy's lines as the stable where the enemy's air assets resided was detonated, shocking Zorzal and several of his troops.
The charging force slowed, several turning to see what had happened. Above them, the Wombat continued its Combat Air Patrol above. Several hundred enemy soldiers, perhaps twice their number, all seemed stunned that their Dragons had just been murked. But the Major didn't just wait for them to recover. He ordered his Marines, "All assets, fire at will. Let's send a message to the Prince and his troops!"
The thunderclap of the SRS-99 echoed from his right, a round piercing through three guys that were lined up neatly. One of them was an officer that had his internals blown out by the round. Following Ikari's shot, the Marines opened up. The incessant rattle of machine guns filled the air as spent casings clinked onto the floor, rounds sparking as they struck and penetrated plate armor. The two Scorpions that were planet-side let loose their shells, explosions rocking the forward line of the enemy, while the Machine Gunners on one side of the wall filled the enemy's cavalry regiment with lead.
The Lieutenant didn't even have to pick where to shoot. He fired indiscriminately into the crowds of Imperial troops as they seemed to regain their composure. Several of them continued their charge, supported by what looked to be pig-like humanoids and other non-human bipedals that made up the auxiliary force of the Imperial Army. The tanks' deafening cannonade continued, while Warthogs let loose from their missile pods, Gauss cannons and Gatling guns.
The field filled with the corpses of hundreds of enemy troops. Above them, arrows flew in tangled arcs and struck around the trenches and vehicles of the UNSC. One Marine got nicked by an Arrow, but could still fire his Designated Marksman Rifle, while another's armor plate caused the arrow to snap like a twig and fall into the dirt at his feet. The Marines fired indiscriminately at this point as the field grew scarlet.
A horn bellowed from behind the Imperial lines as survivors of the first enemy units began pulling back. The Major ordered, "Cease fire for now, conserve ammo! They may be coming with the entire force next!" while the Lieutenant and Ikari surveyed the damages. The corpses of cavalry lay, littering the right side of the battlefield, while the front and left were filled with a sea of blood and corpses that were stacked over one-another, riddled with bullet holes.
Arrows still flew sporadically from the enemy line, some of them aflame, but any time an enemy bowman poked his head out, the Marine snipers, with Ikari in the lead, gladly removed said head through judicious application of high-caliber munitions. The Lieutenant sighed, then pulled his magazine out of his assault rifle. He'd expended three and a half mags out of the twelve he had with him. The used-up mags lay on the platform below them, with the spent casings, some of which slowly rolled off.
Slapping in a fresh one and doing a quick press check, he saw that he still had one unspent cartridge from the half-empty mag. He let the bolt back into battery and called out over coms, "Down over a third of my ammo," before looking below. Some of their lads did take arrows where it might've potentially hurt, but they seemed to be doing fine. The doctors were tending to them, too, so.
Ikari murmured, "This is just a turkey shoot, boss."
"Now we know what the Covvies felt whenever they fought us," Ivanov replied, keeping his eyes down the sights of the SAW.
"Frankly," The man shrugged, "Better them than us."
He checked the feed of the drones that were orbiting them. He hummed, watching as they spun about, revealing the rest of the hundreds of Imperial troopers. They had, in fact, chosen to try a surrounding tactic. A pincer maneuver. It was a good thing that the rest of the FOB had machine guns set up on the walls as well, with marines already manning them. He also eyed the command tent of the place via Thermals, noticing that Zorzal had, in fact, retreated with some officers.
He had half a mind to request an air strike, but it'd be useless right now. The bulk of the enemy's force would still come at them from the front, while the flanking troops were to probably scale the walls and bring themselves in for CQC. He sighed, looking out and waiting. The field of corpses ahead began to dry as the clock hit midday, with the Marines watching as the enemy marched ever closer, encroaching on them. Formations of archers began to let loose arrows in volleys again, forcing some Marines to take cover. The Lieutenant didn't flinch.
He shouldered his rifle again and watched as the enemy halted in front of them. At the front were the auxiliaries, this time. Various beastlike bipedal creatures, including what looked to be Orcs and Goblins from the old fantasy tales, laughed at them and readied clubs, swords, bows and arrows to attack them. When the horn blew to signal the attack, the Major ordered yet again, "Fire at will!" and the UNSC replied.
The thunder of guns filled the air, rifle after rifle filling the ranks of charging beasts with bullets, grenades splintering and filling the air with shrapnel. The dying from the first wave screamed their last screams as gunfire filled the air again. Still, there were many. And some of the creatures, the Orcs, namely, took a couple more shots than your standard humanoid to kill.
Still, they went down when the gunfire was concentrated on them. The Lieutenant didn't hesitate in firing upon the enemy, giving little care to whether they were human or alien. One would think that, after fighting for mankind against aliens for so long, one would find more compassion for their fellow man. The El-Tee had met Innies before. There was no risk of him being compassionate to the bastards, from either him, or the rest of his squad.
Ikari popped the helmet off an enemy officer from seven hundred yards, while Ivanov pelted the enemy's ever-approaching forces with bullets. Below, Rosie had loaded up slugs and was firing side-by-side with the rest of the squad, Battle Rifles, Shotguns and ARs singing, an orchestra of death that tore through the hostiles with disregard. Farther to the left, the Scorpion had opened up with its machine gun, while its escorting Marines let loose streaks of tracer rounds with disregard.
Still, the enemy closed in. Some enemy soldiers' corpses now fell in the trenches. They were getting dangerously close to them, enough so that the Major called out over the com, "Fire 'till our barrels glow, people! Don't stop shooting!" as more and more corpses stacked on the lip of the trenches and on the barbed wire, several dying as mines were tripped. So many died from the mines that they were slowly clearing a path for the rest of the army.
Still, there were hundreds more corpses falling per minute as rounds penetrated through one man and wound up stopping in the fourth in the line. 7,62mm ammo was no joke, especially if it was Armor Piercing.
One of the men that survived jumped into the trench, aiming his sword straight for Rosie. The girl grit her teeth, hefting her rifle and parrying the strike before she pinned him to the back wall and put a slug clean through his chest. She swiveled about and started slam-firing the shotgun, keeping the trigger pressed as the 8ga shells left the barrel as fast as she could pump. More corpses toppled over, followed by living soldiers.
She gasped as her gun clicked, then went to draw her pistol.
She gasped as she saw one man's head rolling onto the floor in front of her, blood painting her face and armor scarlet all of a sudden. She looked up, to see Delilah. The Bunny Warrior glared at the Imperials, crying out the battle cry of her people, "Uukhai! UUKHAI!" as she cut into the next Imperial. Her sisters jumped into the trench, one of them pinning an Orc against the front wall and stabbing him several times.
She jumped in as well, looking to the blood-soaked Sergeant and offering a nod and a smile. She jumped onto and past the wall of corpses on the wall, her blade digging into an Imperial's chest plate. Following her, her sisters jumped to meet the foe. They danced around the enemy's blade swipes, their swords digging through the plates and past the enemy's shield walls while the Marines fired between them.
The Lieutenant looked at the advancing horde of Bunny Warriors, maybe three hundred in total, charging into the line from among the trees and from behind them. Tyuule jumped onto the wall, blade drawn, and charged past Richard. Her blade met the chin of an Imperial soldier that tried to climb onto the wall and flank them despite the MGs laying down suppressing fire. She turned to the Lieutenant, flashed a grin, then gasped as she saw him spin about and fire.
The corpse of another Imperial that was about to stab her in the back toppled off the wall, to her surprise. She looked to him and the two smiled at one-another, before she took to his side. She raised her blade and yelled another battle cry, one that the man didn't understand, although his translator almost instantly kicked in, "TEAR THEIR THROATS OUT, GIRLS! NO LONGER SHALL WE BEND THE KNEE TO THE EMPIRE'S WHIMS!"
She looked at Richard again and said, "Glad to see you're well, Lieutenant..."
He nodded, smiling.
"You need to provide us translators as well, if we are to learn of each-other," She noted, before humming and stating, "Zorzal is in his tent, is he not?"
He nodded again.
"Shame... I would have liked for him to taste my blade. He threatened the genocide of my entire people. Just for that dishonor alone, we could not let you and your warriors face them alone..." She stated, then wiped the blades she wielded clean of the blood of her foes. She told him, "We shall speak after the battle. I have to lead my girls..." and jumped down, surging forth with her blades drawn.
The Lieutenant cued his mic, then said, "Major, orders? We just got the Bunny Warriors as reinforcements..." and he looked below, to see the man firing from his side-arm at the enemy.
"Join the ranks below, Lieutenant! All elements, push the enemy back! Get our Pelicans in the air and start pelting the bastards with missiles and Gatling cannons!" The man barked, to which Richard grinned. He looked at his two comrades, bid a quick goodbye and descended, grabbing two more magazines of ammo as he ran and slapping one into his MA40.
A hundred Marines poured out of the building alongside the Warthogs and tank, beginning to roll forward behind the armored behemoth and into the lines of the enemy. Ferociously, the Bunny Warriors beside them fought with blade in hand and will to defend their kin burning in their hearts, while the Marines marched in beside them with rifles in hand a penchant for vengeance because of the injuries some of their comrades may have sustained.
The Lieutenant marched up beside Tyuule, firing his assault rifle into the line and dodging and punching his way through any enemies that got too close, while she gutted one foe with each strike. They rolled over the corpses of the enemy, their tanks and Warthogs carelessly crushing corpses and the living below their tracks and wheels, their machine guns rippling.
Imperial Legionaries tried to strike from behind, but UNSC Pelicans armed with Gatling Guns lit the area up with 30mm depleted uranium HE ammunition. Bodies broke under the whittling firepower, much to the surprise of the Bunny Warriors, all of whom paused for but a moment to look up at the large metal beasts that tore into the Empire's forces with magical projectiles.
Tyuule, however, yelled to them to rally and continue the attack. They pressed on, pushing through the lines of the enemy and cutting them down sword swipe by sword swipe and bullet by bullet, whittling them down to one thousand soldiers and auxiliaries, then below that as they continued. Tyuule looked over, to see an Imperial officer with a head wound raise his horn and blow into it.
A retreat...
The Imperial Forces broke ranks, each scattering for his own life in the face of the whittling firepower and the assaults undertaken by Tyuule's girls. They slaughtered Imperials and their officers as they ran, taking whoever dared to surrender prisoner despite the perturbing attempts of the Bunny Warriors to slaughter them as well. The Major's voice echoed over com, "All units, RTB and prep to watch some fire-works... Doctor Halsey agreed to send for Air Support, loaded with Anti-Personnel payloads."
The man stopped in his tracks, checking his ammo counter. Richard then sighed, slung his weapon on his back and put a hand in front of Tyuule as she ran on his left. She stopped, looked to him, then asked, "What is going on? Why are we halting?" to which he pointed up at the sky and at the aircraft behind them. She looked back, then asked "Are we going to let them... Get away?"
He shook his head, then showed her to follow.
Corralling the Bunny Warriors back to the Trench Line, with a surprised and somewhat annoyed Tyuule sat beside the Lieutenant and his squad as they watched the retreating enemy. She was about to demand from him why they stopped, but covered her ears as jet engines screamed overhead. Two black, delta-shaped aircraft barreled forth through the atmosphere and toward the retreating gaggle of Imperial troops, high and above.
Their bomb bays opened...
And then lines of fire washed over the fields ahead. Napalm, a sticky, heavily-flammable gel that stuck itself to its intended targets, filled the area ahead. Tyuule's eyes grew wide as she stood to her feet, staring with disbelief as the cluster explosives doused the field through which the Imperial forces routed in the substance. Their screams were carried by the wind over to the FOB's walls as night began to fall, only for silence to fall upon the world moments later. Horrified, the Bunny Warriors stared at the fires that still raged, with Tyuule looking over to the Lieutenant, shocked.
The Lieutenant grinned, "Forgot the Longswords carry that payload..." before he linked with the Wombat again and hummed. A single man rode on horseback away from the battle. He said over broadband com, "Looks like the asshole Prince survived. He's running with his tail between his fucking legs..." before taking out a cigarette from his pocket, sticking it between his lips and stating, "Good... Someone to tell the tale to the rest of the Saderan Empire."
"... What was that, Richard?" Tyuule inquired, looking at him.
He smiled, then said simply, "Napalm..."
"... Napalm..." She murmured, then looked out again at the field as it still burned. The man beside her smiled at the barbarity of that weapon, almost magical in design to Tyuule and delivered by giant birds made of metal that screeched like nightmares when they flew in. The fields still burned bright, the charred corpses of the enemies barely visible through the hellfire.
She had espoused to her sisters her support for the UNSC after their recent show of willingness to fight beside them, even if it was revenge for the wounding of the doctor.
What kind of allies had she made?