Arieg
DEFCON Everybody Dies
Paragon had spent the last 72 hours moving troops and equipment to an abandoned aerospace complex thirty kilometers away from the primary area of operations. A major by the name of L. (Louis) Verner had been placed in charge of the operation, despite the presence of Colonel Lang. He watched the last Starliner unload it's cargo from a gutted terminal building which the command and control unit had setup operations in, the area was alive with Paragon mercenaries as final perperations for the assault were carried out.
Laid out in front of him were six combat ready companies, four mechanized infantry, and two armored cavalry units. Among them were several Special Combat Group units assigned to be the first assault troops in. In addition to the ground forces were several gunships and fixed wing strike craft, all were being laden with air to ground ordinance.
Standing on the edge of the concrete Verner looked over to a man manning a communications terminal, "Captain O'Neal whats our status?" he asked in a gruff tone.
"Sir, status is ready for the 1st Armored Cav, we're fueled and ready and all weapons are topped up with ammunition, we await your orders to move into the city." Captain O'Neal said as he looked at the major.
"Sir, my men are ready to move at the first sign of any enemy contact. Hopefully the rest of the group will be ready to follow us in. Time to kick some squiddy ass and not just piss on them." Looking back to the console O'neal said to the mic "alright First, we're going to be the first in and probably the last motherfuckers to come out so let's kick in gear and go beat the everloving shit out of these NMX assholes. Sir, we need to get going" O'Neal said with a salute as he signed off of the console and looked at the major.
Verner nodded, "Get to your unit."
"Aye aye, sir" O'Neal said as he ran down the stairs to the T1A1 Havoc tank that already had the tank commanders hatch open and waiting for him. Hopping in he yelled to his driver "Alright Schmoo let's kick this monster into gear." Turning his comms on he broadcast to the rest of the company "Alright First, let's take ourselves a little stroll into good old funky city. We know what we have to do, we have the weapons to do it and we have the will to kick these bastards right the hell out of here. Alright here's the basic plan, First Platoon you're with me, we'll be rolling heavy on point. Second, you'll be on the left flank, guard the APCs and make sure we have crunchies on hand when we need them. Third Platoon you're on the right flank, you've got the other batch of APCs with our PA backup in the, don't lose them. We need that infantry support. Now let's roll out. All units this is O'Neal, BOOT DON'T PISS ON THEM, KICK THEIR SQUID ASSES!!!"
As the ground elements rolled out of the FOB three Starliners lifted off accompanied by numerous escort craft. Their combined exhaust sending a massive cloud of steam off the freshly rained on tarmac. Two carried a special surprise, while the third had been assigned to drop an air mobile company directly on top of a major asset of the hostile insurgency, a communications hub. Several heavily modified Onset shuttles took off and followed the convoy, Impulse PA troops hanging on to their sides. These where tailed by Striga gunships, holding off at a stand off distance. Watching as his troops rolled out a large grin emerged on Verner's face, he was going home.
O'Neal watched as his Company rolled out into the city. First Platoon was in echelon formation with his tank at the lead, all tanks were moving their turrets side to side scanning for targets. "We've got all clear so far sir, nothing living within sight or sensor radius." Came one of the TCs calling over the command frequency. "Second Platoon all clear" came the next call. "Third Platoon here, we're all....... OH SHIT!! We have squids, and something else. No idea where they came from sir, we need immediate assistance. We already lost one havoc." In the background the sound of a tank catastrophically detonating can be heard.
Deep in the city's occupied center lay a collection of burnt out husks, the remains of buildings bombed into rubble by the initial fighting. A young man named James McCoy, an ex-marine of the Nepleslian Star Army, had coincidentally made his home there. Surviving on sheer wits and experience, he'd made his way behind a formation of armed NMX-owned ID-SOLs, carrying with him a parcel of old, stolen plastic explosives and an infantry combat shotgun slung across his shoulder and down to his right hip. With little to rely on besides his gut, James found himself searching frantically for a way to contact the forthcoming rescue forces and get himself suited up for combat. There was no way he was going to let some dirty squids invade HIS home and get off scott-free. He rounded a corner carefully, stepping in between sheets of metal that had fallen from the destroyed building's ceiling. James set down his explosives and shouldered the pump-action twelve-gauge, aiming down the sight as an ID-SOL exploded into view. With little choice, he pulled the trigger and pumped the action on recoil once, twice, three times, until a large chunk of flesh hit the ground with a THUD opposite him. He quickly gathered up his explosives and dashed for the route to the next building, leaving a trail of small plastic-wrapped containers connected by a thin wire. It was anyone's guess if he would survive long enough to set off the bombs, but they were lining the street that the NMX's ID-SOL troops marched down, and it would undoubtedly be an enormous boon to the Nepleslian military to have an entire block of buildings come crashing down on their enemies in a hail of steel and plaster. For now, luckily, he had gone unnoticed. With so much fighting going on nearby, a series of gunshots was hardly out of place. However, it was only a matter of time until the Squids discovered the ID-SOL's body, and James would have to escape to the next block by then or inevitably be killed by his foes.
Around the convoy the buildings seemed to come alive with fire, hundreds of ID-SOLs all along the route opened up at once with a myriad of weapons. Tracers, laser fire, and rocket propelled grenades criss crossed the road hitting or impacting around the vehicles, overhead a few Onsets shuddered as they where hit. Their response however was devastating as well, air troops responded with PA weaponry. Gauss rifles, plasma, and laser fire ripped into hidden sniper nests and machine gun positions.
"Alright, third's in trouble time to save them, First and Second on me" O'Neal barked as he suited action to words turning his tank towards where Third Platoon was located. Seeing the immense amounts of enemy fire pouring out towards his tanks he ordered "Use everything we've got, this is gonna be like fighting an avalanche with fire hoses we can do it but we're gonna use a shitload of ammo. Get those PAs out we need their extra firepower, all AFVs go cyclic on all weapons, we need to clear this nest out so that the rest of the force can get in here. Roll through the buildings if you need to. The faster we do this the less losses we'll have. We have tanks, they may be dug into the buildings but using enough firepower we should be able to smash our way through." With that all the tanks opened up with their heavy gauss cannons and went cyclic rate on their MGs and lighter gauss cannons. The AFVs and IFVs opened fire as well with everything they had. As they did some of the enemy fire died down from the suppressing effects as well as the massive amounts of debris flying everywhere from the impacts. Building after building began to slowly slump as major structural supports were taken out one by one. Luckily with the massive amounts of hell that the tanks and AFVs were putting out the return fire was becoming much less effective. "Alright, I think we can roll First Company, time to let second and those Mechanized infantry wankers clean up this mess. We gotta get to the center and hit the main CNC facility for these squid bastards before they have a chance to reorganize and hit us back."
Less then a hundred meters up the road an IED detonated with enough force to flip one of the Havocs in front of the formation, a second blew toward the rear. Trashing an AFV and throwing dismounted infantry into the air, a moment later small groups of AIR and EARTH clad ID-SOLs attacked the formation from the sides mixed in with regular ID-SOL infantry, it was a counter attack and a major one at that.
Deep in enemy territory, James continued his rush towards the communications array. It was occupied by the enemy, but with jammers up and his pad broken anyway, there wasn't much else he could do to get into contact with the Nepleslian military. At least, he thought, he had those bombs. As he made his way carefully into the bowels of the hyperindustrial city, he spotted a maintenance hatch that could be used to access the communications array, provided he was careful about getting it open. He raised a small black detonator with a red button and flipped up the safety glass before smashing it down. There was a loud commotion as all of James' explosives blew out the street-facing supports of two separate blocks of buildings. In the distance, commander O'Neal could see plumes of smoke suddenly raise up as a series of bombs went off, the buildings they had been placed in caving inward into the center of the street and utterly burying a huge contingent of Squid armor and ID-SOLs. James smirked as he carefully removed the bolts that shut the maintenance hatch and slipped inside, sure that his "distraction" would afford him enough time to break into the communications array's radio room and call for help.
James's actions had set the surviving forces into a frenzy, however any search for a saboteur was put on hold as the whale like form of a Starliner hovered high over the site. A few moments later Paragon Impulse PAs began assaulting from the sky using their jet packs to slow their decent and steady their aim. Above them several Havoc MBTs fitted with special thruster packs where also descending. A few going out of control after being hit by ground fire, for James the situation was rapidly degenerating into chaos. .
"Dammit. Alright what I've got now can't do this. Striga, Striga, we need air support. I have large groups of enemy Powered armor attacking from two separate directions and I have a shitload of dismounted ID-Sols assaulting from the sides as well. I've already lost two tanks and an AFV, I need immediate support." With that O'Neal turned to his company comms and said "alright, we have lots of enemies, I've called for air support but we need to hold these assholes off until they can get here. Impulses use as much firepower as you need to but take those Air and Earth suits off our backs." With that the force had Impulse PAs hopping up onto the hulls of the tanks and AFVs and aiming their M-SARS into the mass of enemies firing both the laser and plasma parts at the oncoming enemy PAs. The tanks began loading and firing at an increased rate and then suddenly from the sky a pair of Striga gunships screamed down and began unloading ordinance upon the enemy forces ripping them into bits before screaming back up to head to base for resupply. Over the radios O'Neal heard "First Company this is Headhunter 1-1 if you need us again just use this call sign and we'll be on our way as soon as possible." O'Neal replied "Thanks headhunter, if something goes to hell we'll call you asap. This is 1-6 Actual over." From the gunships "Roger that 1-6 Actual, good hunting sir." After the ruin left by the striga strafing run the Impulses spread out and started cleaning up the mess. Making sure there were no wounded that could potentially fire on the convoy from the rear and then a set of them that were specially equipped with scanners bounded out in front of the convoy to check for any further IEDs. "Damn, I'm already down 3 vics and this op only just started. This is gonna get expensive as all hell."
To the north and the south of the 1st the other Paragon units were making headway, O'Neal's unit had the unfortunate luck to draw the shortest straw for the NMX's unit positions. However the recent fire fight had cost the NMX forward units most of their manpower and personal armors, as a result the resistance seemed to melt away into the twisted steel and concrete.
James did his best to avoid dropping PA and larger vehicles that were slamming into the ground after being struck with too much weapons fire. Explosions and debris began to rain down around the communications array, but within moments James managed to reach the inside of the building, his enemy's stronghold. He had been here before, having lived quite nearby, but still needed to search for a building directory to find the radio room. Shotgun shouldered and his finger just inches from the trigger, James began to clear the building room by room, starting in whatever room he emerged from and heading down random hallways until he was lucky enough to find a map or a computer. In case he ran into any ID-SOLs or squids, he'd quickly duck down into cover and try to wait them out. If they didn't leave, he'd have to consider... Other options.
Outside the first Impulse PAs hit the ground and began their assault, they were shortly followed by four Havoc tanks. On the surrounding buildings small Onset shuttles were landing and dropping small Paragon fire teams. Intense fire was being exchanged between the now confused NMX ID-SOLs and the Paragon mercenaries that had practically dropped on top of them. Lighting up the night was bright flashes of laser and plasma fire. For James the situation was going to get interesting as the ID-SOLs began retreating into the surrounding structures, including the one that hosted his hideaway.
Seeing the enemy forces retreating O'Neal's men started up a cheer "Alright, we got them on the run but this is no time to rest on our laurels, let's wipe these bastards out and move on. We're drawing them away from the rest of the group so let's make sure we give them a good damned show." 1st Company gave out a cheer at that and began rushing after the retreating NMX forces. The slower of which were crushed under the treads of the tanks and those that were faster were gunned down by the tanks, apcs and the infantry running alongside them.
James' head shot to his side as he made his way down one of the many halls in search of the radio room, a loud thump catching his attention. A door slid open loudly, revealing three ID-SOLs who were scrambling to get inside. Now was his chance, if he was going to have one. "Fuck you, cocksuckers!" James cried angrily as he began firing his shotgun into the chest of the first ID-SOL in the doorway. Two shells later, it came crashing to the ground brutally, and the others fired their weapons blindly into the hallway to force James into cover. Luckily, he wasn't without his saving graces, and the ID-SOLs did have their own problems. Being so large and bulky, only one of them could fire from the doorway at once, which meant they could only clear one side of the hallway. Dashing to the left of the door, James fired another shell into the second ID-SOL's head, dropping it with a spray of arterial blood as its skull caved in on itself. The third ID-SOL turned and began to route, but was dropped as James switched to his HHG sidearm and put a fist-sized hole from a hollow-point round into its spine. He breathed heavily, holstering his revolver and picking up one of the ID-SOL's IAWs. He racked the charging handle and checked the magazine, stealing a couple more from its corpse and rushing towards the next room. More ID-SOLs poured in, and it was all he could do to keep himself from becoming reminiscent of swiss cheese as he rolled into the nearest room and fired blindly out the door for a few seconds before shutting and locking it. "Oh shit, fuck, shit shit!" He muttered to himself, rushing across the room and opening another door to lead into a second hallway. As he made his way down, he caught a passing glimpse of hope. A sign labeled "Radio Control Tower." He kicked open the door and ran up a spiral staircase, making it to the top of the tower and searching frantically for the communications dashboard's radio function. Once he found it, he immediately put in a distress call.
"This is James McCoy of the 252nd Infantry, ex-marine of the Star Military of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia. I need immediate evacuation in the communications array, I'm surrounded on all sides and I'm running out of ammo! If at all possible please send help IMMEDIATELY!" He finished, putting the microphone back quickly and turning around as a loud -THUD- sounded as the door at the bottom of the control tower's staircase was forced open. James rushed to the edge of the staircase and began firing round after round downward, shredding three or four more ID-SOLs to ribbons before reloading and ducking down behind the railing. He had one magazine left for the IAW and only two shotgun shells, with no explosives or melee weapons to speak of. If he wasn't going to be bailed out soon, then he was SOL. "Aw, hell... Fuck if this is the way I die, I don't see the point in delaying it any further!" He called out, mustering all his courage before rushing down the staircase and firing bursts of ammunition into the first ID-SOL before kicking it down the flight. Once he managed to reach the bottom, he propped up his enemy's corpses against the wall and formed a rudimentary barricade to keep the rest of the Squids out. Back up the stairs, and James began staring out the glass communications tower, praying to god that someone would rescue him. It was a miracle he was still alive, and someday, he'd love to see his father again, or maybe even have children of his own. He was just about ready to accept death, but having WON the fight made it that much harder when the thought that he was surrounded anyway creeped into his mind. "Please..." James said, wiping his brow and picking up the microphone again. "IS ANYONE THERE? CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?"
Gunnery Sergeant Daryl Holmes heard the distress call as his squad circled the battlefield in an Onset. "Take us in!" he ordered the pilot, directing him towards the source of the call.
Minutes later, they were above the tower, and Gunny Holmes watched for movement. "Drop us off, give us five minutes to check it out," he ordered. The Onset lowered even more and the squad of four SCG commandos jumped off onto the roof. As each one landed, their M-SARs up and ready, with the exception of the squad's pointman, Hernan. The rich corporal had acquired a HPAR master set. "Nothing, Gunny!" he exclaimed as he dashed towards the door, covering it with his money-shot. "This is Gunnery Sergeant Holmes, Paragon Initiative, is there anyone here?" Holmes shouted over his armor's speakers.
Cleaning out the rest of the nearby resistance. First company rolled through heading for the communications center that was the target for the group, hopefully there would be less resistance on the way there than there had been in the initial push. The PAs mounted back up into the AFVs so that they could move faster and the full armored cav company put the pedal to the metal and slammed their way on towards the comm array.
"Holy shit, yes!" James cried out loudly, opening the tower's door to the roof and dropping the IAW before raising his shotgun into the air. "FRIENDLY! FRIENDLY!" He screamed, teardrops streaming down his face. The realization that his life had been saved was so jarring it had been brought him to tears. "Oh god I love you guys, get me the hell out of here!" He said, rushing over to his new comrades with the shotgun in hand, two shells in the chamber. He was saved now, wasn't he...?
Major Verner stood before a holographic projection of his battlespace, he watched as the 1st Armored slammed it's way through the thickest part of the NMX defensive positions while the 2nd and 3rd swept through lighter forces and circled around, all three moving on the COM station from different routes. One small alteration caught his attention though and he keyed his COM to a specific frequency, "Ripper 9, your not on task, Gunny Holmes what are you doing?" he asked.
Meanwhile at the COM building the Gunny's shouts had alerted the ID-SOLs to his presence on the roof, several dozen began making their way up, all armed with a myriad of NAM weapons and furious at the attacking Paragon forces around them.
Corporal Hernan grabbed James McCoy and pulled him away from the door. "You're not out of the fire yet! Move!" the commando shouted, shoving the man towards the rest of the squad. ID-SOLs were appearing on the steps. Hernan fired a couple shots from his HPAR before falling back.
"Command, we are rescuing a survivor. And engaging enemy!" Holmes' calm voice became more excited as ID-SOLs started appearing behind Hernan. "Form perimeter! Dagger 305, immediate extraction! We got one civvie! Hot LZ!" Holmes radioed the Onset.
The rest of the squad had formed a short line between the Sergeant and James, firing at the ID-SOLs. Laser pulses and money shots burning holes and tearing flesh off the bio-engineered soldiers.
"Aw, you've gotta be fucking KIDDING me!" James yelled, grasping his shotgun and stepping in between the powered armors to get his last remaining rounds off. Two to the chest of a nearby ID-SOL dropped it to the ground, it's ribcage open to the air, heart pumping blood upward like a broken pipe. James disregarded the orders of his saviors to steal one of the ID-SOL's rifles, bringing it to bare with expert precision. One, two, three, four, bursts of fire dropped the cloned ID-SOLs like bags of potatoes. Clearly, the man was NO civilian, or at least had led quite an exciting life. "Get some, motherfuckers! Yeah, get some!" He screamed a bloody warcry before the telltale "click" told him he was out of ammunition. He threw the rifle aside and drew his revolver, emptying the remaining rounds before stepping back behind the PAs. Frantically, James searched for a weapon to grab. "If someone has a sidearm, give it to me!"
With a roar the first armor slammed into the square holding the Comm center. As the tanks slid to a screeching halt the troop doors on the AFVs opened and full squads of Impulse Powered armors sprinted out hefting their M-Sars and opening fire on the sprouting like weeds ID-SOLs. The tanks and APCs spread out to make a landing zone for follow on forces available. "Headhunter headhunter this is 1-6 Actual come in over. We have reached the comm center and the forces there are taking heavy enemy fire, we need immediate air support on station. We need strafing runs on heavy columns of enemy troops. We'll hold here but I can't guarantee how long we can stand without support. WHERE THE FUCK IS THE REST OF THE GROUP?! Those assholes better not be standing around with their thumbs up their asses still back at the damned tarmac. I'll have their fucking balls if they are." Tuning back to the command channel and also the external heavy speakers O'Neal said "ALRIGHT FIRST ARMORED, WE GOT HERE BEFORE ANYONE BUT THESE SPECIAL COMPANY GUYS, NOW WE STAND UNTIL THE REST OF THE COMBAT GROUP GETS HERE. WE STAND HERE, WE GIVE THEM NOT ONE INCH, NOT ONE SECOND OF BREATHING SPACE WE PUSH THEM AND PUSH THEM HARD, WE WILL CRUSH THEM AND USE THEIR GUTS TO GREASE OUR TREADS!!! ARE YOU WITH ME?!" Roared out over the Comms making the air itself compress as the tanks revved their engines and the troopers cheered. With that they began unleashing hell into the general area as every single gun on every single tank and apc and all the Impulses opened fire on the ID-SOLs pouring out and then over the comms came the message "warning 1-6 Actual this is Headhunter 1-1, we are on approach, this is your danger close message. We will be strafing near your positions so keep your heads down." With that the same pair of Striga gunships with grinning skulls painted onto their wings came sweeping out of the sky, and unleashed a massive volley of shells, rockets, and bombs onto the enemy forces and the surrounding buildings.
High overhead a Scimitar fighter circled the area lazily, hanging off it's wing stations were a myriad of optical and electronic monitoring pods. The sight it was transmitting back to the command center was alarming.
"We estimate the crowd is in the thousands, judging by their thermal signatures most of them are zombies with ID-SOLs mixed in. We also lost contact with one of the forward teams," the officer seemed to pause before bringing up an image. "Sir that looks like what took them out, we think they have a squad of Mindy type Star Army PAs and there moving toward the COM center."
"Get Bird Bird on the horn, those boys are going to need some support, and fast." Responded Verner.
As O'Neil's column began disembarking troops the leading edge of the massive horde began entering the area, parasite riddled zombies began moving in by their hundreds fitering from the alleys and side roads firing randomly with an assortment of scavenged arms. Among their ranks ID-SOLs fired heavy weapons.
One of the supporting Strigas faltered, a figure had smashed into it and was now climbing along the wing. After a frantic call for help the pilots voice was silenced by an aether blast which crumbled the forward section of the gunship, now out of control it crashed into the side of the COM building.
The Onset shuttle drew close and lowered the rear ramp. "Your ride's here! Get on!" Holmes shouted at James, pointing to the shuttle. The Gunnery Sergeant was adding his fire to the squad's. Their disciplined, well-aimed shots stemming the ID-SOLs advance and forcing them to stop and return fire. "Hernan, Carmine, left side. Watson, plant the flag!" Holmes ordered.
Sergeant Mira Watson unfurled a Paragon Initiative flag and attached it to a pole she had been carrying. She drove the flag pole into the roof. "All your base are belong to us!"
"Command, we're at the comm. centre roof! Request orders!" Holmes relayed to command.
"Fuck that!" James responded, snatching the pistol from one of his new comrade's holsters and continuing his slaughtering of the ID-SOLs. At this point, they were like cattle coming to die. Quite pathetic, really. When the side of the building was slammed into by a Striga, James fell off his feet, quickly righting himself and then handing the pistol back to its owner. "I'm ex-NSMC. Name's James McCoy. You guys saved my life, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you guys fight these fucks without me. In fact, why don't you get me a suit of power armor so I can join you?" He asked, approaching the man who'd been commanding the squad and putting out his hand to shake. "I'm the guy that collapsed 24th street and 132nd avenue on the squid's armor."
"You have got to be shitting me" muttered O'Neil staring out at the hordes of oncoming enemies. "HQ HQ I need air support, for that matter where the fuck is the rest of the group, my company is here but where the hell is everyone else?" With that he switched on the speakers to the exterior and music began booming over the din of battle "WE SHALL NOT FALTER, WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN. IF WE FALL WE FALL HERE WITH AS MANY OF THESE BASTARDS AROUND US, WE WILL TAKE THEM TO VALHALLA AS OUR HONOR GUARD. Full cyclic fire, shoot until out of ammo, then take it to them in hand to hand men, when your vehicle runs out of ammo drive through the fuckers do whatever you have to do in order to beat them back. As the tanks began firing the tune of
"Axes flash, broadswords swing Shining armors' piercing ring Horses run with polished shield Fight those bastards 'til they yield
Midnight mare, blood red roan Fight to keep this land your own Sound the horn and call the cry How many of them can we make die?
Follow orders as you're told Make their yellow blood run cold Fight until you die or drop A force like ours is hard to stop
Close your mind to stress and pain Fight 'til you're no longer sane Let not one damn cur pass by How many of them can we make die?"
As the song played O'Neil Bellowed over the radio "HOW MANY CAN WE MAKE DIE?" With a roar the first replied "ALL OF THEM OR WE'LL DIE TRYING" As the music played the Impulse troopers sprinted towards the enemy firing the whole way, everything turned into a massive light show as tracers, laser flares, plasma blasts, gauss cannon rounds and even standard bullets flew towards the massive enemy force. The tanks and apcs gunned their engines and charged forward in the wake of the infantry firing over and around the troops in front of them and making sure to target any obvious enemy hardpoints. They still were sure that this would be the last stand of the fighting first but if so it would be one that tales would be told for generations afterwards.
A blackened humanoid shape landed on the edge of the roof near as two blue flashes tore through the Onset and sent it flaming into the side of a nearby building. Three more figures landed around commandos, they were Mindy power armors and had effectively boxed them in, one of them began transmitting over an external COM. "So your the ones causing all this trouble?" It was a sultry but very very edged voice. "Lower your weapons and we may let you live as pets!" It shouted joyfully.
Verner was leaning over a tactical screen, a massive group of white dots were moving in a wave through the NMX defense line and toward his forces, 1st Cav was already enveloped. He keyed his COM, "Negative 1st Cav were being hit along the entire damn line, the bastards are between you and the other units your going to have to hold on until reinforcements arrive. I'm vectoring any spare air units to your position, lase priorty targets and hold at any cost." He turned off the microphone, "God help them." He said as he looked on in horror.
*Command, we're at the comm. centre roof! Request orders!*
The response was from one of the handlers working directly under Verner's command, "Your instructions are to hold Gunny and support 1st Cav as best you can, hang in there help is on the way." She said.
"Ah hell," Hernan cursed. Holmes silently passed a signal to his squad. Aim for the speaker on his command. "Sorry, cat. We're not here for fun and games!" Holmes replied. Simultaneously, three plasma rounds and a hail of money shot screamed toward the lead Mindy.
James ducked down in surprise as the sky lit up with flame, the Onset coming down on the opposite side of the city. "Son of a bitch!" He cried out, seconds before he and the others suddenly found themselves surrounded by mindy power armors. "What the hell... Those are Yamatai PAs, right? What the fuck are they doing here?" He asked aloud, interrupted by a sudden curse from Hernan and a burst of plasma fire. "Oh hell!" James yelled out, jumping down to prone to avoid getting shred by incoming gunfire. He drew out his HHG and flipped out the cylinder, frowning. "Guess I can only get one of them." He said, noticing that much of his ammo had fallen from his jean pockets while running. "One shot left." He muttered, slipping a red-tipped bullet into the cylinder before flicking it closed.
With a roar 60 Docile class Power armors leapt from a covered position in reserve of the company, opening fire with a mixture of M-SARS, SFR-01s and a variety of other weapons. The oncoming swarm of zombies, Mindy powered armors, and ID-SOLs were met with a hail of weapons fire. Every armored trooper, every tank, and every AFV the first had unleashed all the firepower that they had available in an attempt to halt the oncoming mass. Explosions detonated everywhere throughout the swarm sending zombies and ID-sols into the sky. Intermixed within the standard rounds were laser designation chips to call for the incoming aircraft. The remaining striga from headhunter came in for another strafing run and opened fire with everything it had available from the dual coilguns mounted on the wings and everything it had on its wing hardpoints before heading back to base to rearm and find a new wingman. As the rounds impacted massive explosions billowed up since the main external ordnance were AT-1 Shortbow thermobaric rounds, all 10 of them were fired in a ripple salvo into the midsts of the zombie swarm.
The creature had side stepped the barrage laughing maniacally as she did before raising her weapon and firing at one of the Impulses. The other three rocketed toward the squad, aether blades ready to cripple, maim, or kill.
While the event began playing out on the room the 1st Cavalry Company found itself in a war of attrition and the enemy simply had the numbers, while the mercanries did have the superior firepower and air. The attacking NMX mob had sheer weight of numbers behind it and simply weren't being killed fast enough, slowly but surely they began to close into melee fighting with the lead elements of the mercenary force. VVHD systems began to discharge as zombies tried to tackle PAs or climb onto vehicles all the while the mercenaries continued to fire into them, slaughtering them.
"Well, fuck this shit!" Carmine dodging a blade and leaping over the building's edge. Hernan grabbed James and held onto him as the man was a sportsball as he too jumped over. Watson and Holmes dodged incoming fire and slashing blades before following their squadmates.
At 30 metres, they fired their jets to slow their descent. "Sorry if you get burned! Better than being those crazy cats!" Hernan shouted at James. The squad landed in the empty streets. "Inside now!"
The commandos dashed into the building with Hernan still carrying James. "Clear, Gunny. What next?" Watson asked as Hernan put James down.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" James screamed loudly, holding onto his revolver for dear life. "THIS IS FUCKING INSANE!" He continued, tucking in his legs so they wouldn't be burnt to cinders by the armor's thrusters. "AHHHHHHH!" Could be heard all the way down to the bottom until Jacob was set down, where he began to rub his head. "Oh my god... I've never, god damn, that was crazy!" He said to Hernan placing his revolver on his holster. "Oh god... Uh... I've got one red-tipped bullet left. I need a new gun."
Carmine handed him one of the Zen SMGs he always carried for emergencies. "Useless against those Mindys but good enough for ID-SOLs," he said, "I want it back when you're done."
"Thanks" James replied, taking the gun with a nod and stepping back, observing his surroundings.
A pair of armored hands tore through the wall and grabbed Carmine, pulling him into a void. The wet sounds of a body being torn apart followed along with screams over both the COM and direct.
Gunny Holmes triggered the bomb in Carmine's armour. It was meant to destroy everything, prevent the enemy from tracing them. It went off loudly, the shockwave knocking them all off their feet.
"HOLY SHIT! Carmine!" James screamed, firing a burst of fire into the general area around where Carmine was taken. "Noooo! Son of a bitch, I'll fucking murder you!"
A loud feral inhuman scream echoed through the building, followed by shreiking as something moved through the walls.
Hernan was the first up and firing into the hole. "Bring it, you fuckers! This is for Carmine!"
"Watson, set us up the bomb! We're gonna blow this place up! If we can't own this, neither can the squids!" Holmes ordered, getting to his feet and waiting for the damned cats to show themselves. The Sergeant began frantically putting the large implosion package together.
"Let's do it!" James said, shouldering the sub-machinegun and quickly glancing around, using his eyes and ears to pinpoint his targets. As soon as one of them came into view, he'd start firing, trying, if anything, to at least slow it down.
As several of the AFVs and tanks exploded the First Company didn't stop firing at the horde. In fact they started driving towards them as fast as they could preparing to overload their fusion batteries as a last ditch effort to wipe out as much as possible to prevent a total loss of the defensive lines. "WE STAND HERE" with that the first company smashed into and through the first sets of zombies and drove until they were forced to stop by the bodies that were piling up under them, with all the remaining power armors clinging to them and firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Then began the countdown from 300 seconds to zero before the batteries detonated. "Throughout the history of man, small forces facing overwhelming odds have been remembered in storied song. The small Greek force at Marathon that defeated a Persian force that outnumbered it a hundred to one. The Rhodesian SAS team that accidentally ran onto a regimental review of guerrillas and wiped them out. The Heroes of Thermopylae. The Alamo. The Seventh Cavalry.Given our situation, I think the last three are most significant, but we are the First Armored and I'm sure you all know our motto" O'Neil broadcasted. Then after he turned the external volume to high he began "What are we gonna do?" "We're gonna dance, sir," over the coms came one of the other TCs "We are gonna dance. Now, what are we gonna do?" "We're gonna dance, sir." "Dammit . . .quit sounding like a bunch of bitches." "WE'RE GONNA DANCE, SIR!" they sounded off. "WHO'RE WE GONNA DANCE WITH?" "THE DEVIL!" "WE GONNA LEAD OR FOLLOW?" "WE'RE GONNA LEAD!" "DAMN STRAIGHT! ROLL OUT!"
Either it was on purpose or accident but all COMs suddenly began picking up a signal.
*Bravo 2-62 confirm target package.*
*Eh rodger primary package is authorized, target area is set.*
*Rodger Bravo 2-62, approaching drop point from vector 2-0-6, massive thermal count.*
*Rodger Bird Bird, its a party down there.*
*Confirmed, Package away in 15 seconds.*
Overhead a Starliner transport roared over the COM building at one-thousand feet, it's rear ramp open. Fifteen seconds later a large object fell free and plummeted earthward, slowed by a large drag chute. There was a small flash and a large cloud of gray dust appeared lasting less then a blink of an eye before being replaced by a massive fireball. The weapon was a 20,000 kilogram thermobaric munition that had been constructed on a limited basis for testing in this operation. The initial overpressure caused most of the NMX force a few kilometers up the street to simply cease to exist, more were obliterated as the shock wave moved outward at the speed of sound. A scant second the almighty 'bang' reached 1st Cav, throwing zombies and ID-SOLs alike.
*Confirmed hit on primary, RTB.*
"Fuck this!" Hernan screamed over and over, trying to scramble to his feet but failing to do so as his numbed senses tripped him up. Watson had fallen over Gunny Holmes, leaving the bomb unattended. "Get off me and arm the bomb!" Holmes yelled. But then he couldn't even hear what he had yelled. He whacked Watson's head and pointed to the bomb. She crawled off and slowly made her way over, stumbling several times. Holmes himself felt weak and jarred from the explosion. "Fucking brass! After this mission, I am fucking done!" Hernan screamed at his deafened squad mates.
"Holy fuck" exclaimed O'Neil from inside his tank, "ass to the blast boys, let's get the fuck out of here. Our job is done it seems. Cancel self destruct orders let's get back to the landing pad and see if any civvies survived this shit." With that the First Cav turned back the way they came and left with what forces they had remaining.
The bomb was armed. Watson tapped Hernan and James, signalling to leave. All three of them dashed out, Hernan carrying James again, boosting away as fast as their jets could go. Five seconds later, the building came toppling down from the powerful implosion device.
------
A kilometer away a small squad of Paragon black ops troops transmitted data recently acquired from a now defunct communications hub, it was sent over the battlenet to several key sites, both Verner's FOB and the Red Submarine's COM center.
Laid out in front of him were six combat ready companies, four mechanized infantry, and two armored cavalry units. Among them were several Special Combat Group units assigned to be the first assault troops in. In addition to the ground forces were several gunships and fixed wing strike craft, all were being laden with air to ground ordinance.
Standing on the edge of the concrete Verner looked over to a man manning a communications terminal, "Captain O'Neal whats our status?" he asked in a gruff tone.
"Sir, status is ready for the 1st Armored Cav, we're fueled and ready and all weapons are topped up with ammunition, we await your orders to move into the city." Captain O'Neal said as he looked at the major.
"Sir, my men are ready to move at the first sign of any enemy contact. Hopefully the rest of the group will be ready to follow us in. Time to kick some squiddy ass and not just piss on them." Looking back to the console O'neal said to the mic "alright First, we're going to be the first in and probably the last motherfuckers to come out so let's kick in gear and go beat the everloving shit out of these NMX assholes. Sir, we need to get going" O'Neal said with a salute as he signed off of the console and looked at the major.
Verner nodded, "Get to your unit."
"Aye aye, sir" O'Neal said as he ran down the stairs to the T1A1 Havoc tank that already had the tank commanders hatch open and waiting for him. Hopping in he yelled to his driver "Alright Schmoo let's kick this monster into gear." Turning his comms on he broadcast to the rest of the company "Alright First, let's take ourselves a little stroll into good old funky city. We know what we have to do, we have the weapons to do it and we have the will to kick these bastards right the hell out of here. Alright here's the basic plan, First Platoon you're with me, we'll be rolling heavy on point. Second, you'll be on the left flank, guard the APCs and make sure we have crunchies on hand when we need them. Third Platoon you're on the right flank, you've got the other batch of APCs with our PA backup in the, don't lose them. We need that infantry support. Now let's roll out. All units this is O'Neal, BOOT DON'T PISS ON THEM, KICK THEIR SQUID ASSES!!!"
As the ground elements rolled out of the FOB three Starliners lifted off accompanied by numerous escort craft. Their combined exhaust sending a massive cloud of steam off the freshly rained on tarmac. Two carried a special surprise, while the third had been assigned to drop an air mobile company directly on top of a major asset of the hostile insurgency, a communications hub. Several heavily modified Onset shuttles took off and followed the convoy, Impulse PA troops hanging on to their sides. These where tailed by Striga gunships, holding off at a stand off distance. Watching as his troops rolled out a large grin emerged on Verner's face, he was going home.
O'Neal watched as his Company rolled out into the city. First Platoon was in echelon formation with his tank at the lead, all tanks were moving their turrets side to side scanning for targets. "We've got all clear so far sir, nothing living within sight or sensor radius." Came one of the TCs calling over the command frequency. "Second Platoon all clear" came the next call. "Third Platoon here, we're all....... OH SHIT!! We have squids, and something else. No idea where they came from sir, we need immediate assistance. We already lost one havoc." In the background the sound of a tank catastrophically detonating can be heard.
Deep in the city's occupied center lay a collection of burnt out husks, the remains of buildings bombed into rubble by the initial fighting. A young man named James McCoy, an ex-marine of the Nepleslian Star Army, had coincidentally made his home there. Surviving on sheer wits and experience, he'd made his way behind a formation of armed NMX-owned ID-SOLs, carrying with him a parcel of old, stolen plastic explosives and an infantry combat shotgun slung across his shoulder and down to his right hip. With little to rely on besides his gut, James found himself searching frantically for a way to contact the forthcoming rescue forces and get himself suited up for combat. There was no way he was going to let some dirty squids invade HIS home and get off scott-free. He rounded a corner carefully, stepping in between sheets of metal that had fallen from the destroyed building's ceiling. James set down his explosives and shouldered the pump-action twelve-gauge, aiming down the sight as an ID-SOL exploded into view. With little choice, he pulled the trigger and pumped the action on recoil once, twice, three times, until a large chunk of flesh hit the ground with a THUD opposite him. He quickly gathered up his explosives and dashed for the route to the next building, leaving a trail of small plastic-wrapped containers connected by a thin wire. It was anyone's guess if he would survive long enough to set off the bombs, but they were lining the street that the NMX's ID-SOL troops marched down, and it would undoubtedly be an enormous boon to the Nepleslian military to have an entire block of buildings come crashing down on their enemies in a hail of steel and plaster. For now, luckily, he had gone unnoticed. With so much fighting going on nearby, a series of gunshots was hardly out of place. However, it was only a matter of time until the Squids discovered the ID-SOL's body, and James would have to escape to the next block by then or inevitably be killed by his foes.
Around the convoy the buildings seemed to come alive with fire, hundreds of ID-SOLs all along the route opened up at once with a myriad of weapons. Tracers, laser fire, and rocket propelled grenades criss crossed the road hitting or impacting around the vehicles, overhead a few Onsets shuddered as they where hit. Their response however was devastating as well, air troops responded with PA weaponry. Gauss rifles, plasma, and laser fire ripped into hidden sniper nests and machine gun positions.
"Alright, third's in trouble time to save them, First and Second on me" O'Neal barked as he suited action to words turning his tank towards where Third Platoon was located. Seeing the immense amounts of enemy fire pouring out towards his tanks he ordered "Use everything we've got, this is gonna be like fighting an avalanche with fire hoses we can do it but we're gonna use a shitload of ammo. Get those PAs out we need their extra firepower, all AFVs go cyclic on all weapons, we need to clear this nest out so that the rest of the force can get in here. Roll through the buildings if you need to. The faster we do this the less losses we'll have. We have tanks, they may be dug into the buildings but using enough firepower we should be able to smash our way through." With that all the tanks opened up with their heavy gauss cannons and went cyclic rate on their MGs and lighter gauss cannons. The AFVs and IFVs opened fire as well with everything they had. As they did some of the enemy fire died down from the suppressing effects as well as the massive amounts of debris flying everywhere from the impacts. Building after building began to slowly slump as major structural supports were taken out one by one. Luckily with the massive amounts of hell that the tanks and AFVs were putting out the return fire was becoming much less effective. "Alright, I think we can roll First Company, time to let second and those Mechanized infantry wankers clean up this mess. We gotta get to the center and hit the main CNC facility for these squid bastards before they have a chance to reorganize and hit us back."
Less then a hundred meters up the road an IED detonated with enough force to flip one of the Havocs in front of the formation, a second blew toward the rear. Trashing an AFV and throwing dismounted infantry into the air, a moment later small groups of AIR and EARTH clad ID-SOLs attacked the formation from the sides mixed in with regular ID-SOL infantry, it was a counter attack and a major one at that.
Deep in enemy territory, James continued his rush towards the communications array. It was occupied by the enemy, but with jammers up and his pad broken anyway, there wasn't much else he could do to get into contact with the Nepleslian military. At least, he thought, he had those bombs. As he made his way carefully into the bowels of the hyperindustrial city, he spotted a maintenance hatch that could be used to access the communications array, provided he was careful about getting it open. He raised a small black detonator with a red button and flipped up the safety glass before smashing it down. There was a loud commotion as all of James' explosives blew out the street-facing supports of two separate blocks of buildings. In the distance, commander O'Neal could see plumes of smoke suddenly raise up as a series of bombs went off, the buildings they had been placed in caving inward into the center of the street and utterly burying a huge contingent of Squid armor and ID-SOLs. James smirked as he carefully removed the bolts that shut the maintenance hatch and slipped inside, sure that his "distraction" would afford him enough time to break into the communications array's radio room and call for help.
James's actions had set the surviving forces into a frenzy, however any search for a saboteur was put on hold as the whale like form of a Starliner hovered high over the site. A few moments later Paragon Impulse PAs began assaulting from the sky using their jet packs to slow their decent and steady their aim. Above them several Havoc MBTs fitted with special thruster packs where also descending. A few going out of control after being hit by ground fire, for James the situation was rapidly degenerating into chaos. .
"Dammit. Alright what I've got now can't do this. Striga, Striga, we need air support. I have large groups of enemy Powered armor attacking from two separate directions and I have a shitload of dismounted ID-Sols assaulting from the sides as well. I've already lost two tanks and an AFV, I need immediate support." With that O'Neal turned to his company comms and said "alright, we have lots of enemies, I've called for air support but we need to hold these assholes off until they can get here. Impulses use as much firepower as you need to but take those Air and Earth suits off our backs." With that the force had Impulse PAs hopping up onto the hulls of the tanks and AFVs and aiming their M-SARS into the mass of enemies firing both the laser and plasma parts at the oncoming enemy PAs. The tanks began loading and firing at an increased rate and then suddenly from the sky a pair of Striga gunships screamed down and began unloading ordinance upon the enemy forces ripping them into bits before screaming back up to head to base for resupply. Over the radios O'Neal heard "First Company this is Headhunter 1-1 if you need us again just use this call sign and we'll be on our way as soon as possible." O'Neal replied "Thanks headhunter, if something goes to hell we'll call you asap. This is 1-6 Actual over." From the gunships "Roger that 1-6 Actual, good hunting sir." After the ruin left by the striga strafing run the Impulses spread out and started cleaning up the mess. Making sure there were no wounded that could potentially fire on the convoy from the rear and then a set of them that were specially equipped with scanners bounded out in front of the convoy to check for any further IEDs. "Damn, I'm already down 3 vics and this op only just started. This is gonna get expensive as all hell."
To the north and the south of the 1st the other Paragon units were making headway, O'Neal's unit had the unfortunate luck to draw the shortest straw for the NMX's unit positions. However the recent fire fight had cost the NMX forward units most of their manpower and personal armors, as a result the resistance seemed to melt away into the twisted steel and concrete.
James did his best to avoid dropping PA and larger vehicles that were slamming into the ground after being struck with too much weapons fire. Explosions and debris began to rain down around the communications array, but within moments James managed to reach the inside of the building, his enemy's stronghold. He had been here before, having lived quite nearby, but still needed to search for a building directory to find the radio room. Shotgun shouldered and his finger just inches from the trigger, James began to clear the building room by room, starting in whatever room he emerged from and heading down random hallways until he was lucky enough to find a map or a computer. In case he ran into any ID-SOLs or squids, he'd quickly duck down into cover and try to wait them out. If they didn't leave, he'd have to consider... Other options.
Outside the first Impulse PAs hit the ground and began their assault, they were shortly followed by four Havoc tanks. On the surrounding buildings small Onset shuttles were landing and dropping small Paragon fire teams. Intense fire was being exchanged between the now confused NMX ID-SOLs and the Paragon mercenaries that had practically dropped on top of them. Lighting up the night was bright flashes of laser and plasma fire. For James the situation was going to get interesting as the ID-SOLs began retreating into the surrounding structures, including the one that hosted his hideaway.
Seeing the enemy forces retreating O'Neal's men started up a cheer "Alright, we got them on the run but this is no time to rest on our laurels, let's wipe these bastards out and move on. We're drawing them away from the rest of the group so let's make sure we give them a good damned show." 1st Company gave out a cheer at that and began rushing after the retreating NMX forces. The slower of which were crushed under the treads of the tanks and those that were faster were gunned down by the tanks, apcs and the infantry running alongside them.
James' head shot to his side as he made his way down one of the many halls in search of the radio room, a loud thump catching his attention. A door slid open loudly, revealing three ID-SOLs who were scrambling to get inside. Now was his chance, if he was going to have one. "Fuck you, cocksuckers!" James cried angrily as he began firing his shotgun into the chest of the first ID-SOL in the doorway. Two shells later, it came crashing to the ground brutally, and the others fired their weapons blindly into the hallway to force James into cover. Luckily, he wasn't without his saving graces, and the ID-SOLs did have their own problems. Being so large and bulky, only one of them could fire from the doorway at once, which meant they could only clear one side of the hallway. Dashing to the left of the door, James fired another shell into the second ID-SOL's head, dropping it with a spray of arterial blood as its skull caved in on itself. The third ID-SOL turned and began to route, but was dropped as James switched to his HHG sidearm and put a fist-sized hole from a hollow-point round into its spine. He breathed heavily, holstering his revolver and picking up one of the ID-SOL's IAWs. He racked the charging handle and checked the magazine, stealing a couple more from its corpse and rushing towards the next room. More ID-SOLs poured in, and it was all he could do to keep himself from becoming reminiscent of swiss cheese as he rolled into the nearest room and fired blindly out the door for a few seconds before shutting and locking it. "Oh shit, fuck, shit shit!" He muttered to himself, rushing across the room and opening another door to lead into a second hallway. As he made his way down, he caught a passing glimpse of hope. A sign labeled "Radio Control Tower." He kicked open the door and ran up a spiral staircase, making it to the top of the tower and searching frantically for the communications dashboard's radio function. Once he found it, he immediately put in a distress call.
"This is James McCoy of the 252nd Infantry, ex-marine of the Star Military of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia. I need immediate evacuation in the communications array, I'm surrounded on all sides and I'm running out of ammo! If at all possible please send help IMMEDIATELY!" He finished, putting the microphone back quickly and turning around as a loud -THUD- sounded as the door at the bottom of the control tower's staircase was forced open. James rushed to the edge of the staircase and began firing round after round downward, shredding three or four more ID-SOLs to ribbons before reloading and ducking down behind the railing. He had one magazine left for the IAW and only two shotgun shells, with no explosives or melee weapons to speak of. If he wasn't going to be bailed out soon, then he was SOL. "Aw, hell... Fuck if this is the way I die, I don't see the point in delaying it any further!" He called out, mustering all his courage before rushing down the staircase and firing bursts of ammunition into the first ID-SOL before kicking it down the flight. Once he managed to reach the bottom, he propped up his enemy's corpses against the wall and formed a rudimentary barricade to keep the rest of the Squids out. Back up the stairs, and James began staring out the glass communications tower, praying to god that someone would rescue him. It was a miracle he was still alive, and someday, he'd love to see his father again, or maybe even have children of his own. He was just about ready to accept death, but having WON the fight made it that much harder when the thought that he was surrounded anyway creeped into his mind. "Please..." James said, wiping his brow and picking up the microphone again. "IS ANYONE THERE? CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?"
Gunnery Sergeant Daryl Holmes heard the distress call as his squad circled the battlefield in an Onset. "Take us in!" he ordered the pilot, directing him towards the source of the call.
Minutes later, they were above the tower, and Gunny Holmes watched for movement. "Drop us off, give us five minutes to check it out," he ordered. The Onset lowered even more and the squad of four SCG commandos jumped off onto the roof. As each one landed, their M-SARs up and ready, with the exception of the squad's pointman, Hernan. The rich corporal had acquired a HPAR master set. "Nothing, Gunny!" he exclaimed as he dashed towards the door, covering it with his money-shot. "This is Gunnery Sergeant Holmes, Paragon Initiative, is there anyone here?" Holmes shouted over his armor's speakers.
Cleaning out the rest of the nearby resistance. First company rolled through heading for the communications center that was the target for the group, hopefully there would be less resistance on the way there than there had been in the initial push. The PAs mounted back up into the AFVs so that they could move faster and the full armored cav company put the pedal to the metal and slammed their way on towards the comm array.
"Holy shit, yes!" James cried out loudly, opening the tower's door to the roof and dropping the IAW before raising his shotgun into the air. "FRIENDLY! FRIENDLY!" He screamed, teardrops streaming down his face. The realization that his life had been saved was so jarring it had been brought him to tears. "Oh god I love you guys, get me the hell out of here!" He said, rushing over to his new comrades with the shotgun in hand, two shells in the chamber. He was saved now, wasn't he...?
Major Verner stood before a holographic projection of his battlespace, he watched as the 1st Armored slammed it's way through the thickest part of the NMX defensive positions while the 2nd and 3rd swept through lighter forces and circled around, all three moving on the COM station from different routes. One small alteration caught his attention though and he keyed his COM to a specific frequency, "Ripper 9, your not on task, Gunny Holmes what are you doing?" he asked.
Meanwhile at the COM building the Gunny's shouts had alerted the ID-SOLs to his presence on the roof, several dozen began making their way up, all armed with a myriad of NAM weapons and furious at the attacking Paragon forces around them.
Corporal Hernan grabbed James McCoy and pulled him away from the door. "You're not out of the fire yet! Move!" the commando shouted, shoving the man towards the rest of the squad. ID-SOLs were appearing on the steps. Hernan fired a couple shots from his HPAR before falling back.
"Command, we are rescuing a survivor. And engaging enemy!" Holmes' calm voice became more excited as ID-SOLs started appearing behind Hernan. "Form perimeter! Dagger 305, immediate extraction! We got one civvie! Hot LZ!" Holmes radioed the Onset.
The rest of the squad had formed a short line between the Sergeant and James, firing at the ID-SOLs. Laser pulses and money shots burning holes and tearing flesh off the bio-engineered soldiers.
"Aw, you've gotta be fucking KIDDING me!" James yelled, grasping his shotgun and stepping in between the powered armors to get his last remaining rounds off. Two to the chest of a nearby ID-SOL dropped it to the ground, it's ribcage open to the air, heart pumping blood upward like a broken pipe. James disregarded the orders of his saviors to steal one of the ID-SOL's rifles, bringing it to bare with expert precision. One, two, three, four, bursts of fire dropped the cloned ID-SOLs like bags of potatoes. Clearly, the man was NO civilian, or at least had led quite an exciting life. "Get some, motherfuckers! Yeah, get some!" He screamed a bloody warcry before the telltale "click" told him he was out of ammunition. He threw the rifle aside and drew his revolver, emptying the remaining rounds before stepping back behind the PAs. Frantically, James searched for a weapon to grab. "If someone has a sidearm, give it to me!"
With a roar the first armor slammed into the square holding the Comm center. As the tanks slid to a screeching halt the troop doors on the AFVs opened and full squads of Impulse Powered armors sprinted out hefting their M-Sars and opening fire on the sprouting like weeds ID-SOLs. The tanks and APCs spread out to make a landing zone for follow on forces available. "Headhunter headhunter this is 1-6 Actual come in over. We have reached the comm center and the forces there are taking heavy enemy fire, we need immediate air support on station. We need strafing runs on heavy columns of enemy troops. We'll hold here but I can't guarantee how long we can stand without support. WHERE THE FUCK IS THE REST OF THE GROUP?! Those assholes better not be standing around with their thumbs up their asses still back at the damned tarmac. I'll have their fucking balls if they are." Tuning back to the command channel and also the external heavy speakers O'Neal said "ALRIGHT FIRST ARMORED, WE GOT HERE BEFORE ANYONE BUT THESE SPECIAL COMPANY GUYS, NOW WE STAND UNTIL THE REST OF THE COMBAT GROUP GETS HERE. WE STAND HERE, WE GIVE THEM NOT ONE INCH, NOT ONE SECOND OF BREATHING SPACE WE PUSH THEM AND PUSH THEM HARD, WE WILL CRUSH THEM AND USE THEIR GUTS TO GREASE OUR TREADS!!! ARE YOU WITH ME?!" Roared out over the Comms making the air itself compress as the tanks revved their engines and the troopers cheered. With that they began unleashing hell into the general area as every single gun on every single tank and apc and all the Impulses opened fire on the ID-SOLs pouring out and then over the comms came the message "warning 1-6 Actual this is Headhunter 1-1, we are on approach, this is your danger close message. We will be strafing near your positions so keep your heads down." With that the same pair of Striga gunships with grinning skulls painted onto their wings came sweeping out of the sky, and unleashed a massive volley of shells, rockets, and bombs onto the enemy forces and the surrounding buildings.
High overhead a Scimitar fighter circled the area lazily, hanging off it's wing stations were a myriad of optical and electronic monitoring pods. The sight it was transmitting back to the command center was alarming.
"We estimate the crowd is in the thousands, judging by their thermal signatures most of them are zombies with ID-SOLs mixed in. We also lost contact with one of the forward teams," the officer seemed to pause before bringing up an image. "Sir that looks like what took them out, we think they have a squad of Mindy type Star Army PAs and there moving toward the COM center."
"Get Bird Bird on the horn, those boys are going to need some support, and fast." Responded Verner.
As O'Neil's column began disembarking troops the leading edge of the massive horde began entering the area, parasite riddled zombies began moving in by their hundreds fitering from the alleys and side roads firing randomly with an assortment of scavenged arms. Among their ranks ID-SOLs fired heavy weapons.
One of the supporting Strigas faltered, a figure had smashed into it and was now climbing along the wing. After a frantic call for help the pilots voice was silenced by an aether blast which crumbled the forward section of the gunship, now out of control it crashed into the side of the COM building.
The Onset shuttle drew close and lowered the rear ramp. "Your ride's here! Get on!" Holmes shouted at James, pointing to the shuttle. The Gunnery Sergeant was adding his fire to the squad's. Their disciplined, well-aimed shots stemming the ID-SOLs advance and forcing them to stop and return fire. "Hernan, Carmine, left side. Watson, plant the flag!" Holmes ordered.
Sergeant Mira Watson unfurled a Paragon Initiative flag and attached it to a pole she had been carrying. She drove the flag pole into the roof. "All your base are belong to us!"
"Command, we're at the comm. centre roof! Request orders!" Holmes relayed to command.
"Fuck that!" James responded, snatching the pistol from one of his new comrade's holsters and continuing his slaughtering of the ID-SOLs. At this point, they were like cattle coming to die. Quite pathetic, really. When the side of the building was slammed into by a Striga, James fell off his feet, quickly righting himself and then handing the pistol back to its owner. "I'm ex-NSMC. Name's James McCoy. You guys saved my life, there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you guys fight these fucks without me. In fact, why don't you get me a suit of power armor so I can join you?" He asked, approaching the man who'd been commanding the squad and putting out his hand to shake. "I'm the guy that collapsed 24th street and 132nd avenue on the squid's armor."
"You have got to be shitting me" muttered O'Neil staring out at the hordes of oncoming enemies. "HQ HQ I need air support, for that matter where the fuck is the rest of the group, my company is here but where the hell is everyone else?" With that he switched on the speakers to the exterior and music began booming over the din of battle "WE SHALL NOT FALTER, WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN. IF WE FALL WE FALL HERE WITH AS MANY OF THESE BASTARDS AROUND US, WE WILL TAKE THEM TO VALHALLA AS OUR HONOR GUARD. Full cyclic fire, shoot until out of ammo, then take it to them in hand to hand men, when your vehicle runs out of ammo drive through the fuckers do whatever you have to do in order to beat them back. As the tanks began firing the tune of
"Axes flash, broadswords swing Shining armors' piercing ring Horses run with polished shield Fight those bastards 'til they yield
Midnight mare, blood red roan Fight to keep this land your own Sound the horn and call the cry How many of them can we make die?
Follow orders as you're told Make their yellow blood run cold Fight until you die or drop A force like ours is hard to stop
Close your mind to stress and pain Fight 'til you're no longer sane Let not one damn cur pass by How many of them can we make die?"
As the song played O'Neil Bellowed over the radio "HOW MANY CAN WE MAKE DIE?" With a roar the first replied "ALL OF THEM OR WE'LL DIE TRYING" As the music played the Impulse troopers sprinted towards the enemy firing the whole way, everything turned into a massive light show as tracers, laser flares, plasma blasts, gauss cannon rounds and even standard bullets flew towards the massive enemy force. The tanks and apcs gunned their engines and charged forward in the wake of the infantry firing over and around the troops in front of them and making sure to target any obvious enemy hardpoints. They still were sure that this would be the last stand of the fighting first but if so it would be one that tales would be told for generations afterwards.
A blackened humanoid shape landed on the edge of the roof near as two blue flashes tore through the Onset and sent it flaming into the side of a nearby building. Three more figures landed around commandos, they were Mindy power armors and had effectively boxed them in, one of them began transmitting over an external COM. "So your the ones causing all this trouble?" It was a sultry but very very edged voice. "Lower your weapons and we may let you live as pets!" It shouted joyfully.
Verner was leaning over a tactical screen, a massive group of white dots were moving in a wave through the NMX defense line and toward his forces, 1st Cav was already enveloped. He keyed his COM, "Negative 1st Cav were being hit along the entire damn line, the bastards are between you and the other units your going to have to hold on until reinforcements arrive. I'm vectoring any spare air units to your position, lase priorty targets and hold at any cost." He turned off the microphone, "God help them." He said as he looked on in horror.
*Command, we're at the comm. centre roof! Request orders!*
The response was from one of the handlers working directly under Verner's command, "Your instructions are to hold Gunny and support 1st Cav as best you can, hang in there help is on the way." She said.
"Ah hell," Hernan cursed. Holmes silently passed a signal to his squad. Aim for the speaker on his command. "Sorry, cat. We're not here for fun and games!" Holmes replied. Simultaneously, three plasma rounds and a hail of money shot screamed toward the lead Mindy.
James ducked down in surprise as the sky lit up with flame, the Onset coming down on the opposite side of the city. "Son of a bitch!" He cried out, seconds before he and the others suddenly found themselves surrounded by mindy power armors. "What the hell... Those are Yamatai PAs, right? What the fuck are they doing here?" He asked aloud, interrupted by a sudden curse from Hernan and a burst of plasma fire. "Oh hell!" James yelled out, jumping down to prone to avoid getting shred by incoming gunfire. He drew out his HHG and flipped out the cylinder, frowning. "Guess I can only get one of them." He said, noticing that much of his ammo had fallen from his jean pockets while running. "One shot left." He muttered, slipping a red-tipped bullet into the cylinder before flicking it closed.
With a roar 60 Docile class Power armors leapt from a covered position in reserve of the company, opening fire with a mixture of M-SARS, SFR-01s and a variety of other weapons. The oncoming swarm of zombies, Mindy powered armors, and ID-SOLs were met with a hail of weapons fire. Every armored trooper, every tank, and every AFV the first had unleashed all the firepower that they had available in an attempt to halt the oncoming mass. Explosions detonated everywhere throughout the swarm sending zombies and ID-sols into the sky. Intermixed within the standard rounds were laser designation chips to call for the incoming aircraft. The remaining striga from headhunter came in for another strafing run and opened fire with everything it had available from the dual coilguns mounted on the wings and everything it had on its wing hardpoints before heading back to base to rearm and find a new wingman. As the rounds impacted massive explosions billowed up since the main external ordnance were AT-1 Shortbow thermobaric rounds, all 10 of them were fired in a ripple salvo into the midsts of the zombie swarm.
The creature had side stepped the barrage laughing maniacally as she did before raising her weapon and firing at one of the Impulses. The other three rocketed toward the squad, aether blades ready to cripple, maim, or kill.
While the event began playing out on the room the 1st Cavalry Company found itself in a war of attrition and the enemy simply had the numbers, while the mercanries did have the superior firepower and air. The attacking NMX mob had sheer weight of numbers behind it and simply weren't being killed fast enough, slowly but surely they began to close into melee fighting with the lead elements of the mercenary force. VVHD systems began to discharge as zombies tried to tackle PAs or climb onto vehicles all the while the mercenaries continued to fire into them, slaughtering them.
"Well, fuck this shit!" Carmine dodging a blade and leaping over the building's edge. Hernan grabbed James and held onto him as the man was a sportsball as he too jumped over. Watson and Holmes dodged incoming fire and slashing blades before following their squadmates.
At 30 metres, they fired their jets to slow their descent. "Sorry if you get burned! Better than being those crazy cats!" Hernan shouted at James. The squad landed in the empty streets. "Inside now!"
The commandos dashed into the building with Hernan still carrying James. "Clear, Gunny. What next?" Watson asked as Hernan put James down.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" James screamed loudly, holding onto his revolver for dear life. "THIS IS FUCKING INSANE!" He continued, tucking in his legs so they wouldn't be burnt to cinders by the armor's thrusters. "AHHHHHHH!" Could be heard all the way down to the bottom until Jacob was set down, where he began to rub his head. "Oh my god... I've never, god damn, that was crazy!" He said to Hernan placing his revolver on his holster. "Oh god... Uh... I've got one red-tipped bullet left. I need a new gun."
Carmine handed him one of the Zen SMGs he always carried for emergencies. "Useless against those Mindys but good enough for ID-SOLs," he said, "I want it back when you're done."
"Thanks" James replied, taking the gun with a nod and stepping back, observing his surroundings.
A pair of armored hands tore through the wall and grabbed Carmine, pulling him into a void. The wet sounds of a body being torn apart followed along with screams over both the COM and direct.
Gunny Holmes triggered the bomb in Carmine's armour. It was meant to destroy everything, prevent the enemy from tracing them. It went off loudly, the shockwave knocking them all off their feet.
"HOLY SHIT! Carmine!" James screamed, firing a burst of fire into the general area around where Carmine was taken. "Noooo! Son of a bitch, I'll fucking murder you!"
A loud feral inhuman scream echoed through the building, followed by shreiking as something moved through the walls.
Hernan was the first up and firing into the hole. "Bring it, you fuckers! This is for Carmine!"
"Watson, set us up the bomb! We're gonna blow this place up! If we can't own this, neither can the squids!" Holmes ordered, getting to his feet and waiting for the damned cats to show themselves. The Sergeant began frantically putting the large implosion package together.
"Let's do it!" James said, shouldering the sub-machinegun and quickly glancing around, using his eyes and ears to pinpoint his targets. As soon as one of them came into view, he'd start firing, trying, if anything, to at least slow it down.
As several of the AFVs and tanks exploded the First Company didn't stop firing at the horde. In fact they started driving towards them as fast as they could preparing to overload their fusion batteries as a last ditch effort to wipe out as much as possible to prevent a total loss of the defensive lines. "WE STAND HERE" with that the first company smashed into and through the first sets of zombies and drove until they were forced to stop by the bodies that were piling up under them, with all the remaining power armors clinging to them and firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Then began the countdown from 300 seconds to zero before the batteries detonated. "Throughout the history of man, small forces facing overwhelming odds have been remembered in storied song. The small Greek force at Marathon that defeated a Persian force that outnumbered it a hundred to one. The Rhodesian SAS team that accidentally ran onto a regimental review of guerrillas and wiped them out. The Heroes of Thermopylae. The Alamo. The Seventh Cavalry.Given our situation, I think the last three are most significant, but we are the First Armored and I'm sure you all know our motto" O'Neil broadcasted. Then after he turned the external volume to high he began "What are we gonna do?" "We're gonna dance, sir," over the coms came one of the other TCs "We are gonna dance. Now, what are we gonna do?" "We're gonna dance, sir." "Dammit . . .quit sounding like a bunch of bitches." "WE'RE GONNA DANCE, SIR!" they sounded off. "WHO'RE WE GONNA DANCE WITH?" "THE DEVIL!" "WE GONNA LEAD OR FOLLOW?" "WE'RE GONNA LEAD!" "DAMN STRAIGHT! ROLL OUT!"
Either it was on purpose or accident but all COMs suddenly began picking up a signal.
*Bravo 2-62 confirm target package.*
*Eh rodger primary package is authorized, target area is set.*
*Rodger Bravo 2-62, approaching drop point from vector 2-0-6, massive thermal count.*
*Rodger Bird Bird, its a party down there.*
*Confirmed, Package away in 15 seconds.*
Overhead a Starliner transport roared over the COM building at one-thousand feet, it's rear ramp open. Fifteen seconds later a large object fell free and plummeted earthward, slowed by a large drag chute. There was a small flash and a large cloud of gray dust appeared lasting less then a blink of an eye before being replaced by a massive fireball. The weapon was a 20,000 kilogram thermobaric munition that had been constructed on a limited basis for testing in this operation. The initial overpressure caused most of the NMX force a few kilometers up the street to simply cease to exist, more were obliterated as the shock wave moved outward at the speed of sound. A scant second the almighty 'bang' reached 1st Cav, throwing zombies and ID-SOLs alike.
*Confirmed hit on primary, RTB.*
"Fuck this!" Hernan screamed over and over, trying to scramble to his feet but failing to do so as his numbed senses tripped him up. Watson had fallen over Gunny Holmes, leaving the bomb unattended. "Get off me and arm the bomb!" Holmes yelled. But then he couldn't even hear what he had yelled. He whacked Watson's head and pointed to the bomb. She crawled off and slowly made her way over, stumbling several times. Holmes himself felt weak and jarred from the explosion. "Fucking brass! After this mission, I am fucking done!" Hernan screamed at his deafened squad mates.
"Holy fuck" exclaimed O'Neil from inside his tank, "ass to the blast boys, let's get the fuck out of here. Our job is done it seems. Cancel self destruct orders let's get back to the landing pad and see if any civvies survived this shit." With that the First Cav turned back the way they came and left with what forces they had remaining.
The bomb was armed. Watson tapped Hernan and James, signalling to leave. All three of them dashed out, Hernan carrying James again, boosting away as fast as their jets could go. Five seconds later, the building came toppling down from the powerful implosion device.
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A kilometer away a small squad of Paragon black ops troops transmitted data recently acquired from a now defunct communications hub, it was sent over the battlenet to several key sites, both Verner's FOB and the Red Submarine's COM center.
