Armored Warrior Panzerter: Eve of Battle

by T. E. Butcher

As Chaney gathered his things to leave, he felt a hand on his arm. He looked up to see the First Minister standing inches from him. “I’m doing you a huge favor, comrade,” he hissed. “Your ideas aren’t wrong, but your manners are, if Pearson needs to be told she’s wrong, talk to the marshal and he’ll tell me.” Chaney nodded.

  “Yes, Comrade First Minister,” he said. “I understand.”

  11

  Master Sergeant Adamski rolled along in his wheelchair, outpacing the nurse behind him. “Mr. Adamski, please slow down!”

  Reluctantly, he brought himself to a stop at the elevator. “Sorry miss, I’m just excited to get fitted for prosthetics.” His horse caught up with him as he waited on the elevator.

  “I understand, but you’re going to have to relearn how to walk,” she said. “It’s a long arduous process.”

  He raised a hand. “I just need to walk enough to get into a panzerter, I’ll worry about it from there.” Impatiently tapping on his wheels, he watched for the light. I hate this damn place, so damn sterile. St. Matthew Regional Hospital in Vaterburg boasted itself as the largest and most advanced medical center in Western Tharsis. The medical megaplex resembled a fortress from the outside, boasting ten thousand beds, and many more labs, offices, and storerooms.

  Yet despite its massive size and advanced equipment, Saint Matthew still found itself swamped with injured and wounded soldiers. Modern weapons possessed an incredible ability to maim people they didn’t kill, and the hospital’s burden testified to that.

  Refugees, casualties of battle from both sides piled on top of the standard patients the hospital expected to take at this time of year. Complicating the fact was, many soldiers who lost limbs or eyes often needed the hospital’s physical therapy centers to aid in their own recovery. He’d spotted Zorro in one such center, working hard to adjust to her mechanical leg.

  “When did it start getting bad?” he asked his nurse as she pushed him into the elevator. A wall of buttons greeted them, twenty-five above ground floors with twelve sub levels.

  She sighed as she pushed a button for the eighteenth floor. “Right after Polaski fell, we got so many wounded soldiers and refugees we actually had to send a lot of them to our sister care centers.” He felt her grip tighten on his chair’s handles. “To be honest, if you came in then, we likely would have turned you away. Missing limbs weren’t as serious injuries as the majority of what we got then, but I honestly hated it more when we started getting the kids.”

  Adamski shook his head. “My company got rebuilt with a bunch of those teenagers they shipped out to the line,” he said before shaking his head. “It’s a damn shame too. Most of them didn’t make it out of the delta, hell one of the ones who did is here getting a new leg.”

  As the doors opened, his nurse, Nora he thought her name was, wheeled him into an office area. Hushed conversations leaked out of the doors they passed, but a patient leaving one of the rooms caught his eye.

  “Well, well, well, I didn’t know they just let anyone come here,” he said. Like him, she was bound to a wheelchair, though slightly more literally then he was. An MP, though unarmed, watched Fletcher and her nurse leave an office. The prisoner smiled weakly at him.

  “Adamski, how are you?” she asked.

  “Not great,” he said. “But I might be able to improve that today.” At that moment, Fletcher noticed the absence of his feet.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “Kennedy didn’t-”

  “No,” he replied. “It was three assholes in red units, they even managed to make things hairy for Reiter.” At the mention of his boss’s name, Fletcher looked alarmed, so he held up a hand. “He’s fine. He got a little banged up, but he came out more pissed than hurt.”

  Fletcher looked past him uncomfortably. “You said three units in red?” The MP set a firm hand on her shoulder.

  “Come on miss, we can’t let you learn anything-” she pushed his hand away and looked firmly at Adamski.

  “I fought alongside three pilots who painted their panzerters that color once they became aces,” she said. Reaching over to him, she grabbed his hand. “They’re incredibly dangerous, Knight is their leader, he more or less keeps the other two on a leash and focuses their aggression, Snow is a true believer, like I was but even more hardcore, she’ll kill her own people if she believes they’re too complacent.”

  “Jesus,” the MP muttered. The nurses looked horrified. Fletcher leaned forward, an effort that seemed to cause her serious discomfort.

  “But listen to me, the third one, Khan, is the worst, he’s only joined MAG so he could kill people legally and get away with it, he has no ideology, no hobbies, no dreams, all he wants is to kill.” She slumped back down, her rant seemingly draining her. “Please, just tell Reiter, to be safe if you can, all the things he did for me, I can’t repay him, but this comes close.”

  As her nurse rolled her away, Adamski rested his hands on the stump of his legs. Damn it, they’re going up against those kinds of people? And I’m stuck back here. Why the hell did I have to get hurt? His grip on his stumps tightened. I’m so damn useless like this.

  Reiter looked around the inside of the massive camouflaged tent. I hope we don’t get shelled or bombed, we’ve got so many leaders in one spot. He shook his head. Don’t jinx it. Officers and senior NCOs filled folding chairs set in front of a projector. A map of the region filled the wall they faced.

  “Sir, keep your head forward,” said 1st Sergeant Klammer. “You might actually learn something.” Unable to help rolling his eyes, Reiter looked at Hawke.

  “Do you think we’re about to counterattack?” he asked.

  The older man raised his hands. “Hell if I know, we should because it’s stupid to bring us all here just to tell us to die in place.” The XO whispered something to Hawke after conferring with Friermann. Leaning back towards Reiter, he nodded. “Rumor is we’re getting objectives and General Wolfe’s plan here.”

  “Well, you know what they say about rumors, sir,” Klammer said. “They’re like assholes, everyone has one.”

  “That’s opinions,” Reiter said. “Anyway, I haven’t seen General Orban since we got here, and they’ve got everyone from 1st sergeants and company commanders on up here.”

  Silence suddenly filled the room, and General Wolfe strode onto the stage. “Good Evening leaders of V Corps, we’re pressed for time so I’ll skip the pleasantries.” He pointed to the map of the region with a laser pointer. “As you all are well aware, we’ve been on the defensive since the 8th of October when this war kicked off. Within the next week, we’re going to change that.”

  With a gesture to an attendant, the projector slide shifted, now the situation map revealed units, movements, and enemy forces. “By the miracle that is Cyberwarfare and resistance groups, we’ve pieced together the enemy’s plans in this region.” He pointed towards Grunbeck and Swiezen. “They intend to force a division through this gap, hug the mountains, and breakout towards Vaterburg, now to keep this gap open, they will create diversions towards Kiefernlucke to tie up units north of Swiezen.”

  He pointed just Northeast of Swiezen. “Already, we’re planting misinformation, suggesting we plan to attack out of Kiefernlucke and have massed more divisions there, including the 12th Panzerter we’ve held in reserve. In addition, we’ve increased convoy and rail traffic to the city to suggest a buildup.” He pointed to the north. “Now when their feint begins, these forces will come out of position while this mechanized division attacks through the G-S gap.” Wolfe clapped his hands.

  “Now, 7th division will catch the tip of the Union spear while the 12th, 44th, and 2nd Divisions all attack while the Union is out of position, for maximum effect, we’ve coordinated this effort with the other two corps adjacent to us, VII Corps will attack out of the mountains while III Corps will attack into the Union.”

  Wolfe stopped, took a swig from a water bottle someone handed him, and looked at the men and women in the room. “Well, you have your objectiv
es, the Union has played rough in your yard long enough, it’s high time we take the fight to their homeland, now if there are any questions, relay runners to corps HQ, 7th panzerter, you’ll meet your new commander in Swiezen, dismissed.”

  The room broke out into chaos as people began discussing objectives among themselves. Hawke tapped Reiter as they made towards the door. “Weird, it’s like he saw our plans and said that’s great, but let’s do it on an Army level.”

  “Don’t give yourself too much credit sir,” 1st Sergeant said. “I’m sure he’s got his own people telling him things.”

  Hawke ignored him to talk to Reiter. “Pending what our new boss says, I’m thinking the 3-9th is going to hold Grunbeck to Ironton, and I want to put Fox right in the city.”

  “You want us to hold Ironton?” Reiter asked.

  “I’m not sure why you would, sir,” Klammer said. “Nobody’s qualified to do anything, and we’re dragging a bunch of kids around.”

  “Who is qualified to do anything?” Hawke replied. “We have plenty of time for career courses and qualifications in peacetime, I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re at war.”

  As they climbed into the command car for the ride back to Grunbeck, Reiter looked up at the sky. Through breaks in the clouds, he spotted lights streaking across the sky. Occasionally, a mote of light flared brightly before fading. He couldn’t tell who was winning the scale of the battle, or even who exactly was fighting, but somewhere above him, his side still gave their all. We stand a chance. With that, he ducked into the crowded command car, and rode back to the front.

  “Daddy, look! I can see through the roof!” Penny Ballard cried. Ballard smiled as the little girl clung to the railing and gazed up at the dome.

  “Be careful Penny, I wouldn’t get to close to the railing,” he said. As he set his hands on the little girl’s shoulders, he looked back at Chaney. “To be honest, Comrade Brigadier, I think she’s enjoying our little tour of this city more than I am.”

  The older man laughed. “Well, she’s asked me at least a hundred questions so far, but I’m not opposed to answering them.” As Ballard led Penny down the long hallway towards their quarters, she marveled at the marble floors she walked on.

  “Daddy, does Mr. Comrade bridge Chaney know why the floor is so warm?” Ballard looked at the other man sympathetically.

  “You can just call me Mr. Chaney, Penny,” the general said. “As for the floor, pipes below it are pumping hot gasses through them and that makes the floor warm.”

  “Why are the pipes there?”

  “Because all the room’s here have fireplaces to heat them.”

  “What’s a fireplace?”

  Chaney grinned. “Young comrade, you’ll find out soon.” Penny gave another curious glance at Chaney.

  “Why do people call you a bridge?” Her question got a chuckle out of the two men.

  “You mean brigadier,” he replied. “It’s like a general, but not quite as important, it’s a word for someone in charge of a brigade.”

  “He’s a really important guy in the army,” Ballard said. Penny’s face scrunched up in thought.

  “Mr. Chaney, what do you do in the army?” Much to Ballard’s surprise, Chaney was entirely forthcoming.

  “I’m in charge of research, like figuring out how the army can have a better truck or panzerter,” he replied. “It’s part of my job that allowed you and your dad to come live here.”

  With that, she looked back at her father. “Does that mean you’re not a pilot anymore?” Ballard shook his head.

  “No sweetie, I’m still a pilot, I’m just going to be a test pilot,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “It means I’ll be piloting new panzerters to test them, and tell Chaney what I liked and didn’t like from a pilot’s point of view,” Ballard said. “Oh look, here we are Penny.”

  They stopped at a pair of locked double doors leading up into the ceiling. A steel plate stamped with 2673 marked the home before them as theirs. Chaney handed Ballard a keycard that he swiped.

  With a smart click, the doors unlocked, leading to a large lounge style living room. To one side, a marble bar marked the boundary of the kitchen. “Bathrooms are down the hall, and your bedrooms are on either side,” Chaney said as he pointed to the lone hallway in the room.

  “I have my own room?” Penny squealed as she ran laps around a fully furnished child’s bedroom. Unable to help himself, Ballard smiled.

  “Her mother would’ve been so happy,” he said.

  Chaney set a firm hand on his shoulder. “Someone may not agree with me, but part of me thinks she’s smiling on you two right now.” As Ballard and Penny got acclimated, Chaney pulled a tablet out of a drawer and pulled up some information. “There’s the matter of Penny’s schooling, you’ll start on Monday, yes I’m giving you the weekend, but Penny needs to go to school or be schooled in some manner.”

  Ballard sighed. “Her grandparents had her in a union school, she hated it.”

  Chaney nodded. “Fortunately for you, I’m came up with something new,” he said. Crossing over to where Ballard sat, he handed him the tablet. “As you can see, her literary scores are well above the standard for a seven-year-old, but her math and science aptitudes are ridiculously good, to the extent that it was asinine for her grandparents to put her in a school focused on fine arts, and media.”

  Ballard shook his head. “So what are you proposing?”

  “Well, since her math and science aptitudes are so high and considering her curious nature, I called a few members of the research division heading towards retirement, they’ll teach her math and science and I’ll sign off on the schooling credit.” He shrugged. “Think of it as like a bring your daughter to work day, only very day.”

  Ballard rested his head in his hands. “This is…this is so much,” he said. “I never thought any of this could be possible.”

  With a smile, Chaney headed towards the door. “This is just a taste of the future to come, where everyone in the Union is treated human.” On that note, he left the happy little family to explore their new home.

  Surrounded by maps, Kennedy began feeling more at ease. Here in his own battalion headquarters, deep inside the former Tharcian estate, he drew up his final plans for the advance.

  “So if the 88th is going to advance first, they’ll advance to halfway to the objective,” he said to himself. “Then they’ll create a corridor for my battalion to advance along, we’ll anchor the route and create the corridor towards Ironton for the 88th to take the city while our infantry attack the airport.” He cradled his hand in his chin.

  “So I’ll go Panzerters, infantry, support/ headquarters, and then my last panzerter company, and then they’ll make the corridor.” Someone knocked at his door. “Enter.”

  When the door swung open, it revealed none other than Knight, along with the rest of his officers. “I hope we’re not interrupting,” the big man said. “But we’re here for the mission brief.”

  With a nod, Kennedy invited them to take their seats. “Alright, so we’re going to hold this bridgehead while the 88th moves out,” he said. As he spoke, he motioned to the repaired bridge and their own pontoon bridges. “When the 88th advances to this crossroad here, we will step off and rush down the corridor they’ve made and beyond, all the way to this cross road here.”

  “So what are our objectives?” asked Sr LT Bear, the soldier who filled in for Ballard, as the Incubus Company commander.

  Kennedy held up a hand. “Well, it’s simple really,” he said. “We’ll advance a single company at a time to secure multiple objectives along the way, timing and communication will be key to this operation.” Pointing to his Recon Platoon leader, a severe man named Jackson, he continued. “Your platoon will patrol the route ahead of Jericho Company, once you’ve cleared out to this intersection, head south and check these aces roads south of our main road, be on the lookout for enemy recon teams, once the intersection and gas statio
n are cleared, that concludes Phase 1.”

  “I have a question,” Jackson said. “A lot of these areas are open, if I were enemy scouts, I’d have artillery prevailed for these areas. How do we counter that in Phase 1?”

  “Stay mobile,” Spears answered. “Your Canises aren’t to different from our Capricorns, a direct hit will destroy the vehicle, but a near miss should only rock it.”

  With a nod, Kennedy looked back at the map. “Thank you comrade Spears, now then, your objectives for Phase 2, Jackson I need those dirt roads scouted, Jericho, hold the gas station and the intersection, Harpy, drive down the main road and sun out where there scouts are, I suspect there screen is here.” Kennedy traced a long curving line from the hills along the highway to a wind farm west of the gas station.

  “And us?” Bear asked.

  “You’ll head directly from the gas station to this wind farm,” Kennedy replied. “The whole way, sweep the enemy out.” He looked up at his other attachments: an artillery battery and a Surface to Air Missile Platoon. “SAMs will escort Chimera Battery to the gas station along with the headquarters element. At that point the moment they set the battery up, I want excessive use of artillery.” Kennedy scanned the faces of the officers in the room. “We need to preserve our strength in the even the enemy counterattacks our position or we need to attack one of the objectives ourselves.”

  “Once the artillery is set Phase 3 begins,” he continued. “Harby will shift Southwest and clear the road leading back to where the second bridge was, the other companies will advance south until we seize this southern intersection and this rest area south of it, any questions?”

  Jackson raised a hand. “Yes?”

  “What if the enemy is more entrenched in these access roads then our projections suggest?” he asked.

  “Then we’ll just have to shift forces from somewhere else,” Knight answered. “worse comes to worst, myself and the rest of the red guards can bail you out of trouble if you bite off more than you can chew, this goes for all of you.”