“Well, not stalling and crashing would be good,” he said, “but you’re probably already getting on top of that already, that being said the cockpit’s too small.” Chaney raised an eyebrow.
“Care to explain?” he asked. Ballard nodded. “Yeah, during harder maneuvers, my head smacks the sides of the cockpit.” He shrugged. “Even with the helmet on, it’s a bell ringer.” Chaney nodded as he scrawled a few more notes.
“Alright,” he finally said in the chilly air. “Back to the drawing board.”
“Keeping the lines open is of the utmost importance,” Guard-Brigadier Meyer said, as Kennedy nodded and took notes. In front of him spread a map of the region. Northwest of him sat the former provincial capital of Polaski, the nerve center of the entire front for the Union. Further west of the front lay the occupied lands of Olympia, through which the Union funneled reinforcements and supplies.
Meyer continued on her video call. “We have more reinforcements headed towards Polaski and more units in need of an escape route. To that end, you need to seize this section of highway north of you to expand the usable amount of roads we have,” she said. Kennedy took notes and nodded.
“I have the coordinates you sent with the runner,” he said. “Is there anything else I need to know?” She shook her head.
“The point of this call was just to ensure you received the packet from the runner,” she said. “All the intel you need is in the paperwork I provided.” Kennedy picked up the thick file folder and nodded.
“Thank you Comrade Meyer,” he said. “I’ll put it to good use.”
“I know you will,” she replied, and signed off. Leaving Kennedy to pick up the thick stack of papers and begin leafing through it. He called his XO and several other staff officers into the war room when he felt he knew the material well enough.
“So this is our mission,” he said. “We’re going to seize this section of highway here by taking this village and controlling the terrain near it.” He pointed to the positions marked on the map on the table. “Once we’ve seized this area, we’ll post a roaring guard and QRF to make sure we keep it.”
“Defenses?” his operations sergeant asked. “What kind of defenses are going to be in place?”
“Expect a few fortified positions,” Kennedy said. “Nothing permanent, just something their engineers whipped up, but the forces defending the village seem to be some kind of specialized mountain unit. The Tharcians got a name for them. I can’t pronounce it, but they’re tough as nails.” He pointed to a different area. “Not to mention they have panzerter and possibly artillery support.”
Irving whistled. “It’s going to be a tough nut to crack,” she said.
“Tough, but not impossible,” Kennedy said. “We’ll need an exceptional plan and an exceptional amount of preparation to win.” He drew a rough triangle around the village. “We can expect dug-in positions around here. I don’t think they’ll use the village itself because they won’t want to endanger civilians still living there.” He looked up from the maps. “For that reason, we won’t hit the village with artillery. This will curb hostility from the locals as well as avoid creating cover for the defenders.”
“So where are their panzerters?” the Operations Sergeant asked. “They’re kind of big deal, and I don’t see any space where they could be hiding.” He pointed to a raised section of highway. “And we’ll need to secure this area and make sure it stays intact, otherwise, this whole stretch of highway is useless.”
“They won’t destroy it, unless they’re desperate,” Irving said. “If we were still advancing like we were as of October, then I’d agree, they’d probably destroy it. With all that said, we need to be wary that we don’t accidentally destroy it.”
“Artillery and air support are going to be sparse if available,” Kennedy said. “Though like I said, our opponents are skilled, they’re still mostly infantry and they can only do so much in the face of panzerters with numbers.” He pointed to a section of the map. “We’ll keep Harpy Company as a tactical reserve, the other panzerter companies will split and attack from Northwest and Southwest, the infantry will take the highway along with the Air Defense vehicles to clear the route and then they’ll assault the remaining defenders.”
“And the panzerters?” The Operations sergeant asked.
“Harpy will deal with them when they show up,” Kennedy replied. “This is a straightforward operation, but these guys are some of the best the Tharcians have. Remember some of the toughest battles we’ve had were against second-line Provincial Watch units, these guys won’t go down without a fight.” After they determined the objectives for the various companies involved, they called them in to explain the mission a second time.
While the company commanders discussed the best ways to handle their objectives, Kennedy stepped outside the war room. A brief walk down the stoney hall and he stood on a balcony at the edge of the resort castle. As he went to light a cigarette, he heard someone open the door behind him. “All the information we have is available in that packet, if you want to make copies-” He turned to find Irving stepping into the night after him. “Oh.”
“I think I’ve looked over that packet enough,” she said with a smile. “Is something bothering you?” He shrugged.
“Only a few things. I can’t help but feel like they’re underestimating these- whatever, mountain soldiers,” he said. “Not knowing exactly where their panzerter support is is concerning.”
“As someone who worked in intelligence, it’s impossible to know everything, all the time,” she said. “Hell, her information could be correct, but a few weeks outdated, we could find the village undefended, or that they’ve been replaced by a panzerter company.” The young woman shrugged and ran her hands through her hair. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much I’d trust any information with whatever is going on with our systems.”
Kennedy took a long drag on his cigarette as he leaned over the balcony. “Still, we’ve got to make the best decisions with the information we have. Meyer says we need this highway, so we probably need it for good reason.” He tapped ashes off the edge of the balcony.
“With the Milita act passing and citizens from the colony and Phobos enlisting in regular army and the MAG, we could see a surge in the size of the army,” Irving said. “Maybe we need it for a future offensive?” Slowly, Kennedy nodded as he continued smoking.
“I hope so,” he said. “I barely spent any time in old Tharsis and I want to go back.”
3
“Let’s stop here,” Reiter said as he brought the Lowe to a halt. Taking a knee, he dismounted and looked around. In the fading light of dusk, it was hard for him to tell the drop troopers apart while his eyes adjusted. “Webb, a moment?” The drop trooper walked over, his half-exoskeleton whirring as he approached.
“Something up?” he asked. Reiter removed his red light as a few other drop troopers and the mortar sergeant crowded around. Unfolding a map, he set it on the foot of his panzerter.
“We’re here,” he said. “Our objective is three terrain features away. Now, at this range, we would have run into a Union screen or patrol or aircraft or something, but its quiet.”
“So we could be walking into a trap,” Webb said. “Or nothing, or the worst defended Union research base in history.” Reiter nodded his head.
“Just because it’s the worst thing that could happen, let’s assume it’s a trap,” he said. “Let’s try to have the Mortar carriers shoot some lum rounds over the objective, that’ll let us know if anyone’s in the neighborhood and willing to play.”
Webb nodded. “Think you can check in with the others?” Reiter folded up his map and tucked it in his vest pocket.
“We’ll check in after we clear this objective,” he said. “Weather or not, this site has missiles in it or not.” He clicked out his red lamp as the drop troopers dispersed, leaving him alone with Webb for a moment.
“Things have been mostly quiet lately,” Webb said. “From what I heard, the Union is picking
more fights with the VEF than with us.” Reiter nodded in the dark as their group made last-minute preparations for potential combat.
“The VEF are well trained, and competent,” he said. “But they’re all untested in battle. Not many of them have combat experience, if any.” He looked at a pair of drop troopers helping the mortar carriers set themselves up. “We’ll have a lot of people like that once we’ve fully mobilized.”
“For a minute there, I didn’t think we’d get the chance to do so,” Webb replied. “But I guess things are different now.” He left to rejoin his platoon and Reiter climbed back inside the Lowe. Let’s just hope I don’t have to add anymore names to the book.
As he took the controls, he waited for Webb to signal they were ready to move before advancing. The Lowe stalked forward, rifle raised as the Mortar carriers rolled behind him. The three terrain features between them and their objective proved to be a series of rolling hills.
Keeping his machine’s head below treetop height, the Lowe crouch walked past the first hill. Glancing behind him, he noticed the mortar carriers taking up positions on the reverse slope. Straining to see the hazy outlines forced him to blink. My eyes are getting tired. I need to do something about that.
Opening up his display settings, he looked at his options. Gingerly, he switched from Near-daylight over to Red IR with overlay. His monitor shifted. No longer did they display the outside world as if it were daylight, but instead, a red haze colored the screens. Troops, vehicles, and buildings all became outlined by a red-yellow light, with friendly units receiving a marker.
Better. He took a swig of water from his canteen. Despite the drink and adjusted display, his eyes still stung. Alright, as soon as we’re done here, I’m taking a nap. The fantasy of laying down and sleeping nearly caused Reiter to drift off to sleep himself.
A boom followed by a snap and crackle shocked him awake. High over head, the lum rounds did their thing. If he were to use his naked eyes, Reiter would have seen the objective cast in an eerie white light. As it stood, his sensors merely picked out details more easily.
“Fox 6, Blue 1,” Webb said. “I’ve got people with eyes on the objective. Looks like nobody’s home or even been home for a while.” Reiter furrowed his brow.
“Blue 1, I’ll check-in with the others, but send a squad to clear the structure anyway,” he replied. “Just to be sure, their also might be valuable intel in their.” He switched over to the company net. “All Fox elements, Sitrep?”
“6, Black 1,” Wesser said. “We’re approaching our objective now, little sign of enemy activity.”
“White 1,” Lazlo said. “We’re searching the site now, but it looks abandoned.” Rieter sighed before acknowledging both of them and switching nets. Well, we can mark these sites off as abandoned, but otherwise it seems like this has been a wash.
“6, Blue 1,” Webb said. “We’ve got something down here.” Reiter perked up immediately.
“Enemy?” he asked.
“Negative,” Webb replied. “More… interesting, come dismount I’ll send Blue 5 to guide you in.” Reiter brough the Lowe to the base of the hill before rolling the big machine onto its back in an almost reclined position. As soon as he popped the hatch, one of Webb’s squad leaders stood to help him out.
“Blue 5, you’re Sgt Holtslander right?” Reiter asked. The shorter man shrugged.
“I’m just impressed you remembered my name, sir,” he replied. “LT is up this way.” He led him the shortened distance up the hill to what was clearly once a bunker built into the hill. Holtslander held the door and let him inside.
Snapping on his red lamp, Reiter followed the drop trooper into the larger complex. The concrete structure reeked, and he could hear dripping water off in the distance. “This place really did see better days,” he said. “I think this site was used to train Greibigsjagers.” They walked past a few dilapidated barracks rooms. The mattresses had nearly rotted away, and the aluminum frames showed years of rust.
Finally, Reiter began to hear voices nearby and saw lights down the hall. “Here he is, sir,” Holtslander said. “Man of the hour.” Webb was kneeling on the floor next to something. As he approached, he realized what it was: a body.
“Hey sir,” Webb asked. “Do you have any idea why there’s a dead First Nation national in the middle of Tharsis?”
Adamski blinked as he approached his new company commander to shake her head. “Excuse me if I look a little shaken,” he said. “But I feel like I’m looking at a ghost.” 1st Lieutenant Bartonova took his hand more firmly than he expected. As she passed a hand through her mahogany hair, she flashed a sad smile.
“You were in my sister’s company,” she said. “I read your file.” He nodded.
“Yeah, Viola was something else,” Adamski replied. “I’m sorry.” The sadness vanished from her soft features, replaced by a steeliness absent before.
“The Union will pay for what they did to her,” she replied. “Speaking of, that pilot they pressed into service…”
Adamski shook his head. “She didn’t kill your sister. She was captured after that battle though,” He said. “It was-”
“A Colonel Kennedy,” she said. “I read the report at least a hundred times.” She stepped closer to Adamski, roughly eye level with him. “As for the pilot, I wanted to know how much she’s willing to divulge about their forces?”
He shrugged. “I’m sure if you just asked her, she’d tell you,” he replied. “You’re going to have to talk to her anyway just to get familiar with who’s in your company.” She waved her hand somewhat dismissively.
“I don’t need very sob story from every soldier I command,” she said. “I just need to know what they can do.” Wow, that’s kinda cold. Adamski motioned to the tent flaps behind them.
“Well then, let’s step outside and take a look around,” he said. “Most of the things we have available to us, I’ve seen before or worked with before.”
With a nod, Bartonova made for the exit. “Very well then,” she said. Adamski’s new legs whirred as he followed her out. The first thing she wanted to look at, of course, was their own machines. Following her to the command hanger, he was curious to see her new punster in person. As he looked from her Panzerter VI to his Panzerter IV, he shook his head. Hard to believe these are the same species.
Superficially, they both looked vaguely human with a similar head. The similarities ended there, however. Bartonova’s ‘Tiger’ looked much more bulky and cumbersome compared to his older model. Thick slabs of armor protected its limbs and torso as opposed to the bolted on panels of additional armor. Heavy Common, that’s what they’re calling this flavor of mark IV.
“From what I’ve read, we’re rolling in a platoon of four machines,” he said. “So, including ours, that’s ten panzerters.” She nodded.
“A shame we can’t all have Tigers,” she said. “Though I’m sure as production ramps up, we’ll see more of them.” She looked at Adamski. “How does it compare to the other big cats?” Adamski shrugged.
“I’ve never seen a panther,” he said. “The Tiger seems impressive, but the Lowe was something else entirely. I never imagined a panzerter could be so big and quick.”
Bartonova frowned. “I assure you, what my Tiger lacks in grace it more than makes up for in durability and firepower. An image of the Lowe’s old railgun flashed through Adamski’s mind. Somehow I doubt that.
“I’m not denying it’s an impressive machine, ma’am,” he said. “Would you like to look over the rest of the company?” As he lead her out of the hanger, he noticed their infantry platoon rolling into the motor pool. “Are those new Iggys?”
She shrugged as she looked at the Infantry fighting vehicles. “I’m not sure, you tell me.” Covered in a splinter pattern made up of greens, browns, tans, and blacks, the squat tracked vehicles rumbled into the motor pool. Unmanned turrets pointed their guns up and away from people, and Adamski noticed armor panels on the sides similar to those on his pan
zerter.
“They are,” he said. “Those armor panels look are new, though they look like they’re based on the Tiger more than the Lowe.” He looked back at her. “Have you never worked with infantry before?”
Bartonova shook her head. “No, all four years of my career I’ve spent being either a test pilot or OpFor.” Adamski nodded.
“Well, ok then,” he said. “They might not look like much, but infantry are incredibly helpful.” She looked past them and began walking towards the other hangers. Adamski clanked after her as she power walked. “I guess you want to meet the other pilots?”
“Only to make sure they’re prepared to go to war,” she said. Adamski sighed,
“With all do respect, about half of them have already been to war,” he said. “Hell, Zorro has a new leg, Magyar has some nasty scars, and Fletcher has a bomb around her neck. You don’t really need to explain the seriousness of the situation to them.” She snorted.
“If they were better pilots, they wouldn’t have been injured or captured,” she replied. Adamski grit his teeth. She’s just trying to establish her authority. She’s never had a command of her own. This is all new. Her attitude is still shit.
Bartonova threw open the double doors to the platoon hanger. Every head turned to face her. More Panzerter IVs lined either side of the hanger. These machines belonged to the IV “Enhanced” class. General improvements all around, including fire control and better networked systems with thicker armor than the Panzerter IVs from the beginning of the war. Still, the chassis is a decade old, we’re probably coming up on the limits of the line.
“Bring it in,” she cried. “First, Sergant and I need to speak to you.” Their soldiers rushed over. Adamski spotted his people in the crowd as they approached. As soon as they formed a horseshoe around them, Bartonova began speaking.
“Listen up,” she said. “As you may have noticed, some of your new colleagues have some metal bits.” She looked over at her newer soldiers. “Let me make this clear, they were lucky. The enemy is absolutely ruthless. If they capture you, well putting a bomb on your neck would be the kindest thing they do.” After dismissing them, she called out to Fletcher. “You, tube girl, come here.”
Enemy Front Page 4
